Unforgettable

LOS ANGELES -- Even after a year on the pop charts, Natalie Cole's Grammy-winning "Unforgettable" album is still unforgettable.Yet, what Christopher Riddle, son of the late arranger Nelson Riddle, can't forget is how angry he is.The record, a tribute to Ms. Cole's father, jazz crooner Nat King Cole, has sold more than 4 million copies, received seven Grammy Awards and has made the singer the toast of Hollywood.But the 41-year-old Riddle said he is incensed that Ms. Cole's interpretation of "Unforgettable" -- a song he claims features an uncredited 1951 Nelson Riddle arrangement -- nabbed Best Arrangement honors at this year's Grammy Awards.

Ted Frankel and Bill Gilmore It would be difficult for even the smartest holiday decorations to compete with the artwork that fills every corner of Ted Frankel's North Calvert Street four-story brownstone. So he and his partner, Bill Gilmore, don't even try. "This house is so complicated and busy, there really wouldn't be any point," says Frankel, who owns Sideshow, the gift shop at the American Visionary Art Museum . "The guests. That's what we decorate with," he says.

In entertainment circles, the early months of every year are an exhilarating whirlwind of glamour, parties and prizes galore. It's a time packed with award ceremonies ranging from the Grammys and the Golden Globes to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards (BAFTA) and the Screen Actors Guild awards. And, of course, the red carpets that go along with them. Alas, last Sunday's Oscars marked the official end of the year's busiest season for these award ceremonies. As always, it was a fashionable period marked by stars' glorious hits and puzzling misses.

Last week, on what would have been his father's 79th birthday, Chad Unitas visited his grave at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. There, on the edge of a pond filled with ducks and ringed by weeping willows, he knelt by the marble marker and spoke with the one many call football's greatest quarterback. "I go there a couple of times a month, to ask my dad's advice about this and that," Unitas said. "He's been gone 10 years, but I can still hear his voice. " Johnny Unitas died of a heart attack Sept.

William Donald Schaefer, taking one of an endless series of bows as he makes his exit from the political stage, received an especially effusive introduction at the Better Business Bureau's annual luncheon the other day. Schaefer, said Alvin Levi, will be "remembered as the greatest mayor in the city's history and the greatest governor in Maryland's history." Don Donaldo then spoke, relating again how various people and regions of the state, especially the Eastern Shore, haven't appreciated his efforts.

What an unforgettable year.When it began, the world was at war in the Persian Gulf. When it ended, our nation's No. 1 enemy, the Soviet Union, was no more.As our military moved into the Persian Gulf, I became addicted toCable News Network, night and day, never moving too far from a television screen for fear I would miss the latest Pentagon update or thatone improbable chance to see my son-in-law's face among all those young men and women performing their jobs so bravely so far from home.

Every big storm brings forth recollections of the snows of yesteryear. Every generation seems to have its own memorable blizzard. We recall some that are worth looking back at on a snowy morning. After surviving the Superstorm of 1993, Russell Baker, columnist, essayist and memoirist, asked if a storm of the century was worse than a mother of all storms or a world-class storm. He forestalled calamity by rushing out to buy wine to drink by a roaring fire.

It may not have been an unforgettable evening, but last night's Grammy Awards broadcast was certainly an "Unforgettable" evening. That is, Natalie Cole's "Unforgettable" -- album recorded in tribute to the music of her father, the late Nat "King" Cole -- was the evening's runaway winner.Not only did the single, a duet between deceased father and live daughter, walk away with the Record of the Year and Song of the Year, but the project also landed Album of the Year and a host of lesser honors, including Best Traditional Pop Performance, Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s)

He coached in a small-time league, and the incident happened in an out-of-the-way town, so Blast coach Tim Wittman did not find his name splashed about like those of Kermit Washington, Woody Hayes or Mike Tyson. But the details of his predicament seemed so familiar. A fierce competitor believes poor officiating, a violent opponent or a hostile crowd stand in his way. His quick decisions have almost always been good ones. But now, frustration takes over, his judgment lapses and he does something he can't take back.

With Billie: A New Look at the Unforgettable Lady Day By Julia Blackburn Vintage / 354 pages / $14.95 A flawed but nonetheless fascinating biography of the transcendent, tragic Billie Holiday, who grew up in the most deprived circumstances in Baltimore to become one of our greatest jazz and blues vocalists, even as she was tormented by drugs, bad men and federal agents.

