Tirsdag den 3. oktober 2017

Lois sov bedre i nat – og i dag hoster hun ikke så meget som i går. Jeg tager hende en kort tur rundt omkring på den lokale fodboldbane for at give hende lidt motion og frisk luft. Jeg vil overlade det til næste gange at kaste en bold eller en pind med hende. Men jeg spøger kun ha ha ha.

jeg tager Lois en kort tur rundt omkring på den lokale fodboldbane.

Solen skinner, og i baggrunden ser man Cleeve-bakke.

Mens vi er ude af huset og spadserende rundt om fodboldbanen, får jeg en sms på whatsapp fra Alison, vores datter i København. Hun og Ed, hendes mand, er midt i en krise for tiden. Eds selskab har til hensigt at afskedige ham ved slutningen af året, og han har ikke fundet et nyt job endnu. Han havde håbet på, at han ville få et godt job i Milano, Italien – i begyndelsen af denne uge var der kun to ansøgere stadig tilbage i konkurrencen, men desværre blev hans rival valgt, hørte de to timer tidligere. Stakkels Ed.

I øjeblikket har Ed desværre ikke nogle andre optioner, og det er muligt at familien ville måtte flytte tilbage til England i december. Lois og jeg har aftalt at tale på Skype med Alison torsdag aften kl 21 (dansk tid), og måske vil vi høre flere detaljer.

12:00 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og jeg cykler 9 miles (15km). Jeg tænder for min smartphone, logger ind på YouTube og søger en mindst 30-minutter video jeg kan se på, mens jeg cykler.

I går aftes så jeg en morsom sitcom, ”Upstart Crow” (Opkomling-krage), der udspiller sig i Elizabeth I.s regeringstid og handler om eventyrene af en kæmpende, ung dramatiker, Will (Shakespeare), og hans kollega, Kitt (Marlowe). Lois fortæller mig, at serien er baseret på to virkelige liv dramatikere, og jeg er lidt nysgerrig over, at finde ud af flere detaljer om deres liv.

Da jeg hører Lois’s forklaring, klikker det pludselig for mig, hvad betydningen var af en rørende artikel, jeg læste for mange år siden på www.onion.com, den indflydelsesrige amerikanske nyhedskilde. Artiklen handlede om Sandy Heckscher, en ung studerende på Vanderbilt Universitet, der dengang tog et hovedfag i shakespearesk drama. I artiklen kritiserede Sandy meget skarpt sin dramaprofessor, Ian Treatt, for ikke at rose hendes dramastile, og for at være ”ikke ret godt til at give karakterer generelt”.

Studerende Sandy Heckscher, der kritiserede skarpt

de karakterer, hendes professor, Ian Treatt, plejede at give hende

Sandy sagde, at hun var blevet dødtræt af Ians ”blunt upbraidings and bitter scoffs” (grove bebrejdelser og bitre forhånelser), og hun tilføjede, ” "Who breathes but'd rather be a simple whore, than lurk within this country of insult?" (Hvem ånder, der ikke hellere ville være en simpel hore, end snige sig rund inde i dette land af fornærmelse).

Jeg sympatiserer med Sandy – da jeg var studerende, skulle jeg selv udholde dårlige professorer, der var ikke ret gode til at vurdere hjemmearbejde.

Jeg synes, at vores lands universitetsprofessorer og lektorer kunne gøre værre, end at tage et lejlighedsvise krydstogt, og opleve at høre på de professionelle foredragsholdere, der taler om historiske og kunstneriske emner, for at underholde krydstogtets overvejende ældre gæster.

Disse udmærkede lærere fylder deres foredrag med humor, hvilket deres ældre publikum sætter stor pris på. Derudover giver de meget sjældent hjemmearbejde og lektier, skriftlige opgaver osv.

Jeg har samlet det meste af min viden af krydstogtlærere, ikke på selve krysdtogter, men fra deres YouTube videoer.

For dagens cykeltur vælger jeg en YouTube video fra en af mine yndlingslærer, Giles Ramsay, der synes at rejse meget hyppigt på Queen Mary- krydstogskibet.  Lois siger, at Kit Marlowe faktisk var bøsse, selvom han i ”Opkomling-krage” sitcommen bliver han skildret som en skørtejæger. Jeg formoder, at mænd i Elizabeths Is regeringstid nogle tider gik i noget, der lignede en skørte, men det springer jeg over.

