Of Books And Baking And Birthdays

365 Days Ago
Conrad was 52, and had the privilege of being on the receiving end of a poem that Marna created for me.  Yesterday the folks at work celebrated my birthday a bit early, since it's actually tomorrow and  none of us would be in The Electric Goldfish Bowl on a Sunday.  Not only that, I got sandbagged by Phil (team leader) who cunningly called us all together to embarrass Alex since her birthday is also on the 17th, before turning to me and - much appreciated! - read a poem of his own making.  Then Anna had a go, with the frighteningly-accurate line "Big Tall and Hairy", which, coming after the "You might look scary" line, boosted Conrad's ego no end*.

Birthday Boy.  The "Boy" is flattering if not quite true ...

More Of Baking
O the trouble I got into yesterday, failing to produce Cake For Everybody!  I did point out that I do have an occasional social life which might sometimes interfere with the provision of cake for the ganterpies, and - if they were good - any surplus from Cake Day at the Mansion would find it's way to work on Monday.  Let us see what else has been baked:

Norwegian Pear Cake

I baked this for a bit longer at a lower temperature, since following the recipe instructions tends to end up with a cake burnt around the edges.  No carbon-coated cake today!

Roast Banana and Walnut cake

This one is a bit under-dressed, as it will get a maple syrup glaze once it's completely cooled.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

There were old bananas waiting to be used, and a residue of blueberries, so here they are - the blueberries will be at the bottom of the muffins as I put them in the cases before adding the batter.

     The plan is to make cookies tomorrow morning, and - who knows! - perhaps another cake, too.

Enough Pictures!  The Readers Want Written Waspish Wit
Is that enough "W"'s for you?
Okay, imagine Conrad as slightly shorter and considerably less weighty - aged ten, in fact.  What is one of his favourite novels**?  Why, Henry Treece's "Viking Odyssey".  These three volumes follow the fortunes of Harald Sigurdson as a teen, a man and a father.  In the last volume, "Viking Sunset", Harald heads a revenge sailing out west across the Atlantic, during which his longboat buys provisions from the Faroe Islands.
     Treachery!  Disaster! The water they brought aboard in barrels is said to be "brackish and undrinkable".

Brackish.  Yes really.  Surname "Okun" not "Water"but hey!  Close enough!

     Until Friday August 15th 2014 Conrad had no idea what "brackish" actually was.  Thanks to Google he now knows it means water that is salty between the levels of salt in freshwater and those of seawater.  So; brackish water.  You could drink it, but it would taste vile and probably do interestingly unpleasant things to your insides.
     You might also like to know that the Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas are all brackish. There must be a joke in there about bordering upon Russia - but good taste*** prevents.


Books
I nearly forgot.  Here we have today's purchases, one from Abebooks and the other two from the Red Cross shop in Royton:

Guess which?

You don't need to guess - the book sitting in the middle of a cardboard cuddle is the one from Abebooks.  Thanks to the packaging it could have taken a direct hit from a Challenger tank and come back for more.

Whoops, a reversion to pictures.  Let's get back to text.

Mystery Signs
At the junction of Oldham Street and Great Ancoats Street in Manchester city centre, the street signs have small laminated direction signs added to them, pointing south-east along Great Ancoats Street.  Their content is simple and limited:  "CBR" and "LOC".  No other explanations given.  "LOC" might be "Line Of Communication", except this is not a battlefield of the Napoleonic wars, and Citizens Band Radio is big in the USA but not here in the UK.  Any answers to be directed to "BOOJUM! Mansion, Royton, Oldham OL2", TVM^.

The Durian, the world's smelliest fruit.
Yes, it's nothing to do with mystery signs.  Whose blog is it?

Digital Demons
Conrad, in the company of others, was abroad Friday night in a venue known as "Tiger Tiger".  One wonders at the mindset of the management here, in that they seem fit to repeat the titular animal for no good reason.  You don't see "Spearmint Rhino Rhino", do you? Still less "Kentucky Fried Chicken Chicken"^^, or - 
     - but I digress.  Over the PA came a song that Conrad liked but did not recognise, so he frantically hailed Dan "The Man" Chan, who did not recognise it either.
     Enter Dave Kerry - and at every mention of Dave I feel obliged to add "Proud son of Yorkshire" because he is - "Does anyone have Shazzam?" he enquired.
     Shazzam, it transpired, is a mobile phone app that is able to identify songs that are played to it and

 - BLACK MAGIC ALERT!  BLACK MAGIC ALERT!

     If Conrad catches you using this hideous appurtenance then be prepared to be drenched with a couple of gallons of holy water, to say nothing of the hammer and hawthorn stakes ...

Justin, using Shazzam to find out what he's singing.  Not the sharpest tool in the box.

* In his previous job, Conrad was once described as "the big scary man" by a client, which absolutely made his year.
** Conrad used to regularly re-read novels, and even today he has a keen recollection of "Bottersnikes and Gumbles"
*** Get it?  "Good taste"? When brackish water would - O you do.
^ Thanks Very Much
^^ I know, I know - "Tiger tiger burning bright, in the forests of the night".  For someone who loathes poetry I do seem to know altogether too much of it, right?