What, Again? - It's In The Name

Still Without Repeating Myself
Here we go on the subject of names, again.  Whereas yesterday we were looking at cinematic ones, today we cross the floor to musical ones, specifically Steely Dan and the liner notes to the original release of "Aja" and it's reissue.
     "But Conrad!" I hear you wail, "We were going to go shopping!"  SIT BACK DOWN!  This is interesting.
     If you will allow me to continue - thank you so much, really - then I should point out that the original liner notes for "Aja" were written by Michael Halpern, a music journalist.  He went to sit in on the recording sessions, being told that the band had specifically requested him by name.  

Those madcap scamps Walter and Donald

     This was a lie.  As soon as they found out he was a music journalist they mocked and abused him relentlessly, generally behaving like spoilt prima donnas of the worst kind.  Despite this he did a quite impartial and almost approving review of the album tracks.
     In the re-issue things hotted up after a conference call between Michael, Becker and Fagan, where our two musicians mock, abuse and threaten Michael.  They blame him for missing out on the action with two ladies, saying they're going to vandalise his car (again).  Michael resorts to threats of exclusion from radio playlists; apparently his car tyres cost $400 dollars each to replace ...
     Neither party comes out of this looking particularly good, so it was rather surprising to discover that Michael Phalen doesn't exist.  It's Becker and Fagan under a pseudonym, slyly sending up themselves and the music business.   Now you know one of the reasons Conrad likes them!

Pub Quiz
Alas, we did not triumph at all, being beaten by a husband and wife team of two.  Still, there's only three of us in the Marsden Muppets, unlike some of the coach parties that attend.
     I can already see your brow furrowing in puzzlement at this post turning up two days later.  Hold hard!  For this concerns one question about Jaffa Cakes:  what was the main flavouring ingredient in these most delicious of biscuits*?
     Wrong!  Apparently the answer was "Apricot pulp".

More a biscuit than a cake, really

     You can already guess where this is going, can't you?  Conrad is ever one to read the ingredients on the back of a packet and - there's no mention of Apricot Pulp on the back of genuine McVities Jaffa Cakes nor the cheaper Morrisons generic equivalent.
     I foresee a chat with Steve (pub landlord) next week ...

Behold!  A New Teapot
This is quite as much news as anything gracing the covers of the Daily Star**, due to the innately high consumption of tea at the Mansion.
     I should qualify that - Loose leaf tea, for Conrad, a tea snob if ever there was one, refuses to demean himself with <shudder> tea bags.

Silver machine?

     Note the tiny spout.  This means it doesn't pour terribly well, in fact it recalls that chidren's book title - "The Dribblesome Teapots".  However, to balance that, it brews extremely well; using very fine English Breakfast Tea failed to clog the filter at all, which is handy.  My current large Bodum teapot leaks at the handle gaskets and clogs all too easily, so this new pot is threatening for pole position.

Once Again Except In English
I attach a screenshot from Twitter.

???

     Conrad guesses that this mystery script is to do with business and/or finance, hence his attention immediately switches to something far more interesting.  If you can explain in five words or less, good for you.

Teapot reprise
Just been dragged to the kitchen by Edna and took the opportunity to make another pot of tea - Darjeeling, since you so obviously want to know - and found it's the angle you pour at which matters, to avoid dribbling.
     Just thought you ought to be informed.

Mighty Ships: HDMS Peter Willemoes
Conrad, as you may have guessed by now, is pretty much a land animal.  So the television program "Mighty Ships" is a novelty to him.  He stuck around for this one, though, as it focussed on a state-of-the-art Danish frigate, bristling with guns and missiles***.

F362 in all her glory

     This was a shakedown cruise for F362, operating in a restricted part of the Skagerrak where she could carry out live firing.  First they test-fired a Harpoon missile, then the 76mm guns, then the (rather terrifying!) 35mm Oerlikon cannon.  After that it was carrying out a search for (simulated) contraband, fending off an air attack carried out by drones, then an attack by surface craft.  The last attack involved dealing with surface craft, plus a submarine, and an air attack as well - while F362's sonar went offline thanks to the umpires, and a support helicopter crashed on the helideck (thanks umpires!) and whilst the bridge was out of action due to damage, plus one of the 76mm guns suffered a genuine hydraulic failure.
     Exciting stuff indeed!  And do you know what the most impressive bit about F362's crew was?
     Every single one of them spoke fluent, idiomatic English^.



* I added in "most delicious" as a bit of poetic licence.  Forgive me.
** Is it still going?
*** Two of my favourite things
^  Hey, it impressed me.