Danskcolin: Fredag den 13. oktober 2017

04:00 Jeg står tidligt op og kigger lidt på internettet. Jeg ser, at danske skoler, hvor vores datter Alisons 3 børn går, har deres såkaldte efterårsferie næste uge, og som sædvanligt forudser pressen forfærdelige bilkøer, som danske forældre rejser sydpå for at nyde lidt solskin før det bliver for sent.

nogle af de problemområder, hvor for mange danskere

kører sydpå for at kunne nyde lidt solskin.

Det er interessant, at dette fænomen udgør sådan et problem i Danmark i sammenligning til i Storbritannien. Jeg formoder at det er meget sværere for os at rejse sydpå, så vi ikke orker det.

Og i Storbritannien hjælper det meget, at forskellige grevskaber har forskellige datoer til deres skolers efterårsferie, så bilkøerne er mindre koncentreret på bestemte dage, mens i Danmark har alle skoler efterårsferie på samme tid af en eller anden grund. Sikke et vanvid!!!

infografik visende en typisk kontrast i vejrmønstre

mellem Nord- og Syd-Europa (eksempel taget fra tidligere

på året med temperaturer i Celsius)

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

Lois har det meget bedre nu, men er stadig lidt forkølet og hoster mere end normalt. Hun har besluttet ikke at hjælpe til på biblioteket i eftermiddag – hun plejer til 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).

10:00 Vi går ud i baghaven. Lois rydder op her og der i grøntsagshaven og mellem frugtbuskerne, mens jeg fortsætter med at luge vores såkaldte ”bønnehav”, dvs den del, hvor vi dyrkede bønner: stangbønner, franske bønner og portugisiske bønner.

Det føles fra sekund til sekund, at det umiddelbart kommer til at regne, men regnen holder sig heldigvis væk, mens vi arbejder.

jeg luger lidt i den såkaldte bønnehave, mens Lois

(i det fjerne) rydder op mellem hindbærstokkene, fjernende de gamle

13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter tager jeg en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15 og hopper op på min kondicykel, mens Lois går hen ind til landsbyen for at købe et par ting.

Jeg cykler 9 miles (15km) og ser en interessant videodebat på YouTube, mens jeg cykler, mellem forskeren Richard Dawkins og kreationisten Wendy Wright. Debatten fandt sted for mange år siden i et eller andet kontorbygning og det generer mig lidt at de ikke sætter sig under debatten, men foretrækker at blive stående, af en eller anden grund. Men det springer jeg over.

Forskeren Richard Dawkins interviewer

kreationisten Wendy Wright i et mysteriøst kontor af nogen art

Wright beder Dawkins om at give hende beviserne for evolutionen, og han koncenterer sig om dna-beviser, men desværre lader det til, at hun kun er interesseret i at se knogler eller fossiler. Debatten begynder at ser ud som lidt af en blindgyde efter ca 15 minutter, men desværre fryser videoen halvvejs – det bliver for en anden dag.

Jeg gør lidt forskning på nettet om denne debat. I en bogkritik i ”The Guardian”-avisen skrev palæontolog Richard Fortey, at man sympatiserer med Dawkins forsøg på at tale om beviser med overbeviste kreationister, og at Wright ville få de fleste rationelle sjæle til at rive sig i håret.

Sarah Lyall i New York Times sagde, ”det er som om [Wright] hører ham ikke”. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!! Men Lois siger samme ting om Dawkins – uha!!!!

Richard Fortey, den berømte palæontolog

Sarah Lyall af New York Times-avisen

15:30 Lois kommer tilbage fra landsbyen og vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen. Hun har købt to børnemagasiner (halloween-udgaven, med masser af kunstsmaterialer og idéer, som sædvanligt) til to af vores børnebørn i København, Josie og Rosalind. Det er meget dyrt, når man tænker både på prisen på magasinerne og på portoet, men det giver os utroligt meget glæde at gøre dem denne lille tjeneste, der hjælper med at minde dem lidt om deres fødeland – hulk hulk!

Lois har købt to børnemagasiner (halloween-udgaven)

til to af vores børnebørn i København

16:00 Vi lytter lidt til radio, et interessant program, ”Det Sidste Ord”. 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). Programmets vært er den charmerende Julian Worricker, der i dag vikarierer for Matthew Bannister.

