Danskcolin: Mandag den 1. maj 2017 kl 16:30 tirsdag den 2. maj 2017 kl 16:29

17:00 Alison, vores datter i København, sender mig en sms. Hun vil gerne udskyde vores Skype-opkald indtil i morgen. Hun har taget Rosalind, sin 8-årige datter, til karate-klub og Rosalind vil have hende til at blive siddende derinde, mens hun dyrker hendes ting. Vi bestemmer kaldet til i morgen kl 17 (dansk tid), fordi Lois skal ud – hendes bibelseminar finder sted hver tirsdag aften.

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at lytte til radio, en interesssant program, der handler om forbindelsen mellem reklamer og idealisme, startende fra den berømte banebrydende Coca-Cola ”hill-top” reklame fra 1971.

Reklamen brugte en sang skrevet af to unge sangskrivere, Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, der boede i Fishponds, en lille forstad til byen Bristol. Parret havde allerede skrevet mange hitsange til Gene Pitney, Cliff Richard, Fortunes osv, og Coca-Colas reklamebureau, McCann-Erickson, var blevet interesseret for at hyre dem til en ny Coca-Cola reklamekampagne.

En af bureauets tekstforfattere, Billy Backer, fløj fra New York for at tale med Cook and Greenaway, men desværre blev hans fly forsinket på Shannon Lufthavn, og Backer måtte overnatte der. Alle flyets passagere var meget vrantne, da de fik at vide, at de skulle overnatte i lufthavnen, men Backer bemærkede, at de den følgende morgen blev meget muntre og venlige overfor hinanden, talende om deres fælles oplevelse over en kop kaffe eller te, eller en coca-cola. Åbenbaringen, at coca-cola var en slags social lim, inspirerede Backer til at lancere en reklamekampagne, der understregede glæderne ved at drikke coca-cola i en gruppe fremfor glæderne med at forfriske sig som individuel.

Han nåede til sidst at mødes med Cook og Greenaway, der havde skrevet en sang, da de var på ferie, der indeholdt linjen: ”Don’t promise me no diamond rings or castles in the sky, ’cos all I need is your true love, true love and apple pie”. Backer elskede melodien, men hadede teksten, så derfor samarbejdede han med de to sangskrivere for at finde på de ord, der blev brugt i den finale version. Du godeste!

Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway

Den resulterende tv-reklame, der udspillede sig på toppen af en bakke i Italien, brugte unge mennesker fra forskellige lande verden over, og byggede på mange sociale udviklinger fra de foregående ca. 5-10 år – nye holdninger over for fred, krig, sex, rettigheder osv, inspireret af en nye optimisme.

eller "Jeg vil gerne lære verden at synge i perfekt harmoni"

For mit vedkommende også, for at tale personligt, som en ung tilhænger af den unge politiker Edward Heath, var det en optimistisk periode, og jeg håbede på, at vi ville kunne fjerne nogle af de værste aspekter af Harold Wilsons såkaldte ”nanny state” indeks. Faktisk måtte vi vente endnu 10 år på vores ”befrielse” – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

Taxman, Mr Wilson, taxman Mr Heath (ifølge Beatles)

Men i aftenens radioprogram hører vi også om en Pepsi-reklamevideo , der ikke lykkedes så meget. Lois og jeg har ikke set denne reklame – det kan være, at Pepsi ikke har vist den i England. Modellen Kendall Jenner og stor gruppe multietniske unge konfronterer en række urobetjente, og Kendall byde en betjent en pepsi, som han drikker. Smil ses overalt!!! Sikke et vanvid!!!!

Modellen Kendall Jenner byder en urobetjent

en pepsi – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!

Og vi hører fra en reklamering-ekspert, der mener, at denne slags kampagne kun fungerer godt for en markedsleder som Coca-Cola, men det er vi ikke ret sikre på! Ræk mig nu opkastningsposen, Alice!

Lois og jeg vidste det ikke, men unge muslimer nu er verdens største nye demografiske element, som reklamebranchen prøver at skille fra deres penge (og denne gruppe bliver rigere og rigere, med hver dag, der går, siger man).

I en ny Unileverreklame for muslimske hårplejeprodukter ser man ikkek noget hår – fordi kvinderne alle går med tørklæder på hovedet – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!!!

