tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post3875331444114978079..comments2023-10-11T14:18:03.816+01:00Comments on Works Well: BB's behaviourism labRoderick Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-57715013550978496402011-09-03T16:38:04.821+01:002011-09-03T16:38:04.821+01:00Twenty-five minutes to heavenly tastes! That's...Twenty-five minutes to heavenly tastes! That's how long it takes the bus to reach the beer mecca downtown! Coincidence? Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps (my favorite Doris Day song).Rouchswalwehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01393987883437907945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-16874503206944623212011-09-03T15:33:19.390+01:002011-09-03T15:33:19.390+01:00There is something faintly risible about rock cake...There is something faintly risible about rock cakes, provided they haven't been over-cooked with the raisins converted into pellets of coal when they become entirely unbearable. Your mother may have had right on her side.<br /><br />It sounds to me that the second quotation is from a song I particularly like. Another sample verse: <br /><br /><em>Look at your grandma<br />Bloody old haybag,<br />Isn't it grand boys,<br />To be bloody well dead.<br />So let's have a sniffle<br />Hell, let's have a bloody good cry,<br />And always remember the longer you live<br />The sooner you'll bloody well die.</em><br /><br />Worth it for those two lines of the chorus. I bow to your greater knowledge of gripe water.Roderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-25875034324939442532011-09-02T16:04:45.515+01:002011-09-02T16:04:45.515+01:00Seedcake came up the other day, in fact. We had t...Seedcake came up the other day, in fact. We had to go to a funeral, and I said something like I was only going for the rock cakes, at which my spouse looked a bit blank. So I filled in that one of my father's favourite songs (or at least one that he often sang around the house, along with ''Enery the eighth I am, I am' his name being Henry) was about a man who went to his own funeral, a line of which went 'Look at the rock cakes, granite with knobs on...'<br /><br />(You may deduce from this that my father was more music hall than Festival Hall. In fact my older siblings complain still that they were deprived of a visit to the Festival of Britain because it was politically disapproved of, though this was probably more my mother's initiative than my father's.)<br /><br />At my father's own passing I expressed a wish to make rock cakes for the funeral tea, but my mother put the kibosh on the idea as somehow irreverent and inappropriate, so I was obliged to make seed cakes instead, which were apparently fitting and traditional on such occasions. <br /><br />I rather like them, though they remind me a little of gripe water, and the seeds get between your teeth.Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09764296105901909328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-74194605386626525382011-09-01T11:02:21.485+01:002011-09-01T11:02:21.485+01:00Julia: A half birthday! I was about to harangue Am...Julia: A half birthday! I was about to harangue Americans in general for an act of gross indulgence and then I turned to my birthday present, Information is Beautiful, a book which turns statistics into pretty patterns. There, on page 196, I realised how wrong I would have been. In a chart labelled Time to Get Away and sub-titled "Legally required paid annual leave in days per year" I learned that France leads the world with 25 days, Sweden is second with 20 days, the UK has 10 days and the US has precisely ZERO days. All I can say is you've outgrown your deprived upbringing.Roderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-75220084012958436992011-08-31T20:26:29.091+01:002011-08-31T20:26:29.091+01:00BB, I have an August birthday and had the same pro...BB, I have an August birthday and had the same problem at school. When we were children we semi-solved it by taking in brownies on our half birthday in February, but we still missed out on the parties. <br /><br />Now I'm a fan of an August birthday because it's a great excuse for a holiday, which seems to suit Europe's calendar quite well!Juliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02381204473168533313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-79037028916629475362011-08-31T10:01:18.756+01:002011-08-31T10:01:18.756+01:00Julia: Yes she does understand my subconscious but...Julia: Yes she does understand my subconscious but there are occasions - admittedly rare - when it is inoperative and she cannot be persuaded of this. When I was at primary school an August birthday was a disadvantage; I was always on school holiday and I was denied bringing in a cake to share with my classmates. Had I been born in December (as Lucy) I might have been more popular.<br /><br />Lucy: I see I have written 514 posts and somehow have left a cupcake-less impression of myself behind. But what other - more significant - lacunae have also developed? Did you know for instance that I am congenitally incapable of playing <em>babyfoot</em>, that the smell of heated milk sends me retching to the sink, that I am a great enthusiast for the lesser novels of E. Nesbit? Verily, my character is more a piece of lacework than a Rothko. And yes the womenfolk do love plotting. <br /><br />Something important has emerged from your comment. It turns out that seedcake cupcakes are possible and seedcake is my favourite. I believe we share this enthusiasm.Roderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-53834145322976956492011-08-31T09:21:59.933+01:002011-08-31T09:21:59.933+01:00BB and cupcakes are not a pairing I would necessar...BB and cupcakes are not a pairing I would necessarily have made, but then again why not?<br /><br />Sounds like your womenfolk love plotting, sorry the poor dog's psyche ended up as collateral damage.Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09764296105901909328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4763772100015353700.post-10216336551371627792011-08-31T09:10:06.131+01:002011-08-31T09:10:06.131+01:00I think Mrs BB knows your subconscious better than...I think Mrs BB knows your subconscious better than you do in this case! I hope you had a great birthday, I'm a fan of August birthdays myself - I find they grow on you each year ;-).Juliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02381204473168533313noreply@blogger.com