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Sings of the Times

Yard signs make your first introduction to many candidates

You may not agree with me in welcoming political signs as a sign of the arriving season. I can’t claim to love political signs quite the way I do spring’s greening or autumn’s gilding, but I do relish the spice of seasonal change — even electoral season. I like political signs for other reasons, too. They’re news, another thing I love. Yard signs make our first introduction to many candidates. Even in the age of the Internet, signs often go up before press...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin; 7/15/10

This Week’s Creature Feature - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Safely stashed in the doomsday vault are a diversity of seeds from New Mexico’s most well-known food group

Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin may not be a diehard fan of the spicy group, but he headed north for Svalbard, Norway, as part of its entourage. No, not the funk-rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, though that would make an interesting story of a different variety. Cardin joined six congressional colleagues to deliver the seeds of American-grown chili peppers — the kind that spice up food, not concert stages — to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Managed and run by the Global Crop...

Article - Creature Feature; by Margaret Tearman; 7/15/10

Ever Caught a Black Perch?

A gathering of these thick-bodied fish will fill your cooler and make a memorable dinner

My memory of big white perch begins on the Eastern Shore. I was fishing out of Crisfield in the early 1970s with the first fly-fishing guide on the Chesapeake, Doug Carson. I had looped out a long cast with a small, white marabou streamer to a sunken rock jetty off Janes Island and had come tight with what I assumed was a rowdy schoolie rock. As I fought it near the boat, Doug reached over, grabbed my leader and flipped the chunky devil into the skiff remarking, “Nice black...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle; 7/22/10

Sky Watch - Standing Up to the Moon

July’s Thunder Moon deadens all but the brightest lights

The gibbous moon waxes through southern skies this week, becoming full on the 25th. July’s full moon is known as the Hay Moon or the Thunder Moon. Rising at dusk and setting at dawn, the full moon dominates the sky this week, blotting out all but the brightest planets and stars. As the sun sets in the northwest before 8:25 this week, the first light to appear is the evening star Venus, 20 degrees above the western horizon. As dusk gives way to darkness, Venus is joined by ruddy...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll; 7/22/10

The Osprey Saga

Week 19: On the Road to Independence

A milestone has been reached. Junior is finally feeding himself. Now he can stuff himself with fish to his heart’s content and grow even faster. Here’s how it came about. After Oliver delivered the fish one morning, Olivia hunched over it and tore into it without feeding it to Junior. Then Olivia took off and flew circles and figure eights around the nest, swooping in close every once in a while. She was getting young Junior to feed himself of the pieces she had torn off,...

Article - Osprey Saga by M.C. Koblos; by M.C. Koblos; 7/22/10

Correspondence

-We welcome your opinions and letters – with name and address. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, 1629 Forest Drive, Annapolis, MD 21403 •E-mail them to editor@bayweekly.com. or submit your letters on-line by clicking here.

Tears to My Eyes Dear Bay Weekly: What a beautiful story “Hearing Hope in the Melody” [July 15]. The musicians Carolyn Surrick, Sue Richards and Ginger Hildebrand deserve special recognition for their devotion to the wounded GI’s. Reading their story brought a tear to my tired old GI eyes (Vietnam). Thank you for sharing. This article should be printed by the national media. Also, Diana Beechener did a great job telling their story. Job well done, Bay Weekly...

Article - Correspondence; by correspondence; 7/22/10

Struck by Fame

Annapolitan Joel Machak’s Crash Test Dummies break into the Smithsonian

It was a very bright idea indeed that struck Annapolitan Joel Machak and then partner Jim Ferguson a quarter of a century ago. Struck is a key word here. For in that moment of brilliance, the two ad men created the Crash Test Dummies Vince & Larry. For the next 14 years, from 1985 to 1998, Vince & Larry struck and were struck by all sorts of dismembering objects in a variety of collisions so inventive it seemed to be drawn from Looney Tunes. All to keep you safer while driving....

Article - News; by Sandra Olivetti Martin; 7/22/10

Extreme Makeovers

Grants from Maryland Heritage Areas Authority
makes two groups flush (with cash)

It’s surprising the difference a bathroom makes. As Maryland Heritage Areas Authority divided its $2,617,146 of grant money between 55 projects, at least two projects in Anne Arundel and Calvert County got cash for bathroom upgrades. At Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, executive director Linnell Bowen has long hoped to update the old Annapolis high school’s facilities. “We have the volume of people,” she said, “and we need to keep up.” The...

Article - News; by Diana Beechener; 7/22/10

Summer Sippin’

At Great Grapes Wine Festival, sample wines from around the world or around the corner

Some people collect wine the way that others collect records or baseball cards. This weekend, at the fifth annual International Great Grapes! Wine, Arts & Food Festival, the vinophiles among you get to add to your collection. “The festival is an inexpensive way to taste hundreds of wines right in your own backyard,” said Greg Nivens, president of The Trigger Agency, the event’s promoter in partnership with Mill’s Fine Wine and Spirits of Annapolis. “It...

Article - News; by Ron Stein; 7/22/10

Swell Summer Recipes

Maryland chefs show you how to keep your cool when the mercury bubbles

It’s too hot to cook. Yet the heat that’s stewing us is sugaring the peach, sweetening the corn, swelling the crab.That’s summer’s dilemma. The heat that cooks fruits and vegetables — even Maryland seafood — to perfection is the same heat that’s stewing you. Nobody knows this better than the chefs whose joy and job torture them with the best raw materials when kitchens are hellishly hot. Except perhaps the farmers, condemned to reap in July what...