Sunday, 17 June 2018

Saturday 16 June 2018


Lois and I spend the morning on this and that - I cannot remember exactly what we did. I recall the world's best journal entry ever "Forgot what did", as Katy wrote in one of Susan Coolidge's classic novels. The entry is also the famous English poet, Philip Larkin's favorite quote.

Katy and the world's best diary entry ever:
"Forgot what did" - a true classic

Yikes, we are getting old - no doubt about that!

11:00 I take a little look online. Our 3 grandchildren in Copenhagen are taking part in a piano concert today in one of the local churches in the city, a concert organized by the children's Canadian piano teacher, Darlene.

Alison, our oldest daughter, has posted some charming pictures of the children and of Darlene up on "Insta".

 Our grandchildren in Denmark: Josie (11), Rosalind (9) and Isaac (7)
taking part today in a piano concert organized by Darlene,
their Canadian piano-teacher.
Here Josie tries on her concert costume in advance

The concert's participants gather with Darlene, piano teacher (in green)

(left to right) Josie, Rosalind, Darlene (piano teacher), and Isaac

12:00 We have lunch a bit earlier than usual because we want to swing by the local village annual street party, which is taking place this afternoon in the Burgage and in the Women's Institute Hall. There are a lot of stalls on the Burgage and on the scout field, including an ukulele concert in front of Royal Oak, a local pub, and a talent contest, "Prestbury's Got Talent" in a big tent on the scout field. They are also selling "cream teas" (cups of tea and scones with cream and jam) in the Women's Institute Hall.

Lois on the Burgage


Ukulele concert in front of the Royal Oak, a local pub on the Burgage



a troupe of local belly dancers




Lois and I splash out on a cream tea in the Womens Institute Hall

Some might say that Prestbury's street party lacks some of the vigour and the pzazz of, for example, its nearest rivals: the street parties in Notting Hill (London), New Orleans, or Rio de Janeiro, but in my opinion this attitude is unnecessarily negative. It is true that the local belly-dancers are not baring a lot of naked flesh, but do not forget the temperature and the strong southwesterly breeze, not to mention the occasional light rain showers. Have pity on them, sire - the poor things!

I am particularly interested in the ukulele concert that took place in front of the Royal Oak pub. Alison gave me a ukulele as a birthday present about 4 years ago, but I only mastered the most basic techniques due to lack of time - Lois and I were looking after our twin grandchildren several mornings a week, and in our remaining spare time we unfortunately did not have the energy to start on new hobbies. However, it is still my intention to take the instrument up again at some point.

It is not very hard to play the ukulele - at least one goat can play it. An American called E. Scape Goat, was a registered participant in an extraordinary concert organized by the so-called "Woodland Pals" in 1998, which featured the talents of local wildlife.

The 'Woodland Pals', with S. Cape Goat on ukulele

Full details of the participants follow (source: Onion News):

Musician
Species
instrument
Oliver Oink
pig
sousaphone
Rudy Rabbit
rabbit
accordion
S. Cape Goat
goat
ukulele
Fenwick Frog
frog
harmonica
E Pluribus Eagle
eagle
horn
Pelican Trio
pelican
triangle
Squeaky Equirrel
squirrel
drums, percussion
[unknown feathered vocalist]
[bird]
vocalist
Ferdinand Fox
fox
bandleader

I recall that at that time the concert hit the headlines all over the world, and caused a sensation, especially in the zoological world.

The news from the Woodland Pals' jamboree concert spread rapidly through the world's zoological circles, which were electrified by the discovery of animals that possessed artistic impulses and powers of reasoning - qualities that for a long time were believed to belong exclusively to humanity's domain.

"Hitherto, there has never been any evidence that lower-order mammals were able to perform music," commented University of Florida zoologist Lynn Sontag. "This is truly the most remarkable case of divergent animal behavior since Douglas Duck's birthday in 1986."

Zoologists were also extremely fascinated by the Woodlands Pals' unusual anatomical structure.

"These creatures are undoubtedly mammals and birds," said Dr. Russell Frehling, Professor of Zoology at Northwestern University. "But their anatomy is radically different than most four-legged animals. For example, the fox and the goat seem to consist of nothing but a series of circles and tubes that squeeze and stretch as they move. The creatures could represent a kind of bizarre evolutionary throwback, although nothing in the fossil record seems to support such a theory. "

I find this debate very interesting. Is it possible that the Woodland Pals are an example of that most rare phenomenon in evolutionary history, the occasional "big leap forward" where a minor change, such as a sudden random genetic abnormality, triggers a massive leap forward in evolutionary progress? There must be someone who knows. I think we should be told!

On the other hand, it should be noted that this concert, which took place 20 years ago, was not followed up by the expected Woodland Pals world tour, so perhaps the phenomenon of this impromptu concert was one of evolution's famous blind alleys. But that's something the jury is still out on. We'll just have to see.

