Christmas

Thank God for Joan and Don. Without their lunchtime escape from the office, replete with witty, sexy banter, this episode, the worst of the season, would have been pointless. Nothing else quite worked here, in what clearly was a transitional throwaway leading up to the final few episodes this season. I, for one, do not care about Lane's financial issues (though, surely him forging Don's signature on a check to pay debts will come back to bite him). Anything involving Harry is sort of blah, even though his subplot this week brought back and old friend, Paul Kinsey, who has, ahem, gone through some changes.

A 24-year-old Baltimore man was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Wednesday for a Christmas-Day carjacking, the Maryland U.S. attorney's office announced. Tyrone Royster and an accomplice were on the 3300 block of West Coldspring Lane on Dec. 25, 2010, when a man pulled over to give them a ride, according to court documents. One of them pressed something against the driver's neck and demanded money. When the victim tried to take off his jacket to access his cash, Royster told the conspirator to shoot.

Albert Lord doesn't like to wait - not in business or on the golf course. The colorful chairman of student loan behemoth Sallie Mae, who's embroiled in a nasty fight over the failed sale of the company, has spent 40 years in the accounting and banking industries. He said that experience should have instilled in him a measure of patience, but it hasn't. Whether in traffic, at the office or on the links, Lord said, he just doesn't like to wait. He can't do much about the first two, but he's got a sure-fire solution for the last one: He's building his own, an 18-hole golf course on land he's acquired amid shuttered tobacco farms and grazing horses in southern Anne Arundel County.

Thank God for Joan and Don. Without their lunchtime escape from the office, replete with witty, sexy banter, this episode, the worst of the season, would have been pointless. Nothing else quite worked here, in what clearly was a transitional throwaway leading up to the final few episodes this season. I, for one, do not care about Lane's financial issues (though, surely him forging Don's signature on a check to pay debts will come back to bite him). Anything involving Harry is sort of blah, even though his subplot this week brought back and old friend, Paul Kinsey, who has, ahem, gone through some changes.

I 've just come from Cambridge, that beehive of brilliance, where nerds don't feel self-conscious: There's always someone nerdier nearby. If you are the World's Leading Authority on the mating habits of the jabberwock beetle of the Lesser Jujube Archipelago, you can take comfort in knowing that the pinch-faced drone next to you at Starbucks may be the W.L.A. on 17th-century Huguenot hymnody or a niche of quantum physics that is understood by nobody but himself. People in Cambridge learn to be wary of brilliance, having seen geniuses in the throes of deep thought step into potholes and disappear.

The sound of brass was conspicuous by its absence last Christmas after the disbanding of the Annapolis Brass Quintet in spring 1993.This Christmas, though, brass was back. No, not the ABQ, whose members continue to go their separate ways after about two decades of distinguished music-making.This season it was time for the Bowie Brass Quintet: Carlton Rowe and Robert Birch, trumpets; Diana Ogilvie, French horn; Chris Matten, trombone; and Martin Erickson, tuba. All five are current members or alumnae of Washington' prime military bands and all play like champs.

Earlier today I became aware that that insipid Christmas song, “The Little Drummer Boy,” which I have loathed these many years, was running in my head and would not stop . Mild and even-tempered a fellow as I am, a virtual milquetoast, I could not help but reflect how gratifying it would be if the composer, lyricist, arranger, musicians, and everyone involved in the publication, production, dissemination, and broadcast of that song were set...

A turkey and ham dinner will be served beginning at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, 7606 Quarterfield Road in Glen Burnie. After dinner, the Canterbury Ringers Bell Choir presents a concert of holiday music.' Tickets are $8, $15 for couples, $5 for children ages 6-12 and free for children 5 and younger. Call 410-766-8778 for more information.

I n Phoenix, the bougainvillea is blooming red against a landscape of buttes and rocks outside my hotel window and interesting cacti that look like cell phone base stations or Modigliani sculptures. Midwesterners who came here long ago slapped grass down on the desert, hoping to make it more like Indianapolis, but Phoenicians have come to accept aridity. If you enjoy rocks, you will love Arizona. But for me, it's weird to walk outdoors and hear "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" from little speakers hidden among the cacti and "Dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh."

