Blogs: Author Archive

By Eric Allen Hatch If you moved to Baltimore in 1996, as I did, you might find yourself wondering if you’d made the right decision—until, that is, you met “Blaster” Al Ackerman. Getting to know Blaster wasn’t only adding a warm, wise, and deeply hilarious person to your circle of friends. It was also unlocking...
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On Monday, Feb. 20, the Walters Art Museum announced it has named Julia Marciari-Alexander as its new executive director, replacing  Gary Vikan, who held the position for 18 years and worked at the museum an additional nine. Under the direction of Vikan, the Walters became one of the first museums in the country to...
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Mayor SRB is set to give her “State of the City” address today, portending big changes in taxation and city pensions. Last week, to prepare the ground, she released a consultant’s report claiming the city faces a $3 billion deficit (mostly infrastructure and pension funding gaps) in the next decade. This is a standard...
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Robert Chew was one of those talents you could easily underestimate. If you didn’t already know how much of a powerhouse he was on stage, you could easily pass the quiet, mysterious man sitting in the back of the Arena Players’ theater. I’d known him since I was a teenager. As a theater major...
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By Chloe Helton-Gallagher For the past 12 years a single week in December has seen the population of Miami swell by over 50,000 people. Drawn by the glittering allure of the self-described “most prestigious art show in the Americas,” attendants of Art Basel Miami Beach pack a surprisingly high proportion of unpractical shoes to...
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Red Emma’s, the collectively run bookstore and cafe, announced that they have signed a lease for 30 W. North Ave., the location beside Liam Flynn’s Ale House occupied by Cyclops Books until this September. The location is part of the North Avenue Market building, owned by Carolyn Frenkil and Mike Schechter, who recently announced...
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Charlie Vascellaro wrote last week’s cover story about watching the Orioles’ magical 2012 season from section 8. Now that the O’s run is over,  he’s ready to move on… When the end came, our group of Orioles’ faithful was gathered in a speakeasy basement baseball bar called Phelan’s Pub located underneath my buddy Billy...
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Patrick “Scunny” McCusker, the owner of Canton’s Nacho Mamas, was hit by a bus and killed while riding his bike in Ocean City on Friday. McCusker opened Nacho Mamas on Elvis’ birthday in 1994 and wore a purple Elvis suit to the Super Bowl in 2001. If Elvis is the King of Rock ‘N...
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Last night, we drifted into the Theatre Project, taking seats at tables set up on stage. The scene had a cabaret feel to it, with tealights dotting the darkness, copious drinks on hand, and a piano in the corner. A fundraiser for Glass Mind Theatre, the affair showcased the vocal talent of various people...
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Bill Ferguson The Democratic primaries on Sept. 14 produced a momentous change in the Baltimore City Senate delegation’s roster: 27-year-old political neophyte William Ferguson trounced longtime 46th District state Sen. George Della, the aging scion of a waterfront dynasty that reaches back several generations. Ferguson is unchallenged in the general election, so there’s no...
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The University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s Retriever has this handy guide to “the portal to hell,” or the Copycat Annex. In it you will find the most bizarre bit of Young Republican student newspaper writing this side of Brigham Young. Future stars of cultural criticism Becky Hunter and Paul-William deSilva were also kind enough...
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Though state Sen. Catherine Pugh (D-40th District) has a free pass in this year’s elections, she has nearly $200,000 in her campaign kitty. That makes her a key player in her district’s delegates’ race (“One-Man Stand,” Aug. 18), in which she and the incumbents—Frank Conaway Jr., Barbara Robinson, and Shawn Tarrant—have formed the District...
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