Pyx, Nef And Brassica

Not Expostulations From "Pinky And The Brain"
 - neither is it a Polish children's TV show from the Seventies.  The first two are from "Agincourt", which you will be relieved to know I have finished, so no obscure edged weapons or terms derived from Latin - apart from these two.
     "Pyx" - a small round box used in medieval times to carry consecrated wafers, frequently for transport to those unable to get to church - having plague would probably cut your mobility down, rather.

No!  Get it right!

NO!

That's better*.  

"Nef"
No idea what this is or was, except Henry V was given one as a gift, so it must have been quite special and not a collection of stool samples in a smelly sack, if you'll pardon the alliteration and the imagination.

"Brassica Oleracea"
You will know this better as Broccoli, that verdant cousin of the cauliflower.  Sorry to verge on Latin, but the name comes from the Italian "Brocco" - the diminutive, obviously - obviously! - which itself means "small nail" or "sprout".

Flee in terror, cancer!

     Less well-known is that Broccoli is a power in the land when it comes to giving cancer a knee in the <cough>.  It has all sorts of components that basically beat cancer around the head with a biological baseball bat.

And now for the rest of the picture parade:

Pickled Polish Mushrooms
Conrad is not shy about trying new culinary experiences, and is rarely disappointed, except for that one time with the Chinese Green Cabbage.  One of his fond discoveries was the Polish Pickled Mushroom, and he was quite distraught when Morrison's stopped selling it.

These are yum**!

     And here is the jar from last week going cheap.  It lasted mere minutes when opened.  And yes, I would fight you for my jar.

Hooray!
A book both grim and interesting, like a lot of Conrad's choices, I have just finished "Bloody Victory", about the battle (more correctly campaign) of the Somme, by William Philpott.  625 pages long, in small print mind you, and it will probably get a reprint in 2016, the hundredth anniversary of the battle.

And it was half-price

     I understand this is probably very small beer to you, dear audience, but do YOU have the patience, commitment and time to read a work like this?  O - you do.  Right.

A Pome For Work
Yes, it's a deliberate mis-spelling in an hilariously ironic reference to the less than wonderful rhyme and metre of my doggerel.
     Anyway, I done a pome for work <clears throat>

"I should not need to have to shout

At those who leave their cups about.

We are not in a student hovel,

And I should not have to grove

To make the feckless tidy up

- their glass, their spoon, their dirty cup.

Be advised that forensic fingerprints

Will be matched against these delinquents.

If you have time to make a brew

Please make time to clean up, too.

Otherwise - Why! Your precious Delft

Will furnish the bin and not the shelf.

This building is not a diner

So, mucky cup, clean your china!"

A splendid crop of mixed glass and china

"Dream Themes"
What a simple yet brilliant concept - a band that plays only theme tunes.  Here is their Facebook page, and no, Conrad does not get paid a penny for promoting them:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dream-Themes/264792930228002

     They are playing the Star and Garter in October.

The best theme tune EVAH.  No arguing about it.

The Metro
No!  Not the car.  The free rag given away on buses in Manchester.  Today they were banging on about a couple of anonymous blondes whom Conrad didn't recognise or care about - in fact what the article was about has quite flown out of my head, and this time it's not down to my advanced state of years.
     They were also pimping some disgusting product described as "Cold Drip Coffee", which is brewed cold, and then hurled into the nearest bin  drunk by celebrities, so it becomes a success and takes the world by storm and everybody drinks cold drip coffee, until people reading BOOJUM! realise that it's disgusting crud and give it up, causing the whole fad to collapse.  There you go, world saved by BOOJUM!, again***.

The Crab Nebula.  Far more interesting than The Metro

What's this?  A film poster dubbed "The Persuaders", with Hugh Grant and George Clooney and "Coming Soon".  Is this real or has someone been going at it with Photoshop^^?

I was going to bang on about slugs again today, but it would take quite a while to do the list properly and it's already nearly nine and I would love to get a few shirts ironed.  Tomorrow!

*  Take your pick.
** None of that nasty trans-Atlantic "nom nom nom" nonsense here.
*** Only so I can take it over, don't confuse premeditation with magnanimity.
^^ Photoshop.