Danskcolin: Søndag den 27. august 2017 kl 16:30 indtil mandag den 28. august 2017 kl 16:29

17:00 Jeg lægger mig ned på sengen for at reflektere over endnu en spildt dag – jeg har faktisk ikke gjort noget på min gøresmålsliste igen, og jeg har heller ikke kunnet nydt det varmere vejret: i formiddags var jeg bundet til computeren, mens jeg ventede på, at Sarah, vores datter i Australien, kontakter os på Skype. I eftermiddags skulle jeg køre Lois til sin gudstjeneste og bagefter købe lidt ind på det lokale Morrisons-supermarked. Stakkels mig !!!!

jeg lægger mig på sengen for at reflektere

over endnu en spildt dag – pokkers!!!!

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad. Hun snakker lidt om sin kirkes pop-up shop, som hun har ansvar for, hvad angår shoppens administrative side: derudover hjælper hun selv ofte med at bemande den.

Hun siger, at flere og flere kirkemedlemmer bliver trættere og trættere af at bemande shoppen. Projektet startede i begyndelsen af juli, og den oprindelige idé var, at holde shoppen åbent kun i to måneder, dvs i juli og august. Men Andy, den mest aktive og entusiastiske medlem af kirkens lederskab, er meget frisk på at holde shoppen åbent i flere måneder efter slutningen af august.

Men det er et stort tilsagn for kirkemedlemmernes vedkommende. De har deres eget privatliv med alle dets ansvar. De kirkemedlemmer, der arbejder som lærere, vil ikke være i stand til at hjælpe mere, fordi skolerne starter igen først i september måned.

Selve Andys kone er ikke ret entusiastisk over at skulle hjælpe til. Hun afsendte en besked i går, hvor hun sagde, hun ikke længere kunne arbejde i shoppen på tirsdag eftermiddag, for eksempel, selvom hun før i tiden havde indvilliget til at hjælpe til. Lois er lidt irriteret over hendes mangel på varsel.

19:00 Vi slapper af i sofaen med en kop kaffe. Lois taler lidt om den ”original”, der har for vane at tilbringe størstedelen af hver dag i shoppen. Han bor i et telt i baghaven af byens metodistiske kirke, men prædikanten har bedt ham om, at pisse af.

Da jeg først hørte om denne mand, begyndte alarmklokker at ringe i mit hoved. Han lider af ”hallucinationer”, også alkoholisme, selvom han har fortalt kirkemedlemmerne, at han prøver at holde op med at drikke alkohol.

Lois siger, at hun forleden hørte, at en kvinde, der arbejder i byens madbank, smuttede ind i pop-up shoppen for at advare shoppens ekspeditørne, at der står på mandens personlige arkiv, at han kan være voldsom, selvom han ikke har været voldsom på madbanken.

Du godeste, jeg kan høre de alarmklokker begynde at ringe igen – uha!!!!

21:00 Vi smækker benene op foran fjernsynet og ser det første afsnit af den 2. sæson af ”Victoria”, der handler om Victorias liv som ung dronning.

Jeg finder personligt Jenna Coleman rigtig pragtfuld i hendes rolle som den unge egensindige dronning. Jeg ville kigge på hende i noget som helst, selvom hun er meget lille i højde, hvilket faktisk er historisk akkurat: selve dronningen var kun 5 fods 0 i strømpesokker. Det er klart, at Victoria og Albert havde et meget aktivt sexliv (også historisk akkurat – du godeste!).

I aften hører vi meget om krigen i Afghanistan, der for tiden ikke går ret godt, lader det til. Det er interessant, at katastrofale militære feldtog ofte bliver indledt af liberale regeringer. Man tænker på LBJ og Vietnam. Whig-partiet (Melbourne, Palmerston osv) startede Storbritanniens militære kampagner i Afghanistan, men det er Tory-partiet (Peel, Wellington osv, der var mod interventionen) nu ved magten, der skal klare de katastrofale konsekvenser.

Jeg læste forleden er meget rørende nyhed i theonion.com, den indflydelsesrige amerikanske nyhedskilde. Det handlede om en 19-årig amerikansk soldat , Tyler Corcoran, der var begejstret over og stolt af, at kunne overtage sin fars gamle patruljerute I Afghanistan. Derfor beundrer jeg amerikanerne – de er ikke bange for at udtrykke deres følelser af stolhed og begejstring. Der må være en masse britiske soldater, der har overtaget patruljeruter, som deres oldefars oldefar engang havde for 160 år siden, men hvor er artiklerne i den britiske presse som den i theonion.com??? Der e en underlig tavshed af en eller anden grund.

Tyler Corcoran

Hvis jeg nogensinde får chancen for at stille et spørgsmål til Gud, ville jeg gerne spørge ham, hvad er pointen med lande som Afghanistan, ellers end, at være til ulejlighed til resten af verden!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng. Jeg læser 10 sider af min sengetidbog om hertugen af Monmouth, før jeg glider over i søvnen.