Lillian Ross døde desværre for nylig, der i mange år var journalist på det berømte amerikanske tidsskrift ”The New Yorker”.

Jeg har altid haft en svaghed for Lillian, på grund af min interesse for sprog. Det var Lillian, der var den første journalist til at bringe i forgrunden eksistensen af det pidginengelske sprog, da hun kopierede ord for ord et interview, hun havde med hendes tætte ven, Ernest Hemingway.

Lillian Ross sammen med forfatteren Ernest Hemingway

Hun skrev, at Hemingway kun sjældent ikke havde et drik i hånden under interviewet, og plejede at tale på en slags indiansk pidginengelsk, med bemærkninger som for eksempel, ”Want to go Bronx Zoo” – en stil, der efter min mening havde en stor indflydelse på mange senere dramatikere og deres skabelser, som for eksempel:

1. Tonto i “the Lone Ranger”, spillet af Jay Silverheels (1949);

2. Cookie Monster i Sesame Street (1969).

3. Hulk i “The Incredible Hulk” (1962) og “The Avengers” (2012)

Det er lidt af et mærkeligt sammenfald, men samme uge, Lillian Ross døde, oprettede BBC-radio en ny fremmedsproglige nyhedstjeneste på pidginengelsk – programmer de sender til radiolyttere i Vest-Afrika og andre steder. Det er lidt af en skam, at Lillian ikke levede længe nok, at se hendes skabelse modtager BBC-kanalens anerkendelse.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og smækker benene op foran fjernsynet. De viser et gammelt afsnit af ”De gode gamle dage”, et tv-program, der prøvede at genskabe stemningen af det gamle vaudeville-teater. Afsnittet blev først sendt den 29. marts 1979, et par dage efter min 33. fødselsdag – yikes, var jeg nogensinde 33????!!!

Tilbageblik til 1979: Lois og jeg, sammen med vores to døtre,

Alison (4) og Sarah (2)

Lois og jeg fik fat i teaterbilletter til en live-forestilling af dette show sidste måned i byen Leeds, men vi blev desværre nødt til at aflyse billetterne på grund af Lois’s øjenoperation. Teatret sendte os imidlertid en kreditnota, så vi planlægger at besøge Leeds i 2018 og se showet. Der er sædvane for publikummet at klæde sig ud i viktoriansk/edvardiansk kostumer, så i aften kigger Lois og jeg lidt nærmere på publikummets påklædning – vi ønsker at få nogle idéer om, præcis hvad ville passe os godt. Men det er juryen desværre stadig ude om – uha!

Burlesksangeren Doreen Hermitage optræder

i et gammelt afsnit af ”De gode gamle dage” fra 1979.

Lois og jeg observerer nøje publikummet, for at få os kostumeidéer,

fordi vi planlægger at se en live-forestilling af showet næste år

21:30 Vi går i seng, lidt tidligere, end normalt – zzzzzzzz!!!!!

English translation

04:00 I get up early and take a little look on the internet. I see that Danish schools, where our daughter Alison's 3 children go, have their so-called autumn break next week, and as usual, the press predicts horrible car queues as Danish parents travel south to enjoy a little sunshine before it's too late.

some of the problem areas where too many Danes are

driving south to enjoy a bit of sunshine.

It is interesting that this phenomenon poses so much of a problem in Denmark in comparison to the UK. I suppose it's much harder for us to travel south so we don’t bother.

And in Britain, it helps a lot that different counties have different dates for their school's autumn breaks so the car queues are less concentrated on certain days, while in Denmark all schools have autumn breaks at the same time for some reason. What madness!!!!

Infographic showing a typical contrast in weather patterns

between northern and southern Europe (example taken from earlier

in the year with temperatures in Celsius)

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

Lois is much better, but still has a bit of a cold and is coughing more than normally. She has decided not to help out at the library this afternoon - she usually helps library staff organize and lead the Friday afternoon 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).

10:00 We go out into the back garden. Lois clears up here and there in the vegetable garden and between the fruit bushes, while I continue to weed the so-called “bean garden”, i.e. the part where we grew beans: runner beans, French beans and Portuguese beans.

