Baltimore's renowned gaming community adapts to emerging technologies and profound demographic shifts.
Civilization began in Hunt Valley—which isn't some Mesopotamian village, it's actually the Baltimore suburb known primarily for its sprawling office parks and shopping mall at the end of the Light Rail line. The dawning of this particular Civilization stretches back to the early 1990s, although some observers might place the date a decade earlier. That's when Sid Meier began designing video games...
We relive some of the classic answers for this, our final Grill (sniff).
It was a little more than 10 years ago that we introduced our backpage Q&A column with an idea—ask a variety of people the same set of questions—"borrowed" (read: stolen) from Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire. Our first Grillee was, fittingly, the late, great Walter Sondheim, and we've interviewed all manner of local celebs (writers, anchors, politicos, et al.) since. The column has evolved...
Captain Jan C. Miles, Pride of Baltimore II
"I grew up on the water because my father was in love with the water. He did a lot of cruising. I just turned 60. I've been sailing professionally since early high school.
In the fall of 1980, I got a call from a gentleman who was the captain of the first Pride of Baltimore, saying he wanted to have a bit of a respite. He was candid, saying there were other candidates involved, but would I be...
The entire graduating class at a unique school transcends poverty and heads to college.
It's just before noon at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Upper Fells Point. Students in crisp white shirts and purple-and-grey-striped ties file into the spotless lunch room, which doubles as a gym and an auditorium.
In a nearby conference room, several seniors, just months away from graduating, gather to discuss their college plans. But one of the class's standout students, James Townes, is...
The Iron Man on The Streak, the steroid era, and almost leaving Baltimore.
Ready to feel old? Cal Ripken Jr. retired in 2001—that's 10 years ago. Here, he reflects on the beauty of rain delays, the foundation his father inspired, and life after baseball. (Guess who's a novelist now?)
Where did you go to school?I graduated from Aberdeen High School. I was drafted out of high school so I never attended college. Maybe I will go back some day.
What book or film most changed...
The Maryland Film Festival programmer on film marathons, his unlikely alter ego, and frat boys with cameras.
As he gears up for the May 5-8 film-a-palooza, MFF director of programming Eric Hatch rubs his weary eyes, steps away from the screening room, and submits himself to The Baltimore Grill.
What book or film most changed your life?Reading Crime and Punishment in high school made me want to be a writer, the '90s rereleases of The Conformist and Le Samourai suggested that film might take over, and...
Baltimore was William Donald Schaefer’s one true love—and we loved him right back.
On one of his earliest days as mayor of Baltimore, William Donald Schaefer marched into City Hall and offered cheerful greetings to the veteran WJZ-TV reporter George Baumann.
"You're looking well today, George," said Schaefer.
"So are you, Mr. Mayor," said Baumann.
"Nope, nope. No, I don't," said Schaefer. "My head's too big, and I walk like a duck."
Well, he was a kind of odd duck, wasn't he?...
Ramona Diaz looked through the lens as Filipino teachers learned the ABC’s of Baltimore’s public schools.
Documentary filmmaker Ramona Diaz has always loved looking through a lens. "In high school, I had a camera at all times and was the photo editor of my yearbook," she says. "Even then, I loved the documentary sensibility. Friends would say, 'Can you just take a nice posed picture of us smiling?' I'd say, 'I don't want that picture.' I love vérité. I have always been after those moments that tell...
As the final new episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show airs this month, Oprah Winfrey, her friends, and colleagues look back at her years in the city that launched her into the stratosphere.
In 1976, when Baltimore's WJZ-TV decided to expand its six o'clock news format to an hour, the station couldn't have possibly known that it was about to make history.
At the time, the news was anchored by Jerry Turner, arguably the most beloved broadcaster in Baltimore. But the one-hour format was deemed too long for a single person to handle, so then-news director Gary Elion conducted an...
Navigating life in a Canton row house when babies make six.
There we were—the hubby and me—in the sonogram room at our obstetrician’s office waiting to see that little eight-week-old blob that would be our baby in 32 short weeks. The tech kept looking at the screen and moving the wand around my goopy belly. Finally, she uttered the words you never want to hear—especially from your sonographer—“How are you with surprises?”
Let’s take a pregnant...
