Lantern

A 15-year-old Anne Arundel County boy using lantern fluid to treat his poison ivy was critically injured yesterday when the fumes ignited, burning him and his Brooklyn Park home.Joseph Lickman, who lives in the rowhouse in the 200 block of Southerly Road, about one mile from the city line, suffered first- and second-degree burns over 85 percent of his body.He was flown by Maryland State Police MedEvac helicopter to the burn unit at Francis Scott Key Medical Center in Baltimore, where he was listed in critical condition last night, a hospital spokeswoman said.

An ill-timed trick of nature that threatens rain and even light snow on Saturday has put a kink into the "Great Big Halloween Parade of Light & Luminaria," an annual tradition in Patterson Park. "The parade is being rescheduled for Sunday, when it is supposed to be a little chilly, but clear," said Megan Hamilton, program director of the Creative Alliance at The Patterson, the organizer of the fanciful event. "We have had to change dates two or three times before and it always ended up being an amazing event.

WESTMINSTER - With dusk descending and voices singing "Let There Be Peace on Earth," children from two area churches, launched a trail of lights across the Community Pond.The lights, encased in lanterns made by children in the Soviet Union, flickered with youthful messages of peace.Alexander A. Blazhnov, 10, of Moscow, wrote one of those messages. He scrolled "No Star Wars" across his lamp and asked children here to correspond with him.As part of the International Peace Lantern Exchange Project, Alexander and about 35 other Soviet children had received lanterns, made at a Bible school here.

A few weeks ago, I recalled a summer night in 1950s Baltimore when the gas street lamps came on as the sun set. Obviously, judging from my mail, others shared the experience of old lamplights: "I grew up on Calvin Avenue and we had a lamplighter for one lamp on the southwest side of the street," wrote Bob Ludwig. "Those several street lights closer to Greenmount Avenue had already been electrified, likely because of their proximity to what was then a really thriving business area.

Q: We assume that this is an authentic railroad lantern because my uncle used to work for the railroad. It still works. The top is marked "DIETZ"; the glass is red and the rim is marked "BLIZZARD."What is its value, and should I remove the yellow paint?A: This is basically a utility lantern but was probably used on the railroad. It was made in the early 20th century and might sell for $65 to $75.A serious collector would object to the yellow paint.Q: This mark is on the bottom of each piece of a porcelain dresser set. It consists of a hatpin holder, hair receiver and powder jar, decorated with poppies and foliage.

"Raise the Red Lantern," opening today at the Charles, is a fable of political oppression so delicate and exquisite it seems more like a trip to the Walters' Hackerman House. It's so precious it makes you gasp in awe before it makes you cringe in pain.But it does make you cringe in pain.After "Red Sorghum" and "Jou Do," filmmaker Zhang Yimou has, by this time, cemented a world reputation as a pictorialist: his works are characteristically gorgeous before they are anything else and after they are everything else and "Raise the Red Lantern" is a dream of wispy symmetry and wintry gray chills and Chinese architecture so delicate and precise it stuns.

The gigantic fish, as translucent and whispery as a dream, wears an aquamarine mantle of scales on its tracing-paper skin. Temporarily speared on a bamboo pole, it waits for the person who will lift it high enough to glide through the currents of light above the wide green sea of Patterson Park. This sculpture is part of the graceful and glowing company of illuminations that will mark the Sixth Annual Halloween Lantern Parade, a community-created art spectacle in southeast Baltimore. As many as 1,000 people are expected to bring homemade lanterns to the park at 7 p.m. Oct. 29 to partake in this annual performance of art and movement -- an artistic collaboration between parade director Molly Ross and neighborhood residents.

POLICE LOG* North Laurel: 9900 block of Whiskey Run: A green 1991 Honda Accord with Maryland tags 096AHM was stolen Monday, police said.Old Lantern Way: A blue 1992 Honda Prelude with Maryland tags ATY375 was stolen Monday, police said.

Tonight at 8, see the self-proclaimed "queen of hard dance" DJ Lisa Lashes at Rams Head Live, 20 Market Place. DJ Sun, Joe Kopasek, Sage McKain, DJ Lantern and Godfather are also billed. This is an 18-and-over show and tickets are $13.20 (additional $3 for those under 21), available at 410-244-1131 or ramshead live.com.

The Lantern Queen has paddled a long way from Wisconsin to the Chesapeake Bay. The two-story paddle-wheeler was built in La Crosse in 1983 as a replica of a Mississippi riverboat. Over the next decade the boat traveled from South Dakota to Florida to Pennsylvania. Along the way, the Lantern Queen sank, was salvaged, restored and renamed. Now the 90-foot vessel is undergoing another incarnation. A Havre de Grace couple bought the Lantern Queen and have started a cruise business that they hope will help promote local history.

