Thanks To A ‘Sports Medicine’ Guru Bel Air Gets A Concert From Dr. Ralph Stanley

By Todd Holden

Thanks to Doctor William H.B. Howard, famed for his sports medicine forefront work, a living legend of bluegrass made it to Bel Air Sunday afternoon and set the small venue on fire, backed by the Clinch Mountain Boys.

Turns out Dr. Howard (just call me Bill) has known and treated Ralph Stanley for years. ‘We’ve been pals a long time and my daughter, Patty, and me decided to ‘make it happen’ and approached the folks at John Carroll to provide the venue and take home the proceeds.” Dr. Howard is often seen on area television stations when sports injuries occur to professional athletes. Continue reading Thanks To A ‘Sports Medicine’ Guru Bel Air Gets A Concert From Dr. Ralph Stanley

Baltimore Movie Making 101: 48 Hours of Hangovers, Blood Spray And Things Going Wrong

Trying to get into filmmaking often times means you help out others who have experience. This way you hopefully learn the tricks of the trade and come away with an idea of how to create your own film. With this in mind, I decided to help a team for the Baltimore 48 Hour Film Project. And oh man, did things go badly.

First off, it is important to note that the Director had a bunch of her friends volunteering to help out. And from what I saw: making a film + friends = nobody is getting anything done. This is how the entire day of filming went. Continue reading Baltimore Movie Making 101: 48 Hours of Hangovers, Blood Spray And Things Going Wrong

The Dark Knight: Brightened By Ledger’s Painted Freak

Friday morning as 12:01 a.m. struck, theaters all over the United States started the official showings of The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan’s sequel to Batman Begins. Highly anticipated because of Heath Ledger’s final performance and the hype that has been ramping up for months now, this film is set to break records at the box office. But is it all the hype says it is? Simply answered, no, even though I would give this film a B+ rating. Let me explain… Continue reading The Dark Knight: Brightened By Ledger’s Painted Freak

“Friend or Foe?” - Baltimore VideoGamers Set To Battle It Out For $10,000 In Prizes

Are you a baller? A gamer? If so, Therman Arrington wants to hear from you. Amidst his full-time gig at Southwest Airlines as a ramp agent, Arrington doesn’t mind receiving nearly 30 text messages a day or taking in roughly 50 phone calls. Why? Well, its tourney time. Arrington is a gamer at heart and this Sunday he will be hosting the video game tournament “Friend or Foe, Battle to the End” at Huckas sports bar in Canton.

Arrington is a Baltimore city native and resident of Abingdon; he is founder and owner of the BB&G Club (Baltimore Ballers and Gamers Club). He used to own a small video store on Eastern Avenue where he and some friends began playing video games. Back in the day, they’d participate in the underground tournaments. Continue reading “Friend or Foe?” - Baltimore VideoGamers Set To Battle It Out For $10,000 In Prizes

Why Does Charm City Get The 15-Foot Statue Of Edgewood’s Own Rock Star Frank Zappa?

It was in Edgewood that Frank Zappa first inserted radioactive pellets into his nostrils. Now he’s being honored, sort of, with a 15-foot statue that was donated by his Lithuanian fans to the City of Baltimore. But why Baltimore? True, Zappa - the guitar-playing, anti-drug musician - was born in Charm City, but, as I’ve already mentioned, it was in Edgewood where he might have gotten off to his mind-bending start.

Let me get one thing off my chest from the get-go here, I’m much more a fan of Zappa’s story than I am his music. Blasphemy you say? Well, try to find a song of his that can compete with stories of his early life in Harford County. Zappa’s dad worked at what was then known as Edgewood Arsenal, but today is known as the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground. Zappa’s got some pretty good recollections from those days, including tasting DDT and wearing space helmets that left you to drown in your own vomit. Good stuff. Continue reading Why Does Charm City Get The 15-Foot Statue Of Edgewood’s Own Rock Star Frank Zappa?

“Do Not Mourn The Dinosaurs.” Instead, Let’s Try To Avoid Their Fate

Dinosaurs! The name itself infers impending awesomeness. It is derived from the Greek words ‘deinos’ (terrible) and ’saura’ (lizard). Already you know you are in for a show. Where do I find these terribly awesome lizards? Nowhere. You can find bones, fossils, footprints and even coprolites (fossilized poop).

