Anvil

Imre & Associates LLC, a Baltimore-based public relations agency, announced yesterday that it won two awards in the National 2000 Public Relations Society of America Silver Anvil Competition. The firm won a Silver Anvil award in investor relations - one of 42 Silver Anvils awarded - for its campaign work for US Foodservice on launching its e-commerce initiative. Baltimore-based P. W. Feats Inc., a special events company, helped the agency create on Nov. 9 the world's largest cybercafM-i on Wall Street to announce the venture.

One of the foolish things in which local governments often involve themselves is enforcing arbitrary rules about the aesthetic value of aspects of people's homes or businesses. Across the country, there are various requirements that houses can only be painted certain colors, doors must be wooden, windows must appear historic, siding must be horizontal (or vertical, depending on the street), etc., etc. Recently Delaware officials tore down some poor guy's basketball hoop, which had been there for more than a decade.  Well, the latest example of the arbitrary aesthetic police comes from our neighbors in Florida.  Linda Downey, the owner of a restaurant called "Taste of Philly," says she was recently cited by her town for flying -- wait for it -- too many patriotic flags on the side of her store.  Apparently, in Crystal River, you're allowed to fly three patriotic flags, but no more.

The tragicomedy of artistic striving has never been more grittily or more sweetly captured than in Anvil! The Story of Anvil. The Canadian heavy-metal band named for a blacksmith's favorite tool failed to build on the iron spike of success that was the group's 1982 album Metal on Metal. Despite a jamming appearance in Japan's 1984 Super Rock Festival, the band fell inexorably into obscurity. This documentary about the group's blip and fall exudes a boundless, generous humor. It will enable even gentle folk-rockers to appreciate the ambitions of men whose earliest works, inspired by the Spanish Inquisition, included the song "Thumb Hang."

Well, here we are again folks. It's time for the much-anticipated, much-celebrated, much-adulated presentation of the "Wile E. Coyote Anvil of Reason Award," which as you know is given to that person in the news most needing a dose of common sense in the form of brutal cartoonish enlightenment. This week's much-coveted award goes to U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D., N.Y.). Congress member Slaughter gets the honor for worst use of hyperbole in discussion of a political matter. When discussing Republican intentions in the budget debate, she claimed -- and this was not a joke -- that Republicans were actually trying to murder women.  "Now, they're here to kill women," Slaughter (appropriately named)

Anvil! The Story of Anvil This documentary about the blip and fall of a Canadian heavy-metal band conveys more strength and breadth and depth of emotion - more of the stuff that translates into art-and-entertainment staying-power - than most movies about painters or writers or classical composers. The big-haired bruisers of Anvil! have great heart and good humor - and so does this movie. *** 1/2 ( 3 1/2 STARS) Opening next Friday Every Little Step: (Sony Pictures Classics) This documentary follows dancers auditioning for A Chorus Line on Broadway and tells the musical's history as well.

Trahan, Burden & Charles has won one of the top awards given by the Public Relations Society of America for its work on the launch of Port Discovery.Another Baltimore-area company, Imre & Associates LLC, also was honored with a Silver Anvil award for its campaign for Ryobi North America, a power tool and outdoor equipment manufacturer.TBC Executive Vice President Sandy Hillman called the Silver Anvil "the equivalent of the Oscars" in the movie industry. "It sends an important message to your clients that you don't have to work with firms in New York or L.A.," she said.

Payne Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church, committed to social ministry in the Madison Park neighborhood, is expanding its service to the community as it opens its third outreach building tomorrow.The congregation, at 1714 Madison Ave., will hold an 11 a.m. worship service to celebrate its 102nd anniversary. After unveiling a sign in front of the church proclaiming the street "Payne Memorial Way," the congregation will march three blocks to the new outreach building at 1505 Eutaw Place.

In the Region Baltimore-D.C. retail prices up 0.4% in last 2 months Retail prices in the Baltimore-Washington area rose 0.4 percent during the last two months, after a 0.7 percent increase from January to March, the U.S. Department of Labor reported yesterday. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers also was 3.2 percent higher in May than it was 12 months ago. Prices for transportation, food and beverages, recreation and other goods and services rose in the period. Prices for housing, apparel, medical care and education and communication were down.

