Danskcolin: Fredag den 6. oktober 2017

09:00 Vi vælter ud af sengen. Jeg træder ind i køkkenet, og jeg opdager, at Minx har skidt i hjørnet, ved siden af komfuret. Du godeste! Det giver mig lidt af en chok – jeg rydder op og diskuterer det senere med Lois.

Minx er katten vores datter Alison efterlod hos os, da hun for 5 år siden flyttede til Danmark sammen med sin familie. Hun er 17 år gammel, så derfor kan det være, at hun begynder at lide af demens – velkommen til klubben, Minx!!!! Eller det kan også være, at hun er blevet lidt doven og gider ikke gå i baghaven – igen, velkommen til klubben! Men vi ved, at hun også har tisset mindst 2 gange i stuen. For tiden er problemet kun lejlighedsvist, men hvis det forværres, vil vi måtte tage det alvorligere – yikes!!!

Minx, Alisons kat, på Lois’ skød – hendes sædvanlige sovested

10:00 Jeg blader igennem de 104 linjer af teksten, Lynda har bedt os om at læse, bestående af et uddrag af et digt på middelengelsk, ”Piers Plowman”, fordi Lyndas U3A ”Making of English” gruppes månedlige møde finder sted i eftermiddag kl 14:30 i baren på byens Everyman-teater.

Hver gruppemedlem har fået tildelt ca 10-20 linjer, som Lynda vil have dem til at læse i en (lidt parodisk) middelengelsk accent og så oversætte dem til moderne engelsk. Jeg er blevet tildelt linjer 35-52, men jeg beslutter at blade igennem de andres menneskers linjer også, fordi jeg synes, det gør møderne mere interessante for mig.

12:00 Lois og jeg spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Desværre ringer Lynda til mig kl 13 og beder mig om at lede mødet i stedet for hende. Hendes hund bed hende i hånden i morges og hun skal gå til lægen – stakkels Lynda!!!! Men det er heldigt at jeg tidligere besluttede at blade igennem hele uddraget, hvis jeg skal lede mødet. Du godeste!!!

13:45 Jeg kører ind i byen og parkerer bilen i byens Portlandgade parkeringsplads. For første gang bruger jeg min smartphone for at betale for parkering, ved hjælp af RingGo-appen. Hurra! Ved at gøre denne simple handling, bevæger jeg mig således ind i den moderne verden – hurra (igen)! Samtidigt er det lidt irriterende, at det koster lidt flere penge at bruge smartphonen, end at bruge mønter, af en eller anden grund – pokkers!!!

14:30 Mødet begynder på baren af byens Everyman-teater. Vi er 7 i alt – Ant og Barb, Joy, Margaret, Joe, mig og en ny person, Fiona, der interesserer sig for emnet (den historiske udvikling af det engelske sprog), og er nysgerrig over, hvordan vi studerer det. Det kan være, at hun vil beslutte at melde ind i gruppen, men det er vi for øjeblikket ikke helt sikre på.

Byens Everyman-teater

Vi får det meget sjovt, og nu og da er der skraldende latter, der lyder rundt omkring bordet. Vi lærer om en masse ord, der har en interessant baggrund.

Digtet udspiller sig sidst i det 14. århundrede, og handler om en ung mand, Will, der er en slags lægmand i kirken. Han bor i London i en elendig hytte sammen med sin dejlig kone, Kitt (Katharine). Han arbejder ikke, og beder om mad fra folk, han hjælper ved at sige en bøn for dem. Han synes, han er ikke nødt til at udføre manuelt arbejde – det er ansvaret af underklassen.

Han er lidt snobbet, og ser sig gal, når han ser medlemmer af underklassen, for eksempel tiggere og bastarder, blive udpeget som biskopper og ærkediakoner osv.

Vi har en interessant diskussion om ordet ”bastard”. Det var oprindeligt ikke en nedsættende titel. Vilhelm Erobreren hed oprindeligt Vilhelm Bastarden, og han bar navnet med stolthed – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!

