Thursday 18 January 2018

09:00 Lois hurries into the kitchen and starts making this year's orange marmalade.

10:00 I get going choosing the settings for the brand new portable DVD player I ordered from Amazon a couple of days ago. I recharged the battery yesterday.

I choose English as the language of screen messages, menus, etc. - there is no points in making things more complicated than they are already... is always my point of view!

It is the kind of DVD player that parents buy for their children to use in their rooms. The player is bright-blue. The screen is not very big, but I can watch DVDs on it when I hop up on my exercise bike. Also Lois and I can take it with us when we stay overnight in hotels, etc.

11:00 I hop up on my bike and I cycle 6 miles (10km). While cycling, I want to try out my brand new DVD player so I turn it on and I see the first pop music DVD I recorded from the television in 1986 shortly after we moved back from USA and bought our current house (January 1986): happy days!

I take a walk down memory lane and watch pop music videos

I recorded off from the television in 1986 - happy days!

12:30 I hurry into the kitchen and make lunch: scrambled eggs and sausages on toast. Yummy! Afterwards I go to bed and have an afternoon nap. Meanwhile, Lois continues working on this year's home-made orange marmalade.

15:00 I get up. Lois has finished making her orange marmalade: 10 one-pound jars - hurrah!

Lois is finished making her

10 one-pound jars of homemade orange marmalade - yummy!

Lois is exhausted. She starts watching "Moonstruck" on the Sony TV channel, a 1987 film set in New York. She is having trouble understanding the Italian-American accent, so she asks me to sit on the couch and help her out a little. With my interest in accents and dialects and my knowledge of Italian, I could quickly give her some useful tips on "breaking the code".

Celebrity trivia: I'm surprised to see John Mahoney, who plays Frasier's father in "Frasier". He looks 20 years younger in Moonstruck than he does in Frasier, for some reason. I do some research on my smartphone and I am even more surprised to see that he was born in Blackpool, and moved to the United States as a young man. His parents lived in Manchester, but the family was evacuated to Blackpool during World War II after their house got bombed. It is no wonder that Frasier's father is so fond of Daphne (Jane Leeves), who is said to come from Manchester, even though Leeves was actually born in Ilford (Essex).

John Mahoney in "Moonstruck"

John Mahoney, a few years later, in "Frasier"

It is possible that Mahoney, soon after he appeared in "Moonstruck", was hit by some traumatic event, which aged him significantly, but that's something I'm not entirely sure about.

Aging is still a mysterious process, which even today baffles scientists. A woman, Jenny Skribba, working as a designer at a local commercial graphics firm hit the local headlines 13 years back, when journalists discovered she was only 32 years old (report on April 21, 2004, source: Onion Local News).

Jenny Skribba, 32

Jenny's acquaintances and colleagues had trouble believing how youthful she looked, considering she was 32 years old.

"That girl is 32? Shut UP!" said 24-year-old Arden Rice, a waitress at a local restaurant where Scribba used to hang out. "Are you joking? I would never have guessed she was over 30! She looks so good."

Sources said that many people were amazed when they heard that Scribba, still an attractive woman, was actually 32. It was hard to believe, but true: Scribba was born in 1972, the year of the Watergate burglary, but she still had a slender figure and a smooth, unwrinkled face.

"Jenny looks like she's not a day over 27," said Jenny's neighbor, university student Bethany Weber, 21. "Where are her wrinkles?" You can like see little lines around her eyes when she smiles, but they disappear when she stops. I hope I look that good when I'm her age! "

Weber continued: "I have this older cousin, who was a total hunk in high school. But now he's 35 and he looks like Popeye. Jenny gives me something to aim for. I wonder if she's using Olay or something similar I don;t think she's had any work done. "

The commercial graphics company where Jenny worked had a casual dress code, and she often wore jeans, T-shirts and casual skirts like those worn by women 10 or even 20 years younger than her.

