"Let Us Not Get Blase"

That's What It Says
     Right there on the Small Notebook.  Written in a fit of whimsy last night, no doubt, whilst watching "Mama Mia"*, because Conrad has the merest of wispy memories about exactly what he meant, and his louche and peculiar memory is no help here.
     Perhaps it was this photo that Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer, posted over on Twitter:

Caption not needed

     That glowing trail is the Space Shuttle Atlantis returning to Earth, in a photo taken from the International Space Station, featuring some outlying bits of the ISS itself.  Once again, it's not a film special effect or a Photoshop, it's real.

"The Zero Stone"
     By Andre Norton, that incredibly prolific science-fiction author.  I last read this probably thirty years ago and remembered only one line "I heard the Guild had superships like that", which you may think either pretty good, or pretty bad, for an old man and a long time.

The edition I have.  Artwork reminiscent of Jim Watson, don't you think?

     Norton had a very identifiable style, avoiding hard science fiction for a more personal, intimate delivery; The Zero Stone concerns a mysterious gem ring and that most comprehensible of all human traits - greed.
     Conrad seems to recall there was a sequel; well, he enjoyed this one and may well follow up the second.  He's not so much re-living the past as re-reading it.

I Wonder -
     "Let Us Not Get Blase" - could this possibly refer to BOOJUM! itself?  The site got 65 hits yesterday, including 46 before Conrad even posted, quite the most it's ever got.  Were Conrad particularly driven, he would analyse and dissect and compare yesterday's blog - but he's an idle rascal and frankly can't be bothered.
     But a big thank you if you did visit yesterday!  Come again!  Tell your friends!

A couple of giraffes.  Why?  Why not!

European Old World Dominance Secure
     Yes, the Americans, it seems, don't actually possess an irony gene.
     This is good news for the Old World, as Conrad had mentioned many a time, the only thing preventing the Americans from TAKING OVER THE WORLD is their not having a sense of irony.  No, this is not Current Affairs, it is sombre musing as Earth must not get a United World Government before my starfleet invasion force** gets here.  It would make things a lot more difficult although, rest assured, Justin Beiber and/or his descendants would still be first into the Protein-Processing Pounding Plant <Mister Hand intervenes to point out we have got rather off-track> sorry, yes!  The evidence:

Miss Piggy and some lightweight

     This photograph is from that American event "The Television Critics Association Awards", held earlier this week, and which is - not televised.

One Of Life's Un-noticed Segues
     A "Segue" is a transition with no break between scenes in a film or pieces of music.  One example would be the projections slowly coming to life onstage during Roger Water's live tour, or how you move from adolescence to teenager to middle-aged old man with white hair***.

No Caption needed

     Anyway, Conrad was listening to Kasabian on his i-pod, "48:13" to be accurate, when he realised that this particular track was quite a departure - no lyrics, and very quick beat, and all electronic; what was going on?  Kasabian were trying for the dance audience?
     Well, he'd gone past Kasabian and was onto "Kruder and Dorfmeister", who are indeed electronic dance artists, so that much made sense.
     Again, if Conrad had time he'd draw out some long pseudy analogy, but he's still too idle and frankly lacks the poetry and insight for <Mister Hand again intervenes to prevent a long, unfunny post with no punchline>

The Pressure!  The Pressure!
      - It's what made the steam engine work.
     No!  sorry, I meant the pressure on Conrad.
      - That comes in at fourteen pounds per square inch at sea level -
     NO! The Social pressure!  Get it right - social pressure.
      - Karl Popper defined "social pressure" 
     I'm warning you - this is about all the people who ask Conrad "What cake are you making this Friday?"
     CONRAD DOESN'T KNOW! Although someone mentioned Lemon.  So it may be lemon and poppyseed cake, in which case please take care not to be drug-tested.  Yes.  That is one of the few urban legends with a basis in truth - codeine in poppyseeds will give you a false positive on a drugs test.

Lemon Puppy, see?
Close enough.

Finally
     Once again Conrad is delighted to present to you, gentle reader, the Weasel Shark.  Not only that, this is a "Sicklefinned" Weasel Shark.

About as deadly as undercooked blancmange.  Perhaps.

*  I lied!  because Conrad hates all musicals, and especially anything to do with ABBA
**  I know, I know, they are being a bit laggardly.  Interstellar GPS has a software error
***  Not that I'm bitter or anything.