Kid-centric : Buzz

If you haven't made it to one of the many farmer's markets in the Greater Baltimore area, you don't know what you've been missing...

"Vendors at farmers' markets in Baltimore, Howard and Carroll counties can only sell what they produce or what they make from something they grow, such as soap or baked goods. Goods travel no further than 50 miles to get to market.

The only drawback of shopping at local farmers' markets is you will only find foods that are in season.

"When you go to the markets in May, you won't see corn because corn isn't seasonal in this area until summer," Zimmerman says..."

Read the entire article here.

Kinetinauts lined up at the American Visionary Art Museum for the annual Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race a few weeks ago. This year's sculptures included a platypus, a sea monster and a gingerbread house among others. The man-powered sculptures make their way through a course consisting of hard surface, knee-deep mud and water. The WSJ ponders the artistic merits of the quirky race.

Here's an excerpt:

"The 45-year-old was getting the platypus ready for 15 miles of concrete, cobblestones, water and mud. The annual Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race matched people-powered creatures made of everything from tulle mesh fabric to recycled trash can lids.

"Some people think it's trash on wheels," says Theresa Segreti of the American Visionary Art Museum, the group that organizes the race. "But it's art."

Read the entire article here.

Check the WSJ slideshow of the race here.

Watch WSJ video of the race here.

Hagerstown youth, Aaron Brooks, already a wrestling champ, is training hard to break the world weight-lifting record.

Here's an excerpt

At 9-years-old, Aaron Brooks weighs in at around 80 pounds. The weight is pretty typical for his age, but his strength is anything but typical. He can bench press his own body weight and then some.

"I don't know how he can bench that much at his own age," Isaiah Brooks, Aaron's brother, said. "He still gets up fine. He's not even shaking."

Read the entire article here

http://www.wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=12511681http://mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2010/05/19/main_line_times/life/doc4bf4382351f3e629512530.txt

Apple has scored yet another win the release April 3 of the iPad. The revolutionary media device has led to a crush of picture book apps for kids. But what about free apps for kids books? The University of Maryland offers free iPad apps from its International Children's Digital Library website.

Here's an excerpt:

"As with the iPhone and iPod Touch, paid iPad apps aren't the only game in town-there's free material for kid-lit lovers, too. The app for the eight-year-old International Children's Digital Library, housed at the University of Maryland and largely funded by the National Science Foundation, lets iPad users read (but not download) more than 4,000 books from around the world. More than half are either written in English or have been translated into English...

The University of Maryland creators took their existing Web site and adapted it for the iPad. When kids rotate their device vertically to "portrait" mode, they see one page of a book. When they turn it horizontally to "landscape" mode, they see two pages. "We encourage kids to read how they're comfortable," said Ben Bederson, associate professor of computer science at the University of Maryland. "iPad is really the first time the International Children's Digital Library can be used with children in their parents' laps." As a result of the iPad's portability and convenience, he said, he projects that kids will spend more time with stories."

Read the entire article here.

When Woman's Day magazine wanted to know the best places to go on a weekend trip to our fair city, they turned to resident Allison Buchalter to get the inside scoop.

Here are a few of Buchalter's picks:

"1. Best crab house: L.P. Steamers
"It's a fun, casual place with a real neighborhood feel. Sit on the deck, drink a beer and eat delicious crabs. It's hard to get bad crab anywhere in Baltimore."

2. Best park: Linkwood Park
"There's lots of green space and the playground is newly remodeled. Plus you can go 'creek walking.' The Stony Run stream goes through the park�you can either walk on the trail next to it or walk in the stream. My kids stop along the way to make little dams and collect rocks."

3. Best way to see the city: Ed Kane's Water Taxi
"Baltimore is a city defined by its harbor, and the water taxi is a great way to see Inner Harbor and also get to dozens of attractions, like the National Aquarium and the Maryland Science Center. Even the locals take it."

Read the entire article here.

It's almost that time of year -- road trip time, that is. Instead of heading out of state, you might want to expore the section of the Historic National Road running through Maryland.

