Søndag den 10. december 2017

Vejrpigen sagde i går aftes, at det kom til at sne i eftermiddagen, men da vi står op, opdager vi at det sner allerede og faktisk fortsætter det med at sne blødt hele dagen, indtil det ligger et 3 inch (7,5 cm) tykt snelag overalt – du godeste! Ikke ret dybt, men den slags ting sker meget sjældent i Cheltenham, i sær i december måned, så derfor benytter vi os af lejligheden til at tage nogle billeder, også en videoklip, som vi sender til vores datter Sarah og vores børnebørn i Australien – det sner aldrig i Perth selvfølgelig.

  

vores hoveddør og forhave

vejen foran huset

vores baghave, set fra Sarahs gamle værelse

Lois’s kirke har aflyst dagens to gudstjenester, og Andy, det mest aktive medlem af kirkens ledelse, planlægger at give en kort prædiken kl 13:30 på nettet.

10:30 Vi taler lidt på whatsapp med Sarah og Francis og deres 4-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessie. De sidder i en restaurant på Hillary’s, en lille havneby, som Lois og jeg besøgte et par gange i 2015, da vi boede hos familien. Stemningen er afslappet, og Lois og jeg synes, at Sarah og Francis ikke er synderligt bekymrede over Francis’ planlagte operation, der er bestemt til næste fredag: lægere på det lokale hospital vil fjerne halfdelen af hans skjoldbruskkirtel, fordi der sidder knuder derpå, der kunne være kræftagtige.

11:00 Jeg går i gang med at læse flere sider fra den danske kriminovelle, ”Forbandet” af Gittemie Eriksen, der er vores U3A danske gruppes nuværende projekt. Jeg har opdaget, at den lokale massemorder i denne rolige danske landsby, der allerede har dræbt ca. 12 af sine tidligere klassekammerater, udover klassens lærerinder, bærer en supergirl-stil slag, når hun dræber sine ofre, og også har jeg opdaget, at hun bruger sin hypnotiske færdigheder for at manipulere dem, enten for at have mindre svært ved at dræbe dem, eller for at tvinge dem til at dræbe selv det næste offer – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Der ser ud til, at massemorderen har løst det største problem, som hypnotisører står overfor: at finde en gimmick, der vil skelne dem fra de mange andre med samme færdigheder, i dette tilfælde, ved at mødes med sine tidligere klassekammerater 30 år efter og myrde dem.

Jeg læste for nogle år siden på nettet, om Ed ”Dr Mysterioso” Allen, en lokal mand (rapport på Lois’ 56. fødselsdag, den 5. juni 2002, kilde: Onion News), der dengang prøvede desperat at finde sådan en gimmick: han fortalte journalister, at han lige var i gang med at blade igennem rubrikannoncererne i hypnotisørernes fagblad ”At blive søvnig” og han kunne se, at der allerede var en flok syngende hypnotisører og bugtalende hypnotisører.

tilbageblik til 2002, da Ed ”Dr Mysterioso” Allen

først rammede de lokale overskrifterne

Da nyhedswebsted var ved at gå i trykket, var kilder i gang med at bekræfte, at Ed overvejede at blive en jonglerende hypnotisør, eller bære en eller anden slags komisk hat. Den stakkels fyr havde ikke lyst bare til at være en del af mængden, hvilket jeg sympatiserer med.

Jeg håber inderligt på, at Ed før eller senere fandt sin drømme-gimmick. Han lød som en sød fyr, og fortjener at være succesfuld. Men desværre forsvandt Eds krise helt ud af overskrifterne derefter, som der ofte sker. Måske vil nyhedswebsted køre en ”hvor er Ed Allen nu?” artikel, eller det håber jeg i hvert fald.

12:30 Vi spiser frokost: stegte lam, stegte kartofler, grønne bønner og rosenkål, med bagte æble til dessert – nam nam!

