Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

This past weekend was a real gem. My good friend CJ drove down into the "sticks" where I am staying so that we could hang out a bit and go on a "find cousin Butch at all costs" mission. By Mid-day Saturday we had located Butch and immediatly a party began. Butch made a few calls and within two hours I was in the center of a old friends reunion. By Saturday night the house was filled with cats I hadnt seen in up to four years. Beer was plentiful, stories were fresh and funny, and the horseshoe pit kept all male competition in one place. Around 2 or so in the morning a motley crew that numbered around 10 or so drunken loud mouths decided to walk the few blocks and go jump into the bay. A very funny sight. Everyone drunk and stripping down running into the bay like children. Its incredible that no one drowned. (must have something to do with all being born and bred on an island)

Waking up on Sunday and looking around the house was a sight out of Animal House. Beer cans everywhere. Cigarette butts, random soaking shorts and socks, and the studio downstairs was trashed. It seems we had decided to go and record a few tracks in our drunken state. There was a dude sleeping everywhere a body could fit. By three o clock everyone was waking up and sipping a beer so that we could retrieve our basic motor skills in a timely fashion. It was agreed the night before that we were all going to get "fish on" in the morning. It wasnt morning, but by 5 o clock there was fifteen of us hanging out along the edge of the bay fishing, crabbing and drinking. We caught a shitload of crabs, no fish. Back at the house I was designated Crab killer, cleaner and cooker. It was a good meal, a good two days and I see why days like that are rare.

It was good to see those guys. I heard that two brothers were in prison, locked away for five years each, another brother died, three got married, most had kids, and yet we all lived that night like we were 20. Growing up is fun, but being young and surfing everyday with no worries was much better. I'm glad I didnt head out west directly from Canada. This weekend, alone, was worth more than any monatary amount. Its a forever remembered event. An instant smile.

I was designated Crab killer, cleaner and cooker.

Just what island are you from?

Around the Chesapeake Bay we steam the crabs live. No cleaning until we eat them. What kind of crabs were they, soft shell? Or were you making crab cakes? I enjoyed reading this just curious about those crabs.

what i did on my weekend:

went hiking at cape split, got all the way to the top, then climbed down onto the beach and dug for amethyst. you can hear it fall from out of this cliff, there's a mine of it in there somewhere. i brought home a couple of pieces...































the weather, the bugs, all of the elements were in perfect conditions for a day spent half in the woods, half on the beach. we had the beach all to ourselves, too. my friend Katherine (holding the crab), and this guy Colin, (in yellow t-shirt behind her) a perfect stranger who i met in a hiking chatroom online. he took us out there yesterday, must've been a 6km hike out and the same again back. he carried an axe on his back-pack. this made us nervous at first. but we went anyway.

The crabs are Jersey blue claws. The most delicious species I have ever eaten. My method of capture is one piece of chicken leg (raw) tied to the end of a string. Throw the leg into the bay and wait five minutes or so. As slow as humanly possible, you then pull the leg tward the surface. (The experience and craftsmanship of crabbing is displayed through your ability to pull up so slow that the crab who is eating the chicken never realizes he/she is being pulled up.) As soon as you see your chicken leg, you take the hand that isnt holding the line and you then scoop as fast as wind, with a net, the chicken and the eating crab. (this next part is not for the squemish)

When you get all your crabs back home (still alive) you boil equal parts beer and water. When the water is boiling you drop the crabs in. If you're an evil bastard you can do this really really slow. After about twenty minutes of boiling the crabs should be a very hot looking orange. That means they're done.

Next part is the cleaning. Dump all the cooked crabs into the sink and run cold water. Turn the crab over on its back and lift up its genitalia. Shove two knives straight up the anus and pull the knives apart, this will remove the shell from the body. After this, the rest is easy. Simply remove all the gills, eyes, and internal garbage and run the body under water, cleaning with your fingers. Thats it. Now sit back and eat like a cave man.

http://www.njscuba.net/biology/sw_crabs.html

Hey GLorious.......Looks like you had a pretty fuckin good time as well. Nice photos. Thats a cute crab. Can you eat those? Are they aquatic? Do they live in the rocks?

i don't eat them myself, i don't know if anybody else does, but i'm pretty sure they're aquatic. we just found this old bleached out one dead on the rocks. and this beach is ALL rocks, so maybe they do live in there. i mean, somebody should!

now, maybe it's just me, but in the last photo, i keep seeing the back of a woman's neck. anybody else see it? once i noticed it, now it's all i see every time.

I'm saving some of your photos for banners, oGloriousOne!
They are beautiful! Thank you for your offer to use your talents to display on our banners....


Ronnie .... Sounds like a great time... I used to go crabbing in the same manner.... chicken bone on a stick off a pier. I love Maryland blue crabs! Wouldn't be summertime without them. They're a bitch to clean but it's so worth it. Messy but worth it.