Here's an excerpt:

"As the first federally funded road, this byway blazed a trail for the emerging nation to follow. Maryland's Baltimore to Cumberland section of the Historic National Road was designated the Historic National Pike. Towns and cities along the pike began to spring up to provide comforts for weary travelers heading west. Modern travelers of the Historic National Pike will find communities proud of their vibrant heritage. With Interstate 70 bypassing many of the original Historic National Pike cities, they have developed into artistic communities with a passion for diversity.

From the shores of the Chesapeake Bay to the majestic Negro Mountain, the Historic National Road offers many natural wonders. Many state parks along the byway offer quiet breaks in the long drive. As the byway continues into western Maryland, it passes through many mountain peaks. Before the byway continues into Pennsylvania, it journeys through the city of Cumberland, which is nestled in a small mountain valley. Here, mountains tower 1,000 feet around the city."

Read the entire article here.

Students from Baltimore city schools crushed the competition at the 2010 Maryland Scholastic Chess Championships winning third place or better in all divisions.

Here's an excerpt:

"Over 350 players from across the state traveled to the Hagerstown Convention Center this weekend to compete in the 2010 Maryland Scholastic Chess Championships. Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) middle school teams swept to victory in both the varsity and junior varsity divisions. In the junior varsity division, Woodhome Elementary/Middle School took the championship (pictured, below), with Cross Country Elementary/Middle School in second. And in the varsity division, Cross Country Elementary/Middle School (pictured, above) took the state title, with Pimlico Elementary Middle School in second place. This is the first varsity state chess championship title ever for City Schools."

Read the entire article here.

Break out the pink and blue balloons! The Aquarium is expecting a visit from the Stork! The lucky mom -- Jade, the dolphin who gave birth just two years ago to a calf named Foster.

Here's an excerpt:

"A baby dolphin is on the way at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

Aquarium officials said an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin named Jade is expected to give birth by mid-March.

Aquarium staff and a group of 50 trained volunteers have begun around-the-clock observations for signs of labor so they can provide an ideal setting for Jade and the newborn calf following delivery. Careful preparation is important, they say, because in captivity and in the wild about one-third of all calves do not make it past their first year.

Aquarium officials said labor signs include reduced appetite, back flexing, side-to-side motions, speed swimming and excretion of milk."

Listen to the entire story here.

Let the listing begin! It's a new year and Business Week has just rolled out its 2010 list of the Best Places to Raise Your Kids. Although Tinley Park, Ill. took the top spot for the best place in the U.S., Gaithersburg, according to the biz pub, is the best spot in Maryland to bring up your young'uns.

Here's an excerpt:

"Gaithersburg, a former farming town at the terminus of the Washington Metro's Red Line, is a diverse, affordable place with a shopping district called "Old Towne," which dates back to the 19th century."

See the town's specs and the two runners up here.

A new exhibit at the Walters Art Museum aims to help Johns Hopkins researcher, Ed Connor, understand what attracts individuals to different artwork.

Here's an excerpt:

"At an exhibit opening this weekend at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, visitors will be asked to wear 3-D glasses and walk around with clipboards and pencils while looking at images of sculptures.

"Beauty and the Brain: A Neural Approach to Aesthetics," enlists the public as participants in a Johns Hopkins University study that looks at why the human brain is attracted to artwork...

Organizers say they hope to shed a scientific light on some of the ideas that philosophers have discussed for centuries. One of those is that there's a unique way that the brain activates when we view compelling artwork, something philosophers have called the "aesthetic emotion," says Gary Vikan, director of the Walters and curator of the show."

Read the entire article here.

Three city's are vying to lay claim as the true home of the Poe legacy. The battle over his legacy will soon be over, however. During the 201^st birthday celebration honoring Edgar Allen Poe, the Poe Foundation will finally put an end to the fight, announcing the city to claim his legacy.

Here's an excerpt:

"Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia all want a piece of the Poe � master of macabre Edgar Allan Poe, that is. But as the bicentennial of his birth winds down (his 201st birthday is Tuesday), the debate over which city can claim his legacy will be laid to rest.

Poe descendant and Poe Foundation president Harry Lee Poe will settle the matter during a 24-hour birthday bash at the Poe Museum in Richmond, Va."

Read the full article here.

