Aren't families great? Normally I don't make a big fuss of a birthday, but this year I thought I'd go home for my first 'birthday tea' in, oh, 16 years or so.

Anyhow, apart from the additional presents (thanks everyone) that you seem to get when you're there in person I'd casually suggested to my step-dad, Mike, that it would be great to have a fancy birthday cake. I'd seen this Max Rebo cake on Boing Boing and figured that it would be really cool.

Mike's the kind of man who rises to a challenge, and here he is with the finished article with which he was "a bit pleased". Just to prove the whole thing is totally edible, you can see an "after" picture too.

Thanks gang. On balance I think this is better than the original.