Moment

The Duke game lasted only about two hours in real time, but it seemed to take forever for Maryland. Best moment for Maryland: Dave Neal hits a three-pointer to put the Terps ahead 3-2 in the first minute. Second-best moment: There wasn't one. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/terpsblog)

THIS ONE'S for Edwin Warfield III, a major general in full military uniform who gazed across a sea of anti-war demonstrators three decades ago and understood with a father's instinct what he beheld: children frightened and enraged by an endless war, trying to stop it in ways both noble and naive.Memories of Warfield's composure in that time, and his strength and heartfelt humanity, came rushing back the other day with the news that he'd died of congestive heart failure at age 75, after a lifetime in the military, and in journalism and politics, and some anxious moments when the war in Vietnam might have taken lives in Maryland.

In the balance of a moment, much can happen. Or not, and instead the moment itself is all that happens, and maybe that is enough.Ready or not -- or, more likely, tired of it already -- the most anticipated New Year's ever arrives at the stroke of midnight tonight. But after more than a year of exhaustive millennium-watching and century-dissection, the year 2000 begins with something less than clarity.It means something, but what? It should be noted, but how?"There are so few moments that touch our lives this way. People are searching: What is the way to mark this?"

A lyrical, mysterious and provocative meditation on the power of memory and narrative, "After Life" is a fascinating speculation on life and death -- until its plot takes a turn so melodramatic that the spell is broken.Kore-eda Hirokazu ("Mabarosi") has germinated a fascinating idea: What if there were a way-station between Earth and heaven, where the recently deceased could sift through their memories, choose the most happy and meaningful moment of their lives, have it made into a movie, and then move into the next life, where they will live in that moment forever?

Mark McGwire's record-breaking home run was a moment that called for reverence, simplicity, tact, and decorum, the kinds of things that the Fox television network has never been known for in its 11 1/2 -year history.This is the outlet, after all, that gives us a glowing puck during its hockey coverage, a baseball studio analyst nicknamed "Psycho," and a football pre-game show where the participants seem bent on proving which of them can produce the most testosterone.But when the moment came in the fourth inning last night, announcer Joe Buck rose to the challenge with a sparse, but brilliant call that will stand the test of time.

Ricardo 'Rick' Subrizi, 68, beer seller, firefighterRicardo "Rick" Subrizi, a retired beer salesman and an auxiliary police officer and volunteer firefighter, died Dec. 3 of congestive heart failure at his Sykesville home. He was 68.He retired this year from Larkin Wholesale Co. in Hagerstown, where he had been a beer salesman for many years.The former Hyattsville resident, who moved to Carroll County in 1982, was a founder of and captain in the Sykesville Police Department's auxiliary division.

NAGANO, Japan -- She was tough enough to become the youngest individual gold medalist in Winter Olympics history.Who's to say that Tara Lipinski isn't tough enough to survive?It's true, she might be too young for this. She might be overwhelmed by her fame. She might struggle to lead a normal adult life.Heck, even Lipinski seemed to recognize it's all downhill from here, not exactly a healthy thought for a 15-year-old."It went by so quickly," she said. "I was so happy, and almost a little sad. I was going to have to get off [the medal stand]

Military personnel overseas no longer have to wait for mail-call. They have the Internet. The Sun asked Stephen Stolte, 24, a sailor from Catonsville stationed in the Persian Gulf near Iraq, to send us an e-mail letter. Here are excerpts of his reply this week, which was routed through a Navy media monitor.The atmosphere here on the USS Independence is kind of tense, but more from having to hurry up and wait than anything else. We made the almost impossible happen to get out here on a moment's notice, and it's difficult to keep the adrenaline rush going strong.

CLEVELAND -- It was a moment of the highest drama, a moment anticipated by the entire baseball world as the All-Star Game unfolded last night at Jacobs Field.Seattle's intimidating Randy Johnson against Colorado's Larry Walker and the rest of the National League's best hitters?Naw.Atlanta's crafty Greg Maddux against the awesome power of Mark McGwire and Ken Griffey?Nope.The big moment occurred not during the game, but before it, in the humid twilight of batting practice, when the tension was as thick as the air and only one question could be found on the lips of baseball fans everywhere:Would Cal Ripken survive the taking of the official American League team photograph?

Here is the way Mike Bordick fielded the final ground out of the ninth inning Sunday and threw to first base at Oriole Park at Camden Yards: hurriedly, as though he'd waited far too many endless summers for such a moment and feared it might yet get away from him; urgently, as though the laws of baseball had been repealed and the Seattle Mariners batter had hailed a taxicab to first base and would somehow beat the throw; frantically, as though the Orioles of...

The Duke game lasted only about two hours in real time, but it seemed to take forever for Maryland. Best moment for Maryland: Dave Neal hits a three-pointer to put the Terps ahead 3-2 in the first minute. Second-best moment: There wasn't one. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/terpsblog)

No one on TV does political biography as skillfully as the producers of Frontline. And every four years since 1988, they have outdone themselves with The Choice, their political life histories of the presidential candidates. The arrival of the PBS program just weeks before the November election has become an event in its own right for followers of U.S. politics. And The Choice 2008: Two Journeys - One Destination, which airs at 9 tonight on MPT (Channels 22 and 67), continues the tradition of excellence.

DENVER - When he claims the presidential nomination in front of 75,000 adoring supporters this week, Barack Obama will stand at the cusp of history. The 47-year-old Hawaii native already is the first person of mixed racial parentage to crash the white man's club in American politics. That alone is a stunning achievement for someone who scarcely registered in the nation's consciousness when Democrats gathered for their last convention. "The impossible has become possible," said Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Maryland co-chairman of Obama's campaign, who added that he never expected in his lifetime to see a person of color nominated for the country's highest office.

When Barack Obama clinched the Democratic nomination Tuesday night, in his victory moment he didn't merely turn to his wife for a perfunctory, sterile hug. Nor did the two engage, like Al and Tipper Gore, in an awkward make-out session. The Obamas dapped. That is, in a move that has electrified African-Americans and young people nationwide, the couple faced each other, looked into each other's eyes, formed fists and then tapped knuckles. Dap! If the nomination of the first African-American candidate for president is itself a historic moment, that little gesture, for many, punctuated the occasion with ethnic style and inherent coolness.

There's no other artist in mainstream R&B right now who synthesizes her influences as dynamically as Erykah Badu. Her albums -- especially her latest, New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) -- often swirl with vivid strains of hip-hop, '70s funk, jazz-fusion, vintage blues and whatever else the Dallas singer-songwriter feels like throwing in the mix. Yet the results coalesce into a singular sound that is unmistakably Badu. On stage, her musical melding comes alive, tempered with down-home, amusingly profane banter and clumsy theatrical touches.

Frank Zappa gave Maryland more than just the first 10 years of his life. He also gave his home state one of its most memorable moments in legislative history. Never before, nor since, I'm guessing, has someone testified to the state Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, "I like nipples." That was back in 1986. My excuse for revisiting this tawdry episode all these years later: Baltimore is preparing to erect a statue of Zappa, yet another of its offbeat natives. Zappa and his family left Maryland while he was a grade-schooler.

Few bands are more aptly named than Celebration. The Baltimore-based trio of singer Katrina Ford, drummer David Bergander and keyboardist Sean Antanaitis conjure psychedelic, tribal music that is both dark and uplifting. In October, Celebration released its sophomore album, The Modern Tribe, to critical acclaim. Saturday's show at 2640 caps an international tour in support of the album. When performing, lead singer Ford feeds off the audience's energy and channels it into the songs. So many indie rock bands, when they play live, they just rigidly stand on stage and play the songs straight off their album.

I met Norman Mailer in the early 1990s, during a party at the New York Athletic Club. The party was for Mailer's friend, Richard Stratton, who had a novel out, and Mailer was the host, holding court at the bar, a flushed grin on his face. Knowing almost no one, I kept to the corners, avoiding Mailer altogether. Still, I couldn't help looking at him periodically, and at one point, I caught his eye. For a moment, the two of us watched each other, until I turned away. I hadn't taken more than a step or two, though, when I felt a tap on my shoulder, and there was Mailer, hand extended, having come over to introduce himself.

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Cal Ripken Jr., baseball's "Iron Man" and heretofore the embodiment of boundless energy, is tired. Dead tired. He's running on adrenaline. And he's anxious. Now that the six-plus months of hype building up to today's 1:30 p.m. Hall of Fame induction is over, Ripken just wants to get through today and get some sleep. "I guess [there is] a little anxiety that is running a little higher than it normally would run. I feel that," Ripken said yesterday at his final news conference before he officially becomes a Hall of Famer.

Residents urged to drive safely As police officers, we are often called upon in times of need. We take pride in helping others and making Howard County a safer place. But now, we need your help. We have an issue that is killing our citizens at five times the rate of our homicides. What could be so deadly? Our roadways. Last year, 22 people died in collisions on Howard County roads. We can slow down a speeder or take a drunk driver off the road, but we think prevention is the key. We want to change the dangerous behavior before the violations are committed.