Cure

Largo -- According to the conventional wisdom, the Cure is an ingeniously gloomy outfit, capable of conveying the dizzying vortex of adolescent depression better than any band in rock. And though the group has had its moments of pop accessibility, they're seen as happy accidents, tuneful anomalies within a generally downbeat catalog.But as the Cure made clear at the Capital Centre last night, the conventional wisdom is crap. Sure, this quintet has its moments of darkness and despair, but that's just one of the moods in its musical repertoire.

Largo -- According to the conventional wisdom, the Cure is an ingeniously gloomy outfit, capable of conveying the dizzying vortex of adolescent depression better than any band in rock. And though the group has had its moments of pop accessibility, they're seen as happy accidents, tuneful anomalies within a generally downbeat catalog.But as the Cure made clear at the Capital Centre last night, the conventional wisdom is crap. Sure, this quintet has its moments of darkness and despair, but that's just one of the moods in its musical repertoire.

As a melancholy icon for our troubled times, nothing could top "The Cure." It's a modern version of "Huck Finn," with Tom and Huck riding the raft down the Mississippi, except this time Tom has AIDS.Of course it shouldn't be judged as an icon, but as a movie. In that regard, it's somewhat flawed. Essentially a "feelings" kind of piece, it follows as two 11-year-old neighbors awkwardly meet and bond, even though the smaller of them is fatally infected with the virus. Soon the boys are determined to find a cure for the disease and try a number of goofy natural remedies.

The trouble with most concert films is that, at bottom, they're neither.They don't work as movies because there's no plot, little action and hardly anything in the way of character. Unless, of course, the director has tried to splice some in, in which case you're left with something looking like a music video gone horribly wrong.At the same time, they're not much use as concerts, either. For one thing, they're rarely loud enough (if they were, they'd drown out the Jean-Claude Van Damme flick two theaters over)

MY FELLOW MOTHERS and I are walking these days like a bunch of fellow grandmothers. It is a kind of limp accompanied by a facial expression that is equal parts flinch and exasperation. Our feet hurt from the minute we step out of bed in the morning, and, frankly, we don't have time for this. According to the sports medicine doctors and orthopedists who usually treat our pampered child athletes, we are all suffering from plantar fasciitis, a fancy name for what happens when you are on your feet all day. "Good luck," says Stephen Baitch, a physical therapist with Union Memorial Hospital's sports medicine clinic.

A GROUP OF teachers at Mount Airy Middle School participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Baltimore during the weekend to raise money to fight breast cancer and try to raise public awareness of the disease. "It puts money in the hands of people doing research," said Jill Lambert, the school's reading specialist and race participant. "It also brings home the point that no one is really immune from this disease." This is the fifth time Lambert has participated in the 5K race with 20,000 other runners at Ravens Stadium in Baltimore.

NEW YORK -- Now that everything is over except the crying, it seems likely that bitterness will characterize our nation's capital when George W. Bush -- mandated, flayed and filleted -- arrives to be sworn in as the first president of the 21st century. He'll be about as welcome as a standup comedian at an infant's funeral. That would also be true of Al Gore if he had been the man chosen to sit in the Oval Office and contemplate how much better it would be to come to such power in a far more agreeable way, with no room for argument and no unprecedented tale of national suspense and coast-to-coast bad-mouthing.

After nine years of planning and prayer, Clergy United for the Renewal of East Baltimore has a place to call home.The ecumenical alliance of 239 churches will open its headquarters today at 901 N. Broadway. The new three-story structure will house CURE's administrative offices and a free health care clinic to be run by Heart, Body & Soul, a division of CURE."Our mission is to educate people about health care," said the Rev. Melvin B. Tuggle II, CURE president, at the building dedication Friday.

They come by the dozens, in a procession of misery that includes some of the most desperate drug abusers in Maryland."By paying their bills, we may be causing our own demise."

After months of planning and prayer, Clergy United for the Renewal of East Baltimore (CURE) will join forces with Baltimore City and local businesses to improve city parks and recreation centers.With financial support and equipment donated by local businesses, the ecumenical alliance of 239 churches will begin its cleanup efforts of parks next month."Recreation has been lacking in Baltimore," the Rev. Melvin B. Tuggle II, CURE president and a Recreation and Parks Board Commissioner, said yesterday.