The combination of a Catholic boyhood and college summers spent window washing have given this blogger a hawk's eye for beautiful stained glass. He's put together a few spots to hit for sacred and secular stained glass-o-philes alike.

An excerpt from the blog posting reads:

If you're interested in those decorative transoms that seem to be above so many rowhouse doorways these days, there are a few places you can find them around the city. We're partial to a few, namely Daniel Herman Stained Glass (1601 Guilford

Avenue # 2S), Terraza Stained Glass (1412 Woodall Street), and Vintage Stained Glass . These are craftsmen, they can help you design what you want, even if you're not too sure yourself.

Finally, for the DIYers and crafty types who want to try their hand at making their own windows, there's The Glass Key in Jessup (8610 Washington Boulevard). They carry a full line of stained glass materials and tools, and, thankfully, offer a full line of classes for beginners like us. We appreciate that, if only because it's virtually guaranteed that our first five (or more) tries are going to come out as lumpy, disfigured pieces of glass . And also because once we get good we're not going to waste our time on anything lame like flowers or clowns, but only design super-cool stuff like stained glass rocket ships full of werewolves. That's just how we roll.

Read the entire posting here.

An Italian blogger writes about visiting her mother's family during a recent visit to the States and checking out the museums and other cultural resources in the city.

An excerpt from the blog posting reads:

We had a great time at the National Aquarium. And a good laugh remembering the last time we went there, when Danny was 3. He threw a major tantrum at the entrance, after we had paid for our tickets, of course, and repeatedly screamed, "I don't like fish!!!" Things went a bit better this time...

I was amazed at the incredible variety of marine life they have on exhibit. There is a special exhibit on jellyfish on now, called Jellies Invasion: Oceans Out of Balance. Apparently, there are too many jellyfish floating around, and judging from their map, a lot of them are in the Mediterranean Sea around Italy. We'll have to keep our eyes open when we get back home.

A new discovery for us was the American Visionary Art Museum near Federal Hill (where the national anthem was written, just in case you didn't know!). This museum showcases works of art by self-taught, "outsider" artists. The works of each artist are accompanied by a short biography, which I often found as interesting as the work itself. I'm a biography buff, admittedly, but each of these people seems to have an amazing life story and an amazing path to the discovery of their artistic talents.

Read the entire posting here.

A Baltimore book-lover and a moderator at the city's book festival this year declares that it drives her "crazy" that D.C. and Baltimore host their book festivals on the same weekend each year. She provides a "pro" and "con" list for each of the events to help readers make a choice between the two.

An excerpt from the blog posting reads:

Baltimore Book Festival

Pros

- it is a three day event (Sept. 25-27)
- it is not a "big crowd" event - people are definitely attending but not in overwhelming numbers
- chances for author interaction are very good - crowds are not large and authors usually hang around to chat afterward
- Baltimore has lots of historical sightseeing and museums
- if it rains, you're walking on cobblestones not mud
- parking is moderately priced and very close to the Festival
- my panel, The Book Club Toolkit, is on 9/26 @ noon
- a book blogger get-together is being planned for Friday evening (9/25) - we'll go to the YA panels and then who knows what we'll do! (Leave a comment if you'd like to be included.)

Baltimore Book Festival - Cons

- public transportation is not as extensive as in DC
- many participating authors are not very well known
- it is a much smaller scaled event than the DC one

What? You say I'm little biased toward the Baltimore event? REALLY?! I didn't think so ... :)

Read the entire posting here.

To maintain morale during the tough economy, Monitor staff comb the nation's classifieds each week to find cool work for job hunters. A favorite animal-lover destination made the list this week. (So did a freelance wig maker gig in Arizona, operating a chocolate fountain in Florida, and styling dolls' hair in Massachusetts.)

An excerpt from the blog reads:

2. Marine mammal aide:

Employer: Baltimore National Aquarium
Wages/salary: $10 an hour
Details: Prepare daily animal diets and dispense vitamins; degree in biology or zoology required; scuba certification preferred. (For more information click here.)
Location: Baltimore (pop. 651,154, median family income $35,438) was the site of the first American umbrella factory in 1828.

Read the entire article here: