Saturday, 1 July 2017

Fredag den 30. juni 2017 kl 16:30 indtil lørdag den 1. juli 2017 kl 16:29

17:00 Vi føler os tilfredse – huset er 95% klar til at modtage hjerteligt Alison, vores datter i København, når hun ankommer på søndag sammen med Ed, sin mand, og deres 3 børn. I morgen skal vi købe ind, og få blandt andet ingredienterne til børnenes yndlingsretter osv. Og på søndag skal jeg godt og grundigt støvsuge. Hvis jeg har tid til det, skal jeg også montere vores spritnye terrassebord, og den spritnye hundbur, som Alison bestilte på nettet – familien tager Sika, deres hund, med og vi vil ikke forskrække Minx, Alisons kat, som Lois og jeg har passet på, siden familien sidst i 2012 flyttede til Danmark. Stakkels Minx!!!!!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad i sofaen og smækker benene op foran fjernsynet. De viser et gammelt afsnit af Toppen af Poppen fra februar 1984.


For mit vedkommende er showets højdepunkt Nenas fortolkning af ”99 Red Balloons”. Hun optræder iført sine fantastiske lederbukser, og en trøje, der skjuler hendes berømte kontinental-stil armhulehår, der overraskede / chokerede engelske seere, da de første så det – sikke et vanvid!!!!


Nena har sine fantastiske lederbukser på,
og hun fremviser ikke for en gangs skyld sit berømte kontinental-stil armhulehår

Det er interessant, at sangen var et hit i USA og Australien i sit oprindelige tysksproget version ”99 Luftballons”, men offentligheden i Storbritannien, Irland og Canada ventede på, at gruppen udsender en engelsksproget version, før de overgav sig og købte pladen. Mange englædere har tendens til at tro forkert, at USA og Australien er de mest kulturelt isolationistiske dele af den engelsktalende verden, men dette tro viser sig her ikke at holder stik – helt det modsatte! Den dag i dag er sangen den mest solgte tysksprogede single nogensinde, og kendes af folk i alle lande.

Nena kunne faktisk aldrig lide dette engelsksprogede version, og har aldrig sang den live. Hun har sagt, at den engelske tekst er ”dum” ha ha ha, selvom jeg selv har altid nydt dens hensvisning til Captain Kirk (se billedet overfor).

Nena i 2013 (ægte navn Gabrielle Susanne Kerner)

20:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser et gamle afsnit af ”De gode gamle dage”, et tv-program, der prøvede at genskabe stemningen af det gamle vaudeville-teater. Afsnittet blev først udsendt den 1. marts 1979.


I publikummet sad der tilfældigvis en gruppe 52 danskere, der specielt havde rejst til England for at se showet. Det er lidt morsomt, at Leonard Sachs, programmets charmerende sydafrikanske vært, hjerteligt modtog gruppen på godt dansk – ”God aften, mine damer og herre”, men BBCs underskrift-skriver desværre ikke kunne klare alt det, og skrev ”Guten Abend mine Damen und  Herren” på tysk i stedet for.




Og mens Sachs kaldte gruppen ”Danes”, hørte underskrift-skriveren desværre fejl, og kaldte dem ”Dames” (med andre ord, duller). Du godeste – sikke et vanvid!!!

I et foregående afsnit har jeg engang imellem set Sachs modtage danskere or nordmænd i publikummet, så jeg formoder at showet dengang også var populær i Skandinavien.

Da BBC-kanalen først sendte dette program (marts 1979), var arbejdepartiets James Callaghan stadig premierminister og Maggie Thatchers konservative valgsejr var stadig 2 måneder i fremtiden. Landet havde lige udholdt en vinter fuldt af strejker, og meningsmålingerne gav de konservative en føring på 20%.  Det er interessant, at John Wade, en jordnær tryllekunstner, der optrådte på showet, spøgte lidt med Callaghan, der på det tidspunkt var i udlandet på officielt besøg. Wade sagde, han plejede at tænke, ”ville det ikke være rart, hvis, når premierministeren rejser til udlandet og kommer tilbage, at han finder, at vi alle er blevet borte. En bemærkning der var helt politisk for et BBC-program, synes jeg!



en tryllekunstners politisk joke om strejker, fagforbund, og Callaghan,
der var i udlandet på officelt besøg i marts 1979

Lad os håbe på, at vi i fremtiden aldrig bliver nødt til at spøge med Corbyn på samme måde – stop verden, jeg vil af!!! Kom tilbage, Maggie, alt er tilgivet!!!!!

For Lois’s vedkommende og mit, er showets højdepunkt, som altid, den to norske akrobater: Duo Barodies. Deres præstation er, som altid, fejlfri og vi elsker begge to kvindens lyst hår og sin gliterende kostum.


showets højdepunktet er, igen, de norske akrobater, Duo Barodies

Kvinden har tænder, der er lidt udstående, men vi synes, dette sandsynligvis stammer fra parrets brug af deres munde udover et kort metalkæde, for at klamre til hinanden, mens de hænger højt oven over publikummet.

