Danskcolin: Saturday 19 May 2018

09:00 Lois and I drive into the village and buy meat, bread and cheese at Waghorne's, the local butcher shop. There is already a long queue in the store - we suppose people are going shopping early today so they can watch the royal wedding on the television and maybe have barbecues afterwards, but that's something we are not sure about.

11:00 We sit in front of the television and watch the preparations, voxpops with the crowd, the arrival of the vips, etc., and the wedding itself. Lois has prepared a couple of plates full of delicious biscuits, chips, etc. It is nice to see the relaxed atmosphere in the church and the mix of British tradition and the black American culture (the emotional sermon and gospel choir), making the occasion quite unique to put it mildly! Lois and I will not see anything like that again - that's something we're sure about! It is also nice to see Diana's big sister reading the lesson.

There are many modern "celebrities" in the church that the TV hosts do not bother to identify because they are apparently so well-known, but unfortunately Lois and I do not have the slightest idea who they are - damn it, we've quite past it now, no doubt about that!

Steve, my American brother in law, has sent me two pictures that illustrate two of the many souvenir products that are currently for sale in stores, in this case royal wedding marmite and condoms.

special souvenir Marmite jars and condoms:

two of the many Royal Wedding souvenir products

people can currently buy in stores

Lois and I heard an interesting radio show yesterday, "More or Less", criticizing headlines in the newspapers, that often proclaim that royal weddings are good for the economy. The program's financial expert pointed out that the purchase of such souvenir products amounts to only 0.005% (absolute max) of GDP.

The expert also said she bought a special royal wedding Japanese "bento" lunch package the other day, but she spent no more money than usual - if there had not been a royal wedding, she would just have bought a "regular" bento. Lois and I could not criticize her logic - no doubt about that!!!!

souvenir bento: not particularly good for the economy!

Later in the day, I discover a possible reason why lately I seem to have been biting my tongue so often - my tongue may quite simply have become too big. The influential American news source, The Onion, reports that some of Meghan's student friends have complained that they were forced to sit at the same table as the royal family's Habsburg relatives who Meghan's friends could not have proper conversations with due to the enlarged tongues of the genetically weakened Habsburgers. Good grief, just my luck if I find out I'm suffering from the same problem !!!

(report, Onion News)

13:30 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed. I take a gigantic afternoon nap.

15:30 I get up and start mowing the rest of the big lawn behind the house and the two 2 lawns at the bottom of the garden. Afterwards we relax with a cup of tea on the terrace.

19:00 We eat dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching television. We see an interesting documentary about Vincent van Gogh, the famous Dutch painter.

An interesting program. We like this series because the treatment of the subject is serious: the programme makers avoid using fashionable gimmicks and concentrate on sharing information and opinions through interviews with qualified experts. How radical!

Lois and I cannot help but notice how much Van Gogh looked like Prince Harry. Could it be that they are perhaps related?

Van Gogh

Harry - Could it be that they are perhaps related?

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

Danish translation

09:00 Lois og jeg kører ind i landsbyen og køber kød, brød og ost hos Waghorne’s, det lokale slagterforretning. Der er allerede en lang kø i butikken – vi formoder, at folk går tidligt på indkøb i dag, så de kan se på det kongelige bryllup i fjernsynet og måske have barbecues derefter, men det er vi ikke helt sikre på.

11:00 Vi sætter os foran fjernsynet og kigger på forberedelserne, voxpoper med tilskuerne, vipernes ankomster osv, og selve brylluppet. Lois har forberedet et par tallerkener, fuldt med lækkerbiskener, chips osv. Det er rart at se den afslappede stemning i kirken og blandingen af den britiske tradition og den sorte amerikanske kultur (den følelsesmæssige prædiken og gospelkoret), hvilket gør anledningen helt unik, for at sige mildt! Lois og jeg vil nok ikke se noget lignende igen – det er noget, vi er helt sikre på! Det er også rart at se Dianas storsøster, der læser lektien.

Der er mange moderne ”kendisser”, der sidder i kirken, som tv-værterne ikke gider at identificere, fordi de tilsyneladende er så velkendte, men desværre har Lois og jeg ikke den fjerneste anelse om, hvem de er – pokkers, vi er blevet godt oppe i årene, ingen tvivl om det!

Steve, min amerikanske svigerbror, har sendt mig to billeder, der illustrerer to af de mange souvenirprodukter, der for tiden er til salg i butikker, i dette tilfælde royal bryllup marmite og kondomer.

specielle souvenir Marmite-krukker og kondomer:

to af de mange Royal Wedding souvenirprodukter

man for tiden kan købe i butikker

Lois og jeg hørte et interessant radioprogram i går, ”More or Less”, der kritiserede overskrifter i aviserne, der ofte proklamerer, at royale bryllupper er gode for økonomien. Programmets finansielle ekspert påpegede, at køb af sådanne souvenirprodukter løber op til kun 0,005% (absolut max) af BNP. Eksperten sagde også, at hun købte en speciel royal wedding japansk ”bento” madpakke, men hun brugte ikke mere penge, end normalt – hvis der ikke havde været en royal bryllup, ville hun i hvert fald kun have købt en ”almindelig” bento. Lois og jeg kunne ikke kritisere hendes logik – ingen tvivl om det!!!!

souvenir bento: ikke specielt god for økonomien!

Senere på dagen opdager jeg en mulig grund til, at jeg på det seneste virker at have bidt min tunge så ofte – min tunge er måske helt simpelthen blevet for stor. Den indflydelserige amerikanske nyhedskilde, The Onion, rapporterer, at nogle af Meghans studerende-venner har beklaget sig over, at de på receptionen blev tvunget til at sidde ved samme bord, som den kongelige families Habsburg-slægtninge, som Meghans venner ikke kunne have rigtige samtaler med på grund af de genetiske svæge habsburgernes forstørrede tunger. Du godeste, bare mit held, hvis jeg finder ud af, jeg lider af samme problemet!!!

rapport, Onion News

13:30 Vi spiser frokost, og bagefter går jeg i seng. Jeg tager en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

15:30 Jeg står op og går i gang med at slå resten af den store græsplænen, der ligger bag huset, og de to 2 græsplæner i bunden af haven. Bagefter slapper vi af med en kop te på terrassen.

19:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. Vi ser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om Vincent Van Gogh, den berømte hollandske maler.

Et interessant program. Vi kan godt lide denne serie, fordi emnets behandling er alvorlig og programmagerne undgår at bruge moderigtige gimmicks og koncentrerer om at dele oplysning og meninger ved hjælp af interviews med kvalificerede eksperter.

Lois og jeg kan ikke undgå at bemærke, hvor meget Van Gogh lignede Prins Harry. Kunne det være, at de måske er beslægtede til hinanden?