"Usually, when I see a 32-year-old woman dressed like [Scribba], I think," Give it up. You're old!", said Kimberly Kleutgen, an 18-year-old trainee at the company, "but Jenny is able to handle it. "

"When we go out for drinks after work, Jenny has to show ID along with the younger employees," said Jenny's 21-year-old work colleague Judd Truman. "Remember, this is a woman who learned to walk years before the commercial availability of video recorders, when Billie Jean King was the world's best woman tennis player and people bought music on 8 track."

According to Truman, Scribbas's kindness and enthusiasm also led people to assume that she was younger than 32.

"Jenny does not seem like most older people," said Truman. "She's totally willing to joke around and she never looks down on you for having fun."

"In fact, she is into many of the same things my friends and I like," continued Truman. "When they played [OutKast's] 'The Way You Move' at a party at work she totally joined in dancing with us. Believe it or not, it was not embarrassing. It didn't look at all as if she were desperately clinging to her fading youth. It was almost like she was in her element. She is still able to enjoy herself. It's so cool. "

The reason for Scribba's youthful appearance is unknown. Heredity is most likely not a factor since her parents, local residents Michael and Madeleine Scribba (63 and 60 years old, respectively) both suffer from the dry wrinkled skin, bony hands and drooping breasts that old people usually have.

16:00 I talk a little with Lois about Jenny, a local woman. We recall that this unusually well researched and written report at that time caused a sensation in the neighborhood, but since then, Jenny's story has completely disappeared from the headlines for some mysterious reason, which is a little annoying. A "Jenny Scribba: how she looks now" update would be very timely. Local journalists, please take note!

18:00 We have dinner and listen a little to the radio, an interesting program (1st part of 2) all about satire and humor in the Soviet Union. The host of the program is the charming English stand-up comedian, Viv Groskop, who lived in Russia in the 1990s.

An interesting program. We hear from (among others) Pussy Riot's Maria Aljokhina and the famous author and media personality Zinovy Zinik.

Pussy Riot's Maria Aljokhina

the famous Russian author and media personality Zinovy Zinik

We hear a lot of typically bitter Russian jokes dating from the Communist era, also from Russia since then.

"Comrade Rabinovitch, why were you not present at the last meeting of the Communist Party?" "Nobody told me it would be the last. If I had known, I would have come and brought all my family with me. "

Question to Radio Armenia: Is it possible to build communism in a random, western country, such as the Netherlands?

The answer: of course it is possible, but what has the Netherlands ever done to you?

"Vladimir Putin's plan for the new economy - the goal: to make people rich and happy (list of people attached)."

And the most famous: "We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us".

The participants of the program agree that the Russians have always been a warm and humorous people in their private lives, but have always puton a completely empty emotionless expression on their faces when they move about in the city, going up and down on Russia's huge escalators for example.

Humor served as a form of bonding ritual in a society that was literate and sophisticated but also isolated from the rest of the world. People trained themselves to read between the lines in the official newspapers: the truth was usually the exact opposite of what the newspapers reported.

Zinovy Zinik says that the people had no hope, so that was why they joked about it. Life was like a prison, so the humor was "gallows humor". But comforting.

Zinik talks about Nikhita Khrushchev, Secretary General of the Soviet Communist Party 1953-64 and President of the USSR Ministerial Council 1958-64. When Khrushchev was finally ousted in 1964, people complained: we can do without bread, we can do without sausages, but we cannot do without Khrushchev, he's the butt of all our jokes.

Something in what Zinik said about Khrushchev suddenly reminded me of Trump. Khrushchev used to say exactly what he wanted. And there was the famous incident in 1960 during a plenary session at the UN General Assembly when he took his shoe off and slammed it down the table.

Khrushchev slammed his shoe down on the table (1960)

- a bit Trumpesque maybe?