The fourth annual juried show at the Artists' Gallery in Columbia, "Local Color," includes artists who aren't shy about using color for expressive purposes. In most cases, their dedication to realistic depictions is tempered by their individual emotional responses. The first place winner, for instance, Joyce Lister , has a pastel titled "Skylight" that calls your attention to how pale purple light falls across the front porch of an old house. You obviously don't know the story of this house and its unseen inhabitants, but you're put into a contemplative mood.

Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and other superheroes have flown across so many movie screens in recent years that it's enough to give an air traffic controller a headache. The latest such do-gooder, "Green Lantern," does not even fly as high as a similarly colored superhero, "The Green Hornet," who flew through as recently as a few months ago. Part of the problem is that "Green Lantern" has never had a very strong grip on the pop-cultural imagination. Although this green-hued comic book figure has been around for decades, he definitely seems like a second-tier superhero.

Head to England for holiday events like the Burning of the Clocks, a lantern procession in Brighton, or the Peter Pan Christmas Day Race where swimmers brave the waters of Hyde Park. $672 American London $722 Northwest London $823 British Airways London Restricted round-trip fees as researched online Wednesday, the day the Travel section goes to press. Fares are based on departing and returning on a weekday and may include Web specials.

No lantern yet? Don't fret. This year, procrastinators will have the opportunity to walk in the Creative Alliance's Great Halloween Lantern Parade. Pre-parade activities at the new lantern festival, which begins before Saturday's parade, include last-minute lantern-making, hayrides around the park, live music, vendors and a beer garden. Arrive before 5 p.m. and pay $5 to construct your own lamps of bamboo, wax and tissue paper. Molly Ross, director and principal artist for the nonprofit Nana Projects Inc., an artists' collective, directs the parade, which is in its 10th year, and helps to oversee the festivities.

FILM 'Half-Blood Prince' in IMAX: Harry Potter may be head boy at the box office, but he couldn't quite get Transformers out of those IMAX theaters. But this week the robots move out, and the Hogwarts crew moves in. Like last year's The Dark Knight, the opening sequence was actually shot with IMAX in mind. Opens Wednesday at local theaters, including the Science Center. CONCERT Neko Case : This alt-country singer is riding high. She's always been a favorite of critics, but now she's seeing real commercial success.

Temple Isaiah, 12200 Scaggsville Road, Fulton, will commemorate Yom Hashoah, honoring the lives lost to the Holocaust, at 7:15 p.m. Monday. Steven Luckert, curator of the permanent exhibition at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, will speak. There will be a Holocaust artifact display provided by Howard County survivors and their families. Those who attend are invited to inscribe their thoughts and feelings in the diaries in the Temple Isaiah lobby. The program is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Howard County, Temple Isaiah, Shalom Aleichem, Oseh Shalom, Columbia Jewish Congregation, Calah Congregation, Beth Shalom, Bet Aviv and Ahavas Israel.

Pet cause The lowdown -- Support the Humane Society of Baltimore County on Sunday at its Paws on Parade Walk. Bring your pet and take a 1.5-mile walk through the Humane Society's 365-acre wildlife refuge. Also enjoy activities such as a costume competition for animals, live music by Karen Goldberg and by A Cat Called Cricket, canine Frisbee and flyball demonstrations, and a blessing of the animals by the Rev. Joyce Klein. If you go -- The walk is Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and activities are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Humane Society of Baltimore County, 1601 Nicodemus Road, Reisterstown.

Head to England for holiday events like the Burning of the Clocks, a lantern procession in Brighton, or the Peter Pan Christmas Day Race where swimmers brave the waters of Hyde Park. $672 American London $722 Northwest London $823 British Airways London Restricted round-trip fees as researched online Wednesday, the day the Travel section goes to press. Fares are based on departing and returning on a weekday and may include Web specials.

Association to hold annual BikeAbout The Columbia Association's eighth annual BikeAbout will be held Saturday at Lake Elkhorn in the Village of Owen Brown. The official opening is at 9 a.m., but riders will be able to leave anytime between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. The free event highlights Columbia's history and its open space with a 13-mile, well-marked route allowing bicyclists to enjoy a self-paced ride. This year's route will take riders through the villages of Owen Brown, Oakland Mills and Long Reach and will explore Columbia history, such as the one-time model home park in Owen Brown and current plans for the Oakland Mills Village Center.