When Governor Martin O’Malley was Mayor of Baltimore, he followed the growing trends in cities such Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington D.C and set out to make Baltimore a more Biker friendly city. Under the direction of the Baltimore City Department of Planning in an effort to, “To enhance and promote bicycling, [in Baltimore] created a Bicycle Master Plan in 2006.” College Park based Toole Design Group, which specializes in pedestrian, traffic calming, and bicycle research throughout the Baltimore-Washington region, aided the City of Baltimore’s Departments of Planning and Transportation in creating The Baltimore Bicycle Master Plan. The Plan outline the benefits including: traffic relief, environmental benefits of decreased pollution and the health benefits that one would get from biking. The Master Plan more importantly called for “A plan to coordinate the formal integration of bicycles in existing infrastructure” , by adding bike routes, making mass transit bike accessible, provide bike parking, and provide better communication with the biker community of Baltimore by hosting various events and forums. When Martin O’Malley headed south to take residence in the Governor’s Mansion, Mayor Shelia Dixon kept forth with The Bicycle Master Plan, explains Nate Evans, the Bike and Pedestrian Planner for the Baltimore City Department of Transportation. In E-mail, Evans explained that the city has “42 miles of bike lanes” in almost all parts of the city and notes that in the Master Plan on 15 were initially recommend and primarily in the downtown business district. Evans continues by listing other accomplishments of the Master Plan over the years including more bike racks and parking, the establishment of the College town Bicycle Network, and the promotion of various bike related events such as a bike summit at the beginning May with local bike advocates and the upcoming Bike to Work Day (May 15th). Even with all the strides the City and The Bicycle Master Plan have taken in making Baltimore more biker friendly those who ride bikes in the city on an almost daily basis and are directly connected to the Baltimore biking community see room for major grounds for improvement in the overall effort. Local bikers also bikers echo similar sentiments of the positive benefits of biking. Brian Rewers, a local bartender in Federal Hill who bikes to work from his home in the Canton neighbor of Baltimore. Rewers, who has been biking in the city for almost four years, said he started biking since it was faster and he didn’t have to deal with the hassle of parking, “as well as not having to spend money on gas and worrying about [his] car getting dinged up” and more importantly “not having to worry about drinking and driving.” Rewers also sees riding a bike as a safety risk “in his commute which can lead to him “getting hit by a car at any time.” Rewers concludes that he “would always get crap for riding through the harbor and feels that’s a great spot” to ride and sees that as an issue that The Bicycle Master Plan should have addressed. Jay Claddagh, a Biology masters degree candidate at Towson University bikes from South Baltimore to school in Towson. Claddagh, who has been biking in the city for two years, likes riding his bike because he states “if it’s under four miles, [he] can get to [his] destination faster on bike,” as oppose to his car and finds biking to “make the city smaller” by giving him the opportunity to experience areas he would not have if he were driving. Claddagh also sees shortcoming in The Bicycle Master Plan. Claddagh argues that the designated bike lanes are not dispersed thoroughly enough around the city. Mike Evans, of the Department of Transportation for Baltimore responses to these concerns is that “the city is currently designing bike networks for Park Heights and Southeast Baltimore” and “Collecting bike and pedestrian numbers with automated counters to evaluate and plan future bike lanes.” Evans, understanding the daunting task states, “The reality of the bike plan is that it will probably not be complete. We only have a fraction of total roads designated as bike routes or with lanes Baltimore has a long way to go.” But on a lighter note admits, “The current budget situation [due to the economy] has [had] no impacted the plan, just the implementation,” since “the bike budget experience a modest decrease this fiscal year.” With more planning and involvement with local bikers The Bicycle Master Plan, is track for permanent
Victoria Carter, 58 The head of Northwestern’s high school special education program was arrested yesterday at Baltimore School headquarters on felony drug charges. Cater ,whose son was arrested on similar charges is being held on bail at Baltimore’s Central booking.
