Shells

The yellowing government survey map of San Nicolas Island dated from 1879, but it was quite clear: There was a big black dot on the southwest coast and, next to it, the words "Indian Cave. " For more than 20 years, Navy archaeologist Steve Schwartz searched for that cave. It was believed to be home to the island's most famous inhabitant, a Native American woman who survived on the island for 18 years, abandoned and alone, and became the inspiration for "Island of the Blue Dolphins," one of the 20th century's most popular novels for young readers.

DAMASCUS, Syria - White daffodils and violet daisies waxed aromatic from the crystal vase on the young couple's dining table. Friends had brought the flowers as a gesture of farewell, an all-too-common sentiment these days in the Syrian capital, where even some of the most resolute families are packing up and moving out. The exodus includes young, middle-class professionals born and raised in Damascus. Others are merchants, doctors, and teachers, the backbone of the capital's economy.

Sometimes it's the simplest things that are the most confounding. Last year, right before Easter, I blogged about how to make a perfect hard-boiled egg. Basic? Yes. Popular? Very. This seemingly simple task received tens of thousands of page views. And, it seemed, almost as many complaints: "But how do you peel them?" Mea culpa. while my method ensures that hard-boiled eggs are never overdone (at last: the cure for the dreaded copper-green ring!), it also can make them harder to shell, because perfectly cooked eggs turn out to be stickier than ones that have been overcooked.

Chef Emeril Lagasse will bring his passion for seafood to three of his Las Vegas restaurants during a  celebration of soft shell crab May 6-12. Delmonico Steakhouse , Emeril's New Orleans Fish House and Table 10 each will feature three to four soft shell crab dishes, with different offerings for lunch and dinner. Prices will range from $20 to $40. The evening menu at Delmonico Steakhouse, which is inside the Venetian , will feature a crispy soft shell crab Louis salad.

Syrian gunners blasted the presidential palace, army headquarters and the U.S. ambassador's residence with mortar fire today. Gunmen stormed the central prison in Muslim West Beirut, freeing 189 convicts. A special squad of police, armed with M-16 assault rifles, recaptured 95 of them despite shellfire across the divided city, authorities said. Police said 10 people were killed and 89 wounded in today's duels between the Christian army units of Gen. Michel Aoun and their Syrian and Druze militia foes.

It may not be unusual for a fisherman to pull in a few shells with his catch, but the shells Dave Fehd found in his nets Sunday morning were the unexploded, military kind. Fehd said he found the two rounds of ammunition as he was pulling in his catch of red snapper and sea trout off the Newport Beach pier. At first he was a bit amused and planned to hold on to the shells, which look like oversize bullets. "When you pull something up, you usually keep it," said Fehd, 27, who bought the Catch of the Day fishing business 3 months ago. But a fellow fisherman "didn't think it was too safe, so I took them up to the lifeguard stand."

"Now this," said Jim Beattie, 86, who has been selling seashells by the seashore in Newport Beach for 35 years, "is a rare Cowrie Valenti. It sells for around $2,000." And he should know. "There aren't many conchologists like me left in the world," said Beattie, who may be one of the leading seashell authorities around. "That's one of the reasons you don't see many people opening up seashell stores any more. They just don't have the knowledge to do it."

The turtles at this waterfront hospital have been hit by boat propellers, caught in fishing nets, attacked by sharks, stricken with tumors and lost flippers. Or, as their veterinarian puts it, they've had a heck of a lot of luck. Most injured turtles are never spotted and die at sea. The fortunate ones are brought to the Turtle Hospital -- a converted strip club where workers graft the waterproof fabric Gore-Tex to patch badly injured shells and find other innovative ways to save lives.

Greg Nielson pushed a joystick, and a video camera zoomed in on three men in moon suits and gas masks as they prepared to blow up a weapon of mass destruction less than five miles from the White House. Later, the crew slid the rusting World War I artillery shell into a small steel vault and sealed the door. They detonated a shaped explosive charge to cut the projectile open, and pumped in reagent to neutralize its contents: liquid mustard, an infamous chemical warfare agent. The process is "as safe as sliced bread," said Nielson, the operation leader, at a control panel in a nearby trailer.

They were the puka shells of California's prehistoric coastal Indians, tiny beads made by the thousands from the rather plain hull of a common sea snail. Before being strung--probably around everything from necklines to baskets--the pieces of Olivella biplicata were perforated in one of two ways: either by a simple drill or a small punch.

