Monday 14 May 2018

09:00 I call Joy, a member of our U3A Danish group and check that she has returned from her vacation in Kazakhstan. Our members are nothing if not adventurous - good grief! I find out that she and her husband have now come back and she can come to the Danish group's next meeting, which will take place at our house on Thursday.

Lois sends emails to her relatives in Banbury. Lois and I will be staying overnight in the middle of town next Monday because I have to take a course organized by the Oxfordshire County Police : I have become a bit of a bad boy because police speed cameras caught me in Rose Hill, Oxford when I was driving at 35 miles an hour , where there was a speed limit of 30. It all happened just before Lois and I traveled on vacation to Australia in late February. Damn!

It was my first offense after almost 50 years of driving - damn (again!). But the police gave me the option of taking a course, instead of getting "points" on my driving license, which is a bit of a relief.

We hope we can visit Lois's relatives in Banbury, the day after my course: her cousins Diane, John and Sue.

10:00 I go into the backyard and dig up the rest of last year's carrots and parsnips. Lois has back pain again so she decides not to do gardening today. She limits herself to rooting through the carrots and parsnips to decide which ones can be used and which should put in one of our 4 giant compost containers.

the carrots and parsnips we can use...

...and the ones we can't - oh dear!

13:00 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a huge afternoon nap.

16:00 I get up and we relax with a cup of tea on the couch. We start to browse through "Line", a Danish crime novella, which is our Danish group's next project. We have become very rusty in the language after our 2 months in Australia.

18:30 We have dinner and watch television, an interesting documentary about slavery, and especially how much the cities of Bristol and Bath became rich because of the profits received by their citizens in the 17th and 18th centuries from the slave trade (slavery was only abolished in 1803). Bristol at the time became Britain's largest port city (larger than London) because of the slave trade.

The host of the program is the charming black poet Miles Chambers, who was born in the county of Wiltshire, and lives in Bristol. Miles is the descendant of Jamaican slaves who worked on sugar plantations owned by Bristolians in the former British colony.

I thought I would not enjoy the program because Miles started the film by talking about Edward Colston, a local slave trader (and "philanthropist" - good grief!). Many buildings and institutions in the city have been named after Colston, including the great concert hall, Colston Hall. And Kathy, my late little sister, and Steve, my late little brother, both went to schools named after him too.

Colston’s Primary School, where my little sister and brother went as children

Colston’s Girls School, which my little sister attended as a teenager

Many progressives want these buildings and institutions to change names because of Colston's relationship to the slave trade. I have always opposed this idea because I think it's part of the city's history, though not an glorious one, and it's wrong to try to airbrush it all out.

But at the end of the program I can see the opposite point of view - Miles, a gentle and sympathetic poet, is a charming advocate for the proposal that Colston Hall change its name. I think I am becoming even more of a softie, now I’m in my old age - yikes!

21:00 We continue watching television, an interesting documentary about the famous series of British film comedies, shot in the 1940s and 1950s at Ealing Studios in London. The host of the program is the well-known British film actor, Richard E Grant.

It is interesting that Peter Sellers, whose film debut came in "The Ladykillers", had only a very small role and no comic lines in the film, but he managed to "get noticed" - and further roles followed.

Peter Sellers (3rd from left) in his film debut, "The Ladykillers"

The same thing happened many years later when Sellers played a minor role in "The Pink Panther" but was so brilliant in the part that a whole series of movies followed where he was the star (as Inspector Clouseau, the role he played in The Pink Panther).

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

Danish translation

09:00 Jeg ringer til Joy, en medlem af vores U3A danske gruppe og tjekker, at hun er kommet tilbage fra sine ferie i Kasakhstan. Vores medlemmer er intet, hvis ikke eventyrlystne – du godeste! Jeg finder ud af, at hun og hendes mand nu er kommet tilbage og hun kan deltage i den danske gruppens næste møde, der finder sted hos os på torsdag.

