Talkin

"Talkin' Dirty After Dark" is as funny as it is filthy. It's a hip, urban comedy, set in a club called Dukie's in south-central L.A., that's a primer for the multiculturally illiterate. When it's over, you'll know at least 13 ways of inflecting a common 12-letter expletive that begins with M.You'll also have a terrific time -- if you're not offended by the language. The best part of writer-director Topper Carew's first feature may be the raucous, sexually charged stand-up routines of several brilliant young black comics, but "Talkin' Dirty" is supported by a plot that is often hilarious.

Last weekend, I was accosted by an angry do-gooder. It was a shock, of course, because most do-gooders have smiles on their faces or at least in their hearts, and they approach their volunteer tasks with a calm, happy sort of vigilance. These folks simply show up where they are needed and quietly do what needs to be done — whether it's grading spelling tests, playing checkers, serving meals or picking up trash — because they want to give of themselves. Because it's enough to make a small difference in their corner of a troubled universe.

"Talkin' Dirty After Dark" is mostly that. For some 80 minutes, the film, whose direction is much better than its content, descends to the crotch and stays there. It never comes up for air. If this is your kind of humor, then this is the film for you.The movie, which takes place almost entirely in a comedy club in the Watts section of Los Angeles, begins with one of the characters rising from his bed in a state of arousal. The humor, more or less, remains on that level throughout.The film, directed by Topper Carew (he also wrote the script)

Ravens running back Willis McGahee insisted yesterday that he is a "team player" and that comments he made on a national radio show this week that made him appear self-centered - specifically when he said, "I can't play for nobody else but me" - don't tell the full story. And yet, when given the opportunity to explain his remarks, he could not hide his disappointment that injuries, particularly knee surgery in training camp, adversely affected his productivity this season, and he was less than exuberant when asked whether the playoffs, and the possibilities they offered, could redeem the year for him. "My season is over," McGahee said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Thunder Gulch's victory in the Kentucky Derby yesterday was such a surprise, such an out-of-nowhere jaw-dropper, that there was this improbable occurrence in the minutes after the race: the winning trainer covering his rear end.D. Wayne Lukas wanted you to believe that he wasn't completely shocked by the 24-1 upset, that he had at least sort of seen it coming, that it wasn't the absurdity to him that it was to the rest of the racing nation.But, after having spent weeks talking up the other two horses he ran yesterday, and not Thunder Gulch, racing's original Talkin Man found himself in one corner from which he couldn't pull a fast-talking escape.

Real estate law isn't as headline-grabbing as, say, criminal law, and that suits Columbia lawyers David A. Carney and Richard B. Talkin just fine."My wife doesn't like seeing my name in the paper," says Talkin."

On February 14, 2005, ALFRED R. HIMMELRICH, JR.; beloved husband of Linda Himmelrich (nee Talkin); beloved father of Steven Himmelrich and Ned Himmelrich; loving father-in-law of Eileen Fader and Eileen Diener Himmelrich; devoted brother of Samuel Himmelrich, Sr.; beloved son of the late Alfred R. and Hilda (nee Katz) Himmelrich, Sr.; loving son-in-law of Mignon Talkin and the late Milton Talkin; loving grandfather of Jessie, Abby, Andie, Molly and Drew Himmelrich. Services at SOL LEVINSON & BROS.

In a corner of a conference room in the historic Dorsey Hall manor house, Richard Talkin flipped a light switch on and off, then opened and closed wooden window blinds. His gaze was fixed on two oil paintings that collectively depict a leafless black tree against an expansive cloud-studded winter sky. The diptych is mounted on adjoining walls in the home's former dining room. First somber gray, then awash with a red-violet hue, and finally flooded with a cool-blue cast, the bold landscapes proved chameleon-like as Talkin altered the lighting.

A prominent land-use attorney urged the Howard County Council last night to establish additional uses for areas with the business-oriented Planned Employment Center (PEC) zoning.Such zoning allows office buildings, warehouses and manufacturing.The county Department of Planning and Zoning has proposed expanding the zoning category to include banks, restaurants and limited retail, such as gas stations. The council is considering legislation introduced at the request of the Ecker administration.

After months of pleading their case before Howard County officials and planners, a group of developers won approval this week to build an elderly-care facility just north of Laurel.The facility will provide three stages of care -- independent living, assisted living and nursing home -- allowing people to live in the same place as they age."There's a lot of demand for this," said Richard B. Talkin, an attorney for Hopkins Road Limited Partnership, the developer of the $35 million project.Mr.

In a corner of a conference room in the historic Dorsey Hall manor house, Richard Talkin flipped a light switch on and off, then opened and closed wooden window blinds. His gaze was fixed on two oil paintings that collectively depict a leafless black tree against an expansive cloud-studded winter sky. The diptych is mounted on adjoining walls in the home's former dining room. First somber gray, then awash with a red-violet hue, and finally flooded with a cool-blue cast, the bold landscapes proved chameleon-like as Talkin altered the lighting.

