Fret not! For BOOJUM! Has Returned!

I Know 3 Exclamation Marks Is A Tad Excessive
     But it is rare for Conrad to miss a single blog, let alone two.  The situation obviously requires an explanation be made to my faithful readers (both of them).

The BOOJUM! fan club event was, it is fair to say, poorly attended

  Thursday, Friday, Logistics, Pub Quiz and Cakes
     For a start, we'll blame John.  It was to be John's last day on Friday and he invited Conrad to join a group drinking his health in the Beirkeller.
     "You're on!" replied Conrad, not wanting to blow his human cover, before wondering what "drinking" involved, and what you would find in a Keller full of Bier, apart from wet shoes.
     So.  This meant doing the Friday shop on Thursday, after getting home late thanks to being on the bus not the family murder-mobile.  Disaster!  Entire family decide to come along and make a party of it.  Conrad not happy.  We finally get home, Conrad ingests a pizza in 37 seconds whilst putting the shopping away, gets changed and manages to make it to the Pub Quiz on time.
     Cut to 11:30 when Conrad reels gets back in, and needs to get to bed immediately because he's doing an early shift the next day.
     So!  No BOOJUM! Thursday.

Hamster, 21, shocked at lack of BOOJUM!

Friday Night Out
     This night there was no Emma "Embarassme" Ryan to take photos and put them on Facebook for the mortification of Conrad.  No, instead our group convened in the Bierkeller where Conrad made the acquaintance of "Steins". Each of these holds a litre.  "Stein" is German for "Stone", because after a couple of these full of strong German ale, one is rendered stoned.  Matters with the female group members became a little, shall we say  "strained" when John perused his Kelly Brook* calendar goodbye present.

Kelly.  From the neck up and wearing clothes.  Sorry, lechers!

After several hours of quaffing drink, Conrad attempted to get the bus home.
     Unsuccessfully.  The 9:20 bus didn't bother to turn up.  Neither did the 10:20.  Clearly there was a bus-gobbling temporal anomaly on the 182 route, so Conrad hopped it to Oldham and got a taxi home - and wishes he'd asked the driver the name of the Indian fusion music CD that was playing.

Ha!  Take that, First Bus!

Consequently Conrad only gets in shortly before midnight and, having had a long day, the poor tired old man went to bed.
     So!  No blog Friday.

Saturday
     Surely, questioned the loyal membership, we can enjoy an extra-long blog post today?
     Don't count on it!  There's the newly-arrived books to read, and the ECW game simply must get beyond Move 2 today, plus I've not had any tea yet, and I have comics to read, as well as a stack of CD to listen to and DVDs to watch.
     Honestly, I do wish Planet Earth had time-stretching technology!


*Kelly Brook, lingerie model.  As a TV presenter she made one hell of a mannequin ...

Forsooth! A Late Blog Today

Late Finish At Work And More Kitchen Lurk
     To stretch a rhyme ... Conrad not home until nearly 7 o'clock.  Then it was time to finish off Abi's commissioned carrot cake by topping it with cream cheese frosting (couldn't do this yesterday as it has to be absolutely cold).
     Another late finish tomorrow, and the Pub Quiz, and the possibility of having to do the weekly shop Thursday not Friday and O Noes!  the ganterpies at work stood at risk of NO CAKE.

NO CAKE!

Shocking stuff indeed!  So I looked for a recipe that would be quick, decided that yes a cheesecake would be ideal because we have lots of cream cheese, settled on a recipe - and it needed cottage cheese.  So - NO CHEESECAKE.

NO CHEESECAKE!

Calm down, kitteh!  My eye came to rest on a recipe for Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins so I plumped for that.  Messy and fiddly and - I hope the ganterpies appreciate this - I used my new electronic scales to measure out those muffins to the gram.
     What's that?  Photos or they never happened?  Go on then:

One has already been sacrificed to the ever-hungry maw of Darling Daughter

You've Had Weasels, Now For Sea Slugs!
     Hmmm.
     Sea slugs are boring.
     Instead, here's a photo of a surfing cat showing humans how it's done :

Waikiki Beach Desperado

The Engines of Selfish
     Yes, I mean the leafblower.  Apparently invented by Dom Quinto, who is surely spinning at 33 rpm* in the bowels of Hades being basted with lava every hour on the hour and being pecked by rabid chickens inbetween.  Yesterday I witnessed another person using one of these little machineries of spite, blowing leaves off the pavement outside his works building, into the road and onto other properties.
     "They're your problem now," he was thinking (probably, since telepathy hasn't been invented.  Yet), and he doubtless went indoors, tweaked the ends of his moustache and cackled.  Google "leafblower" and be prepared to witness a whole lot of invective directed at leafblowers.

