Hancock

Invert the increase in our energy use The Sun's article "Tough to unplug" (Sept. 30) highlights some of the challenges we must address to counter the threat to life on Earth posed by global warming. Our governor has called for a 15 percent reduction in Maryland's electricity consumption in the near term. So it's discouraging to read that Baltimore Gas and Electric customers actually increased their electricity consumption this summer by 3 percent over the 2006 level. To ensure our children and grandchildren will have a livable planet, we must reverse this trend in energy use. Replacing a few traditional light bulbs with energy-efficient ones is just a start.

The music enriching my private time these days isn't exactly setting the charts ablaze. My wannabe-fabulous friends are always talking about how they can't find anything great on the radio - an old lament I'm tired of hearing. "What should I get, Rashod?" "Do they still make good music?" Although you have to dig a little more for it (and the Internet definitely helps), there's a wealth of good music out there. Here are a few great albums flying under the radar. These CDs, all released in the past month or so, have been spinning practically nonstop at home and in my car. Herbie Hancock, "River: The Joni Letters" --In his storied, 40-plus years of shaping jazz, Hancock has made several masterstrokes.

ST. LOUIS From his customary open-air perch high above the Busch Stadium playing field, Mike Shannon was putting his own folksy finishing touch on another St. Louis Cardinals broadcast Thursday afternoon. It was a beautiful day at the ballpark, full of high skies, gentle breezes and good baseball, and you could hear Shannon's unmistakable voice cackling throughout every loudspeaker in the stadium's broad corridors. He sprinkled that familiar "Heh, hehh, hehhh," into every segment of the radio broadcast, then finished the day with a big and satisfied grin as the Cardinals completed a series sweep of the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates.

The bird pooped on Arthur Hancock III in the paddock at Keeneland. It was a big load, splattering on Hancock's shoulder.This was two days before the Blue Grass Stakes, the race in which Menifee, whom Hancock bred and co-owns, would prove whether he belonged in the Kentucky Derby. Hancock's aunt had always said that a bird pooping on you meant good luck."I thought, `Well, that's interesting,' " Hancock said yesterday in his Kentucky drawl. " `Maybe we'll be lucky in the Blue Grass.' "About 30 minutes later, back in his seat at Keeneland, Hancock heard a startled voice in the next box: "Oh my God, will you look at that."

We subjoin a variety of additional interesting details of the sanguinary battle fought at Gettysburg, Pa., on Friday last:The Great Battle of Friday.[Correspondence of the N.Y. Times.]Near Gettysburg, Saturday, July 4th. -- Another great battle was fought yesterday afternoon, resulting in a magnificent success to the national arms.At two o'clock P.M., Longstreet's whole corps advanced from the rebel centre against our centre. The enemy's forces were hurled upon our position by columns in mass, and also in lines of battle.

Among the demands for updated equipment that poultry growers routinely hear about from their companies, none is so popular, costly or controversial as "tunnel ventilation," a system of high-powered fans designed to keep air moving on hot days.Some processors, such as Perdue, are so convinced the system improves performance -- both for them and for the growers -- that they pay for half the cost. But even then, farmers often need a new loan for the equipment. Company reimbursements don't include interest, and a grower's contract can be cut off before reimbursement is complete.

The attorney for Harford County A. Frank Carven III, remains on the job pending a hearing Oct. 5 on charges of drunken driving, after his arrest in Ocean City last week-end.Carven. who was attending the Maryland Association of Counties convention, was arrested driving a county-owned car Aug 20.John O'Neill, director of administration for Harford County, said Carven had just left a party when the arrest occurred. O'Neill said county officials are waiting until after Carven's court hearing to decide what action to take.

If you bought or sold land in the past year, chances are you are contributing to the state's acquisition of vast tracts of wetland and forest on the Eastern Shore to protect them from development. The deal, made public yesterday, is expected to be completed this month.Funds for the state's share in purchasing the 58,000 acres from the Virginia-based Chesapeake Forest Products Co. -- $16.5 million -- are coming from Program Open Space, a seemingly endless source of cash used to buy land to protect it from development.

Seattle protesters had good reasons to oppose the WTOAs an opponent of the World Trade Organization, I was very perturbed after reading Jay Hancock's account of "Who are these protesters and what do they have against the WTO?" ("From free trade to free-for-all," Dec. 2).I expected to read an interview with critics of the WTO; instead, a reporter answered his own questions.Two WTO opponents were identified in the article -- the Teamsters union and the Friends of the Earth. But no opponent was actually quoted.

Long Reach's superior, senior-supported depth wasn't enough to overcome a special teams breakdown, two fumbles and an interception yesterday.Cardinal Gibbons, which hasn't had a winning season since 1993, spoiled the home opener of Long Reach, which has hopes of a big season, by rallying from a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to win, 16-13.A 23-yard field goal by freshman Chris Stimmel with 81 seconds left decided it. Stimmel was given a chance to kick only because senior starter Doug Summers was benched after missing Gibbons' first extra-point try.On a humid afternoon, Long Reach played only one starter both ways.