06:00 Jeg står tidligt op og laver en af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest. Jeg kigger lidt på nettet og jeg ser, at vejret vil være ganske varm i dag og temperaturen kan nå til 75 grader (F), selv i Danmark. Jeg må lave lidt havearbejde i dag.

08:30 Jeg hopper op i sengen til Lois og vi drikker vores morgenté. Vi står op og spiser morgenmad.

10:00 Jeg går ud i baghaven og klarer resten af mine opgaver i mit hækkeklipning-projekt – hurra! Selvom jeg bemærker, at den første hæk jeg klippede for nogle uger siden, nu begynder at se lidt overgroet ud – pokkers! Det er lidt som at male Forth-broen i Skotland: når man når til broens nordlige ende, er det på tid at male igen startende fra den sydlige end – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

at male broen er en fuldtidsjob – uha, sikke et vanvid!

11:00 Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop kaffe på terrassen. Jeg spørge hende, om hun synes, at Sarah, vores datter i Perth, Australien, og Francis, Sarahs mand, nogle tider har hjemve. Vi talte med dem i går på Skype, og jeg mærkede, at deres tonefald blev lidt tankefuld, da jeg talte om vores kommende korte ferie i grevskabet Devon, og da jeg fortalte dem, at i dag var en national helligdag i England, hvilket de havde glemt.

Jeg siger også, at de må føle sig lidt isolerede derovre. De fortalte os om tvillingernes 4. fødseldagsfest, hvor de tog dem med til Fairy Shop i Joondalup, en lille forstad til Perth. Lois og jeg er de eneste folk Sarah og Francis kender i England, der kunne forestille sig Joondalup og den gade, Fairy Shop ligger på. Lois og jeg havde en vanskelig oplevelse der sidste år, da vi vandrede rundt i gaderne i det område, søgende Toys R Us legetøjstormagasinet. Til sidste fandt vi det.

Fairy Shop og Toys R Us i Joondalup,

en lille forstad til Perth, Australien.

Lois og jeg boede i 3 år i USA i 1980’erne, men jeg kan ikke huske, at jeg nogensinde led af hjemve derover. Det var lidt anderledes, fordi vi vidste, at vi ville måtte flytte tilbage til England ved slutningen af den 3-års udstationering.

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

15:00 Jeg står op og vi slapper af med en kop te på terrassen. Jeg fortæller Lois om et interessant tv-program, som jeg begyndte at se tidligt i morges. Ben Elton, den berømte komiker, holdt tale om britiske sitcoms til andre mennesker, der arbejder i nutidens Tv-sitcom-verden. Han siger, at de traditionelle britiske sitcoms (spillet foran et live publikum) er en truet art. De kræver en masse tekniske og kunsteriske specialister, og hvis genren uddø, vil disse tekniske og kunsteriske specialismer også uddø.

De fleste af nutidens britiske sitcoms bliver nu filmet uden et publikum – mange af dem er i formen af mockumentaries, i stil med Ricky Gervais’s ”The Office”. Elton synes, at dette er lidt af en skam – han kan hellere lide de gode gammeldags sitcoms og de gode gammeldags jokes, hvor forfatternes ikke lægger skjul på, at deres forsæt er at gøre publikummet til at le højt (lol).

Jeg kan godt lide Ben Elton, selvom jeg bliver lidt skeptisk, når han bebrejder Maggie Thatcher for at være ansvarlig for forandringen i britiske sitcoms: han siger, at den startede, da Maggie satte støre pris på den individuelle borge fremfor ”samfundet”. Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

Vi ser Neil og Glenys Kinnock le i publikummet

når Ben Elton bebrejder Maggie Thatcher for at være ansvarlig

for tilbagegangen af den britiske sitcom – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Men sover Neil faktisk???? Det er jeg ikke helt sikker på.

English translation

17:00 I lie down on the bed to reflect on another wasted day - I have not actually done anything on my to-do list again, nor have I been able to enjoy the warmer weather: this morning I was tied to the computer while I waited for Sarah, our daughter in Australia, to contact us on Skype. In the afternoon I had to drive Lois to her church service and afterwards do a little shopping at the local Morrisons supermarket. Poor me !!!!

I lie down on the bed to reflect

on yet another wasted day - damn !!!!

18:00 Lois and I have dinner. She talks a bit about her church's pop-up shop, which she is responsible for as regards the administrative side of the shop: in addition, she often helps with manning it herself.

She says that more and more church members are getting more and more tired of manning the shop. The project started at the beginning of July, and the original idea was to keep the shop open for only two months, ie in July and August. But Andy, the most active and enthusiastic member of the Church's leadership, is very keen on keeping the shop open for several months after the end of August.

But it is a big commitment for the church members. They have their own private lives with all its responsibilities. The church members who work as teachers will not be able to help any more because the schools start again in September.

Even Andy's wife is not that enthusiastic about having to help. She sent a message out yesterday in which she said she could no longer work at the shop on Tuesday afternoon, for example, even though she had previously agreed to help out then. Lois is a bit annoyed by the lack of notice she gives.