In their minds, it's still unfolding. Korie Lucious is making his 3-pointer and slowly turning to run down court, his mouth guard dangling from his lips, as green-clad Michigan State teammates rush from the bench to greet him. For Maryland's three starting seniors, the last moments of their 85-83 NCAA tournament loss are like a ringing in their ears that won't quite be silenced. "I see it all the time," said forward Landon Milbourne, one of the three starting Terrapins for whom the Lucious shot on March 21 is the final memory of otherwise bright college careers.

The day began 20 years ago with overcast skies and wisps of fog, a Friday. Despite the fact that the weekend is not expected to brighten, Baltimore baseball fans bask in a warm glow that has been building since April. Their team, the American League cellar-dweller just a year earlier, has a chance to win the pennant. Just one game back of the Toronto Blue Jays with three to play, the Orioles need a sweep at SkyDome to make everyone forget about the previous season, the one that began with 21 losses and ended with 107. "From the beginning, everybody figured they didn't have a chance," recalls Peter Angelos, still nearly four years away from becoming the owner.

The box score remains confounding 25 years later. Some parts - the game-tying homer by Cal Ripken Jr., Tippy Martinez entering at a tense juncture - fit. Others - utility infielder Lenn Sakata playing catcher, left fielder John Lowenstein at second base, the other left fielder, Gary Roenicke, at third - look like puzzle pieces jammed into the wrong slots by a hasty child. Yet somehow, this mishmash produced the signature game of the Orioles' 1983 regular season. That team wasn't a super-talented juggernaut.

SOMETIMES PEOPLE tell me I should go into politics, but I'm not interested. We've got enough boobs in the White House. People would ask about foreign affairs and I'd say, 'What's wrong with American men?' Then they'd ask about global warming and I'd say, 'When my globes get warm, I just take off my sweater!'" This is Dolly Parton, unchangeable at age 62 and still going strong all over the world. Checking in on Dunne Martin, the concierge of the famed Connaught Hotel in London, telephoned Casey Ribicoff last week (she is the widow of Abe Ribicoff, who was Connecticut's most famous governor and senator)

We were reminded about the beauty of sports the other day in Baltimore. The reason I love sports and you buy overpriced tickets and endure pampered superstars is because you never know when you're going to witness history. You don't know if this is the day Kobe Bryant scores 81 points, or the day Jamal Lewis rushes for 295 yards. Or, in this case, the day the Texas Rangers set a modern-day record with 30 runs against the Orioles. No team had scored that many runs in a game since the Chicago Colts did it in 1897.

You've got to squint your eyes and study it closely, but sure enough, it's all there. Thirty runs, 29 hits and in between the lines, a full decade of frustrations. In the modern era of baseball, there has never been a scorecard quite like this one, and many years will surely pass before there's another one. "It's like an abstract piece of art," says Mark Jacobson, the official scorer who was responsible for recording every hit, run and putout of the Orioles' epic 30-3 loss to the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night.

Goo Goo Dolls Breaking onto the mainstream stage with its unforgettable hit "Iris," the Buffalo trio has grown from its punk-influenced roots into a platinum-selling innovator on today's music scene. The band's list of hits, including "Name" and "Slide," continues to grow with the release of its eighth album, Let Love In. The band (with lead singer Johnny Rzeznik, pictured) is celebrating its 20th anniversary at the Lyric Opera House, 140 W. Mount Royal Ave., at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets are $37. Call 410-547-SEAT or go to ticketmaster.

Dr. Louis Haberer Tankin, a retired Baltimore urologist who wrote of his experiences as a prisoner of war during World War II, died from complications of a stroke Thursday at Ruxton Health and Rehabilitation Center. The Pikesville resident was 92. Dr. Tankin was born in Baltimore and raised on Milton Avenue near Patterson Park. As the son of a surgeon, he was from an early age interested in a medical career. "He didn't want to be a doctor for money or status. He wanted to be a doctor because he loved and wanted to help people," said a son, Alan C. Tankin of Newburg, Mo. He was a 1932 graduate of City College and earned a bachelor's degree from the Johns Hopkins University in 1936.

Goo Goo Dolls Breaking onto the mainstream stage with its unforgettable hit "Iris," the Buffalo trio has grown from its punk-influenced roots into a platinum-selling innovator on today's music scene. The band's list of hits, including "Name" and "Slide," continues to grow with the release of its eighth album, Let Love In. The band (with lead singer Johnny Rzeznik, pictured) is celebrating its 20th anniversary at the Lyric Opera House, 140 W. Mount Royal Ave., at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets are $37. Call 410-547-SEAT or go to ticketmaster.