Danskcolin: Torsdag den 15. september kl 1630 til fredag den 16. september 2016 kl 1629

16:45 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og jeg cykler 6 miles. Nu er jeg helt sikker på, at jeg kan overleve endnu et par år – hurra!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og derefter bruger vi aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn og lytte til radio.

19:15 Vi tænder for radioen for at høre et interview med Sam Neill. Neill spillede én af de to hovedfigurer i en New Zealandsk film, ”Hunt for the Wilderpeople”, som Lois og jeg så i Currambine, en lille forstad til Perth, Australien for et par måneder siden. Vi går meget sjældent i biografen, så det er meget overraskende, at vi endelig har set en film, som ingen i Storbritannien endnu har set. Dette fænomen vil ikke gentage sig!

Currambine er en lille forstad til Perth, og Lois og jeg så to film i en lille biograf (”Grand Cinemas”) i det lokale indkøbcenter.

Vi spiser frokost på Red Retro café i Currambines indkøbcenter

efter at se den new zealandske film ”Hunt for the Wilderpeople”

Det var en underlig oplevelse at befinde os i Australien. I hele mit liv følte jeg ingen interesse for at besøge Australien. Jeg troede, det ville være ligesom ”Bournemouth ved Middelhavet”. Og det er sandt, at det australske samfund i vis grad er ”mere britisk end det britiske”, især hvis jeg kigger tilbage på Storbritannien i 1950’erne. Men der er andre aspekter, der er helt anderledes, og jeg var meget glad for, at jeg oplevede det hele.

Da vores yngre datter, Sarah, og hendes mand, Francis, fortalte os for et par år siden, de havde til hensigt at flytte til Australien, må jeg indrømme, at jeg ikke troede på det. Så var det en stor overraskelse at befinde mig derovre, og engang imellem måtte vi knibe os i armen for at huske, at vi drømte ikke.

Det er interessant at høre interviewet med Sam Neill. Han er født i Nordirland, fordi hans new zealandske far dengang var udstationeret med den britiske hær derovre. Familien flyttede tilbage til New Zealand, da Neill var 7 år. Neill-familien ejet New Zealands største vinproducerende firma. Da Lois og jeg boede i USA mellem 1982 og 1985, så vi Sam Neill i ”Reilly Ace of Spies” i PBS-kanalen.

Sam Neill

Han siger i i aftens interview, at han blev en berømt skuespiller med James Masons hjælp. Han spurgte Mason engang, hvordan man bliver en stor skuespiller, og Mason gav ham to råd:

(1) Undgå at spille en scene, hvor din figur er ved at spise noget (for eksempel en kage). Der vil være en masse ”retakes”, måske over flere dage, og du kommer til at tage på i vægt – ingen tvivl om det!

(2) Hvis din figur skal forlade et værelse, kig først på døren, før du rejser sig for at gå ud.

Så faktisk er det helt simpelt, at blive en berømt skuespiller. Jeg husker, at Steven Toast, en fiktiv skuespiller, der tog Mason til forbillede, og som var hovedfigur i Channel Fours ”Toast of London”-serie, havde endnu et råd: hvis det blæser meget (ved hjælp af en vindmaskine) når du spiller en scene, vær forsigtig med at vende dig ca. 45 grader væk fra vindmaskinens retning, så håret ikke bliver pjusket. Godt råd!

Steven Toast - vindmaskinen er "ikke noget problem" for denne dygtige skuespiller!

20:00 Vi slukker for radioen og tænder for fjernsynet. De viser Big Bang Theory, det 18. og 19. afsnit af den seneste serie.

Jeg tror virkeligt, at denne serie, der gennem mange år har givet os så meget glæde, er ved at nå til sin naturlige ende. Serien er stadigvæk underholdende, men humoren er ikke så skarp som før. Intet nu er tilladt at forstyrre harmonien i de to ægteskaber: Leonard og Penny, og Howard og Bernadette. Så derfor koncentrerer seriens forfattere sig om to vinkler:

(1) de vil gøre Sheldon mere menneskelig og sympatisk, ved at fokusere på hans problemer med at interagere med andre. Det er ikke så morsomt, som da han blev skildret som en gigantisk prøvelse for alle.

(2) de vil have, at Raj finder sammen med en pige. For tiden vakler Raj mellem to piger, men de situationer, forfatterne skaber, og pigernes personligheder, er ikke ret overbevisende. Uha!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzz!!!!

04:45 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtester. Jeg laver to kopper te og bringer dem op på vores soveværelse. Vi ligger inde i sengen og drikker teen. Vi står op og spiser morgenmad.

10:00 Jeg læser endnu 20 sider af min interessante bog, ”Language and History in Viking Age England” (Sprog og historie i vikingetidens England) af Matthew Townend. Jeg tager rigelige noter, mens jeg læser. Jeg er nu medlem af Lyndas U3A gruppe ”The Making of English”, og gruppen skal samles den 7. oktober i Everyman-teatret for at diskutere hvordan det danske sprog påvirkede det angel-saksiske/engelske sprogs udvikling.