The Philippine missionary to the UN, Lorenzo Sumulong, was in the lecture hall and spoke of the lack of freedom in the Eastern Bloc when he was interrupted by Nikita Khrushchev. The Soviet leader gestured and called the philippino "a fool" and "an American strawman (?)". When Lorenzo Sumulong was given leave to continue by the Irish president of the UN General Assembly, Frederick Bolan, the Russian leader took his shoe off and banged it down on the table.

I can imagine Trump doing something like that, but Lois is not entirely sure. The jury is still out on that one. Like in Khrushchev’s case, humourists will certainly miss Trump when he’s “ousted”, no doubt about that.

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

Danish translation

09:00 Lois skynder sig ind i køkkenet og går i gang med at lave årets appelsinmarmelade.

10:00 Jeg går i gang med at opsætte indstillingerne til min spritnye bærebare dvd-afspiller, som jeg for et par dage siden bestillede fra amazon. Jeg genoplod batteriet i går.

Jeg vælger engelsk som sproget til skærmbeskeder, menuer osv – der er ingen point i at gøre tingene mere komplicerede, end de er allerede, er altid mit synspunkt!

Den er den slags dvd-afspiller, som forældre køber til deres børn til at bruge i deres værelser. Afspilleren er knaldblå. Skærmen er ikke særlig stor, men jeg kan se dvd’er på den, når jeg hopper op på min kondicykel. Også Lois og jeg kan tage den med, når vi overnatter i hoteller osv.

11:00 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og jeg cykler 6 miles (10km). Mens jeg cykler, har jeg lyst til at afprøve min spritnye dvd-afspiller, så jeg tænder for min spritnye dvd-afspiller for børn, og jeg ser den første popmusik-dvd, jeg optog fra fjernsynet i 1986, kort efter vi flyttede tilbage fra USA og købte vores nuværende hus (januar 1986): lykkelige dage!

jeg går en tur på mindernes vej og ser på popmusikvideoer,

jeg optog fra fjernsynet i 1986 – lykkelige dage!

12:30 Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver frokost: røræg og pølser om toast. Nam nam! Bagefter går jeg i seng og tager en eftermiddagslur. I mellemtiden fortsætter Lois med at arbejde på årets hjemmelavede appelsinmarmelade.

15:00 Jeg står op. Lois er færdig med at lave sin appelsinmarmelade: 10 1-pund krukker – hurra!

Lois er færdig med at fremstille

10 1-pund krukker hjemmelavet appelsinmarmelade – nam nam!

Lois er udmattet. Hun går i gang med at se ”Moonstruck” på Sony tv-kanalen, en 1987 film, der spiller sig ud i New York. Hun har svært ved at forstå karakterernes italiensk-amerikansk accent, så hun beder mig om at sætte mig i sofaen og hjælpe hende lidt. Med min interesse i accenter og dialekter og mit kendskab til italiensk kunne jeg hurtigt give hende nogle nyttige tips til at ”bryde koden”.

Kendistrivia: jeg er overrasket at se John Mahoney, der spiller Frasiers far i ”Frasier”. Han ser 20 år yngre i Moonstruck, end han ser ud i Frasier, af en eller anden grund. Jeg gøre lidt forskning på min smartphone, og jeg er endnu mere overrasket at se, at han er født i Blackpool, og flyttede til USA som ung mand. Hans forældre boede i Manchester, men familien blev evakueret til Blackpool under den 2. verdenskrig, efter deres hus blev bomberet. Det kan ikke undre, at Frasiers far kommer så godt ud af det med Daphne (Jane Leeves), der er sagt at komme fra Manchester, selvom Leeves faktisk er født i Ilford (Essex).

John Mahoney i ”Moonstruck”

John Mahoney, et par år senere, i “Frasier”

Det er muligt, at Mahoney, kort efter han optrådte i ”Moonstruck”, blev ramt af en eller anden traumatisk begivenhed, som ældede ham betydeligt, men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på.

Det at ældes er stadig en mysteriøs proces, som selv i dag forbløffer forskere. En kvinde, Jenny Skribba, der arbejder som designer på et lokal kommercielt grafikfirma, ramte de lokale overskrifter for 13 år tilbage, da journalister opdagede, hun kun var 32-årig (rapport den 21. april 2004, kilde: Onion Local News).

