Danskcolin: Søndag den 29. januar 2017 kl 16:30 til mandag den 30. januar 2017 kl 16:29

17:00 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og cykler 6 miles (10km). Jeg tænder for mit smartphone og ser 1986s bedste musikvideoer, eller noget lignende, mens jeg cykler. Da jeg er færdig, beslutter jeg også at opsamle mit sæt af vægte, der i to år har ligget forsømte og forladte i et hjørne af soveværelset. Jeg dyrker lidt mild vægtløftning og får en god følelse ud af det i hele kroppen. Jeg skal forske lidt på nettet for at finde ud af, hvilke de bedste øvelser er for et gammelt vrag som mig – uha!

17:30 Lynda har sendt mig en email. Hun er leder af U3As ”Making of English”-gruppen, der tilbagekigger på udviklingen af det engelske sprog, startende fra dets rødder i det indo-europæiske sprog, som verdens første landmænd talte for 5.000 år siden – du godeste!

Det går fremad med studiet, og vi kigger for tiden værker, der stammer fra det 13. århundrede. Vores næste værk er ”Havelok danske” som blev skrevet på middelengelsk mellem 1280 og 1290. Jeg er glad for at se, at Lynda har besluttet at adoptere den måde, som jeg brugte for at styre mødet på den 1. december, da Lynda var væk på ferie i grevskabet Pembroke.

Jeg udtænkte i december faktisk et helt anderledes måde at styre mødet på, end Lyndas. Jeg bad de medlemmer, der kunne være med til mødet, om at tage ca. 25 linjer og læse dem højt med en autentisk middelengelsk accent, ”oversætte” dem til moderne engelsk, og kommentere interessepunkter: for eksempel – interessante ord, ordenes oprindelse, grammatik, poetiske opfindelser osv.

Jeg besluttede, at det var en bedre måde at styre mødet på, end Lyndas måde, hvor gruppens diskussion ofte er ganske abstrakt, og springer konstant fra det ene aspekt til et andet (og tilbage igen) – uha!

Lynda har i dag sendt mig en email og bad mig om at kommentere på digtets første 20 linjer. Gruppens andre medlemmer (Joe, Joy, Vera, Anthony, Barb, Margaret og Lynda selv) har fået tildelt andre linjer, og vi håber, vi sammen kan dække digtets første ca. 200 linjer.

Digtets plot er meget kompliceret, men det handler om de angelsaksiske og de danske kongelige familier og udspiller sig i den angelsaksiske periode i grevskabet Lincoln og i Danmark.

Selve Havelok-figuren synes at være sønnen af en bonde, og er opvokset i havnen Grimsby. Han bosætter sig i byen Lincoln for at arbejde som køkkendreng i et stort hus, men der er en række tegn på, at han ikke er en typisk bondes søn, (han er faktisk arvingen til den danske trone – uha) !

Han er overnaturligt høj, stærk, smuk osv, også (mærkeligst af alt) kan han spy lys og ild ud af munden, hvilket er lidt af et giveaway, at alt ikke er helt normalt – du godeste! Men evnen til at kunne spy ild må have været meget nyttigt i køkkenet for at lave noget hurtigt nemt mad, når lejligheden krævede det, endnu bedre, end en mikroovn – det ved jeg med sikkerhed!!!

De tidligste tegn på, at alt ikke var helt normalt

med den unge Havelok – nemlig hans evne til at spy lys og ild ud af munden.

Du godeste, sikke et vanvid !!!!

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad og derefter bruger vi resten af aftenen på at lytte til radio, et interessant program, der handler om BBCs længst løbende radioprogram, ”Desert Island Discs”, der først blev sendt i 1942.

Serien går ud på, at en berømthed hver uge er bedt om at forestille sig, at han/hun er blevet strandet på en øde ø. I løbet af programmet bliver han bedt om at tale om sit liv og/eller karriere, og at vælge de 8 ”grammofonplader”, han helst vil have ved hånden, for at underholde sig i sit ensomme tilværelse. En simpel idé, men en meget langvarig serie, måske verdens mest langvarig – det er jeg ikke helt sikker på.

Vi hører korte uddrag fra mange programmer i serien, herunder David Attenborough, Cilla Black, Ian Fleming, Louis Armstrong, Lauren Bacall, Jacqueline du Pre, Dustin Hoffman, Desmond Tutu, Michael Caine, Maggie Thatcher, og mange mange andre.

Det er interessant, at Maggie Thatcher, der aldrig var kendt for sin sans for humør, valgte en komisk optagelse som én af sine 8 grammofonplader. Hun sagde, at hun især holdt meget af tør humor, og hun valgte Bob Newharts berømte optagelse af et spoof ” telefon-interview” med Sir Walter Raleigh, da han var ved at importere tobak for første gang til England, og han bliver bedt om at forklare, hvordan man bruger den.

