Christmas Present

Good morning --Barbaro-- Would nail clippers be an appropriate Christmas present?

When things break right for the Ravens, they really break right. Less than 24 hours after their most exciting win of the season -- the 16-13 overtime victory over San Diego highlighted by Ray Rice's electrifying (and game-saving) 30-yard catch-and-run in the waning moments of the fourth quarter -- there seems to be more good news radiating from the Under Armour Performance Center. Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Ray Lewis is recovering so well from his torn right triceps he could be back on the field as early as the Ravens' Dec. 16 game against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.

JEFF BRUCE, proprietor of Bruce's Supply Co. on Camp Meade Road, had just finished his volunteer duties at the concession stand, preparing food for a football game at Apache Field in Linthicum last weekend. It was Saturday, and son Robert Bruce went to the stand and told his father he had a Christmas present for him -- it was early, but the only day it could be delivered. He also said he really wanted it to be a surprise, so he asked his dad to wear a blindfold. With help from Judy Bisesi, Jeff's friend and manager of the concession stand, Robert drove to his father's house, where the blindfold was removed and the surprise revealed.

An article in the Dec. 28, 1961 edition of the Herald Argus and Baltimore Countian reported an area resident's holiday was made even brighter after a chance phone call led to a reunion with two sisters he had not seen in 16 years. Christmas was made happier for a Lansdowne resident, semi-orphan John Glade , 21, who now resides at the home of Mrs. Betty Volkman of 3201 Hilltop road. John's mother died when he was three years old, leaving him and two older sisters.

For Patsy A. Brown, 50, unemployed, broke, with no health insurance and vision clouded by cataracts, Christmas came early yesterday.Early in the morning, a doctor at an outpatient clinic in Glen Burnie removed the cataracts in her right eye, restoring her vision to near normal, for free.It was "the greatest [Christmas present] I've ever, ever had," Mrs. Brown said as she sipped orange juice and nibbled pastries in a recovery room. "I've never had anyone do anything like this for me."Dr. Paul A. Kohlhepp, chief surgeon of the eye center, said the free surgery is "something that we've been trying to do a long time at Christmas time and things just never actually clicked."

Here we are at the start of the holiday shopping season. Santa Claus has arrived at the malls, and Ebenezer Scrooge, the skinflint of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," soon will be along to sing and dance at two Annapolis-area theaters.One version of Dickens' 155-year-old story, with original music by Doug Yetter and Michael Hulett, opens Saturday at Chesapeake Music Hall on U.S. 50, east of Annapolis. This is the production's fourth year, which is how long Yetter and Sherry Kay have owned the theater.

What the dickens? 'Tis the season for "A Christmas Carol," and Fell's Point Corner Theatre's production will once again give students from its Children's Theatre Program a chance to perform with local adult actors. Chuck Duncan directs the theater's annual holiday event, which features John Sadowsky as Scrooge, Kenneth Johnson as Marley, Ali Silbert as the Ghost of Christmas Present, Lauren Ciarapella as Christmas Past and Shalamaar Brown as Tiny Tim.As is the theater's tradition, the production, which opens tomorrow, will be accompanied by a Christmas bazaar offering various arts and crafts, toys, jewelry and baked goods.

Bill Clinton got what he considers an early Christmas present this week. A "Battleground '94" poll, conducted and analyzed by a Democratic and a Republican pollster, showed the president with a 57-36 approval/disapproval rating. That is the highest it has been since January. And a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, also the product of a bi-partisan professional team, found his approval/disapproval rating was 56-33, the highest this poll has registered for the president since March.The American people are responding to the fact the president and the Democratic House and Senate enacted a number of high-visibility bills in the just-concluded congressional session, thus setting the stage for more action next year.

The arts have given the world many wonderful Christmas presents over the years. Handel's "Messiah," Gian-Carlo Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors" and Tchaikovsky's ballet score to "The Nutcracker" are but three examples.And from the literary realm is Charles Dickens' popular tale of human redemption, "A Christmas Carol."The Annapolis Dinner Theatre's initial presentation of this seasonal classic was an energetic, attractive affair highlighted by Chuck Richards' menacing representation of Scrooge and actor David Reynolds, who stole the show not once, but twice as Jacob Marley and the Ghost of Christmas Present.

