Laugh

HAGERSTOWN - Before beginning Sunday afternoon's concert, Maryland Symphony Orchestra Music Director Elizabeth Schulze encouraged members of The Maryland Theatre audience to smile and laugh. She gave them permission to "guffaw and hee hee" at the surprises they would hear in the music. There were occasional giggles at the musical jokes - including a few lines of "Chopsticks" - in "Commedia for 'Almost' 18th Century Orchestra" by William Bolcom, a contemporary composer who received the National Medal of Arts last week in Washington, D.C. The smiles continued as the orchestra was joined by pianist Shai Wosner for Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat, written when the composer was 21 years old. Wosner conceded during Prelude that Mozart was young when he wrote it, but said his "skill, genius and imagination were already there.

daniels@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - S. Joshua Carson was determined not to offer up any canned quotes or points of deep introspection for his part. Valedictorian for the 164-member graduating class of Smithsburg High School, Carson instead offered up the advice he clung to through the tumultuous times of his high school career, during those moments when life got just a little too serious. "Think about what our world would be like if everyone from the U.S. to Iraq to China could just sit and laugh together," he said Friday morning from the stage of The Maryland Theatre, moments before raising his voice several octaves for what he was to say next.

By LISA GRAYBEAL Staff Writer, Chambersburg CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Since he was a kid in Kentucky, James Brewer has been known as the one to go to for a good laugh. "To me there's not enough humor in the world...That's what makes the world go 'round. You have to have fun and laugh," Brewer said, his accent revealing his southern roots. Author of 14 paperback books, including his latest, "Whole Grain," Brewer delights his readers with jokes, witty one-liners, and short lyrics.

Suns get last laugh in 11th to win Saturday LAKEWOOD, N.J. - Derek Bell hit an excuse-me double to drive home Elliot Strankman in with one-run in the 12th inning as the Hagerstown Suns came back from two runs down Saturday for a 7-6 win over Lakewood. The Suns (19-17) trailed 6-4 heading into the top of the ninth but got a leadoff solo home run by Nick Wilfong and a Mark Walker sacrifice fly to force the extra innings. Strankman started the 12th with a one out single off Dan Adams (0-1)

As if you didn't already need a Rolaids after consuming so much sausage the last three days, here's some more brat for your buck. I know it's not nice to laugh at somebody else's misfortune, but how could you not laugh - out loud - when you saw "The Mauling at Miller Park," or the "Sausage Slam. " Come on ... I get a chuckle every time I see the sausages run. What's not to laugh about? Nobody was seriously hurt. Mandy Block, the girl in the italian sausage suit - the one that Pittsburgh's Randall Simon knocked with his bat - laughed about it and said she felt bad that Simon was being looked at as a bad guy. Her quote: "I'm just a sausage, guys.

Coming Sunday If you need a laugh... Check out Tim Rowland's 2008 Year in Review.

Looking back with a laugh Take a look back at 2007 through the eyes of Tim Rowland, who can find humor in just about anything.

Friends Bess Williams, left, and Rykeria Mooney, right, both 13 years old, share a laugh while playing the game of Trouble Wednesday afternoon at the Memorial Recreation Center in Hagerstown.

Patty Austin, left, and Gwen Austin share a laugh Tuesday with their mother-in-law and cancer survivor, Glenda Austin, right, at a Celebration of Life Survivors' Party at Fountain Head Country Club in Hagerstown.

Dr. Paul Corso, left, and Brig. Gen. V. Wayne "Speedy" Lloyd share a laugh Wednesday at the 45th Annual Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center in Shepherdstown, W.Va. The two, along with John Servis, trainer of Triple Crown contender Smarty Jones, were recognized for lifelong achievements.

It all came down to the fourth quarter. Knotted at 6-6 through three periods, South Hagerstown outscored Boonsboro 4-3 in the fourth quarter to squeeze out a 10-9 victory on Thursday night in an MVAL Antietam boys lacrosse game. South Hagerstown snapped a six-game losing streak and improved its record to 3-6 (2-1 MVAL Antietam), while Boonsboro fell to 1-8, 0-3. “Staying in the game on every play was the key to the victory,” South Hagerstown coach Dave Tallant said. “Possession of the ball on offense and being patient helped us to get the win tonight.

