Irresistible

I REMEMBER my eighth-grade Latin teacher's explanation of the derivation of "carnival." "Carnival," she said, "is a combination of two Latin words: carne, meaning flesh, and vale, meaning farewell."Indeed, when the carnival rolled into my little New England town each August, there was an element of "flesh, farewell." It symbolized excess, temptation, festivity, anything but restraint.The long caravan of trucks carrying disassembled parts of dTC amusement rides arrived about the same week every year.

Baltimore's retail renaissance and beleaguered mayor converged this week, two Targets, together, at Mondawmin Mall. If Sheila Dixon feels like she has a bull's-eye on her back, it didn't keep her from the opening of a store with the circle-dot logo. Shopping helped put Dixon in her current fix with prosecutors. So the retail setting could have been a little awkward. But when Dixon spoke about her shopping habits, there was no mention of Giorgio Armani, Jimmy Choo or Mano Swartz, names not found on the shelves of discount retailers, even those as hip as Chez Tar-jay.

Only cool-tempered Swedes could take a hot-blooded Italian expression like "Mamma mia" (imagine Anna Magnani saying it) and use it without any syllabic stress in a light, snappy song, as if the value of the two words derived from their alliterative appeal alone. But Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson knew just what they were doing in generating that song, and a whole bunch like it, for their famed group ABBA. The way those guys could match any string of words to magnetic melodic hooks proved magical in the 1970s and early 1980s, leading to a pop music phenomenon of global proportions.

The trial of Lorena Bobbitt has led more to low humor than serious thought, but it does raise an important and controversial legal issue: the insanity defense.After John Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity after shooting Ronald Reagan in 1981, Congress passed the Insanity Defense Reform Act, making it more difficult to use insanity as a defense in federal cases.A number of states followed suit, but in Virginia, where Lorena Bobbitt is now on trial, "irresistible impulse" is still a legitimate defense.

THERE IS NO better way of saying it. You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy ''Those Were The Days.'' You don't have to speak Yiddish, either. Some of the revue is done in Yiddish, but if you know a little German, it is easy enough to grab, and for those who don't know any German, there are translations, here and there.''Those Were the Days,'' which opened last evening at Center Stage, is a delight, beginning to end. A collection of Yiddish-Jewish songs, dances and jokes that are part of the Jewish heritage, it is almost irresistible.

Deep-frying is the bacon of cooking techniques: It makes everything taste better. Do it with beignets, though, and you get the irresistible results in a more lyrical package. The word is almost as satisfying to say as the real thing is to eat. Beignets sound so much lighter and airier than fritters, but they are no easier to pass up. The most famous beignets in this country are a New Orleans specialty: squares of yeasty dough fried until puffy, then smothered in powdered sugar, to be eaten with the local chicory coffee.

"Father, when I sing hymns in the choir, all I can think of is 'When a Man Loves a Woman' by Marvin Gaye," a young musician tells his priest as he makes his confession."That's Percy Sledge," says the voice on the other side of the curtain."What?" asks the young man."Percy Sledge!" comes the second and louder reply.This is soul music-crazed Dublin as Alan Parker imagines it in "The Commitments," the director's best film since "Fame," his most interesting since "Shoot the Moon," and perhaps the most enjoyable film on screens anywhere right now.This movie, adapted beautifully from Roddy Doyle's street-sharp novel of the same name, tells what happens when two out-of-work musicians from Dublin's depressed Northside ask Jimmy Rabbitte to help them form a band.

BOO OF THE WEEK goes to the University of Colorado and its football coach, Bill McCartney, for not only accepting but grabbing a win over Missouri gained on a fifth-down final play that should not have been run. Said McCartney: "In no way do I apologize." Fifty years ago Cornell beat Dartmouth on a fifth down. When the films showed that a mistake had been made, Cornell's Carl Snavely called Dartmouth coach Red Blaik, conceded the game and congratulated Dartmouth on its victory.That's the way it should be, with colleges and universities showing the way. If McCartney had done what Cornell did a half-century ago he would have been a hero and Colorado would have covered itself with glory.

The end of President Bush's time in office is still 14 months away, but already, I can guarantee two things. First, the next president will be elected on a promise to lead the U.S. to energy independence. Second, the promise won't be kept. As it happens, every major contender, Republican as well as Democratic, has vowed to liberate us from the cruel grip of imported oil. To take two random samples, here's Mitt Romney: "The United States must become energy independent. Our decisions and destiny cannot be bound to the whims of oil-producing states."

MILLINGTON - It's a beautiful day in early fall. The kind that starts with a tiny shiver and blossoms into a sultry afternoon that whispers, "Play hooky." Jay Falstad steps from his home. But instead of taking several dozen strides to the shore of Unicorn Lake, he turns his back on a day of fishing and paces an equal number of steps to his new studio. The former newspaper advertising salesman is in the early stages of a new career, one of those brainstorms that makes you slap your forehead and say, "Why didn't I think of that?"