Blue Moon

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The uncle of Orioles reliever LaTroy Hawkins called his nephew around midnight Saturday after he left his job at a steel mill and asked how that night's game against the Tampa Bay Devils Rays went. "`I'm not even going to tell you,' " Hawkins said he told his uncle. "I said, `When you get home, turn on ESPN and then call me back.' And he called me back about 2 a.m." This is how Hawkins summed up the Devil Rays' 13-12 victory, which was the first time in 73 years that two teams each scored nine runs or more in an inning in the same game.

You heard it here first: Backstreet Boys will break up in November! Brian and Nick will pursue successful solo careers. Howie will do stand-up comedy and Kevin will hit the lecture circuit. And A.J.'s shot at going solo might make him wish that the group was back together. That noise you just heard? It's the sound of countless young girls fainting at the mere thought of a world without Backstreet Boys. Before panic grips an unsuspecting nation, it's time to confess that this news has not been confirmed by any official sources.

Alex Schmidt has had a crazy month or two. Scarcely back from her honeymoon in Nevis and St. Barts, she'll be dancing the night away tomorrow at the Blue Moon Ball to benefit the League: Serving People with Disabilities. As a member of the Friends of the League, Schmidt has put a lot of hard work into the event, and it's a safe bet that the account executive for the Jewish Times and Style magazine will be putting just as much hard work into her big-band swing moves. That Schmidt, a veteran of both Chanel and Armani PR departments, will be making those moves in haute designer style, is a given.

Some handbags refuse to disappear into the background. Whether dotted with crystals or embellished with embroidery, fashioned from felted wool or finished with tassels, these are bags that are anything but boring, bags that get noticed by strangers for their interesting shape and innovative detail. Some people call them "man magnets," said William Vablais, whose wife, Sheila Holley, designs distinctive wooden box-shaped handbags for their Springfield-Ill.-based company, Once in A Blue Moon.

INDIANAPOLIS -- To pull off one of the most thrilling upsets in NFL playoff history, the Pittsburgh Steelers needed a hit by their quarterback and a miss by the game's most accurate kicker. Moments after Ben Roethlisberger made a touchdown-saving tackle off a fumble recovery, Indianapolis Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt badly missed wide right on a 46-yard field goal with 17 seconds remaining, enabling the Steelers to escape with a pulsating 21-18 triumph at the RCA Dome yesterday. The heavily favored Colts stood in disbelief as their season came to an abrupt close just about one month removed from flirting with a perfect season.

From a showroom in a squat, brick building in Havre de Grace, with red and white balloons bobbing outside, Bob Rynes sells merchandise no one wants to buy - or even look at. No one wanders into the store, next door to a beauty salon, just to browse. That's OK with "Baltimore Bob," as his supplier has dubbed Rynes, owner of Blue Moon Casket Co., the first casket retail store in Maryland. Rynes opened this month in a carpeted showroom just big enough for a tidy desk and a dozen gleaming caskets sitting side by side, figuring he'll win customers over by saving them money.

When it's not quite 9 a.m. on a Sunday and there's a crowd gathering on the sidewalk, there's a good chance something special is happening. When that crowd is gathering outside the funky facade of Blue Moon Cafe in Fells Point, breakfast is that something special. Here's how breakfast at Blue Moon works: Upon arrival, head inside to track down a waiter and add your name to the ever-growing list. During our visit, at a quarter to 9, the wait was 30 minutes; an hour later when we left, it had swelled to a full hour and a half.

A blue moon isn't blue. Nor is "once in a blue moon" so rare, since it happens once every 2 1/2 years.Nonetheless, blue moons persist, in both song and saying. And tonight's blue moon has the added twist of landing on New Year's Eve -- so don't, as songwriters Rodgers and Hart would have it, let it see you standing alone.For all its lyrical nature, though, a blue moon is actually just a quirk in the calendar. Any time a month gets two full moons, the second one is called a blue moon.That happens because it takes about 29 1/2 days to complete a phase of the moon, from new moon to full moon.

Andre Scott sat at a wooden table fingering tattered documents — certificates from drug-treatment and job-training programs, a booklet from his girlfriend's funeral. With two dozen other very poor people, he was waiting to see a counselor at Beans and Bread in Upper Fells Point. Others seeking help stood outside in a cold rain. The organizers of Beans and Bread say that a planned 14,000-square-foot expansion will let them better serve those who come for substance-abuse counseling, health care, life-skills training and a hot meal.

Look to the sky! For one moment tonight near midnight the moon will be "blue." If the sky is clear and you see it, don't expect strange happenings. Don't expect it to actually be the color blue, though that has been known to happen now and then.The blue moon does not provoke weird behavior in man or beast, any more than any other full moon. Astronomically, it is as predictable as the rising of the sun. Meteorologically, it can signal disaster. As a metaphor, it describes two conditions: absurdity and rarity.