Jenny Skribba (32)

Jennys bekendte og arbejdskollegaer havde svært ved at tro, hvor livlig hun så  ud, i betragtning af at hun var 32 år gammel.

"Den pige er 32? Hold kæft!" sagde den 24-årige Arden Rice, en servitrice på en lokal restaurant, som Scribba holdt til på. "Du spøger? Jeg ville aldrig have gættet, at hun var over 30! Hun ser så godt ud."

Kilder sagde, at mange mennesker blev forbavsede, når de hørte, at Scribba, der stadig er attraktivt, faktisk var 32. Det var svært at tro, men sandt: Scribba blev født i 1972, året for Watergate-indbruddet, men hun stadig havde slanke former og et glat, urynket ansigt.

"Jenny ser ud som om hun er ikke en dag over 27 år," sagde Jennys nabo, universitetsstuderende Bethany Weber, 21. "Hvor er hendes rynker? Du kan ligesom se små linjer omkring øjnene, når hun smiler, men de forsvinder, når hun stopper. Jeg håber på, jeg ser så godt ud, når jeg er i hendes alder! "

Weber forsat: "Jeg har denne ældre fætter, der var en total hunk i gymnasiet. Men nu er han 35, og han ligner Popeye. Jenny giver mig noget at stræbe efter. Jeg spekulerer på, om hun bruger ligesom Olie Olay eller noget lignende. Jeg tror ikke, hun har haft noget plastikkirurgi. "

Det kommercielt grafikfirma, hvor Jenny arbejdede, havde en afslappet påklædningskode, og Jenny bar ofte jeans, T-shirts og uformelle nederdele som dem, der bæres af kvinder 10 eller endda 20 år yngre end hende.

"Normalt, når jeg ser en 32-årig kvinde klædt som [Scribba], tænker jeg," Giv det op. Du er gammel, " sagde Kimberly Kleutgen, en 18-årig praktikant på firmaet, "Men Jenny formår at klare den."

"Når vi går ud for drinks efter arbejde, skal Jenny undertiden vise ID-kort sammen med de yngre medarbejdere," sagde Jennys 21-årige arbejdskollega Judd Truman. "Husk, dette er en kvinde, der lærte at gå årevis før den kommercielle tilgængelighed af videobåndoptagere, da Billie Jean King var verdens bedste kvindelige tennisspiller og folk købte musik på stereo-8 kassetter."

Ifølge Truman, ledte Scribbas venlighed og entusiasme også folk til at antage, at hun var yngre end 32.

"Jenny virker ikke som de fleste ældre mennesker," sagde Truman. "Hun er helt villig til at joke rundt, og hun ser aldrig ned på dig for at hygge dig."

"Faktisk er hun til mange af de samme ting, mine venner og jeg kan lide," fortsatte Truman. "Da de spillede [OutKast's] 'The Way You Move' på en fest på arbejde var hun med til at danse sammen med os. Tro det eller ej, det var ikke pinligt. Det så overhovedet ikke ud, som om hun desperat klamrede sig til hendes falmende ungdom. Det var faktisk næsten som om hun var i sit element. Hun er stadig helt i stand til at hygge sig. Det er så sejt. "

Årsagen til Scribbas ungdommelige udseende er ukendt. Arvelighed er højst sandsynligt ikke en faktor, da hendes forældre, lokale beboere Michael og Madeleine Scribba (henholdsvis 63 og 60 år gamle), begge lider af den tørre, rynkede hud, knoglede hænder og sænkende bryster, som gamle mennesker normalt har.