Ramsay (til venstre) taler om Marlowe på Queen Mary-krydstogtskibet

Jeg har en masse spørgsmål om Marlowe – var han bøsse, var han en af Walsinghams spioner, skrev han faktisk Shakespeares dramaer? Desværre ved slutningen af Ramsays analyse er jeg stadig ikke helt sikker på svarene til disse spørgsmål – pokkers!!!

13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15:30 og Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

16:00 Vi får flere nyheder fra Alison, vores datter i København, om Eds oplevelser i det amerikanske selskabs europæiske hovedkontor i Milano, hvor Ed havde ansøgt om et job. To ansøgere blev valgt til at deltage i den sidste omgang interviews, Ed og en amerikaner. Ed siger, at amerikaneren allerede var ansat på et højere niveau, end ham, så han gennem hele processen var klar over, at han havde chancerne imod sig.

18:00 Efter aftensmad ser vi lidt fjernsyn. Lois føler sig stadig lidt dårligt tilpas, så jeg insisterer på, at det skulle være hende, der vælger imellem de to store dokumentarfilm, de viser i aften: den første handler om reformationen (Europas hellige krig), hvor programmets vært er den berømte historiker, David Starkey, på BBC2. Den anden, på Channel Four handler om barbie-dukker (verdens mest berømte dukke), hvor programmets vært er Mary Portas, den berømte tv-forbrugerekspert (for mange ”berømte” i den sætning – undskyld!!!!).

Jeg er lidt overrasket over, at hun vælger Barbie-programmet, fordi hun interesserer sig meget for reformationen, men jeg er enig med hende i, at man ikke har lyst til at høre om vold, tortur osv lige før sengetiden – vi får nok af alt det i selve sengen ha ha ha. Men jeg spøger kun, gudskelov!

Det er interessant at høre, at de unge piger, der køber barbie-dukker i dag, er nogle år yngre, end de, der købte dem i 60’erne, 70’erne, 80’erne. Dengang var det piger i alderen 10-12 år, nu er det piger i alderen ca 4-8 for eksempel, hvilket er interessant, men programmet har desværre ikke nogen forklaring derom.

Endelig reagerede Mattel sidste år til pres, og indførte den nye kurvede Barbie, mange år efter Doves indflydelserige reklamekampagne, der fremviste plusstørrelse-kvinder. Lois og jeg er enige om i, at den nye Barbie er ikke særlig kurvet, selvom hun ikke har noget ”lårgab”, et udtryk, vi ikke før har hørt om – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!

Den nye ”kurvede” Barbie (til højre, selvfølgelig!)

Doves ”plusstørrelse kvinder” fører stadig med en stor margin

når det komme til det såkaldte mangel på ”lårgab” – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Jeg synes, at Mary Portas selv ville være enige med os i, at ”Barbie” er lidt af en letvægtsdokumentarfilm, men det er muligt, at David Starkey, på BBC2, selv er i gang med at give Reformationen et nyt letvægtsbehandling  – tillykke med det, David!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!

English translation

Lois slept better last night - and today she is not coughing as much as yesterday. I take her for a quick walk around the local football field to give her some exercise and fresh air. I will leave it till next time to throw a ball or a stick for her. But I'm just joking, ha ha ha.

I take Lois a short trip around the local football field.

The sun is shining, and in the background you can see Cleeve Hill.

While we are out of the house and strolling around the football field, I get an sms on whatsapp from Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen. She and Ed, her husband, are in the midst of a crisis today. Ed's company intends to dismiss him at the end of the year, and he has not found a new job yet. He had hoped he would get a good job in Milan, Italy - at the beginning of this week only two candidates were still in the competition, but unfortunately it was his rival that was chosen, they heard a couple of hours ago. Poor Ed.

Currently, Ed has no other options, and it is possible that the family would have to move back to England in December. Lois and I have agreed to talk on Skype with Alison on Thursday evening at 9pm (Danish time), and maybe we will hear more details.

12:00 I hop up on my exercise bike and I cycle 9 miles (15km). I turn on my smartphone, log on to YouTube and search for a minimum 30 minute video to watch while I'm cycling.

Last night I saw a funny sitcom, "Upstart Crow" (upstart-crow), set in Elizabeth I's reign all about the adventures of a struggling young playwright, Will (Shakespeare), and his colleague, Kitt (Marlowe) . Lois tells me that the series is based on two real life dramatists and I'm a little curious to find out more details about their lives.

When I hear Lois's account, it suddenly clicks with me what the significance was of a touching article I read many years ago on www.onion.com, the influential US news source. The article was about Sandy Heckscher, a young student at Vanderbilt University, then taking a major in Shakespearean drama. In the article Sandy criticized her drama professor, Ian Treatt, very sharply for not praising her drama papers, and for being "not very good at grading in general."

Student Sandy Heckscher, who criticised sharply

the grades that her professor, Ian Treatt, kept giving her

Sandy said she was sick of Ian's "blunt upbraidings and bitter scoffs", and she added, "" Who breathes but'd rather be a simple whore, than lurk within this country of insult? ".

I sympathize with Sandy - when I was a student, I had to endure bad professors who were not very good at evaluating homework.

I think that our country's university professors and lecturers could do worse than take an occasional cruise and experience listening to the professional lecturers who talk about historical and artistic subjects to entertain the cruises' predominantly elderly guests.

These excellent teachers fill their lectures with humour, which their elderly audience appreciate. In addition, they rarely give homework and papers, written assignments, etc.

I have gathered most of my knowledge from cruise teachers, not on the actual cruises, but from their YouTube videos.

For today's bike ride, I choose a YouTube video from one of my favourite teachers, Giles Ramsay, who seems to travel very frequently on the Queen Mary cruise ship.

Ramsay (to the left) talks about Marlowe on the Queen Mary cruise ship

Lois says that Kit Marlowe was actually gay, even though he was portrayed as a skirt chaser in the "Upstart Crow" sitcom. I suppose that men in Elizabeth's I's reign sometimes went around in something that looked like a skirt, but I'm going to let that one slide.

I have a lot of questions about Marlowe - was he gay, was he one of Walsingham's spies, did he actually write Shakespeare's plays? Unfortunately, by the end of Ramsay's analysis, I'm still not sure about the answers to these questions - damn !!!

13:00 After lunch I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap. I get up at 3.30pm and Lois and I relax with a cup of tea on the couch.

16:00 We get more news from Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen, about Ed's experiences at the American company's European headquarters in Milan, where Ed had applied for a job. Two candidates were chosen to participate in the last round of interviews, Ed and an American. Ed says that the American was already employed at a higher level than him, so throughout the whole process he was aware that the odds were against him.

18:00 After dinner we watch some television. Lois still feels a little rough, so I insist that it should be her who chooses between the two major documentary films that are on tonight: the first is about the Reformation (Europe's Holy War), where the programme presenter is the famous historian , David Starkey, on BBC2. The other, on Channel Four, is about Barbie dolls (the world's most famous doll), where the programme's presenter is Mary Portas, the famous TV consumer expert (too many "famouses" in that sentence - sorry !!!!).

I'm a little surprised that she chooses the Barbie program because she is very interested in the Reformation, but I agree with her that you do not want to hear about violence, torture, etc just before bedtime - we'll get enough of all that in the bed itself ha ha ha. But I'm just joking, thank God!

It is interesting to hear that the young girls who buy barbie dolls today are a few years younger than those who bought them in the 60s, 70s, 80's. At that time it was girls between the ages of 10 and 12, now it's girls aged about 4-8 for example, which is interesting, but the programme unfortunately has no explanation for this.

Mattel finally reacted to pressure last year, introducing the new curvy Barbie, many years after Dove's influential advertising campaign showcasing plus-size women. Lois and I both think that the new Barbie is not very curvy, even though she has no "thigh gap", an expression we have not heard of before - my god, what a crazy world we live in !!!

The new "curvy" Barbie (to the right, of course!)

Dove's "Plus Size Women" still lead by a big margin when it comes to 

the so-called lack of "thigh gap" - good grief, what madness !!!!

I think that Mary Portas herself would agree with us that "Barbie" is a bit of a lightweight documentary, but it'[s possible that David Starkey, on BBC2, is himself in the process of giving the Reformation a new lightweight treatment - good luck with that, David !!!!

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