Saturday, 15 July 2017

Fredag den 14. juli 2017 kl 16:30 indtil lørdag den 15. juli 2017 kl 16:29

16:30 Vi lytter til radio, et interessant program, , ”Den sidste ord”, som vi netop nu har optaget på vores NowTV-enhed.  Lois og jeg har for vane at høre dette program hver uge, fordi vi ønsker at finde ud af, om nogen i de seneste 1-2 uger døde eller ej (jeg har bemærket, at der i de fleste uger sker nøjagtig 5 dødsfald).


Graham Rose er desværre død, der skabte nogle af mine yndlings komiske tvreklamer. Han skrev også et drama, hvor Hitler overlevede krigen og flyttede til London, klædt ud som en kvinde:  én af hendes (mandlige) naboer ser ”hende” og prøver at score ”hende” – Rose kunne slippe af sted med at skildre Hitler som en komisk figur, fordi Rose selv var jødisk – det har været det samme med Mel Brooks, den amerikanske teater- og filminstruktør, tror jeg.

17:00 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og tilbagelægger endnu 6 miles (10 km). Jeg prøver at hjernevaske mig selv med tanken om, at det er vigtigere, at være rask, end at være tynd, så jeg kan leve lidt længere, end ellers ha ha ha!

Det er lidt kedeligt at cykle i soveværelset, så har jeg for vane at tænder for min smartphone og høre populære sange fra de gamle dage på YouTube. Jeg stiller året ét år tilbage, hver gang jeg dyrker motion, og jeg er nu i 1951, da jeg fyldte 5 år og gik i skole (i byen Dover) for første gang.

Jeg kan ikke undgå at bemærke, at de fleste hitsange i 1951 var store romantiske ballader, så en sang som John Lee Hookers ”Jeg er i humør (til kærlighed)” med dens rå seksualitet skiller sig ud fra resten – ingen tvivl om det! Han må have været en slem slem dreng.



1951Hooker: Hookers sang skiller sig ud fra resten i 1951-hitlisten
- ingen tvivl om det!!!! Sikke en slem slem dreng!!!!

Mig i 1951 (på 5 år) i min spritnye skoleuniform:
blazer, hat, slips og grå trøje

(venstre til højre) Kathy, min lillesøster (3 år), mig (5), og nabobarnet, Jackie

17:30 Jeg går med plæneklipper på de to græsplæner, der ligger i bunden af baghaven.

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad og smækker benene op foran fjernsynet. De viser et gamle afsnit af Top of the Pops fra marts 1984, et afsnit langt bedre, end det gennemsnitlige fra perioden, synes vi – hurra!


Måske for første gang synger alle artisterne live: ingen mimer, bortset fra en morsom video fra Tracy Ullman, der fortolker en kvindelig version af Madness-sangen ”My Girl’s Mad At Me”. Videoen fremviser en overraskende cameo-rolle af Neil Kinnock, arbejderpartiets daværende leder, og svigerfar af den tidligere danske statsminister, Helle Thorning-Smidt.

en overraskende cameo-rolle af Neil Kinnock, arbejderpartiets
daværende leder, i Tracy Ullmans morsomme ”My Guy’s Mad At Me”.
Jeg kunne ikke lide Neils politiske ideer, men hans forblæstede skuespil i denne
video var udmærket – det må jeg indrømme!!!!



 

Tracy Ullman udtrykker hver introverts hemmelige drøm

For en gangs skyld er der nogle gode sange i den daværende hitliste, herunder Vejrpigernes ”Det regner mænd”, Bananaramas ”Robert de Niro venter (talende italiensk)” og Nenas ”99 Røde Balloner”, der i en tredje uge toppede hitlisten.

 
 De overvægtige men charmerende Weather Girls




"The Nanas” med den pragtfulde Siobhan Fahey

 
Nena i sine fantastiske lederbukser på nummer 1 på hitlisten

Det er interessant, at Mel Brooks dengang også var i ugens hitliste, med sit nummer, ”To be or not to be”, hvilket mindede mig om Graham Rose, den engelske reklamemand, der døde forleden (se ovenfor).



20:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser BBC Proms koncertsæsons først aften på Royal Albert Hall i London.


En fantastisk koncert, takket være Ludvig Van og hans vidunderlige 3. klaverkoncert. Det er lidt af en skam, at koncertsæsons direktør følte behovet for at starte aftenens koncert med et moderne uharmonisk værk af en ung komponist, Tom Coult. Jeg formoder, at direktøren syntes, det vil være lidt gammeldags at starte med et af Beethovens 200-årige mesterværker – sikke et vanvid!!!