"ParaNorman" is one of those animated kids' movies that's filled with dark, deathly subject matter. At various points we see ghosts, corpses, zombies and all manner of gruesome stuff in between. Yet, there's no mistaking that this qualifies as family entertainment. You'd think Tim Burton would have something to do with it, but he clearly had his hands full with his own creepy kids' movie, "Frankenweenie," due out later this year. "ParaNorman" does the genre proud; it's hardly scary and very funny.

Look at the bright side, you only have to read my post-Olympic assessment column once every four years. It is kind of like the Transit of Venus that way. You really don't want to hear about it and don't know why you should care, but at least you know it won't happen again in your lifetime. I'm always accused of focusing on the negative, so I'll start out by saying, “How 'bout that U.S. women's soccer team! U-S-A, U-S-A!” No, I didn't see the final against Japan either, but I was happy about it in the sense that I view it as revenge for the Datsun B-210.

    "Horrible Bosses" is so far the funniest R-rated comedy in a year crowded (some would say overcrowded) with R-rated comedies.  Already this year we've had "Bad Teacher", "Bridesmaids", "Hall Pass", "The Hangover Part 2", "Paul", and "Your Highness".  "Horrible Bosses" tops them all.  It isn't a film I would recommend to people who hate raunchy comedy (one of the characters even has an unprintable name), but if you're its target audience, you're in for a good time.   Jason Bateman plays Nick, who works for Harkin (Kevin Spacey)

The black leotards and high heels from Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” music video were nowhere in sight. They were replaced with housecoats and tennis shoes, but the sassiness wasn’t missing Sunday as Denise Binkley, Cherry Snyder, Esther Whitley, Kathy Miles and Betty Smith put their own spin on the choreography that went viral about two years ago after Beyonce’s video was released. The musical skit, a hit at Clear Spring’s 60th annual Minstrel Show, featured the women dressed up as older ladies with walkers, or in one’s case, a cane.

I since rely believe that "Gnomeo and Juliet" was made after the following conversation between two executives in Disney's "Low Creativity, Moderate Profits" department: Exec 1:   We want to do "Romeo and Juliet" for kids, but the characters shouldn't be human.  Let's do it with some cute little creatures that will make the movie more family-friendly. Exec 2:  Why don't we make the title a pun?  Kids love puns.  Or at least we'll tell them they love puns.

One of the themes running through the "Fockers" series is that the characters have a real problem respecting boundaries. In 2000's "Meet the Parents," Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) was reluctantly strapped into a polygraph machine by his girlfriend's father, Jack Byrnes (Robert DeNiro). While this behavior is certainly over the line, the film at least took the time to explain that Jack cared only about his daughter's well-being, even if he knew it was at the expense of making Greg uncomfortable.

In this season of resolutions and goal-setting for the new year, Margaret Swacina has advice for couples: Work on your marriage. Marriage is hard work, she said. It takes attention and nurturing. Accept that, and you have the foundation of a good, loving marriage. Bonnie Elgin added wistfully, "It would be nice for younger couples to realize this. " Working together Swacina and Elgin are part of a group of four married couples - Dan and Bonnie Elgin, David and Margaret Swacina, Bill and Linda Showalter and Fred and Norma Craver, all Hagerstown residents who get together monthly to work on their relationships.

LAKEWOOD, N.J. -- This time, it was Hagerstown's turn. The Suns scored two runs in the ninth on Thursday to pull out a 6-4 victory over the Lakewood BlueClaws. Lakewood had scored runs in the ninth inning in the previous two games to defeat Hagerstown. The Suns (3-5, 39-39) got the go-ahead runs on Brett Newsome's two-run double. Lakewood reliever Jordan Ellis hit Justin Bloxom with a pitch to start the ninth before Destin Hood reached safely with one out on third baseman Adam Buschini's fielding error.

o If you like reading Tim Rowland, you'll love watching him. See what else Tim has to say I like to say that I studied marksmanship under Olympic rifle gold medal winner Ed Etzel. Which I did, just not very successfully. Etzel was coach of West Virginia University's rifle team when I was there, and shooting was also offered as a phys ed course (this is West Virginia, remember -- I think they had a major in 12-gauge shotguns). The rifle team was wildly successful, having won multiple NCAA national championships.