Hush

It's a Friday night at Baltimore's Hard Rock Cafe, and Kirk McEwen, morning deejay for radio station 98 Rock, is bouncing around in a neon green shirt, talking a mile a minute and "sweatin' like Mary Lou Retton."As host of the first taping of a fledgling local TV series, "Rockin' Live at the Rock," McEwen is doing his best latter-day Dick Clark, getting the crowd at the Inner Harbor restaurant going. Helping out is local band Once Hush, which has shown up to both rock the house and make the house rock with laughter, mixing their Beatles-meet-Green Day tunes with such charming rock star quips as: "Tonight is buy my mom a shot night."

Randy NewmanBad Love (Dreamworks 50115)Given the curmudgeonly reputation he's earned through such songs as "It's Money That Matters" and "Short People," there's something almost comic about Randy Newman calling his album "Bad Love." Come on, now -- what other kind of love is the guy going to be writing about?But in a way, the title serves as a sort of warning to those who only know Newman for what he's done lately -- joshing, jovial soundtracks like those to "Toy Story" and "Antz." It has been 22 years since he shocked polite and diminutive listeners alike by insisting that short people "got no reason to live"; indeed, Newman hasn't released a regular pop album since 1988's characteristically dystopian "Land of Dreams."

CHICAGO -- The scientific journal Nature recently reported that a team of American and Israeli researchers had successfully identified a biological link among cohanim, establishing that members of the traditional Jewish priesthood may well be descended from a single common ancestor. According to Dr. Karl Skorecki of the Technion Institute in Haifa, ''The simplest, most straightforward explanation is that these men have the Y chromosome of Aaron,'' brother of Moses.I could have saved them all the trouble.

The finale of the Preakness Celebration is the horse race tomorrow, but many events lead up to it.Preakness Eve highlights:Preakness Crab Derby, noon. Lexington Market. Free.Phillips Preakness Crab Picking Contest, noon. Harborplace Amphitheatre. Local notables will compete. Free.Preakness Eve party, 5: 30 p.m.-12 a.m. Water Street -- 2 blocks north of Inner Harbor. This party features the bands Hush and Plugged. The event costs $3 with or without a Preakness Pin from the Bud Light Nights Concert Series.

Eventually, we may hear the city of Havre de Grace's specific allegations against Police Chief William L. Lamphere. But for over a month, there's been nothing but innuendo, leaks by unnamed officials and vague assertions of "misconduct."Officials in the Harford County city say that half the department's 35 employees have made formal complaints against the chief. An unidentified city official said the allegations against Mr. Lamphere involved "sexual" discrimination in promotions and hiring.

Jeannette Millar Hush, a retired city recreation coordinator known for remembering all the children she worked with, died of cancer Thursday at the Greenery Extended Care Center in Canton. She was 82.Mrs. Hush retired from the Bureau of Recreation in 1976 from a career she began in 1931 when the department was called the Playground Athletic League.She was a participant and coordinator of many recreational activities, including the Girls Winter Carnival, which had more than 7,000 contestants during its heyday in the late 1920s and 1930s, and the women's athletic leagues.

When Erika Hush began to decorate her first home, she was sure about two things: She had $3,000 to spend and she wanted a leather sofa."Money was my biggest constraint," the 23-year-old telecommunication manager says. "I wanted to put up wallpaper and have new furnishings that looked classy, but were also budget-conscious."A wallpaper saleswoman referred Ms. Hush to a Columbia designer named Harriett Stanley, owner of a company called Uniquely Yours.Ms. Hush called Mrs. Stanley and the two women clicked.

Longtime Maryland horse trainer Hap Ravich died at Sinai Hospital on Monday afternoon after a long battle with heart disease and related problems.Ravich, 80, trained state-bred champion Jameela as well as stakes winners Endless Surprise, Sarah Percy and Hush Hush Flash."

Quick Call, an old class horse from New York, registered his 16th career victory in the $24,000 feature at Pimlico Race Course yesterday.Ridden by Joe Rocco, the 7-year-old gelding pulled away in the turn in the six-furlong race before winning by 7 1/2 lengths on a sloppy track.Hush Hush Indian, making his first start since Feb. 4, finished second in a field of eight, while Motivated By Money, the 6-5 favorite, failed to show his usual early speed and ran last.L The victory lifted Quick Call's career bankroll to $786,208.

SOLDIER'S JOY. By Madison Smartt Bell. Penguin Books. 465 pages. $8.95. IN VIETNAM, Thomas Laidlaw had an unusual accident. The weather was hot, and Laidlaw wasn't wearing boots. "Just these little cotton slippers," he remembers. Some guys drove up and began unloading a truck. Laidlaw offered to help. There were these real heavy cases; they were wooden with metal strips down the edges. One of those strips came loose on the bottom. It was sticking out like a knife blade, and . . ."That had to be the one that got dropped on my foot.

