Culture

It is amusing and ironic that pop singer Adam Levine should be talking about "the decay of Western civilization" (Celebrities, Dec. 4). He is himself an icon of what journalist Carl Bernstein once described as "the idiot culture. " For the first time in our history, the weird, the stupid and the coarse are becoming not just the norm but our cultural ideal. Thomas F. McDonough, Towson Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

"The New Normal" was supposed to be the new normal. After "Modern Family" brought two gay dads into the spotlight on ABC, NBC was bringing audiences a show that put a gay family at its center. "The New Normal" executive producer Ryan Murphy had already shown two gay teens' first sexual encounter on "Glee. " There was little concern his new show's central couple (Bryan and David) would be the chaste, sexless gay men generally seen on primetime television. I tuned in eagerly when the show premiered, elated to see a romantic gay duo given the amount of screen time generally reserved for straight sitcom leads.

Gary Vikan, director of the Walters Art Museum, would tell the mayor to remember that everything is connected and that the arts will only thrive if the rest of the city thrives. "As Willy Don [Schaefer] used to say, 'everything is a priority,' " Vikan said. "A healthy city will support the arts." He would like her to champion more cooperation between the arts and Baltimore's green spaces and to encourage bringing more culture into the schools. And, of course, he hopes she'll keep the money coming.

In 2008, Ed DeRosa witnessed the infamy of the Preakness infield - the passed-out partiers, the chucking of full beer cans into crowds and of course, the "Running of the Urinals," where drunken infielders ran down a row of portable toilets. DeRosa, a horse-racing reporter from Lexington, Ky., who attended Preakness from 2005 to 2011, says nothing could have prepared a first-timer for the debauchery. "I was in Vegas for New Year's Eve a couple times, and until I had been to the Preakness infield, that was the craziest I'd ever seen people behave," DeRosa, now 33, said.

The late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously remarked that, "The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself. " I've always liked that quote, but I think it misleads. That two plus two equals four is not a conservative truth or a liberal truth. It's simply the truth. (Moynihan himself recognized this when he even more famously said that people are entitled to their own opinions but not their own facts.)

To quote a certain vice president, this week in entertainment was a big f---ing deal. Here's your pop culture week in review. 'THE HILLS' FINAL SEASON STARTS IN APRIL: It's the last chance to give Heidi and/or Spencer a best leading douchebags in a fake reality show Emmy. ROAD TRIP!: Universal Orlando's The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens June 18. Just a few months left to convince my editor there's a story down there. 'TODAY' REPORTS ON BEST ACTRESS OSCAR CURSE: It's not that we think you have "journalistic standards," but we sadly expected more from you, "Today."

Let's face it: there's too much new music in a year for any one human being to digest. "2011 Gems" is a December feature on Midnight Sun where I highlight some of the tracks that might have flown under your radar. First up is Jackie Chain's smooth tribute to his Southern rap lifestyle. The song is full of curse words so if that's not your thing, move right along. Jackie Chain, "Parked Outside (feat. Big K.R.I.T. and Bun B)" When I spoke with ST 2 Lettaz of G-Side last month, we talked about Alabama and how everyone has to drive around to get to anything.

Where does one start about guns and the love for an outdated Second Amendment that our forefathers if they lived today would never have written? Where does one begin about the armament industry, corporations without conscience for all they are killing in the name of profit? And what happened to the fingerprint activation device they once promised as a gun lock to save the lives of our children? What happened to our TV, theater, the games our children play, and who decided America needed a steady diet of murderous violence?

As you (and President Obama) stressed over a perfect NCAA bracket (and maybe health-care reform), we were busy compiling the best in entertainment news. Here's your pop culture week in review -- and it was a wild one. HELP US OUT: Thanks, HBO, for announcing "True Blood" Season 3 will premiere 9 p.m. June 13, but we would've appreciated suggestions on how to spend our time until then. DEAR CHANNING TATUM: We'll watch you as "Captain America," but only if you do a "Step Up"-esque dance battle with the Green Hornet.

One of the few things Americans on both sides of the partisan divide can agree on is that this election is shaping up to be vexingly petty. The hunt for gaffes -- some real, many imagined -- has taken over. Mitt Romney's recent overseas tour, we are told, produced three: an impolitic, if defensible, statement about Britain's preparations for the Olympics; a statement about the importance of culture in economic development; and an incident in which an aide to Mr. Romney dressed down a reporter with an inflated sense of entitlement.