13:30 Jeg går i seng, mens Lois sætter sig foran computeren og lytter til sin kirkes gudstjeneste på nettet. Bagefter hopper hun op i sengen til mig i et par timer. Vi står op kl 16:30.

Vores søndage går med snik-snak, lure i sengen, mere snik-snak, lure i sofaen osv, når Lois ikke går i kirke: det hele er meget fornøjeligt. Ulempen er, at min gøremålsliste er blevet lang som et ondt år, og det bliver mere og mere svært at gøre fremskridt med den, ingen tvivl om det. Når Lois går i kirke og tilbringe hovedparten af dagen i byen Tewkesbury er det min bedste chance for at blive mere produktiv for en gangs skyld. Du godeste, stakkels mig !!!!!!

18:00 Vi spiser kun snacks til aftensmad, og taler lidt på Skype med Alison, vores datter i Danmark, og Ed, hendes mand. Eds arbejde i  København ophører ved slutningen af marts måned, og han søger et nyt job, der kunne være hvor som helst i verden, så er det ikke helt sikkert, om familien vil flytte tilbage i England næste år, eller ej.

21:00 Vi bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn og lytte til radio. Vi hører det seneste afsnit af et interessant radio-serie, BBC radios længst løbende radioserie, ”Desert Island Discs”, der først blev sendt i 1942.  Programmets vært er den charmerende Kirsty Young.

Serien går ud på, at en berømthed hver uge er bedt om at forestille sig, at han/hun er blevet strandet på en øde ø. I løbet af programmet bliver han bedt om at tale om sit liv og/eller karriere, og at vælge de 8 ”grammofonplader”, han helst vil have ved hånden, for at underholde sig i sit ensomme tilværelse.  En simpel idé, men en meget langvarig serie, måske verdens mest langvarige, men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på.

Kelsey Grammer, a.k.a. ”Frasier” i både Cheers-sitcommen og Frasier-sitcommen er programmets skibbrudne i aften. Han spiller for tiden en rolle på scenen i Londons West End.

Det er lidt underligt, at Grammer fører sig under programmet som en rolig, betænksom mand med en dyb religiøs tro. Han indrømmer, at en periode i sit liv blev ødelagt af en afhængighed af alkohol og stoffer, men han insisterer på, at det var hans religiøse tro, der havde hjulpet ham med at komme ovenpå. Hans yndlingsoptagelse, som han insisterer på at have for enhver pris på sit øde ø er Beethovens 7. simfoni.

Han siger, at han før i tiden havde ambitioner om at gå ind for politik, men han synes nu, at det nuværende politiske stemning er for aggressiv til at han kan overleve derinde. Lois og jeg mistænker umiddelbart, at han her henviser indirekte til Trumps regeringstid, men til vores overraskelse, siger Grammer pludselig, at han er tilhænger af Trump, og stemte på ham, fordi han syntes, der var visse ting han troede Trump kunne opnå, men han specificerede ikke, hvad de der ting faktisk var.

21:00 Jeg tænder på min smartphone og gør lidt forskning på nettet om Grammers liv. Du godeste, det viser sig, at han har haft et meget kompliceret og begivenhedsrigt liv med en masse opture og nedture, hvilket vi ikke kunne gætte fra Kirsty Youngs interview.

Det er åbenbart, at hans afhængihed af alkohol og stoffer var meget værre, end han antydede i programmet. Han nåede ikke desto mindre at fortsætte som succesfuld skuespiller, hvilket viser hans professionelisme, synes jeg.

En af Frasier-sitcommens forfattere, Dan O’Shannon, sagde, at Grammer plejede at liste sig ind i optagelsesstudien, klynkende, at hans liv var et stort rod. Instruktøren plejede at sige ”Action”, og Grammer blev pludselig til Frasier og fremsagde sine intellektuelle dialoglinjer helt perfekt. Men så snart instruktøren råbte ”Cut!” han plejede han at blive til Kelsey igen: glaserede øjne, halvt i søvn, midt i sin private helvede.

