Big House

Opponent: Rochester AmericansSite: Baltimore ArenaTime: 5 p.m.Radio: WITH (1230 AM), WAMD (970 AM)Outlook: The Bandits start the second half of their six-game season series with the Americans and, no matter what, they can't do worse than they did in the first half: 0-3, outscored 15-7 and competitive just once. Having gone 1-4-4 on home ice since Jan. 10, the Bandits had a big night Friday before a big house (7,058), whipping Providence, 7-4. The Amerks, after trailing the five-team Central Division field most of the season, are on a 9-2-1 tear and have vaulted into second place.

A controversial big housing development in western Maryland that was reported last fall to be shelved apparently has new life. Terrapin Run, which sparked lawsuits and legislation to strengthen the state's Smart Growth laws, is back on track, Columbia developer Michael Carnock told WCBC radio in Cumberland.  He said he hopes to proceed with his original plan to build 4,000 townhomes in eastern Allegany County. The developer had reportedly been trying to sell the 935-acre site near the Green Ridge State Forest, and Allegany's county commissioners agreed to drop their lawsuit against the state planning and environment departments to aid a sale, according to the radio station.

A recent survey, commissioned by Black & Decker, maker of the "Dustbuster," produced a finding that will come as a surprise to absolutely no one: More and more of us are doing less and less housekeeping. In fact, 43 percent of women and 21 percent of men are doing less housecleaning now than five years ago.The survey cites a new tolerance for dust bunnies. Because more women are working full time outside the home, and both women and men are just too busy doing other things, the white-glove test has been forsaken.

With a reported $100 million price tag and a big-name star like Kevin Spacey, "House of Cards" looks like a drama series that should be headed for HBO or AMC. But the 13 one-hour episodes that start filming in Baltimore in March under the direction of David Fincher are being made by and for Netflix. Yes, that Netflix, the one with the red-and-white envelopes you get via snail mail, or the one you stream programs from online. "House of Cards" is the biggest and most credible challenger yet to cable TV's control of quality original programming.

Like many Americans, I stayed up most of Sunday night watching the story of the longed-for end of Osama bin Laden unfold on television and on the Internet. I was spellbound by the drama of a midnight helicopter raid on bin Laden's hideaway; on the mythic SEAL commandos who moved through the house, room by room, until they cornered their prey and killed him; on their ticking-clock departure as the Pakistani air force scrambled to react to the unknown invaders. But through it all, one thought echoed: Don't let this be a lie. Don't let this story unravel like the tale of the heroism of injured soldier Jessica Lynch.

The world was a very different place when Clayton Dorn, founder of Forest Oil, built a country lodge for his family in the mountains near Bradford, Penn.In the late 1920s and early '30s, when the Hansel-and-Gretel-style Big House and secluded family cabins at Glendorn were built, there were plentiful hardwoods, like chestnut and butternut, to panel the walls. There were leisurely family trips to Europe, where Dorn's adult children, Forest and Erla, bought crystal and china and chose tile in the latest art deco patterns to lavish on bathrooms, kitchens and 41 fireplaces.

IN THIS year of honoring all that is important to our century, I went fishing for local legends in the Baker-Whitely tugboat company file cabinet beneath the stained-glass windows of my Greek Town rowhouse. I offer good-hearted goofs, thin-skinned merchants, passionate collectors, unsung angels and pains-in-the-neck; a Pikesville Rye barrel's worth of flawed and beautiful eccentrics who didn't waste a breath aiming for fame. Soft touches like corned-beef king Seymour Attman and a sleight-of-hand sorcerer called the Great Dantini.

Designers like to use the term "less is more" to describe what the interior of a house should look like. Less clutter, fewer pieces of furniture, less space. But it wasn't until architect Sarah Susanka came along with her Not So Big House series of books that homeowners could actually see what "less is more" looked like. Now Susanka and co-author Marc Vassallo are out with a new entry, Inside the Not So Big House, full of more ideas for those not caught up in McMansion fever. Smart use of space is key to design in a small space, Susanka says.

Gayle and Fred Snyder own a home rich in history. Built in 1890, it sits just one block from Laurel's Main Street in the historic district. Once, the home's residents rose to the smells of baking bread from the bakery across the alley. A mom-and-pop grocery store was around the corner if anyone needed a gallon of milk or a bag of sugar. Today the bakery is a trendy coffee bar, and mom and pop have been replaced by a convenience store, but many of the homes in the Laurel Main Street area look unchanged from the day they were built.

Considering that she's challenging the way architects design houses, the way builders build them, the way appraisers appraise them, and the way real estate agents sell them -- not to mention the way people live in them -- it may seem surprising that Sarah Susanka hasn't gotten into trouble over her new book, "The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live" (Taunton Press, 1998, $30). "I've talked to builders and Realtors at conventions, and I tell them, I feel like I'm walking into the lion's den," says architect Susanka, a principal with Mulfinger, Susanka, Mahady & Partners of Minneapolis and Stillwater, Minn.

