Friday, 4 August 2017

Torsdag den 3. august 2017 kl 16:30 indtil fredag den 4. august 2017 kl 16:29

17:00 Lois sidder foran computeren igen, arbejdende på sit skema til sin kirkes pop-up shop: hvilke kirkemedlemmer vil dække hvilke tidsrum (halvdage) i shoppen. Hun indvilligede oprindeligt i at arbejde i shoppen selv igen i morgen formiddag, sammen med Alf, men det er hun ikke ret frisk på at gøre på grund af sin forkølelse. Nu heldigvis har Mari-Ann og Jeff indvilliget i at dække formiddagen, så derfor kan hun have en fridag – hurra! Det betyder også, at jeg selv kan have en fridag, fordi jeg skal køre hende derover, hver gang, hun skal dække et eller andet tidsrum. Hurra (igen)!!!!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og smækker benene op foran fjernsynet. De viser et gamle afsnit af Top of the Pops fra den 19 april 1984, dagen før langfredag. Programmets værter er de charmerende Peter Powell og Gary Davies.



Et underholdende afsnit igen, men det er åbenbart, at politisk korrekthed dengang ikke var så gennemgribende i 1984, som i dag. Ved slutningen af showet ”forærer” dj’en Peter Powell en bunny-girl til sin co-dj, Gary ”Gazza” Davies som påskegave, og vi ser Gary begynde at tage lidt på hende i baggrunden. Bare en vittighed, men man ser ikke sådan noget i nutidens tv-verden – ingen tvivl om det!!! Senere ser vi bunny-girlen danse med showets andre dansere, så derfor må hun have sagt ”Væk med poterne” til Gary på et eller andet tidspunkt, gudskelov!



politisk korrekthed var bare i sin spæde begyndelse i 1984.
Den ene dj (Peter Powell) ”forærer” en bunny-girl til den
anden dj (Gary ”Gazza” Davies) – du godeste! Sikke et vanvid!!!!

Lois og jeg formoder, at bunny-girlen snart sagde ”Væk med poterne”
til Garry, fordi vi ser hende danse med showets andre dansere
ved slutningen af programmet, tilsyneladende uskadt, gudskelov!

Lionel Richies ”Hello” var stadig på nummer ét i hitlisten efter 5 uger. Men efter 5 uger var nogle vigtige spørgsmål dog stadig uden svar. Hvorfor har Laura, den blinde studerende i videoen, skabt en reproduktion af Lionels hoved, der overhovedet ikke er akkurat. Hovedet har for eksempel en hage, der er meget mere udstående, end Lionels. Men det er juryen stadig ude på! Et evigt mysterium, der kommer til at hjemsøge Lois og mig til vores dages ende – yikes!!!!

Hvorfor hænger der en plakat for den græske ø Santorini ude i gangen i højskolen/kollegium, hvor Lionel arbejder som lektor/lærer?  Hænger der også et enormt kort over øen, der ikke ligner øen ret meget, ligesom Lauras skulptur ikke ligner Lionels hoved???? Hedder skolen måske ”Santorini High School” – men det er Lois og jeg ikke helt sikre på.


 hvad er den mystiske forbindelse mellem
Lionel og Lauras højskole og den græske ø Santorini.
Det er juryen stadig ude om !!!!
Richies sang var populær verden over, men ikke ret meget i Skandinavien, selvom den svenske sangerinde, Kikki Danielsson udsendte en coverversion på svensk på sin berømte ”Bra Vibrationer” album.



Kikke Danielsson sang en svensk cover-version af ”Hello”
på sin berømte ”Bra Variationer” album

Top of the Pops i 1980’erne handlede om frihed – det var det, Lois og jeg mest associerer årtied med: lækre ”Princess Di” frisurer, Maggie Thatcher og frihed. Og vi ser dette tema mange gange i dette afsnit: Special AKAs ”Befri Nelson Mandela”, og Queens  ”Jeg vil springe fri”.


Lois og jeg elskede 1980’erne –
årtied kredsede om frihed og  Princess Di frisurer – hurra!

Lois og jeg boede i USA fra 1982 til 1985, så vi ikke så dette afsnit af Top of the Pops, da BBC-kanalen først sendte det. Påsken 1984 var vi på ferie i badebyen Virginia Beach, sammen med vores to unge døtre, Alison (8 år) og Sarah (6 år). Måske vores lykkeligste familieferie nogensinde.






