17:00 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og tilbagelægger endnu 6 miles (10km)
og jeg samtidigt ser på gamle popsange/videoer på YouTube. I dag er det igen
året 1955, jeg er nået tilbage til.
Vi er nu 100% tilbage i æraen før rock’n’roll, da det var almindeligt, at
to forskellige sangere optog samme sangen. Jeg har tid til at høre kun ca. 5
sange, men to ud af de 5 var sangen ”David Crockett [konge af den vilde
grænse]”. Alle mine klassekammerater kendte denne sang og hele teksten, og min
far tog Kathy, min søster, og mig med i biografen for at se filmen. Jeg kan
huske meget godt scenerne, hvor Davy døde i slaget ved Alamo, efter tusindvis
af blåfrakkede mexikanske soldater stormede fortet.
Det er interessant at koncentrere mig for første gang om teksten, og jeg
hører under sangen, at Davy på ét eller andet tidspunkt i sin karriere
”overtog” Washington, hvilket gør ham til at lyde lidt som en ”god” version af
Donald Trump, der prøvede at forsvare indianernes rettigheder. Jeg mindes, at
da jeg var 9 år gammel, troede jeg fejlagtigt, at Davy blev præsident.
tilbageblik til sommeren 1955 - mig (på 9 år) og
min
7-årige søster, Kathy, på havegyngen i vores baghave.
(fra venstre til højre) mig, Kathys veninde Jackie Copestake,
og
Kathy, siddende på græsplænen i vores baghave
vores familie holdt en 2-uges ferie i Broadstairs,
en
lille badeby i grevskabet Kent. Min far tog Kathy og mig med
til
en talentkonkurrence for børn. Jeg kan huske, at tre af
deltagerne
sang ”Unchained Melody”, det dengang var blevet
et kæmpe hit
– du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!
Jeg
kan stadig huske, hvor varmt var der i publikummet.
Kathy
sidder og spiser en is for at køle af – hvor fornuftigt!!!!
Lykkelige dage!!!!
18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bagefter smutter vi ind i vores naboernes have
for at vande deres planter både i haven og i drivhuset. Stephen og Frances tog
i morges til af sted, og er fløjet til Berlin i nogle dage.
Vi vander planterne i vores naboernes have og drivhus
Ligesom os har Stephen og Francis en meget lang have (150m?). Men de vil
gøre gengæld om et par uger, når Lois og jeg flyver til Danmark i nogle dage.
For tiden er vores havearbejde bare en kedelig opgave for mig, ikke en
glæde, fordi vores have er så stor og lang, og Lois og jeg bliver hver dag
ældre og svagere. Det ville være rart at kunne flytte ind i et mindre hus med
en mindre have, så vi kunne gøre denne ”opgave” til en hobby, vi kan få
fornøjelse af.
20:00 Vi kommer tilbage hjem igen og smækker benene op foran fjernsynet. De
viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om livet af Prins Philip.
Programmets vært er den charmerende have-ekspert, Alan Titchmarsh.
Interessant interviews med Philip og nogle af personerne, der godt kender
ham, også gamle fotos og film. Det er forbløffende, hvor livlig han stadig ser
ud. Programmet viser et meget klart billede af hans personlighed – altid meget
munter og positiv, en mand, der aldrig spilder tid på at tænke dybt om sig
selv, sjældent er seriøs, har tendens til at gøre værtens spørgsmål til
vittigheder, og kun er interesseret i at ”komme videre med det nuværende opgave”,
uanset hvad det måtte være.
En meget aktiv mand, god til at organisere projekter osv. Som dronningens
gemal, måtte han være forsigtig til at følge reglerne, og spille sin lidt
begrænsede rolle indenfor de regler, men når han havde chancerne for at modernisere
eller organisere forandringer, tog han chancen ivrigt, for eksempel i at redesigne
dele af Windsor Slot efter den store brand i 1992.
Lois og jeg synes, at det ville have hjulpet dronningen meget at have sådan
en ægtefælle, når det kommer til al de svære tider og kriser, hun siden deres
bryllup i 1947 har levet igennem. Lois siger, at jeg opfylder samme behov i
hendes liv – du godeste, lidt for smigrende, synes jeg!!!!