"Come!  Let us watch the torments of the damned - and Dom Quinto, too."

Well, we've had cats and kittens and the bowels of Hell, so perhaps it's time to finish with a cute and cuddly animal.  Er - fingers crossed - Conrad's not so hot on picking "cute and cuddly".  Here goes -

A Bunny!  I think.  If you close one eye and squint from a distance ...

* RPM - revolutions per minute.  Ask your grandparents.




    

Good Evening!

Well, "Good" in Conrad's Head, Anyway
     Outside it is dark, cold and damp, a chilling - in the literal and metaphorical sense - combination.  Inside Conrad's head, in stark contrast, there is a party going on - fireworks, jazz bands and a marquee with free drinks.

Like this, but with tanks

Weasels!
     Never one to let a good thing (or even a bad thing with frills) go, I return to the theme of - Weasels!  Not all associations or creations about weasels have been evil.  There have been good weasels.
     Specifically, "I Am Weasel!", about the incredibly talented, clever and successful I. M. Weasel.

Clever, handsome, rich, successful and awfully good at hunting rabbits

      There is allegedly a comestible called "Weasel Poop Coffee" which Conrad thinks is simply three words chosen at random and stuck together.
     Tomorrow - we move onto Sea Slugs!

The Cruel Sea
     This film is a bit of a gap in Conrad's film repertoire.  Never seen it before, but Richard (no, not that Richard, the other Richard) recommended it as a classic.  Black and white from 1953, about a Royal Navy corvette during the Battle of the Atlantic.  I'm only 20 minutes in but the film of K49 battering through giant waves amidst a winter gale certainly adduces that title word "cruel". 

"Hello!  I'm the Atlantic!  PREPARE TO DIE!"

     In other news, Conrad has baked a carrot cake tonight, not a recipe used before and I can't test for taste as it's been commissioned by a colleague at work.  Presenting a cake with a large slice taken out of not very sporting.
     No, no photograph.  It's down in the kitchen cooling in the tin and under a towel, lest the Squeakers decide to investigate, nosey rascals that they are.
    

The Squeakers - cats, thank you, not mice.  The mice are in the cats.

Well, got to go.  That invasion fleet needs it's reconnaissance information!

A Later Post

Not Out Of Cold Traffic-Boosting Calculation -
     No.  I had to iron shirts, which I had neglected to do last night.  I also found myself going round in circles trying to solve a logic puzzle, eventually gave up, checked the solution and found, yes you guessed it, the solution bears absolutely no relation to the clues.
     Grr!  Another thirty minutes I won't get back.
     I also had to eat tea, and a stray Choux bun, and get lunch ready, etcetera.
     So.  Here we are.

A fairly broad definition

Weasels!
     I don't like to let go of a theme once I've gotten my lamprey-like jaws on it.  To briefly recap an earlier Facebook post, weasels come in for an awful lot of stick.  The poor dear creatures are lambasted, mocked and taken as scurrilous touch-stones for every kind of evil under the sun.
     In that science-fiction classic "Greybeard" by Brain Aldiss, what is one of the topical terrors?  Why, a tidal wave of rabid weasels*!
     When Eddie Izzard was being a comedian, which creature did he mock when simulating a recorder being played?  That's right, a weasel.
     Frank Zappa!  What was that utterly disgraceful album cover?  That's right, "Weasels Ripped My Flesh"

Frank Zappa did not take drugs.  Okayyyy.  But he did hate weasels.

Moving Swiftly Along
     Today was my first day in that gigantic sustainable strukturwunder**, 1 Angel Square.  You know what?  There's no icebox in the fridge.
     Nor can you eat at your desk.  This is of serious concern to Conrad, who has been fairly described as having "a buffet" at his in the past.  No more loaves of stale bread, tins of sardines in tomato sauce, persimmons and bits of cake. No ice-cream for breakfast either!

<short pause to allow breathing and meds to take effect>

     On the plus side, there is a spectacular view of Manchester city centre from a seventh-floor perspective.  Today the view at dusk was epic; you would need a cinematographer to do it justice.

Obviously an architectural CGI - I mean, Manchester - with sun?

