Thursday, 19 January 2017

Onsdag den 18. januar 2017 kl 16:30 til torsdag den 19. januar 2017 kl 16:29

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad, og bagefter skal vi af sted. Lois vil gerne deltage i et bibelklasse, der finder sted i aften i Tewkesbury, og hun må ikke køre bil om natten for tiden på grund af grå stær. Hun venter stadig på at få en tid hos specialisten på Gloucester-hospitalet.

Jeg kører Lois over til Mari-Ann og Alfs hus, og sætter hende af. Alf skal køre hende over til Tewkesbury. På vej hjem kan jeg igen ikke modstå fristelsen til at køre forbi Sarahs gamle hus i Leckhampton og dagdrømme om de dage, når Lois og jeg passede på Sarahs små tvillingerne, vores yngste børnebørn, Lily og Jessica. Lykkelige dage!!! Sarah og Francis, sin mand, flyttede i december 2015 til Perth i Australien, sammen med deres tvillingerne, der nu er 3,5 år gamle.

19:00 Jeg kører hjem og lytter lidt til radio, en interessant program, der handler om de turnéer, som de berømte komikere, Stan Laurel og Oliver Hardy, tog på i 1930’erne og 1940’erne rundt i England.


Det er forbløffende, men parret blev modtaget ligesom rockstjerner - store menneskemængder ventede på dem på banegårde. Programmet minder mig om, at Lois og jeg i juni 2010 besøgte Oliver and Hardy Museum i Ulveston, lige efter Francis og Sarahs bryllup, der fandt sted ved siden af Coniston Sø. Stan Laurel blev født i 1890 i Ulveston.

Huset i byen Ulveston, hvor Stan Laurel blev født

Jeg står foran Ulvestons "Laurel and Hardy Museum"

Lois kigger på et interessant avisudklip i museet. Lidt surrealistisk at læse
en artikel, der synes at handler om selve Lois!

Byen Ulvestons oprindelige navn var ”Wolveston”, men mange nordiske indvandringer bosatte sig i det 10. og 11. århundrede i området og de ændrede byens navn fra Wolveston til Ulveston. Det engelsk ord ”wolf” er ”ulv” på dansk.

Fire dage før havde Sarah og Francis giftet sig i et stort hus, Brantwood House, der ligger ved siden af Coniston Sø. Huset blev bygget af John Ruskin, den berømte viktorianske kunstkritik. Efter brylluppet tog Sarah og Francis  en kort bådtur på søen, sammen med alle gæsterne.


Sarah og Francis om bord på båden efter brylluppet

21:00 Jeg tænder for fjernsynet. De viser en underholdende tv-quiz, ”Through the Keyhole”. Programmets surrealistiske vært, Keith  Lemon, besøger 3 boliger og kigger rundt i husene. Lemons 3 gæster, Eamonn Holmes, Emma Bunton (”Baby Spice”), og Jonathan Ross, prøver så at gætte, hvilken berømthed huset hører til.


Quizzen har et problem i, at de fleste berømtheders boliger har tendens til at ligne hinanden, så når programmets vært, den surrealistiske komiker Keith Lemon, kigger rundt i et hus, er hans kommentarer fulde af unuancerede referencer til berømthedens liv og karriere.

Da han besøger boligen der hører til Adam West, den oprindelige Batman, lyder Keiths kommentarer som et gamle afsnit af ”Batman” fra 1960’erne. Men det er morsomt at se Keith prøve at tage en selfie med West, der ses på den store skærme, efter showets gæster har fundet frem til, hvem huset hører til. Selfien virker desværre ikke ret godt, på grund af den anderledes målestok – uha!

Det er morsomt at se showets vært, Keith Lemon,
prøve at tage en selfie med Adam West.
Selfien virker desværre ikke ret godt, på grund af forskellen på målestok – uha!

Senere i showet kigger Keith rundt i Gok Wans bolig, der ligger midt i byen London. Gok Wan er en tv-vært, der har præsenteret mange tv-shows, herunder ”How to Look Good Naked”, hvor han opmuntrede kvinder, ofte midaldrende kvinder, til at føle sig selvsikre, når de optræder på videoer uden en trevl på kroppen.

Keith tager sin ældre tante Jean med, når han kigger rundt i Goks hus. Han åbner pludselig en soveværelsedør og ”overrumpler” hende – hun er tilsyneladende i færd med at klæde sig om. Jeg har lidt ondt af Keiths tante. Showet udnytter hendes seksualitet til showets mistænkelige formål, synes jeg! Stakkels Jean!!!!


