Kaleidoscope

Rodney Blount can't seem to remember his state senator's name. He wishes he could. He thinks he should since he happens to be standing in front of Maryland's Capitol on a lobbying mission.His union has turned out on this warm spring night, and Blount has come along. Though he doesn't know exactly what legislation is at stake, the young electrician wants to show the General Assembly that organized labor still matters in Maryland."Maybe," Blount ventures, "I'll go inside and check out what they're voting on."

"I GET A Kick Out of You," "It's De-Lovely," "Friendship," "Let's Misbehave."It's hard to imagine a musical with funnier, more romantic and durable songs than Cole Porter's "Anything Goes," and you can enjoy all the shipboard sweetness and intrigue in Atholton High School's production March 28, 29 and 30.Cast members include Sara Glazer, Dave Johnson, Courtney Bell, Jeff Hubbard, Melissa Millin, Kyle Hubbard, Ryan Sullivan, Jon Sanford and Maggie Sheer.Keith Marin, Jon Sykes, Tom Lukacsina, Jordon Schulman, John Armstrong, Patrick Morton, Danny Dworkin and Alan Landsman also have roles.

Are you smart enough to appreciate the Beastie Boys?A ridiculous question, right? Bela Bartok -- that takes brains to understand. Be-bop too. But the Beasties? How many IQ points do you need to understand a few rhymes and a beat?That depends on how carefully you listen. Because few albums reward close attention more assiduously than the Beastie Boys' latest, "Ill Communication" (Grand Royal/Capitol 28599, arriving in stores today).It isn't just a matter of being able to sort through the pop-culture references and dropped names that litter these raps, though it's difficult to savor a rhyme like "So I kick out the jams and tell you who I am/And talk to the people like Les McCann" without knowing that "Kick Out the Jams" was a landmark release by the MC5, while "Talk to the People" was the title of an album by soul-jazz keyboardist Les McCann.

Over the past decades, the Timonium fairgrounds have been hemmed in by more and more manifestations of urbanization. What used to be farm fields have been taken over by tract housing, shopping centers and office buildings, which, of course, is the story of Maryland's farming as well.In just two decades, agricultural land in the state has shrunk from more than 3 million acres to 2.5 million acres.Still, farming is a $400 million-a-year industry in Maryland. Tag onto that all kinds of economic offshoots such as distributing and warehousing and the amount swells further.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT:A LIFE.Nathan Miller.Morrow.` 624 pages. $27.50.This would be a bully good story -- if we hadn't heard it so many times before. A sickly asthmatic child with poor eyesight immerses himself in a life of physical culture and competition, becomes a compulsive achiever who takes on party bosses, barroom toughs and Wall Street titans, and ultimately becomes a Rushmore-sized president of the United States.It is no wonder that Theodore Roosevelt has been blessed with so many marvelous biographies.

Kaleidoscope, Oakland exhibits come to centerHistoric Oakland and the Columbia Arts Center will present "Afternoon Tea at Oakland" from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, followed by the exhibit "Kaleidoscope In Stained Glass" at the Oakland Mansion at 5430 Vantage Point Road.The exhibit will also feature a discussion with artist Susan Keiholz.Admission is $12 and includes the four-course tea. Advance reservations are required.Information: 730-4801.Central Library seeks grandparentsThe Howard County Central Library in Town Center is looking for grandparents to volunteer their time and share experiences with some of the library's youngest patrons.

Artscape '92, Baltimore's 10th annual festival of the arts, feels more like the Ed Sullivan Show than a celebration of art. Only the Ed Sullivan Show was never this much fun.Within the space of two hours yesterday, you could have danced to the Polkats, watched a pair of unicyclists juggle and cavort on wet pavement, tapped your foot to Tammy Wynette and listened to a street musician play a washboard.And those were just the appetizers. Yesterday's program began with a whirlwind of activity -- everything happening at once.

Baltimore is trapped in a disorienting, ophthalmologic field of "visions."First came the Abell Foundation-sponsored "Baltimore and Beyond" view of the city's future by urban affairs specialist Neal Peirce.Then came the Greater Baltimore Committee's "new economic vision" for the region.And this week comes the long-awaited report from WalterSondheim's special mayoral committee on a "vision" for the future of downtown Baltimore.All these visionary statements are making us dizzy.The Peirce study, while useful, is hardly a blueprint for charting the city's path.

A hundred young voices bring to life the Old Testament story about Joseph and his coat of many colors, when Northwest Middle School presents "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" tonight at 7:30 inthe school cafeteria. Admission is free.The rollicking, 1980s musical by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber is faithful to the biblicalstory, a favorite among children."I saw it at Burn Brae Dinner Theater (in Montgomery County) and also remember a college professor said she'd like to see a middle school do it," said Judy Guynn, the show's director and a music teacher at the school.

My grandmother had a kaleidoscope. Someone gave it to her during her long last illness and I used to sit in her room and hold it up to the light, tilting it and watching the colors, the pieces, the patterns fall into place.Did she play with it when she was alone? I like to think so. I like to think, in part, it helped her maintain her unfailing good cheer that gave something back to everyone who visited her.But that was a long time ago, before my children, who now have children of their own, were even born, and since then I had largely forgotten about kaleidoscopes until last year when I saw one in a craft store.