Is Nothing In This City Sacred?!?

Four young geniuses were arrested downtown last night after they were seen driving around in a pickup truck with the large #8 statue last seen on Eutaw Street, outside of Camden Yards. 

Did they really think that they could get away with it?

Real-Life Wire

Straight from the TV screen to the actual streets of Baltimore! OK, maybe this guy and his East Side drug ring weren't as big-time as Proposition Joe or B & B, but it still sounds like David Simon could have written the script for this one.

Festival 2008 Recap

We hit the 2nd day of the '08 Virgin Mobile Festival on Sunday, and while not as good as last year (how can you top The Police, Beastie Boys, LCD Soundsystem, Cheap Trick, and even a vacant Amy Winehouse?), it was still a good time. There was a lot more separation between the two headliners, Nine Inch Nails and Kanye West, and the rest of the lineup - seemingly, all of the on-stage energy for the entire day was saved up for the last two acts. There were certainly other solid if unspectacular performances from Stone Temple Pilots, the Black Keys, Bob Dylan, and Moby, but nothing that could touch the aggressiveness of Mr. Reznor or the showmanship of Mr. West. There were a few acts that I had never heard of, or that had heard very little about, that I'll be checking out more, including Andrew Bird and Chromeo.

In Today's Paper

A few weeks ago, days in advance of the receipt of our state property tax assessment for this three-year cycle, I emailed the Baltimore Sun journalist who writes the paper's real estate blog and asked her what became of the Mayor's blue ribbon committee that was formed to study ways of lowering the city's tax rate. Oddly enough, it was released last week, and then as a follow up she ended up calling me and asking some questions for a tax-related story she's working on. I don't think I provided her with any great quotes or particularly new insights, so after the call I figured that my chances of getting into her article were slim. Time will tell, I suppose.

Meanwhile, I decided to package my thoughts on the committee's asinine recommendations in a letter to the editor. Someone from the paper called me Monday to confirm that I was in fact the author of the letter, and also to ask whether I was affiliated with city or state government or any organization with an interest in the property tax issue.

Then...it was printed in today's edition! Sure, it's not the New York Times, but I'll take it just the same - after all, this is the same editorial page that was once presided over by one H.L. Mencken (we're actually quite close, Mencken and I - every day my train to D.C. passes by the cemetery where he's buried). I even like the way they edited it; I had emailed my letter in one large block paragraph, but it definitely reads better broken up into shorter segments.

We Interrupt the SiCKO Diatribe...

...for a brief word about property taxes. Our part of Baltimore City was among the third of state properties to be reassessed for the 2008 tax year. The city's rate is more than double the rate for any other jurisdiction in Maryland. Given that, I'd really love to see (in order of preference):

1. The rates stay about the same, but the quality of city services, health, eduction, infrastructure, and public safety reflect the extremely high rate. In other words, a drastic, near-impossible improvement in Baltimore as a whole.
2. The rates lowered somewhat (25% percent, cut, maybe?), but stop wasting money on stupid shit like a convention center hotel and twice-weekly trash pickup.
   
3. The rates reflect what surrounding counties are paying. If we're paying all these taxes and things are going to be shitty anyway, at least let the rate reflect that. It's a stretch to think that the situation in Baltimore would be twice as bad if property taxes were halved.

Ravens Get Close...

...but their sad season continues. Ah well, at least there's Washington to root for! [that was a joke, kinda like Joe Gibbs' second stint as head coach].

As I was watching last night's game, I was thinking that it was just a matter of time before Kyle Boller gave it away. Now his interception wasn't the sole reason they lost (the ill-timed timeout when the defense had stopped the Ravens on 4th-and-1 and the galacticly stupid final possession and clock mismanagement were also culprits), but the offense and the play calling have to be more demoralizing to that defense than Tom Brady or Randy Moss.

After all these years of the defense carrying the team, who does Ray Lewis have to stab in a dark alley to get a decent QB and offense in Baltimore?

The Spree, Live!

On Saturday night, we ventured out to Ram's Head Live (our first time catching a show there) to see the Polyphonic Spree. While the acoustics were hard to judge - with 23 people on stage, the sheer cacophony can be a bit overwhelming - Ram's Head is a cool venue. As for the Spree, well it's seriously a performance that you have to experience. Any description won't do it justice, so I'm just not going to write one. We did wonder if we were seeing the energy level of a typical show, considering that it was the last night of this particular tour (and also founder and lead singer Tim DeLaughter's birthday), so I guess that means that we'll just have to see them some other time, to put that question to rest.

Not a problem at all though; they definitely go on my short list of acts that I've already seen, but that I would go see again and again, whenever opportunity presented [others on the list: the Police, Elvis Costello, Garbage, Harry Connick].