Heldigvis varer Coults forfærdelige nummer ikke ret længe  – ca. 5 minutter, gudskelov!!!!

  

Desværre starter BBC koncerten
ved at irritere os med et forfærdeligt moderne, uharmonisk ”nummer”
som en ung fyr, vi aldrig har hørt om, har komponeret – pokkers!!!!

20:15 Aftenens alvorlige del starter, og vi hører et Beethovens mange mesterværker  - hans 3. klaverkoncert – hurra!

Lois og jeg bemærker, at der desværre er mange tomme pladser i orkestret nu. Vi formoder, at mange af orkestrets musikere er trådt ind på baren eller på toilettet i smug, men hvorfor? På grund af dovenskab, alkoholafhængighed eller sceneskræk måske – det er vi ikke helt sikre på.

hvorfor er der så mange tomme pladser i orkestret?

Klaversolisten har for vane at bøje meget lavt over klaviaturen. Hvorfor? Han synes at være lidt kortsynet, eller måske har efterladt sine briller et eller andet sted (eller lider af forfængelighed!!!!). Det er vi (igen) ikke helt sikre på!

klaversolisten bøjer meget lavt over klaviaturen, men hvorfor?
Vi formoder, han er lidt kortsynet, men det er vi ikke helt sikre på

Lois og jeg har bemærket at mange af orkestrets kvindelige musikere er meget smukke. At være i et orkester synes at gøre kvinder smukkere (selvom det gør ikke ret meget for mændene!!!!).


At være i et orkester synes at gøre kvinder smukkere,
men det gør ikke noget for mændene ha ha ha!!!!


PromsViolinist: det er heldigt, at klaversolisten bøjer så lavt over klaviaturen –
dermed kan vi nu og da få glimt af en af orkestrets smukke violinister,
der sidder lige bag ham ha ha ha!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!!

05:00 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest.

08:00 Jeg hopper tilbage op i sengen til Lois og vi drikker vores morgenté.

09:00 Vi kører over til det lokale Sainsburys-supermarked for at købe ind. På vej smutter vi ind i Waghorne’s, den lokal slagterforretning, for at handle brød, ost og kød ind.

11:00 Vi kommer hjem og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

12:00 Lois har problemer med computeren. Det er hendes ansvar at opdatere og cirkulere sin kirkes tidsplan, hvad angår kirkens pop-up shop: hvem har indvilligt i at bemande shoppen på hvilken halvdag osv. Computeren  fungerer meget langsomt for tiden, men kun når hun bruger sit eget brugernavn. Hvis hun arbejder under mit brugernavn, forsvinder alle problemerne af en eller anden grund – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!! 

Jeg hjælpe hende, og endelig lykkes det os at opdater tidsplanen og cirkulere den til alle de indvillige, gudskelov. Hun prøver computeren lidt senere, og har ikke noget problem - men hvorfor den midlertidige kaos?

13:00 Vi spiser frokost og derefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

15:30 Jeg står op, og vi drikke en kop kaffe og spiser et stykke kage på terrassen.

16:15 Lois smutter ind hos naboerne (Bill og Mary) for at give dem nogle grøntsager fra vores have og drivhus.

English translation

16:30 We listen to the radio, an interesting program, "The Last Word", which we have just recorded on our Now-TV device. Lois and I have a habit of listening to this program every week because we want to find out if anyone in the last 1-2 weeks has died or not (I have noticed that most weeks exactly 5 deaths occur).


Graham Rose has unfortunately died, the man who created some of my favourite comic tv commercials. He also wrote a play in which Hitler survived the war and moved to London dressed as a woman: one of Hitler's new (male) neighbours sees "her" and tries to score with "her" - Rose could get away with depicting Hitler as a comic figure, because Rose was himself Jewish - it has been the same with Mel Brooks, the American theatre and film director, I think.

17:00 I jump up on my exercise bike and notch up another 6 miles (10 km). I try to brainwash myself with the idea that it's more important to be fit than to be thin so that I can live a little longer than I otherwise would have ha ha ha!It's a bit boring to cycle in the bedroom, so I have a habit of turning on my smartphone and listening to popular songs from the old days on YouTube. I set the year back one year every time I exercise, and I'm now in 1951, when I was 5 years old and going to school for the first time (in Dover).

I cannot help noticing that most hit songs in 1951 were great romantic ballads, so a song like John Lee Hooker's "I'm in the mood (for love)" with its raw sexuality stands out from the rest - no doubt about that! He must have been a very naughty boy.