 Right, off I go.  I have the ECW wargame to work on, that zombie novel, the hex-and-counter wargame rules, an ever-increasing mountain of books and world domination to plot.  Plus at least ten films to watch.  And at least two cakes to make.  Appretice world dictators are so so busy!

* I have used the analogy of "a rabid weasel" in the past, myself.  I hang my head in shame.
** I made this word up.  It may exist in the real world, it may not - if the latter I claim copyright and a 2.5% cut of the profits.

An Earlier Than Usual Blog

36 Visitors Yesterday
     It may not be much to you, but if the figures get above 10, why then Conrad feels validated.  No actual followers (yet!) but at least people are reading.  Since this may have been due to an early posting yesterday, in a cunning near-Machiavellian decision Conrad decided to - post early today!

 I Immediately Ran Into A Problem
     Whilst I can knock up some drivel in a matter of minutes, it simply won't do for my dear readers, who deserve better than an unctuous bit of doggerel, a bad pun and a silly caption on a photo.

   <Mr Hand points out that is BOOJUM!'s normal mode of operation.  He gets a slap>

So I created a list.  One of life's truisms:  when in doubt, make a list.  It convinces other people that you're planning and plotting and are going to wrestle that problem into a pretzel, even if you're really making out a list of groceries.

Or something a little more ambitious than groceries ...

 Logic Puzzles
     As devoted readers of BOOJUM! know, Conrad is a pain in the arse about these, constantly gloating about how well he's done today, how many he's solved, how hard they were yet how brilliant he is - the usual stuff apprentice world-dictators vent on a daily basis.  However, he had an extra-specially hard time with a couple of recent puzzles BECAUSE THE CLUES WERE WRONG!
     Don't just take my word for it, see - see!

Hard evidence the CSI way

Look at Wilf, up in the top right-hand corner.  Plainly he's north-east of the Red Lion.  What does the clue say?  "Wilf's hostelry is north east of the White Horse".  Well it's not!  IT IS NOT! NOT NOT NOT!
     Ahem.  Let me adjust my hair and take a few deep breaths.  I can't break cover and liquidate those responsible - yet.

Solo Wargaming
     I shall keep this brief, in the interests of not de-interesting you, gentle reader.  Yes, I have finally begun my ECW game.
     I immediately ran into a problem.  The supposed opposing players (plural) have to bid against each other to see who goes first, because going first allows you more options, and there are consequences if you bid lots of points, because you have to move or fire with what's left.  Bid big, go first, but move only one unit.
     Resolution?  No - not splitting the two halves of my brain to operate as independent entities*!  Random die rolling to simulate the effects of choice, except my logical side (Conrad may have mentioned this once or twice already) doesn't like randomness.  If there were two players they'd be making intelligent choices, not leaving things to unpredictable die rolls.
     Oh, and a picture as proof:

War-gaming and watching James Bond.  How manly!

Ice-Cream
     Lovely home-made ice-cream, part of Conrad's breakfast of champions (after his stale bread dipped in a cup of hot Marmite).  Tonight I will be making Blueberry ice-cream.  Frozen blueberries, which are a lot cheaper than the fresh variety.  Strangely, not everyone else in the house is eating my delicious home-made ice-cream.  Must be the flavours, eh?


Cakes
     It wouldn't be a blog post without something bakey-cakey appearing, would it?  The stuff I took in on Friday disappeared by 10:20, unfortunately for Chris, who came over bright-eyed, only to be turned away disappointed.  How sad his little face was!  Conrad managed a convincing impersonation of human guilt and will take a sample Monkey Bar in on Monday.  Then I have been asked to make a Carrot Cake by Abi, loaf-shaped if possible.
     Finally!  A colleague who understands she can ask for cake!  Epiphany has arrived!

 - and here it is at Platform 2

 * You know, I may have something here.  Where's that surgical instrument set?

Right! Time To Get Cracking!

An Early Blog Catches The Term
     "Term" in this case being - I make no apologies for repeating this theme - Doctor Who.  It's the 50th anniversary, for those who have only just emerged from living in an underwater isolation tank prepping for the Mars mission.

No!

