04:00 Jeg står tidligt op og kigger lidt på nettet. Jeg
mindes pludselig, at jeg skal udfærdige en hyldest til min ven István i Pécs,
Ungarn, der senere på måneden fylder 70 år. Istváns kone, Maria, har bedt alle
hans venner om at sende noget senest i går.
Jeg mødte
István først for ca. 25 år siden, kort efter kommunismens sammenbrud i
øst-Europa, da jeg rejste til Ungarn sammen med min ven, ”Magyar” Mike. Han var
selv dengang en entusiastisk tilhænger af demokrati og kapitalisme. Siden 1992,
har jeg besøgt István og hans familie flere gange sammen med Lois, min kone.
Jeg skriver
nogle gode ønsker og vedlægge et par billeder.
tilbageblik til 1998, foran Istváns hus i Pécs, Ungarn:
(fra
venstre til højre) ”Magyar” Mary og ” Magyar” Mike, Lois,
István,
Mária, mig
István kører Lois og mig til forskelllige
seværdigheder
i Pécs-området.
07:15 Jeg
hopper tilbage op i sengen til Lois og vi drikker vores morgenté. Bagefter står
vi hurtigt op, fordi Lois har en vigtig aftale i formiddag kl 9 på hospitalet.
Specialisten vil undersøge Lois’s øjne 4
uger efter hendes øjenoperation for grå stær.
08:45 Vi
sætter os i øjenklinikkens ventesal, og specialisten kalder Lois ind, mens jeg
bliver siddende i ventesalen med min smartphone og min danske roman,
Klinkevals.
Specialisten
bekræfter, at Lois’s øjenoperation har været meget vellykket. Hun foretager
også en synstest og ordinerer nye briller.
Aftalen varer
ikke ret længe. Jeg har kun tid til at surfe lidt på nettet og så læse kun en
side (side 58) af ”Klinkevals”, min danske roman: den pragtfulde Juliane, nu
pludselig en enke og enlig mor, har fået et job hos Hansen, den lokale slagter,
som hun kalder ”kødhovedet”. ”Kødhoved” er allerede begyndt at lægge en stor
indsats i at forføre Juliane, men han på
side 59 desærre bliver distraheret af hestene, der trækker hans vogn, og som
løber løbst og går amok i gaderne. Du godeste, stakkels ”Kødhoved”!!!! Det synes som om, han aldrig vil få Juliane
med i seng – uha!!!
Den
pragtfulde Mette Lisby, der spiller Juliane i filmen fra 1999.
Hidtil
er det mislykkes for hendes chef, slagteren Hansen, eller ”Kødhoved”,
at
få hende med i sengen – stakkels Hansen!!!! Sikke et vanvid!!!!
10:00 Vi kører
hjem, men på vej smutter vi ind i landsbyen Bishops Cleeves
Tesco-supermarkedet. Vi er i dag pludselig blevet klar over, at vi stadig ejer
en masse gamle pund-mønt, der efter i går er blevet ugyldige. Du godeste – jeg
har gjort lidt forskning på nettet, og det lader til, at Tesco har aftalt at
acceptere den gamle mønter indtil næste weekend.
Derefter
smutter vi ind i Lowrys-café. Vi drikker en kop Earl Grey te og spiser et
stykke kage – nam nam !!!!! Jeg kigger lidt på nettet – Lowrys har en god
wi-fi. Vejrpigen siger, det kommer til at blæse kraftigt i dag (op til 44 miles
i timen, en eftervirkning af orkanen Ophelia), men temperaturen kan nå til 68
grader (F) / 20C. Sikke et vanvid – vi fik aldrig det slags vejr, da jeg var
barn, det ved jeg med sikkerhed!!!! Sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!!
vanvittigt vejr – sikke et skør verden vi lever i !!!!
Solen
ser rød ud, men himlen er grå – rent vanvid!!!!
Eksperter
siger, det er støv fra Sahara, der volder solens farv – yikes!!!
På min
smartphone har jeg adgang til en whatsapp-chatrum, der består af medlemmer af
Lois’s kirke. Jeg har bemærket, at mange af dem bliver meget begejstrede over
usædvanlige naturlige fænomener (såsom orkaner, jordskælv, røde sole osv),
fordi de tror, at sådanne fænomener er tegn på, at vi bor i ”de sidste dage” og
at Jesu genkomst er overhængende, selvom Lois er mere skeptisk, synes jeg. Det
er lidt demotiverende måske at forvente for ofte enden på verden og at blive
skuffet derover atter og atter.
12:00 Vi
kommer hjem og spiser frokost. Bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en kort
eftermiddagsur. Jeg står op kl 15 og hopper op på min kondicykel. Jeg cykler 9
miles (15km) og bagefter dyrker jeg lidt mild vægtsløftning.
Jeg kigger
lidt på nettet. Jeg ser, at en interessant kunstudstilling for tiden finder
sted på Louisiana-galleriet, der ligger i Holbæk, lige nord for København. Lois
og jeg har besøgt gallerien flere gange sammen med Alison, vores datter i
København og hendes familie.
tilbageblik til december 2015 – Lois og jeg besøger Louisiana-kunstgalleriet
sammen
med vores datter Alison og hendes familie.
Lois (til venstre, i den røde trøje). Alison, Ed, Josie,
Rosalind
og Isaac står på billedets højre side.
Der finder
sted en Marina Abramovic-udstilling for tiden på galleriet. Marina er en
verdenskendt performance-kunstner, og blev berømt for sit såkaldte kunstværk
”Imponderabilia” (1977), hvor hun og
hendes partner Ulay (eller andre par, modeller eller skuespillerer, der
vikarierer dem), begge to helt nøgne, står overfor hinanden i en smal
døråbning. Udstillingens gæster skal klemme
sig sidelæns ind mellem disse to nøgne kroppe – og skal derfor vælge, om at
henvende sig enten til manden eller til kvinden.
Performance-kunstneren Marina Abramovic og hendes partner,
Ulay, tvinger
udstillingens gæster til at klemme sig sidelæns
mellem kunstnernes
nøgne kroppe – de må henvende sig
til Marina eller
til Ulay, men ikke begge to ha ha ha!
Rent vanvid!!!! Men jeg ved godt, at
Morten Ingemann, min yndlingstegner, finder performance-kunst lidt komisk,
ligesom mig, så jeg søger hans seneste tegneseriestriber på nettet og falder
over en, der faktisk handler om Marinas udstilling. Men jeg får lidt af et chok
– det må jeg indrømme!!!
Danske Morten Ingemann, min yndlingstegner.
Jeg holder
aldrig op med at undre mig over, hvordan kontinentale journalister og tegnere
kan slippe af sted med at publicere de slags artikler og tegnestriber, som på
grund af almindelig anstændighed eller politisk korrekthed aldrig ville være
acceptable i Storbritannien – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!
I den
pågældene stribe kigger vi på en scene, der udspiller sig i
Louisiana-kunstgalleriet. Ingemann har skildret to midaldrende kvindelige
gæster. De to kvinder ser på det nøgne par, der står udover hinanden i døråbningen, men kvinderne har ikke lyst
til at nærme sig til dem, og med rette!
I Ingemanns
version er den nøgne mand i døråbningen blevet åbenlyst ophidset – og det ville
være en dristig gæst, der ville turde at klemme sig ind mellem ham og hans kvindelige
partner.
18:00 Vi spiser
aftensmad og lytter lidt til radio, et interessant program, der handler om
tiden, Lenin, Trotsky og deres kammerater tilbragt i London i de første år af
det 20. århundrede.
Det er
interessant, at disse første kommunister, som for eksempel Lenin og Trotsky,
valgte London som deres midlertidlige hjem, startende fra 1903, af to
hovedsagelige grunde: (1) British Museums bibliotek, hvor tusindvis af bøger på
russisk kunne findes, der var blevet forbydt i selve Rusland, og (2) i
modsætning til andre europæiske lande var de tilladt at arbejde og organisere
deres nye parti uden at det lokale politi overvåger dem.
Det er måske
lidt af en skam, at Lenin trods de overnævnte senere skabte et overvågningssystem
endnu mere brutalt, end tsarens, men det springer jeg over ha ha ha!
Han kunne godt
lide Londons pubber og vaudeville-teatrer, men det lykkedes ham aldrig at forstå
den engelske humor, lader det til. Men havde faktisk Lenin en sans for humor? Det
er Lois og jeg ikke helt sikre på – juryen er stadig ude derom.
22:00 Vi går i
seng. Jeg læser 4 sider af min sengetidbog, der handler om slaget om Budapest,
før jeg glider over i søvnen – zzzzzzzz!!!!!
English translation
04:00 I get up early and take a little look online. I suddenly
recall that I have to put together a tribute to my friend István in Pécs,
Hungary, who will turn 70 later this month. István's wife, Maria, has asked all
his friends to send something by yesterday at latest.
I met István for the first time about 25 years ago,
shortly after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, when I traveled to
Hungary with my friend, "Magyar" Mike. Istvan was, even then, an
enthusiastic supporter of democracy and capitalism. Since 1992, I have visited
István and his family several times with Lois, my wife.
I write down some good wishes to send to István and attach a couple of
pictures.
flashback to 1998, in front of
István's house in Pécs, Hungary:
(from left to right) "Magyar" Mary
and "Magyar" Mike, Lois,
István, Mária, me
István drives Lois and me to
various tourist attractions
in the Pécs area.
07:15 I hop back into bed with Lois and we drink our
morning tea. Then we have to get up quickly because Lois has an important
appointment today at 9 am at the hospital. The specialist is to examine Lois's
eyes 4 weeks after her eye surgery for cataracts.
08:45 We sit down in the eye clinic's waiting room, and the
specialist calls Lois in while I stay seated in the waiting room with my
smartphone and my Danish novel, Klinkevals.
The specialist confirms that Lois's eye surgery has been
very successful. She also gives her an eye test and prescribes new glasses.
The appointment does not last that long. I only have time
to surf a little online and then read just one page (page 58) of
"Klinkevals", my Danish novel: the gorgeous Juliane, now suddenly a
widow and single mother, has got a job with Hansen, the local butcher, whom she
calls "the meat-head". "Meathead" has already begun to make
a great effort to seduce Juliane, but on page 59 he gets distracted by the horses
who pull his wagon breaking loose and running amok in the streets. Good grief,
poor "Meathead" !!!! It seems like he is never going to get Juliane
into bed - oh dear !!!
The gorgeous Mette Lisby, who plays Juliane
in the movie from 1999.
So far, her boss, butcher Hansen, aka "Meathead", has failed in his attempts
to get her into bed - poor Hansen !!!! What
madness !!!!
10:00 We drive home, but on the way we pop into the
Bishops Cleeve Tesco supermarket. We have suddenly realised that we still own a
lot of old pound coins that have become invalid after yesterday. My god - I
have done some research online, and it seems that Tesco has agreed to accept
the old coins until next weekend.
After that we pop into Lowrys café. We have a cup of Earl
Gray tea and a piece of cake - yum yum !!!!! I take a little look online -
Lowrys has a good wi-fi. The weather girl says it's going to be very windy
today (up to 44 miles per hour, an aftereffect of hurricane Ophelia), but the
temperature could reach 68 degrees (F) / 20C. What madness - we never had that
kind of weather when I was a child, I know that for sure !!!! What a crazy
world we live in !!!!!
lunatic weather - what a crazy world
we live in !!!!
