Halen

AIDS talisman Yeah, we know you already sat through the Oscars this week, but give the broadcast and cable industry its turn. After all, what do you spend more time watching? Here are some broadcast winners of the George Foster Peabody Awards -- the industry's so-called Pulitzer Prizes -- announced Thursday:"Murphy Brown," "Late Night With David Letterman," "I'll Fly Away," "Northern Exposure," coverage of the Masters golf tournament by CBS Sports, coverage of the Soviet coup by Cable News Network and National Public Radio's coverage of Justice Clarence Thomas' confirmation.

Van Halen's Anthony is picking a hot rodMichael Anthony of the band Van Halen has been presented with a racy $20,000 guitar crafted by Boyd Coddington, a custom designer of hot rods.Mr. Coddington presented the guitar, commissioned by the bass player, before hundreds of people Thursday night at the Hard Rock Cafe in Newport Beach, Calif. An identical guitar is being exhibited at the restaurant."You thought this only looked good on cars," Mr. Anthony said.The guitar features an aluminum body that is purple, a center cap from a wheel as volume control knob, adjusters resembling car keys and a pick guard of fluted glass mounted in rubber, similar to a windshield.

You say you've had it with lousy sightlines, tin-can sound, brutish bouncers and seats so high you've thought about slapping on an oxygen mask? Well, so have some of your favorite concert performers.While it may be premature to announce the outright death of stadium and arena rock, the days of herding music fans into cavernous sports complexes are dwindling.For big stars who have clout with promoters, and tour at least semi-regularly, "booking down" is this year's buzz phrase.* Prince's first U.S. tour in nearly five years will visit theaters and small auditoriums.

People . . . People who need forks are the yuckiest people in the world.OK, so Barbra Streisand didn't exactly sing those lyrics during her recent concerts at the USAir Arena in Landover. She might as well have.The culinary word on America's Funny Girl is that she eats salad sans utensils, drinks only American bottled water and avoids green peppers because of a food allergy.Other than that, Ms. Streisand has been a poster girl for the Food Pyramid in recent days, eating lots of vegetables, fresh fruit and fish.

The grapes are usually from the Napa Valley of California, but the winemaker lives in Centreville. He is Lee Hack, who lived in Mount Washington and worked long hours for Shore Auto Electric, before he retired and moved to the Eastern Shore 14 years ago to live the good life with his wife, Miriam.And indeed he does. Not only did he build a 20-foot work boat in his shed, he catches his own crabs and makes his own wine. He's getting confident enough about his wines, that he is now entering them in competition.

Just as crucial to a pleasurable summer road trip as proper packing and a tuned-up auto is the perfect car tape.Rather than rely on radio in unknown expanses of the country, or commercial tapes of albums with a couple good songs and a lot of same-sounding filler, music lovers have for years used home tape decks to concoct their own perfect song selection.And a good tape will last several trips and be an interesting loan to friends (who will not necessarily follow your every musical turn of the road with the same enthusiasm)

INSIDE TODAY WHAT THEY ARE SAYING The wisdom of keeping Trembley The Orioles look smart -- and have clean hands -- for deciding to name Dave Trembley as manager for next year and avoiding this off-season's unsavory manager market. Sports baltimoresun.com/steele Fort Carroll as slots palace Fort Carroll is a perfect place for a slots, but the idea is likely to draw fire from critics who'd prefer to see it continue as a bird sanctuary. Maryland baltimoresun.com/rodricks other voices Mike Himowitz on jott.

WEST WARWICK, R.I. - Christopher Travis felt certain he would die. The fire had plunged the club into darkness, and the ghoulish shrieking had begun. Travis is a big man, a 6-foot-tall construction worker. But from somewhere, a blow smacked him face-down onto the floor. People were trampling on his hands now. They were falling on top of him. He started to cough. Every breath burned. He thought he knew the floor plan of The Station from the many concerts he had seen there. But he was in a sea of blackness now. A despair as thick as the smoke settled over him. Where am I?

Van Halen, known for its drama-filled history as much as for its musical successes, heads to the 1st Mariner Arena tonight. The Van Halen Tour is the group's first since 2004 and its first with original singer David Lee Roth since 1985. The current roster also includes Eddie, Alex and Wolfgang Van Halen. Last year, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the hard-rocking band, which has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide. Van Halen performs at 7:30 p.m. The arena is at 201 W. Baltimore St. $47.50-$123.

For a certain breed of Van Halen fan, it's like finally getting to scratch a pesky itch. More than 20 years have passed since David Lee Roth was unceremoniously dumped from his band in favor of vocalist Sammy Hagar, carving a schism between Van Halen aficionados and creating years of frustration for fans of the original singer. And more than a decade has passed since Van Halen first teased at a reunion with Roth, initiating what would become a continuing procession of rumors, botched plans and public feuding.