First there was just the urban landscape. Here’s an old train station and here’s a little patch of grass and here’s a statue and a few old brownstones around. Then somebody got the idea to fill the landscape up with art. They called it “Artscape.” It was a pretty...

We don’t usually like to write about the same exact things week in and week out here at the Baltimore Chop. We like to mix it up a little, keep it fresh. But as we mentioned yesterday, bloggers is broke these days, so things like free movies are exceptionally good entertainment on our...

Artscape is coming up this weekend. We might even bother to go to it. Don’t get us wrong: Artscape is a great and wonderful thing and our heart floweth over with civic pride and our city is truly lucky to have a premier arts event that generates tons of commerce and community and...

It feels like we’ve been waiting for this since about the first day of April and it’s finally, finally arrived. Flicks From the Hill Kicks off on the side of the American Visionary Art Museum tonight, and we’ll be showing up early and picking out a prime viewing spot. If...

As we mentioned yesterday, Baltimore is smack in the middle of a long and miserably hot Summer. Temperatures have often been in the triple digits lately, and a Baltimore Summer being what it is almost every other day has found us on our way to a house party, cook-out, DIY show, festival or...

It’s been hot in Baltimore lately. Real hot. Damn hot. Unbearably effing hot. Any heatwave with 100° plus temperatures is hard to endure, but many people in Maryland spent most of the last week without power, making the heatwave exponentially worse. We were without power for 3 days...

We’ve said before that Baltimore may be suffering Festival Fatigue. This weekend is evidence of that. There’s enough music being played live this weekend in Baltimore to easily last a full Summer if it were stretched out. According to our count, there are nearly 70 acts performing...

As much as we like shopping for clothes and talking about style, we have to admit that like most men we kind of hate shopping for pants. Unlike shoes which fit consistently by size or shirts and jackets which are easy to pop on at the rack, trying on pants involves going into a dressing room...

Typically on this blog we only feature cocktail recipes we’ve come up with on our own. Today though we’re going to do something a little different, and feature a drink that was introduced to us by a friend this weekend. How could we not feature it? It’s so simple, and so...

As we’ve noted before on several occasions, Baltimore has long been a city dedicated to the value of thrift. Whether it’s shopping in thrift stores or picking things up off the street, most Baltimoreans will go to great lengths to save a couple of dollars. Baltimore is also a city...

Summer is a notoriously dull time in American political life. Congress makes ready to recess and does even less than usual. The Fourth of July inspires even the hardest partisans to hate each other a little less and the King of England a little more, and even in an election year the President...

We’ve already shown you some of the pictures we took when we were in Turkey recently. We also talked about eating raw meatballs over there in a post last week. Before we close the subject though, we want to talk a little about raki. We’re in the habit of keeping a bottle of Pernod...

As the weather here in Charm City becomes ever more pleasant and temperate, we’ve found that we’re spending a lot more time in the great out-of-doors. Of course, we’re not really the trail hiking and mountain biking type- most of our outdoor activities have more to do with...

Well, it’s pretty hot outside. In the dead of Summer, most people want to get away with wearing as little as possible. Jorts sightings have been at at all time high in Baltimore recently, and tank tops and flip flops are out in force as well. We would hope that it doesn’t still...

Now that Memorial Day weekend has come and gone we’re officially in the midst of another Baltimore Summer, and all that that entails. As of now, and for the next three months or so we’re going to see all the hallmarks of Summer in the streets; packs of dirtbikes, open fire...

Just do this… all Summer, all day long, every Summer, every day. These sons of bitches are so goddamn dapper that poor Brigitte Fossey can’t decide which one of them to devour first… and third. If you ever wanted to know how to dress for Summer, cancel your GQ subscription...

Okay, so we’re going to rant a little today. Just at tiny bit. We have to, because the topic we wish to address is such that the only way you can approach it is to rant anonymously on the internet. There’s no laws on the books about it- no signs posted, no accepted protocol. So...

We were sad to hear the news a few weeks ago that the Hexagon Space was closing. We’re sad to hear about any venue closing up, even if we don’t go there very often. Fletcher’s, The Supreme Imperial, even Hal Daddy’s; we may have gone there pretty seldom, but any venue...

The Summer has officially begun in Baltimore. Memorial Day weekend marked its official start, and the holiday brought the stifling Summer heat right along with it. It breaks our Choppy little heart to think that for the next 3 months, most people in our fair city are going to forgo fashion...

Just a quick post today, since it’s Memorial Day and everyone is outside cooking on grills and hanging around the beach and not reading blogs anyway. We’ve already seen a little of it, but with today being the traditional start of Summer, the women of Baltimore are all...

We’ve never really been the type who alternates consistently between a “winter drink” and a “summer drink,” but 2011 might just be the year that that changes for good. As a pretty loyal bourbon/Scotch drinker, we’re happy to pour a whiskey sour or a mint...

Let us say this emphatically, because we want you to know it and believe it right off the bat: The Chop is not, repeat not a mean old dog-hater. We like dogs. We like them a lot, actually; more than we like most people. Dogs are almost always nice and friendly. People are often inconsiderate...

It’s officially Spring in Baltimore. The good news is that Flowermart and Preakness are right around the corner. The bad news is that Spring also means household chores and Spring cleaning. There is a silver lining though, and it is that Spring cleaning also means cleaning out your home...

Now that baseball season is officially underway, we’re about to see all the hallmarks of Summer in Baltimore unfold rapidly. We’re on the cusp of several months of crab feasts, Arabbers, festivals, open fire hydrants, stoop sitting, and all the other things that make Summer in the...

The Chop’s not a great one for swimming. We might be tempted to sit poolside if there’s a bar cart involved, but dangling our ankles is about as wet as we’ll get. We’re also not too keen on staring at mostly naked men and comparing them side by side. That’s a job...

Please understand: we are very wary about endorsing hats as a point of style. Very few people can pull them off in the modern era without affectation, and where you see a fedora or trilby anywhere in the media, you can bet one of America’s biggest douchebags is under it. However, as...

You can ask any woman and they’ll all tell you the same thing… you can find some really great stuff at Target. It’s no accident either. Whereas their main competitor Wal-Mart seems to purposefully sell the most generic, basic and bland sorts of items across the board and...

What’s important to you Baltimore? Is watching the World Cup really very important? Is it of grave urgency that you wear funny wigs and feather boas and drink in the street this weekend? How about stealing back the foursquare mayorship of some bar? Is that crucial? Tonight something...

If there’s one thing the Chop can not endorse, it’s preppy style. We give thanks every day that we were lucky enough to be born in Baltimore and not in New England or Long Island or some equally pretentious, WASP-y place. We wouldn’t be caught dead in madras, ribbon belts,...

The Chop had a good idea once. It was the kind of idea that’s so good it can wake you up out of a sound sleep and demand your entire attention. It was the kind of idea that was so simple it was brilliant. But it was the dead of Winter, and eventually, the idea allowed itself to lie...

Time to get serious Baltimore… serious about summer. The snow is a distant memory, the random rain showers are just about over, and daylight is stretching ever longer. Those trusty old Doc Marten boots you’ve been stinking up all winter aren’t going to cut it anymore. You...