Bob Newharts spoof ”telefon-interview”

med Sir Walter Raleigh, optaget i 1960

Den kommende premierminister deltog i Desert Island Discs-programmet i 1978, da hun stadig kun var oppositionsleder.

20:00 Programmet er alt for langt (3 timer – uha!) , så vi pålægger vores egne 45-minutters pause, for at tale lidt på Skype med vores ældste datter, Alison, og Ed, hendes mand. De flyttede for 4 år siden til Danmark, og Ed arbejder for et engelsk selskab i deres skandinaviske hovedkontor.

Det er meget sjovt at snakke med dem om deres liv i København og høre om deres planer osv. På næste fredag rejser de til byen Bergen i Norge for at tilbringe weekenden sammen med deres gamle venner Emma og Robin, der flyver dertil fra England. Ali og Eds filipinske au pair, Maricelle (stave?), skal passe på børnene.

Jeg kan meget godt huske Bergen. Lois og jeg overnattede i byen i 1970, på vej til Norheimsund, en lille by, der ligger ved Hardanger-fjorden. Det var første gang vi tog på ferie alene sammen som kærestepar – du godeste, hvor var det dog spåndende!

Lois i Norge i 1970, vores første ferie

alene sammen som kærestepar

22:00 Vi går i seng. Jeg læser 7 sider af min sengetidbog, ”Indsamlede digte af John Betjeman”, en julegave fra Lois, før jeg glider over i søvnen – zzzzzzz!!!!

04:00 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest.

07:30 Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg tager dem med op i soveværelset og hopper op i sengen til Lois. Vi drikker teen og står op. Vi spiser morgenmad.

09:15 Vi skal ud. Vi kører over til Bishops Cleeve, en lille landsby, der ligger 3 miles nord for Cheltenham. Vi smutter ind i den lokale grønthandlerforretning for at købe et par ting. Vi kører hjem.

10:30 Vi kører over til den lokale dyreklinik, Dragon Vets. Lois har bestilt en tid hos klinikken, der ligger ved siden af væddeløbsbanen. Klinikkens sygeplejerske skal klippe Minx’s kløer.

Minx venter i sin transportkasse på

at sygeplejersken klipper hendes kløer

Stakkels Minx!!!!!

Minx er Alisons kat. Alison, vores ældste datter, flyttede til Danmark for 3 år siden, sammen med Ed, sin mand, og deres 3 børn. Familien efterlod Minx hos os, da de flyttede derover.

Minx’s kløer vokser rigtig hurtigt og har tendens til at blive viklet ind i Lois’s trøjer eller kjoler, når hun sætter sig på Lois’s skød – uha!

Sygeplejersken tager Minx med i en bagværelse for at klippe kløerne, mens Lois og jeg venter. Vi dræber tid ved at kigge på billederne af de søde kæledyr på væggen. Vi får øje på et sødt billede af to kaniner, og vi tager et foto af det. Vi vil gøre fotoet til en lykønskningskort og sende det til Lily, vores 3-årige barnebarn i Australien, der holder meget af kaniner. Du godeste – vi er begge to sådan nogle blødsødne idioter!!!

Vi dræber tid i dyreklinikkens venteværelse

ved at kigge på de søde kæledyrbilleder

på sygeplejerskens vægge – du godeste, vi er sådan nogle idioter!!!

Vi kører hjem og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur – zzzzz!!!

15:00 Lois smutter ind hos naboerne (Bill og Mary) for at snakke lidt. Jeg står op og drikker en kop te.

English translation

17:00 I jump up on my exercise bike and cycle 6 miles (10km). I switch on my smartphone and watch 1986's best music videos, or something similar, while cycling. When I'm done, I decide also to pick up my set of weights which for two years have lain neglected and abandoned in a corner of the bedroom. I do a little mild weight lifting and get a good feeling out of it throughout the body. I will research a bit online to find out what the best exercises are for an old wreck like me - oh dear!

17:30 Lynda has sent me an email. She is the leader of U3As "Making of English" group that is looking back at the development of the English language, starting from its roots in the Indo-European language spoken by the world's first farmers 5,000 years ago - my god!

We have made good progress with the study, and at the moment we are looking at works dating from the 13th century. Our next work is "Havelok the Dane" which was written in Middle English between 1280 and 1290. I am glad to see that Lynda has decided to adopt the method that I used to steer the meeting on December 1, when Lynda was away on holiday in the county of Pembroke.

In December I in fact conceived a completely different way of steering the meeting than Lynda's. I asked the members that could come to the meeting to take about 25 lines each and read them aloud with an authentic Middle English accent, "translate" them into modern English, and comment on points of interest: for example - interesting words, origin of words, grammar, poetic inventions etc.

I decided it was a better way to steer the meeting than Lynda's way, in which the group discussion is often quite abstract and moves constantly from one aspect to another (and back again) - oh dear!