Conrad is unsure what time the programmes commence but feels pretttty certain that it will be during his usual blogging time.  So I'm blogging now rather than later.  How ironic, having to deal with time-critical issues in a blog about -

Comets!  Spectacle! Enormous Explosions!
     As regular readers are aware, Conrad is especially fond of big bangs.  Shoemaker-Levy 9 sized bangs, if possible -

Comet SL 9 lighting up Jupiter

Sadly, bangs of this size aren't practical on Earth, as it would destroy all life on the planet, and a fair bit of the planet to boot.  So, it is with interest that I read of Comet Ison (from the noble BBC):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25052236

Conrad has his fingers crossed for Option One, readers.  Keep watching the skies!*

Before The Tape Measure -
   There were these.  Two six-foot folding wooden rulers.

I realise it may not set your pulse a-pounding in your veins, but they come in jolly handy for wargamers.  Although <ahem> from the pictorial evidence above my ECW game has obviously not commenced.  Soon, Victoria, soon ...

We're still on your case, Conrad ...

* Yes, it is a film quote.  I may tell you which one tomorrow.

Bill! A Bad Lad Where Time Is Concerned -

Indeed, Rosencranz - Who Knew?
     Yes, William Shakespeare, I'm looking at you!
     Does he not, in the play "Julius Caesar", mention a clock striking?  Yes he does!  He is centuries adrift in time here, such clocks were only around hundreds of years later.
     Bad Bill!  Go to your room and stay there until morning with no tea or supper!

Nasty case of hiatus hernia there, Jules

Bill!  A Bad Lad Where Time Is Concerned -
     "Bill" in this case obviously means William Hartnell, and yes like 90% of the UK I've just watched "An Adventure In Space And Time", and bloody good it was too.  Finally we get to see some of the old sets and props in colour (Mark Gatiss must have been gloating with glee), and the old backstory comes to light.  Of course us real Doctor Who fans knew all of this decades ago (Conrad something of a geek snob) but it's nice seeing everyone else catching up at last.
     I've mentioned it before, but David Bradley looks uncannily like William Hartnell.  Expect this resemblance to be exploited in future series of Doctor Who when the 12th/13th/14th Doctor just so happens to need assistance from the 1st Doctor* ...

David Bradley on set.  No,wait a minute - is that - hang on, I'm confused

Conrad! A Sad Lad Where Time Is Concerned -
     Well, kind of.  Today was our last time in the creaking Victorian pile that has been my workplace for the last 19 months.  Underventilated and overpopulated, equipped with a sink that backed up every other week, lit by gas lamps** and inhabited by a lost breed of spoon-stealing bat, it has nevertheless been home.
     Monday brings a transition to our new home, The Electric Goldfish Bowl.  Newer than new, brighter than bright, it will be a venture into a positively futuristic environment.
     Sadly no police call boxes.

"Really?  Then my whole life is dust and ashes."

 * This means I've copyrighted it, BBC, see, so if you want to use it as a plot, contact BOOJUM! and bring a wheelbarrow of Abebook vouchers
**  I lied.  Electric lighting, but gas sounds better.

I Got Nothing!

No Theme, No Baking, No BBC Web Item
     However, I did get up late, sit around in my dressing-gown, drink tea and solve logic puzzles.  None of this really generates blog material: even a photo of a big grey fat man drinking tea isn't any help.
     I do have Pub Quiz to attend in an hour, which narrows the creative window rather. 



Okay!  Muse, Inspire Me!
     I have been on leave the past four days but forgot to find out which shift I was on tomorrow (Friday if you are reading this many years into the future*) so yes I needed to ring work and find out.  This matters more than usual because we make our move to 1 Angel Square** at close of business tomorrow. I therefore anticipate putting things in boxes (of course on Monday there will be a long list of forgotten items left behind).  The move is a win for me as it takes five minutes off the walk from my car park, although it does put me five minutes further away from the company shop.
     My fellow workers will be enthused to see me again.  Not for valid reasons like ability, diligence and a fondness for bottled ice-water - no, the rascals will be expecting cake!

 

Already taken care of.

The Doctor Is In
     Yes he is, isn't he?  There is a BBC website sidebar link to an interview with Peter Davison:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24989543

Peter makes a very apposite point - the people writing, directing and acting in the programme are those who grew up with it's earlier incarnations.  The stuffed suits at the BBC who hated it with a vengeance are gone the way of the Wirrn, hoorah!

A Wirrn.  Easily dealt with - if you have a can of Raid the size of a dustbin

 More of The Doctor
     I've just finished reading The Collected DWM Tenth Doctor: The Crimson Hand

10th Doctor and Majenta; The Crimson Hand skulking behind

 They invented Majenta Pryce for the Doctor Who Monthly comic, after the canon companions of the TV series had gone and the programme itself was having a break.  Quite an amusing character, although - they will insist on doing this - she has a Deep Dark Secret, which, of course, All Comes Out In The End.  Plus it'a all in colour.
     Thank you Royton Library.  I salute whoever continues to buy comic books for Oldham's library service; our tastes overlap.

