Halloween Costume

This year's best Halloween costume award goes to Johnny Rad's Johnny Rad's , the super friendly Upper Fells Point pizzeria and restaurant dressed up for Halloween as Kelly's, the neighborhood watering hole that preceded it. Rich Pugh and company put up the old Kelly's sign and the staff wore Kelly's T-shirts. Best of all was one of Johnny Rad's accessories -- for the first time ever on Johnny Rad's beer list -- Coor's Light, a Kelly's staple.

Despite superstorm Sandy's best efforts, Hampden's Halloween festivities this year would not be derailed. Postponed, sure, but not canceled. So instead of the annual Hampden festival taking place Oct. 31, it took place the following Saturday, Nov. 3. And the change in time seemed to have very little impact on the turnout of trick-or-treaters or those entering in the costume contest. The winners this year, by age group and category, are: Ages 2 and Under: Adrianna Torres as a Scarecrow (Funniest)

Do you have an idea yet for Consuming Interests' Cheap Halloween Costume contest ? Check back for details, but you'll be able to send us or upload a picture of a cheap costume you've put together, either this year or for previous Halloweens. Don't forget to mention how much you spent! We're happy to announce the prize for said contest: a boxed set of the Jurassic Park trilogy in Blu-Ray! But not everyone is handy or interested in making a costume. For those folks, here's a bunch of Halloween coupon offers via CouponSherpa.com . There's also a slew of Halloween offers at FreeShipping.org . 1. Sears Now until Oct. 29, get $5 off your costume purchase of $50 or more with Sears coupon code SBOO.

Taylor Virden, a McDonogh graduate from Ellicott City who is a member of the women's lacrosse team at Duke, is at the center of a race-related controversy at the university that was exposed Monday. The athletic website for Duke showed members of the team dressed up as characters from “The Little Rascals” for Halloween, and Virden was dressed as Buckwheat and wore blackface, which as you know, is highly offensive. According to Deadspin , the photo was removed Monday morning, presumably after the university received complaints.

It's never too early to think about Halloween, so we asked our staff about which costumes we'll see a lot of this year. •••• Anything involving the Casey Anthony trial.  Luke Broadwater, managing editor,  b •••• I can live with the sexy fill-in-the-blank trend; I just need there to be more options: The sexy aerospace engineer. The sexy CEO. The sexy president. Where my girls at? (Jordan's note: There's no such thing as a sexy aerospace engineer.)

Taylor Virden, a McDonogh graduate from Ellicott City who is a member of the women's lacrosse team at Duke, is at the center of a race-related controversy at the university that was exposed Monday. The athletic website for Duke showed members of the team dressed up as characters from “The Little Rascals” for Halloween, and Virden was dressed as Buckwheat and wore blackface, which as you know, is highly offensive. According to Deadspin , the photo was removed Monday morning, presumably after the university received complaints.

HALLOWEEN IS coming, and you parents know what that means! It means it's time for you to make fun and creative costumes for your kids! Otherwise you are not as good as the other parents. Even as you read these words, competing parents -- the kind of people whose homes have candles burning in front of statues of Martha Stewart -- are hunched over their workbenches, creating costumes that require more time and effort than you spent planning your wedding. These are the parents you see on the home and family segments of morning TV shows just before Halloween: Host: Our next parent is Mrs. Shirley Hamperwinkle, who has dressed her daughter, Tiffany, as an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower!

Did you wait until the last minute to go shopping for your Halloween costume? Before making a mad dash to the mall or local costume store, you might want to consider making your own costume this year. These homemade costumes don't require a lot of time or money. In fact, all you need is a few household items, a little craftsmanship and a lot of imagination. If you need some inspiration, think Martha Stewart meets MacGyver. When creating your own Halloween costume, the first thing you need to consider is the impression you want your costume to make.

What are you gonna be? Now that question's harmless. It's the follow-ups that get a bit scary: Where are you gonna buy that costume? How are you gonna pay for it? And when will you find the time to put it together? Accept your home as a costume shop waiting to happen, and the answers may be easier than you think. Commit yourself to plundering it for all the buried possibilities it holds, and you may find a new Halloween look is as close as your own closet ... and has been for years.

This might be the best damn Halloween costume for a dog that I've seen all year. And I've seen a lot of 'em... It's Jack as Don Draper from "MadMen. " Jack was part of the 21st Annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in New York on October 22. The parade has a reputation for some of the most creative costumes around -- and it's the largest Halloween Dog Parade in the country, they say.

If your Halloween costume includes contact lenses to give your eyes the scary look of a werewolf or vampire, you may want to consider the dangers, especially if you don't get them from a doctor. The American Optometric Association said contact lenses should be fitted by a physician. Yet 28 percent of people  who buy colored contacts for Halloween buy them illegally. We're talking from gas stations, flea markets, beauty salons and the Internet. The doctors group said doing this is putting people at risk for bacterial infections, allergic reactions and irreversible eye sight loss.