Hancock wrong on Towson U. I take strong exception to a number of statements made by Jay Hancock in his recent column, "Tuition freeze leaves Md. students out in the cold" (Sept. 25). I question the statement that the freeze leads to "rationing Maryland education," but I will not comment on whether holding tuition levels is good or bad. Mr. Hancock seems to have made that decision. I will question his view of Towson University. To say that Towson and its sister schools "were supposed to educate the kids who didn't get into the University of Maryland, College Park" is ridiculous.

When Michael Oher takes the field as a Baltimore Raven this fall, a national audience of readers and moviegoers even bigger than the Ravens' fan base will be cheering for him. The amazing story behind his rise to football stardom will fill the nonfiction shelves at bookstores on Oct. 12, with a new edition of Michael Lewis' powerhouse piece of nonfiction "The Blind Side." And if all goes according to plan, it will also pack movie theaters on Nov. 20, when writer-director John Lee Hancock's movie version hits theaters, starring newcomer Quinton Aron as Oher and Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw as Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy - the wealthy, white, conservative, evangelical couple who devoted themselves to the happiness and success of "Big Mike," a black kid from the meanest streets of Memphis, Tenn.

M. Michele Hancock, a retired registered nurse who had worked at several area hospitals, died of adenoid cystic carcinoma June 12 at the Jewish Healthcare Center in Worcester, Mass. The former Cross Keys resident was 58. M. Michele Hendricks was born and raised in Reisterstown. She was a 1968 graduate of Western High School and earned an associate's degree in nursing from Baltimore Community College in 1970. Mrs. Hendricks worked at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she specialized in adult neurology, and later at South Baltimore General and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

Sherry L. Schott, who had worked in sales and later was a hot line counselor, died of congestive heart failure Wednesday at Carroll Hospice's Dove House in Westminster. She was 51. Sherry Lee Swanson was born at Fort Meade and moved with her family to South Bend, Ind., in 1960. In 1970, she moved with her family to Woodlawn, where she graduated from Woodlawn High School in 1976. After high school, she began working in sales and became manager of Jack's Clothing store in Westview Mall.

Dan Rodricks' column has moved to the Commentary Page on Wednesdays. Today, you will find it on Page 19 of this section. Jay Hancock's column now appears on Page 2 of the News section on Wednesdays and Fridays.

On April 22, 2009 TIMOTHY N. MORGAN loving son of Jeremiah N. Morgan and the late Glendora F. Morgan; dear brother of Brenda Morgan, Winona Hancock, Russell Morgan and the late Jerry Lynn Morgan; loving uncle of Clint Morgan, Damion Hancock and Russell G. Morgan. Graveside service will be held at Oak Lawn Cemetery on Saturday at 10 a.m. Arrangements by the family owned Duda-Ruck Funeral Home of Dundalk, Inc.

All those die-hard fans who said they'd enjoy watching Will Smith read a phone book, beware: As Ben Thomas, a renegade IRS agent struggling for spiritual redemption, he spends a lot of time reading names in Seven Pounds, and it isn't rewarding or enjoyable as elocution or drama. Seven Pounds is a worrying kind of a debacle for a superstar like Smith. Making a movie that's meant to be a stretch, he actually contracts. I thought last summer's misfit superhero movie Hancock was disappointing and self-destructive (loved the first half, hated the second)

LITTLE ORLEANS - Clouds drift in front of a nearly full moon as a bat flutters to the mouth of an abandoned railroad tunnel in Western Maryland. There, caught in a web of fishing line, it drops into a biologist's trap. A quick and gentle exam by flashlight identifies it as a big brown bat, a female. Gloved hands jot down her vital statistics and release her - one more data point in scientists' growing understanding of what is believed to be Maryland's largest winter hideaway for bats. The 4,350-foot Indigo Tunnel southwest of Hancock hosts an estimated 1,400 bats during their winter hibernation, some of them rare and endangered species.

Television 1. Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Fox 2. America's Got Talent, NBC 3. All-Star Pre-game Show, Fox 4. Criminal Minds, CBS 5. So You Think Can Dance, Fox FILM 1. Dark Knight, Warner Bros. 2. Mamma Mia!, Universal 3. Hancock , Columbia 4. Journey to the Center of the Earth, Warner Bros. 5. Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Universal SINGLES 1. "I Kissed a Girl," Katy Perry 2. "Take a Bow," Rihanna 3. "Lollipop," Lil Wayne 4. "Forever," Chris Brown 5. "Bleeding Love," Leona Lewis ALBUMS 1. Tha Carter III, Lil Wayne 2. Viva La Vida, Coldplay 3. Camp Rock, Soundtrack 4. Modern Guilt, Beck 5. Rock N Roll Jesus, Kid Rock DVDS (SALES)

Hancock , the redemption tale of a feckless Los Angeles superhero, is named, in a roundabout way, for John Hancock, the patriot with the indelible signature. But it might as well have been named for the insurance company. The first half is diverting and inventive. But the filmmakers use the second half as a box-office insurance policy. They fill it with the conventional super-heroics and heartbreak that they spend the first 45 minutes gleefully deconstructing. Hancock swings into action in ragged street clothes: Tthe only "costume" he wears is a wool watch cap with an eagle stitched into the front of it. Mostly he sports 10 different kinds of grimaces as he demonstrates super-strength, the power of flight and an ultra-blase attitude to any piece of machinery or property that gets in his way. Happily, Will Smith is just as creative and persuasive as a homeless superman as he was playing the homeless businessman in The Pursuit of Happyness.