Righto!  Need to assemble pens and paper and remember a few tatty news stories from this week.

'Arf A Mo -

I.E. Time, can you slow down a bit?
     What can I present on the balance-sheet today, that counts as positive achievement?
Cooking, for one.  I made another batch of tomato salsa, slightly less piquant than the last one, and it's chilling in the fridge right now.  I made Spicy Spanish Baked Eggs - no photos, all gone.  I used up some old potatoes to make a splendid creamy mash. 
     I have been further wrestling with the Polemos ECW* rules, in between eating ice-cream - that Strawberry ice-cream I made yesterday is delicious, just soft enough to scoop like shop-bought stuff and without any nasty additives.  Yes, ice-cream in November is, shall we say, a bit counter-intuitive - which still leaves it delicious.

I know - I used this photo yesterday too.  Sue me!

"Bryant And May: On The Loose" by Christopher Fowler
     One of Conrad's hidden weaknesses is detective novels.  When that invasion fleet gets here (they're currently having a rest break at Alpha Centauri) the authors of certain detective novels will be allowed to carry on existing, as long as they continue to write.
     Christopher Fowler is the genius loci behind the Bryant and May series of novels, those titular characters being elderly detectives leading an oddball investigation unit.
    From the blurb on the back, I haven't read this one, but a few pages in the mention of Mr Fox brought back memories.  I think he's been referred to in a later novel - in which case a list of the novels in reading order would be a good idea, Bantam.

Doctor Who Tomorrow
     The family caught a trailer for the show tomorrow, at 9:00.  Great! enthused Conrad, who likes the Doctor above all reason.  Poo! pronounced Darling Daughter - "We'll be at the pub quiz!"
     Ah yes.
     Oh well, there's always I-Player.

Erm.  Answers on a postcard, please ...

Look at 'em!  Bleedin' tourists from Skaro!

Okayyyyy - that hex-and-counter set of rules, the zombie novel and ECW* game aren't going to arrange themselves.  Off goes Conrad!

*English Civil War.  Pay attention, there'll be a quiz later.

BOOJUM! - Busy Boy

With Chef's hat on
     The guinea-pig's verdict on the Halloween Butternut Squash Cake was - very good indeed!  Splendid.  The only problem is that it left half a butternut squash in the fridge.  This is where serendipity comes in, because what recipe appears in this quarter's Co-Operative magazine?  Leek and stilton Butternut Squash.  I had the leek, I even had the Stilton.  End result was very tasty and it went too quickly for a photo  :(

Kinda like this, except only single

 Then there's the Chewy Monkey Bars.  These came about since there happened to be plenty of rice crispies that needed using up. 

At this point, technically a single giant Monkey Bar

There's an awful lot of them.  I may have to take some into my Still Mysterious Employer on Friday.
     But wait! What's this?  It's a pack of strawberries going cheap.  So Conrad made

This!  And then had to use superhuman willpower not to guzzle it down there and then

Strawberry Ice Cream.  Strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, vodka* and whipping cream.

"Tell me, Conrad, of your struggles with logic puzzles.  Bet you can't do this with your fingers, either!"

 Oooh, an interested party!  Well, Mister Spock, I've been slaying them dead, except for a couple where the clues were wrong.  Yes it happens.  No I'm not wrong, I checked.  Also I can so do that with my fingers, even after the pub quiz.

A Sense of Proportion
     I take an interest in astronomy because that invasion fleet isn't going to get here through blind luck.  Seeing Planet Earth from a distance gives one a sense of one's place in the cosmic scheme of things - i.e. rather insignificant but with pretensions, as proven by this image (courtesy of the BBC):

Sorry, that ought to read "You humans are there"

 So - Tanks?
     Again, kind of.  Meet the Ontos Tank Destroyer, a name that conjures up images of 70 ton mobile metal fortresses.  Except the real thing was more like a 70 pound weakling carrying a Vulcan Gun**.

Clearly inspired by Warhammer

 This little chap could knock down walls, shatter windows and break car windshields - all  behind it.  Anything in front was, to coin a phrase, ground pound.

* The vodka stops the ice-cream from setting rock-hard, you fearful lot.
** Nothing to do with Mr Spock.  I will come back to this.

