Features (Things)

Article - Things; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 2/9/12

Mark Yourself a Fire Hydrant

Annmarie Garden’s newest public art challenge wants you to Make a Splash

Fire hydrants are the latest foray into public art at Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center in Solomons. Also the most practical, satisfying the Calvert County Commissioners’ desire for fresh paint on county hydrants. You, by yourself or with a team, are invited “to submit designs and compete for the privilege — and fun — of painting a fire hydrant in the Solomons-Dowell community,” says Garden director Stacey Hann-Ruff. ...

Article - Things; by a Bay Weekly exclusive - 1/19/12

Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite

Before I could sleep tight, I had to learn more about these invading pests than I ever wanted to know

Editor’s note: This story is true. The author goes nameless to protect the innocent. I scooped the two yellow bugs into a glass jar and tightened the lid. What were these little critters crawling along the seam of my mattress? I’d found a yellow bug like this on my bed once before and didn’t think much about it. But now I had three. Something was going on. I feared the worst: bedbugs. But these creatures didn’t look at all like the...

Article - Things; by Diana Beechener - 3/10/11

What's With That? Lessons of a Tumbled Tree

Timber!

On a recent blustery day, a thunderous crack and immediate darkness in the kitchen alerted me to a wayward limb obstructing the power lines. Dangling from our power lines and blocking our road was the top half of a neighbor’s pine tree. We should call someone, the gathering of alarmed neighbors agreed. Who do you call when a tree takes a swan dive onto a public road? As we debated the finer points of tree...

Article - Things; by Diana Beechener - 2/17/11

Goosey, Goosey Gander, Where Do You Wander?

One reader’s quest to gander a gaggle sent us to the experts

On a recent trip down to my pier, I found a gaggle of interlopers monopolizing the planks and moorings. Geese. Loud, messy and surprisingly aggressive long-necked Canadas were using my pier like a roadside rest area. I was happy they’d be on their way north in a few weeks. Reader Bill Seabrook doesn’t share my uncharitable attitude toward these migrating fowl. He wrote in to find out why his recent birding walks in Anne Arundel and Calvert...

Article - Things; by Aries Matheos - 2/3/11

Don’t Jump, Dummy!

Who’s that guy on the roof at ATW Hardware & Supplies?

Who’s The Man? He’s the guy Ted Kramer hired to draw attention to his business. The Man has been sitting, standing, lying and climbing onto the roof at ATW Hardware & Supplies on Pike Ridge Road in Edgewater for six years. So it’s a good thing The Man is made of chicken wire and foam rather than flesh and blood. In 2005, Kramer decided something was missing in his then 16-year-old business. “Too many people said they didn’t know where we were,” Kramer...

Article - Things; by Diana Beechener - 6/10/10

Treat Our Flag Right

It’s Alive, U.S. Code Says

On Monday June 14, our nation celebrates Flag Day, a national holiday that honors the Continental Congress’ adoption of the official American flag. With 13 bars and 50 stars, the American flag is one of the most recognizable symbols of our union. Here’s how to treat it with the care it deserves. • Don’t wear the flag. Resist the temptation to buy apparel imprinted with the American flag. The United States Code forbids the flag to be used as “wearing apparel,...

Article - Things; by Daniel Manning - 6/10/10

Video Gaming is a way of life for millions. I’m one...

I am a racecar driver. I am a swordsman. I am a gangster. I am an alien. I have saved the world. I have played in front of thousands. I have found the princess in another castle. I have found the cake. I have done all of this from my basement. I am one of millions of explorers in the strange world of video games. Among my fellow gamers, I am young at 18. The average gamer is 35, according to the Entertainment Software Association, and has been playing for 12 years. We’re...

Article - Things; by Amy Russell - 5/20/10

Hey, Hey, Hey, Get Out of My Way

The Blue Angels’ support plane, Fat Albert, has a few tricks up its wings

-“The current temperature is about 65 degrees with clear skies. The wind is calm,” Captain Edward Jorge, aircraft commander, tells his crew as he starts the pre-flight brief just minutes before his plane, Fat Albert, starts the Blue Angels’ show. The six-man crew hangs on to Eddie’s every word, digesting the information, with stone-cold focused faces and the occasional nod. Wind speeds, coordinates and the course are detailed too rapidly for a civilian to catch,...

Article - Things; by Margaret Tearman - 4/29/10

Update: Get Your Cash for Clunker Appliances Now!

Time runs out when the money’s gone-

Maryland’s appliance rebate program, begun on April 22, will last only until the $5.4 million runs out. Better act fast. The state-administered rebates are going quick. In Illinois, energy- and money-wise customers went through their state’s $6.2 million in one day. As part of last year’s federal stimulus bill, the U.S. Department of Energy distributed $300 million among the 50 states for energy-efficient appliance rebates. When and how the funds were distributed was left to...