Baltimore Club

Club Choices Despite its fancy facade, Club Choices is nowhere near those suit-and-tie-relax-and-cocktail clubs. Instead, its smoky and dimly lit interior creates an atmosphere that will make "shaking-off" to Baltimore club music seem second nature. Where -- 1815 N. Charles St. Call -- 410-752-4602 Notable -- You've probably heard its name mentioned on the radio in the wee hours of the night. Or perhaps you've driven past the glitzy club on late Saturday nights and have seen people walking in and out. While every other club is closing its doors at 2 a.m. on Saturday nights, Club Choices kicks the fun into another gear and keeps the music pumping until dawn.

Exactly what constitutes a "Greater Baltimore" lacrosse player anyway?In its first year of existence, the Greater Baltimore Chapter of the Lacrosse Foundation wrestled with that question before choosing 11 people for its initial Hall of Fame induction class.Aside from being a Greater Baltimore resident for at least 14 years, a player had to meet the standard of the national Hall of Fame: "By their deeds as players, coaches and contributors, and by the example of their lives personify the great contribution of the game of lacrosse to our way of life."

Washington's bottle club has published a list of old bottles that is already in its third edition.The Ohio Bottle Club's book -- oversized -- contains 8,933 listings and is 438 pages thick.Even the Little Rhody Club now has a book out -- "over 1,000 Rhode Island bottles listed."And the Baltimore Antique Bottle Club, founded in 1970?For years, the kind thing has been not to ask. Poor, listless BABC.But all this is about to change."It's a formidable undertaking," says Rick Lease, club president, "but our members are pooling their information, a committee is at work, by late next year we hope to publish a comprehensive, standardized list of the Baltimore area's known old bottles."

THE FOLKS IN the new Baltimore football organization are expected to announce a name for the team any day now. In fact, the announcement might come before you read this article.Right now, it appears that the club is wedded to the most traditional sports team nomenclature, i.e., The Ravens, The Mustangs, The Marauders. Naturally, the club would prefer a name that has something to do with the region. But first and foremost, the Baltimore club is following the path of many of its NFL rivals by seeking a moniker that suggests power and fierceness.

150 years ago in The SunOct. 3: Yesterday as the cars were coming into the Pratt Street Depot, they knocked down the staging upon which some of the workers were engaged in plastering the building, and one of the men fell, dislocating a shoulder.100 years ago in The SunSept. 30: Although Baltimore has won the championship three successive years, the Orioles have not had any pitcher of pre-eminent ability, such as Rusie or Cy Young, or Meekin in his prime. But the weakest point in the Baltimore club has always been the pitching department.

From The Sun Oct. 8-14, 1845* Oct. 10: We are occasionally requested by persons who take The Sun in the various boarding houses in the city to hint to others who are also boarders, that the first reading of a newspaper belongs of right to him who takes and pays for it.* Oct. 14: We place in our columns to-day, the nineteenth annual report of the president and directors of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company.From The Sun Oct. 8-14, 1895* Oct. 9: The county commissioners have directed the Mount Washington Electric Light and Power Co. to put ten electric lamps on Bellona Avenue, four on Ashland Avenue and two on Cold Spring Lane.

Gone are the Monday Club, the Baltimore Club, the Columbus Club, the Gramercy Club and even the Handsome Young Men's Club. All were on the rollicking itinerary of Mayor Ferdinand Latrobe on New Year's Day, 1892, as he and other city notables made the rounds. The first stop on his all-day celebration, which he assured his wife was abstemious except for one whiskey punch, was at the white marble palace the Maryland Club had just opened at Charles and Eager Streets.Today the Maryland Club still stands at the same location, a bulwark of the whole Mount Vernon area.

From The Sun March 26-April 1, 1845March 26: Arrival of The Razor Strop Man -- This eccentric genius, who is familiarly known from Maine to Georgia, has made his entre into Baltimore and commenced disposing of his wares, having "still" a few left.April 1: To-day is "All Fool's Day" -- a day which is usually crowned with huge fool's caps, and devoted to the ludicrous jokes and jibes of all the wags in Christendom.From The Sun March 26-April 1, 1895March 26: The Merchants' National Bank began business in its new building, South and Water streets, at 10 o'clock yesterday morning.

TORONTO -- Playing a strange new game, a "race horse" form of football, in a different country, Canada, is where a Baltimore team without a nickname finds itself tonight under circumstances that are foreign to a city which helped shape the popularity of another league that slapped it in the face and then humiliated it without showing an iota of compassion or consideration.Baltimore, with no other alternative, makes its official Canadian Football League debut in the glorious facility known as SkyDome, considered the finest and most revolutionary stadium on the North American continent.

Take it from one who knows: Baltimore is very much in the running for a National Football League team. Ignore the naysayers. Listen to Norman Braman, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, who has spoken with two NFL owners "who are seriously considering moving their clubs to this city."With all the carefully staged hoopla and media publicity surrounding Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke's plans for a stadium in Laurel, it is easy to dismiss Baltimore's chances of landing a team -- until you examine the facts.