One of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers purchased two large reloadable mortar kits from a fireworks store in New Hampshire, an executive with the pyrotechnics company said Tuesday. Tamerlan Tsarnaev paid $199 cash for two “lock and load” kits, each of which contained four tubes and 24 shells, said William Weimer, vice president of Phantom Fireworks. Such kits cannot be legally sold in some states, including Massachusetts and California. The kits are typically used for amateur fireworks displays.

Running back Rushel Shell, who played at Pittsburgh last season, will transfer to UCLA. The 6-foot, 215-pound Shell gained 641 yards rushing as a freshman last season. He was considered one of the top running backs in the nation as a senior at Aliquippa (Pa.) Hopewell High, where he gained a Pennsylvania state record 9,078 yards. Shell will sit out the 2013 season and have three years of eligibility remaining. ALSO: Lane Kiffin releases USC end-of-spring depth chart Should the Lakers amnesty Kobe Bryant to save $80 million?

UCLA is still going through the process of finding a running back, or running backs, to fill the void left by Johnathan Franklin. That chore could be a bit easier a year from now. Rushel Shell, who is leaving Pittsburgh and looking at other schools, attended the Bruins' practice Saturday, getting the A-list treatment. That included a conversation with Franklin, who gained 1,700 yards last season and is awaiting the NFL draft. "He was telling me about the program - how it's about to take off," said Shell, who gained 641 yards rushing as a freshman at Pittsburgh in 2012.

BEIRUT - Residents of a Kurdish neighborhood in the Syrian city of Aleppo fled Sunday under intense government shelling estimated at three shells per minute, activists said. The bombardment on the Sheikh Maqsood district came two days after opposition fighters said they seized the strategic neighborhood. Residents were told to leave as government troops fought to regain parts of the district, said Riyad Islam, an activist with the Aleppo Media Center. The mostly Kurdish residents fled to the predominantly Kurdish town of Efrin, northwest of Aleppo, he said.

TEMPE, Ariz. - Earlier in the week, the Angels rotation was getting cuffed around. Now, it's the bullpen. Neither left-hander Scott Downs nor right-hander Ernesto Frieri , back-of-the-bullpen pitchers the Angels will be counting heavily on this season, could complete their innings in Sunday's 5-4 exhibition loss to the San Francisco Giants in Tempe Diablo Stadium. Downs was tagged for three runs and three hits, walked two, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch during an eighth inning in which he recorded only one out. Had right fielder Kole Calhoun not started a perfect relay play that nailed Andres Torres at the plate, the damage would have been worse for Downs, who has a 7.94 earned-run average in six spring appearances.

TEMPE, Ariz. - C.J. Wilson was rocked for eight runs - six earned - and eight hits, including two home runs, in 2 2/3 innings of a 13-9 exhibition loss to the Kansas City Royals in Tempe Diablo Stadium on Friday. The Royals improved to 19-6-1 this spring; the Angels fell to 6-15-4. The Royals scored seven of those runs off Wilson in the third, which featured Salvador Perez's two-run single, Eric Hosmer's two-run homer to center and Jeff Francoeur's prodigious solo shot to center, which sailed over the 30-foot-high batter's eye, which is 420 feet from home plate.

If you can hold it up to your ear and hear the ocean, most likely John Haney has it. Haney owns Seal Beach's California Seashell Co., one of the oldest shops on Main Street. The store carries more than 400 types of seashells from all over the world. They adorn mirrors, necklaces, picture frames, wind chimes and other craft items. "We thought it was a good idea, because tourists want to take home an ornament from the town they're visiting. It's a memory of their vacation," said Haney, 44.

DAMASCUS, Syria - White daffodils and violet daisies waxed aromatic from the crystal vase on the young couple's dining table. Friends had brought the flowers as a gesture of farewell, an all-too-common sentiment these days in the Syrian capital, where even some of the most resolute families are packing up and moving out. The exodus includes young, middle-class professionals born and raised in Damascus. Others are merchants, doctors, and teachers, the backbone of the capital's economy.

Investigators have matched the brand and caliber of shell casings from a Colorado parolee's gunfight with north Texas authorities to those found at the home of Colorado's prisons chief, who was killed earlier this week. Evan Spencer Ebel, 28, died after he was critically wounded by deputies at the end of a high-speed chase Thursday in Texas. Hornady 9-millimeter casings were found at the Texas scene, the same type found at the home of Colorado prisons chief Tom Clements, according to an application for a warrant to search the car filed by officials in Wise County, Texas.