Thor

On Sunday, January 22, 2006, JANICE L. EVENTOFF; Beloved wife of Morris Eventoff; loving mother of Terry Manskow of Alabama, Risa Offit of Baltimore, MD and Josh Eventoff of Baltimore, MD; devoted mother-in-law of Teddy Offit and Nicole Eventoff; devoted sister of Lois May of Baltimore, MD and the late Russell Dolan; loving grandmother of Trond, Thor, Tyler, and Trent Manskow, Max Offit, Mia and Lola Eventoff. Servcies at SOL LEVINSON & BROS. INC., 8900 Reisterstown Road at Mt. Wilson Lane, on Tuesday, January 24 at 9 A.M. Interment Arlington Cemetery-Chizuk Amuno Congregation.

Early reviews for "The Avengers" movie are in, and the adaptation of comic book super-heroes appears to promise non-stop action, surrounding sub-plots of intrugue. I always considered the Marvel grab bag as B-list superheroes, trailing well behind Batman and Superman. But the group, which includes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America, has developed into movie powerhouse. Here are excerpts from some reviews of the movie, which will be widely released Friday. -- Chicago Tribune: Seeing it in 2-D, the movie played well enough.

When Jade Vogel visited the three-masted topsail schooner Thor Heyerdahl last Thursday in Charleston, S.C., she didn't think she'd be in Baltimore today.During the visit, Ms. Vogel told a crew member of her interest in sailing and her membership in the American Sail Training Association. The crew member told the captain, who suggested that Ms. Vogel sail with the ship north to Baltimore.Ms. Vogel called her husband -- who was out of town on business but who also loves sailing -- got his agreement, packed a bag, found someone to take care of her cats and was off."

THOR SAILS INThor Heyerdahl is back. The 164-foot three-masted topsail schooner named for the Norwegian explorer returns for its second visit to Baltimore Wednesday, docking at the Inner Harbor between the Light Street Pavilion and the ScienceCenter.The crew of this German ship just completed winter training in the Caribbean. Welcome them next week, when the ship will be open for public tours from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The ship sails Sunday.Hop on the Mount Clare Bunny "Express" Sunday at the B&O Railroad Museum, 901 W. Pratt St., where the Easter Bunny will play conductor, handing out Tootsie Roll Pops to passengers.

New Positions Geen, Lordan, Thor elected Rouse VPs The Rouse Co. has elected Jeffery S. Geen, Timothy J. Lordan and Gregory J. Thor vice presidents. Geen, 47, is development director of the West Coast community development office in Summerlin, Nev. He formerly was Howard Hughes Corp. associate general counsel. A law graduate of the University of Michigan, he is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the Association of Corporate Counsel. Lordan, 36, is director of investor relations.

Shoe, clothing and furniture stores sign leases with Eastpoint Mall Eastpoint Mall in Baltimore said Tuesday it has signed leases with DSW Shoe Warehouse and Burlington Coat Factory. The mall, which is owned by Thor Equities, said it also signed a 15-year lease extension with Value City Furniture. DSW, which is scheduled to open in April, signed a 10-year lease for 18,000 square feet of space formerly occupied in part by Steve & Barry, a clothing store. Burlington Coat Factory signed a 10-year lease to open a 70,000-square-foot store in March.

Interested in hot-air balloons? Head to the 25th annual QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning. The three-day event is all about ballooning, with up to 125 different balloons taking to the air. There is also an aerial thrill show, featuring a motorcycle and a trapeze and live music. Popular New Jersey-based band Blues Traveler will be performing Saturday night. The festival runs Friday-July 29 at Solberg Airport, 37 Thor Solberg Road, Whitehouse Station, N.J. Festival hours are 1 p.m.-10 p.m. Friday, 6 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m.-8 p.m. July 29. Adult tickets are $17 in advance and $25 at the gate.

The Apostle Brad Thor (Atria, $26.95) In this political thriller, a woman is kidnapped, and thanks to her parents' political connections, counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath is sent on a secret mission to break a man out of a Kabul prison to satisfy the kidnappers. But once there, Harvath must decide whether he really wants to help free the terrorist. Return to Sullivan's Island Dorthea Benton Frank (Morrow, $25.99) An aspiring writer spends the summer house-sitting her family's home while her mother (the subject of Frank's debut novel, Sullivan's Island)

Columbia's Clint Peay is expected to make his Major League Soccer debut tonight when his club, D.C. United, plays its home opener against the Los Angeles Galaxy at 7: 30 at RFK Stadium.Peay, a defender from Oakland Mills High who played on four straight NCAA champions at the University of Virginia (1991 to 1994), and his U.S Olympic teammate Zach Thornton, a goalkeeper, were able to come home this week after the Olympians set up camp Monday at United Park in Herndon, Va., moving from Chula Vista, Calif.

Say it right! The name of the man who penned Walden is Henry David Thoreau, pronounced THOR-oh, not Tho-ROW, say scholars, even though the majority of Americans accent the last syllable. How do we know? Jeffrey S. Cramer, curator of collections at the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods, says the evidence is irrefutable. "Thoreau himself made an incredible number of puns" on his own name, puns whose meaning hinges on saying the name as if it were "thorough." And Thoreau's friends also wrote poetry whose rhyme scheme depends on the first-syllable accent.