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A bar mitzvah is usually celebrated when a boy turns 13, but the Jewish Museum of Maryland is making a special exception for Superman.

The museum, located in Baltimore's Jonestown neighborhood, held a bar mitzvah on Sunday for the comic book superhero, who was created 75 years ago by Jewish artists. The superhero himself will be attending the event, which will also include dancing, music, food and a bar mitzvah cake, the Washington Post writes. 

The event will celebrate the new movie on the superhero as well as the museum's exhibit on Superman, which is on display through Aug. 18.
Read more about the exhibit here.

Restaurant owners Tony Foreman and Cindy Wolf are heading West for their latest venture. 

The duo behind Pazo, Petit Louis Bistro, Johnny's, Cinghiale and Charleston are opening a new, yet unnamed restaurant on Columbia's Lakefront, the Baltimore Sun reports. The restaurant will replace the shuttered Red Pearl, next to the popular Sushi Sono. 

The restaurant will likely open by the end of the year and hire 60 to 70, Tony Foreman tells the Sun. Its the first Howard County business for the Foreman Wolf Restaurant Group. 

Read the entire story here. 

The Maryland House of Delegates chamber will be getting a Hollywood makeover this week for the political thriller “House of Cards.”

The television drama, which airs on Netflix, will be transforming the House of Delegates chamber to resemble the U.S. Senate, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Gov. Martin O’Malley, the lieutenant governor and their staffs will have access to the building during filming and O’Malley himself will make a cameo appearance in the show.

This weekend, the show’s crew will be completing set construction on the State House and the building will be closed to the public Monday and Tuesday, June 17-18 for filming.

The Maryland-filmed political thriller starring Kevin Spacey brought $140 million in spending to the state, according to the Maryland Film Office.

Read the full story here.

National Geographic Traveler recently highlighted Baltimore’s best destinations in its June/July issue in a piece called “48 Hours: Baltimore, Maryland.”
 
NatGeo explored Mount Vernon, Hampden, Highlandtown, Locust Point, Little Italy and the Inner Harbor in its two-day itinerary.
 
It begins in Mount Vernon, noting the contributions of the “Gilded Age Industrialists" behind free institutions like the Walters Art Museum and the Peabody Library.

The article also explores the diversity of Highlandtown, “old-world bakeries” such as Vaccaro’s and crab cakes in Fells Point.

Read the entire story here.

The Writers Guild of America has named “The Wire” one of the 101 best-written shows of all time.

The critically acclaimed HBO drama broke the top 10, coming in at No. 9. The show ranked above classics like “The West Wing,” “I Love Lucy,” and “Friends.” Critics consistently praised the show for its engaging portrayal of urban life in Baltimore during its five-year run.

Another Baltimore-set show made the list. “Homicide: Life on the Streets” was ranked at No. 46 on the list in a tie with the 1980’s drama  “St. Elsewhere.” “Homicide” won the Television Critics Association Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Drama for three consecutive years during its run. The show ran for seven seasons on NBC in the 1990s.

The top three shows are “The Twlight Zone,” “Seinfeld,” and, at No. 1, “The Sopranos.” Check out the rest of the list here at E! Online.

Harry Connick Jr. has come out with a new album, "Every Man Should Know," and is kicking off the concert tour to promote it in Baltimore. 

The crooner will perform June 19 at the Patricia & Arthur Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric, located at the edge of Mount Vernon. Connick wrote the lyrics, music and arrangements for the new album, writes USA Today. 

"I've done just about every kind of record you could do," Connick tells USA Today. "I've never had a pop hit, which is a blessing — because I've never had to base anything I do on the last record."

You can read the entire story here. 

Baltimore is the fourth best city for recent college graduates, according to a report from personal finance site NerdWallet.

The analysis took into consideration factors such as the percent of residents in the 18–24 age group, the city's entertainment options, transportation, cost of living and job prospects.

The list placed Baltimore just below Denver, Colo., and above Philadelphia, Pa. Boston ranked No. 1, followed by Seattle. 

Baltimore got on the list because of its high percentage of young people, its walkability and its moderate cost of living, according to NerdWallet.

The list also included a chart that showed additional characteristics of the ranking cities, such as the cost of a Pizza Hut pizza and local movie ticket prices.

See the list and chart here.

USA Today has recognized Baltimore's Inner Harbor as one of the best waterfronts to visit across North America.
 
