Rocks

On paper, Sunday night's WrestleMania looked as if it could be one of the strongest installments in the event's 28-year history. In execution, it was anything but. I personally avoided Twitter and Facebook, so that the thoughts I would be sharing here would be as purely mine as much as possible. The show lacked the feel of WrestleMania; the first hour felt rushed and most of the matches seemed to be missing something. The show wasn't bad by any means, so I don't want people to misread what I am saying, but I expected more.

"Rock 'n' roll will never die," sang Neil Young in 1979. Lately, though, it seems to be in a coma. How else to describe the sad state of rock? The Billboard charts are filled with pop acts, rappers and country singers. Even sugary boy-bands have re-emerged. But search for a rock band - the kind that peels the paint off garage walls and leaves ears ringing - and you won't find many. One of the only exceptions is the Black Keys, the blues-rock duo of Ohio natives Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals)

So now I have to worry about earthquakes too? Aside from winter's car-covering blizzards, the mid-Atlantic area has seemed a pretty mundane place to live, weather-wise. But during Tuesday's 5.8 magnitude earthquake our entire house outside Baltimore shook. I was flummoxed. Resting in front of the TV just before 2 p.m., I thought my son was violently shaking the couch. Half-asleep, I looked around and heard a rumbling sound and glass rattling. I looked outside because I thought there was a tornado (we've had to worry about those lately, too!

View the photo gallery for all of this week's picks

From the opening electronic tickertape messages, relaying birthday greetings and instructions on audience behavior, to the deliriously multisensory finale, the Blue Man Group show at the Hippodrome Theatre packs a wallop. It's a big, loud, funny, silly, visually arresting production. There's no point in trying to classify what these performers, with their trademark blue faces and bald, earless heads, do onstage for the better part of 90 minutes. It's much easier to go with the flow — and duck down in your seat when those guys start roaming the aisles.

Two high school lacrosse players accused of throwing rocks from a moving vehicle at pedestrians in June apologized to the victims Monday, and Anne Arundel Circuit Court Judge Philip T. Caroom ordered the youths tried as juveniles. Charges against Wade Korvin of Odenton, who was on the Archbishop Spalding team, and Wesley Stryker of Millersville, who played for Severna Park, had bounced between adult and juvenile court for three months. Assistant State's Attorney Michael Bergeson said prosecutors will file juvenile petitions charging the 17-year-olds with assault and related counts stemming from throwing rocks at several people who were injured.

On October 6, 2004, VERNON beloved husband of the late Shirleymae Douglas Rocks, devoted father of Denise A. Rocks, loving grandfather of Brittany R., Tessa R. Mc Elhiney, Crystal M. Collins and Nichole M. Mc Elhiney, great-grandfather of Tiffany A. Bannon and Joshua C. Collins. Friends may call at the family owned Evans Chapel of Memories-Parkville on Friday 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. A Funeral Liturgy will be held at St. Ursula Church on Saturday at 10 A.M. Memorial donations in Vernon's name may be made to the Humane Society.

Listening to Malcolm Majer's story about the kids who threw sticks and stones at him the other day, I was impressed not so much with his complaint — about the length of time it took a police officer to respond to his call for help — but with how Mr. Majer decided to confront and counsel the kids who had attacked him. He did what few adults would have had the guts or temperament to do these days: He spoke to the kids, he chastised them,...

The world's nicest NFL Player met the New York media Monday and charmed everyone in the room. And considering the room was the cavernous Jetsindoor practice facility, crammed with enough TV cameras, tape recorders and notebook-wielding reporters to cover a papal visit, this was no small feat. At probably the biggest news conference ever held for a backup quarterback, Tim Tebow said all the right things to the howling jackals of the press, as you knew he would. He was folksy and humble and open and aw-shucksy, just what you'd expect. How many times did he say he was "excited" to be a Jet?

KENSINGTON -- Among the things that differentiate tigers from other creatures on this planet is the combination of big teeth, big claws and a striped body.Among the things that differentiate human beings from other creatures is the use of fire.Evidence of the earliest use of fire dates to half a million years ago in eastern Asia and parts of Europe, and to more than a million years ago in Africa.Our ancestors were not good-looking people by today's standards -- if your aesthetic judgment is based on the dioramas at the natural-history museums or the reconstructed faces shown in encyclopedias.

If you have ever spilled a cup of coffee onto your computer keyboard, you need to listen to this recording of 98 Rock's morning team as it reacts to Mickey Cucchiella after he knocked a cup of coffee onto the console in the station's studio Friday morning. The station was off the air for 20 minutes, according to the show hosts. I called Dave Hill, program director for 98 Rock and WBAL-AM, Friday afternoon about 3 p.m. in connection with another story -- WBAL's coverage of two big trials this week.