Today president Barack Obama will travel to Mexico before the Summit of the America’s later this week, to meet with Mexican officials to offer help in the countries fight against the violent drug cartels. President Obama has pledged to crackdown on violence on both sides, by fighting to keep drugs out of the US and guns and money out of Mexico. This comes as CNN news is reporting that the Powerful Mexican drug cartels are forcing residents to join the fighting in the violent drug war.
Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers told a Boston sport radio show that star Power Forward Kevin Garnet may missed the entire playoffs due to a knee injury suffered early in season. The defending champions play the Chicago Bulls in the best of even games in the first round of the NBA playoffs starting Saturday.
In the world of entertainment some stars fifteen-minutes-of-fame may last a little longer, there are reports that everyone from former child star Keisha-Knight Pullman to R&B singer Solange to soon to be freed convicted dog fighter and former football star Mike Vick will be getting reality shows in the near future according to various celebrity blogs.
Today Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to give a speech detailing his countries future nuclear ambitions a day an invitation for new talks from world six super powers and North Korea’s missile launch.
The United States Navy has bought in FBI hostage negotiators to aid in the release of Richard Phillips the captain of the The Maersk Alabama, that was captured by Somalian hijackers off the coast of Somali in the Indian Ocean when it was carrying food aid destined for Somalia and Uganda.
Baltimore’s Bon Secours Hospital that provides to care for the poor and uninsured residents of West Baltimore, is seeking $5 Million from the State of Maryland to avoid closure.
For centuries indigenous cultures have used the hallucinogenic properties of various plants, to break over to the other side. Psilocybin mushroom in particular were used by the indigenous people of modern day Mexico for spiritual purposes. In 2006, the U.S. government funded a randomized and double-blinded study by Johns Hopkins University. Hopkins studied the spiritual effects of psilocybin mushrooms. The study involved 36 college-educated adults who had never tried psilocybin nor had a history of drug use, and had religious or spiritual interests; the average age of the participants was 46 years. The participants were closely observed for eight-hour intervals in a laboratory while under the influence of psilocybin mushrooms. In the fall of 2008 Hopkins repeated the study. I had the pleasure of sitting down Brian Durel from Baltimore, a participant in the recent study. In the below podcast Mr. Durel talks about the reason he participated in the study and what spiritual awakens he encountered and his overall thoughts on drugs and “having respect for drugs.”
Every Sunday Latin Palace on Broadway in Fells Point has Tango lessons. The classes are led by an authentic Argentine couple, and the class is from 4-7:30. When the class is over dancers can put the applied lessons to use with Tango dancing until 12 Midnight. Also on Tango night are drink specials sll night and a Latin Tapas buffet before the class.
In my continuing quest discover new places to eat and not break the college student bank, I always keep an eye out for a deal. So today before work I head to East Baltimore's Hispanic section for such a deal. Pollo Latino (Latin Chick) located on the corner or Broadway and Bank it sits in all its glory. For $5 you get a quarter Peruvian style roasted chicken two sides (Cilantro Rice, Yuca, Fries, or Black Beans), and a can soda. I opted for the rice and fries. Needless to say it was great and for the price well worth it. As its name suggest your only options are chicken, be it whole for $15, half for $10 or the quarter special for $5. Though I didn't try they also offer an assortment of Latin desserts such as Flan (a Spanish style custard), and Dulce Arroz con Leche (sweet milk and rice, best described as a richer take on rice pudding). If ever in the Fells Point area venture up to the Latin center of Baltimore and give Pollo Latino a try, you can't go wrong with the chicken there.
Today I had the pleasure to have a rapid fire 10 question interview with a Morgan State University sophomore from Prince Georges County Maryland English major Lyne Green. The interview is posted below. From the start it was obvious that Lyne is a very bubbly and out going person. As far as pioneering female politicians Lyne prefers Hillary Clinton to Sarah Palin. On the issue of Pro Life or Pro Choice, Lyne leans more towards Pro Choice. When the time comes from breakfast the obvious choice are Waffles instead of Pancakes. As far as political views Lyne consider herself to be more liberal than conservative. In the battle of the Beltway and the homegrown music, Lyne is a fan of D.C Go-Go over Baltimore Club. In the morning when it is time to get the updates on the world Lyne prefers the classic newspaper format to television broadcast news. It is obvious that Lyne is a morning person as oppose to a night owl, by how outgoing she is for a 9:00 am class. Though Lyne is a fan of the home grown Go-Go, the local rival the Dallas Cowboys win over the home team Washington Redskins. On the old time rival of colors Lyne goes with blue over red. And lastly the summer is a sure winner over spring.