Lynda has today sent me an email asking me to comment on the poem's first 20 lines. The Group's other members (Joe, Joy, Vera, Anthony, Barb, Margaret and Lynda herself) have been assigned other lines, and we hope that together we can cover the poem's first 200 lines or so.

The poem's plot is very complicated, but it is about the Anglo-Saxon and Danish royal families and is set in the Anglo-Saxon period in the county of Lincoln and in Denmark.

The Havelok character himself seems to be the son of a peasant, who was born in the port of Grimsby. He settles in the city of Lincoln and works as a kitchen boy in a big house, but there are a number of signs that he is not a typical peasant's son (he is actually the heir to the Danish throne - oh dear)!

He is supernaturally tall, strong, handsome, etc., also (strangest of all) he can breathe light and fire out of his mouth, which is a bit of a give-away that not everything is quite normal - my god! But the ability to breathe fire must have been very useful in the kitchen to make some quick easy meals when the occasion demanded it, even better than a microwave - I know that for sure !!!

The earliest signs that everything was not quite normal

with the young Havelok - namely his ability to spew light and fire

out of his mouth. My god, what madness !!!!

18:00 Lois and I eat supper and then we spend the rest of the evening listening to the radio, an interesting program, which is about the BBC's longest-running radio program "Desert Island Discs", which first aired in 1942.

The idea of the series is that each week a celebrity is asked to imagine that he / she has been stranded on a desert island. During the program he is asked to talk about his life and / or career, and to choose the 8 "phonograph records", he would most like to have to hand to entertain himself in his solitary existence. A simple idea, but a very long lasting series, perhaps the world's longest - I'm not quite sure.

We hear short excerpts from many programs in the series, including David Attenborough, Cilla Black, Ian Fleming, Louis Armstrong, Lauren Bacall, Jacqueline du Pre, Dustin Hoffman, Desmond Tutu, Michael Caine, Maggie Thatcher, and many many others.

It is interesting that Maggie Thatcher, who was never known for her sense of humor, chose a comedy recording as one of her eight records. She said she was especially fond of dry humor, and she chose Bob Newhart's famous recording of a spoof "telephone interview" with Sir Walter Raleigh when he was about to import tobacco into England for the first time, and he is asked to explain how to use it.

Bob Newhart's spoof "telephone interview"

with Sir Walter Raleigh, recorded in 1960

The future prime minister took part in the program in 1978, when she was still only opposition leader.

20:00 The program is far too long (3 hours - oh dear!), so we impose our own 45-minute break to talk on Skype with our eldest daughter, Alison, and Ed, her husband. They moved 4 years ago to Denmark, and Ed is working for a British company in its Scandinavian headquarters.

It is a lot of fun to talk to them about their lives in Copenhagen and hear about their plans and so on. Next Friday they are traveling to the city of Bergen in Norway to spend the weekend with their old friends Emma and Robin flying there from England. Ali and Ed's Filipino au pair, Maricelle (spelling?), will take care of the children.

I can very well remember Bergen. Lois and I spent the night in the city in 1970, on the way to Norheimsund, a small town situated on the Hardangerfjord. It was the first time we ever went on holiday alone together as girlfriend-boyfriend - my god, how exciting was that!

Lois in Norway in 1970, our first holiday

alone together as girlfriend-boyfriend

22:00 We go to bed. I read seven pages of my bedtime book, "Collected Poems of John Betjeman", a Christmas gift from Lois, before I drift off to sleep - zzzzzzz !!!!

04:00 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.

07:30 I hurry into the kitchen and make two cups of tea. I take them up to the bedroom and hop into bed with Lois. We drink the tea and get up. We eat breakfast.

09:15 We have to go out. We drive over to Bishops Cleeve, a small village located 3 miles north of Cheltenham. We pop into the local greengrocer's shop to buy a few things. We drive home.

10:30 We drive over to the local vet clinic, Dragon Vets. Lois has made an appointment at the clinic, which is located next to the racetrack. The clinic's nurse is to cut Minx's claws.

Minx waiting in her cat-carrier for the nurse

to cut her claws. Poor Minx !!!!!

Minx is Alison's cat. Alison, our oldest daughter, moved to Denmark three years ago, along with Ed, her husband and their 3 children. The family left Minx with us when they moved over there.

Minx's claws grow really fast and tend to become entangled in Lois's sweaters or dresses when she sits down on Lois's lap - oh dear!

The nurse takes Minx with her into a back room to cut her claws, while Lois and I wait. We kill time by looking at the pictures of the cute pets on the wall. We spot a sweet image of two rabbits, and we take a photo of it. We will make the photo into a greetings card and send it to Lily, our 3-year-old grandchild in Australia who is very fond of rabbits. My god - we're both such soft buggers!!!