Lugging an armful of clothes, a few tattered boxes and a birthday balloon, Laurence Chapman walked through the red door of his new efficiency at Paca House, looked around and proclaimed it the best Christmas present he could ever hope for.Homeless for the past two years, Chapman was one of the first persons yesterday to move into Baltimore's long-awaited, multimillion-dollar residential project designed to permanently house the homeless, veterans and the...

The woman who came up with the idea - suggesting that a very large member of the Baltimore Ravens might hand off some XXXL clothing to a very large Towson University student who can't afford to buy his own - wishes to remain anonymous, and that's fine. Under the principles of her Jewish faith, such deeds are best if performed secretly, or at least quietly. So we'll call her Ruth, and leave it at that. Two years ago, Ruth and her husband started supporting a teenage boy from Middle River named Andrew Nagengast.

Online shopping topped $30 billion with 10 days to go until Christmas, up an astonishing 15 percent over last year and providing a much-needed boost to the economic mood in this country. You're welcome. OK, I didn't spent the $30 billion myself. I had help. Online shopping has been available for Christmas for a while now, but this year I — and apparently a lot of other shoppers -- bought just about all my gifts with the simple click of a mouse. No traffic jams. No battle for a parking spot.

Lots of pets will be getting presents for the holidays this year. And Bo Obama is no exception. In fact, the world knows what the First Dog is going to get. On Wednesday, President Obama went Christmas shopping, stopping at Best Buy (to pick up some video games and iTunes gift cards, probably for his girls) and at PetSmart to get a little something for the pup. It looks like Bo is going to spend the holidays chomping on one seriously large bone. And I'm not sure, but it looks like that might be a bag of treats in the President's hand.

The Bach Concert Series will welcome the new year with music written for the occasion — "Am Neujahrstag" ("For New Year's Day"), Part Four of Bach's "Christmas Oratorio. " Technically, the performance will be one day late, since this series presents its free programs on the first Sunday of every month, but that's close enough. This portion of the oratorio for soloists, chorus and orchestra offers a reflection on the biblical passage concerning the naming and circumcision of Jesus.

A Selig stocking stuffer Ron Fritz Baltimore Sun Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig deserves this present because he needs it so badly: A clue. Although he should be lauded for the many good things he's done for the sport, Selig's refusal to expand instant replay in light of the umpiring debacle we saw this past postseason is mind-boggling. It leads me to believe that either he simply doesn't get it or he thinks fans like to watch umpires blow calls three feet in front of them that could cause their teams to lose.

E ver since the news broke last week that Brian Billick would be a commentator for the Ravens game Sunday against the Chicago Bears, there were many trips to my mailbox. I knew he would send me a Christmas card. Or call, or send a telegram or a text message. At least, give me a little something. But nothing. Go figure. For nine years, Billick and I had one of the best running shows in Baltimore sports history, and now after a near two-year separation, he's treating me like last year's Christmas tree.

It's Dec. 20, 1864."The Union Army, under Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, is poised outside Savannah. This is a tense night," relates the hoop-skirted woman at Fort Jackson."

The best Christmas movie you'll see this year has nothing to do with a hapless banker, spindly pine or Red Ryder BB Gun. Not if you go to YouTube and plug in "Oella," the name of the old Baltimore County mill town just up the hill from historic Ellicott City. There, you'll find a mini-documentary about Carl Taylor, an 80-year-old retired mill worker and model train collector. The Garden - A Christmas Story crams a season's worth of holiday spirit, humor and pathos into 5 minutes, 25 seconds.

The Ravens have never played in the Metrodome. They have faced the Vikings three times in the regular season, all in Baltimore. The last time the teams met was Dec. 25, 2005, at M&T Bank Stadium, and Ravens quarterback Kyle Boller gave fans a Christmas to remember - and one of the few highlights of his career - in a 30-23 victory. It will apparently be much louder in the Metrodome on Sunday than it has been at virtually every stadium the Ravens have played. WHAT HAPPENED: : Boller threw three touchdown passes for the second straight game - one each to Todd Heap, Mark Clayton and Derrick Mason - as the Ravens knocked the 8-7 Vikings out of the playoff hunt.

Nearly two hundred years ago President Thomas Jefferson sent explorers Lewis and Clark west, following the Mississippi and other rivers to the edge of the Rocky Mountains and then on to the Pacific Coast. The purpose was to map a path through the Louisiana Territory, the vast tract the United States had purchased from France. In that era and the years that followed, maps were powerful tools created to economically exploit the lands they described. Good maps produced significant wealth.