Events : Buzz

It has gotten off to a rocky start, to say the least. 

But now there's some good news for the Baltimore Grand Prix. Organizers of the Baltimore Grand Prix announced that they have landed several new sponsors for this year’s race, including Sunoco, Dr. Pepper and Giant Food, CBS News reports. 

The city terminated its contract with Baltimore Racing Development, the group that put on last year’s event, and dissolved its contract with Downtown Racing. Now, could it be that the third time is the charm with Race On LLC?

We'll find out Aug. 31 to Sept. 2, when the second Baltimore Grand Prix is slated to run. 
 

The National Park Service has given tourists another reason to visit Maryland.

On Monday, July 31, it launched the Star-Spangled National Historic Trail, kicking off the event in Fells Point. The 560-mile route traverses land and water in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., and takes visitors to important marks in the War of 1812. 

"By land or water, by bike or on foot, in a car or on a boat, visitors can follow the routes taken by the British during the 1813 and 1814 invasions of the Chesapeake, which resulted in the burning of the White House and Capitol, the capture of Alexandria and the battle for Baltimore, culminated in the writing of 'The Star-Spangled Banner,'" writes the Washington Post.

You can read the Post's entire story here. 

Baltimore came out on top in more than one Battle of the Beltways. 

Not only did the Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Nationals but the city bested its rival at A Taste of Two Cities, a food truck competition held Saturday at the Westport Waterfront. It was organized by food truck owner Damian Bohager. 
 
First place went to Baltimore’s Gypsy Queen food truck, followed by the Red Hook Lobster truck of D.C. in second and Baltimore’s Miss Shirley’s truck in third.
 
A panel of six judges, three from each city, determined the winner. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a big supporter of Baltimore’s food trucks, presented the Mayor’s Cup to Gypsy Queen.
 
The People’s Choice awards, which were decided by competition visitors via text, went to D.C.’s the Cajunator and Baltimore’s Souper Freak. 

Read more about it in the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Post. 

The Maryland Racing Commission has decided that thoroughbred racehorse Secretariat holds the all-time record race time for the Triple Crown.

This was after looking at new evidence presented that showed the horse ran the Preakness Stakes on May 19, 1973 in 1:53.

"The evidence was 'totally convincing,' said one commissioner, John McDaniel," the New York Times writes. “ 'Injustice was done, and we needed to correct it.' Secretariat finally holds the record for all three Triple Crown races."

You can read the entire story here. 

Baltimore's Sailabration brought the Today Show's Al Roker to the Inner Harbor, 1 million tourists, the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels and dozens of tall ships.

Joining the festivities to commemorate the 200-year-anniversary of the War of 1812 was the U.S. Coast Guard sailing vessel Eagle. 

"The war was one of the last major conflicts fought during the Age of Sail, but 200 years after it was declared, the Coast Guard uses the three-masted square-rigger to train future officers," writes the Washington Post.  "The very anachronism of sailing a square-rigger using sextants and celestial navigation at a time when armed drones and Global Positioning Systems dominate is part of Eagle’s appeal."

You can read the rest of the story here. 

Broadway World describes the latest Everyman Theatre play a "hit in every way."

The last play of the season, "You Can't Take It With You," is a Pulitzer-Prize winning play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It tells the story of a "bohemian household where fireworks are made in the basement, one daughter (Essie) dances in her tutu all over the house taught by her Russian ballet teacher Kohlenkov (the magnificent Nelson)," Broadway World writes.

The play runs through June 17 and is the last show Vincent Lancisi is directing at the theaters spot in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District. It moves to downtown Baltimore's west side spring of 2013.

Broadway World praises the detailed period set and the all-star cast. You can read the entire review here. 

The June 6 opening of Maryland Live at Arundel Mills mall got plenty of attention in local newspapers and TV outlets. 

It also caught the attention of the Wall Street Journal, which found the 4,750-slot machine venue unusual for its being on the site of a suburban shopping mall.

"Malls have become popular additions to casino complexes in Atlantic City and Las Vegas ever since Simon Property Group, which owns Arundel Mills, opened The Forum Shops as an extension to Caesars Palace on the Last Vegas Strip in 1992," the Journal writes in the article. 