It feels from second to second that it's going to start raining, but happily the rain holds off while we work.

I do some weeding in the so-called bean garden, while Lois

(in the distance) tidies up among the raspberry canes, removing the old ones

13:00 We have lunch and afterwards I take a giant afternoon nap. I get up at 3pm and jump up on my exercise bike while Lois walks into the village to buy a few things.

I cycle 9 miles (15km) and watch an interesting video debate on YouTube while cycling, between researcher Richard Dawkins and the creationist Wendy Wright. The debate took place many years ago in some kind of office building, and it bothers me that they do not sit down during the debate but prefer to stay standing for some reason. But I'll let that one slide.

Researcher Richard Dawkins interviews

creationist Wendy Wright in a mysterious office of some kind

Wright asks Dawkins to give her the evidence for evolution, and he concentrates on DNA evidence, but unfortunately she seems to be interested only in seeing bones or fossils. The debate starts to look like a dead end after about 15 minutes, but unfortunately the video freezes halfway anyway - it will have to wait for another day.

I do a little research online about this debate. In a book review in "The Guardian" newspaper, paleontologist Richard Fortey wrote that he sympathized with Dawkin's attempts to speak about evidence with dyed-in-the-wool creationists and that Wright would make most rational souls tear their hair out.

Sarah Lyall of the New York Times said, "It's as if [Wright] does not hear him." Good grief, what madness !!!! But Lois says the same thing about Dawkins - oh dear !!!!

Richard Fortey, the famous palaeontologist

Sarah Lyall of the New York Times

15:30 Lois comes back from the village and we relax with a cup of tea on the couch. She has bought two children's magazines (the Halloween edition, with lots of art materials and ideas as usual) for two of our grandchildren in Copenhagen, Josie and Rosalind. It's very expensive when you consider both the price of the magazines and the postage, but it gives us an incredible amount of pleasure to do them this little service that helps remind them a little about the country of their birth - sob sob!

Lois has bought two children's magazines (the Halloween edition)

for two of our grandchildren in Copenhagen

16:00 We listen a little to the radio, an interesting program, "The Last Word". 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). The host of the program is the charming Julian Worricker, standing in today for Matthew Bannister.

Lillian Ross sadly died recently, who for many years was a journalist on the famous American magazine "The New Yorker".

I have always had a soft spot for Lillian, because of my interest in language. It was Lillian, who was the first journalist to bring to the forefront the existence of the Pidgin-English language, when she transcribed word-for-word an interview she had with her close friend Ernest Hemingway.

Lillian Ross with the writer Ernest Hemingway

She wrote that Hemingway was rarely without a drink in his hand during the interview, and he used to speak in a kind of 'Indian' Pidgin-English, with comments such as "Want to go Bronx Zoo" - a style that, in my opinion, had a big influence on many later dramatists and their creations, such as:

1. Tonto in "The Lone Ranger", played by Jay Silverheels (1949);

2. Cookie Monster in Sesame Street (1969).

3. Hulk in "The Incredible Hulk" (1962) and "The Avengers" (2012)

It's a bit of a strange coincidence, but the same week that Lillian Ross died, BBC Radio set up a new foreign-language news service in pidgin English, programs they broadcast to radio listeners in West Africa and elsewhere. It's a bit of a shame that Lillian did not live long enough to see her creation receive the BBC's recognition.

18:00 We have dinner and stick our feet up in front of the television. An old episode of "The Good Old Days" is on, a television program that tried to recreate the mood of the old vaudeville theater. The episode was first aired on March 29, 1979, a couple of days after my 33rd birthday - yikes, was I ever 33 ???? !!!

Flashback to 1979: Lois and I, with our two daughters,

Alison (4) and Sarah (2)

Lois and I got theater tickets for a live performance of this show last month in Leeds, but unfortunately we had to cancel the tickets because of Lois's eye surgery. The theater, however, sent us a credit note, so we plan to visit Leeds in 2018 and see the show. It is customary for the audience to dress up in Victorian / Edwardian costumes, so tonight Lois and I look a little more closely at the audience's attire - we want some ideas about exactly what would suit us best. Unfortunately, the jury is still out on that one - oh dear!