Lois sender emails til hendes slægtninger i Banbury. Lois og jeg skal overnatte midt i byen næste mandag, fordi jeg må tage et kursus organiseret af grevskabet Oxfordshires politi: jeg er blevet lidt af en bad boy, fordi politiets hastighedskameraer fangede mig i Rose Hill, Oxford, da jeg kørte 35 miles i timen, hvor der var en hastighedgrænse på 30 miles i timen. Det hele skete lige før Lois og jeg i slutningen af februar rejste på ferie til Australien.  Pokkers!

Det var min første lovovertrædelse efter næsten 50 års som bilist – pokkers (igen!). Men politiet gave mig en option til at tage et kursus, i stedet for at få ”punkter” på mit kørekort, hvilket er lidt af en lettelse.

Vi håber, vi kan besøge Lois’s slægtninge i Banbury, dagen efter mit kursus: hendes fætre og kusiner Diane, John og Sue.

10:00 Jeg går ud i baghaven og graver op resten af sidste års gulerødder og pastinakker. Lois har ondt i ryggen igen, så hun beslutter ikke at lave havearbejde i dag. Hun begrænser sig til at rode gulerødderne og pastinakkerne igennem for at beslutte hvilke kan bruges, og hvilke skal putte i en af vores 4 kæmpe-kompostbeholdere.

gulerødderne og pastinakker vi kan bruge...

...og dem vi ikke kan - du godeste!

13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng og tager en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

16:00 Jeg står op og vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen. Vi begynder at blade igennem ”Line”, en dansk kriminovelle, der er vores danske gruppes næste projekt. Vi er blevet meget rustne i sproget efter vores 2 måneder i Australien.

18:30 Vi spiser aftensmad og ser lidt fjernsyn, en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om slaveri, og især hvor meget byerne Bristol og Bath blev rige på grund af fortjenesten, som deres borgere modtog af slavehandelen i det 17. og 18. århundreder (slaveriet blev afskaffet i 1803). Bristol blev dengang faktisk Storbritanniens største havneby (større end London) på grund af slavehandelen.

Programmets vært er den charmerende sorte digter, Miles Chambers, der er født i grevskabet Wiltshire og som bor i Bristol. Miles er selv efterkommer af jamaicanske slaver, der arbejdede på sukkerplantationer , som byens borgere ejede, i den tidligere britiske koloni.

Jeg troede, at jeg ikke ville nyde programmet, fordi Miles begyndte filmen ved at tale om Edward Colston, en lokal slavehandler (og ”filantrop” – du godeste!). Mange bygninger og institutioner i byen er blevet opkaldt  efter Colston, herunder den store koncertsal, Colston Hall. Og Kathy, min afdøde lillesøster, og Steve, min afdøde lillebror, gik begge to i skoler, der blev opkaldt efter ham også.

Colston’s Primary School, hvor min lillesøster og lillebror gik som børn

Colston’s Girls School, hvor mine lillesøster gik som teenager

Mange progressive vil have at disse bygninger og institutioner skifter navne på grund af Colstons forhold til slavehandelen. Jeg har altid været imod denne idé, fordi jeg mener, det er en del af byens histori, selvom ikke en ærefuld, og det er forkert at prøve at airbrushe det hele.

Men ved slutningen af programmet kan jeg se den modsatte synspunkt – Miles, en blid og sympatisk digter, er en charmerende advokat for forslaget, at Colston Hall skifter navne. Jeg synes, jeg bliver lidt blød i min alderdom – yikes!

21:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn, en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om den berømte serie af britiske filmkomedier, der blev skudt i 1940’erne og 1950’erne på Ealing Studios i London.  Programmets vært er den velkendte britiske filmskuespiller, Richard E Grant.

Det er interessant, at Peter Sellers, hvis filmdebut kom i ”The Ladykillers”, havde kun en meget lille rolle og ingen komiske linjer i filmen, men det lykkedes ham at ”blive bemærket” – og videre roller fulgte.

Peter Sellers (nr 3 fra venstre) i sin filmdebut i "The Ladykillers"

Det samme skete mange år senere, da Sellers spillede en mindre rolle i ”The Pink Panther”, men var så brilliant i rollen, at en hel serie af filme fulgte, hvor han var stjernen (som Inspektor Clouseau, den rolle, han spillede i The Pink Panther).

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!!!