Fall In Love

The real-life affair Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe nurtured during the shooting of "Proof of Life" has made headlines. But on-screen romances that turn into real-world couplings are as old as the movie medium itself. Here's a partial list: Loretta Young and Clark Gable, "Call of the Wild" (1935). Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy carried on during and after several films together during the 1940s. Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, "To Have and Have Not" (1944). Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood, "All the Fine Young Cannibals" (1960)

Dr. Ben Carson got a tough lesson in the past week on how quickly the angry and divisive world of cable TV can chew you up. The 61-year-old Baltimore County resident has been in the media spotlight as a darling of the right since early February, when he addressed the National Prayer Breakfast with what some interpreted as a lecture to President Barack Obama. But last week, Carson's TV image and the discussion about him shifted dramatically - for the worse. He became engaged in a TV discussion on race that included back-and-forth name calling - and he offered a critique on same-sex marriage that included such extreme rhetoric that he now has Johns Hopkins colleagues calling him out and medical students petitioning to have him removed as a graduation speaker in May. Most of it played out before millions on highly partisan Fox News, where he has recently been treated like a member of the home team.

You don't want to drink alone, especially on Valentine's Day. So I set out to find some wines that couples could cozy up to, even if they have differing tastes. In short, I was looking for white wines that weren't fluffy, red wines that weren't scruffy and a sparkler that was not too pink or cloying. Louis Latour `Duet' Chardonnay-Viognier 2005 Vin de Pays des Coteaux de L' Ardeche, France$11. (Distributed by Monsieur Touton Selections) A happy union of chardonnay and viognier grapes yields a wine with a bright apple body and lingering acidity.

He's out there. A lumbering, bewhiskered marine mammal, inexplicably blundering around the Chesapeake Bay. And as bay temperatures drop and the wily manatee eludes his rescuers' nets, the tension mounts. Can this manatee be saved?The question is gripping plenty of Marylanders. But even before the endangered sea cow wandered into Queenstown Creek this week, Maryland was catching manatee fever.Once little known outside Florida, manatees are suddenly hot everywhere. Their popularity has been on the rise ever since pop singer Jimmy Buffett began crusading for the manatee's survival a decade ago.Now animal lovers across the country are snapping up manatee T-shirts, stuffed animals and coffee cups.

If you're looking for something different to do on Valentine's Day, check out a Baltimore Chamber Orchestra concert devoted to one of the most famous composers you may never have heard of -- Ignace Joseph Pleyel. He barely registers on the public consciousness today, but this contemporary of Haydn's and Beethoven's enjoyed heady celebrity status, thanks to his tuneful, graceful compositions and some major business ventures. The music publishing house he founded in Paris in 1795 was a leader in its field for four decades.

It's not always in the Preakness Stakes, but every year, John Carroll graduate Nicole Stall urges her husband, trainer Al Stall Jr., to find a race for one of his horses on the third Saturday in May. This year, Departing gave Al Stall his second Preakness mount, finishing sixth in the nine-horse race while his wife and her family were treated to another memorable Preakness Day. “I used to always come growing up, and we try and run horses on...

Normally I am not a liar. I'm the person who fills out the customs declaration for two postcards and a duty-free candy bar. Security guards know my life story, and cops know if they pull me over I'll confess that, yes, I was speeding. Then I met a guy online -- a great guy. And for a long time, neither of us could bring ourselves to tell the truth about it. Now, during this week of hearts and flowers, it's time to come out of the closet. I was a 24-year-old writer living in Spokane, Wash.

Orioles fans often hear about the Oriole Way, "Orioles Magic" and the three World Series titles during the team's glory years in the '60s, '70s and '80s. Even 20-somethings who missed the last title, in 1983, have playoff appearances in 1996 and 1997 and the historic career of Cal Ripken Jr. to hold onto. But for many, being an Orioles fan has been nothing but disappointment, a streak of 14 straight losing seasons and teams that have started out hot, with plenty of players showing lots of promise, only to find new ways to crush our spirits.

Walk around Baltimore today and you could see Jenn Wasner's big eyes staring up at you. Wasner, who plays guitar and sings in Wye Oak and now by herself as Flock of Dimes, is the cover star for b's latest "10 to Watch Under 30" issue . In 2011, Wasner, an Owings Mills native, lived on the road, playing more than 200 shows alongside Wye Oak drummer Andy Stack. When she returned home to Baltimore, she was burned out, and even considered moving away from the city. But don't ever underestimate the power of rest.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- It was love at first sight, Sarajevo style. He saw her through his rifle scope as she stood in line for her family's water, then he walked over from his sentry post to chat.Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love.But in the besieged city of Sarajevo there are always further, messier chapters: Boy's apartment wrecked by shell fire. Girl's uncle killed by grenade. Boy's friends die face-down in the mud at the front. Girl's neighbor shot in the head by sniper.