Ordet bastard stammer sansyndligvis fra et fransk ord, der oprindeligt betød et barn, der var blevet undfanget på en saddel (”bast” betød en paksaddel på gammelt fransk). Tilsyneladende blev saddler i gamle dage brugt som en provisorisk seng – vi kommer til den konklusion, at saddler dengang må have været simplere og mere komfortable, end i dag.

Nogle af vores gruppes medlemmer taler godt tysk, og de siger, der er en lignende tysk ord, ”baenkling/bankert”, der oprindeligt betød et barn, der var blevet undfanget på en bænk – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

16:00 Jeg kører hjem og Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te og et stykke kage i sofaen. Vi snakker lidt om Sarah, vores datter i Perth, Australien. Vi har stadig ikke hørt noget endnu om resultaterne af biopsien, som Francis, Sarahs mand, sidste uge gennemgjorde, efter han blev diagnosticeret med knuder i skjoldbruskkirtel. De fleste (60%) af sådanne knuder er godartede, så derfor håber vi på det bedste, men vi er lidt ængstelige for det hele.

18:00 Vi er trætte. Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser et gammelt afsnit af Top of the Pops fra september 1984.

Lois og jeg så ikke dette afsnit, da det først blev sendt, fordi vi boede i USA mellem 1982-85, men i september 1984 var vores sidste 12 måneder derovre lige begyndt – uret tikkede (yikes!).

Tilbageblik til september 1984

Sarah, vores datter nu i Australien, på 7 år foran vores hus i Columbia Md.

Hun driver et provisorisk vejkant-drikkebod.

Sarahs kunder: hendes storsøster Alison (på 9 år) og lille Philip, en nabobarn.

Lois (på 38 år) – vi tager en bådtur på floden Potomac

Lois og mig i en ”indiansk” landsby i delstaten Virginia

Lykkelige dage! Sikke en tid det var, sikke en tid det var, jeg har et fotografi. Har du bevaret dine minder? Nu er de alt du har tilbage (copyright Paul Simon ha ha ha).

Vi ser på dette afsnit af Top of the Pops fra for 33 år siden. Programmets værter var John Peel og Janice Long. Ved slutningen af programmet præsenterede de en ny DJ, en meget ung udseende Bruno Brookes, for publikummet. Bruno sagde, at han for første gang skulle være programmets vært i næste uge, og han bad John og Janice om at give ham nogle råde. Johns svar: ”Ja. Gør det ikke sådan”. Morsomt.

20:30 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser tv-quizzen Only Connect, et af de få tv-programmer, der ikke er egnede til meget dumme mennesker ha ha ha.

Ligesom sidste uges afsnit, er der en anden uhyggelig henvisning til en kendis, der åbenbart endnu levede, da programmet blev optaget, men som døde i de seneste 2 dage eller deromkring: Tom Petty, den berømte guitarist.

På sidste fredags tv var der en uhyggelig henvisning til Coronation Street-skuespillerinden Liz Dawn, der døde 2-3 dage tidligere. Yikes!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!!

English translation

09:00 We tumble out of bed. I step into the kitchen, and I notice that Minx has crapped in the corner next to the stove. My Goodness! It gives me a bit of shock - I clean up and discuss it later with Lois.

Minx is the cat our daughter Alison left with us when she moved to Denmark with her family 5 years ago. Minx is 17 years old, so it may be that she is starting to suffer from dementia - welcome to the club, Minx !!!! Or it may also be that she has become a little lazy and does not want to go out into the backyard - again, welcome to the club! But we know she has also peed at least twice in the living room. Currently, the problem is only occasional, but if it gets worse, we'll have to take it more seriously - yikes !!!

Minx, Alison's cat, on Lois' lap - her usual sleeping place

10:00 I browse through the 104 lines of the text Lynda has asked us to read, that make up an extract of a poem in Middle English, "Piers Plowman", because Lynda's U3A "Making of English" group's monthly meeting is taking place this afternoon at 2:30pm in the bar at the Everyman Theatre.