Showet udnytter showet faktisk Tante Jeans
midaldrende seksualitet, synes jeg!

Tante Jeans udseende minder mig om den seneste stribe fra min yndlingstegner, danskeren Morten Ingemann.  Han er min yndlingstegner  – ingen tvivl om det! Han har mange egenskaber, som er et must for mig og et stort plus. Han interesserer sig meget for grimme, overvægtige, midaldrende folk, de slags mennesker, som de fleste tegnere sjældent giver opmærksomhed til.

Han har en rigtig forstand på den menneskelige natur og han fokuserer ofte på de vanskellige problemer, som grimme, overvægtige, midaldrende folk oplever i deres parforhold.

I den seneste stribe, ser vi vores gamle venner, Ruth og Even, et midaldrende ægtepar. Det er aften, og Even sidder i sengen . Han er nøgen, med hovedet og overkroppen stablet op mod et par puder. Han kigger på Ruth, der er ved at lægge sig for natten. Ruth har sin slåbrok på, men hendes nøgne krop titter frem.

Jeg formoder, at Even beundrer ikke ret meget sin kones krop, fordi han kommenterer, at han tænker på om parret ikke skulle spiser rødspætter den følgende aften. Selvom jeg er helt sikker på, at Evens krop ville minde Ruth om noget endnu mindre appetitvækkende, som de kunne spiser til aftensmad – ingen tvivl om det!!!

22:00 Lois kommer hjem og jeg går i seng – zzzzz!!! Men Lois trænger til at slapper af og geare ned efter aftenens stimulerende bibelklasse – stakkels Lois!!!!

Som altid har jeg valgt et godt tv-program for hende, nogle gamle afsnit af populære sitcoms fra 1970’erne. Jeg håber, hun ikke får mareridt – uha!


23:00 Jeg vågner op i et par minutter, da Lois kryber i sengen. Hun siger, hun har ignoreret min respektfulde anbefaling og set to gamle afsnit af et anderledes serie, Plebs, et ganske grov sitcom, der udspiller sig i romerske tider. Du godeste! Fremover må jeg give hende et helt anderledes udvalg at kigge på sent om aftenen – ingen tvivl om det!!!


05:00 Jeg står tidligt op og kigger lidt på nettet.


08:00 Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg tager dem med op i soveværelset og kryber tilbage i sengen. Vi drikker teen, går i bad og står op. Vi spiser morgenmad.

11:00 Det er hundekoldt, men vi går en kort tur i nabolaget. Vores rute: Borgergade, Søgade og tilbage igen.

13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går vi i seng i et par timer. Jeg læser 6 sider af min sengetidbog, ”Indsamlede digte af John Betjeman”, en julegave fra Lois. Lois læser 9 sider af sin sengetidbog, ”Leave it to Psmith”, af PG Wodehouse.

16:00 Vi står op og slapper af med en kop forfriskende te i sofaen.

English translation

18:00 Lois and I eat dinner, and afterwards we have to go out. Lois wants to attend a Bible class taking place tonight in Tewkesbury, and she is not allowed to drive at night at the moment because of cataracts. She is still waiting to get an appointment with the specialist at Gloucester Hospital.

I drive Lois over to Mari-Ann and Alf's house and drop her off. Alf is to drive her over to Tewkesbury. On the way home, I again cannot resist the temptation to drive past Sarah's old house in Leckhampton and daydream about the days when Lois and I took care of Sarah's little twins, our youngest grandchildren, Lily and Jessica. Happy days !!! Sarah and Francis, her husband, moved in December 2015 to Perth, Australia, along with their twins, now 3 and a half years old.

19:00 I drive home and listen to the radio, an interesting program about the tours which the famous comedians Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy went on in the 1930s and 1940s around England.


It's amazing, but the pair were welcomed like rock stars - large crowds waiting for them at railway stations. The program reminds me that Lois and I visited the Oliver and Hardy Museum in Ulveston in June 2010, just after Francis and Sarah's wedding, which took place next to Coniston Water. Stan Laurel was born in 1890 in Ulveston.

the house in the town of Ulveston where Stan Laurel was born

I stand in front of Ulveston's "Laurel & Hardy" Museum

Lois looking at interesting newspaper clippings in the museum. A bit surreal to read
an article that seems to be all about Lois!

