Danskcolin: Torsdag den 25. maj 2017 kl 16:30 fredag den 26. maj 2017 kl 16:29

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad og bagefter tager vi et smut i naboernes baghave for at vande deres planter i drivhuset og i grøntsagbedene. Vi kommer hjem og smækker benene op foran fjernsynet.

19:30 De viser et gammelt afsnit af Toppen af Poppen fra den 22. december 1983.

Lois og jeg så ikke dette afsnit, da BBC-kanalen først sendte det, fordi vi mellem 1982 og 1985 boede i USA. Men vi gik ikke glip af noget meget værdifuldt – det ved jeg med sikkerhed. Musikken er for det meste noget skrammel, med en masse ”fred og kærlighed” sange med ynkelige melodier, herunder Paul Macartneys elendige ”Pipes of Peace” med dens dyre, selvoptagede ”1. verdenskrig” videosekvenser – ræk mig lige opkastningsposen, Alice!!!

Flying Pickets, en underlig a capella vokalgruppe, lå dengang stadig på nummer 1 på hitlisten med deres underlige a capella sang, ”Only You”. Denne sang blev derefter klassificeret som en ”julesang”, og de gentager videoen hver jul, selvom teksten ikke har noget at gøre med jul.

Gruppens medlemmer var tilsyneladende kendt for deres venstreorienterede meninger, så må det have været lidt irriterende for dem, da Maggie Thatcher sagde, denne sang var hendes yndlingssang. Kom så Maggie! Kom tilbage, alt er tilgivet ha ha ha.

I juletiden lå Flying Pickets stadig på nummer 1 på hitlisten,

med Maggie Thatchers yndlingssang – hurra!

Lois fortæller mig, at Philip Larkin, min yndlingsdigter, faktisk var Maggies største fan, og de mødtes flere gange. Hun kunne godt lide en linje i ét af Larkins digte (The Less Deceived), der taler om ”en pige med et sind fuldt af knive” – Maggie identificerede sig med den pige, lader det til. Larkin troede, at han havde overtalt hende ikke til at kritisere for meget berlinmuren, fordi muren havde til fordel, at Tyskland kunne ikke blivet forenet. Du godeste – sikke et vanvid!!!!

For Lois’s og mit vedkommende var det vores 2. juletid i USA, hvor vi boede i Columbia Md med vores to døtre, Alison (8) og Sarah (6), og min afdøde søster Kathy (på 35 år).

Tilbageblik til jul 1983

Vores datter, Sarah (6), og årets juletræ

Sarah (til venstre) og Ali med nogle af deres

yndlingsjulegaver.

Sarah og Kathy i sofaen

Lykkelige dage!!!!!

20:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, 2. del af 3, der handler om sammenhængen mellem dinosaurer og fugle. Programmets vært er den charmerende Richard Fortey.

I begyndelsen af programmet er vi meget glad for, at se vores yndlingsornitolog, Lisa Morgan, der tager Richard med til den smukke Grassholm-ø i den Irske hav (rejsen tager 1 time med båd), for at se øens fantastiske befolkning af gannetter (66.000 !!!!). Lisa har fantastisk rødt hår, som vi begge er helt vilde med. Du godeste - hvor er vi dog overfladiske!

Richard med Lisa Morgan, vores yndlingsornitolog,

der har fantastisk rødt hår.

Det var Thomas Huxley, kollega af Charles Darwin, der først forslog (i 1860’erne), at fugle blev udviklet fra dinosaurer, men desværre var teorien omfattende nedsablet af Huxleys stor fjende, Richard Owen, af Londons naturhistoriske museum, og teorien blev ikke accepteret indtil mange årtier efter. Owen var sådan en sjuft!!!!

Personligt har jeg aldrig holdt meget af fugle – jeg har ikke nogen fobi overfor dem, som Sheldon i Big Bang Theory har, men jeg formoder, min kølighed stammer fra, at de ikke er så hyggelige som, for eksempel, en kat eller en en panda.

Men det er hjertevarmende at vide, at fuglene er det eneste resterende tegn på, at dinosaurerne i millioner år regerede jorden, før de for 65 millioner år siden alle uddøde. Hyl jer, små fugle – I holdt os ud af krig!!!!! Det ville have været en stor skam, hvis der ikke var noget tilbage fra den superlange periode – du godeste!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzz!!!!

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

07:45 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 téen og står op. Vi spiser morgenmad.

09:00 Vi kører over til det lokale Waitrose-supermarked for at købe ind. Jeg smutter også ind i Thomas Cook-rejsebureauet , der har til huse i supermarkedet, og hente kontanter i danske kroner. Vi kører hjem og slapper af med en kop kaffe på terrassen.

