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The BMA's upcoming Cezanne exhibit caught the eye of this art-loving pub. Wanna learn more about the French master painter?

Here's an excerpt:

"The Baltimore Museum of Art's new exhibition, C�zanne and American Modernism, brings together 16 dazzling landscapes, still lifes, and portraits by the French master with more than 80 paintings, watercolors, and photographs by artists such as Max Weber, Alfred Stieglitz, and Marsden Hartley to show C�zanne's profound impact on American artists at the beginning of the 20th-century. Along with the BMA's two great C�zanne paintings, "Mont Sainte-Victoire Seen from the Bib�mus Quarry" and "Bathers", the exhibition showcases outstanding works from public and private collections throughout the U.S., including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This nationally traveling exhibition is a special ticketed event that includes complimentary audio tours for both adults and kids. "C�zanne and American Modernism" is co-organized by the Montclair Art Museum and The Baltimore Museum of Art and is on view in Baltimore February 14 through May 23, 2010."

Read the full article here.

Among the cast members for the 23^rd season of the MTV reality show, Real Word, will be a Baltimore native, Ty Ruff. This season the show will take place in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC.

Here's an excerpt.

For 22 seasons, MTV has believed that the "real world" consists of a group of twentysomethings living in a giant house in some random city with their every move and interaction filmed for the entire world to see.

Read the entire article here.

http://insidetv.aol.com/2009/11/04/real-world-washington-dc-cast/

One Baltimore family shares their 'not so traditional' New Year's resolution list.

Here's an excerpt.

"For the record, I will not be eating healthier, I certainly will not be exercising, I will not quit smoking and I think my use of curse words makes me a tad bit more "colorful." If you've decided that in this new year you'll take on one or all of those, my hat is off to you!"

Read the entire article here.

A Frederick, Md. videographer tells how he was caught by surprise when a video he assembled for musician Ian Carey wins an MTV Video Music Award.

Here's an excerpt.

"It's a long way from a teenager with little career ambition to an MTV Video Music Award winner.

When Michael Zemrose was in high school at St. John's Catholic Prep, he didn't have many aspirations for life after graduation, but an art class inspired him.

Once in the art program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, he discovered the first step: photography."

Read the entire article here.

The local award winning female barbershop quartet, Maxx Factor, made their TV premiere on the new NBC reality series, "Sing-Off", in December. The group advanced to the second level of the competition and received more than positive remarks from the judges.

Here's an excerpt.

"NBC's "The Sing-Off" is a television first: a 4-night-only event that pits 8 a cappella groups of varying styles against each other, each vying for a Epic Records/Sony Music recording contract and a substantial cash prize. No lip-syncing or studio magic allowed."
 
Read more about the show and Maxx Factor here.

Here's an excerpt from the NY Times:

"The most interesting song choice of the night may have come in the first half of the show, when Maxx Factor, four middle-aged women from Maryland, chose a Taylor Swift song, "Love Story," and really reinvented it."

Read the full article here.

And watch their premier performance. Click ahead to 9:00.

Need to know how much it'll cost to park in a downtown garage for a Ravens game? Or what's going on at The Hippodrome? The Downtown Partnership of Baltimore recently unveiled an innovative interactive map of downtown Baltimore. Use it to find local attractions, events, hotels, office buildings, residences, parking and transportation.

Get the map here.

If green is your favorite holiday color, check out these tips from Gov. O'Malley and The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to make your holidays safer and greener.

Here's an excerpt.

"Gov. Martin O'Malley wants everyone to join together during this holiday season by embracing a greener lifestyle. This is part of a state-wide effort to create healthier environments for the citizens of Maryland. Although it will take time and a concerted effort by all, here are a few tips the Governor and the State Department of Natural Resources(DNR)decided to share with the Baltimore community:

1. Trying to save money on your electric bill? The use of energy lights and timers, which use 90% less energy than conventional lights, can save you up to $50 a month on your energy bill."

Read the entire blog post here.

Find more tips from the Gov. here.

The Frederick, MD natives, Michael and Bryan Voltaggio, battled it out until the end when  younger brother Michael was selected "Top Chef" with Bryan taking second place on the reality TV show, "Top Chef."

We've all been there -- stuck in the dead zone between Thanksgiving and the winter break with nothing to do but study for finals and dream of going home. This UMBC student found a way to pass the time with local holiday events.

Here's an excerpt.

