Wednesday 14 February 2018

Today is Valentine's Day, but Lois and I are postponing ours till Friday. Yesterday was pancake day, but we have deferred it until some day or other that we have not yet specified. Busy busy busy as always.

On reflection, it would have been more sensible to combine the two special days, with pancakes for 2, but it's a little too late to plan that now, we think. A quick look at the statistics provided by Onion Graphics, the influential American news website, suggests that few Americans eat pancakes on Valentine's Day, but the corresponding statistics for the English have not been published yet: perhaps they have been subject to official black-out under the British government's famous "30 year rule" for classified information, but that's something I'm not entirely sure about.

American Valentine's day statistics have been published

for all to see, so why have the corresponding British numbers

been withheld due to some sort of official black-out or cover-up ? Mysterious.

09:00 I get started on clearing up and vacuuming all over the house. Today, we have invited our friends, Stephen and Anne-Marie, for lunch. We first met them in Washington DC, USA before they got married. They both worked at the embassy. Their wedding took place two years later.

I took part in Stephen's stag night, the only one I've ever experienced, but it was completely innocent - that's my story and I'm sticking to it. We and a couple of Steven's friends ate mussels (apart from me who ordered steak and french fries: a bit of a mood killer ha ha) at Bertha's Mussels, a restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland, just by the harbor, and afterwards we all swung by a few bars in the neighborhood. Happy days!

Bertha's Mussels: a restaurant that I visited

on Stephen's stag night

Stephen and Anne-Marie moved back to England in 1986, one year after us, and we have met up with them periodically ever since. Their children, Catherine and Thomas, have now grown up, like ours.

11:30 Stephen and Anne-Marie arrive and we talk about our respective families and about the old days in Washington. We have a new connection with them because their daughter Catherine is moving next week to Malawi with her husband, just like our daughter Sarah and her husband, Francis, have moved to Australia. Stephen and Anne-Marie are planning to visit Catherine and her husband over there in the fall.

Catherine does veterinary science research: while in Africa, she will try to capture and investigate sick birds and reptiles (lizards, etc.) looking for signs of salmonella. Yikes, scary! Let's hope she does not come back with bird flu. Her husband will give up his job as a town planner to accompany her over there.

13:00 We have lunch: a typical English Christmas dinner (deferred 7 weeks): turkey, roast potatoes, roasted home-grown vegetables (carrots, parsnips and sprouts), with Christmas pudding for dessert - yummy !!!

15:15 Stephen and Anne-Marie have to leave. Lois and I relax with a cup of tea on the couch.

18:00 Lois and I have dinner and watch television. An interesting documentary is on, all about a theory that European people settled in Maryland 20,000 years ago, using a so-called "ice bridge" that existed from one side of the Atlantic to the other in the last ice age .

Interesting idea, but not enough evidence, is my judgment (and the verdict of most experts ha ha). Archaeologists have only found just 2 stone blades on an island in Chesapeake Bay, and they have not found any evidence of occupation. The stone blades look like the stone blades made by the Solutrean people who lived in caves in southwestern Europe, so these archaeologists have the theory that Solutrean people somehow crossed the Atlantic Ocean using the ice bridge.

Archaeologists have found two stone blades on an island

in Chesapeake Bay, but no evidence of occupation

This hypothesis is contrary to the standard archaeological orthodoxy, which states that the North American continent was first populated at least 13,500 years ago by people from Asia, either via the Bering (Beringia) land bridge, or by sea routes along the Pacific coast, or by both. There are many solid pieces of evidence supporting this orthodoxy.

The orthodoxy on how the North American

continent was first populated

The idea of a Solutrean link remains controversial and has not achieved broad acceptance. The hypothesis seems unlikely in view of the large time interval between the Clovis and the Solutrean era, the lack of evidence of Solutrean sea-faring, the lack of specific Solutrean features and tools in Clovis technology, the difficulty posed by the supposed route across the Atlantic and other problems.

I chat a little which Lois about the program, which tends to showcase a lot of exciting reconstructions of prehistoric people being attacked by polar bears and other fierce animals. The programme-makers are just trying to keep the focus away from the glaring weaknesses in the theory, we think.

The programme also highlights other, genetic research, suggesting that there are genetic relationships between native Americans and European people, which are not matched by populations in Asia and Siberia. This theory is supported by Prof. Stephen Oppenheimer of Oxford University.

The so-called X2 / X2A genetic marker,

not found in Siberia or Eastern Asia

The program uses Oppenheimer's ideas to support the so-called "solutrean" immigration, but in fact Oppenheimer does not mention the discoveries in Chesapeake Bay. His ideas are more general.

He quite rightly says that it is perfectly possible that immigrations of some sort took place in addition to the one that took place through Alaska, and Lois and I think he is right. These immigrations could have taken place in prehistoric times via Greenland, for example.

22:00 Both Lois and I have fallen asleep on the couch before the end of the program. Good grief - we are getting old, no doubt about that! We collapse into bed - zzzzzzzzzz !!!!!!

Danish translation

I dag er Valentinsdag, men Lois og jeg udskyder vores til fredag. I går var pandekagedag, men vi har udskudt den indtil en eller anden dag, vi ikke endnu har fastset. Travlt travlt travlt som altid.