Tilbageblik til påsken 1984 –
Hurra for frihed! Vores 2 døtre, Alison (8) og Sarah (6) løber frit
på stranden i badebyen Virginia Beach, måske
vores mest sorgløse familieferie nogensinde – hurra (igen) !

Lykkelige dage!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – adskilte senge og værelser igen på grund af vores forkølelser. Vi vil hellere ikke forstyrre hinanden for meget - zzzzzzzzz!!!!!!

04:30 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest. Der er ikke nogen følelse så god, som at vågner op om morgenen og mindes, at man hele dagen ikke har nogle obligatoriske opgaver, og har en god undskyldning for ikke at dyrke havearbejde for eksempel – på grund af dårlig sundhed (forkølelse) – hurra (igen) !!!!

Jeg mindes, at jeg på 7 år vågnede op kl 5 og blev så glad for, at det var weekenden, at jeg stod op, gik ned ad trappen, og begyndte at lege med min legetoge (ligesom Sheldon i Big Bang Theory), indtil min mor hørte mig, kom ned ad trappen, skældte mig ud og sendte mig tilbage i sengen – pokkers!

tilbageblik til 1953: mig på 7 år (til venstre), sammen med
Kathy, min lillesøster (6 år – men allerede højere, end mig – pokkers! –
gudskelov for min ”vækstspurt” i 1960’erne!!!!!)
 og Steve, min lillebror i barnevognen

06:00 Jeg kigger lidt på nettet. Jeg ser, at Robert Mueller, der er i gang med en undersøgelse om forbindelsen mellem Rusland og Trumps valgkampagne, er begyndt at bruge ydelserne af en grand jury, så derfor mennesker kunne blive tvunget til at vidne, hvis nødvendigt, ved hjælp af en subpoena.

Lidt af et tilfælde, men jeg netop nu har læst i min sengetidbog, at engelske oppositionpartiers medlemmer i 1680 forsøgte at få grevskabet Middlesex’s grand jury til at anklage James, hertugen af York, arvingen til tronen, for at være en ”almindelig rekusant” (dvs en katolik, der nægtede at deltage i anglikanske gudstjenester). Forsøget mislykkedes desværre – for sent nu til at sige ”pokkers” !!!!). Lad os håbe på, at Mueller har bedre held!

07:00 Jeg fortsætter med at kigge på nettet. Jeg ser, at over halvdelen af briterne, der tager på ferie til udlandet, (56%) indrømmer, at de plejer at pege på retter i de lokale restauranters spisekort, for at undgå at udtale ikke-engelske ord.

de fleste briter peger bare på spisekortet
på restauranter i udlandet – uha!  

45% af briterne stoler på, at lokale tjenere kunne tale engelsk; 42% af briterne taler engelsk langsommere og højere, end normalt; 15% taler engelsk med en udenlandsk accent – du godeste, sikke et vanvid! 15% spiser kun på britiske eller amerikanske restauranter. Nogle bor kun i selvstændige ferielandsbyer, så de slet ikke kommer i kontakt med den lokale kultur. Du godeste (igen)!!! Men jeg sympatiserer!!! Briterne har ingen problemer i Danmark, unødvendigt at sige ha ha ha!!! Det kan ikke undre, at så mange briter stemte på Brexit – sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!!!

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

12:30 Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver frokost. Efter vi spiser, skal vi ud. Vi kører til det lokale bibliotek.

Lois indvilligede for et par uger siden i at hjælpe  bibliotekets personale med at organisere og lede eftermiddagens ugentlige ”Baby Bounce and Rhyme” session for unge mødre og deres små børn. Aktiviterne består af barnesange for babys og forældre (og bedsteforældre). Men hun har ikke lyst mere til at hjælpe i dag, på grund af sin forkølelse.

Hun smutter ind i biblioteket, forklarer problemet  til personalet og beklager meget. Men jeg synes, personalet ikke vil have syge personer til at komme i kontakt med disse så unge børn – det er der ikke nogen tvivl om.

14:00 Vi kommer hjem og går i seng i et par timer.