The opening of Maryland's third slots parlor was marked by traffic backups on Interstate 295, celebrity-chef Bobby Flay -- on hand for Bobby's Burger Palace -- and feuding between executives in Anne Arundel and Prince George's Counties amid talks of a casino at National Harbor.

Open Walls, the innovative mural art project in Station North, is getting more love. 

This time it's from the Huffington Post, which recently featured several photos of the murals and interviews with organizers, including street artist Gaia.

"From March to May the neighborhoods of Station North and Greenmount West have played host to internationally known Street Art names of the moment like Vhils, Sten and Lex, Swoon, Jaz, MOMO, and Interesni Kazki getting up on walls alongside a list of local and regional talents," the Huffington Post writes. 

 A number of cities, including Baltimore, are planning events commemorating the 200-year anniversary of the War of 1812.

The celebrations are featured in an AP story that the Wall Street Journal ran this month.

"The War of 1812 inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star-Spangled Banner after soldiers at Fort McHenry in Baltimore raised an American flag to mark a victory over the British on Sept. 14, 1814," the Journal writes.

It goes on to note that the original manuscript for the song will be part of a War of 1812 exhibit at the Maryland Historical Society. You can read the rest of the story here.

Meanwhile, the New York Times wrote its own piece on the festivities.

"In Baltimore, as part of a festival from June 13 through June 19 known as the Star-Spangled Sailabration, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will debut a new composition inspired by the conflict," the Times writes. "And 20 tall ships and schooners, many modeled on period vessels, will drop anchor in the harbor for tours."

You can read the rest of the story here.

Baltimore is catching onto the fact that the Station North Arts and Entertainment District is enjoying a renaissance of sorts. We at Bmore Media documented a number of favorable developments in this article by Cassie Paton.

Now the Washington Post has even caught onto the charms of the neighborhood that features the Charles Theatre and the Windup Space. The paper even went as far as dubbing Station North an "it" neighborhood.

It cites Open Walls Baltimore, a mural project led by artist Gaia, as the element that is making the neighborhood a real scene for emerging artists and hipsters.

"Charm City is an especially fertile ground for street art, considering its multitude of abandoned buildings, its quirky character, and its generally permissive attitude toward street art, which some cities treat as destruction of property," the Post writes.

You can read the story and the accompanying slideshow here.

"Veep," the HBO comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus that was filmed in Baltimore, had a red-carpet premiere earlier this month, writes the Huffington Post.

The show, which airs April 22, is about a female vice president. Maryland film officials credit the state's expanded tax credits for convincing producers to let Baltimore be a stand in for the nation's capital.

But I guess, when it comes to the red carpet premiere, they had to choose the real deal, eh? You can read the story and some pics from the event here. 

Desk a clutter?

Perhaps the National Association of Professional Organizers can help. The group's 4,200 members met during their annual conference in Baltimore this month and the New York Times interviewed Angela Wallace, president of the California-based organization. 

"The same organizing principles apply to stuff, paper, space and time," she tells the Times. "One basic organizing principle is putting things you use more often closer to you."

Are you writing this down?

Interior decorators are designing a conference in Baltimore.

The Interior Design Educators Council will hold their annual meeting at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore, March 19-22. The event gets a mention in Dwell.com, which notes that keynote speaker will be Jo Heinz, a managing principle of Staffelbach in Dallas.

You can read more about it here. 

The future of Baltimore's Grand Prix seemed uncertain a little while ago as former organizers are saddled in debts, leaving many creditors unpaid.

But now Baltimore City has selected Downforce Racing, which has a five-year deal with the city.  

Promoter Dale "Dillon, an Indianapolis-based developer and team owner whose company has helped promote events in Toronto and St. Petersburg, Fla., hopes to allay financial concerns while staging another successful race," writes USA Today, sourcing some of its material from the Baltimore Sun. 

You can read the rest of the story here. 

What do Urban Pirates, Marine Steel Wire Products, aMuse Toys and Union Box Co. have in common?

Leaders from all of these Greater Baltimore firms were invited to the White House to share their thoughts on health care reform, the economy and other business concerns, according to the Baltimore Business Journal.

You can read more about the meeting and see a complete list of businesses that participated here.