Du godeste, det kan ikke undre, at kvinden har tænder,
der er lidt udstࣸende – sikke et vanvid!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!!

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


Jeg kigger lidt på nettet. Jeg ser at Alison, Ed og deres tre børn allerede er på vej til England. De vågnede op kl 3:30 (dansk tid) og havde billetter til færgen fra Rødbyhavn til Puttgarden, Tyskland, der afgå kl 05:45 (dansk tid) eller 04:45 (engelsk tid) dvs om 45 minutter.

Alison, Ed og deres 3 børn er allerde på vej til England

07:30 Jeg hopper tilbage op i sengen til Lois og vi drikker vores morgenté. Vi står op og spiser morgenmad.

09:00 Vi kører over til det lokale Sainsburys-supermarked for at købe ind. På vej smutter vi ind hos Waghorne’s, den lokale slagterforretning, for at købe brød, kød og ost. Vi kommer hjem og slapper af med en kop kaffe. Desværre har jeg lidt ondt i ryggen, af ugens havearbejde og nu også på grund af de tunge poser, vi har taget med hjem fra Sainsburys – pokkers!

11:30 Sarah sender mig en sms på Whatsapp.  Hun har hentet Francis, sin mand, ved Perth lufthavn. Francis har været i England i de seneste 7 dage – han  besøgte sin mor i Devon, der er alvorligt syg. Men Jessie, én af parrets 4-årige tvillinger, har desværre været syg igen i dag, og Sarah ringede efter lægen. Lægen siger, det er en virus, men senere fik Jessie desværre udslæt – staklen!!!! Lægen besøgte familien endnu en gang, og Jessie synes at have det lidt bedre nu, selvom Lily, den anden tvilling, nu er meget forkølet. Du godeste! Det er ikke nemt at være forældre, ingen tvivl om det. Men i det mindste har Sarah sin mand, Francis, igen og de kan hjælpes ad.

Jeg monterer vores spritnye terrassebord og stole, som vi forleden købte i Factory Shop i Bishops Cleeve.

11:45 I mellemtiden er vores anden datter, Alison, stadig på vej fra Danmark til England med bil sammen med sin familie. Jeg ser, at hun lagde to charmerende billeder af børnene op på Instagram, da de tog en pause undervejs i Bevergern, Nordrhein-Westfalen, i Nord-Tyskland.



Germany: Alisons familie tager en pause i Nord-Tyskland på vej fra Danmark til England

12:00 Vi spiser frokost på den nye terrassebord og bagefter skal vi ud. Lois ønsker at hjælpe med at bemande pop-up shoppen, som hendes kirke har beslutte at drive i to måneder midt i byen Tewkesbury for at publisere kirken og medlemmers tro og aktiviteter – i dag holder shoppen åbent for første gang. Alf og Mari-Ann vil også være der i shoppen, og de kan alle tre sammen finder frem til, at hvordan man skal bruge udstyret, for eksempel, kasseapparatet, kreditkortmaskinen og kaffemaskinen.

Lois med sin spritnye officielle T-shirt på for første gang

Jeg glæder mig meget til at høre, hvordan det er gået, når Lois ved 17-tiden kommer hjem. Jeg håber, de ikke har været nogle originaler, der smuttede ind og voldede problemer – det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om!!!

13:30 Jeg kommer hjem igen og kigger lidt på nettet.

15:30 Jeg går i seng, lidt senere, end normalt,  for at tage mig en kort eftermiddagslur – zzzzzzz!!!

English translation

17:00 We feel satisfied - the house is 95% ready to welcome Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen, when she arrives on Sunday with Ed, her husband and their 3 children. Tomorrow we have to do the food shopping and get, among other things, the ingredients for the children's favourite dishes, etc. And on Sunday I'm going to do a thorough vacuuming. If I have time for it, I am also going to assemble our brand new patio table, and the brand new dog cage that Alison ordered online - the family is bringing Sika, their dog, with them and we do not want to frighten Minx, Alison's cat, which Lois and I have been looking after since the family moved to Denmark in late 2012. Poor Minx !!!!!

18:00 We have dinner on the sofa and stick our feet up in front of the television. An old episode of Top of the Pops from February 1984 is on.


For me, the highlight of the show is Nena's interpretation of "99 Red Balloons". She performs wearing her amazing leather trousers, and a sweater hiding her famous continental-style armpit hair that surprised / shocked English viewers when they first saw it - what madness !!!!


Nena has her amazing leather trousers on,
and for once she is not showcasing her famous continental-style armpit hair

It is interesting that the song was a hit in the US and Australia in its original German-language version "99 Luftballons", but the public in Britain, Ireland and Canada waited for the group to release an English-language version before they gave in and bought the record. In England many people tend to believe wrongly that the United States and Australia are the most culturally isolationist parts of the English-speaking world, but this belief shows itself to be false here – it’s quite the opposite! To date, the song is the best-selling German-language single ever and is known by people in all countries.