16:00 Vi står op og drikker en kop te i sofaen. Jeg kigger lidt på nettet. Jeg ser, at seneste uge ikke har været meget god for ældre danske ægtepar. Ifølge danske Morten Ingemann, min yndlings-tegner, har gamle Finn og hans kone afprøvede endnu en grønlændervending-manøvre i løben af natten, med de sædvanlige kaotiske resultater. Det er på høje tid, at nogen forklarer til Finn princippet af centrifugalkraft, før enten han eller hans kone blive alvorligt såret – det ved jeg med sikkerhed!

Omvendt har Danmarks Prins Henrik annonceret, at han ikke længere ønsker at blive begravet ved siden af sin kone, Dronning Margrethe – som resultat, er han blevet kaldet ”verdens mest gnavne royal". Måske har parret haft et slags skænderi tidligere på dagen – men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på. Men det er en stor fejl at annoncere denne slags sur reaction til pressen, synes jeg. Det er muligt, at han og Margrethe senere på aftenen vil bilægge striden ved at kramme, nusse og kysse lidt. Henrik vil ser meget fjollet ud i morgen, hvis han prøver at tage sin ord tilbage. Husk Piet Heins kloge ord, Henrik! Dvs ”Husk at smile før du sover, så går dagens surhed over!”. 


English translation

17:00 Lois is sitting in front of the computer again, working on her rota-sheet for her church's pop-up shop: which church members will cover which time-slots (half-days) in the shop. She initially agreed to work at the shop again herself tomorrow morning, along with Alf, but she is not that keen to do it because of her cold. Now fortunately, Mari-Ann and Jeff have agreed to cover the morning so now she can have a day off - hurrah! It also means that I can have a day off because I have to drive her over there every time she has to cover one time-slot or other. Hurrah (again) !!!!

18:00 We have dinner and stick our feet up in front of the television. An old episode is on of Top of the Pops from April 19, 1984, the day before Good Friday. The programme's hosts are the charming Peter Powell and Gary Davies.


An entertaining episode again, but it is evident that political correctness was not as pervasive in 1984 as it is today. At the end of the show, the DJ Peter Powell "gives" a bunny-girl to his co-dj, Gary "Gazza" Davies as an Easter present, and we see Gary start to paw her a little in the background.

Just a joke, but you would not see that kind of thing in today's TV world - no doubt about that!!! Later we see the bunny girl dancing with the show's other dancers, so she must have said "Paws off" to Gary at some point, thank goodness!



Political correctness was just in its infancy in 1984.
DJ (Peter Powell) "gives" a bunny girl to the
other DJ (Gary "Gazza" Davies) - good grief! What madness !!!!

Lois and I assume that the bunny girl soon said "paws off"
To Gary because we see her dancing with the show's other dancers
at the end of the program, apparently unscathed, thank goodness!

Lionel Richie's "Hello" was still number one in the charts after 5 weeks. But after 5 weeks, some important questions were still unanswered. Why has Laura, the blind student in the video, created a representation of Lionel's head which is not at all accurate? For example, the head has a chin that is much more prominent than Lionel's. But the jury is still out on that one! An eternal mystery that will haunt Lois and me to the end of our days - yikes !!!!

Why is there a poster for the Greek island of Santorini in the hall of the high school/ college where Lionel works as a lecturer / teacher? Is there also a huge map of the island that does not look very much like the actual island, just like Lauras's sculpture does not look like Lionel's head ???? Maybe the school is "Santorini High School" - but that's something Lois and I are not entirely sure about.


What is the mysterious connection between
Lionel and Laura's High School and the Greek island of Santorini.
The jury is still out on that one!!!!

Richie's song was popular all over the world, but not so much in Scandinavia, although the Swedish singer Kikki Danielsson brought out a cover version in Swedish on her famous "Bra Vibrations" album.



Kikke Danielsson sang a Swedish cover version of "Hello"
on her famous "Bra Variations" album

Top of the Pops in the 1980s was all about freedom - that's what Lois and I mostly associate the decade with: cool "Princess Di" hairstyles, Maggie Thatcher and freedom. And we see this theme many times in this episode: Special AKA's "Free Nelson Mandela" and Queen's "I Want To Break Free".


Lois and I loved the 1980s - the decade revolved around 
freedom and Princess Di Hairstyles - Hurrah!