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Tower Federal Credit Union employees teamed up with volunteers from the Gilbane Building Co. and other local organizations and subcontractors to work on upgrading a home in Laurel in support of Christmas in April, a national nonprofit that rehabilitates homes for low-income homeowners, particularly the elderly and those with disabilities. The volunteers arrived early in the morning on Saturday, April 28, and put in a full-day's work providing much-needed repairs at the home of an elderly Laurel resident who uses a wheelchair.

What's purple, white and can hang on your tree's blind side? It's a Michael Oher-nament! Hallmark has just released a sneak preview of it's 2012 Keepsake Ornaments -- and the Ravens offensive tackle has made the cut. It's a first time a Raven has become an ornament -- something the Hallmark company considers and honor. "We chose Michael Oher to become a Hallmark Keepsake Ornament because of his ability on the field and the story of what he had to overcome to get there," Hallmark spokewomanm Jaci Twidwell told The Sun. "He's a great ambassador for the Ravens and is an overall good person.

The calendar said June, but Scott Garrity's tie screamed Christmas. Thinking it was inappropriate attire for his job as a bailiff at a the Baltimore District Court building on Patapsco Avenue, Garrity sought a way to change. He called his son to bring a replacement to restore decorum in the court. But then he spilled coffee, and he decided to drive home and change. As he returned to work, his car was hit head-on by a truck, sending him to the hospital for a month. He filed a workman's compensation claim with the state.

If James "Buzz" Cusack and his daughter, Kathleen Lyon, have their way, they'll be cutting ribbons by Christmas for a restored Senator Theatre that will preserve the original cinema and add three screens and a small restaurant. Gov. Martin O'Malley announced Tuesday that they would receive $300,000 in a 2012 Sustainable Communities Tax Credit — administered by the Maryland Historical Trust and known previously as the Historic Tax Credit — to rehabilitate the movie house, a North Baltimore landmark since 1939.

On behalf of the officers and members of the Havre de Grace Ambulance Corps, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to our fourth annual Toys for Tots campaign this year. Editor: On behalf of the officers and members of the Havre de Grace Ambulance Corps, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to our fourth annual Toys for Tots campaign this year. Our goal this year was to fill, from front to back, both of our Medic Units with new, unwrapped toys. We were able to fulfill this goal for the U.S. Marine Corps' Toys for Tots Foundation so that hundreds of boys and girls could wake up on Christmas morning and have a brand new toy under their Christmas tree. We received everything from video games and super hero figures to bicycles and baseballs. We could not have done this if it weren't for the generosity and kindness of our great community.  Thank you so much for buying that extra toy while out Christmas shopping and dropping it off at our station. Some of you even brought bags and car trunks full of toys.  We live in a very special community of caring people.  We would also like to thank the media, especially The Record and The Aegis newspapers and the Havre de Grace "Patch" for advertising our toy drive this year. As you start shopping for Christmas 2012 please remember to pick up an extra toy for Toys for Tots.  We will be back next year and our goal will again be to fill our Medic Units with new toys.

Earlier today I became aware that that insipid Christmas song, “The Little Drummer Boy,” which I have loathed these many years, was running in my head and would not stop . Mild and even-tempered a fellow as I am, a virtual milquetoast, I could not help but reflect how gratifying it would be if the composer, lyricist, arranger, musicians, and everyone involved in the publication, production, dissemination, and broadcast of that song were set...

Community United Methodist Church of Maryland City is hosting a Trim the Tree party Sunday, Nov. 27 at 5:30 p.m. at 300 Brock Bridge Road. Join in dinner, kids' crafts, Santa and decorating and preparing the church for Christmas. All welcome. 301-725-4918.

The Carroll County Sheriff's Office has released surveillance photographs of a suspect wanted in connection with the vandalism of two Westminster-area schools on Christmas Day. Just before 3 p.m. on Dec. 25, deputies responded to a burglar alarm at the William Winchester Elementary School on Monroe Avenue just outside of Westminster. On Wednesday, Jan. 11, the Sheriff's Office released a surveillance image, and said it shows a white male, approximately 25 years old, with a brown hair, seen approaching the school from the Englar Road side with two bricks in hand.

I was upset to read about the pressure on big retailers to open on Christmas day. Christmas and Thanksgiving are precious days that have great significance in our society. As a religiously observant Jew, I do not negotiate on my time off for our holidays and Sabbath. I make a personal decision every day to honor the laws and traditions that were passed down to me and would never ever consider compromising that. I understand implicitly the importance tradition and custom has on society.