Tell the old man happy birthday.
HBD, Buck! I remember when you were (very briefly) Mr. Breath.
Happy birthday to him, but more importantly, what are the details on that cake?
Happy birthday. And I believe that cake is called a pie.
Happy birthday to him; that was a good year for me.
Frosting looks like a Sachertorte, although I'd see more jam if it were.
Presumably Boston cream pie.
http://www.unfogged.com/archives/week_2011_03_27.html#011192
(pasting the link because I'm on my phone.)
That's obviously black tar. One way to celebrate, I guess.
An abomination unto God and man. Happy birthday!
A chocolate-sauced monument to a giant among men.
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Iberian Fury and I had a great time at the screening and reception, and got pictures with almost everybody, which I'll post when I get them from her. Thanks so much to Halford & all of you for donating! Even though I guess it was purely Halford's connections that actually got us in. But yay for doing good works, etc.
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That looks amazing, LB! I think Boston cream pie is one of those iconic desserts that truly deserves its iconic status (just deserts for a dessert, and so on). Even though it's more a cake than a pie.
Happy day to Buck.
It's cake frosted with pitch, and it's taken 49 years for the frosting to spread out like that.
13 -- pics!! pics or it didn't happen!
it was purely Halford's connections
wait, really? we didn't win? ALL THAT MONEY FOR HOMELESS PEOPLE, AND FOR NAUGHT?
And they damn well better include nudity and sloths.
17: I forget which thread he mentioned it in, but yes. We didn't win, but Halford pulled some strings/blew some people to get the trapnels in anyway. Hollywood: surprisingly corrupt!
The daffodils are out here in the englandiest part of England. Very springlike.
We have 6 inches of snow in the DMV. The crocuses are buried. Time for spring. And happy birthday Buck!
Snow and long lines. The government is a failure.
I assume the Englandiest part of England is Essex.
re: 24
Urgggh.
I'd say the bit in the middle: Oxfordshire/Berkshire/Buckinghamshire/Surrey(ish) would be the bit I think of as particularly typically 'English'.
The parts without any cities in them? OK, John Major.
re: 26
Well, there's a few smaller cities in that area, but yeah, if you are thinking of what most people would think of as typical English _countryside_, that's the bits you'd be thinking of. Leafy, low rolling hills, etc. The bits that look like 'The Shire'.
Your typical English person, on the other hand, statistically, lives in London or Birmingham, I suppose.
The pics are on her camera, so they'll go up in the pool when I have them.
Tweet from Jammies' tweet list: "If this Malaysian plane thing turns out to be a publicity stunt for Liam Neeson next movie, I'm going to be so pissed."
I don't know who it was who posted from the Englandiest part of England, though I agree with ttaM that it would be the Shire-ish bits - including Sussex and parts of Wiltshire. North Essex, Northhants, also.
However, there are other parts of England, too, from which I present a special-for-apostropher headline:
Did attacker castrate the WRONG man? Father-of-seven whose penis was hacked off 'could have been victim of mistaken identity' (Mail headline, because it's better; link, though, goes to the Mirror's version of the story)
Ach, rural authenticity. If we used the same standard, the most American part of the US would be Indianna. Screw rural authenticity.
I'm tempted to say that the most American part of the US would be a mid-sized, non glamorous city, like Pittsburgh, or Philadelphia, or (ahem) Cleveland. I suppose Birmingham might be the English equivalent.
OTOH, the most American part of the US might be Florida, God help us. I don't think anyone has an equivalent to that.
Your typical English person...
Valet, monocle, Drones Club, Aunt Agatha, right?
Your typical English person...
Oliver Cromwell.
Anyway, the daffodils are out in Birmingham, Sheffield and Bristol, to my certain knowledge, so I'd guess anywhere south of the Great Glen.
Birmingham will become majority minority within 20 years, I believe, which rather sharpens the divide between that and English Heritage England.
Really? That must depend on where you're measuring. Leicester and Birmingham are the two places I've heard discussed in this context.
Good thing Boris Johnson is in charge then. That guy definitely seems down with la gente.
Nobody lives in London anymore, it's too crowdedexpensive.
21 was me. So the Lake District is not the englandiest? It's pretty damned englandy, although I guess the hills are too pointy.
Happy Birthday to Buck! Enjoy the black tar heroin frosted cake!
41: No, the Lakes are in the North. Cumbria is historic Rugby League territory and therefore not very Englandy at all. Of course there is a huge tourist industry smearing fudge shops over it to confuse matters.
Hang on. What are you doing in the Lake District?
Not knowing this is clearly the penalty I pay for working
45. IIRC, he's at some conference that isn't focused on Swallows and Amazons. He'll be available (One Night Only!) for a Mancunian meetup.
re: 37
I'd guess, as Nworb says, it depends where you are measuring. There are certainly large areas of London that would be majority non-white, though.
Looking at ONS numbers, the borough of London I live in is about 30% White British, but the particular council ward I live in, is 'whiter' than the borough as a whole, at ~40% White British. Which fits with my personal experience, and the demographics of the particular housing development I live in.
Manchester! If that's the alternative, what's wrong with Fresh Salt?
Happy birthday, Buck!
Also, holy shit primordial gravitational waves. I mean, I actively avoided ever working on inflationary theories because I was so absolutely confident those would not be detectable. What the fuck, universe. This is awesome.
Who knew there was a microwave telescope named BICEP?
I have noticed a smear of fudge shops.
Manchester was as shitty as advertised passing through it this direction. Also, I finally got to try British train station food, and it too was as shitty as advertised (by Douglas Adams, mostly).
The Lakes are not very Englandy. Too rainy, even by our standards. Not enough thatched cottages. Too uphill. People are probably too friendly.
The daffodils are out here. Reading is rather Englandy I reckon - all the same shops as everywhere else, the river Thames, a variety of people, and surrounded by pretty bits. Kent has some very chocolate box-y villages as well.
Yeah, the Lakes are basically Scotland, just dragged a bit further south.
Happy Birthday to Buck. That's a mighty fine pie there.
54: that would explain the dudes in kilts and the bagpiper right outside my room earlier.
Also, I finally got to try British train station food, and it too was as shitty as advertised (by Douglas Adams, mostly).
What, they didn't have a Pret?
Once took a train from Berwick to Carlisle and at some point the carriage was invade by an entire troupe of Morris dancers in full fig. At Carlisle they all disembarked and went into full swing. We continued on to Birmingham.
My bit is definitely Shire-like, especially the villages round these parts. So charming! The thatch! It's everywhere!
We also seem to have more than our fair share of Morris dancers.
There were shitloads of Morris dancers in North Essex. Now I am out in the Fens, and the best I could hope for is a marshwiggle. Actually, I would rather see a marshwiggle than a morris dancer any day. They don't in fact liven up market days at all.
The bagpiping has abated. No Morris dancers. The food at the hotel was, honestly, fine but not all that great, except for the dessert which was some thing called "sticky toffee pudding" that is presumably subject to export restrictions as a national treasure. There is allegedly famous gingerbread not ten paces from this hotel; I'll have to go check that out and see if I can figure out what the hell "famous gingerbread means". Also it is march, there are daffodils, clouds floating o'er vales and hills, and tomorrow I will go down to the lake to check the confluence thereof.
except for the dessert which was some thing called "sticky toffee pudding"
My favourite. This is the dessert that made me realize there is more to life than chocolate.