Bushel

They brought pitchers and paintings, candlestick holders and a clock that chimed pleasantly every 15 minutes or so. And then they waited - anxiously - to see whether an appraiser from the PBS series Antiques Roadshow would pick up their precious possession to opine about. "We are, ourselves, antiques, so we're always interested in old stuff," quipped Arthur Bushel, 86, of Owings Mills, who brought an old pocket watch that he inherited from an uncle who managed a department store in Germany.

A Tilghman waterman who has been convicted 10 times of culling undersized oysters was found guilty of the same offense again yesterday in Anne Arundel Circuit Court and was sentenced to a year in jail, all of it suspended, and to a 60-day suspension of his oystering license. Charles Aaron Lomax, 23, appeared before Circuit Court after he appealed a District Court's guilty finding in March of his possessing more than 5 percent of oysters smaller than three inches in diameter while he was working on a boat Jan. 12 at Hackett Point, near the Bay Bridge.

In January 1844, the lime that was produced on the Joseph Orndorff farm southwest of Westminster was selling for 9 cents a bushel.This detail is one that will help a city government committee create an accurate exhibit of the old lime kiln and quarry off Fenby Farm Road. The exhibit, which the steering committee hopes to enhance with a restored working kiln, will be part of a planned Westminster park.Carroll County historic planner Ken Short has been digging into the kiln's history. It is one of many that dotted local quarries which produced lime in the 19th century.

Muhammad Ali fought with his hands lowered. In doing so, he broke a cardinal rule of boxing. He also did the Ali Shuffle. Again, it went against all logic. He's crazy, people said about him (among other things). Doing that unnecessary showboating, taking those pointless risks - he'll never get away with it. For the first 17 years or so, he did. Yes, it's borderline blasphemous to mention Ali and Ed Reed in the same sentence. But how much longer are we going to wait for that moment of Armageddon when one of his laterals lands in the hands of an opposing player, who turns it into a touchdown in the final seconds to beat the Ravens and destroy their season?

Because it's mid-July and because this is Baltimore - and because I had a couple of incredibly good steamed crabs the other night and immediately craved more - I called around for prices yesterday. (Stand by for a public service announcement from This Just In.) The big boys, the jumbo jimmies, ranged from $90 to $145 a bushel, steamed. Smaller males, mediums, ranged from $65 to $95 a bushel. Such is the price of this magnificent madness.The mild winter got the crab season off to a quick start; the April and May harvests were up significantly, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

Two dozen members of Cub Scout Pack 269 were honored recently at an awards ceremony at Four Seasons Elementary School.Cubmaster Mark Hagensick presented the Bobcat badges to: Kyle Allen, Jeffrey Anderson, Edward Cordova, Adam Cage, Aaron Edings, Robbie Harris, Matthew Michels, Christopher Mayo, Matt Mobley, Jimmy McCologan, Ryan Osborn, Reginald Parker and Nathaniel White. Michels also earned the Wolf rank.Webelos communicator badges were presented to: Tim Anderson, Billy Bergbauer, Will Brady, Matt Hagensick and Brandon Rieger.

Maryland watermen held their own during the six-month oyster season that ended yesterday, but future harvests appear threatened by a die-off of young shellfish in the lower Chesapeake Bay and limited state spending on bed preparation.The final tally will take several weeks, but Department of Natural Resources officials predict it will show that the state's 963 licensed watermen caught about 170,000 bushels of oysters since the season began Oct. 1.If so, the take would be slightly more than the 1994-1995 catch of 164,538 bushels.

In Deale, they line up for Captain Roy's oysters. The best around, the locals say."I've shucked many a one of these in my life," saysCapt. Roy Ward. "Ain't but one way to open it, and that's the right way."He can't get more specific, or maybe he doesn't want to reveal the secret he's honed over 66 seasons of oyster shucking.He sits ona stool in a corner of the Happy Harbour Inn, a diminutive, wrinkledfigure in a flannel shirt, olive pants and a Washington Redskins hat. At 82, he's bent under years of hard living, nearly dwarfed by the cigarette machine behind him.In the palm of one rubber-gloved hand, he holds a gnarly bivalve locked tight in its shell.

Auditions The Theatre at AACC will hold auditions for its spring production of "The Underpants" at 7 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, Feb. 11-12, in the Robert E. Kauffman Theater in the Pascal Center for Performing Arts, 101 College Parkway in Arnold. The play has roles for seven actors — four or five male and two or three female — ages 18-50. Information: 410-777-7125. Theater performance Theatre at AACC will perform the comedy, "The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged)," through Feb. 16 in the Humanities Building Room 112, 101 College Parkway in Arnold.

This is what an inner-city crab shack looks like: A plastic shade tent propped up next to an old delivery truck at the corner of Greenmount Avenue and Chase Street.Looks don't matter, though, to its owner, the Crab Man. He faithfully shows up at 3 p.m. five days a week -- steaming and selling crustaceans with a propane stove and large steel pot that sends the distinct culinary aroma of the state of Maryland wafting through Johnston Square.The locals flock to his corner, commuters drive by and shout dinner orders, and neighborhood children earn pocket change helping him keep the corner clean.