Hooker's song stands out from the rest of the 1951 chart
-  no doubt about that!!!! What a naughty boy !!!!

Me in 1951 (at 5 years) in my shiny new school uniform:
blazer, hat, tie, and grey sweater

(Left to right) my little sister Kathy (3 years old), me (5) and Jackie, the neighbour kid

17:30 I run the lawnmower over the two lawns located at the bottom of the back garden.

18:00 Lois and I have dinner and stick our feet up in front of the television. An old episode of Top of the Pops from March 1984 is on, an episode far better than the average from this period, we think - hurrah!


Perhaps for the first time, all the artists are singing live: no miming, except for a funny video from Tracy Ullman, who puts across a female version of the Madness song "My Girl's Mad At Me". The video showcases a surprising cameo role by Neil Kinnock, the Labour Party's then leader, and father-in-law of former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Smidt.

A surprising cameo role by Neil Kinnock, the Labour Party's
then leader, in Tracy Ullman's amusing "My Guy's Mad At Me".
I did not like Neil's political ideas but his wind-swept acting in this
video was superb - that's something I have to admit !!!!


Tracy Ullman voices every introvert's secret dream

For once there are some good songs in the week's pop chart, including the Weathergirls' "It's Raining Men", Bananarama's "Robert de Niro's Waiting (talking Italian)" and Nena's "99 Red Balloons", which was topping the charts for a third week.

 The overweight but charming Weather Girls



"The Nanas" with the gorgeous Siobhan Fahey

Nena in her amazing leather trousers at number 1 in the charts

It is interesting that Mel Brooks was also on this week's chart, with his song, "To be or not to be", reminding me of Graham Rose, the English advertiser who died the other day (see above).



20:00 We carry on watching television. The first in concert in the BBC Proms concert season is on, from the Royal Albert Hall in London.


A fantastic concert, thanks to Ludvig Van and his wonderful 3rd piano concerto. It's a bit of a shame that the concert season's director felt the need to start the evening's concert with a modern discordant work by a young composer, Tom Coult. I suppose the director thought it would be a bit old-fashioned to start with one of Beethoven's 200-year-old masterpieces - what madness !!!

Fortunately, Coult's terrible number does not last that long - about 5 minutes, thank goodness !!!!



Unfortunately, the BBC concert starts
by annoying us with a terrible modern, discordant "number"
composed by a young guy we have never heard of  - darn !!!!

20:15 The serious part of the evening begins, and we hear one of Beethoven's many masterpieces - his 3rd piano concerto - hurrah!

Lois and I notice that unfortunately there are many empty places in the orchestra now. We assume that a lot of the orchestra's musicians have stepped into the bar or into the toilets on the quiet, but why? Because of laziness, alcohol addiction or stage fright maybe - we are not entirely sure.

Why are there so many empty places in the orchestra?

The piano soloist has the habit of bending very low over the keyboard. Why? He seems to be a bit short-sighted, or perhaps left his glasses somewhere (or suffers from vanity !!!!). We are (again) not entirely sure!

The piano soloist bends very low over the keyboard, but why?
We imagine he must be a bit short-sighted, but we're not exactly sure about that

Lois and I have noticed that many of the orchestra's female musicians are very beautiful. Being in an orchestra seems to make women more beautiful (though it does not do very much for the men !!!!).



Being in an orchestra seems to make women more beautiful,
But it does not do much for the men ha ha ha !!!!

It's lucky that the piano soloist bends so low over the keyboard -
as a result we can occasionally get a glimpse of one of the orchestra's beautiful violinists,
who is sitting just behind him ha ha ha !!!

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

05:00 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.

08:00 I jump back into bed with Lois and we drink our morning tea.

09:00 We drive over to the local Sainsbury's supermarket to do the shopping. On our way we pop into Waghorne's, the local butcher's shop, to get our bread, cheese and meat in.

11:00 We come home and relax with a cup of coffee on the couch.

12:00 Lois has problems with the computer. It is her responsibility to update and circulate her church's schedule regarding the church's pop-up shop: who has volunteered to staff the shop on what half-day, etc. The computer is working very slowly at the moment, but only when she uses her own username. If she works under my username, all the problems disappear for some reason - good grief, what madness !!!!

I help her, and finally we succeed in updating the schedule and circulating it to all the volunteers, thank goodness. She tries the computer a little later and has no problem - but why the temporary chaos?

13:00 We have lunch and then I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap.

15:30 I get up and we have a cup of coffee and a piece of cake on the patio.

16:15 Lois pops in at the neighbours' (Bill and Mary) to give them some vegetables from our garden and greenhouse.


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