Baltimore21201.Com - The Blog

Keith Olbermann on CA's Prop 8

Invest just six minutes. Watch, think about, and share this powerful voice.

Batten Down the Hatches - Here's What's Coming

Get ready for a rainy, windy few days. Really rainy. Really windy. The National Weather Service reports that we'll have winds in the 20+ mph range with gusts to 45. Fact is, Ocean City had gusts over 45 mph early this morning. I took a look at some webcams just before noon and the folks out at the beaches were feeling the early effects. (Don't you love webcams? Remember when you actually had to go somewhere to take a picture in real time...)

Ocean City
 

Rehoboth Beach
 

Bethany Beach
 

The BIG Picture

Weatherman, Justin Berk says he wants this storm named. He wants it named because it's Tropical and... never mind, it's a complicated issue for me and too technical. However, Justin has the best weather blog around. So, go to Justin Berk's WeatherTalk and learn. His blog is impressive because it IS technical. But, not in a smarty-pants kind of way.

BTW, if this storm doesn't produce you truly don't have to remind me of how many times I've been wrong on the weather fronts.  ; >  I'm not a weather pro. I do love weather events, though. Come on SNOW!

Sheraton Baltimore, City Center's Pool Sparkles Again

Yesterday I heard from the Sheraton's General Manager, Chris Phillips.

"I wish to confirm with you that everything was being done to try to treat the water with the proper chemicals. We have a company that is contracted to maintain the condition of the water. All the necessary treatments were being completed.

"On Monday morning, do to the fact that we could not be assured what caused the pool to turn green, we drained the pool and cleaned out the interior. We also changed all the filters to ensure the problem will not occur again. The pool has been refilled and looks great," Phillips wrote.

He's right. Normally it always looks great, that's what made the vibrant green color so odd and disturbing.

OK folks, pack up those trunks and towels and spend Labor Day Downtown!

Summer in Baltimore & Natty Boh Memories

When I first moved to Baltimore in 1988, I was introduced to Natty Boh by way of picking crabs in the dog days of summer. I wasn't a big fan of beer then - I'm even less of a beer fan now. But somehow, the National Bohemian brand sparked my interest and hooked me forever. It was icy cold, crisp, fizzy, pale, and seemed just right to cool the bite of Old Bay. Now Jacob and I live 26 floors above Baltimore 21201 and we see old MR. BOH winking at us every night. Enough said, enjoy! And, have a cold one.

Sing it Sister: "Pigtown Will Shine Tonight, Pigtown Will Shine..."

If you've ever thought, even for a brief second, that John Waters' depictions of Baltimore life were a tad over the top this video shows that he may actually have been a tad bit reserved! This is a 1978 Evening Magazine television segment that was shot at Sid's Bar in Baltimore's Pigtown and produced by Tom D'Antoni, a Baltimore native who lives in Portland, Oregon. Tom, if you have any more of these time capsules, please post them. For the next generation and beyond, this is museum stuff.

It's not just the video that's amazing. Turns out that Tom D'Antoni is amazing in his own right. The Huffington Post says, "I'M A FAN OF THIS BLOGGER..."

D'Antoni is also the author of a book: Rabid Nun Infects Entire Convent. Yep, the man must be from Baltimore. And, he's one of the most astute political writers that I've come across in years. Did I mention that he has a radio show on KMHD FM? Yep. A radio blog also. And, on it goes. What a find.

Johnny Dollar. Harry Truman. And Fashion?

About a year ago I wrote a short entry about a super-clever blog called Bags in Trees. A year later the BiT blog is as fascinating as ever. It's Charm City through and through; it's most of America through and through.

Moments after I posted the BiT entry last July, I received a comment from Baltimore's one-and-only Johnny Dollar. Surely you know him. If you read Baltimore-type blogs you must. Just in case you don't, he's a smile maker on the Baltimore blog scene. He's a Tiki Torch kind of guy. He like pies. He likes strong cocktails in hollowed out fruit. He has a finicky electrical panel. And based on this post, he has great taste in vintage Presidential shirts...

That being said, I'm all over this one. I want it. Wait! I think it's in my closet. I'm off on the search. Thanks for all of the fun, JD. And, thanks for bringing back the word DANG.

Once in a While... You Just Have to Cry.

I can't imagine Sunday mornings without Russert.

And, I don't want to.

