Bing

On Friday, December 9, 2005, BING CHI BOCK of Silver Spring, Md; beloved husband of Julia Bock; loving father of Donna (Wade) Felker, Mona (Marty) Kiely, Cynthia (Brian) Ellis and Bryan (Katie) Bock. Also survived by nine grandchildren. Friends may call at De Vol Funeral Home, 10 E. Deer Park Drive, Gaithersburg, MD, on Tuesday, December 13, 2005, from 2 to 4 P.M., where services will be held at 4 P.M. Interment Private.

Catalina Byrd's early-morning tweets last Saturday tell a tale of TV change. “I said I was going to bed hours ago,” one tweet written shortly after midnight began. “But then 'House of Cards' got me all caught up.” A little over an hour later, she wrote again, “After episode 3 goes off, I have to call it a night ... but tomorrow I'm right back on it …” Later yet: “I made it to episode 5 …” Byrd, a Baltimore journalist (@CatalinaByrd), is one of many who spent last weekend on the cutting edge of a new way to watch TV - or, more specifically, a new way to watch TV shows that were never on television - in the topsy-turvy world of massive media transformation these days.

NEW YORK -- Sir Rudolf Bing, who as the dapper and acerbic general manager of the Metropolitan Opera from 1950 to 1972 ushered the company into the modern era and into Lincoln Center, died on Tuesday at St. Joseph's Hospital in Yonkers. He was 95.Mr. Bing firmly established the Met as not only the biggest but also in many ways the most prominent company on the world stage today. He used his well-developed European contacts to draw some of most prominent international stars to the Met, and he offered significant new opportunities for Americans.

Soon after hearing that Hostess Brands Inc. was shutting down for good, Lisa Renee Clark wasted no time dashing out to the Wonder Hostess Bakery Thriftshop in Glen Burnie. But by midday Friday, she was almost too late. The Twinkies had sold out. Supplies of Wonder white bread were dwindling. And the shelves appeared bare of Ho Hos. Finally spotting two boxes of the cream-filled snack cakes, Clark snatched them up. "So many fun, good things from my childhood are going away," said Clark, 43, a self-employed production assistant and camera operator from Pasadena.

Brad Ruzicka, playing the biggest game of his high school lacrosse career, hadn't registered a point. No. 7 Dulaney's senior midfielder was kept under wraps for the first 46 minutes of last night's game against Urbana for the 4A-3A championship. But Ruzicka knew it was his final high school game and how high the stakes were; he also knew that when his number was called, he would respond. "It's my last high school game, and it's a state championship. I don't know if you could ask for anything bigger than that," Ruzicka said.

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- The Baltimore Skipjacks' 7-4 loss to the Binghamton Rangers last night fits an ugly pattern.A bad bounce, a debatable call and the Skipjacks are now winless in eight games (0-7-1)."I've seen strange games all year long," Baltimore coach Rob Laird said. "I can't tell you how excruciating it has been. I've had more of these games this year than in my entire [coaching] career."Down two goals in the second period, the Rangers scored five third-period goals to rally for the win.Joe Paterson scored on a two-on-one break for a 4-3 Binghamton lead at 5 minutes, 42 seconds of the third.

Bernice Petkere, 98, the "Queen of Tin Pan Alley" and composer of songs that include the Bing Crosby classic "Starlight," died Friday, a spokeswoman at Queen of Angels Hospital in Los Angeles said yesterday. Mary Lahey "Betty" Duffie, 79, who led efforts to improve treatment for mentally disabled South Carolinians, died in Columbia, S. C., on Saturday from complications of pneumonia.

On September 22, 2007, BARBARA BENNETT; devoted wife of John W. Patterson and beloved sister of Melvyn Bennett. Also survived by seven aunts; Stella Bing, Iris Jones, Teareatha Orr, Gerusha Hamlett, Viola Bing, Lauretta Laurel and Gloria Youmans; one uncle, Isaiah Orr; four stepchildren, Christopher, David, Ronald and Susan with granddaughter Maya; adopted daughter Marshell with grandson Maxwell; devoted friends; Charlotte Allen, Wanda and Charlie Cromer...

Let's try to be kind. "Sons and Daughters," the new CBS family drama that debuts at 10 tonight on WBAL-TV (Channel 11), is, well, awful.It is hard to say which is worse -- the acting or the writing.There is one real actor on-screen, Don Murray. He plays Bing Hammersmith, the patriarch of the Hammersmith family, which is at the center of this weekly drama. But Murray's work is lost in a sea of performances that register at the level of bad dinner-theater acting. The ensemble of mumbles and stumbles is led by Lucie Arnaz, daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

Ellen Drew, 89, who went from working in a Hollywood Boulevard ice cream parlor to appearing in movies opposite some of the biggest stars of the 1940s, died Wednesday in Palm Desert, Calif. Hired at $50 a week by Paramount Studios, Ms. Drew had small parts until her breakthrough in 1938 opposite Bing Crosby in Sing You Sinners. Her film credits included Christmas in July opposite Dick Powell, Buck Benny Rides Again with Jack Benny, If I Were King and Reaching for the Sun. She also appeared on early television shows.