I have been enamored with these ancient creatures as long as I can remember. I was even rewarded for being potty-trained with a trip to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum to see the bones (I remember that trip clearly, I mean I was 17). I had dinosaur sheets, shirts, and books galore. I also forced my mother to take me to the Maryland Science Center every spring when the animatronic T-Rex came to town. I am even currently reading Stephen Jay Gould’s, Bully for Brontosaurus. Continue reading “Do Not Mourn The Dinosaurs.” Instead, Let’s Try To Avoid Their Fate

Forget Wall Street, Invest In Something That Really Has Growth Potential - American Celebrity

This installment of Ask A Smartass will attempt to tackle a question that has been on the minds of many Americans these days: Is our country in a recession? Warning: if you hate to hear about money issues or you love capitalism with all of your heart, you may not want to proceed in reading.

Due to a new experimental investing strategy in the country, the economy has hit a recession. Investments have been the strength of the United States economy, so when this risky experimental investment started, many thought nothing of it. But now, as investors have clearly made bad decisions, the entire country is suffering. You may be asking yourself, what is this new investment strategy? Well, it is all the rage now to invest in celebrities. Since they make so much money, why not have them take on shareholders and boost their income while taking others along for the ride.

This was a great idea. But when this started some years back, a lot of investors sunk their money in big names like Britney Spears, Ben Affleck and Lindsay Lohan. With Britney’s unbelievable meltdowns, her investors are experiencing net losses. And those who went ahead and decided to invest in her little sister Jamie Lynn … well, they got double screwed. Sometimes mental instability can be an asset when investing in a celebrity, like Russell Crowe or Quentin Tarantino. But Britney has what we celebrity investors like to call “the wrong kind of crazy.” And her sister is on her way there, let’s face it. Continue reading Forget Wall Street, Invest In Something That Really Has Growth Potential - American Celebrity

Spreading Ink: The Rise of the Suburban Tattoo Parlor in Maryland

Growing up in 1980s Harford County, I knew of only two kinds of people who had tattoos - members of the military and members of rebel motorcycle gangs.

Back then, the faded blue and gray images were largely unrecognizable in shape or design. Any lettering had long since bled into an amorphous set of unreadable characters. Tattoos weren’t considered artwork as much as they were branding - an anchor on the arm, an eagle on the back, the initials of a long lost love on the shoulder. It wasn’t pretty, but it was still rare enough that neighborhood children gathered around to gawk when the local biker rolled up his sleeves to work on his hog. It was still ink injected into skin. It was a tattoo.

Today, ink is everywhere. It is becoming rarer, at least in my circles, to meet someone who has a body completely untouched by ink. It’s virtually a requirement for a musician or actor to have some sort of body art done before they reach stardom. There are magazines, reality television shows and web sites devoted entirely to tattoos, the artists who create them and the bodies who serve as the canvas.

Long gone are the days when inked arms were reserved for hardened criminals and punk rockers. Let’s face it, tattoos have gone mainstream and they’re spreading like wildfire through suburbia. Continue reading Spreading Ink: The Rise of the Suburban Tattoo Parlor in Maryland

Broadcasting Crime: Should YouTube Be Held Responsible for Replaying Lawlessness?

We live in the world of 24/7, in your face, here-and-now media. And whilst I am the first to admit that I take full advantage of all news media being offered to me, ashamedly even Perez Hilton, I also think that there has to be a breaking point. There needs to be a line drawn clearly in the sand that says, “stop here and do not cross.” But is there?

Take for instance YouTube. Again, I am a fan, but the most recent controversy surrounding the network is rather bothersome. If the fact that eight Florida teenagers beating their peer and rendering her unconscious wasn’t enough to catch my attention in the news, how about the fact that I could watch the whole entire “animalistic” fight on YouTube?

Was it for five minutes of fame? Was it to empower themselves? I can not even begin to fathom what thought process would go behind something like that attack but I do know that they received the attention they were so desperately seeking. Continue reading Broadcasting Crime: Should YouTube Be Held Responsible for Replaying Lawlessness?

Remove At Your Own Risk: Can you get in trouble for taking the tag off a mattress?

Got a question burning a hole in your brain? If so, you’re in luck. Here’s your chance ask ‘Ask a Smartass.’ Urban legend, true mystery or idiotic pondering, I will attempt to tackle anything. So, without further ado, I kick off this column with a question most people should be familiar with:

Can you really get in trouble with the law by removing a mattress tag?

The answer to this is simply: Yes! In fact, this is one of the longest standing and most strictly enforced laws to be established since this great nation was born. The punishment for this infraction has varied throughout time. And now, in these “times of terror,” the government isn’t playing around. Continue reading Remove At Your Own Risk: Can you get in trouble for taking the tag off a mattress?

Next Page »