Kelsey Grammer: Frasier i “Frasier”

Jeg har altid beundret de mennesker, der øjeblikkeligt kan komme til liv på scenen eller foran et publikum. Jeg er lidt af en introvert, for at sige mildt, og jeg ville være det modsatte af Kelsey: det ville være på scenen, at mine øjne ville blive glaseret og jeg ville se halvt i søvn ud.  Jeg må inkludere noget i min næste nytårsforsætter, der fokuserer på at blive mere udadvendt – et nyt liv forventer mig i 2018. Hurra!

Det er også lidt irriterende at se, da jeg gøre lidt forskning om Kelseys liv, at han har haft 4 koner, alle væsentlig yngre, end ham, og deres karrierer taler volumer: danslærerinde, eksotisk danser, eks-Playboy-model, og til sidst en stewardesse. Kvinder må finder ham attraktiv, mistænker jeg. Jeg beder Lois om hendes optik, men hun er usikker på det, så juryen er stadig ude om spørgsmålet. Jeg mindes, at hun altid havde en megacrush på Niles af en eller anden grund. Du godeste, sikke et skør verden vi lever i !!!!

Niles (David Hyde Pierce)

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!!!!  

English translation

The weather girl said last night that there was going to be snow this afternoon, but when we get up we notice that it is already snowing and in fact it carries on snowing softly all day until it is 3 inches (7.5 cm) thick everywhere - good grief! 

Not that deep maybe, but this kind of thing happens very rarely in Cheltenham, especially in December, so we use the opportunity to take some pictures, including a video clip that we send to our daughter Sarah and our grandchildren in Australia - it never snows in Perth of course.

our front door and front garden

the road in front of the house

our back garden, seen from Sarah's old room

Lois's church has canceled today's two services, and Andy, the most active member of the Church's leadership, plans to give a short sermon at 1:30pm on the web.

10:30 We talk a bit on whatsapp with Sarah and Francis and their 4 year old twins, Lily and Jessie. They are sitting in a restaurant at Hillary's, a small harbor town near Perth, which Lois and I visited a couple of times in 2015 when we were staying with the family. The atmosphere is relaxed and Lois and I think that Sarah and Francis do not seem too worried about Francis' planned surgery scheduled for next Friday: the doctor at the local hospital is going to remove half of his thyroid gland because there are nodules there that could be cancerous.

11:00 I get started with reading several pages from the Danish crime novella, "Accursed" by Gittemie Eriksen, which is our U3A Danish group's current project. 

I have realised that the local mass-murderer in this quiet Danish village, who has already killed about 12 former classmates plus the class teachers, wears a Supergirl-style cape when she kills her victims.

 I have also discovered that she uses her hypnotism skills to manipulate them, either to make it less trouble killing them, or to force them to themselves kill the next victim on the list - good grief, what madness !!!!

It seems that this mass murderer has solved the biggest problem that hypnotists face: finding a gimmick that will set them apart from the many others with the same skills, in this case by meeting up with her former classmates 30 years on, and then murdering them.

I read a few years ago online about Ed "Dr Mysterioso" Allen, a local man (report on Lois' 56th birthday, June 5, 2002, source: Onion News) who was then desperately trying to find such a gimmick: he told reporters that he was just leafing through the small ads in the hypnotists' trade magazine "Getting Sleepy" and he could see that there were already a bunch of singing hypnotists and ventriloquist hypnotists.

flashback to 2002, when Ed "Dr Mysterioso" Allen

first hit the local headlines

When the news site was about to go to press, sources were in the process of confirming that Ed was considering becoming a juggling hypnotist, or wearing some sort of comic hat. The poor guy did not want to be just lost in the crowd, which I sympathize with.

I sincerely hope that Ed sooner or later found his dream gimmick. He sounded like a sweet guy and deserves to be successful. But unfortunately, Ed's crisis completely disappeared from the headlines after that, as is often the case. Perhaps, the news website will run a "Where is Ed Allen now?" article, or that's what I hope at least.

