"Tattered Lace Crafting"

Evocative, Isn't It?
Except I'm not sure of what.  For your information, it's a programme I spotted on the television Guide, although once again as a name it would be excellent as a Chemical Brothers track*.  Conrad was so impressed he wrote it down.
     Presumably it's making lace that happens to be tattered, although surely you could just make plain lace and then have the dog play with it as the end result would be the same?

Hmmm.

     Apparently there's a Tattered Lace subculture.  Who knew?  Well, there's one for Wood Turning -

Ah yes, the four-start twist jardiniere.
Do you eat it or drink it?

     - so I shouldn't be too surprised at the lace one.

Morning At The Mansion
Your humble scribe does not merely sit at the kitchen table, swill down tea and read books of a Saturday morning, and I have documentary proof.

BEFORE

I pottered about between tasks and tea-drinking, and here is more proof:

AFTER

     Not visible is the emptied and re-stocked dishwasher, the emptied bin and countless copies of The Metro now sitting in the blue bin.
     Having achieved that, it was time for a little light reading:

     Er - actually light in neither mass nor content.  Getting to read either volume proved a bit difficult as the animals had other opinions:

<short interlude as I pop down to refill my cup>

Now for a bit more text than pictures.

Nicknames
This came up at work yesterday, although nobody asked Conrad.  So I raised it as an item on the way to Tiger Tiger, because I really think the world needs to know.
     Early on, it was "Yoghurt" because that rhymed with "Robert"**, and at the time yoghurt was unusual, and so was I.
     In later years it was "Shirley Temple", whom you may not be familiar with, so -

Shirley Temple.  TEDDY STRANGLER!

     Because Conrad's hair sprang into hated curls the instant it got damp.  Still later on it got to be "Mat the Homosexual Russian Spy", because -

I drank this - Matte

     And there good taste demands that we end the nickname game.

That was still a bit picture-heavy, wasn't it?  More text!

"House of Leaves"
Although no creepy coincidences have been generated today - so far! - Mr Danielewski is coming up with unusual words, just as old Tom Pynchon did.  Today we had "Anfractuosity", which refers to a complex, winding passage or complex process, both of which apply to the novel's form and content, and "Silentiary", which can be a person required to keep silence in court.  Very apt considering where we are in the text (about Page 130).  

 "The Last Absolution Of The Munsters"
Any silly puns about the television programme and I will track down via your ISP and inflict merciless revenge upon you, yeah, even unto the seventh generation of your successors.***

This fantastic painting by Matania shows Father Gleeson of the 2nd Battalion Munster Fusiliers granting absolution to the battalion, one company at a time.  Absolution like this is not common; it's done where there are too many people present for confessions to be practical.  Of the 692 attendees, only some 302 were present the next day, although the Munsters were the only British unit to get into the German trenches during this battle (Rue De Bois).  Any Germans present in the trenches when this happened were unlikely to see the day out - facing a bayonet charge from the Munsters was rather like facing an oncoming tsunami or runaway train: unstoppable and very bad for your health.
     I shall bang on about Sergeant Ring later.

The Manticore
I know, I know, I should apologise for having words like this pop up in my mind.  Nope, sorry, can't explain why.  If you can, a promising career in psychiatry beckons.
     Anyway, I faintly recalled that the Manticore was a monster of some kind, so a bit of Wiki-fu confirmed this, with details:

Ugly beast

     It generally has the head of a man, a lion's body, a dragon's tail, a triple set of fangs, and occasionally a pair of wings.
     In other words, it was designed by a committee.  One can imagine the hapless manticore's complaints:
     MANTICORE: I keep getting stabbed by my tail!
     THE COMMITTEE: What of it?  At least it works.
     MANTICORE: Getting stabbed with poisonous quills hurts! It hurts like the dickens!
     THE COMMITTEE: Oh, man up.  They were going cheap.
     MANTICORE: And what's the idea with the teeth?
     THE COMMITTEE: They make you look fierce.
     MANTICORE: Fierce?  Do you know how many cavities I have?  It's agony!
     THE COMMITTEE: See a dentist.
     MANTICORE: I did, and now I'm penniless.  And why don't I have wings?
     THE COMMITTEE: We couldn't get a discount.

The Committee, after the Mantigore^

* Okay, maybe Leftfield.  
** Conrad's day to day name.
** Perhaps that's a bit harsh.  Sixth generation?
^ A pun, not a mis-spelling