Hillary Clinton*/ Sarah Palin
Pro Life/ Pro Choice*
Pancakes/ Waffles*
Conservative/ Liberal*
D.C. Go-Go*/ Baltimore Club
TV News/ Newspaper*
Morning Person*/ Night Owl
Dallas Cowboy*/ Washington Redskins
Red/Blue*
Spring/ Summer*
In the modern era, people have always longed for a simpler time, proverbial ‘good old days’, and a time when life was easy and not all rushed. These were the days when a religious scribe would be sitting at his desk sharpens his quill, pushes his small, sharp penknife through the tip to create a delicate but sturdy point and he thinks. The page is that of an 11th century manuscript that is part of a greater collection that may have taken upwards of five years to complete. This time period is the time of the lost art of illuminated manuscripts. This very skilled art has been in the dark since the dawn of the printing press in the more than 500 years ago. The lost art is once again being bought back into the light with the dawn of the Walters’ Art Museum in Baltimore new traveling exhibit: The Saint John’s Bible: A Modern Vision through Medieval Methods. The works in the exhibit are 10 years in the making. In 1998, Benedictine monastery the Saint John’s Abbey in Wales in the United Kingdom and Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota commissioned Donald Jackson a master calligrapher at the University to create the first manuscript to be commissioned by a monastery in over 500 years. Nancy Zinn, the Walters’ Associate Director of Collections and Exhibitions said that the exhibition is a good match for the Walters’, “since it will feature 44 pages from the two volumes of the manuscript, the Books of Wisdom and the Books of Prophets, these manuscripts will be set alongside 49 manuscripts and rare books from the Walters’ permanent collection depicturing a variety of religious traditions.” Public relations coordinator, Amy Mannarinom, said “that this exhibit was put together rather quickly in a time of 2 years due to an opening in the exhibition area… and due in part that the museum has a large amount of Biblical Rabbinical and Islamic text and manuscripts to enhance the exhibit.” The flow of the exhibit was set up using an almost chronological basis. The first gallery presents Jackson’s 3-feet wide by-2 feet tall, classic interpretation of text from the book of Solomon, done with long, deep calligraphy strokes. Although the Saint John’s bible is an undertaking based in Christianity, the museum uses manuscripts from its private collection to show other faith’s text as influence. The Museum has a 15th century Islamic Koran from Central Asia, placed directly next to the Song’s of Solomon. The reason is clear since the Koran is most often written in highly skilled and refined calligraphic Arabic script. Though written in English the older Koran’s in the collection serve as inspiration to the modern illuminated Bibles. The Saint John’s Bible is done with the aforementioned elaborate calligraphic writings, but is also decorated with the use of pictures, designs, and in some cases gold. The museum juxtaposes the Bible once again with text from the various faiths including the Hindu poem Mahabharata, a poem about the inner struggles of faith and one loyalty to God. The Walters’ does a good job showing the similarities in other religions by placing the Hindu place, next to a St. John’s Bible depiction of the prophet Job’s time of tribulations from the book of Job. Since the manuscript is a work of modern art, Jackson uses many modern references in the ancient Christian Text. The most awe-inspiring work: the Suffering Servant the use of slavery and prison are used as to illustrate the book of Isaiah. The caption of the print explains that “the heavy black bars surrounding the boy were inspired by the ‘Door of No Return’ at Elmina Castle in Ghana where thousands departed for a life of slavery in America…[and] the images of chain-link fences allude to present-day prisons, refugee camps, and other places of bondage.”
