Camouflage

New Era has revealed the design for this year's special Memorial Day caps, which the Orioles will wear May 27 against the Nationals in Washington. Since 2008, Major League Baseball has honored the holiday by wearing special commemorative caps. Typically, the caps have featured red, white and blue regardless of the teams' usual colors. This year, the emphasis is on camouflage. The caps will be available at neweracap.com, MLB.com and at clubhouse stores with proceeds going to the Welcome Back Veterans Fund.

New Era has revealed the design for this year's special Memorial Day caps, which the Orioles will wear May 27 against the Nationals in Washington. Since 2008, Major League Baseball has honored the holiday by wearing special commemorative caps. Typically, the caps have featured red, white and blue regardless of the teams' usual colors. This year, the emphasis is on camouflage. The caps will be available at neweracap.com, MLB.com and at clubhouse stores with proceeds going to the Welcome Back Veterans Fund.

Here's an interesting story for your Friday lunch hour, one that includes a reference to former Orioles outfielder Luke Scott, whose quotes never cease to amaze. Under manager Joe Maddon, the Tampa Bay Rays have made traveling fun in recent years, with the entire team wearing certain themed outfits for road trips. They all dressed in grunge outfits on a trip to Seattle, were decked out in all white on a trip to play the Marlins in South Florida. They dressed like cowboys on their way to play the Rangers.

Here's an interesting story for your Friday lunch hour, one that includes a reference to former Orioles outfielder Luke Scott, whose quotes never cease to amaze. Under manager Joe Maddon, the Tampa Bay Rays have made traveling fun in recent years, with the entire team wearing certain themed outfits for road trips. They all dressed in grunge outfits on a trip to Seattle, were decked out in all white on a trip to play the Marlins in South Florida. They dressed like cowboys on their way to play the Rangers.

I GET THE CABELA'S outdoors mail-order catalog. It's loaded with all kinds of rugged-looking male models in dandy camouflage gear. The first time I saw this, I wondered why anyone would want camouflage gear if they were going hunting. When I go out during deer season, I always wear a loud plaid jacket and a big foamy Dallas Cowboys hat. I don't want to be mistaken for a 10-point buck.Then, one night over some whiskey and beef jerky, the camo thing was explained to me.Among hunters is a breed that hunts with bow and arrow.

U.S. troops in Iraq are as hard to spot as science and art can make them. They have camouflage fatigues that blend into deserts, swamps and forests. The only place they stand out is in a city - and they might well have to fight in one this time. But urban "cammies" will have to wait for the next war, planners say. Coming up with the right camouflage for this one was no small task. "You're not trying to make someone disappear, you're trying to make them obscure. There's a difference," said Timothy O'Neill, a retired Army colonel and professor of engineering psychology who helped the Marines design their new camouflage.

POLICE LOG* Long Reach: 8700 block of Hayshed Lane: A man dressed in camouflage clothing snatched a 68-year-old woman's purse Wednesday.

What's for dinner? Tiny tortoises Tortoises are plant eaters. Egyptian tortoises are one of the smallest species of tortoise in the world. Adult female tortoises grow to be only five and a half inches long. Egyptian tortoises have yellow shells with dark patterns that help them camouflage (hide) in the hot, dry deserts, and woodlands and scrublands of North Africa. They bury their eggs in the sand to hide them from predators.

Standard-issue camouflage almost outnumbered the fan-favorite purple variety as the Ravens celebrated Veterans Day and honored veterans before Sunday's game against the Oakland Raiders at M&T Bank Stadium. Dozens of veterans, many in uniform, from all major conflicts since World War II attended Sunday's game, and soldiers in active duty in Afghanistan greeted fans via a live feed to the stadium's video boards. The national anthem, sung by Mishael Miller as veterans flanked him on the field, was capped by an A-10 flyover by the Maryland Air National Guard.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The Orioles signed four top-tier free agents this offseason and this other guy, this relief pitcher, who arrives at Fort Lauderdale Stadium each morning in a camouflage truck. That's right, camouflage. The three-quarter-ton Dodge Ram truck has been painted the color of weeds and wetlands to help keep it hidden when Mike DeJean is on the hunt. He gets here early, usually about 7:30 a.m., for a workout that won't begin until 10, and prepares himself for a season during which he will probably take the mound about 70 times in 162 games.