TIP 47 Checking out the financial health of your bank In the last quarter of 2008, the government's list of "problem" banks grew by 81 to a total of 252. The Feds are hush-hush about whose name is on the list to prevent a run on the banks. So is there any other way for you to find out if your institution is safe and sound or on shaky ground? Luckily, there are a few sources for you to check: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. site, fdic.gov, posts financial figures and data on specific banks under "Bank Find."

(With apologies to Dr. Seuss' Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!) Hillary R. Clinton will you please go now! It really is time This time. So go. Go! You can go by car You can go by plane We don't mean to rile, But maybe by boat Down the river, De Nile? Please. Go! You can go by way of Montana, You can go by way of South Dakota, But after they vote today You'll go then, now won't ya? It's over. It's been over. At least since May. You may have had a fun day On Sunday When you won in Puerto Rico.

You may be hoping that Morgan (Super Size Me) Spurlock's Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? slipped into theaters without fanfare because Spurlock did find bin Laden (or at least got close to him) and had to keep it all hush-hush. No such luck. This movie is a case of arthouse bait and switch. Its true subject is one decent Yank's desire to believe that Everyman and Everywoman - Everywhere! - are as warm and amiable as your average American Joe: him, Morgan Spurlock, the regular guy as fearless globetrotter.

Life and death. Mostly death. That, in a superficial nutshell, is the theme of this weekend's Baltimore Symphony Orchestra all-Russian program, led with typical incisiveness by Yuri Temirkanov. It's not easy listening, but it makes for a very involving experience. To begin, there's the deceptively tranquil Prelude to Mussorgsky's Khovantschina, a historically-based opera steeped in political assassination, persecution and mass suicide by fire. The same composer's Songs and Dances of Death follow, providing a chilling reminder of how the innocent, the frail, the vulnerable and the violent are stalked by mortality.

Randy NewmanBad Love (Dreamworks 50115)Given the curmudgeonly reputation he's earned through such songs as "It's Money That Matters" and "Short People," there's something almost comic about Randy Newman calling his album "Bad Love." Come on, now -- what other kind of love is the guy going to be writing about?But in a way, the title serves as a sort of warning to those who only know Newman for what he's done lately -- joshing, jovial soundtracks like those to "Toy Story" and "Antz." It has been 22 years since he shocked polite and diminutive listeners alike by insisting that short people "got no reason to live"; indeed, Newman hasn't released a regular pop album since 1988's characteristically dystopian "Land of Dreams."

It's a Friday night at Baltimore's Hard Rock Cafe, and Kirk McEwen, morning deejay for radio station 98 Rock, is bouncing around in a neon green shirt, talking a mile a minute and "sweatin' like Mary Lou Retton."As host of the first taping of a fledgling local TV series, "Rockin' Live at the Rock," McEwen is doing his best latter-day Dick Clark, getting the crowd at the Inner Harbor restaurant going. Helping out is local band Once Hush, which has shown up to both rock the house and make the house rock with laughter, mixing their Beatles-meet-Green Day tunes with such charming rock star quips as: "Tonight is buy my mom a shot night."

CHICAGO -- The scientific journal Nature recently reported that a team of American and Israeli researchers had successfully identified a biological link among cohanim, establishing that members of the traditional Jewish priesthood may well be descended from a single common ancestor. According to Dr. Karl Skorecki of the Technion Institute in Haifa, ''The simplest, most straightforward explanation is that these men have the Y chromosome of Aaron,'' brother of Moses.I could have saved them all the trouble.

The finale of the Preakness Celebration is the horse race tomorrow, but many events lead up to it.Preakness Eve highlights:Preakness Crab Derby, noon. Lexington Market. Free.Phillips Preakness Crab Picking Contest, noon. Harborplace Amphitheatre. Local notables will compete. Free.Preakness Eve party, 5: 30 p.m.-12 a.m. Water Street -- 2 blocks north of Inner Harbor. This party features the bands Hush and Plugged. The event costs $3 with or without a Preakness Pin from the Bud Light Nights Concert Series.

Eventually, we may hear the city of Havre de Grace's specific allegations against Police Chief William L. Lamphere. But for over a month, there's been nothing but innuendo, leaks by unnamed officials and vague assertions of "misconduct."Officials in the Harford County city say that half the department's 35 employees have made formal complaints against the chief. An unidentified city official said the allegations against Mr. Lamphere involved "sexual" discrimination in promotions and hiring.

Jeannette Millar Hush, a retired city recreation coordinator known for remembering all the children she worked with, died of cancer Thursday at the Greenery Extended Care Center in Canton. She was 82.Mrs. Hush retired from the Bureau of Recreation in 1976 from a career she began in 1931 when the department was called the Playground Athletic League.She was a participant and coordinator of many recreational activities, including the Girls Winter Carnival, which had more than 7,000 contestants during its heyday in the late 1920s and 1930s, and the women's athletic leagues.