Ved næmere eftertanke, ville det have vært fornuftigere, at kombinere de to specielle dage, med pandekager til 2, men det er lidt for sent til at planlægge nu, synes vi. Et hurtigt blik til statistikken tilført af Onion Graphics, den indflydelsesrige amerikanske nyhedswebsted, forslår, at få amerikanere spiser pandekager på valentinsdag, men de tilsvarende statistikker til englændere er ikke blevet publiseret endnu: måske er den blevet mørkelagt af den britiske regerings berømte ”30 år regler” om klassificerede oplysninger, men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på.

amerikanske valentin dag-statistikker er blevet publiseret

for alle til at se, men hvorfor har de tilsvarende engelske tal

blevet mørkelagt? Mysteriøst. 

09:00 Jeg går i gang med at rydde op og støvsuge overalt i huset. I dag har vi inviteret vores venner, Stephen og Anne-Marie, til middag. Vi mødte dem først i Washington DC, USA før de giftede sig. De arbejdede begge to på ambassaden. Deres bryllup fandt sted to år senere.

Jeg deltog i Stephens mandfolkegilde, den eneste jeg nogensinde har oplevet, men det var helt uskyldsrent – det er min historie, og jeg holder fast ved den. Vi og et par stykker af Stevens venner spiste muslinger (bortset fra mig, der bestilte steak og pommes frites: lidt af en stemning-killer ha ha) på Bertha’s Mussels, en restaurant i Baltimore, Maryland ved havnen, og derefter smuttede vi alle ind i en stribe barer i nabolaget. Lykkelige dage!

Bertha’s Mussels: en restaurant, som jeg besøgte

under Stephens mandfolkegilde

Stephen og Anne-Marie flyttede tilbage til England i 1986, ét år efter os,  og vi har mødtes med dem engang imellem siden da. Deres børn, Catherine og Thomas er nu vokset op, ligesom vores.

11:30 Stephen og Anne-Marie kommer og vi snakker om vores henholdsvise familier og om de gamle dage i Washington. Vi har en ny forbindelse med dem, fordi deres datter Catherine næste uge flytter til Malawi sammen med sin mand, ligesom vores datter Sarah og hendes mand, Francis, der er i Australien. Stephen og Anne-Marie planlægger at besøge Catherine og hendes mand i efteråret.

Catherine gør veterinærvidenskabelig forskning: mens hun er i Afrika, vil hun prøve at fange og undersøge syge fugle og reptiler (firben osv), og søger tegn på salmonella. Yikes –skræmmende! Lad os håbe på, hun ikke kommer tilbage med fugleinfluenza. Hendes mand vil opgive sit job som  byplanlægger for at ledsage hende derover.

13:00 Vi spiser middag: en typisk engelsk julefrokost (udskudt 7 uger): kalkun, stegte kartofler, stegte hjemmedyrkede grøntsager (gulerødder, pastinakker og rosenkål), med julepudding til dessert – nam nam !!!

15:15 Stephen og Anne-Marie skal af sted. Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad og ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om en teori, at europæiske mennesker bosatte sig i Maryland for 20.000 år siden, ved at benytte en såkaldt ”isbro”, der eksisterede fra den ene side af Atlanter-havet til den anden under den seneste istid.

Interessant idé, men ikke nok beviser, er min dom (og dommen af de fleste eksperter ha ha). Arkæologer har kun fundet 2 stenblade på en ø i Chesapeake Bay, og de har ikke fundet beviser om besiddelse. Stenbladene ligner stenblade lavet af solutreanske folk, der boede i huler i det sydvestlige Europa, så disse arkæolger har skabet en teori, at solutreanske folk krydsede Atlanter-havet.

Arkæologer har fundet to stenblade på en ø

i  Chesapeake Bay, men ingen beviser på besiddelse

Denne hypotese står i modsætning til den almindelige arkæologiske ortodoksi, at det nordamerikanske kontinent først blev befolket af mennesker fra Asien, enten ved Bering-landbroen (dvs. Beringia) for mindst 13.500 år siden eller ved sejlruter langs Stillehavskysten eller af begge to. Der er mange solide beviser på denne ortodoksi.

ortodoksien om, hvordan den nordamerikanske

kontinent først blev befolket

Ideen om en solutreansk forbindelse forbliver kontroversiel og har ikke opnået bred accept. Hypotesen udfordres af store tidsrum mellem clovis og solutreanske æraerne, manglende beviser for solutreansk søfart, mangel på specifikke solutreanske egenskaber og værktøjer i clovis-teknologien, vanskeligheder af ruterne og andre problemer.

Jeg snakker lidt med Lois om programmet, der har tendens til at fremvise spændende rekonstruktioner af forhistoriske folk, der bliver angrebet af isbjørne osv. Programmagerne prøver at sætte lille fokus på teoriens svagheder, synes vi. De diskuterer også en anden undersøgelse, en genetisk, der forslår, at der er genetiske forbindelser mellem indfødte amerikaner og europæiske folk, som eksisterer ikke i befolkninger i Asien og Siberien. Teorien er støttet af prof. Stephen Oppenheimer af Oxford University.

Den såkaldte X2/X2A genetiske markør,

der ikke findes i Siberien eller det østlige Asien

Programmet benytter Oppenheimers ideer for at støtte den såkaldte ”solutreanske” indvandring, men faktisk nævner Oppenheimer ikke opdagelserne i Chesapeake Bay. Han siger helt rimeligt, at det er helt muligt at andre indvandringer fandt sted, end den, der fandt sted via Alaska, og Lois og jeg synes, han har ret. Disse indvandringer kunne have fandt sted i forhistoriske tider via Grønland, for eksempel.

22:00 Både Lois og jeg er faldet i søvn på sofaen inden programmets slutning. Du godeste – vi bliver gamle, ingen tvivl om det! Vi kollapserer i seng – zzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!