A party bus company that promised "luxury charter buses" to the Sweetlife Music Festival Saturday is facing a major backlash and thousands of dollars in refunds after it left hundreds of customers stranded. Numaan Akram, founder and CEO of Rock & Bus, conceded Monday the company screwed up and was working through "hundreds" of complaints to offer refunds to disgruntled customers. "Unfortunately, we had a serious problem," he said. On Saturday, some 1,800 people had booked transportation to the festival through the company, Akram said.

Baltimore County police are investigating a "possible bias incident" after a rock was thrown through a window of a Muslim community center in the southwest neighborhood of Riverview. Police spokeswoman Detective Cathy Batton said a rear window was reported broken at the Bab E Mustafa Community Center on Hollins Ferry Road between Monday evening and noon Tuesday. The cost to repair the damage was put at $100, she said. She said police were looking into the possibility of bias as a motive chiefly because no other buildings in the area were damaged, and because the person making the complaint said that in the past, young people have shouted slurs at the building during prayer sessions.

The Legg Mason Tennis Classic, a staple of the late-summer sporting scene in the Washington area for more than four decades, is getting a dramatic makeover that will include a new title sponsor, stadium upgrades and shared billing with an existing tournament for rising women's players. The key development driving the changes is a new title sponsor in Citigroup, which will replace Baltimore-based Legg Mason after an 18-year association with the hard-court classic. To be known as the Citi Open, the tournament will remain at Washington's William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park.

The learning curve for Chelsea Clinton, special correspondent, continues to bend in the wrong direction. Clinton's Wednesday night report on chain restaurants that donate leftover food to charity was slightly better than her previous efforts. But only because the producers used every trick in the book to give us less Chelsea and more of anything they could find to distract us from her. Less was marginally more. One of the most striking aspects of the report was how similar its opening was to the first report she did for "Rock Center" a few months ago. Her debut opened with needy children in an after-school setting getting a free meal, and so did Wednesday's.  But in the first report, the producers gave us lots of Chelsea.

Dick Clark, who died Wednesday at the age of 82, is rightfully being hailed as a pioneer of popular culture. And that's fair enough. In the 1950s, '60s and '70s, the reach of his daily"American Bandstand"show and his myriad prime-time special productions was enormous. He was one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood, particularly in terms of his perceived ability to deliver a white, suburban, teenage audience to advertisers. His power was all the more valued on Madison Avenue because he was one of TV's first personalities associated with teen viewers at the very time that advertisers first started conceiving of teens as a lucrative audience with disposable income in its own right.

About 15 vehicles driving on the inner loop of Interstate 695 in southwestern Baltimore County were damaged Monday night after hundreds of rocks from a railroad overpass fell onto the busy highway, according to Maryland State Police. No injuries were reported, but vehicles were damaged with dents, scratches and cracked windshields, police said. Police began receiving reports from motorists just before 7 p.m. that rocks were falling from the Hollins Ferry railroad overpass. Officials from the State Highway Administration responded to the scene and helped clear rocks from I-695, which was temporarily closed.

What do you say about a 35-year-old father who insists on taking his 11-year-old son to a swimming hole that is a known hazard and the site of a recent drowning?To hear police and those who frequent the popular swimming hole along the Little Patuxent River in Savage, there is nothing that can be done to stop such folks from harming themselves if they are intent on acting carelessly.Officials theorize that a Glen Burnie man who drowned Sunday at Savage Rocks (not the aforementioned father or son)

Celebrate the spirit as "Dancing Hearts" presents "Classical Rocks," Sunday, April 22 at 7 p.m. at Resurrection Church, 3315 Greencastle Road, in Burtonsville. Enjoy works such as Aaron Copland's evocative Duo, Scott Joplin's irresistible Rags and the soulful tango music of Astor Piazzolla. The program features flutist Karen Johnson, pianist Carlos-Cesar Rodriguez and percussionist John Kilkenny. Concert is part of the Living Arts Concert Series. A reception follows the concert.

The opportunity to share a bill with Bruce Springsteen, Soundgarden and Paul Simon is rare, especially for a band that only started a year ago in Howard County. Yet that is the position Dreamboat Armada finds itself in, fighting to earn a spot at Hard Rock Calling Festival 2012 at London's Hyde Park on July 13-15. Dreamboat Armada won the local round of the Hard Rock Rising 2012 Competition on March 29 at Hard Rock Cafe Baltimore. The quartet beat out Redwud and Jet City Vega, and moved on the global competition which features 86 different acts.