Carpet

We're about 10 minutes from the start pf the 85th Academy Awards -- hope you've made the final adjustments on your Oscar betting pool. Here are a few observations from Oscar's red carpet, surely one of Earth's most fascinating (not to mention fashionable) places. The award for for first celebrity to arrive goes to Kristen Chenoweth, one of the hosts of the Oscar pre-show (it was fun to watch her be so flabbergasted that Anne Hathaway actually guessed that the mystery object she was so zealously guarding was Dorothy's ruby slippers from 'The Wizard of Oz")

Harford County Public Library rolled out the red carpet for teens and their families at the Abingdon Library in March at a special screening and awards ceremony for the teen Film This! Book Trailers contest. Throughout the winter months, teens created and submitted short videos showcasing a favorite book, similar to a movie trailer. At the premiere, the finalist videos were viewed and the winners announced. Peter Stauffer was awarded first place for his "Chasing the Falconers" book trailer.

Stacy Keibler parted ways with the colorful frocks, which have brought her red carpet success this awards season, and opted for a rose gold Marchesa gown that left one Baltimore fashionista gushing. "You can't go wrong with Marchesa," said Zoey Washington, head of LittleBird, a Baltimore-based styling and image consulting business for teens. "What's so wonderful about the look is that even if he (George Clooney) doesn't win, he's walking away with a gold trophy. " Keibler, a Baltimore native, who is Clooney's main squeeze, accompanied the best actor nominee in an a symmetrical one-shoulder gown that gathered at the hip with a flowery embellishment.

On Monday night, Baltimore did the traditional red carpet one better, with a purple carpet laid out at the Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric for the VIP premiere screening of the official NFL "Super Bowl XLVII Champions: 2012 Baltimore Ravens" DVD. The scene beforehand had some of its own highlights. Joe Flacco, accompanied by wife Dana, was the first to arrive on the purple carpet, although not much of the carpet itself was visible thanks to the many media types who immediately swamped the Super Bowl MVP. Ray Ricebrought along 1-year-old daughter Rayven, who posed for the paparazzi like a pro, modeling a cute purple floral frock.

YOU WALK ON IT; you sleep on it; your kids play on it; almost everyone has some. It has a limited life span, so you have most likely bought some, but did you know what you were buying? And when you look at different ones, they all look alike -- so how can you tell what you are getting? What we're talking about is carpet. There are hundreds of names and grades to choose from, and a myriad of colors and patterns. A big complaint Ron gets from clients who are trying to choose carpet is that they can't get enough information from suppliers to make an informed decision.

Dan Gauger bends over a piece of white carpet on his workbench like a sculptor studying a block of virgin white marble before the first mallet blow.An electric clipper whirs in his hand. He cuts his first groove through the thick pile. The clipped nap disappears up a vacuum hose.Another stroke and another, trimming here, smoothing there. Soon a flower takes shape as the 43-year-old Hereford resident carefully sculpts a three-dimensional bas relief into the pile.Although fancy carpeting is his bread and butter, Mr. Gauger's personal favorites are decorative pieces for wall hangings, such as a full-length picture of Confucius and an intricate design copied from a door panel at the Vatican.

Mount Airy Elementary School will be expelling millions of bacteria, school officials say, when contractors rip out the carpet in the first- and second-grade section of the building.And just so the microorganisms don't try to re-enroll, a less hospitable tile floor will replace the carpet by the time students return in September, said Vernon Smith, director of support services for the Carroll County school system.Test results last week showed that carpet in at least four classrooms on the ground floor is a breeding ground for bacteria suspected of causing some children and a teacher to have chronic headaches, sore throats, sinus congestion and other problems, Mr. Smith said.

Sports fans can transform a family room floor into a football field, baseball diamond or basketball court while their purchases help keep Carroll Transit rolling.D. L. "Murph" Dykes, owner of Carpet Knights Interiors in Eldersburg, has pledged 10 percent of the profits from sales of Fantasy Fields Etcetera to the private, nonprofit agency, which provides transportation for the county's elderly and disabled residents.Mr. Dykes' donation and several others from the community will help Carroll Transit deal with its deficit, said Linda Boyer, executive director.

One of the home improvement industry's hottest growth markets these days is right underfoot. Flooring products have exploded into a dizzying array of textures, colors, sizes and price ranges, encompassing everything from do-it-yourself laminates to high-end Travertine tiles. Carpet makers, whose sales suffered amid the rise of laminates and ceramic tile, now offer glueless, modular carpet tiles that can be used to cover a small area or an entire room. "Flooring products have taken a quantum leap forward," said Al Stewart, editor of National Floor Trends magazine, which tracks the industry.

Hardwood -- Earth's oldest flooring material next to dirt -- has resurfaced as the trendiest thing to tread on in American homes. Although carpet continues to dominate flooring, hardwood has seen a surge of interest during the past decade. From the pages of consumer home magazines to the aisles of home improvement centers, hardwood is being promoted as the material of the moment. "From all of our anecdotal evidence, we know that [the popularity of] hardwood flooring is growing," said Gopal Ahluwalia, vice president for research with the National Association of Home Builders in Washington.