13:00 Vi spiser frokost og derefter går jeg i seng og tager mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur – zzzzz!!!!

15:00 Jeg står op og kigger lidt på Facebook. Jeg selv er ikke aktiv medlem af Facebook, men heldigvis kender jeg Lois’s adgangskode – hurra! Jeg ser, at Sarah, vores yngste datter, der de sidste 2 dage har været på forretningsrejse i Sydney, har lagt et par fotos op på sin Facebook-side – hurra (igen)!

Sarah, vores yngste datter, på forretningsrejse i Sydney

Jeg tror, at hun nu er hjem igen i Perth. Hun fløj fra Sydney tidligere på dagen.

16:00 Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te på sofaen.

English translation

16:45 I jump up on my exercise bike and I ride 6 miles. Now I am completely confident that I can survive another few years - hurrah!

18:00 We have dinner and then we spend the evening watching TV and listening to the radio.

19:15 We turn on the radio to hear an interview with Sam Neill. Neill played one of the lead characters in a New Zealand film "Hunt for the Wilder People", which Lois and I saw in Currambine, a small suburb of Perth, Australia a few months ago. We rarely go to the cinema, so it is very surprising that we have finally seen a movie that no one in Britain has ever seen. This phenomenon will not happen again!

Currambine is a small suburb of Perth, and Lois and I saw two movies in a small movie-theater (“Grand Cinemas”) in the local mall.

We have lunch at the Red Retro Café in Currambine’s shopping center

after having seen the New Zealand film “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”

It was a strange experience to find ourselves in Australia. In all my life I felt no interest in visiting Australia. I thought it would be like "Bournemouth-by-the-Mediterranean". And it is true that Australian society is in some degree "more British than the British", especially if I look back at Britain in the 1950s. But there are other aspects that are completely different and I was very glad that I saw it all.

When our younger daughter, Sarah, and her husband, Francis, told us a few years ago, they intended to move to Australia, I must admit that I did not believe it. So it was a great surprise to find myself over there, and sometimes we had to pinch ourselves to remember that we were not dreamng.

It is interesting to hear the interview with Sam Neill. He was born in Northern Ireland because his New Zealand father was then stationed with the British army over there. The family moved back to New Zealand when Neill was 7 years. The Neill family owned New Zealand's largest wine company. When Lois and I lived in the US between 1982 and 1985, we saw Sam Neill in "Reilly Ace of Spies" on the PBS channel.

Sam Neill

He says in tonight's interview that he became a famous actor with James Mason's help. He asked Mason once how to be a great actor, and Mason gave him two pieces of advice:

(1) Avoid playing a scene where your character is eating something (for example a cake). There will be a lot of "retakes", perhaps over several days, and you're going to gain weight - no doubt about it!

(2) If your character should leave a room, look first at the door before getting up to go out.

So actually it is quite simple to become a famous actor. I remember that Steven Toast, a fictional actor who modelled himself on Mason, and who was the main character in Channel Four's "Toast of London" series, had another piece of advice: if it is windy (with the help of a wind machine) when you play a scene, be careful to turn yourself around 45 degrees away from the wind machine's direction, so your hair does not get ruffled. Good advice!

The wind-machine is "no problem" for accomplished actor, Steven Toast

20:00 We turn off the radio and turn on the television. They show Big Bang Theory, 18th and 19th episodes of the latest series.

I really believe that this series, which for many years has given us so much joy, is reaching its natural end. The series is still entertaining, but the humor is not as sharp as before. Nothing now is allowed to disturb the harmony of the two marriages: Leonard and Penny, and Howard and Bernadette. So therefore the series writers concentrate on two angles:

(1) they want to make Sheldon more human and sympathetic, by focusing on his problems with interacting with others. It's not as funny as when he was portrayed as a pain in the ass for everyone.

(2) they want Raj to get together with a girl. Currently Raj is hesitating between two girls, but the situations the authors create, and the girls' personalities, are not very convincing. Ooh dear!

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzz !!!!

4:45 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests. I make two cups of tea and bring them up to our bedroom. We lie in bed and drink the tea. We get up and eat breakfast.

10:00 I read another 20 pages of my interesting book, "Language and History in Viking Age England" by Matthew Townend. I take copious notes while I read. I am now a member of Lynda's U3A group "The Making of English", and the group is to get together on October 7 in the Everyman Theatre to discuss how the Danish language influenced the development of the Anglo-Saxon / English language.

13:00 We eat lunch and then I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap - zzzzz !!!!

15:00 I get up and take a look at Facebook. I myself am not an active member of Facebook, but fortunately I know Lois's password - hurrah! I see that Sarah, our youngest daughter, who for the last 2 days has been on a business trip in Sydney, has put a few photos on her Facebook page - hurrah (again)!