Lotfy Nathan spent some five years putting together his film about West Baltimore's dirt-bike culture. Now, with national acclaim for "12 O'clock Boys" promising to turn it into one of the year's breakout documentaries after a February premiere at the South by Southwest arts festival in Austin, Texas, he's happily basking in the acclaim. "The reception in Austin was incredible," Nathan said last week from Toronto, where the film was being shown at the annual Hot Docs festival. "It was more than I could have asked for. " This week, a distribution deal with independent film distributors Oscilloscope Laboratories safely in hand, the Maryland Institute College of Art -educated Nathan is bringing his film home.

It was very nice of Bob Leffler to paint his big picture of what many of us call the mistake in progress at Towson University regarding eliminating the 91-year soccer program ("The big picture for TU," April 16). As an alumnus who has a consecutive giving record since graduation in 1957, as a player on the soccer team for four years, as a member and former officer of the Towson University Hall of Fame, and as an activist on behalf of the institution through the years, I still very much care about my school.

BOSTON -- When Kieran O'Leary took the trip to last year's Boston Marathon, the County Dublin resident met up with several other Irish visitors before the race. "Some of the guys I knew from before from other races -- I'd met a few of them previously," O'Leary said by phone last week. "We met up on race day and traveled out to the start together and then hung around together, waiting for the start. " There were plans to meet up afterward as well. No post-race reunion happened however, because O'Leary found himself in a medical tent, receiving an I.V. drip -- a recovery from one of the hotter Boston Marathons in history.

Situated in the city's Bolton Hill neighborhood is a relatively new development of brick townhouses solidly placed among the late Victorian and early-20th-century structures that once housed the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Woodrow Wilson and, more recently, pianist Leon Fleisher. This little enclave within an enclave is called Lions Park Fountains. The two-story houses hug the periphery of an open, brick-paved courtyard with benches and fountains. Large statues of lions guard the entrance to the 1980 development.

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. " - Thomas Jefferson My recent column on the challenges associated with the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program elicited numerous and very personal stories from readers about how individual (disabled) recipients depended on the program for daily maintenance. And, many asked, how dare I (and others of my ilk) question such a vital program?

When it comes to spring color, Washington knows how to put on a show. The National Cherry Blossom Festival blossoms each year to commemorate the gift of some 3,000 cherry trees from Tokyo to the nation's capital in 1912. While the festival had modest beginnings, the event has since evolved into a springtime celebration that attracts millions of visitors from around the world. "It's truly amazing how a gift from over 100 years ago has now reached so many people," says Diana Mayhew, the festival's president.

LONG BEFORE legal slot machines might actually arrive in Maryland, can there be any doubt as to the corrosive influence of the gambling industry on the political culture of Annapolis? Just consider two news items that broke late last week: Richard E. Hug, appointed by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to serve on the supposedly esteemed University System of Maryland Board of Regents, has been out shilling for slots, hitting up potential donors to contribute to a nonprofit group that plans to spend on a media blitz promoting the governor's slots plan.

The dean of Johns Hopkins Medicine sought to distance the institution from famed neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson, who has made headlines for his opposition to same-sex marriage, and also promised to meet with students opposed to Carson's planned role in commencement proceedings. In his first statements about the incident, Dr. Paul B. Rothman described Carson's comments on the issue as "hurtful. " Rothman also chastised Carson, who linked same-sex marriage to bestiality, for using offensive language.

From many little yellow peeps, one artistic family saw a giant yellow bird. At the sixth annual "Peep Show" in downtown Westminster, the massive 3,810-marshmallow-strong Big Bird drew the biggest oohs and ahhs among the young kids and older fans who filled the Carroll County Arts Council building on Main Street Saturday, all there to take in a host of candy-inspired creations. The "Long Live Sesame Peep" display, complete with a trash-canned Oscar the Grouch, was created by Robert Mondor and his family - wife Ann, son Sean, 10, and daughter Lauren, 8, all of Westminster - and was just one of many pop-culture-inspired displays at the Easter event, which has become a major fundraiser for the council each year.