An Essex man, who faces criminal charges relating to a May homicide where the body was left inside a burning truck, was shot in the back of the head early Friday morning, according to Baltimore County police. Joseph Thorpe, 27, was found shortly after midnight Friday, lying in the middle of the street at Middle River Road and Compass Road, suffering from a gunshot wound, in addition to other traumatic injuries, according to a police statement. Thorpe, of the unit block of Glenwood Road, was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and was listed in critical condition, police said.

We're about 10 minutes from the start pf the 85th Academy Awards -- hope you've made the final adjustments on your Oscar betting pool. Here are a few observations from Oscar's red carpet, surely one of Earth's most fascinating (not to mention fashionable) places. The award for for first celebrity to arrive goes to Kristen Chenoweth, one of the hosts of the Oscar pre-show (it was fun to watch her be so flabbergasted that Anne Hathaway actually guessed that the mystery object she was so zealously guarding was Dorothy's ruby slippers from 'The Wizard of Oz")

Welcome to Mardi Gras week. Even on a Monday, Internet users have plenty to gawk at as New Orleans avoids allowing a celebration to get in the way of a shooting, the Pope resigns for the  first time since the Middle Ages, and Jack White brings down (maybe) the wrath of the FCC. Don't worry, though: A kind soul has drawn Calvin and Hobbes into real-life scenes, giving us an escape hatch into a fantasy world of talking tigers. A roundup of popular topics: || TRENDING ONLINE || Pope Benedict XVI , #Pope (Google Plus, Twitter)

The Prime Rib at Maryland Live Casino opened, quietly, a few weeks ago, six months after the casino's grand opening and 10 months after the surprise announcement that Buzz Beler's storied Baltimore steakhouse was joining the casino's lineup. Operated, Beler has said, as a "joint venture" with the casino's developers, the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos., the new restaurant has been designed with respect for Prime Rib icons like leopard skin carpeting, black-leather booths and Icart prints.

Jessica Long will tell you: After capturing even more Paralympic gold in London, she couldn't wait to get back to Baltimore for a table heavy with steamed crabs and a pint of Ben & Jerry's. But these days, Long's reality is a touch more glamorous. You can still find the swimmer at the movies in White Marsh, shopping at the Towson Town Center, getting wet at the Merritt Athletic Club. But Long's just as likely to be walking a red carpet somewhere in couture threads, juggling interview requests and considering lucrative opportunities.

It was a huge night at the Emmys for those with a Maryland connection. From actresses to designers, Marylanders made quite a showing. Christian Siriano continued his red carpet winning streak with a number of fantastic frocks at last night's Emmy Awards. The anticipation started early for Siriano who was already sharing his excitement with fans through social media. "Getting ready for the Emmys red carpet. I can't wait to see some of my favorite ladies in Siriano tonight," he wrote hours before the festivities began.

Jessica Long will tell you: After capturing even more Paralympic gold in London, she couldn't wait to get back to Baltimore for a table heavy with steamed crabs and a pint of Ben & Jerry's. But these days, Long's reality is a touch more glamorous. You can still find the swimmer at the movies in White Marsh, shopping at the Towson Town Center, getting wet at the Merritt Athletic Club. But Long's just as likely to be walking a red carpet somewhere in couture threads, juggling interview requests and considering lucrative opportunities.

Don Sutton was pitching against his boyhood idol, Robin Roberts. Playing second base for the Houston Astros was a future Hall of Famer named Joe Morgan. Clustered in the crowd of 25,000 at the Houston Astrodome were 12 astronauts, heroes who were racing to the moon.It was April 18, 1966. The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Astros, 6-3, in an otherwise routine game made memorable by the presence of a concrete-hard green carpet. This was baseball's first game played on AstroTurf, and the landscape of American sports would never be the same.

Stacy Keibler made looking good look easy last night. Wearing a form-fitting metallic gold strapless Marchesa gown, the Baltimore native walked the Oscar red carpet alongside boyfriend George Clooney. As Clooney worked the crowd of fans stationed near the Oscar theater's entrance, Keibler stood quietly back and basked in the reflected glow. "I feel good," said Keibler, who's been a mainstay at Clooney's side as the best actor nominee has stormed his way through the awards season.

Stacy Keibler parted ways with the colorful frocks, which have brought her red carpet success this awards season, and opted for a rose gold Marchesa gown that left one Baltimore fashionista gushing. "You can't go wrong with Marchesa," said Zoey Washington, head of LittleBird, a Baltimore-based styling and image consulting business for teens. "What's so wonderful about the look is that even if he (George Clooney) doesn't win, he's walking away with a gold trophy. " Keibler, a Baltimore native, who is Clooney's main squeeze, accompanied the best actor nominee in an a symmetrical one-shoulder gown that gathered at the hip with a flowery embellishment.