How Our Inner Harbor Changed the World's Port Cities. No, Really! I'm Serious.

If you missed this last night, be certain to set your Tivo or DVR to record Maryland Public Television at 9PM July 22nd. (Channels 22 and 67)

Global Harbors: A Waterfront Renaissance is an outstanding piece of documentary work.

Baltimore Sun's architecture critic, Edward Gunts writes, "In many ways, Global Harbors is the Un-Wire. It doesn't deny the existence of crime and poverty and dysfunction in the city, but it starts with the premise that the glass is half-full. It shows Baltimore as a place where good things can happen when people put their minds to it. It dares to suggest that 50 years of rebuilding may be paying off."

I think Global Harbors' premise is that the glass is way, way more than half-full and that 50 years of rebuilding started paying off 50 years ago. It certainly did for the urban pioneers who, decades ago, bought their homes in Otterbein for a dollar.

In the Examiner, Michael Olesker notes, "What most of us didn’t know — but learn from the documentary — is the profound effect Harborplace has had on urban harbors around the world, with municipal leaders having taken their cues from the Baltimore model." I like Olesker's take, as I usually do, best.

Like all good documentaries should, this one has a website. And, if that Tivo crashes or Comcast goes down you can buy the DVD online. Trust me, it's a keeper. Spend the twenty-bucks.

Laura Lippman on Baltimore, Crab Cakes & Her New Book

Baltimore author, resident, and gal-about-town, Laura Lippman loves the Crab Cakes at Faidley's in Lexington Market just like we all do. She writes crime novels like none of us will ever be able to. She's much prettier than most authors that we'll ever know. She holds Baltimore dear, in her heart, like we all seem to. And, she wins awards like the Edgar, the Anthony, the Agatha, the Shamus, the Quill, and more. Her newest book, Another Thing To Fall is receiving rave reviews.

I keep up on her doings and such by way of Author Tracker: a service of Harper Collins, her publisher.

Check out this video from Lippman.

And, visit her personal website: LauraLippman.Com

Citi Logo Soars Over Baltimore

What's this? Citi Financial signage being hoisted to the top of their building at Saratoga and Saint Paul on a Sunday afternoon? Yep, and as of now it's still tightly under wraps.

I see color under that wrap (the red on the arch) and from the placement of the logo it will surely be illuminated. And if it is, that's great news.

Way too few of Baltimore's tall buildings are lit properly at night. The crown of the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore Hotel is a prime example. It's magnificent topper and is completely dark. Radisson Hotels should be ashamed!

Lights of all kinds bring energy to a city. Where there is light at night, there's attraction -- and not just for moths.

The Citi logos are going up on all sides of the building. What a welcome addition to the Vertical Neighborhood.

"Visit My Baltimore" is Gaining Steam - And, in a Good Way with Videos

When Baltimore's GET IN ON IT campanign launched last year I was dubious. And on national television, so was Jay Leno (he laughed at the concept and the $500,000 paid to San Francisco-based Landor & Associates), Regis Philbin (he was so puzzled and confused by the concept he couldn't even say the phase), David Letterman was even less kind. Even Baltimore's very own William Donald Schafer, former Mayor and Maryland Govenour, rang in through his spoksperson saying, "I've seen some dumb ones in the past, but this is the dumbest." Was he thinking of an earlier attempt to brand Baltimore as: THE CITY THAT READS?

So when the GET IN ON IT people announced that they were opening up a section of their site so regular folks could upload videos about what makes Baltimore special to them, I was even more dubious. What would the citizens of Charm City post that the rest of the country could make fun of?

Apparently I shouldn't have been concerned at all. Here's just one example of the clever videos that have been posted.

Take a look at some of these little gems. Many are so delightful that they could take us back to the Charm City days.

And then, wonder along with me if all of Baltimore wouldn't have been better served by calling on locals to produce these kinds of things and offering a purse of $50,000 to each of the ten best rather than sending off half-a-million bucks to a company based out west.

I'm betting that even John Waters would have entered. And, wouldn't that have been a wonderful thing?

Oh yes, if you haven't seen this tribute to William Donald Schafer you should. Yep, it's biased in his favor just as Schafer's support and promotion of Baltimore is biased to the Nth degree in our favor.

People in Glass Houses... Shouldn't Walk Around Naked

I've lived in high-rises for the greater part of my life.