"Coming back from a Thanksgiving break full of turkey, stuffing, too much family time, and football, is my personal worst time of year. You get a taste of the freedom that winter break will bring, but between you and the magical month of sleeping late and not having classes are those horrendous three weeks of finals. To give us all something to look forward to (or give us a break from studying in the unholy Library Atrium) I have made a list of six holiday events around the area that will get us ready once again for turkey, stuffing, too much family time, and snowball fights."

Read the entire article here.

So what's it like to be a Nobel Prize Winner? Well, the daily routine for Dr. Carol Greider, a molecular biologist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, has not changed much since winning the 2009 Nobel Prize. As a single mom, she still spends her time juggling activities between home, family and job.

Here's an excerpt.

"She was folding laundry when the call came at 5 a.m. After she hung up the phone, Dr. Carol Greider went upstairs to wake her children. She had to tell them, even if it meant getting them out of bed early.

"I said, 'By the way, I just won the Nobel Prize. You can go back to sleep now,' " she recalled.

Until this past October, many would have described Greider as your typical working woman. A molecular biologist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the mother of two children -- Gwendolyn, 10, and Charles, 13 -- she splits her time between job and family. But "typical" no longer applies.

Winning the 2009 Nobel Prize for Medicine may help her career, but it hasn't changed her attitude about home life. "I could have basked in the moment, but I had to tell my kids first. And they were thrilled, but then they wanted to know, 'Do we have to go to school today?' " she said. "Of course I said, 'No, you don't.' And they came to work with me."

The Nobel Prize and Prize in Economic Sciences have been awarded to women 41 times between 1901 and 2009. Only one woman, Marie Curie, has been honored twice. Ten women, including Greider, have received it for medicine, others for economics, physics, literature and chemistry; 12 have won the Nobel Peace Prize. But few have been single moms, whose thoughts are just as consumed by homework as by helices."


Read the entire article here.

Taken a look at the city's monuments, memorials and historical landmarks recently? Well, you can take the tour of everything from the USS Constellation to the Billie Holiday Statue to the Lee and Jackson Monument with this extensive photo collection.

Begin the tour here.

The Mid-Atlantic region has an ever increasing number of wineries. Fiore Winery & Distillery, located in Harford County, Maryland, was noted as one of the five best wineries in the mid-atlantic region by travel blogger Melody Moser.

Here is an excerpt.

"If you enjoy good wine and spirits, you'll find a delightful selection of homegrown wineries spread out across the Mid-Atlantic region. Here is a sampling of five outstanding wineries in the area:

Fiore Winery & Distillery
The award-wining Fiore Winery & Distillery, located in charming Harford County, Maryland, now also produces Limoncello and Grappa."


Read the entire article here.

Gov. O'Malley's new small biz proposal to create jobs in Maryland has caught the eye of the media. See him in an interview with CNBC's Erin Burnet detailing his plan.

Here's a NY Times piece on the Gov's small biz agenda. Read it here. See the Gov's weekly economic update video here.

So where does Tony Bennett go for dinner whenever he's in Baltimore. Why Little Italy, of course! There he can find some of his favorite food at Da Mimmo where a reader of Dining@Large saw him and owner Mary Ann Cricchio.

Here is an excerpt.

"A reader wrote me that she had seen Tony Bennett eating with owner Mary Ann Cricchio and her son, Mimmo, at Da Mimmo Saturday. I called to find out if it was true, and if so, what he ate. Sometimes I feel as if celebrities only go to Little Italy when they come to town. Apparently Bennett has been eating at Da Mimmo since 1984. He was their second celebrity (Jim Palmer was the first), Mary Ann told me. ... "

Read the entire blog post here.

Baltimore's Gilman School is making strides to become a greener, educationg students, faculty and staff on the benefits of sustainability.

Here's an excerpt:

"Sean Furlong, Gilman's Director of Finance and Operations has been working with a team of students, faculty, and staff to expand the school's sustainability efforts across campus. The composting is perhaps their biggest project to date. The project not only involves changing behavior, but it's great material for environmental science curriculum.

"The first piece to the education has been in the dining hall," Furlong explains. "We had a number of students and teachers involved in explaining to students (and teachers) what should go into the composting bin (vs. trash or plastic/bottle recycling containers). This took a while for the folks to get used to, but we were told we did an excellent job in making sure the correct materials got into the composting bin."

Other education efforts include periodic reports to the school on the amount of food waste they are generating; a mini compost model on display in the dining hall to show how, overtime, composting works; and student trips to the actual location where the food waste is taken."

Read the entire article here.