Programmet påpeger, at muslimske unge ikke nødvendigvis fantaserer om at købe eller spise traditionelle produkter, og det kan være, at de foretrækker vestlige retter, som for eksempel hamburgere eller fish’n’chips, fremfor traditionelle karryretter, ligesom Raj i Big Bang Theory.

Lois fortæller mig om et tidligere eksempel på, at muslimske unge gør oprør mod deres forældre, en hændelse, der blev beskrevet i 1950’erne af den berømte engelske forfatter, Lawrence Durrell, i hans novelle, ”Sauve qui peut”.

Den kurdiske ambassadør i Saigon inviterede alle de andre ambassadører i Saigon til at deltage i en fest og ceremoni på den kurdiske ambassade, hvor den kurdiske ambassadørens søn skulle blive omskåret af medecinsk personale. Selvfølgelig havde ingen i den britiske ambassade lyst til at være med til dette grusomme ceremoni, men en vis hr. Antrobus trak desværre den korte halm og blev tvunget til at deltage på den britiske ambassadørs vegne.

Heldigvis var ambassadørens søn studerende på Oxford University, hvor han var blevet en boksermester, og når han dykkede op til festen og fandt ud af den planlagte ceremonien, besluttede han at slå ud alle lægerne og sygeplejerskerne, der var kommet for at foretager operation, så krise forbi og lykkelig slutning med andre ord,!!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!!!

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

08:00 Jeg lunter ind i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg tager dem med op i soveværelset og hopper op i sengen til Lois. Vi drikker téen og går i bad. Vi står op og spiser morgenmad.

10:00 Min ven, ”Magyar” Mike kommer og vi lærer ungarsk i en time. Lærebogen vi bruger i år er lidt gammeldags, og desværre afspejler den lidt den kommunistiske æra, men jeg må indrømme, at de grammatiske forklaringer er meget klar. Der var 3 forfattere, der samarbejdede for at fremstille bogen.

Jeg er helt sikker på, at de 3 forfattere hyggede sig meget, da de arbejdede på bogen, og den fyldte en stor kløft i markedet, ingen tvil om det. Jeg forventer, at de 3 mænd nu er alle døde eller meget meget gamle.

Bogen indholder nogle charmerende vittigheder som for eksempel, denne kortsynede gamle dame, der tror, at hun taler med en ung dreng i gaden, og hun spørger ham, hvor gammel han er. Faktisk er ”drengen” en midaldrende mand, der står og arbejder i et mandehul – du godeste! Hvad kan jeg siger ellers, end ”lol” – ha ha ha.

ungarsk vittighed: kortsynede dame

spørge ”drengen”, hvor gammel han er lol....

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går vi i seng i et par timer.

15:30 Vi står op. Lois har købt en ny bog, der handler om historien af landsbyen, og der har nogle kort over det lokale område fra det 18. og 19. århundreder, hvor grønne marker kan ses i stedet for de tusindvis af huse, der i dag står der. Hvor fængslende! Jeg glæder mig til at kigger på dem nærmere.

gamle kort over det lokale område –

jeg glæder mig til at kigge nærmere på dem!

Vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

English translation

17:00 Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen, sends me a text message. She would like to postpone our Skype call until tomorrow. She has taken Rosalind, her 8-year-old daughter, to karate club and Rosalind wants her to sit there while she does her stuff. We fix the call for tomorrow at 5pm (Danish time) because Lois is going out - her Bible seminar takes place every Tuesday evening.

18:00 Lois and I eat dinner and spend the rest of the evening listening to the radio, an interesting program about the link between advertising and idealism, starting from the famous groundbreaking Coca-Cola hill-top commercial from 1971.

The commercial used a song written by two young songwriters, Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, who lived in Fishponds, a small suburb of the city of Bristol. The pair had already written many hits for Gene Pitney, Cliff Richard, The Fortunes, etc., and Coca-Cola's advertising agency, McCann-Erickson, had become interested in hiring them for a new Coca-Cola advertising campaign.

One of the agency's copywriters, Billy Backer, flew from New York to talk to Cook and Greenaway, but unfortunately his flight was delayed at Shannon Airport, and Backer had to stay there overnight. All the passengers on the plane were very angry when they were told they were staying at the airport, but Backer noticed that they were very cheerful and friendly to each other the following morning, when talking about their shared experience over a cup of coffee or tea, or a coca cola. The revelation that coca cola was a kind of social glue inspired Backer to launch an advertising campaign that emphasised the joys of drinking coca cola in a group rather than the joys of refreshing oneself as an individual.