My first apartment in New York City was on 75th Street between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue on the 17th floor of a beautiful pre-war building. Some years later, my second apartment in NYC was on Central Park West... that apartment was one floor lower, but what a view of the park it had!

I've lived in high-rises in Los Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco, and on and on.

Living on the 26th floor of the Park Charles in Baltimore's City Center, I look out the windows and see birds flying by -- and on special mornings, at special times of the year, I see Monarch butterflies. Some days at dusk I see bats taking out the local bugs. I also see blimps flying over Camden Yards. And lately, I see them over the Inner Harbor with real estate banners in tow.

Now and then I see a bi-plane fly by. Daily I see helicopters fly in and out of the heliport on University of Maryland Medical Center. The sunrises are vibrant and amazing here. As are the sunsets.

You'd think I'd be used to all of the theatre outside the windows by now.

Unknown faces looking IN the windows twice-a-year shouldn't surprise me. However, no matter how well in advance I'm warned about the arrival of the window washers, I'm always taken off-guard. And, I laugh at myself.

I guess I'm good until next Spring.

   

Charles Center Plaza - Official Opening: June 15th

This Friday, June 15th, 12 Noon. 14-months and 7.4 million dollars in the making. The opening of the new Plaza at Charles Center, Baltimore.

Dignitaries. Speeches. Music, eats and other treats.

Over the weekend we wondered if the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore and the construction company could pull off the opening on schedule. It looked like there was still a long way to go. Here's how the project looked mid-morning today.

By noon all of the sod had been laid and work was progressing on the historic marker. Still, there's quite a lot of work to complete. The clock's ticking. 3.5-days and counting.

Wine, Cheese, and Jennifer Bodine

In February I wrote a snippet about my favorite American photographer, A. Aubry Bodine and a retrospective of his work being hosted by the Baltimore Museum of Industry. (For the photography challenged, Bodine is to Maryland as Ansel Adams is to the United States.) Yesterday an email arrived from the late Baltimore Sun photographer's daughter, Jennifer B. Bodine, with an invitation to a must-attend event:

Bodine's Chesapeake Bay Country at the Maryland Historical Society with the MdHS Maritime Committee. It's part of their Authors & Artifacts series. Jennifer Bodine will be presenting.

Bodine photographed every aspect of Maryland life. And, his daughter will be sharing a personal account of her father's genius. She will show over 175 of her father's Chesapeake Bay related images along with anecdotes and insights into the man, his personality, and his work.

Wine and cheese reception at 5:30PM. Jennifer B. Bodine at 6PM. $8. in advance, $10. at the door.

Maryland Historical Society - 201 W Monument Street - Baltimore, MD 21201

 

History Online: A Baltimore Photo Database

The Baltimore Museum of Industry has an outstanding, search-able database of photographs and documents that chronicles much of the twentieth century in Charm City. It's a vast collection from Baltimore Gas & Electric.

Visit BMI's Things to See page and check out their Online Collection.

BMI's website reports, "Both prints and negatives depict various scenes from Baltimore and the surrounding region. Taken as part of the company’s (BG&E's) daily operations, these photos capture many lost scenes of Baltimore life, including the city’s architecture, citizens, and businesses.  Because the BG&E photographers captured pictures of life in Baltimore across the span of the 20th century, the BG&E Collection highlights the changing commercial, cultural, and physical landscapes of Baltimore".

While I was meandering through the collection, looking at photos of the grand department stores, restaurants and lunch counters, and theatres on Lexington Street, I couldn't help thinking of the Baltimore Sun's Jacques Kelly. Looking at many of the photos, I felt as if I'd been there. And then I realized... I HAD been there by way of reading Kelly's recounts and recollections of times past in the Sun.

Saturday Night Sights

January 20th: It turns out that 21201 was an ideal location to see the beautiful, and bright, Crescent Moon and Venus just after dusk. Living on the 26th floor of the Park Charles, with a great panoramic view, didn't hurt either.

My thanks to Frank Roylance at the Baltimore Sun for alerting his readers to this photo opportunity.

The Moon and Venus were clear in the western sky just after sunset for a short while.

They were just a few degrees apart. The Moon was only lit 4 percent by the Sun (the bright crescent) and, if you look at the detail photo, nearly 96 percent by Earthshine: the Sun's light reflected onto the Moon by Earth.

Then the Moon and Venus followed the Sun and set in the west.

Sometimes ya just gotta look up.