Elizabeth blev først forelsket i Philip, da hun kun var en meget ung
teenager. Han kommer fra blandede tysk/dansk/russisk oprindelser, og tilbragte en masse tid i Tyskland i 1930’erne som en
skoledrenge, men han har en upåkladelig fortid som anti-nazist: da hans klassekammerater blev bedt om at give
den nazi hilsen, sprængte han ud med at grine. Hans forældrene flyttede ham til
en skole i Skotland (Gordonstoun), der var drevet af en anden flygtning fra det
nazistiske Tyskland.
Lois og jeg synes, at Storbritannien har været meget heldig i at have haft Elizabeth og Philip som dronning
og gemal (ligesom under Elizabeths forældre) i 65 år. Philip fylder 96 år næste
måned og ingen i landet kritiserer ham for at ”gå på pension”på denne måde –
det ved jeg med sikkerhed!!!!
Det er interessant, at Philips pendant i Danmark, Prins Henrik, en
franskmand, blev meget stærkt kritiseret af de danske medier, da han ”gik på
pension” for et par år siden på ”kun” 81 år. Du godeste – sikke en skør verden
vi lever i !!!!!
22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!!!!
04:00 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske
ordforrådtester.
08:00 Jeg dasker ud i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg tager dem med op
i soveværelse og kryber tilbage under dynen til Lois. Vi drikker teen og står
op. Vi spiser morgenmad.
10:00 Min ven, ”Magyar” Mike kommer, og vi lærer ungarsk i en time. Vi
udveksler ungarske ordforrådtest, og arbejde gennem øvelserne i vores lærebogs
12. lektion.
11:00 Mike skal af sted. Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop kaffe.
13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en kort
eftermiddagslur – zzzz!!! Lois går ud i baghaven og laver lidt havearbejde.
14:00 Jeg står op og kigger lidt på nettet. Jeg finder Morten
Ingemanns seneste tegneseriestribe. Du godeste! Jeg får lidt af et chok, da jeg
ser den – det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om !!!!
Danskeren Ingemann er min yndlingstegner
– ingen tvivl om det! Han interesserer sig meget for grimme,
overvægtige, midaldrende eller ældre folk, de slags mennesker, som de fleste
tegnere sjældent giver opmærksomhed til.
Gamle mennesker har problemer, som yngre mennesker ikke har – det ved jeg
med sikkerhed. Og ét af vores største problem dukker frem, når én af vores
gamle venner har fødselsdag. Det er meget svært at finde på en passende
fødselsdagsgave til et gammelt vrag – det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om.
Det er ret håbløst at give dem ornamenter eller billeder: deres møbler og
vægge er allerede propfylde af ornamenter og billeder. De har allerede købt alt, de har brug for. Og
chokolade eller flasker alkohol kunne sende dem på vej til en (lidt for) tidlig
grav.
Som sædvanligt har Ingemann svaret. Vi ser to damer på Københavns golfklub,
der snakker om dette problem. Den ene spørger, hvad hun skal købe til hendes
veninde, der har alt. Svaret er simpelt – at købe en tyverialarm, hvilket nu
synes så åbenbart, at jeg er overrasket
over, hvorfor jeg kom ikke i tanke om det før.
Tak skal du have!!!
Hil dig, Morten, du holdt os ud af krig!!!
Jeg printer de næste 8 sider af vores danske kriminovelle, “Forbandet” (af Gittemie
Eriksen), ud, og udfærdige en forrådliste i bunden af hver side. Vores U3A
danske gruppe er i gang med at læse denne novelle, der handler om en mysteriøs række
af mord og selvmord, der fandt sted i en rolig dansk landsby. Novellens helt,
Per Janson, den lokale landbetjent, er i gang med at undersøge forbrydelserne.
Morderens offer gik alle i samme klasse på den lokale skole, da de var 7-8
år gamle. Medlemmerne af vores U3A gruppe tror, at Mia, en lokal advokat, må
have været gerningsmanden, fordi hun var den eneste elev, som alle de andre
elever godt kunne lide – hun var smuk og sød, og afslog at deltage i at mobbe
de mere upopulære elever – du godeste! Vores gruppes medlemmer tror, at hun overfladisk er
den mindst sandsynlige kandidat til morderen, og derfor må det være hende, der
begik alle disse frygtelige forbrydelser – du godeste, hvor er vi dog kyniske!!!!
Mia Ohm-Pedersen, en lokal advokat.