Like many Americans, I stayed up most of Sunday night watching the story of the longed-for end of Osama bin Laden unfold on television and on the Internet. I was spellbound by the drama of a midnight helicopter raid on bin Laden's hideaway; on the mythic SEAL commandos who moved through the house, room by room, until they cornered their prey and killed him; on their ticking-clock departure as the Pakistani air force scrambled to react to the unknown invaders. But through it all, one thought echoed: Don't let this be a lie. Don't let this story unravel like the tale of the heroism of injured soldier Jessica Lynch.

Ravens linebacker Sergio Kindle is optimistic he'll be cleared to play after completing neurological tests in Baltimore on Tuesday. Kindle, the team's top pick in the 2010 draft, suffered a hairline fracture of his skull after falling down two flights of stairs days before the start of training camp. Now he has to wait to see whether he'll be allowed to begin his NFL career. "I'm confident that I'll be cleared," Kindle told The Baltimore Sun on Tuesday night. "I thought the tests went well.

Gregory A. Rapisarda has answered to the name "father" for decades, but that name will soon take on a much broader meaning. Rapisarda, a 62-year-old widower, father of four and grandfather of five, will be ordained today at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in North Baltimore. The Rev. John C. Rapisarda, ordained in 2008, will perform the vesting honors for his own father, placing on him a cream-colored chasuble, the vestment worn at Mass. And then, for the first time in the 221-year history of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, a father and son will both serve as parish priests, according to church officials.

To add to mortgage meltdown miseries, the credit panic, plunging home sales and rising foreclosures, here's a new worry: a proposed cutoff of mortgage-interest tax deductions for all houses with more than 3,000 square feet. One of Capitol Hill's most experienced and powerful legislators is drafting a "carbon tax" bill that would do precisely that. Rep. John D. Dingell, the Michigan Democrat who heads the Energy and Commerce Committee, expects to introduce comprehensive climate change reform legislation once the House returns next month.

The state Board of Public Works' rejection of the Four Seasons development on Kent Island sends a strong message to backers of other mega-development projects on the Eastern Shore: Size matters ("Kent Island project is denied key permit," May 24). With 1,350 homes planned for the Four Seasons project, this one development would have rivaled the historic village of Stevensville. Similarly, the original plans for the Blackwater development near Cambridge would have increased the town's population more than 50 percent.

Graphic designer Paula Bogert and her husband, Denny Lynch, live in a house of "stuff." Neither finds that description particularly insulting or distasteful, for as Bogert says, "We have a great love of stuff." What they also have is a three-story Hampden home in which to display myriad collections of paintings, statues, iconography, carpets ... just name it. Their personal inventory is as long as the 62-foot length of their Baltimore brick house with wrap-around front porch. Lynch, a 58-year-old freelance photographer, grew up in the neighborhood and remembers the late 19th-century house as one of the two biggest in Hampden.

Only the bravest will attempt to swing a golf club. Unless you're desperate enough to watch the Pro Bowl, football is finally, blessedly, over. That means it's an ideal weekend to get a primer on players and teams that could put the Madness in March. Saturday's viewing options are plenty, starting with No. 11 Marquette at No. 22 Georgetown, noon on ESPN. At halftime, turn the remote to CBS, where No. 2 UCLA and West Virginia tip off at 1 p.m. in Morgantown. At 3:30, ABC has No. 9 Kansas at Missouri.

Until now, most homebuyers walked into a realty agent's office asking for a big house on a quiet street. They still want the big house and the quiet street -- but, more and more, they're also asking about the commute."

Only the bravest will attempt to swing a golf club. Unless you're desperate enough to watch the Pro Bowl, football is finally, blessedly, over. That means it's an ideal weekend to get a primer on players and teams that could put the Madness in March. Saturday's viewing options are plenty, starting with No. 11 Marquette at No. 22 Georgetown, noon on ESPN. At halftime, turn the remote to CBS, where No. 2 UCLA and West Virginia tip off at 1 p.m. in Morgantown. At 3:30, ABC has No. 9 Kansas at Missouri.

This California white wine from the House of Bonny Doon is one of the usual suspects in wine warden Randall Grahm's lineup of high-quality beverages. This clean, crisp, dry yet fruity wine - guarded by a fierce-looking but very protective screw cap - assaults the taster with flavors of pear, citrus fruit, melons, peach, honey and apple. It then finishes off the unsuspecting palate with a shank-thrust of grassy sauvignon blanc - a co-conspirator with viognier, chenin blanc, French colombard, pinot blanc and marsanne in this criminally decadent blend.