Michael K. Williams, who played Omar in "The Wire," is talking about his years of drug abuse and saying he's surprised it didn't lead to him ending up in a body bag. Williams tells the Newark Star-Ledger that while he was playing Omar in the Baltimore-based HBO series, he was doing cocaine and marijuana and hanging around with felons on some of the scarier streets of Newark. “I was playing with fire,” Williams tells the paper. “It was just a matter of time before I got caught and my business ended up on the cover of a tabloid or I went to jail or, worse, I ended up dead.

Savannah Bass, 21, who grew up in Ruxton and graduated from Roland Park Country School in 2008, is working to curb binge drinking on college campuses and along the beach during spring break. As one of 13 University of Alabama students in charge of LessThanUThink, she is using a humorous approach to convey the message that excessive drinking can have unintended, even embarrassing consequences. "We found through research that students don't respond to messages that are negative," she said.

More than 38 million U.S. adults binge drink four times a month, more than previously thought, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The reports says that young adults up to age 34 binge drink the most, but of the seniors who binge drink, they do more often, an average of five to six times a month. (Binge drinking is 5 or more drinks for men and 4 or more for women in a short amount of time.) It's most common in people who household income is over $75,000 but those with incomes of less than $25,000 drink the most per occasion.

Police crack down on Frostburg binge drinking Maryland State Police say they are joining local law enforcement in a springtime crackdown on binge drinking in Frostburg, home to Frostburg State University. Capt. James Pyles said the effort began Friday and will continue through the spring. Besides increased patrols and visibility, police say they are collecting and analyzing intelligence on house parties held by unrecognized fraternities that are little more than drinking clubs.

An Annapolis tradition, Colonial Players' version of A Christmas Carol will help to kick off a season of holiday fare. The Colonial Players' take on the Dickens classic was created in 1981 by locals Rick Wade and Dick Gessner. Shows are this weekend and next with limited seating available at Colonial's 108 East St. theater only for Friday performances or on standby. Information 410-268-7373. Opening Saturday and Sunday and continuing the following weekend in AACC's Humanities Recital Hall is another local holiday tradition, Pasadena Theatre Company's adaptation of It's a Wonderful Life.

Just about everyone understands what it's like to eat too many potato chips while watching TV or to reach for that extra serving of pie when already full. But for at least 2 percent to 3 percent of the U.S. population, eating too much or too often is a compulsion and is accompanied by guilt or a feeling of being out of control, says Deborah Kauffmann, a registered dietitian who leads Largely Positive, an adult support group aimed at promoting how to be happy and healthy at your natural weight.

On November 10, 2006, MARIE "Cuddles" SNYDER (nee Brooks); beloved wife of the late Frank Snyder; dear sister of Carl "Sonny" Brooks and Robert "Bing" Brooks. Also survived by several nieces, nephews and other loving relatives and friends. A private cremation was held. Friends may call at the family owned Bruzdzinski Funeral Home, P.A., 1407 Old Eastern Avenue, Essex, at Route 702 (beltway exit 36) on Sunday from 11 A.M. to 12 noon. Memorial service on Sunday, 12 noon.

On July 29, 2006, DELORES MARIE (nee Gardner) passed away at Franklin Square Hospital she is the beloved wife of Mitsuya Sasajima and devoted mother of Tara Masu Briggs, sister to Shirley Shaw and Thomas "Bing" Gardner, survived by numerous nieces and nephews. Respecting Delores wishes no viewing or services will be held. Her memory lives in all of our hearts and we are forever blessed to have been a part of her life. Inquiries may be directed to E.F. Lassahn Funeral Home, P.A.

A number of respected academic leaders in Maryland believe the legal drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18, to help confront what they describe as a hidden crisis in binge drinking among students. But they offer no convincing evidence that lowering the drinking age would reduce excessive alcohol use by college students. What we do know is that since 1984, when Congress effectively raised the national drinking age to 21, the number of young drivers charged with drunken driving has declined significantly, as has the number of alcohol-related highway deaths.

Top university officials in Maryland - including the chancellor of the state university system and the president of the Johns Hopkins University - say the current drinking age of 21 "is not working" and has led to dangerous binges in which students have harmed themselves and others. Six college and university presidents in Maryland are among more than 100 nationwide who have signed a statement calling for a public debate on rethinking the drinking age. It is a rare joint effort by the leaders of religious, liberal arts and large research universities to curb what they see as the top student-life issue on their campuses.