Vores
danske gruppes medlemmer mistænker, at hun er morderen,
fordi
hun er den sødeste af alle de potentielle gerningsmænd!!!
Hvor
er vi dog kyniske!!!!
Desværre bliver det mere og mere åbenbart, at landbetjent bliver mere og
mere forelsket i den smukke Mia. Jeg har lige læst en side, hvor Mia siger
landbetjentens navn ”Per” under et møde af politi og potentielle offer/mordere.
Per tænker, ”Hun havde sagt mit navn. Per.
Sådan blødt. Hvad fanden var det med mig? Jeg var en gift mand, for fanden. Og
hun var en gift kvinde”.
Du godeste, Per. Der findes ikke nogen nar
så stor, som en gammel nar, siger vi. Du må opgive håbet om, at score hende,
Per. Vær fornuftig, handle din alder!
Landbetjent Per Janson er forelkset i Mia – du godeste, Per!
Du
må opgive håbet om at score hende, Per!!!
Du er alt for gammel til hende !!!!
Sikke
en skør verden vi lever i !!!!
15:00 Lois kommer
ind i huset igen og vi går i bad.
English translation
17:00 I jump up on my exercise bike and notch up another 6 miles (10km) and
I watch old pop songs / videos on YouTube at the same time. Today it is again
the year 1955, I have arrived back at.
We are now 100% back in the era
before rock'n'roll, when it was common for two different singers to record the
same song. I have time to hear only about 5 songs, but two out of the 5 were
the song "David Crockett [King of the Wild Frontier]". All my
classmates knew this song and the whole lyric, and my dad took Kathy, my
sister, and me to the cinema to watch the movie. I remember very well the
scenes where Davy died in the battle of Alamo, after thousands of blue-coated
Mexican soldiers stormed the fort.
It's interesting to concentrate
for the first time on the lyrics, and I hear during the song that at some point
in his career, Davy "took over" Washington, making him sound like a
"good" version of Donald Trump, who tried to defend the rights of the
Indians. I remember that when I was 9 years old, I mistakenly believed that
Davy became president.
flashback to summer 1955 - me
(aged 9) and
my 7 year old sister, Kathy, on the garden
swing in our back yard.
(from left to right) me, Kathy's
friend Jackie Copestake,
and Kathy, sitting on the lawn in our back garden
Our family had a 2-week
vacation in Broadstairs,
a small seaside resort in the county of
Kent. My father took Kathy and me
to a talent contest for children. I can
remember that three of
the participants sang "Unchained Melody",
which had at the time
become a huge hit - good grief, what madness
!!!
I still remember how hot it was there in the
audience.
Kathy is eating an ice cream to cool off -
how sensible !!!!
Happy days !!!!
18:00 We have dinner and
afterwards we pop into our neighbours' garden to water their plants both in the
garden and in the greenhouse. Stephen and Frances went off this morning and
have flown to Berlin for a few days.
We water the plants in
our neighbour's garden and greenhouse
Like us, Stephen and Francis have
a very long garden (150 yds?). But they will be returning the favour in a couple
of weeks when Lois and I fly to Denmark for a few days.
Currently, our garden work is
just a dull task for me, not a joy, because our garden is so big and long and
Lois and I are growing older and weaker every day. It would be nice to be able
to move into a smaller house with a smaller garden so that we could make this
"task" into a hobby we can get pleasure from.
20:00 We come back home and stick
our feet up in front of the television. An interesting documentary is on, all
about the life of Prince Philip. The host of the program is the charming
gardening expert, Alan Titchmarsh.
Interesting interviews with
Philip and some of the people who know him well, including old photos and
movies. It is amazing how lively he still looks. The program gives a very clear
picture of his personality - always very cheerful and positive, a man who never
wastes time thinking deeply about himself, is rarely serious, tends to turn the
host's questions into jokes and is only interested in "getting on with the
current task", whatever that happens to be.
A very active man, good at
organising projects, etc. As the Queen's consort, he had to be careful to
follow the rules and play his slightly limited role within those rules, but
when he had the chance of modernising or organising change, he took the chance
eagerly, for example, in redesigning parts of Windsor Castle after the great
fire in 1992.
Lois and I think that it would
have helped the queen a lot to have such a spouse when it came to all the
difficult times and crises she has lived through since their wedding in 1947.
Lois says I meet the same needs in her life - good grief, a little too
flattering, I think !!!!