19:00 We relax on the couch with a cup of coffee. Lois talks about the "weirdo" who has the habit of spending most of the day in the shop. He lives in a tent in the backyard of the town's methodist church, but the preacher has asked him to piss off.

When I first heard about this man, alarm bells began to ring in my head. He suffers from "hallucinations", also alcoholism, even though he has told the church members that he is trying to stop drinking alcohol.

Lois says that she heard that a woman who works at the town's food bank popped into the shop the other day to warn the shop's staff that it's on the man's personal record that he can be violent, even though he has not been violent so far at the food bank.

My goodness I can hear those alarm bells starting to ring again - oh dear!!!!

21:00 We stick our feet up in front of the television and see the first episode of the 2nd season of "Victoria", which is about Victoria's life as a young queen.

Personally, I find Jenna Coleman really gorgeous in her role as the young, headstrong queen. I would watch her in anything, even though she is very small in height, which is in fact historically accurate: the queen herself was only 5 feet 0 in her stocking feet. It is clear that Victoria and Albert had a very active sex life (also historically accurate - good grief!).

Tonight we hear a lot about the war in Afghanistan, which is not going well just at the moment, it seems. It is interesting that disastrous military missions are often initiated by liberal governments. One thinks of LBJ and Vietnam.

The Whig Party (Melbourne, Palmerston, etc.) launched Britain's military campaigns in Afghanistan, but it’s the Tory party (Peel, Wellington, etc.), who opposed the intervention), are the ones now in power, who have to deal with the catastrophic consequences.

I read the other day a very touching news item in theonion.com, the influential American news source. It was about a 19-year-old American soldier, Tyler Corcoran, who was excited and proud to be able to take over his father's old patrol route in Afghanistan. That's why I admire the Americans - they are not afraid to express their feelings of pride and enthusiasm. There must be a lot of British soldiers who have taken over patrol routes, which their grandfather's grandfather once had 160 years ago, but where are the articles in the British press like the one in theonion.com ??? There is a strange silence for some reason.

Tyler Corcoran

If I ever get the chance to ask a question of God, I would like to ask him what is the point of countries like Afghanistan, other than being a nuisance to the rest of the world !!!

22:00 We go to bed. I read 10 pages of my bedtime book about the Duke of Monmouth before I drift off to sleep.

06:00 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests. I take a little look online and I see that the weather will be quite warm today and the temperature could reach 75 degrees (F), even in Denmark. I must get some gardening done today.

08:30 I jump into bed with Lois and we drink our morning tea. We get up and have breakfast.

10:00 I get into the back garden and finish off the rest of the tasks in my hedge-cutting project - hurrah! Even though I notice that the first hedge which I cut a few weeks ago is now starting to look a little overgrown - damn it! It's a bit like painting the Forth Bridge in Scotland: when you reach the bridge's northern end, it's time to paint it again starting from the southern end - good grief, what madness! !!!!

painting the Forth Bridge is a full time job - oh dear, what madness!

11:00 Lois and I relax with a cup of coffee on the terrace. I ask her if she thinks Sarah, our daughter in Perth, Australia, and Francis, Sarah's husband, sometimes get homesick. We talked to them yesterday on Skype and I noticed that their tone of voice became somewhat thoughtful when I talked about our upcoming short vacation in the county of Devon and when I told them that today was a bank holiday in England, which they had forgotten.

I also say to Lois that Sarah and Francis may feel a little isolated over there. They told us about the twins' 4th birthday party, when they took them to the Fairy Shop in Joondalup, a small suburb of Perth. Lois and I are the only people Sarah and Francis know in England who would be able to picture Joondalup and the street on which Fairy Shop is located. Lois and I had a sticky experience there last year as we walked around the streets of the area, looking for the Toys R Us toy superstore. We found it in the end.

The Fairy Shop and Toys R Us in Joondalup,

a little suburb of Perth, Australia.

Lois and I lived for 3 years in the United States in the 1980s, but I do not remember I ever suffered from homesickness there. It was a bit different because we knew we would have to move back to England at the end of the 3 year posting.

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

15:00 I get up and we relax with a cup of tea on the terrace. I tell Lois about an interesting TV show, which I started to see early this morning. Ben Elton, the famous comedian, was making a speech about British sitcoms to an audience of other people working in today's Tv-sitcom world. He says that the traditional British sitcoms (played out in front of a live audience) are an endangered species. They require a lot of technical and artistic specialists, and if the genre dies out, these technical and artistic specialties will also die out.

Most of today's British sitcoms are now filmed without an audience - many of them are in the form of mockumentaries, like Ricky Gervais's "The Office". Elton thinks that this is a bit of a shame - he likes the good old-fashioned sitcoms and the good old-fashioned jokes, where the writers do not hide their intention to make the audience laugh out loud (lol ha ha ha).

I like Ben Elton, though I'm a little sceptical when he blames Maggie Thatcher for being responsible for the change in British sitcoms: he says it started when Maggie set a higher value on the individual citizen than on "society." Good grief, what a crazy world we live in !!!!