Wedge

Gone are the days of the Splendid Splinter, the Yankee Clipper, the Sultan of Swat - the nicknames that made baseball's luminaries sound so regal, so untouchable. So heroic. Today we have the Pronk. He sounds nothing like a superhero. He is a breakfast cereal or a car part or a disease. OK, that's not fair to the Pronk, still known to his mother as Travis Hafner and known around baseball as the Cleveland Indians' designated hitter. At least Hafner has a nickname, the longtime baseball tradition that has, by and large, turned into a blase amalgam of first initial, shortened last name.

Dina Klicos is always well-dressed in her style, which is "conservative with a flair." It doesn't matter whether it's for work, as director of major gifts for the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, or at play - say, when she goes to shows by Fire in the Hole, a popular local band in which her son Michael plays lead guitar. "I like simple. It's more classic. Simple is better. I like a cleaner look," says the 49-year-old Hampton resident. But Klicos knows how to add some interest to her outfits with her accessories.

In an ideal world, Robin Williams would have been born a cartoon. After all, merely human roles rarely give him the chance to free-associate, deliver dozens of accents and leap through his imagination the way no regular person ever does. And, let's face it, when he starts doing his shtick offstage, he occasionally wears out his welcome. With his outsize personality, it's little wonder that Williams has a serious affinity for the animated world. When he took the role of the Blue Genie in 1992's Aladdin, Williams crafted one of the most indelible characters in animation history.

SAN DIEGO -- You knew the game was over when the pitcher had to bat in the top of the first, which was a beautiful sight.Not beautiful because it meant the American League was going to win the All-Star Game for the fifth straight year. That wasn't so important, was it?Beautiful because no one could remember the last time an All-Star batter resembled a 65-year-old just learning to swing a tennis racket.It was not quite Dan Quayle at the spelling bee, but what do you want from a sport in which the commissioner is moping around saying, "I don't know, things just look so bleak."

WASHINGTON -- August, when time's winged chariot usually slows perceptibly, is occasionally eventful (1914, 1939), and this year is enlivened by President Clinton's nomination of William Weld as ambassador to Mexico, by Sen. Jesse Helms' opposition, and by Governor Weld's feistiness.Normally it would require surgery to implant in the public an interest in an ambassadorial nomination, but this little pebble rolling downhill is producing an avalanche of fascinating facets.Because two Republicans are at daggers drawn, many journalists who normally consider the Republican Party too primitive an organism to have a soul are calling this "a fight for the soul of the party."

Chip Altholtz and Barry Faldner now accept that some people are repulsed by their invention, the LifeClock."Some people think it's morbid," admits Mr. Altholtz.That's certainly one way to look at it. Even though the digital LifeClock displays short, inspirational messages -- "Give yourself permission to win!," "See time as a gift," and the first message that appears, "Hello, (your name here), you are now looking at your future" -- at the rate of one a minute, it also inexorably counts down the hours, minutes, seconds and tenths of seconds until the end of the user's life based on standard actuarial tables (the average man will live to be 75, the average woman, 80)

In February, Spike TV announced "Bar Rescue," a design makeover show, would take up the cause of J.A. Murphy's in Fells Point. The show was coming at the request of owners Keith Murphy and Joel Gallant. Theirs was one of more than 200 bars to apply for a guest spot on the show, the network said. Two months later, a new J.A. Murphy's, now dubbed a cliched Murphy's Law, quietly reopened. You could be forgiven for not knowing about it. While the bar got a new draft system and upgraded look, it seems the show's producers - or the owners - forgot to fix some things.

The Maryland Transportation Authority is reviewing a request from CSX Transportation Corp. to lease about five acres under Interstate 95 to be used for construction of the train and truck depot that will serve the Port of Baltimore. The land would allow CSX to expand the footprint of the 70-acre site near the Morrell Park neighborhood in Southwest Baltimore for its $90 million facility to transfer cargo containers from trains to trucks and vice versa. The state has promised to pay one-third of the cost.

Wedding date: May 4, 2013 Her story: Ashley Valis, 31, grew up in Baltimore. She is the assistant chief of staff for Gov. Martin O'Malley. Her mother, Beth Russell, is a director of marketing and sales, and her father, Jim Valis, is a sales director. His story: Jim Gillis, 31, grew up in Baltimore. He is an assistant state's attorney for Baltimore County. His mother, Kay Gillis, is retired, and his father, Dr. David Gillis, is deceased. Their story: Ashley and Jim met in July 2006 at an event for then-Mayor O'Malley's campaign for governor.

Craving a summer treat that's icy, sweet, and a bit exotic? Then make gourmet ice pops your go-to cooler for the sunny season. Ice pops aren't exactly new - remember the juice and Kool-Aid bars Mom would freeze in tiny paper cups? - but these cold confections on a stick are getting a zippy culinary makeover. Artificial grape and cherry flavors were once the standard-bearers. Today's ice pop varieties are bursting with fresh fruit, veggies, herbs, spices, and even spirits that evoke happy hour.