11:00 Jeg sender en email til vores U3A danske gruppes medlemmer, der bekræfter, at gruppens næste møde finder sted den 29. juni på grund af ferier osv. Jeg vedhæfter en ordforrådliste, der dækker vores kriminovelles første 81 sider ("Forbandet" af Gittemie Eriksen): de seneste 10 sider indeholder også den seneste mord/selvmord – den kvinde, der druknede i sit egen badekar med sine hvide ubarberede dameben tittende frem over badekarets kanter – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

Den kriminovelle, vores U3A danske gruppe er i gang

med at læse

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

15:15 Jeg står op og vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

Jeg kigger lidt på nettet og jeg ser, at Alison, vores datte i København, og Ed, hendes mand, har lagt nogle charmerende billeder op på Facebook, billeder de tog i går på ferie på Bornholm, den danske ø i Østsøen.

Alison, vores datter i Danmark,

sammen med sin familie på Bornholm

Den familiehytte, de bor i

Isaac (6), Rosalind (8) og Josie (10)

Isaac på stranden

English translation

18:00 Lois and I have dinner and afterwards we pop into the neighbours' back garden to water their plants in the greenhouse and in the vegetable beds. We come home and stick our feet up in front of the television.

19:30 An old episode of Top of the Pops is on, from 22 December 1983.

Lois and I did not see this episode when the BBC first aired it, because we lived in the United States between 1982 and 1985. But we did not miss anything very valuable - I know that for sure. The music is mostly a bunch of crap, with a lot of "peace and love" songs with pitiful melodies, including Paul Macartney's miserable "Pipes of Peace" with its expensively self-obsessed "1st World War"

video sequences - pass the sickbag, Alice !!!

The Flying Pickets, a weird a capella vocal group, was still number 1 on the charts with their strange a capella song, "Only You". This song was thereafter classified as a Christmas song, and they repeat the video every Christmas, although the lyrics have nothing to do with Christmas.

The members of the group apparently were known for their left-wing opinions, so it must have been a little annoying for them when Maggie Thatcher said this was her favourite song. Go girl, Maggie! Come back, everything is forgiven ha ha ha.

At Christmas time the Flying Pickets were still at number 1 in the charts,

with Maggie Thatcher's favourite song - hurrah!

Lois tells me that Philip Larkin, my favourite poet, was actually Maggie's biggest fan and they met several times. She liked a line in one of Larkin's poems (The Less Deceived), talking about "a girl with a mind full of knives" - Maggie identified with that girl, it seems. Larkin believed that he had persuaded her not to criticise the Berlin Wall too much because the wall had the advantage that Germany could not be reunited. My god - what madness !!!!

For Lois and me, it was our second Christmas in the US, where we lived in Columbia Md with our two daughters, Alison (8) and Sarah (6), and my late sister Kathy (35 years old).

Flashback to Christmas 1983

Our daughter, Sarah (6), and the year's Christmas tree

Sarah (left) and Ali with some of their

favourite Christmas presents.

Sarah and Kathy on the couch

Happy days !!!!!

20:00 We continue to watch a bit of television. An interesting documentary is on, 2nd part of 3, all about the connection between dinosaurs and birds. The host of the program is the charming Richard Fortey.

At the beginning of the programme, we are very pleased to see our favourite ornithologist, Lisa Morgan, who takes Richard to the beautiful Grassholm island in the Irish Sea (the journey takes 1 hour by boat) to see the island's amazing population of gannets ( 66,000 !!!!). Lisa has amazing red hair, which we both really love. Good grief - how shallow we are!

Richard with Lisa Morgan, our favourite ornithologist,

who has amazing red hair.

It was Thomas Huxley, a colleague of Charles Darwin, who first suggested (in the 1860s) that birds developed from dinosaurs, but unfortunately the theory was comprehensively rubbished by Huxley's sworn enemy Richard Owen, of London's Natural History Museum, and the theory was not accepted until many decades after. Owen was such a sicko !!!!

Personally, I've never been very fond of birds - I do not have any phobia towards them as Sheldon has in the Big Bang Theory, but I suppose my coolness stems from the fact that they are not as nice and cuddly as, for example, a cat or a panda.

But it is heartwarming to know that birds are the only remaining sign that for millions of years dinosaurs ruled the earth, before they all died out 65 million years ago. Hail to you, little birds - you kept us out of war !!!!!

It would have been a big shame if there were nothing left from that super long period - good grief !!!!

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

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

07:45 I shuffle out to 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 have breakfast.

09:00 We drive over to the local Waitrose supermarket to do the shopping. I also pop into the Thomas Cook travel agency, which is housed in the supermarket and pick up cash in Danish kroner. We drive home and relax with a cup of coffee on the terrace.

11:00 I send an email to our U3A Danish group members confirming that the next meeting of the group will take place on June 29th due to vacations, etc. I attach a vocabulary list covering our crime story's first 81-pages ("Accursed" by Gittemie Eriksen): The last 10 pages also contain the latest murder / suicide - the woman who drowned in her own bathtub with her white unshaved "ladylegs" peeping out over the edge of the bath - my god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

"Accursed": the whodunnit short story that our U3A Danish

group are reading at the moment

12:30 We eat lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap.

15:15 I get up and we relax with a cup of tea on the couch.I take a little look online and I see that Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen, and Ed, her husband, have posted some charming pictures on Facebook, pictures they took yesterday on holiday in Bornholm, the Danish island in the Baltic Sea.