Tasering for Everyone!

OK, this Florida student may have been acting like an idiot as he tried to ask John Kerry a question, but what was wrong with cutting off his mic and just ending the forum? No, the thugs in the police uniforms decide to forcibly escort him away, then end up tasering him.

Living in Baltimore, I know the value of a good police force, but terrible decision-making on the part of police, like this incident and many more like it, just end up doing damage to law-enforcement. These incidents may be rare, but they almost always make the news, like D.C. Metro cops arresting a 12-year old years ago (crime: eating French fries on the subway). Then there are the popular zero-tolerance, quality-of-life arrests, as popularized by Rudy in New York. Do those approaches work? Hard to say. They likely tamp down some of the petty crime, but the suspicions of police that they engender probably contribute to fewer jury convictions, even for the most serious crimes. Throw in witness intimidation, the stop snitching "code" that so many fine Baltimorons honor, underfunding of police, lowering standards to attract new recruits, and law-enforcement is a big mess.

And what's with tasers, anyway? They've at least contributed to quite a few deaths since they were adopted by police; can't the geniuses employed by the military-industrial complex come up with something better?

How Walkable Is Your Neighborhood?

Find out at walkscore.com. Neat site, although I've never heard of some of the businesses it found near our house, and I'm not sure what to make of a supposed movie theater that it found south of the park.

Our address scored an 82, by the way.

Police Report for August 4, 2007

Yes, we saw the Police in concert again! This time at the Virgin Music Festival at Pimlico this past weekend. They played almost the exact same set as in PA, minus two songs, but it was still exhilarating, mostly because we were so close to the stage - anywhere from 100 feet back towards the start of the show to 50 feet away when they closed with a single-song second encore of Next To You. I even have some photos, although most are at least a bit blurry and/or grainy; the event organizers stated pretty clearly no cameras with changeable lenses, so that meant no Nikon D50 for us (we still saw a handful of people walking around with DSLRs though, so I guess it wasn't a well-enforced rule); instead, we took our old eBay-purchased Sony, with its 3x zoom. Eh, better than nothing, but it's hard to take a decent photo from even that close, when you have to hold the camera over your head to shoot above the crowd, plus there's the standard digital camera shutter delay to contend with.

We were able to get right up front because the Beastie Boys were on before the Police, and about a third of their fans emptied out - their loss was our gain! We were packed in pretty tight, at the end of a long, hot, humid, dusty day - it was a blast! We were close enough to see the few looks of disgust on Sting's face when they messed up song intros (Sting's fault once, Stewart's another time, although can the drummer ever really be wrong when it comes to timing?), and to read some of the text on Andy's guitar strap - "Oh My God, You Killed Kenny!" - seriously, that's what it was. Otherwise, not a lot of difference from the last show; as Jenny pointed out, unfortunately Andy's kick-ass solo for Walking In Your Foosteps was severely abbreviated, and one of the songs they didn't play that they played in Hershey was one of my favorites, The Bed's Too Big Without You. But I thought Driven To Tears sounded tighter, and I appreciated being able to fully enjoy another favorite, Synchronicity II, without also searching for our seats, as we had to do in PA.

Other bands, bah who cares. But here's a quick rundown anyway:

1. LCD Soundsystem - easily the best act we saw all day, other than the Police. These guys are aggressive, loud, energetic, and maybe a bit crazy.
2. Peter Bjorn and John (PB&J) - rock/pop from Sweden, songs themselves are hit-and-miss in terms of the writing, but another fun performance.
3. Amy Winehouse - great voice, outstanding band, too bad she mailed it in, either due to the heat or b/c she was high, not sure which. Plus, she really needs to eat something.
   
4. Beastie Boys - caught the second half of their set, not my kind of music but they're funny guys and great performers.
5. Cheap Trick - maybe a bit too old for this crowd? Robin Zander can still sing, they were OK on the whole.
6. Danny Tenaglia (DJ) - fun guy, good performer, eschews the 'DJ-as-cooler-than-you-stoic' stage persona.
7. Sasha and John Digweed (DJs) - yawn.

We also saw the billionaire himself, Richard Branson, around mid-day. He really puts together a well-organized festival, and his emphasis on environmentalism and community service isn't just lip service; half the festival ground was filled with various service organization and NGO booths, and every trash-disposal area was staffed by a person who made sure that garbage was sorted correctly [landfill, compost, or recycling].

[Update: I just uploaded a very short video (0:15) of the first few lines of Roxanne. It doesn't sound all that horrendous, a lot better than I thought it would anyway, considering it's a still camera in MPEG movie mode. It's so short because it's on the highest-quality setting, and that's as big as the buffer gets at that setting.]

