WHAT I SAY about Phil Regan's attempt to sell the 2,131 lineup card: Tacky. What I say about the Orioles' effort to get it back: Petty. ... What I say about the impeachment hearings: Make it stop! ... What I say about the performance of the City College concert choir at last week's monument lighting in Mount Vernon: Bravo, bravo! Encore! ... What I'd suggest for "Mad About You" on NBC: Drop Paul Reiser, make Helen Hunt a single mom and save the show. ... What I say about dinner at McCafferty's: Great steaks and atmosphere, but they should include potatoes in the price of the pricey entrees. ($4.50 for a side of mashed spuds? Give me a break.) ... What I suggest for Billy Ripken: If he doesn't return to the bigs, he could become a sports talk show host. ... What I say about the first half of any Ravens game: Wake me when it's over. ... What I'd like to know: The address of Airiana The Human Arrow. (I'd like to send her a Christmas card.) ... What I'd like to see: A cross-production of the World Wrestling Federation and Sesame Street Live at the Baltimore Arena. Stone Cold takes on Big Bird. I'm there!
Take a look at the Lyric
I see where the price tag on the Hippodrome project is $50 million, up from the $35 million first projected. Before we go any further with the idea of renovating the 2,250-seat Hippodrome, shouldn't we take another look at retooling the 2,522-seat Lyric Theatre and using it for big shows? A Sun story last winter seemed to dismiss the Lyric, saying it "lacks the technical capability to handle some of the large, special-effects-laden touring shows that have proliferated in the past decade." How much could it cost to make it so? As much as it will cost to reopen the Hippodrome? I might be wrong, but I doubt it.
Giving the police side
It's not every day a police lieutenant publicly criticizes the handling of drug cases by prosecutors. But Lt. Russell Shea, head of the drug enforcement unit at the Southwestern District, did just that at a community meeting Wednesday night -- with State's Attorney Pat Jessamy standing in the line of fire. The reason Shea was allowed to have his say? Top cops were displeased with Jessamy's televised blaming of police officers for the dismissal of some cases, and saw Shea's statements as a defense of the department. Stay tuned.
Bargains, but bad back
TJI cultural correspondent Joey Amalfitano has this to say: "Me and Maxine finally went to one of those big discount places that have been encroaching on the landscape. We went to the BJ's in Bel Air.
"It's like a dirigible hangar except there's no dirigible and lots of paper towels. We went a little nuts. We spent more than a C-note, and saved some money, I guess. But after we paid for our items, we had an industrial-strength problem. We had a push cart full of stuff and they were not in bags. You know I got a bad back, and Maxine isn't exactly Lynne Brick. We had a hard time with the loading and unloading. There's gotta be a better way."
Christmas in Ruxton, etc.
It's official. Christmas has arrived in Ruxton. The Land Rovers, BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes are sporting wreathes and bows. ... License plate spotted, appropriately enough, in Columbia: IAMLOST. And we saw this clever one on the back of a new Beetle: DEJA VW. ... Parents, take note: I hear the experience at the new Hoyts Cinema in Hunt Valley is fine, but for the first row of the second tier; a large railing there obstructs the view of little kids. ... I don't mean to tell him his business, but if the Devious Doc (Wrestletalk America, WCBM-AM Saturday nights at 8) wants to make those sexy "nurses" part of his shtick, he might consider a career in television, the visual medium.
In memory of ...
Myra Jans, an old friend of Joe Vowels, has made a bequest to the Maryland Institute, College of Art, in memory of the Baltimore upholsterer and interior designer who was brutally beaten in his East Biddle Street shop Oct. 21. Vowels, 75, died Nov. 2 at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
"I knew Joe for half of the time he spent in Baltimore, about 25 years," Jans said yesterday. "The beautiful things he did should not be forgotten, and one of the ways to honor him is to allow others" to learn his craft. A Vowels scholarship of $500 will be awarded annually to a deserving student of interior architecture.
Maybe Belle will change
"Maybe coming to Baltimore will change him, soften him," I heard someone say of Albert Belle the other day.
"Hopefully," adds Orioles fan Debbie Childs, "once he's in his new Oriole uniform, he will remember who's paying his salary for the next five years."
Childs, like a lot of Orioles supporters, comes to the Bad Albert issue with a sigh: She wants to see the orange-and-black win, but not if it means putting up with a jerk. Childs reports seeing Bad Albert in action last September during a White Sox game at Camden Yards.
"We were sitting in our regular seats next to the bullpen," she says. "Belle was playing left field and a foul ball was hit down the line. He picked the ball up, and of course all of the fans were cheering for him to throw the ball into the stands for a souvenir. Instead, he made a point to throw the ball over everyone's heads into the Chicago bullpen. The entire left side of the ballpark booed him."
Hey, at least he didn't throw it at anyone.
Pub Date: 12/11/98