Elizabeth first fell in love with
Philip when she was only a very young teenager. He comes from mixed German /
Danish / Russian origins, and spent a lot of time in Germany in the 1930s as a
schoolboy, but he has an impeccable record as an anti-Nazi: when his classmates
were asked to give the Nazi salute he burst out laughing. His parents moved him
to a school in Scotland (Gordonstoun), run by another refugee from Nazi
Germany.
Lois and I think Britain has been
very lucky to have had Elizabeth and Philip as queen and consort (just like
under Elizabeth's parents) for 65 years. Philip turns 96 next month and no one
in the country is criticising him for "retiring" in this way - that's
something I know for sure !!!!
It is interesting that Philip's
counterpart in Denmark, Prince Henrik, a Frenchman, was highly criticised by
the Danish media when he "retired" a couple of years ago at the age
of "only" 81. Good grief -
what a crazy world we live in !!!!!
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 shuffle out into the
kitchen and make two cups of tea. I take them up to the bedroom and crawl back
under the covers with Lois. We drink the tea and get up. We eat breakfast.
10:00 My friend,
"Magyar" Mike comes and we study Hungarian for an hour. We exchange
Hungarian vocabulary tests, and work through the exercises in our textbook's
12th lesson.
11:00 Mike has to leave. Lois and
I relax with a cup of coffee.
13:00 We eat lunch and afterwards
I go to bed and take a short afternoon afternoon nap - zzzz !!! Lois goes out
into the backyard and does a little gardening.
14:00 I get up and take a little
look online. I find Morten Ingemann's latest comic strip. My Goodness! I get a
bit of shock when I see it - I have no doubts about that !!!!
The Dane Ingemann is my favourite
cartoonist - no doubt about that! He is very interested in ugly, overweight,
middle aged or older people, the kind of people most cartoonists rarely pay
attention to.
Old people have problems that
younger people do not have - that's something I know for sure. And one of our
biggest problems emerges when one of our old friends has a birthday. It's very
hard to find an appropriate birthday present for an old wreck - I have no doubt
about that.
It's quite hopeless to give them
ornaments or pictures: their furniture and walls are already stuffed with
ornaments and pictures. They have already bought everything they need. And
chocolate or bottles of alcohol could send them on their way to a (somewhat) too early grave.
As usual, Ingemann has the
answer. We see two ladies at the Copenhagen Golf Club chatting about this
problem. One asks what to buy for her friend who has everything. The answer is
simple - to buy a burglar alarm, which now seems so obvious that I'm surprised
about why I did not think of it before.
Thank 'ee, Mort !!! Hail to thee,
Morten Ingemann, you kept us out of war !!!
I print out the next 8 pages of
our Danish crime story, "Accursed" (by Gittemie Eriksen), and draw up
a vocabulary list at the bottom of each page. Our U3A Danish group is reading
this story, which is about a mysterious batch of murders and suicides that took
place in a quiet Danish village. The story's hero, Per Janson, the local police
constable, is investigating the crimes.
The murder victims were all in
the same class at the local school when they were 7-8 years old. The members of
our U3A group believe that Mia, now a local lawyer, must have been the
perpetrator because she was the only student that all the other students liked
- she was beautiful and sweet and refused to take part in bullying the more
unpopular students - good grief! Our group's members think she is the superficially least
likely candidate for murderer, and therefore it must be her who committed all
these terrible crimes - good grief, how cynical we are !!!!
Mia Ohm-Pedersen, a local lawyer.
Our Danish group members suspect she is the
killer,
because she is the nicest of all the
potential perpetrators !!!
How cynical we are!!!!
Unfortunately, it is becoming
more and more evident that the constable is becoming more and more in love with
the beautiful Mia. I have just read a page where Mia says the constable's name
"Per" during a meeting of police and potential victims and killers. Per
thinks, "She had said my name. 'Per'.
So softly. What the hell was it with me? I was a married man for heaven's
sake. And she was a married woman!".
My goodness, Per. There is no
fool like an old fool, we say. You must give up hope of scoring with her, Per. Get
smart, act your age!
Constable Per Janson is in love with
Mia - good grief, Per!
You have to give up the hope of scoring with
her, Per !!!
You are far too old for her !!!!
What a crazy world we live in !!!!
15:00 Lois comes into the house
again and we go in the shower.
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