12:30 We have lunch: roast lamb, roast potatoes, green beans and Brussels sprouts, with baked apple for dessert - yummy!

13:30 I go to bed while Lois sits down in front of the computer and listens to her church's worship service online. Afterwards she hops into bed with me for a couple of hours. We get up at 4:30pm.

Whenever Lois doesn’t go to church, our Sundays pass with chit-chat, naps in bed, more chit-chat, naps on the sofa etc, which is all very enjoyable. The downside is that my to-do list has become as long as your arm, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to make progress with it, there's no doubt about that. When Lois goes to church and spends most of the day in Tewkesbury, it's my best chance to become more productive for once. My god, poor me !!!!!!

18:00 We only have snacks for dinner and then talk a little on Skype with Alison, our daughter in Denmark, and Ed, her husband. Ed's work in Copenhagen ends at the end of March and he is seeking a new job that could be anywhere in the world, so it's not certain if the family will move back in England next year or not.

21:00 We spend the rest of the evening watching television and listening to the radio. We hear the latest episode of an interesting radio series, actually BBC Radio's longest ever radio series, "Desert Island Discs", which first aired in 1942. The host of the program is the charming Kirsty Young.

The series is based on a celebrity being asked every week to imagine that he / she has been stranded on a desert island. During the program, he is asked to talk about his life and / or career and to choose the 8 "gramophone records" he would like to have on hand to keep himself amused in his lonely life. A simple idea, but a very long series, perhaps the world's longest, but that's something I'm not entirely sure about.

Kelsey Grammer, a.k.a. "Frasier" in both the Cheers and Frasier sitcoms is the program's castaway this evening. He is currently playing a role on stage in London's West End.

It's a little odd that Grammer comes across during the program as a quiet, thoughtful man with deep religious beliefs. He admits that a period of his life was ruined by an addiction to alcohol and drugs, but says it was thanks to his religious beliefs that he was able to overcome this. His favorite recording, which he insists on having at all costs on his desert island, is Beethoven's 7th symphony.

He says that he had ambitions about going in for politics in the past, but now he thinks that the current political mood is too aggressive for him to survive there. Lois and I immediately suspect that he is referring indirectly to Trump's reign, but to our surprise, Grammer suddenly admits that he is a supporter of Trump and voted for him because he believed there were certain things he thought Trump could achieve, but he did not specify what these actually were.

21:00 I turn on my smartphone and do a little research online about Grammer's life. My god, it turns out he has had a very complicated and eventful life with a lot of ups and downs, which we could not guess from Kirsty Young's interview.

It is evident that his dependence on alcohol and drugs was much worse than he suggested in the program. He nevertheless managed to continue as a successful actor, which shows his professionalism, I think.

One of the Frasier sitcom writers, Dan O'Shannon, said that Grammer would slink into the recording studio, whining about his life being a gigantic mess. But the director would say "Action", and Grammer would suddenly become Frasier and recite his erudite dialogues pitch perfect. But as soon as the director shouted "Cut!" he would slide back into being Kelsey again: glazed eyes, half asleep, in the middle of his private hell.

Kelsey Grammer – Frasier in “Frasier”

I have always admired the people who can instantly come to life on stage or in front of an audience. I am a bit of an introvert, to put it mildly, and I would be the opposite of Kelsey: it would be on stage that my eyes would glaze over and I would look half asleep. I must include something in my next New Year's resolutions about focusing on becoming more outgoing - perhaps a new life awaits me in 2018. Hurrah!

It's also a little annoying to see, when I do some research about Kelsey's life, that he has had 4 wives, all significantly younger than him, and their careers speak volumes: dance teacher, exotic dancer, ex-playboy model, and lastly a flight attendant. Women must find him attractive, I suspect. I ask Lois for her view, but she is unsure about it, so the jury is still out on that one. I recall that she always had a megacrush on Niles for some reason. Good grief, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

Niles (David Hyde Pierce)

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