King Crab

My niece with king crab

From Wikipedia:

King crabs or stone crabs . . . are found chiefly in deep waters and are adapted to cold environments. They are composed of two subfamilies: Lithodinae, which tend to inhabit deep waters, are globally distributed, and comprise the majority of the family's species diversity; and Hapalogastrinae, which are endemic to the North Pacific and inhabit exclusively shallow waters. 

King crabs superficially resemble true crabs but are generally understood to be closest to the pagurid hermit crabs. This placement of king crabs among the hermit crabs is supported by several anatomical peculiarities which are present only in king crabs and hermit crabs, making them a prominent example of carcinisation among decapods. Several species of king crabs, especially in Alaskan and southern South American waters, are targeted by commercial fisheries and have been subject to overfishing.

I liked this explanation of carcinisation:

Carcinisation is a form of convergent evolution in which non-crab crustaceans evolve a crab-like body plan. The term was introduced into evolutionary biology by Lancelot Alexander Borradaile, who described it in 1916 as "the many attempts of Nature to evolve a crab"

Overfishing can be a problem. From Google:

Alaska's commercial king crab harvest for the 2025/2026 season has a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of 2.68 million pounds for Bristol Bay red king crab. For the Aleutian Islands golden king crab, the total quota is set at 4.19 million pounds.

Islamic Street Art

A woman in Tehran, Iran, walks past a mural featuring Iranian drones on May 26 [File: Majid Asgaripour/West Asia News Agency via Reuters]

I like this picture though I'm not sure why, possibly because we've been watching Tehran and I'm seeing everything through Trumpian glasses.

Caffeine

Caffeine is Very, Very Strange...
vlogbrothers

I've encountered most of the pieces of this video but I never connected them all together.

Funnies

De Havilland Mosquito

Mosquito Pathfinders by Philip West

Military Gallery:

Groundcrew busy themselves readying their de Havilland Mosquito as the aircrew head out towards the aeroplane for yet another mission to a high value target over occupied Europe during WW2. Their dangerous job as Pathfinders is to accurately mark and bomb the target for the main heavy bomber force. It required great skill in navigation, airmanship and courage. The Mosquito proved to be a real thoroughbred and ideal for many varied combat sorties so earning the nick-name The Wooden Wonder. 

De Havilland Mosquito | In-Flight & Walk Around | Planes of Fame
Planes of Fame

10 Short Videos #6145

10 Short Videos #6145

F&T steam trap

Beer in a bucket

Typing without a keyboard? Operating this century-old antique is like playing a matching game!

Pay Attention To See The Answer

Cops Kick Hotel Guest Out!

Insane power numbers from a Mercedes Diesel

This Tractor Cleans Itself While Working 

Railcar Tippler Unloading System

Manufacturing Braided Metal Hose

S.S. Badger Boiler Lighting!

Riding in Cars

This story popped into my head while I was driving home after lunch today. This was back around 1970 and I was living in Columbus, Ohio, just off the OHSU main campus. I'd been hanging out with this guy, I think his name was Stuart. He had thick dark hair and a moustache. Anyway, he's got a tooth that's bothering him and around about midnight he decides he needs to do something about it, and that something he needs to do is to drive out to the all-night super Rx and get a bottle of mouthwash. So we pile in his old beater, a sedan of some sort with a broken rear leaf spring, and drive out to the super Rx and he buys a bottle of mouthwash. He comes back, gets in the car and starts driving home. But now his tooth is really bugging him, so he cracks open the mouthwash and gets a big mouthful and immediately he wants to spit it out. He's flipping out, making horrible noises but trying to keep from spitting mouthwash all over his shirt and pants. I think he must of cracked open the door and leaned over to spit on the ground. Of course we're going 30 miles an hour while he's doing this.

1970 Ford Torino Cobra

One story leads to another. I was riding around in a car with Mike Morrow drinking beer, as we were wont. Mike was a Vietnam veteran and he had picked up some kind of injury, I think maybe his shoulder didn't work quite right. I don't remember exactly what the deal was. Anyway, we're out riding around in his car, which, as I recall, was a Ford Torino with a healthy V8 engine and broken power steering, and Mike decides he needs to take a piss. So are we stopping? No we're riding, we ain't stoppin' for no bullshit. He cracks open his door, turns up on his side and pees out the door. I offered to steer for him while he was occupied, but no, he don't need no help. Two lane, winding, rural blacktop.

Here's a story I overheard, maybe while I was on the ski lift up on Mt. Hood. Bunch of kids are heading home from the slopes and one kid in the back seat needs to take a whiz. The driver isn't stopping, he tells him to piss in bottle. Annoying, but do-able. But then when the kid starts peeing, the driver keeps goosing the gas so the kid is constantly missing. Don't think I want to get in that car.