Conrad's Goal - Northern Soul

No, Not The Musical Genre
Not that your humble scribe is very clued-up about what this is.  Soul music, from - the North, at a wild guess?  Not his cup of tea.
     Rather, I refer to the Northern Soul Grilled Cheese Emporium, that eaterie on Church Street in Manchester.  Conrad started going after Ian promoted it on Facebook, saying that he'd had so many free meals from there he'd better give some payback.  That was back when it was half the current size.  Come lunchtime it's still crowded with a queue round the corner, as word appears to have gotten out.  It won the Manchester Evening News "Casual Dining" award for 2015.

That background noise is Conrad going at the pickle

     I realise this hardly constitutes news - especially if you're reading this under a banyan tree by the light of a moon on Tahiti - but those sandwiches are one of your modest artisan's guilty pleasures.  Plus, it's not that easy to make a great one at home, I'll have you know.  Much to my displeasure, I still had 2 stamps to collect on my Loyalty Card, except thanks to today' purchase, there is now only ONE STAMP!!! until I get a free sandwich.

First, Consistency
Yes, I refer again to First Bus, the pleasure of using whom has been entirely absent for the past two weeks since I am on leave.  No, since you ask, I have not missed them, I have not missed them AT ALL.

First Bus Spokesdemon:  That'sssss   ssssad!

     One of the reasons why a divorce between us would be entirely tearless is their consistency.  Note I did not say "reliability".  Consistency is a different issue.  Today - I know, I know, I'm ranting, but I've excluded raging at Facebook so my spleen needs another safety valve - the 24 was so late I realised it wasn't going to turn up and so caught the 409, only for the 24 to turn up and overtake.  It may be my imagination - it's just that the electronic number display on the rear seemed to be showing "Sucker" when it passed by.

"Allegiant"
Hmmm.  These cinema people seem to be making words up quite as much as I do.  This is the latest release in a series, and you can see from the posters what demographic they're aiming for - BYT - Bright Young Things.  Depressingly for those of us who are neither Bright nor Young, this marketing seems to have worked.  The first in the series ("Divergent") scored $288 million worldwide, on a budget of $85 million.  The second ("Insurgent") did a little better with $297 millions, although it cost considerably more to make - $110 million.  Perhaps this latest one won't clean* up and they'll have to avoid the last one "Detergent").  Art?

Andre le Giant.  Close enough

Today's Haul Plus Coincidence
Only two books today as my main mission was to travel across Manchester city centre and get to the Museum on Oxford Road.  There will be a lot more about this later. A lot more!

     Observe that book on the left.  It's about "The Activity", a South Canadian special forces unit whose complete name is "Intelligence Support Activity".  
     "Why!" I enthused to myself in the Oxfam bookshop (only in my head as doing this out loud has taught me a few lessons) "That name is familiar, because it came up on "Person Of Interest" a couple of days ago.  How strange the ways of chance!"
     Indeed.  Recognition of modern military units is not my strong suit - I can bore at national level about battalions or regiments of the British Army in the First Unpleasantness, if you're looking for an after-dinner speaker - and I had never encountered ISA until reading an episode guide for POI.  And now I have a whole book about them**.

A Little Taste Of The Museum
Oh, I'm so witty I impress even me***.  This photo is one of a batch I took today, and this one is especially relevant to your modest artisan:

Behold the branch

    "Don't keep us in suspense!" I hear you call, and pretend not to hear in order to increase the dramatic tension.  "Please!"
     Oh very well.  This is a tea plant, actually raised in Manchester, environment not specified but I would imagine a greenhouse was used; the Modern Babylon doesn't really mimic the teeming tropical uplands of India very well.
     Given that I am not very likely to travel out there, I took quite an interest in this plant.  Ironically, on a day not visiting the museum I'd have drunk three or four pints of tea by now, yet today - none  :(
     Conrad - tead off*.








*Do you see how clever I'm being?
** Lucky dull old me.
*** Not excessively.  I do have a sense of modesty.