Standard-issue camouflage almost outnumbered the fan-favorite purple variety as the Ravens celebrated Veterans Day and honored veterans before Sunday's game against the Oakland Raiders at M&T Bank Stadium. Dozens of veterans, many in uniform, from all major conflicts since World War II attended Sunday's game, and soldiers in active duty in Afghanistan greeted fans via a live feed to the stadium's video boards. The national anthem, sung by Mishael Miller as veterans flanked him on the field, was capped by an A-10 flyover by the Maryland Air National Guard.

Something is eating the leaves on my red twig dogwood. On some leaves, nothing is left but the center rib. I suspect it is a caterpillar that birds like to eat, because I saw a lot of bird droppings. Those bird dropping are the caterpillars. What you see are dogwood sawfly larvae, and technically they aren't caterpillars, which are only the larvae of butterflies and moths. They winter as larvae that are yellowish, but during the summer they molt a few times and develop a white powdery covering that mimics bird droppings so predators won't eat them.

Marc Lawrence, 95, whose pockmarked face and brooding mannerisms made him a natural for tough-guy roles in dozens of movies since the 1930s, died of heart failure Nov. 28 in Palm Springs, Calif. He was born in New York City and in 1932 signed a contract with Columbia Pictures. Over the next 60 years, he would play the mob boss, thug and general bad guy in dozens of films. He also stepped outside the rogue genre, taking on roles such as a mountaineer in Shepherd of the Hills in 1941 and a hotel owner in From Dusk Till Dawn in 1996.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The Orioles signed four top-tier free agents this offseason and this other guy, this relief pitcher, who arrives at Fort Lauderdale Stadium each morning in a camouflage truck. That's right, camouflage. The three-quarter-ton Dodge Ram truck has been painted the color of weeds and wetlands to help keep it hidden when Mike DeJean is on the hunt. He gets here early, usually about 7:30 a.m., for a workout that won't begin until 10, and prepares himself for a season during which he will probably take the mound about 70 times in 162 games.

HAGERSTOWN - On the first Tuesday of each month, Steve Palmer is busy making new hunters. Youngsters gather at the Izaak Walton League clubhouse and range to sharpen their shooting skills and learn about safety and ethics. "They go to soccer. They go to T-ball. They go to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. This is just another activity," says Palmer, president of the Washington County Federation of Sportsmen's Club. "We like to show them that hunting and shooting and fishing are things they can do their whole lives."

U.S. troops in Iraq are as hard to spot as science and art can make them. They have camouflage fatigues that blend into deserts, swamps and forests. The only place they stand out is in a city - and they might well have to fight in one this time. But urban "cammies" will have to wait for the next war, planners say. Coming up with the right camouflage for this one was no small task. "You're not trying to make someone disappear, you're trying to make them obscure. There's a difference," said Timothy O'Neill, a retired Army colonel and professor of engineering psychology who helped the Marines design their new camouflage.

Q: Often in your columns you speak of the need to create "illusions" or "camouflage."I'm wondering if you could explain precisely how to achieve those effects with mirrors, since I'm now faced with a redecorating task that seems to require a certain sleight of hand.A: While I'm obviously not acquainted with your specific situation, I'm happy to discuss the use of mirrors in general. They're among the most useful tools available to interior designers.Every field of endeavor has its own buzz terms.

Marc Lawrence, 95, whose pockmarked face and brooding mannerisms made him a natural for tough-guy roles in dozens of movies since the 1930s, died of heart failure Nov. 28 in Palm Springs, Calif. He was born in New York City and in 1932 signed a contract with Columbia Pictures. Over the next 60 years, he would play the mob boss, thug and general bad guy in dozens of films. He also stepped outside the rogue genre, taking on roles such as a mountaineer in Shepherd of the Hills in 1941 and a hotel owner in From Dusk Till Dawn in 1996.

What's for dinner? Tiny tortoises Tortoises are plant eaters. Egyptian tortoises are one of the smallest species of tortoise in the world. Adult female tortoises grow to be only five and a half inches long. Egyptian tortoises have yellow shells with dark patterns that help them camouflage (hide) in the hot, dry deserts, and woodlands and scrublands of North Africa. They bury their eggs in the sand to hide them from predators.

He scurried beneath the pines to hide from the police chopper and its infrared eye. He climbed a tree to evade the bloodhounds. Once, he draped his camouflaged body with twigs and leaves, lying motionless as an all-terrain search vehicle nearly ran him over. Another time, he all but laughed at how easy it would have been to gun down a line of sitting-duck police officers. These were a fugitive's tales, an account of Joseph C. Palczynski's 10 days on the lam. They were the experiences claimed by a wanted man who seemed both lucky and cunning.