The final leg of the tour is in a room most likely designed for children, where there are multimedia presentations on the methods of making illuminated text, and also the opportunity to make an illuminated, with makers, papyrus paper, and other adornments. While on a dreary Wednesday afternoon the exhibit and museum were very empty, staff said it has been popular among the public especially children. Nancy Zinn, the Walters’ Associate Director of Collections and Exhibitions said via e-mail that the exhibit was when “Abigail Quandt, curator of manuscripts, saw leaves from the Bible on display at the Phoenix Art Museum. She immediately recognized both the consummate artistry of the manuscript, and the rich and interesting connections it has with the history of illuminated manuscripts. Upon further investigation, we discovered that although The Saint John’s Bible has already been exhibited widely, no exhibition had focused on the historical background of the project. We decided that the Walters has precisely the kind of collection to make such an investigation possible.” While the state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore provide funding to keep the museum open free to the public, Amy Mannarino of the Museum’s public relations department explains that funding for “The Saint John’s Bible: A Modern Vision through Medieval Methods” is being sponsored by the Women’s Committee of the Walters Art Museum with lead support from Edgar and Betty Sweren. Contributing supporters include Michael P. Cataneo, Carole Barney and Cynthia Alderdice. Additional support is provided by Mary Catherine Bunting and Mary Mangione in memory of Nick Mangione. The exhibition is organized by the Walters Art Museum in association with the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, Saint John’s Abbey and University. The exhibit is at the Walters’ until May 24th and the cost is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, $4 for Students and free for people under the age of 17.
Just last year “bible” of music Rolling Stone magazine named Baltimore "Best Scene" in its April 2008 "Best of Rock" issue. The Baltimore “scene” is a microcosm of artist and groups of all different genres, mediums and experiences all with the common goal of keeping the thriving Baltimore Art Scene thriving. One group that is the pulse of the Baltimore “scene” is Wham City. Wham City is an artist collective with varied members whose members work in various mediums from cartoons to acting to a local underground comedy talk show. Wham City puts on various events throughout the year and city from plays, concerts, art installations, and various lecture series. The lecture series range from heady topics such as about how a person can make a worm harvest to lighter subjects about the world of adult cartoons. Both of the above subjects and many others can be found at the Baltimore collectives biweekly lecture series. The lecture series are organized by Wham City member Connor Kizer, who says the whole point of the lecture like Wham City itself is to “give the city a new voice and spin on issues that are important to us.” With the “us” being the followers of Wham City in the Baltimore Scene. At Wham City’s performance space the Zodiac (1726 N. Charles, Baltimore) the Wham City Lecture Series was at it again. The small venue was almost to capacity with 30-40 people in attendance. After a round of small talk, Kizer informed everyone to grab and beer or drink and get ready for the lectures. The First speaker of the evening was Cheryl Carmona who discussed a surprisingly interesting subject: Worms as Pets. Carmona said this was an important issue because in the future people will not have soil. He reasoning for not having soil was later clarified by saying soil that is healthy because of pollution. In her speech Carmona gave the steps to making habits for the worms. The advantages given were a cheap soil that is nutrient rich for growing food and it gives an honest look at how much people waste. The point is to take all of the biodegradable trash a person produces and put it into the Worm heap. The worms in turn thrive off of the waste and break it down, leaving with the nutrient rich soil. Carmona also gave advice to some audience members about the right PH and acid balance and offered tips on how to keep the soil moist longer and the like. The next speaker or better yet presenter was the true highlight of the evening. Dina Kelberman, who is also a founding member of Wham City, presented on Rule 34 of the internet: If it can be thought there is a site for it or soon will be. More specifically Kelberman presented slides with your favorite childhood cartoon characters in some quite compromising positions. Since it was more of a slide show, Kelberman presented some of her favorite drawings that she has amassed in her collection from everything from The Simpsons to Little Mermaid and surprisingly humorous Finding Nemo’s of example of Rule 34. After Kelberman had shared her favorite slides she took request. Audience members shouted out everything from Fraggle Rock to Beauty and the Beast, from G.I. Joe to anything else you may have watched during your childhood. Connor Kizer ended the evening by thanking everyone for being in attendance and gave notice about the topics for the next series which will be March 25th at zodiac and the topics will be Housing Segregation in Baltimore by Lola Pierson and complaints by Julia Kudravets.