The sun looks red, but the sky is gray -
pure madness !!!!
Experts say it is dust from the Sahara that
is responsible for the sun's color - yikes !!!
On my smartphone, I have access to a whatsapp chat room,
made up of members of Lois's Church. I have noticed that many of them get
very excited about unusual natural phenomena (such as hurricanes, earthquakes,
red suns, etc.) because they think such phenomena are indications that we live
in "the last days" and that Jesus' return is imminent, although Lois
is more sceptical, I think. It is a little demotivating perhaps to expect the
end of the world too often and to be disappointed over and over again.
12:00 We come home and have lunch. Afterwards I go to bed
and take a short afternoon nap. I get up at 3 pm and jump on my exercise bike.
I cycle 9 miles (15km) and afterwards I do a little mild weightlifting.
I take a little look online. I see that an interesting
art exhibition is currently taking place at the Louisiana Gallery, located in
Holbæk, just north of Copenhagen. Lois and I have visited the gallery several
times with Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen and her family.
Flashback to December 2015 - Lois and I
visit the Louisiana Art Gallery
together with our daughter Alison and her
family.
Lois (left, in the red sweater).
Alison, Ed, Josie,
Rosalind and Isaac are on the right hand
side of the picture.
A Marina Abramovic exhibition is currently taking place at
the gallery. Marina is a world famous performance artist, and became well-known
for her so-called "Imponderabilia" artwork (1977), where she and her
partner Ulay (or other couples, models or actors who stand in for them), face each other both
completely naked, in a narrow doorway. The guests of the
exhibition must squeeze themselves sideways in between these two naked bodies -
and therefore must choose to turn towards either the man or the woman.
Performance artist Marina Abramovic
and her partner,
Ulay, force the exhibition's visitors to
squeeze themselves in sideways
between the naked bodies of the artists -
they must turn
to face either Marina or Ulay but cannot do both
ha ha ha ha!
Pure madness !!!! But I know that Morten Ingemann, my
favorite cartoonist, finds performance art a bit comical, just like me, so I
have a look for his latest comic strips online and come across one that is
actually all about Marina's exhibition. But I get a bit of a shock, I have to
admit !!!
The Dane Morten Ingemann, my
favorite cartoonist.
It never ceases to amaze me how continental journalists
and artists can get away with publishing articles and cartoons that on
grounds of common decency or political correctness, would never be acceptable
in Britain - my god, what a crazy world we live in !!!
In the cartoon strip concerned a scene is playing out in the Louisiana Art
Gallery. Ingemann has depicted two middle-aged female visitors. The two women
are looking at the naked couple standing facing each other in the doorway, but
the women do not want to approach them, and rightly so!
In Ingemann's version,
the naked man in the doorway has become visibly aroused - and it would be a
bold visitor who would dare to try and squeeze in between him and his female partner. By means of this kind of physical barrier, the
couple are perhaps indicating that the exhibition is closed, but that's something I'm not completely sure about.
18:00 We have dinner and listen a little to the radio, an
interesting program about the time, Lenin, Trotsky and their companions spent
in London in the early years of the 20th century.
It is interesting that these first communists, such as
Lenin and Trotsky, chose London as their temporary home, starting from 1903,
for two main reasons: (1) the library of the British Museum, where thousands of
books in Russian could be found that had been banned in Russia itself, and (2) unlike in other European countries, they were allowed to work and organize their
new party without the local police monitoring them.
It is perhaps a bit of a shame that in spite of the above,
Lenin later created a surveillance system even more brutal than the Tsar's, but
I'm going to let that one slide ha ha ha!
He liked London's pubs and vaudeville theaters, but he
never managed to understand English humor. But did Lenin actually have a sense
of humor? That's something Lois and I are not quite sure about - the jury is
still out on that one.
22:00 We go to bed. I read 4 pages of my bedtime-book all
about the battle for Budapest before I drift off to sleep - zzzzzzzz !!!!!
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