KSR Redux, Calling all Kinetinauts

A few weeks late, but here's a quick recap of the Kinetic Sculpture Race. It was a long and tiring day of volunteering, but Jenny and I both had a great time, and would definitely do it again next year [but for other plans, potentially - see below]. From the opening ceremonies - the Star-Spangled Banner sounds pretty good on kazoo! - to lavish and grotesque trophies at the very irreverent award ceremony, it was a blast.

There were really no surprises when it came to my tasks at the mud pit: go to pile of dirt, wet dirt, rake/shovel, repeat. We didn't snare as many sculptures as we would have liked, but we did have a very strong, vocal crowd of a few-hundred spectators, most of them rooting for the sculptures while we secretly rooted for the mud. We really are kind of the bad guys of the race, and I know that we all heartily enjoyed that role. Jenny and I also met some fantastic people amongst our fellow volunteers; in retrospect we wish we would have gotten better (read: any!) contact information for them. I feel obliged to link to one of the web sites of an artist and fellow mud-connoisseur, both because she was so friendly and because her latest project is so cool.

We'll have some photos up before too long on Jenny or my Flickr pages (or on both), but until then here are the official race photos and re-cap.

Looking forward to the 2008 KSR, which will be the tenth running of the Baltimore edition of the race, we're thinking why volunteer if we could be competing instead? Competing might be the wrong word for a "race" with the grand prize going to the team that finishes in the middle, but you know what I mean. So take a look at the race web site, read through the rules, and then let us know if you're interested in being on the team. We're going to have to start building this summer, and all we're starting with are a few solid ideas, plus our soaring dreams of artistic and kinetic adequacy. No really, we are serious about this, please let us know if you want in.

2007 KSR!!!

KSR, as in Kinetic Sculpture Race. One of Baltimore's more bizarre and perhaps not-so-well-known traditions, which Jenny and I have seen parts of in years past. This year we're volunteers, so we're particularly excited. I'll be helping to create the mud pit at the Patterson Park obstacle course portion of the 15 mile race, while Jenny will be at two checkpoints near the Inner Harbor, with a wooden chicken-on-a-stick and a polaroid camera. Don't ask, you just have to come and see.

This is a race where finishing in the middle garners the top prize, the Grand Mediocre Champion, where 'kinetic cops' can be bribed to avoid tickets (time penalties), and where a giant pink poodle and a massive, fuzzy, skateboarding blue wombat race alongside an igloo, a rat made of trash bags, and a metal platypus, just to name a few.

For more info, check out the handy spectator's guide, which includes descriptions of all 31 entries, the race schedule, and a map of the course.

Another Dumb Criminal, + How Ticket Sites Could Work

I read this bizarre story on the train this morning, and am convinced now more than ever that the intelligent criminal is the rarest of species. This guy accuses a recently-fired employee of having an affair with his fiancee, and fires a few shots at him with his shotgun. But the defendant claims that it was an accident, he was going to offer the shotgun (and a big-ass knife) as a parting gift to the ex-employee, who he considered "a real woodsman", when he tripped and the gun went off. Riiiight! Maybe he meant to say that he was going to offer the shotgun slugs to the guy's chest, and the knife to his back? To top it all off, the defendant runs an nonprofit organic farm that provides food for soup kitchens. Apparently even the most charitable among us aren't immune to crimes of passion. Once again, I'm sure glad I live in the City and not the County - those County people are nuts!

As I continue the saga of trying to obtain Police tour tickets, I came upon mention of Scarlet Mist, one of several UK-based ticket sales and exchange sites, upon which users can only buy and sell tickets at face value. What a fantastic idea, and it seems to work too! Granted, for most of the listed events no tickets were currently on sale, but there was some availability for big names like Ricky Gervais and Justin Timberlake. I couldn't find a U.S. equivalent; can we get one of these sites over here?

A Scrimmage?!?

So the Police might not end up playing Baltimore because of a Ravens/Redskins scrimmage? That's just not right. Who gives a shit about an NFL scrimmage anyway? You know, I was starting to come around on the Ravens, since Modell sold the team and Ray Lewis hasn't killed anyone recently, but this is simply unacceptable. And to the Baltimore Sun - your cute headline referencing Roxanne? Gimme a break. Whoever wrote that headline should be fired.