16:00 Jeg snakker lidt med Lois om Jenny, en lokal kvinde. Vi mindes om, at denne usædvanligt godt forsket og skrevet rapport på det tidspunkt forårsagede en sensation i nabolaget, men siden da er Jenny-historien helt forsvundet ud af overskrifterne af en eller anden mysteriøs grund, hvilket er lidt irriterende. En ”Jenny Scribba: hvordan ser hun ud nu” historie ville være meget betimelig” – lokale journalister, vær venlig at notere jer dette!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og lytter lidt til radio, et interessant program (1. del af 2), der handler om satire og humor i sovjetunionen. Programmets vært er den charmerende engelske stand-up komiker, Viv Groskop, der i 1990’erne boede i Rusland.

Et interessant program. Vi hører fra (blandt andet) Pussy Riots Maria Aljokhina og den berømte forfatter og mediapersonlighed Zinovy Zinik.

Pussy Riots Maria Aljokhina

den berømte russiske forfatter og mediapersonlighed Zinovy Zinik

Vi hører en masse typisk bitre russiske vittigheder, der daterer fra den kommuniste æra også Rusland siden da.

”Kammerat Rabinovitch, hvorfor var du ikke med til det sidste møde af kommunistpartiet?” ”Ingen fortalte mig, det ville være det sidste. Hvis jeg havde vidst det, ville jeg være kommet sammen med hele familien!”.㄄

Spørgsmål til Radio Armenia: er det muligt at bygge kommunismen i et tilfældigt, vestligt land, som for eksempel, Holland?

Svaret: selvfølgelig er det muligt, men hvad har Holland nogensinde gjort med dig?

Vladimir Putins plan om den nye økonomi – målet: at gøre mennesker rige og lykkelige (liste over mennesker vedlagt).

Og den mest kendte: ”vi foregiver at arbejde, og de foregiver at betale os”.

Programmets deltagere er enige om, at russerne altid har været et varmt  og humoristisk folk i deres privatliv, men har altid taget et helt tomt og følelsesløst udtryk på i ansigtet, når de færdes i byen, gående op og ned på Ruslands kæmpe-rulletrapper for eksempel.

Humor fungerede som en form for bindingsritual i et samfund, der var litterært sofistisk men også isoleret i verden. Folk blev uddannede til at læse mellem linjerne i de officielle aviser: sandheden var sædvanligt det modsatte til hvad aviserne rapporterede.

Zinovy Zinik siger, at folket havde ingen håb, så derfor spøgte man med det. Livet lignede en fængsel, så var humoren ”galgenhumor”. Men trøstende!

Zinik taler lidt om Nikhita Khrusjtjov, generalsekretær i Sovjetunionens kommunistiske parti 1953-64 og Formand for USSRs Ministerråd 1958-64. Da Khrusjtjov endelig blev drevet ud i 1964, brokkede mennesker sig: vi kan undvære brød, vi kan undvære pølser, men vi kan ikke undvære Khrusjtjov, skiven for alle vores vittigheder.

Noget i hvad Zinik sagde om Khrusjtov mindede mig pludselig om Trump. Khrusjtjov plejede at sige præcis, hvad han havde lyst til. Og det var den berømte hændling i 1960 under et plenarmøde i FNs Generalforsamling, da han tog sin sko og slog den ned i bordet.

Khrusjtjov slog sin sko ned i bordet (1960)

- lidt trumpisk måske?

Den filipinske udsending til FN, Lorenzo Sumulong, var på talerstolen og holdt tale om manglen på frihed i Østblokken, da han blev afbrudt af Nikita Khrusjtjov. Den sovjetiske leder gestikulerede og kaldte filippineren "en nar" og "en amerikansk stråmand". Da Lorenzo Sumulong fik lov til at fortsætte af den irske formand for FNs generalforsamling, Frederick Bolan, tog den russiske leder sin sko og slog den ned i bordet. 

Jeg kan godt forstille mig Trump gøre sådan noget, men det er Lois ikke helt sikker på. Juryen er stadig ude om det. Ligesom i Khrusjtsjovs tilfælde vil humorister helt sikkert komme til at savne Trump, når han blivver "drevet ud", uden tvivl om det.

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!!