Each group member has been assigned approximately 10-20 lines, which Lynda wants them to read in a (slightly cod) Middle English accent and then translate them into modern English. I have been assigned lines 35-52, but I decide to browse through the other people's lines as well, because I think it makes the meetings more interesting for me.

12:00 Lois and I have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap. Unfortunately, Lynda calls me at 1pm and asks me to lead the meeting instead of her. Her dog bit her in the hand this morning and she has to go to the doctor - poor Lynda !!!! But it is fortunate that I previously decided to leaf through the entire extract, seeing as how I am going to have to chair the meeting. My God!!!

13:45 I drive into town and park the car in the Portland Street car park. For the first time I use my smartphone to pay for parking, using the RingGo app. Hooray! By taking this simple action, I enter the modern world - hurray (again)! At the same time, it's a little annoying that it costs a bit more money to use the smartphone than to use coins, for some reason - damn !!!

14:30 The meeting begins in the bar of the town's Everyman theatre. We are 7 in total - Ant and Barb, Joy, Margaret, Joe, me and a new person, Fiona, who is interested in the subject (the historical development of the English language), and is curious about how we study it. It may be that she will decide to join the group, but at the moment we are not completely sure about that.

The town’s Everyman Theatre

We have a lot of fun, and now and then there are peals of laughter around the table. We learn about lots of words that have an interesting background.

The poem is set in the late 14th century, and is about a young man, Will, who is a kind of layman in the church. He lives in London in a wretched cottage together with his lovely wife, Kitt (Katharine). He doesn't do any work and gets food from the people he helps by praying for them. He thinks he does not need to do manual work - that's the responsibility of the lower classes.

He is a little snobbish and goes crazy when he sees members of the lower classes, such as beggars and bastards, being appointed bishops and archdeacons etc.

We have an interesting discussion about the word "bastard". It was not a derogatory title originally. William the Conqueror was originally called William the Bastard, and he bore the name with pride - good grief, what madness!

The word bastard apparently originates from a French word, which originally meant a child who had been conceived on a saddle ("bast" meant a packsaddle in old French). Apparently, saddles were used in ancient times as makeshift beds - we come to the conclusion that saddles must have been simpler and more comfortable than today.

Some of our group's members speak good German and they say there is a similar German word, "baenkling / bankert", which originally meant a child who had been conceived on a bench - my god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

16:00 I drive home and Lois and I relax with a cup of tea and a piece of cake on the sofa. We chat a little about Sarah, our daughter in Perth, Australia. We still had not heard anything yet about the results of the biopsy which Francis, Sarah's husband, underwent last week after being diagnosed with nodules in the thyroid gland. Most (60%) of such nodules are benign, so we hope for the best, but we are a little anxious about it all.

18:00 We are tired. We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching television. An old episode of Top of the Pops is on, from September 1984.

Lois and I did not see this episode when it was first aired because we were living in the USA between 1982-85, but in September 1984 our last 12 months over there had just started - the clock was ticking (yikes!).

Flashback to September 1984

Sarah, our daughter now in Australia, at the age of 7 years,

in front of our house in Columbia Md.

She is running a makeshift roadside drinks stall.

Sarah's customers: her big sister Alison (9 years old)

and little Philip, one of the neighbour kids.

Lois (at 38 years) - we take a boat trip on the Potomac river

Lois and me in an "Indian" village in the state of Virginia

Happy days! Time it was, and what a time it was, I have a photograph. Preserve your memories - they're all that's left you (copyright Paul Simon ha ha ha).

We watch this episode of Top of the Pops from 33 years ago. The programme's hosts were John Peel and Janice Long. At the end of the programme, they introduced a new DJ, a very young looking Bruno Brookes, to the audience. Bruno said that he was going to be the programme's host for the first time next week and he asked John and Janice to give him some advice. John's answer: "Yes. Don't do it like this". Amusing.

20:30 We carry on watching television. The Only Connect tv quiz is on, one of the few TV shows that are not suitable for very stupid people ha ha ha.

Like last week's episode, there is another creepy reference to a celebrity apparently still alive when the program was recorded but who died in the last 2 days or so: Tom Petty, the famous guitarist.