The site featured nine U.S. cities in the list, including Baltimore, as well as one location in Canada.
 
Baltimore was joined on the list by cities such as Sarasota, Fla., San Francisco and New York City.
 
Baltimore was noted first and was commended for the many attractions that it offers along the Inner Harbor, as well as the street performers that provide entertainment.

See the full list here.

The Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum is currently on schedule to reopen Oct. 4 of this year, after having been closed since September due to budget issues, the Baltimore Sun writes.
 
According to the organization Poe Baltimore, which intends to make the house a for-profit institution, the reopened Poe House will include a walking tour and other interpretive exhibits that will give visitors the story of Poe’s experiences in Baltimore.
 
The attraction will likely open weekends until spring 2014, the Baltimore Sun reported. After this date, the hours will be expanded, if all goes according to plan.
 
Read the full story here.
 
 

Rodney Henry, the owner of Dangerously Delicious Pies, was off to a strong start in the first episode of the "The Next Food Network Star."

Henry is one of 12 contestants, which included several restaurant owners and one former model, competing for the chance to host his own show on the network. Dangerously Delicious has stores in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Giada De Laurentiis, Alton Brown and Bobby Flay host the show. 

In the first challenge, the TV hopefuls had to create a 30-second pitch tape for Food Network executives. Later, individuals in a focus group voted whether they liked or disliked the contestants. The cooks then turned up the heat by making a dish with potatoes.

The audience loved Henry's pitch and a Food Network exec said he believed Henry is "the pie guy." Though his mini potato-and-crab pies didn't turn out as expected, the judges liked the taste. Henry, however, didn't make the top three performers in the first episode.

You can watch the entire episode here. 

Which former BmoreMedia publisher won a total of $31,601 on "Jeopardy?"

The correct answer is Sam Hopkins, a Baltimore resident and 2013 graduate of the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. He won the total over two days, May 29 and May 30. 

The Prairie Village, Kansas, native gave a shout out to Kansas City barbeque on his second day. Meanwhile, the Twitterverse was buzzing about the multilingual Hopkins. @alliekmiller Tweeted the following: Ladies, there is a man named Sam Hopkins on #jeopardy right now. He speaks 11 languages. Start watching. #betterthanbachelorette. 

JHU put out a news release on the grad's silver-screen appearance. The release also contains highlights from an essay that Hopkins wrote for the school's ONE magazine. In the piece, Hopkins recalls his trip to Bangalore, India and experience collecting vinyl records from around the world. 

You can also see Sam Hopkins' video greeting on the Jeopardy website. 

Summer is a time to experience music in the great outdoors.

The New York Times features a list of classical music concerts, including one in California led by Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Music Director Marin Alsop. 

The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music takes place in Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista Aug. 2-11. "The lineup this season includes world premieres by Kevin Puts and Sean Friar, as well as recent works by Brett Dean, Philip Glass, Christopher Rouse and George Walker," the Times writes.

Read the entire story here. 

GettingSmart.com, a blog that highlights innovations in learning, recently featured Baltimore's Digital Harbor Foundation.

The foundation is located in Federal Hill site, at the site of a former recreation center that has become a technology hub where Balitmore City school students can learn about web design, mobile app development and digital media production.

"Less than a year old, the Foundation already had one spinout company, An Estuary, a professional development company," GettingSmart.com writes.  

Read the entire story here. 

The Baltimore Pride festival will host a mass same-sex wedding with Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake presiding over the ceremony, writes the AP in a story that ran in the Washington Post. The June 16 event will take place in Druid Hill Park.

The mayor has officiated other same-sex marriages since gay marriage became legal Jan. 1. Event planners and marketers in the wedding industry said last year that legalizing gay marriage would boost business. 

 





 

Why does John Waters still live in Baltimore?

Well it's got the "cutest boys" and it's where the writer-director has the most fun, Waters tells the Huffington Post.

"It's where I get all my ideas. It's where the cutest boys are. I have the most fun here. It's the most mixed. It's the most radical. We got edge here. Come on down."

Other highlights of the Q&A: The "Hairspray" director likes making Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley "umfortable;" he decided to hitchhike last year because at his age, he needs to take chances; and, he's not on Twitter because he already knows enough people.

"The only reason for any of that is to see people you wanted to have sex with," Waters says of using Twitter. 

You can read the entire interview here.