The members of Baltimore’s new roller derby league, The Charm City Roller Girls (photo courtesy of The Charm City Roller Girls’ website)

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• The Pratt Street Riots were the scene of the first blood spilled in the Civil War. It happened 145 years ago this week, and Baltimore Civil War Museum historian Paul O’Neil takes the occasion to reflect on what life must have been like for the residents of Mobtown during the turbulent years that followed the riots
• A visit to Baltimore’s Skateland roller rink, where the women of the Charm City Roller Girls are honing their derby skills, practicing their skating, and perfecting their most brutal blocking techniques in preparation for the opening match of their inaugural season
• Signal contributor Jane Satterfield shares a poem inspired by the Celtic fertility symbol, the Sheilah-Na-Gig
• And Dave Cipriani, Chris Lerch, and Adam Hopkins visit the studios to perform a set of their original music — they’re Baltimore trio Satabdi Express, an Eastern-influenced jazz combo that combines drums, upright bass, and a nineteen-stringed Indian slide guitar

From left to right, Chris Lerch, Dave Cipriani, and Adam Hopkins of Satabdi Express, performing live in WYPR’s Studio B

Tonight (04.21.06) at Baltimore’s hip hop club The Five Seasons, M.O.L. — Money on the Low — celebrates the release of its new album with a special live performance. The six-man rap group includes Style Warz champions Gata Sheist and Fire Armz, who you might remember hearing on a recent episode of The Signal. The evening is set to include an opening performance by Baltimore’s all-female rap act Tha Plague, and a fashion show featuring garments from Cathedral Street’s Star Won Fashion Boutique, and Perspektives by Melissa de la Santa. The Five Seasons is located at 830 Guilford Avenue, and doors open at 10 o’clock tonight.

Speaking of fashion, MICA is putting up its annual student fashion showcase event this weekend. Tomorrow night (04.22.06), Vogue: A Celebration of Fashion highlights practical and not-so-practical creations by up-and-coming MICA designers. The show is a benefit for the college’s mentoring network, and it starts at 8 o’clock at the MICA’s Brown Center’s Falvey Hall, located at 1301 Mount Royal Avenue.

And on Sunday afternoon (04.23.06), East Baltimore celebrates its fourth annual Highlandtown Wine Festival. A selection of wines, including those made in the basements of local residents, will be available for sampling, and an indoor bocce tournament is going to be happening as part of the festivities, as well. That’s going on this Sunday from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Our Lady of Pompei Garden, on Father Petti Lane, right around the corner from Conkling and Claremont Streets. More information is at 410 534-2212.

And Sunday afternoon (05.14.06), the Baltimore Masterworks Chorale presents a program of contemporary choral music. Composers David Ashley White and Baltimore native Thomas Dunn will be in attendance to hear their works performed by the Chorale and their special guests, the Chamber Chorus from the Baltimore School for the Arts. The afternoon gets underway at 2:15, with a pre-concert composers’ panel, and the performance begins at 3 o’clock. It’s happening at Grace United Methodist Church, located at 5407 North Charles Street, and ticket information is at 410 952-4234.