Hometown: Baltimore Members: Steven Tutt Founded: 1995 Style: Baltimore Club Influenced by: Scottie B., Sean Caesar, Rod Lee, Kanye West, Timbaland Notable: Tutt helped put out two EPs this year - The Evolution and Money Lotion Volume 5: At the Controls Pt. 2 (for Scottie B and The Chavy Boys of London). Before Internet music downloading programs such as iTunes came along, it was hard for audiences abroad to get Baltimore Club CDs. Now, audiences around the globe can easily get their hands on a club track, he said.

It was a day of music and mourning. Yesterday, downtrodden callers and DJs on hip-hop station 92Q shared heartfelt memories of their late colleague Khia Edgerton, better known as K-Swift. Edgerton, 29, died early Monday morning of neck injuries after jumping into an above-ground pool at her home, the state medical examiner's office said yesterday. Dubbed the "Club Queen," Edgerton trumpeted the Baltimore club scene on the air and in dance halls up and down the East Coast. She introduced a younger audience to the fast beats and dirty vocal tracks of Baltimore club music - one of the city's signature sounds.

Khia Edgerton, a pioneering DJ who as "K-Swift" became one of Baltimore's top radio personalties and a major player in the local music scene, died early yesterday morning after a pool accident at her home. She was 29. Through her popular radio show, which attracted thousands of listeners each night, and frequent live performances, Ms. Edgerton helped reinvigorate and reintroduce the aging genre of Baltimore Club music to a younger generation of listeners. For local artists, a spin on K-Swift's 92Q radio show meant instant recognition.

Club Mate Upscale and decidedly cosmopolitan, Club Mate has the atmosophere of a swanky Washington club in the heart of Brooklyn. Venue Where -- 3612 Hanover St. Call -- 410-355-6697 Web site -- mateclublounge .com Notable -- The ambience. It can make you feel like a celebrity. From the modernized lighting to the club's canopy-enclosed beds, Mate's interior design rivals that in some of the city's poshest clubs. Vibe -- Depends on which section you're in. Mate's VIP area is filled with people snobbishly head-nodding and swaying lazily.

Club Choices Despite its fancy facade, Club Choices is nowhere near those suit-and-tie-relax-and-cocktail clubs. Instead, its smoky and dimly lit interior creates an atmosphere that will make "shaking-off" to Baltimore club music seem second nature. Where -- 1815 N. Charles St. Call -- 410-752-4602 Notable -- You've probably heard its name mentioned on the radio in the wee hours of the night. Or perhaps you've driven past the glitzy club on late Saturday nights and have seen people walking in and out. While every other club is closing its doors at 2 a.m. on Saturday nights, Club Choices kicks the fun into another gear and keeps the music pumping until dawn.

Each Sunday throughout the HBO drama's season, we have highlighted a must-see character or story element. For tonight's season finale, we discuss the sounds of "The Wire." Realness, or the perception of it, has always been important in hip-hop. As often heard in the music over the years, the ugliness of life is rarely played down. If anything, it is grossly exaggerated. But many rappers from different parts of the country have long prided themselves for being chroniclers of the street.

It was a normal night at Philadelphia's 700 Club until DJ Low Budget whipped out a set of frantic, banging Baltimore club music. Out on the floor, most of the crowd was overwhelmed. Charm City native Naeem Juwan went nuts. "I completely flipped out," Juwan said. "I was on the floor dancing real hard. I was one of the only people in the spot that was dancing real hard. You have that nostalgic moment where the stuff that you grew up with never really leaves you. You still hold it close to your heart, regardless of where you decide to go."

Open it up Open it up Open it up You wanna see me? On the dance floor? I don't think so. You do? Let's go ... No, Baltimore club music just doesn't sing on paper. Better to go to Hammerjacks, Club Choices or the Paradox to hear Baltimore's indigenous urban sound known as B-More. Or you could listen to 92Q (WERQ-FM) and DJ "Club Queen" K-Swift and DJ Rod Lee, whose lyrics kicked off this story. Baltimore club music isn't new, of course. But after more than 15 years of provincial popularity, the B-More sound might be busting out of the inner city and the Middle Atlantic with a little help from its friends and producers.

DO YOU need a good laugh? We mean a big laugh. Not a mild chuckle or a little tee-hee, but a full-out, gut-busting, knee-slapping, side-splitting, tears-in-your-eyes, complete-loss-of-all-bodily-functions laugh. If that's what you really need, then check out the new Improv Comedy Club that opened its doors at the Power Plant Live! in Baltimore just two weeks ago. It joins four other comedy clubs in the Baltimore area and a sister club in Washington. What sets the Improv apart from the other clubs in town is the level of talent of the comics.

Cribbage players aren't trying to keep the card game a secret, but they aren't exactly a visible bunch. The Baltimore Cribbage Club, for example, plays on Wednesday nights in the back room of a Chinese restaurant. Even yesterday's national tournament sponsored by the Chesapeake Bay Area Cribbage Club was held in relative obscurity. Although competitors traveled from as far as Massachusetts and Georgia and some were nationally ranked, the tournament at an American Legion Post in Bowie could easily have been overlooked.