Hons, Crime, and Rats: The Baltimore Holy Trinity Gift Pack

Want to explain to out of town family and friends what makes Baltimore so special? Forget about the ironic Natty Boh t-shirt or the stale Berger's cookies, instead send them stories about the real Hons of Baltimore, rats the size of Mini Coopers, and of course the city's favorite sport - both active and spectator - crime! For a limited time, Eight-Stone Press is offering "Hons, Crime, and Rats: The Baltimore Holy Trinity Gift Pack."



Each gift pack contains:

HON: Past, Present, & Future
56 pages
From "birthright" to "state of being," many Baltimoreans hold "hon" sacred, something as intrinsic to the city's character as the Orioles, painted screens and Old Bay. This special edition of the award-winning zine Smile, Hon, You're in Baltimore! explores the various interpretations and implications of this simple term of endearment in a city struggling to reconcile its industrial past with an uncertain future.

Criminally Yours
48 pages
Eight-Stone Press (ESP) teams with Baltimore's free weekly e-zine, THE MOBTOWN SHANK, to bring you CRIMINALLY YOURS, featuring the "best" crime-related encounters from 29 area contributors, guilty and otherwise . . .

Infestation!
48 pages
A sometimes unsavory collection of tales of Charm City's unsung vermin. For Infestation! - the second-ever "theme" issue of ESP's increasingly popular Smile, Hon, You're in Baltimore! series - ESP Editor William P. Tandy compiled the stories, poetry, photography and other artwork of 18 regional contributors, each inspired by their own encounters with Rattus norvegicus.

This limited time offer is available locally from Atomic Books or direct from Eight-Stone Press. You can order online at eightstonepress.com/hon/hongift.htm or via PayPal to davida@leekinginc.com (gift packs are $10 each, + $3 s/h).

"For the love of God, Montresor!"

Smile, Hon, You're in Baltimore! editor and publisher William P. Tandy drops by Poison Dart Studios for the special Thanksgiving edition of The Inverse Delirium Podcast. Also on tap:

• Learn more about that noble bird, the turkey, with our favorite SuperBirder, Karen Morley (and her trusty jetpack)
• Share a word with WYPR‘s Milton Kent, who tries to explain the pastime known as “FOO-ta-BA-ru“
• Take a brief look at a new crime wave

Tribune Co. to auction Sun collection of 7,000+ Bodine prints

A Baltimore Sun photographer for nearly 50 years, A. Aubrey Bodine documented life in Baltimore and around Maryland from the 1920s until his death in 1970. Decades before Photoshop and desktop publishing, Bodine perfected his technique in the darkroom. His photography was exhibited the world over, winning many regional, national and even international competitions; he was, in fact, the first American photographer to have a solo exhibition in the former Soviet Union. Today, his name, for many, is as synonymous with the city as the Orioles and Old Bay.

This Saturday, November 17, The Baltimore Sun (or rather the Sun's parent entity, the Chicago-based Tribune Company) will auction off the paper's collection of more than 7,000 original Bodine prints at Alex Cooper Auctioneers in Towson, Maryland. Jennifer Bodine, the photographer's daughter and curator of the website AAubreyBodine.com, would like nothing more than to see this collection remain intact and properly cared for so that future generations might continue to appreciate this fantastic window into mid-20th century Baltimore. Nevertheless, there's a very good chance that Saturday's auction will effectively scatter the collection to the winds of time. [Read more here.]


Thanks to Jennifer's generosity and support, her father's work has repeatedly graced the pages (and even a few covers) of Smile, Hon, You're in Baltimore! over the last several years. She will appear on Midday with Dan Rodricks (88.1 WYPR-FM) beginning at 1:00 p.m. this Thursday, November 17, to discuss the upcoming auction and its implications, as well as her new book, Bodine's City: The Photography of A. Aubrey Bodine.

If you like (dare I say even love) this city, please take a moment to peruse Aubrey Bodine's work...