Skeletons, butterflies, frogs and even baby chickens bounced around the festive food court at the Mall in Columbia on Tuesday, as officials urged residents to celebrate Halloween despite Sandy's after-effects, and parents enthusiastically tried to comply. "It may be a little soggy and a little muddy," said Raquel Guillory, spokeswoman for Gov. Martin O'Malley. "But as long as there are no downed wires or trees in the way, we do hope the kids get out and do a little trick-or-treating.

Who is that masked woman? As if the height and ridiculous body didn't give it away, why it's Stacy Keibler, hosting a masquerade party at the Bellagio in Las Vegas this weekend. Wonder if she'll wear that for trick or treating? jill.rosen@baltsun.com @BaltInsider on Twitter

See that above? On the right, you have the present-day girls' Big Bird costume. On the left? That's me in the 1982 version of the girls' Big Bird costume. Wait, my bad. Back then, it was just a Big Bird costume, no gender roles necessary. I mean, I know this has been going for ages, and that Halloween has turned into a way for people (grownups, one hopes) to let out their sexpot side for a day. (Check out this illustration of how costumes evolve from unicorn to sexy unicorn, nurse to sexy nurse, bee to sexy bee.)

This year's best Halloween costume award goes to Johnny Rad's Johnny Rad's , the super friendly Upper Fells Point pizzeria and restaurant dressed up for Halloween as Kelly's, the neighborhood watering hole that preceded it. Rich Pugh and company put up the old Kelly's sign and the staff wore Kelly's T-shirts. Best of all was one of Johnny Rad's accessories -- for the first time ever on Johnny Rad's beer list -- Coor's Light, a Kelly's staple.

Pictures of Ravens cheerleaders dressed in Halloween costumes during the Ravens home game against Buffalo on Sunday, October 24, in Baltimore. Welcome to our new mobile site! Here's a quick tour: • Find things to do: 10 Spot picks happening soon are highlighted at the top of the site. • Your second screen: Keep up with boob tube buzz while you watch on the TV Lust blog. • Food and drink tips: Check the Eats section for dinner and drink ideas.

Ray Rice is easily my favorite player to cover on the Ravens. I love the way he plays. I love the points he scores for my fantasy football teams. And I love the way he handles himself in the media: equal parts goofy and serious. Playing at a Pro Bowl level again this season, Rice is getting more and more attention these days. He has been featured in segments on ESPN and NFL Network in recent weeks, and he just did a fun interview with GQ. Highlight No. 1: Rice showed up at Rutgers as a freshman wearing a purple hoodie with his own picture on it. “You've got to realize, where I'm from -- New Rochelle High School versus Mount Vernon High School -- that's as big a rivalry as there is. We beat them my senior year and there was this great picture of me running over some guy. It got put on a purple hoodie and I wore that hoodie everywhere.” Highlight No. 2: Rice explained why to him, Baltimore isn't just “crab cakes and football.” “They say 'crab cakes and football,' but that doesn't really work for me. I'm allergic to shellfish, so I can't do crab cakes.

My husband has this theory that because we let our son play with G.I. Joe as a little boy, we ended up with a Marine. And because we let our daughter play with Barbie as a little girl, we ended up with a Paris Hilton — strawberry blond tresses flying out the door, cellphone and gold lamé bag in hand, off to another good time. As the twig is bent, so grows the tree. So the current international kerfuffle over France's sexy 6-year-old lingerie models has some resonance for us veteran mothers.

Ray Rice is easily my favorite player to cover on the Ravens. I love the way he plays. I love the points he scores for my fantasy football teams. And I love the way he handles himself in the media: equal parts goofy and serious. Playing at a Pro Bowl level again this season, Rice is getting more and more attention these days. He has been featured in segments on ESPN and NFL Network in recent weeks, and he just did a fun interview with GQ. Highlight No. 1: Rice showed up at Rutgers as a freshman wearing a purple hoodie with his own picture on it. “You've got to realize, where I'm from -- New Rochelle High School versus Mount Vernon High School -- that's as big a rivalry as there is. We beat them my senior year and there was this great picture of me running over some guy. It got put on a purple hoodie and I wore that hoodie everywhere.” Highlight No. 2: Rice explained why to him, Baltimore isn't just “crab cakes and football.” “They say 'crab cakes and football,' but that doesn't really work for me. I'm allergic to shellfish, so I can't do crab cakes.

This might be the best damn Halloween costume for a dog that I've seen all year. And I've seen a lot of 'em... It's Jack as Don Draper from "MadMen. " Jack was part of the 21st Annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in New York on October 22. The parade has a reputation for some of the most creative costumes around -- and it's the largest Halloween Dog Parade in the country, they say.