Smashed

Friday night I was fortunate enough to be invited by Binky Jones to his fight party at Canton Station. The party served as both a celebration of Jones' recent success and a pep rally for more good things to come. The party was well-attended by Jones' friends, colleagues from the Youth in Transition alternative school, and teammates at Team Ground Control, as well as students of his from Team Raw Dog. His wife, Sherry, son Savon and daughter Kayla were there, as was Jones' MMA mentor and Ground Control co-owner John Rallo.

The AmfAR fundraiser in Manhattan's Rainbow Room went off with a bang the other eve and the piece de resistance of the entire event, under the elegant head guy Kenneth Cole, was the appearance of Liza Minnelli who brought the place alive. Liza was in excellent form. The ebullient star is busy channeling her late godmother, Kay Thompson, for material she'll incorporate into a new club act. (Ms. Thompson was a creative genius of the '50s/'60s, wrote the Eloise books and influenced Judy Garland's latter-day performing style, and you may remember her as the fashion editor who sings "Think Pink" in the movie Funny Face.

WASHINGTON--Energy-plus: That's what Hairspray should offer moviegoers when it opens July 27. To judge from a 17-minute trailer New Line Cinema unspooled to Baltimore and Washington movie critics and entertainment writers yesterday, the filmmakers have succeeded in making a V-8 musical-comedy engine hit on all cylinders.

When the Virgin Festival returns this August to Pimlico Race Course, it will bring with it the hottest touring act of the year - the Police - along with the highly successful hip-hop group the Beastie Boys and acclaimed alt-rockers Smashing Pumpkins. The festival, sponsored by Virgin Mobile, comes back to Baltimore Aug. 4-5 with about 35 other indie rock and hip-hop acts and DJs on multiple stages. Tickets will go on sale in about three weeks. The festival made its Baltimore premiere last September with one day of music that included the Who and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

ELKTON -- Out-of-state police were called to help with a riot that broke out at a maximum-security tier of the Cecil County Detention Center early yesterday, officials said. The incident began about 4 a.m. when a correctional officer discovered a 26-year-old inmate bleeding from two wounds, said Capt. Linda S. Lannen, deputy director of the detention center, in an e-mail statement. After medics were called, 16 or so other inmates in the maximum-security tier "began destroying property and refused to be placed back in the cells," Lannen said.

The Bay Area Volleyball Academy Riptides are a club of 16-year-olds who play at the club level after their high school season ends. They work hard at improving their respective games - and use tough competition to do so. The Riptides got just what they wanted when heading to the East Coast Volleyball Championships, held recently at Penn State University. The Riptides, playing in one of the more competitive levels of the tournament, finished fifth in a 95-team field. This was the best finish for a BAVA team in its seven-year history - the club has teams in a variety of age levels - and it came at the right time.

When fresh tomatoes are abundant this summer - and we have consumed all we can in salads, on sandwiches, grilled and in salsas before their beauty fades - we will long to make tomato sauce. But there's a problem: For a classic lusty red pasta sauce, chefs actually tend to prefer canned tomatoes, says Richard Stuthmann, chief of instruction at Baltimore International College. Fresh tomatoes "aren't consistent," says Stuthmann, "and they aren't the red color we expect." So take a middle ground and combine the bounty of the farmers' market and the garden with tomato paste to make a quick marinara.

The Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet for the first time this season in today's AFC championship game, but these teams couldn't be more familiar with one another. They are the two teams most committed to the ground game, each relying on running back by committee. They are relentless on defense, blitzing from every angle to hit the quarterback. Even the coaches share an unwanted bond: the inability to get their teams back to the Super Bowl in recent years. The Steelers are 1-4 in AFC title games under coach Bill Cowher, who last guided Pittsburgh to the Super Bowl in the 1995 season.

You watch Broadneck's Kanishia Sheppard, all 5 feet 9, 135 pounds of her, smash the volleyball and you wonder, "How does she generate so much power?" And make no mistake, Sheppard is a power hitter, frequently sending the ball whistling by opponents. A returning All-County senior hitter for the Bruins, she hits the ball as hard as anyone in Anne Arundel County and perhaps in the entire metro area. So, how does one who's so slight of build crush a ball like that? "I guess, if you look at her, you wouldn't assume she can hit as hard as she does," said Stephanie Carey, the Bruins' four-year varsity setter and a second-team All-Metro selection last year.

Deborah Kent from Abingdon was looking for a recipe for a candy treat that resembled bugs or spiders that was made using chocolate and Chinese chow mein noodles. Joanne Calvert from Baltimore e-mailed us a recipe for what she calls "Bugs and Worms" and it sounds like just what Kent was searching for. These treats are simple to make and would be fun to serve at a Halloween party. In addition, Calvert notes that a local radio station once gave out a variation of the treat around Christmastime called Reindeer Droppings that substituted butterscotch chips for the chocolate.