He eventually managed to meet with Cook and Greenaway who had recently written a song when they were on vacation, which included the line: "Don't promise me no diamond rings or castles in the sky, 'cos all I need is your true love, true love and apple pie ". Backer loved the melody, but hated the lyrics, so he worked with the two songwriters to find the words that were used in the final version. My God!

Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway

The resulting television commercial, played out on top of a hill in Italy, used young people from different countries around the world, and built on many social developments from the previous approx. 5-10 years - new attitudes towards peace, war, sex, rights, etc., inspired by a new optimism.

or "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony"

For my part, speaking personally, as a young supporter of the young politician Edward Heath, it was an optimistic period, and I hoped that we could get rid of some of the worst aspects of Harold Wilson's so-called "nanny state" index. In fact, we had to wait another 10 years for our "liberation" - my god, what madness !!!

Taxman, Mr Wilson, Taxman Mr. Heath (according to Beatles)

But tonight's radio show is also about a Pepsi commercial video that was not so successful. Lois and I have not seen this commercial - it may be that Pepsi have not shown it in England. The model Kendall Jenner and a large group of multi-ethnic youngsters confront a number of riot police, and Kendall offers a policeman a pepsi, which he drinks. Smiles all round !!! What madness !!!!

The model Kendall Jenner offers a riot officer

a pepsi - good grief, what madness!

And we hear from an advertising expert who thinks that this kind of campaign only works well for a market leader like Coca-Cola, but that's something Lois and I are not quite sure about. Pass the sick-bag, Alice!

Lois and I did not know, but young Muslims are now the world's largest new demographic element, that the advertising industry is trying to separate from their money (and this group is becoming richer and richer, with each passing day).

In a new Unilever advertisement for muslim hair care products, you do not see any hair - because the women are all wearing scarves on their heads - good grief, what a crazy world we live in !!!!!!

The program points out that Muslim young people do not necessarily fantasise about buying or consuming traditional muslim products, and they may prefer Western dishes, such as hamburgers or fish'n'chips, to traditional curry dishes, just like Raj does in the Big Bang Theory.

Lois tells me of a previous example of a Muslim youth rebelling against his parents, an event described in the 1950s by the famous English author Lawrence Durrell in his short story, "Sauve Qui Peut".

The Kurdish ambassador to Saigon invited all the other ambassadors in Saigon to attend a party and ceremony at the Kurdish Embassy, where the son of the Kurdish ambassador was to be circumcised by medical staff. Of course nobody in the British Embassy wanted to be present at this gruesome ceremony, but a certain Mr. Antrobus, who worked there, unfortunately drew the short straw and was forced to attend on the British ambassador's behalf.

Fortunately, the ambassador's son was a student at Oxford University, where he had become a champion boxer, and when he turned up at the party and found out about the planned operation, he decided to knock unconscious all the doctors and nurses who had come to carry out the surgery, so crisis over and happy ending in other words !!!!!

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

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

08:00 I amble into the kitchen and make two cups of tea. I take them up into the bedroom and jump into bed with Lois. We drink the tea and go in the shower. We get up and have breakfast.

10:00 My friend, "Magyar" Mike comes and we learn Hungarian for an hour. The textbook we are using this year is a bit old-fashioned, and unfortunately it reflects the Communist era a little bit, but I have to admit that the grammatical explanations are very clear. There were 3 authors who collaborated to produce the book.

I'm quite sure the 3 authors enjoyed themselves a lot when they worked on the book and it filled a big gap in the market, no doubt about it. I expect that the 3 men now are all dead or very very old.

The book contains some charming jokes like, for example, this short-sighted old lady who thinks she is talking to a young boy in the street and she asks him how old he is. In fact, the "boy" is a middle aged man who is standing working in a manhole - my god! What else can I say other than "lol" - ha ha ha.

Hungarian joke: short-sighted lady

Asks “the boy” how old he is lol ....

12:30 We eat lunch and afterwards we go to bed for a couple of hours.

15:30 We get up. Lois has bought a new book about the history of the village and which has some maps from the 18th and 19th century of the local area, where green fields can be seen instead of the thousands of houses that stand there today . How captivating! I am looking forward to looking at them more closely.