The town Ulveston's original name was "Wolveston" but many Scandinavian immigrants settled in the area in the 10th and 11th centuries and they changed the town's name from Wolveston to Ulveston. The English word "wolf" is "ulv" in Danish.

Four days earlier Sarah and Francis had got married in a big house, Brantwood, located next to Coniston Water. The house was built by John Ruskin, the famous Victorian art critic. After the wedding Sarah and Francis took a short boat ride on the lake, along with all the guests.


Sarah and Francis aboard the boat after the wedding

21:00 I turn on the television. They show an entertaining TV game show, "Through the Keyhole". The program's surrealistic host, Keith Lemon, visits three residences and looks around in the houses. Lemon's 3 guests, Eamonn Holmes, Emma Bunton (“Baby Spice”), and Jonathan Ross, then try to guess which celebrity the house belongs to.


The quiz has a problem in that most celebrity homes tend to resemble each other, so when the program's host, the surrealist comedian Keith Lemon, looks around in a house, his comments are full of heavy-handed references to the celebrity's life and career.

When he visits the residence that belongs to Adam West, the original Batman, Keith's commentary sounds like an old episode of "Batman" from the 1960s. But it is amusing to see Keith trying to take a selfie with West, who appears on the big screen, after the show's guests have worked out who the house belongs to.

It is amusing to see the show's host, Keith Lemon,
try to take a selfie with Adam West.
The selfie unfortunately does not work very well,
because of the difference in scale - oh dear!

Later in the show Keith looks around Gok Wan's home in the middle of the city of London. Gok Wan is a television host who has presented many television shows, including "How to Look Good Naked", in which he encouraged women, often middle-aged women, to feel confident when they appear in videos without a stitch on their bodies.

Keith takes his elderly aunt Jean with him when he looks around Gok's house. He opens a bedroom door and "catches" her - she is apparently changing. I feel a little sorry for Keith's aunt. The show is exploiting her sexuality for the show's dubious purposes, I think! Poor Auntie Jean !!!!



the show is actually exploiting Auntie Jean' s 
middle-aged sexuality, I think!

Auntie Jean’s appearance reminds me of a recent cartoon-strip from my favorite cartoonist, the Dane Morten Ingemann. He is my favorite cartoonist - no doubt about it! He has many qualities that are a must for me and a big plus. He is very interested in ugly, overweight, middle-aged people, the kind of people that most artists rarely pay attention to.

He has a real sense of human nature and he often focuses on handling difficult problems that ugly, overweight, middle-aged people experience in their relationships.

In the most recent strip we see our old friends, Ruth and Even, a middle-aged couple. It is evening, and Even is sitting in bed. He is naked, with his head and upper body propped up against a couple of pillows. He looks at Ruth, who is about to lie down for the night. Ruth has her dressing gown on, but her naked body is peeping out.

I suppose that Even does not admire his wife's body that much because he comments that he was thinking about whether the couple should have plaice for dinner the following evening. Although I am quite sure that Even's body would remind Ruth of something even less appetizing that they could eat for dinner - no doubt about that !!!

22:00 Lois comes home and I go to bed - zzzzz !!! But Lois needs to relax and unwind after the evening's stimulating Bible Class - poor Lois !!!!

As always, I have chosen a good television program for her, some old episodes of popular sitcoms from the 1970s. I hope she does not get nightmares - oh dear!


23:00 I wake up for a few minutes when Lois creeps into bed. She says she has ignored my respectful recommendation and has been watching two old episodes of a different series, Plebs, quite a coarse sitcom set in Roman times. My God! In future, I must give her a completely different selection to look at late in the evening - no doubt about it !!!


05:00 I get up early and take a look at the web.


08:00 I hurry into the kitchen and make two cups of tea. I take them up to the bedroom and crawl back in bed. We drink the tea, go in the shower and get up. We eat breakfast.

11:00 It's freezing, but we go for a short walk in the neighborhood. Our route: Borgergade, Søgade and back again.

13:00 We eat lunch and afterwards we go to bed for a few hours. I read six pages of my bedtime book, "Collected Poems of John Betjeman", a Christmas gift from Lois. Lois reads nine pages of her bedtime book, "Leave it to Psmith", by PG Wodehouse.

16:00 We get up and relax with a cup of refreshing tea on the sofa.



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