Ah, Winter

So I go out running on Saturday morning, and then following that, I take Marty over to the park for her walk. Now, it's around 70F, I had just run 7+ miles, so I'm obviously wearing shorts. That must have been the reason that local human-interest TV news reporter dude (for the city's NBC affiliate) comes over to me and wants to ask a few questions about the weather. I'm caught off guard, but I don't want to be a jerk, so I agree. What followed was an exercise in banality, as he asks me what I think of the weather (um, it's warmer thasn usual?), isn't it weird to be wearing shorts in January? (uh, yeah), et cetra, ad nauseum. I'm not sure whether it was the dumb questions, or the fact that he didn't look the least bit interested in my oh-so-profound responses, but the whole thing was a bit annoying. Plus I wasn't looking as pretty as I could have, because I had just been out running. Then the cameraman wants to get a shot of Marty, who by this point is really impatient to get on with her walk, and is wondering why this camera guy won't give her a treat in return for her allowing him to film her. Anyway, we were out in DC that night, and weren't even home to see the evening news, but Liz & Jarriel's friend Derek saw it, and I got a call from Jarriel the next day.

Now Marty think she's a TV star, and is demanding a limo to the park and the expensive dog food. And while this morning (32F) felt a bit more like winter, our BGE (gas & electric) bill for December was less than $26. We should probably get used to these winters, because even if we do figure out how to stop global warming in our lifetimes, how are we going to reverse the damage that's already been done - build a big ice maker in Greenland that spits iceberg-sized cubes towards the North Pole?

Celtic Solstice

Yesterday, Barry and I ran in the 7th Annual Celtic Solstice Five Miler in Druid Hill Park. It was a new race for both of us, and we both enjoyed it. Nice weather, fantastic course layout, and - unlike other races of mine this year - I was very pleased with the result; an overall time of 40:27, with all five mile splits faster than 8:30. No, I didn't set any land speed records, but those are decent numbers for me, and that's all that really counts, right?

Any runners or would-be runners out there, I would highly recommend this race. The course is of moderate difficulty but very manageable, the field is large but not too large (about 2K registered runners, 1500+ finishers), the premium is awesome every year, and the post-race food & beverage spread is top-notch. Plus, several people run in kilts, and there are a bagpipes player and drummer out on the course. Also, you run right past the statue of William Wallace that's at one end of Druid Hill Lake. Very Scottish. We certainly got lucky with good weather, but I personally think it still would have been fun if it were below freezing (like last year, when it snowed).

Dusting off the Carboy

It's been years since I've done any homebrewing, but that's changed for the better in the past few weeks, as I now have a partner in brewing. Barry has already proved to be a bit impatient about the whole process - no Dad, we can't drink it yet - but it's more fun (and less work) with two people, so I think we'll be able to sustain operations and not have another three year haitus.

We've got two batches going now, a Scotch Ale that will be ready to drink just before Christmas, and a German Dunkel that will be ready...when it's ready.

Let's see, what else; the new Bond film, Casino Royale, is excellent, if a bit on the long side (2 1/2 hours).

I saw this bizzare boat docked at the Inner Harbor last night when I went running - certainly doesn't look like any boat I've ever seen before, and it runs on biodiesel. In March it begins an attempt to break the record for circumnavigating the globe by boat; the record is currently 75 days, set in 1998.

Finally, for the uninitiated - an explanation for this post's title. Here are some carboys, aka fermentation vessels.

Weekend Fun, Pigtown Style!

On Saturday we had a rather full day; first we headed down to the Inner Harbor - ugh, so many tourists, and NYY fans no less, since the Yanks were in town - to check out the Dragon Boat Races. Kinda disappointing, actual. Basically big canoes being paddled across the harbor.

The afternoon was redeemed though, when we walked over to the Pigtown neighborhood just west of Camden Yards, to take in the annual Pigtown Festival! We arrived just before the Running of the Pigs, which I managed to capture on lo-res video (I had the regular camera with me, not the video camera). But unbelievably, the fun didn't stop there! We also caught the Pigtown Pooch Pageant, possbily the lamest - but still fun! - dog show ever; apparently dressing your dog up in a dress or other costume is the way to go. Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the huge-ass piece of pineapple upside-down cake that we managed to snag for the Baltimore-bargain-basement price of $2.50!!! Look at the size of that brick of cake. We even came close to finishing it!

(Note: I had some additional photos that didn't upload to Flickr due to some problems the site was having yesterday, including a close-up of the cake...)

Concrete Jungle

There was a big drug bust in the city, not too far from our house, on Tuesday night. Four hundred pounds of marijuana was seized, including some plants that were 4 feet tall. 33 year-old John Arbuckle was arrested. No word on whether Garfield or Odie were taken into custody.

Free Art in Baltimore

According to the Post - funny, I couldn't find any mention of this in the hometown paper - those uppity Baltimore art museums, the Walters and the BMA, are no longer charging admission fees, starting October 1st. Finally, free art for the locals other than crime scene chalk outlines!