Darth Vader

You're Bud Selig, and Peter Angelos says on Page 1A of today's Sun that your role in trying to forge a labor settlement is "beyond my comprehension."You add it to your little list.The list is long, and getting longer. And when major-league baseball gets the chance to put a team in Northern Virginia, it might come in handy.Selig can use it to remind the owners of the time Angelos said a salary cap was only an "interim" solution.The time he rewrote their resolution canceling the season.The time he refused to attend an antitrust hearing in Washington, then found time to do lunch with Darth Vader -- er, Donald Fehr -- two days later.

On weekday mornings, I'll post the most controversial, shocking and (of course) ridiculous stories for your reading pleasure. That way, when you walk into work, you'll be the master of witty conversation. Articles  • Why not? Everyone else got bailed out : $1 billion homeowner bailout offered. ( NASDAQ )  • The fun side of politics: Perry preps for smear campaign. ( Politico )  • Kind of like all his other positions? Obama's position on same-sex marriage 'evolving' ( Politico )

I am happy about that, to sort of always be remembered as Darth. That's what people come up to me and shake my hand for. That's cool. -- Hayden Christensen, who plays a young Darth Vader in Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith

DURHAM, N.C. - James Earl Jones' commanding bass is so recognizable, even a hermit could place it immediately. It's Mufasa, the papa lion in Disney's hit The Lion King, it's Darth Vader in Star Wars. It has an air of compassion, of wisdom and omnipotence. And yet this Hollywood star spent the better part of his childhood with his mouth closed, plagued by a severe stutter. "It was so bad that I didn't speak at all," Jones, 74, told 200 students at a literacy celebration this week in Durham.

There's one huge problem with the University of Maryland's decision to move to the Big Ten athletic conference: Who replaces Duke as the team that Terps fans love to hate? Some great drama is being lost with Maryland bolting the ACC. Future basketball seasons will be like reading "Romeo and Juliet" without the Montagues. Or watching "Star Wars" without Darth Vader.  No author would have dreamed up such a move -- taking the great villain out of a compelling story. It figures that the plan was dreamed up by university administrators seeking financial gain.

You knew they were tasty. But did you know crabs were art? At least they are in the hands of a few area painters. They take those hard, pointy, colorful outer shells, the ones that usually get rolled up in a newspaper and thrown away when the crab feast is over, and turn them into decorative keepsakes. "I really don't know what the draw is," concedes Dorothy Oliver, who paints on hollowed-out crustaceans from her home in Huntingtown in Calvert County. "It's a unique little item.

Let's see, what kind of bar should we try tonight? Brew pub? Sports bar? Martini bar? Scotch bar? Tequila bar? Maybe it's time for a breath of fresh air - well, as fresh as one can get in even the fanciest saloon. How about an oxygen bar? Yes, in the depths of Baltimore's ozone-saturated summer, an oxygen bar has opened for business, and its patrons are lining up for hits of filtered, flavored, $10-a-pop O2. Talk about rarefied air. "After a while," says a deep-breathing Michael Totin, from Essex, "it's euphoric."

Wrong message sentFrom: Richard LuebkeEllicott CityThis letter responds to the cartoon displayed on Page 9 of the Aug. 2 Howard County Sun [by Rob Snyder].The ignorance displayed by this cartoon lampooning the Howard County Council is most appalling. On the contrary, the County Council (sitting as the zoning board) should be commended for adhering to the required legal test for rezoning and discounting the petitioner's half-truths and other factual distortions. Without the legal test, developers and big business would be selfishly dictating county zoning policy.

BEST-SELLERS FICTION NoLWTitle AuthorWeeks on List 1(1)Mary, Mary James Patterson3 2(3)At First Sight Nicholas Sparks7 3(2)Light from Heaven Jan Karon4 4(6)The Lighthouse P.D. James2 5(-)Forever Odd Dean Koontz1 6(4)The Camel Club David Baldacci6 7(5)Predator Patricia Cornwell6 8(9)Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt Anne Rice5 9(7)Star Wars: Dark Lord-The Rise of Darth Vader James Luciano2 10(11)The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown140 NONFICTION NoLWTitle AuthorWeeks on List 1(2)Teacher Man Frank McCourt3 2(3)

One of last year's most acclaimed films, the documentary "Hoop Dreams," gets its first broadcast showing tonight, on PBS. Also, a number of guest stars make appearances tonight on regular series.* "Hoop Dreams" & "Hoop Dreams Reunion" (8 p.m.-11 p.m. & 11 p.m.-11:30 p.m., MPT, Channels 22, 67) -- Director Steve James' moving film about two young men chasing dreams of basketball fame gets its first broadcast screening. It's followed by a program with new footage of its subjects, William Gates and Arthur Agee, and their families.