Lois and I lived in the United States from 1982 to 1985 so we did not see this episode of Top of the Pops when the BBC Channel first aired it. During Easter 1984 we were on holiday at the seaside resort of Virginia Beach, together with our two young daughters, Alison (8 years) and Sarah (6 years). Perhaps our happiest family vacation ever.






Flashback to Easter 1984 -Hurrah for freedom!
Our 2 daughters, Alison (8) and Sarah (6) run free
on the beach in the seaside resort of Virginia Beach, maybe
our most carefree family vacation ever - hurrah (again)!

Happy days !!!!

22:00 We go to bed - separate beds and rooms again because of our colds. We'd rather not disturb each other too much - zzzzzzzzz !!!!!!

04:30 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests. There is no feeling as good as waking up in the morning and remembering that you do not have any obligatory tasks all day and have a good excuse for not gardening for example - because of bad health (colds) - hurrah (again) !!!!

I remember that at the age of 7 years I once woke up at 5am and was so happy that it was the weekend that I got up, went down the stairs and started playing with my toy trains (like Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory) until my mother heard me, came down the stairs, bawled me out and sent me back to bed - damn it!

 flashback to 1953: me at 7 years (left), along with
Kathy, my little sister (6 years old - but already taller than me - damn!)
Thank goodness for my "growth spurt" in the 1960s !!!!!)
And Steve, my little brother, in the baby-carriage

06:00 I take a little look online. I see that Robert Mueller, who is investigating the connection between Russia and Trump's election campaign, has begun to use the services of a grand jury so that people could be compelled to witness if necessary by means of a subpoena.

A bit of a coincidence, but I have just read in my bedtime book that in 1680 English opposition party MPs tried to get the Middlesex county grand jury to indict James Duke of York, heir to the throne, for being a "common recusant" ( i.e. a Catholic who refused to attend Anglican services). The attempt failed unfortunately - too late now to say "damn" !!!!). Let's hope that Mueller has better luck!

07:00 I continue to look online. I see that over half the Brits who go on holiday abroad (56%) admit that they tend to point at dishes in the local restaurants' menus to avoid having to pronounce non-English words.

most Brits just point at the menu
in restaurants abroad – oh dear!

45% of the Brits rely on local waiters being able to speak English; 42% of the Brits just speak English more slowly and loudly than normal; 15% speak English with a foreign accent - good grief, what madness! 15% eat only in British or American restaurants. Some stay only in self-catering holiday villages so they do not come into contact with local culture. Good grief (again) !!! But I sympathise !!! The British have no problems in Denmark, needless to say ha ha ha !!! It's no wonder that so many Brits voted for Brexit - what a crazy world we live in !!!!!!

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

12:30 I hurry into the kitchen and make lunch. After we eat, we have to go out.

We drive to the local library. Lois agreed a couple of weeks ago to assist the library staff in organising and leading this afternoon's weekly Baby Bounce and Rhyme session for young mothers and their young children. The activities consist of children's songs for babies and parents (and grandparents). But she does not feel like helping now today because of her cold.

She pops into the library, explains the problem to the staff and apologises a lot. But I think the staff do not want sick people to come into contact with these young children - there is no doubt about that.

14:00 We come home and go to bed for a couple of hours.

16:00 We get up and drink a cup of tea on the couch. I take a little look online. I see that last week has not been very good for older Danish couples. According to the Dane, Morten Ingemann, my favourite cartoonist, old Finn and his wife tried out another Greenland-style kayak roll during the night, with the usual chaotic results. It is high time that someone explains to Finn the principle of centrifugal force before either he or his wife gets seriously injured - that's something I am absolutely sure about!

In contrast, Denmark's Prince Henrik has announced that he no longer wants to be buried next to his wife, Queen Margrethe - as a result, he has been called "the world's grumpiest royal." Perhaps the couple had some sort of quarrel earlier in the day - but I'm not quite sure. But it's a big mistake to announce this kind of sour reaction to the press, I think. It is possible that later in the evening he and Margrethe will make up with a little hugging and kissing. Henrik will look very silly tomorrow if he tries to take his words back. Remember Piet Hein's wise words, Henrik! That's to say, "Remember to smile before you go to bed, so  all the day's sourness gets knocked on the head!".


No comments:

Post a Comment