Last night a friend and I had the pleasure of eating a restaurant I have been wanting to try for a long time: The Brewer's Art (1106 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21201).
Located in a restored brownstone mansion in the historic Mount Vernon section of Baltimore. The fact that The Brewer's Art has such a wonderful location is a plus and the beautiful dinning areas just add to the wonderful experience.
The Brewer's Art is known for being a brew house and its high gravity (high alcohol) beers. While my date opted for something light I went full throttle with the famous house beer Resarection. With its full body and hops this is a beer that you sip as oppose to just pounding like Bud Light. Since we opted to sit in the bar area we could order off of the bar menu and the regular menu. I my date friend had the: Shrimp and Grits - Marvesta Shrimp,Tasso Ham, Lobster-Tabasco Butter $11
While I had the: Potato Crusted Cod Horseradish Potato Mousseline, Sweet and Sour Braised Cabbage, Proletary Mustard Sauce $23
On both dishes the presentation was nicely done, added with service and the overall ambiance I would most definitely recommended The Brewer's Art.
On Thursday afternoon a diverse crowd gathered in the Morgan State University bookstore for a reading of "Midnight" a new novel by renown urban story teller, activist, recording artist and author Sista Souljah.
Seana Jefferson a senior Psychology major from Montgomery County, Md was one of the many Morgan students in attendance. Jefferson said that she was present because of her affinity to Souljah's previous work "The Coldest Winter Ever," but admitted that "'Midnight' is the favorite between' The Coldest Winter Ever' because it gives a background to 'The Coldest Winter'". And adds that she felt that there was not much advertisement on campus.
The audience was a mix of current students facility and community members. Also in the audience were a College tour group from the Bronx, NY. Fred from New York said that the group "just stumbled on the [event]" and thought that Morgan was "mean"
As the time approached and pasted 4:00 the audience started to fill up with late commers or early birds since Sista Souljah had yet to arrive. While waiting the audience exchanged small talk about which of of Sista Souljah books they preferred, what is her delay, and the fact that the books should be made into a feature film, mixed in with topics not related to the book signing.
Once she arrived Sista Souljah greeted the group warmly and was received by a round of applause. After giving a few ground rules dealing with no photography or video recording until after the reading was over since she said:"we are hear for a good time of bonding." Sista Souljah explained her tardiness on the fact that she had never been to the New Student Center.
Sista Souljah explained her motivation for writing the new novel Midnight. Since the only background was the secondary information from The Coldest Winter Ever. She stated that Midnight the title charcter was a case study as to why black males are the way that they are.
She then goes into a reading of a chapter from Midnight. Listening to her voice though it is prose her delivery seems that of a seasoned poet in the Hip-hop griot tradition with much force, power, and emotion of someone from the Public Enemy era.
After the reading the floor was open to a disscussion. With positive feedback that people have lost fact what it is to be a man. Which Sista Souljah gives as her reasoning for doing a prequal of the Midnight.
When asked if she saw the book as a movie Sista Souljah replied that: "[she] saw the book a movie when writing the nove " because of the many charcters and voices and people were seen and would be a great film.Sista Souljah in conclusion said that her main purpose when writing or any project is to have a mirror put to the reader and have them take an honest look at themselves and the hope that the future artist will have "more feelings rather than raw stimulation."
On the above note Sista Souljah ended with the argument that the college generation has to make up a set of rules to live by and do better for their races and community. And leaves with the final parting shot of it being "up to the college students to change the dialogue" to better society.