Beilenson to help anti-smoking effort Dr. Peter L. Beilenson, Howard County's health officer, will join students at Howard High School at 10:45 a.m. today for the unveiling of a "Kick Butts Day" pledge wall banner. The Health Department's Tobacco Control program will support Kick Butts Day, a national campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of tobacco use, by sponsoring the "Smoke-free Pledge Wall." The traveling banner will be signed by students and others to offer support to those who want to quit smoking.

Closing arguments were a study in sharply contrasting strategies as the final hour encroaches in the prolonged and sometimes abrasive hearings on the proposed multimillion-dollar luxury tower in downtown Columbia. Attorney Richard B. Talkin, representing the developer, never veered from the sanctity of case law and declaring that the challengers to the luxury skyscraper failed absolutely to meet the standards to permit the case to continue. Counsel for the opponents, E. Alexander Adams, though citing case law as well, made more of an appeal for democracy, pleading for the county's regulatory system not to slam the door in the face of citizens and to extend a full examination of their grievances.

If there is a question of what is at stake in the proposed tower for downtown Columbia, one need only to see the developer's arsenal at the first day of testimony before the hearing examiner on an appeal filed by opponents to the huge multimillion-dollar structure. The hearing, featuring a bevy of experts, lasted 4 1/2 hours but was little more than a sparring match, and the most substantive issues are yet to be fought. At issue is the county Planning Board's approval in January of The Plaza Residences, a 275-foot-tall luxury residential and retail tower overlooking Lake Kittamaqundi.

The discord over the proposed expansion of Turf Valley has been at fever pitch for months, but it is intensifying with each side accusing the other of improper tactics and skewing the facts. The attacks come in response to formal, written summations filed a week and a half ago after six months of quasi-legal hearings on the project. "Unfortunately, the opposition is attempting ... to challenge the entire Turf Valley project and to reverse decisions made years ago," Richard B. Talkin, an attorney representing the developer, writes in a response to the summation filed by critics.

EVERYBODY'S getting into the act. To counter a popular bootleg DVD that warned folks to stop snitching, Baltimore police put out their hip-hop version promoting crimefighting. Now, NBA star Carmelo Anthony, whose brief appearance in the homemade "Stop Snitchin'" DVD caused an uproar, is trying to make amends for his cameo and the feeble excuses he gave for how he made it on the small screen. It's kind of late to get in the game, Mr. Denver Nuggets. When the DVD first hit the streets, it appeared that Mr. Anthony was more worried about his image (and possibly his endorsement potential)

Beilenson to help anti-smoking effort Dr. Peter L. Beilenson, Howard County's health officer, will join students at Howard High School at 10:45 a.m. today for the unveiling of a "Kick Butts Day" pledge wall banner. The Health Department's Tobacco Control program will support Kick Butts Day, a national campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of tobacco use, by sponsoring the "Smoke-free Pledge Wall." The traveling banner will be signed by students and others to offer support to those who want to quit smoking.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Roger Attfield and D. Wayne Lukas have exchanged a few barbs this week, taking potshots at each other's horses in pre-Kentucky Derby interviews that have become as heated as the colts' rivalry on the track.Attfield trains Talkin Man, the choice of the Las Vegas future books, a national media poll and the majority of the Daily Racing Form handicappers to win today's race.But the Canadian champion is second choice in the land of the Kentucky Colonels, where Timber Country, clearly Lukas' personal choice of his three Derby entries, was bred, raised and crowned last fall as U.S. 2-year-old champion in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

On February 14, 2005, ALFRED R. HIMMELRICH, JR.; beloved husband of Linda Himmelrich (nee Talkin); beloved father of Steven Himmelrich and Ned Himmelrich; loving father-in-law of Eileen Fader and Eileen Diener Himmelrich; devoted brother of Samuel Himmelrich, Sr.; beloved son of the late Alfred R. and Hilda (nee Katz) Himmelrich, Sr.; loving son-in-law of Mignon Talkin and the late Milton Talkin; loving grandfather of Jessie, Abby, Andie, Molly and Drew Himmelrich. Services at SOL LEVINSON & BROS.

For years, rock fans old enough to have been at Woodstock in 1969 have rolled their eyes at reader polls by youth-oriented pop publications that name the best artists or albums of the last half century. That's because their readers tend to vote for their favorites of the moment rather than bring a sense of historical perspective to the process. In Britain's Q magazine in 1998, readers asked to choose the "100 greatest albums in the universe" named Radiohead's 1997 O.K. Computer No. 1 (the runner-up was the Beatles' Revolver)