Fair highlights opportunities at BWI Airport The seventh annual BWI Business Networking Fair will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 21 at the BWI Marriott Hotel, on West Nursery Road in Linthicum. The event is an opportunity for small and minority-owned businesses to meet with contractors working at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Its aim is to help increase participation in the tremendous opportunities associated with the rapid growth of the airport. Each year, the networking fair offers a number of workshops and sponsorship and exhibit opportunities.

It happened recently on a downtown street as I walked toward my doctor's office: From somewhere behind me, I heard a sharp, popping noise and, without thinking, I covered my head and ducked. It was not a conscious decision to react this way; my body just responded automatically to the noise.A few minutes later, however, my mind caught up with my body.I realized I had interpreted the noise as gunfire. And that I had reacted instinctively to protect myself. The gesture surprised me: I wasn't aware that such a reaction had been programmed into my routine survival mechanisms.

Last week, we introduced the "Wile E. Coyote Anvil of Reason Award," given to that person in the news who most needs a dose of brutal cartoonish enlightenment. This week, we have several worthy nominees. They are:  •  Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) . Nominated for skirting tax laws to the tune of nearly $300,000 relating to her private plane.  What is it with politicians and paying taxes? At least McCaskill can seek tax advice from the president's top money man, Tim Geithner.

Renaldo Kuhler created, designed and even crafted the written language for an entire imaginary country, right down to its film industry and noxious odors. Nek Chand created an elaborate concrete garden in the midst of an Indian jungle. Gayleen Aiken gave birth to a family of 24 cardboard cutouts, through which she re-created the pastoral Vermont of her youth. Grandma Prisbrey created a village out of bottles and other recyclables. Fringe artists like these are not just different from you and me; they're different from other artists as well, operating so far outside the mainstream that society often doesn't know whether to cherish or mock them.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil This documentary about the blip and fall of a Canadian heavy-metal band conveys more strength and breadth and depth of emotion - more of the stuff that translates into art-and-entertainment staying-power - than most movies about painters or writers or classical composers. The big-haired bruisers of Anvil! have great heart and good humor - and so does this movie. *** 1/2 ( 3 1/2 STARS) Opening next Friday Every Little Step: (Sony Pictures Classics) This documentary follows dancers auditioning for A Chorus Line on Broadway and tells the musical's history as well.

The tragicomedy of artistic striving has never been more grittily or more sweetly captured than in Anvil! The Story of Anvil. The Canadian heavy-metal band named for a blacksmith's favorite tool failed to build on the iron spike of success that was the group's 1982 album Metal on Metal. Despite a jamming appearance in Japan's 1984 Super Rock Festival, the band fell inexorably into obscurity. This documentary about the group's blip and fall exudes a boundless, generous humor. It will enable even gentle folk-rockers to appreciate the ambitions of men whose earliest works, inspired by the Spanish Inquisition, included the song "Thumb Hang."

Fair highlights opportunities at BWI Airport The seventh annual BWI Business Networking Fair will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 21 at the BWI Marriott Hotel, on West Nursery Road in Linthicum. The event is an opportunity for small and minority-owned businesses to meet with contractors working at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Its aim is to help increase participation in the tremendous opportunities associated with the rapid growth of the airport. Each year, the networking fair offers a number of workshops and sponsorship and exhibit opportunities.

Renaldo Kuhler created, designed and even crafted the written language for an entire imaginary country, right down to its film industry and noxious odors. Nek Chand created an elaborate concrete garden in the midst of an Indian jungle. Gayleen Aiken gave birth to a family of 24 cardboard cutouts, through which she re-created the pastoral Vermont of her youth. Grandma Prisbrey created a village out of bottles and other recyclables. Fringe artists like these are not just different from you and me; they're different from other artists as well, operating so far outside the mainstream that society often doesn't know whether to cherish or mock them.

Portraying Edwin Mulitalo's move from left guard to right tackle as a mountainous pursuit overlooks the variety of experiences the man has packed into his 27 years. Before turning "Festivus Maximus" into the catch phrase of the Ravens' drive to Super Bowl XXXV, Mulitalo proselytized in Idaho and Oregon, worked with disabled children in Arizona and studied geology in the Grand Tetons. All and all - all 350 pounds of him - Mulitalo said he's your typical Mormon Samoan-American. Although involved in many communities, family is paramount to Mulitalo, who made his first trip to his ancestral homeland in 2001 for a camp run by NFL players, but passed on a return to the South Pacific because it conflicted with his fifth wedding anniversary.