Nena in fact never really liked the English-language version, and never sang it live. She has said that the English lyrics are "stupid" ha ha ha, though I have always enjoyed its reference to Captain Kirk (see picture above).

Nena in 2013 (real name Gabrielle Susanne Kerner)

20:00 We carry on watching a bit of television. An old episode of "The Good Old Days" is on, a television show that tried to recreate the atmosphere of the old vaudeville theatre. The episode was first aired on March 1, 1979.


In the audience there happened to be a group of 52 Danes who had travelled to England specially to see the show. It's quite funny that Leonard Sachs, the programme's charming South African host, welcomed the group in good Danish - "God aften mine damer og herre" but the BBC's subtitle-writers unfortunately could not cope with all that, and wrote "Guten Abend meine Damen und Herren" in German instead.

And while Sachs called the group "Danes", the subtitles writer unfortunately misheard this and called them "dames" (in other words, "broads"). Good grief - what madness !!!




In a previous episode I have occasionally seen Sachs welcome Danes or Norwegians in the audience, so I suppose the show was also popular in Scandinavia.

When the BBC Channel first aired this program, James Callaghan was still prime minister and Maggie Thatcher's election victory was still 2 months in the future. The country had just endured a winter full of strikes, and the opinion polls gave the Conservatives a lead of 20%.

It is interesting that John Wade, a down-to-earth conjuror, who appeared on the show, joked a little about Callaghan, who was abroad at the time on an official visit. Wade said he always used to think, "Wouldn't be nice if, when the prime minister travels abroad and comes back, he were to find that we all have gone away." A comment that was quite political for a BBC program, I think!



a conjuror's political joke about strikes, unions, and Callaghan,
who was on an official visit abroad in March 1979

Let's hope that in the future we never have to joke about Corbyn in the same way - stop the world I want to get off !!! Come back, Maggie, all is forgiven!!!!

For Lois and me, the highlight of the show is, as always, the two Norwegian acrobats: Duo Barodies. Their performance is, as always, flawless and we both love the woman's fair hair and also her sparkling costume.


The highlight of the show is again, the Norwegian acrobats, Duo Barodies

The woman has teeth that are slightly protruding, but we think this probably stems from the couple's use of their mouths, as well as a short metal chain, to cling to each other while hanging high above the audience.

My god, it’s no wonder that the woman has teeth that are
slightly prominent – what madness!!!!

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

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


I'm looking a little online. I see that Alison, Ed and their three children are already heading for England. They woke up at 3:30am (Danish time) and had tickets for the ferry from Rødbyhavn to Germany, leaving at 5:45am (Danish time) or 4:45am (UK time), ie in 45 minutes from now.

Alison, Ed and their 3 children are already on their way to England

09:00 We drive over to the local Sainsbury's supermarket to do the food shopping. On our way we pop into Waghorne's, the local butcher's shop, to buy bread, meat and cheese. We come home and relax with a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, I have a little backache, from the week's gardening and now also because of the heavy bags we have brought home from Sainsbury's - damn!

11:30 Sarah sends me a text on whatsapp. She has picked up Francis, her husband, at Perth Airport. Francis has been in England for the last 7 days - he was visiting his mother in Devon, who is seriously ill. But Jessie, one of the couple's 4-year-old twins, has unfortunately been ill again today, and Sarah called the doctor. The doctor says it's a virus, but later Jessie got a rash - poor thing!!!! The doctor visited the family once more, and Jessie seems to be a little better now, although Lily, the other twin, now has a heavy cold. My goodness! It's not easy to be parents, no doubt about that. But at least Sarah has her husband, Francis, again and they can help each other out.

11:45 In the meantime, our second daughter, Alison, is still on her way from Denmark to England by car with her family. I see that she posted two charming pictures of the children up on Instagram when they took a break along the way in Bevergern, North Rhine-Westphalia, in northern Germany.



Alison's family take a break in northern Germany 
on their way from Denmark to England

I assemble our brand new patio table and chairs, which we bought the other day in the Factory Shop in Bishops Cleeve.

12:00 We have lunch on the new patio table and afterwards we have to go out. Lois wants to help man the pop-up shop which her church has decided to run for two months in the middle of Tewkesbury, to publicise the church and members' beliefs and activities - today the shop is open for the first time. Alf and Mari-Ann will also be there in the shop, and they can all three together work out how to use the equipment, for example, the cash register, the credit card machine and the coffee machine.

Lois with her brand new official T-shirt on for the first time

I'm looking forward to hearing how it's gone when Lois comes home at about 5pm. I hope there have not been any weirdos that popped in and caused problems - I have no doubts about that !!!

13:30 I come home again and take a little look online

15:30 I go to bed, a little later than usual, and take a short afternoon nap - zzzzzzz !!!



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