On February 11th, actor Joaquin Phoenix was a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman, to promote his new film Two Lovers (the entire interview can been seen below). When Phoenix enters the stage it is clear that his appurtenance has changed since his last appearance on the show, with a long unshaven beard and disheveled hair. The new appearance causes Letterman to jest: “how was your time with the Unabomber?” Throughout the interview, Phoenix is pretty much only responsive with short and or one word answers to Letterman’s questions about the film his new appearance. When asked about the new look Phoenix, seemed responded that Letterman was, “making [him] feel wired about it.” Phoenix also questioned if Letterman was pumping “nitrous” laughing gas “in this joint, as a response to the laughing audience. Phoenix explained he was giving up acting to peruse a rap career and should appear on the show which Letterman responded to by saying “unlikely.” After forgetting his co-stars of the films names and refusing to introduce the clip, Letterman ended the interview saying: “Joaquin, I'm sorry you couldn't be here tonight”
In the lead to the climax of the film Network, the tragic hero Howard Beale presents the idea that the individual is dead. According to the doctrine of media mogul Arthur Jensen, individualism has gone to the way-side of a capitalist world, where the only thing that matters is in fact capital—money. The above does not seem true to the world of Dubai on prima facial bases. Yes Dubai is an oil rich Arab state that has seen a period of boom due to the oil wealth. Unlike many other nations, Dubai in facts takes the oil profits to benefit its own society by providing free health care, education, and jobs for it citizens while still as stated remaining profitable. I think the reason this works for Dubai has to do with the shared Islamic culture and heritage—thus giving a reason to support its fellow man.
If following the Dubai World Emirates model a news organization would have to have set goal and vision that is beneficial to society as well as profitable in the long term. Since it is not possible to create a news organization that can reach every group and race and class and social status, one needs to find a niche to direct the media too. If I were to create an outlet for news I would target the young urban market regardless of race. Because as seen with the past election the younger generations are the groups that can bring about change and set the future for success. This organization would present all the national and world news from a view point that is insightful and not the same old standard “old-guard” form. And since we now live in a global world that is easily connected I would use open source codes and medium so that younger voices from all over the world would be able to input news and information for this generation.
It is true that individual is in fact dead, but rebirthed in the form of the collective “we” with the same goals, view points, and ideas, to reshape the world.
Journalist are the guards of the forth estate. They are not the leaders of the church, the state, of of the aristocracy, but rather the voice of the people that give a fair and balnce view and report on the other three estates. With so much responsabilty journalist have to be very ethical with their reporting and report fairly and ethicaly and be sure not offend anyone. So the question of when to report on sensitive issues is touchy ground. The historic reporting of the Zodiac Killings is a good example of when it is ethical to report information to the general public. The said killer would mock the press by sending complicated cryptic messages to the paper who would in turn publish them. Some would say that this fed the ego of an insane killer by doing so. The above may be true but by publishing the messages put more eyes on the text, and someone may have known a person who was into such cryptic puzzles and lead to an arrest. In the example where a case could be solved by the aid of the public it is perfectly ethical. While some news outlets are out for ratings and the revenue of the competition of media release information just for the fact of having that exclusive. The best example would be in recent times is the tape that NBC released of the Virginia Tech killers rant. The release of the tape would have done nothing to solve the murders since the killer in turn killed himself in the end. Therefore NBC's only motive would have been that ratings and profit. Lastly the later release of sensitive material has proved to be affective. In Baltimore this past fall a former City Council person was murdered outside of a local bar. Several days after the murder local news and police outlets released a video of the accused murders. While it took sometime all three have since been arrested and charged due in part to the video, a person from the public may have recognised the mannerisms of the killers or even passed as they too passed. So the only times that information should be aired out is when it will have a better chance to solve a crime and when the time has past on a sensitive case as not to offend anyone and not just looking at ratings or a boost in newspaper sales.
It is always a given that in the Mid-Atlantic region there will come a time for true 'winter weather,' we got just that in the Baltimore area early Tuesday morning to this current day. Even though it was not as bad as a Chicago snow storm is was bad enough. In Baltimore the main problem were the icy road conditions. Even though the roads were icy, the city did a good job in clearing and salting the main streets and traffic flow did the rest. On Tuesday night when the ice started I was out in about none-the-less, but as it got later and the ice started to freeze, you really had to put forth some caution. But mainly snow days for me are just lazy days around the house and nothing much else, unless it is truly needed I don't leave the apartment and just spend the day reading, watching T.V., or catching up on task that I had put on the back burner when the road condtions were not death traps. Another good thing about the bad weather, was a day off from school to relax. While not bad as Chicago or other areas anything below 50 in my book is bad enough.