Okay, Conrad is off for tea!

I say! No Wonder -

Conrad feels peckish -
     I just realised I've not had any tea.  The meal, not the drink, I've had pots of that.

Surprised by IR working properly, Conrad posted a photo of - food

That above is my Halloween Pumpkin Cake Made With Butternut Squash.  Grating the squash flesh (try saying that five times quickly!) was a chore in itelf, messy, prolonged and liable to stain the skin orange.  Nobody who tried it has complained, died or suffered hallucinations - so, Victoria, I think we might be in business.

Let Battle Commence!
     Having generated a battlefield for my Historical Miniature Replicas, I am about to generate an army for each side.  Only about a week later than intended.  I'm sorry - I sat down this afternoon and rattled off a batch of logic puzzles instead of plotting world domination.  Ah, what the heck, the world's not going to go away.

The field of battle, pre-battle.  The village of Aeden Under Ye Woode at top left.

Who Lives In A Pineapple Under The Sea?
     SpongeBob Squarepants!  Of course.  Who else?  Just wanted to clear that up for you, dear reader, as some folk younger than Conrad and who should be better informed, have no idea.  Shocking, eh?  All part of your rounded education here at BOOJUM!
     The film is pretty amusing as well, I have to say, having been sent to the cinema with Darling Daughter when it came out and when she did what she was told with no lip or sarkiness.

A hero for our times

 So - Tanks?
     Kind of.  Get your peepers around this shot:


There's four of them, so they're only lifting 7 tons each

Actually, if you look closer you will realise they aren't four superhumans, it's a giant inflatable rubber tank.
     No, such things were not created for bored Allied troops to use instead of a giant inflatable bouncy castle, they were created to be put out in plain view by the hundred to fool the bally Hun, what what what?

 Hmmm.  Do I have time for the Chewy Monkey Bars tonight or not?

First, Catch Your Rabbit ...

Or, When Baking Gluten-Free Bread, Have The Right Flour
     Blimey, Victoria, this non-wheat flour business has some tweaks and corners to it.  Tapioca flour is made by blasting tapioca in a blender, except mine was a bit gritty at the end.  No photo, sorry, didn't think to bother.
     Rice flour: none to be had at Morrison's or the Co-Op, so I made my own.  You soak your rice for at least 30 minutes, drain it, dry it then blast it in a blender, then cook it over a low heat to get rid of excess moisture.  The whole process took ages.
     Today's dough had xanthan gum added - which means it now acts like real dough instead of a semi-liquid batter.  And for extra moisture, a few ounces of mashed potato.

<Imagine a photo here - IE being an idiot and preventing uploads>

 

 

I can see why gluten-free flour mix is expensive, as the loaves are, too.

Or, When Baking Halloween Pumpkin Cake, Have A Pumpkin Substitute
     The Giant Pumpkin is an occasional visitor to these shores, so to make the very highly regarded cake named above, I need a substitute.  Wonder Wife very cannily suggested Butternut Squash - same vegetable family, same colour flesh, not too strong a taste.  So I got two today and may try replicating the recipe.  If all turns out horrid, there's still Butternut Squash Soup.

The least rude photograph I could find.  Butternut Squash - NSFW

 Righto, time to go down and batter that dough a bit*.

 The Passing of Doris Lessing
     I saw the film made from one of her books, featuring Julie Christie IIRC, back in the 1980's - and cannot remember what it was called.  Er, or even what it was about.

 I know, I know, how terrible of me!
     I also read one of her books, "Briefing For A Descent Into Hell" and could not make out what was going on.  A mental patient going round the twist?  A person being briefed for a literal descent into Hades?  Neither?  Both? I may Google after this blog to see if anyone else made sense of the novel.

Hang on a moment, got to go turn the loaf tin around -

 - hmmm it's not risen much in the oven.  Oh well, 22 minutes and we'll know what's what.

Conrad Shivers In Fear
     The BBC website has a sidebar article - do more women than men attend musicals?
     Hell yes I would bloody well think so!  Because Conrad isn't going to go watch a musical. Not unless you can recreate The Blues Brothers on a theatre stage**, he isn't.

Pineapple, parsnip and musicals - Conrad's three biggest fears

Okayyyy, off to spin that tin.  Farewell!

* Do you see what I did there? Do you?  Oh you do.
**  Physically impossible.  You can't fit 85 police cars on any theatre stage.