17:00 Lois and I come home. We have decided not to eat a full dinner tonight because of the cream tea we gorged on earlier in the afternoon, when we were a bit naughty, we must admit!

We spend the rest of the evening watching television, a documentary all about this year's summer exhibition at the Royal Academy in London.



It would be better if I did not watch programs like this: it's not good for my blood pressure. After having recently seen several programs in the "Great Art" series (on artists such as Manet, Hieronymus Bosch, etc.), it's a bit of a shock to see an egoistic narcissistic talentless so-called potter, so-called Grayson Perry, takes over the once-prestigious Royal Academy to exhibit a load of crap, manufactured by himself and by other talentless so-called "artists", who resemble nothing so much as children screwing around in their school's art-room during the lunch break. Good grief, pass the sickbag, Alice !!!!

In fact, today there are no great artists anywhere in the world in my opinion - they are all busying themselves with so-called "installations" that are just an excuse for not having talent! Good grief, you can call me an old crow if you like !!!!



just a few examples of what you can see at the exhibition:
not the worst by any means - my god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

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

Danish translation

Lois og jeg bruger formiddagen på dette og hint – jeg kan ikke huske nøjagtigt hvad vi gjorde. Jeg mindes om verdens bedste dagbogsnotat nogensinde ”Forgot what did”, som Katy skrev i en af Susan Coolidges klassiske romaner. Notatet er også den berømte engelske digter, Philip Larkins yndlingscitation.

Katy og verdens bedste dagbogsnotat nogensinde:
”Forgot what did” – en sand klassiker

Yikes, vi bliver gamle – ingen tvivl om det!

11:00 Jeg kigger lidt på nettet. Vores 3 børnebørn i København deltager i en klaverkoncert i dag i en af de lokale kirker i byen, en koncert arrangeret af børnenes kanadiske klaverlærer, Darlene.

Alison, vores ældste datter, har lagt nogle charmerende billeder af børnene og af Darlene op på Insta.

vores børnebørn i Danmark: Josie (11), Rosalind (9) og Isaac (7)
deltager i dag i en klaverkoncert arrangeret af Darlene,
deres kanadiske klaverlærer.
Her prøver Josie sin koncertkostume på forhånd

koncertens deltagere samles sammen med Darlene, klaverlærer (i grøn)

(fra venstre til højre) Josie, Rosalind, Darlene (klaverlærer), og Isaac

12:00 Vi spiser frokost lidt tidligere, end normalt, fordi vi gerne vil deltage i det lokale landsbys årlige gadefest, der finder sted i eftermiddag på Borgergade og i Women’s Institute-hallen. Der er en masse båser på Borgergade og på spejderkampen, herunder en ukulele-koncert foran Royal Oak, en lokal pub, og en talentkonkurrence, ”Prestbury’s Got Talent” i en stor telt på spejderkampen. De sælger også ”cream teas” (kop te og scones med fløde og marmelade) i Women’s Institute-hallen.


Lois på Borgergade

Ukulele-concert foran Royal Oak, en lokal pub på Borgergade

en trup af lokale mavedansere



Lois og jeg køber en cream-tea i Womens Institute-hallen

Det kan være, at nogle siger, Prestburys gadefest mangler noget af livligheden og futtet af, for eksempel, dens nærmeste rivaler: gadefesterne i Notting Hill (London), New Orleans, eller Rio de Janeiro, men efter min mening er dette holdning unødvendigt negativ. Det er sandt, at de lokale mavedansere ikke har blottet en masse nøgen kød, men man må ikke glemme temperaturen og den stærke sydvestlige brise, for ikke at tale om de lejlighedsvise regnbyger. Hav synd på dem - stakklener!

Jeg interesserer mig i særdeleshed for ukulele-koncerten, der fandt sted foran Royal Oak-pubben. Alison forærte mig en ukulele som fødselsdaggave for ca. 4 år siden, men jeg har kun mestret de mest grundlæggende teknikker, på grund af mangel af tid – Lois og jeg passede dengang om vores tvillingebørnebørn flere formiddager om ugen, og i vores fritid havde vi desværre ikke nogen energi for at begynde på nye hobbies. Det er imidlertid stadig min hensigt at genoptage instrumentet.

Det er ikke særlig svært at spille ukulele – der har eksisteret i det mindste én ged, der kan spille den. En amerikansk ged, der hed E. Scape Goat, var en registeret deltager i en ekstraordinær koncert organiseret af de såkaldte ”Woodland Pals” i 1998, der fremviste talenterne af det lokale dyreliv.

’Woodland Pals’, med S. Cape Goat på ukulele

Fulde detaljer af deltagerne følger (kilde: Onion News):

Musiker
Art
instrument
Oliver Oink
gris
sousaphone
Rudy Rabbit
kanin
accordion
S. Cape Goat
ged
ukulele
Fenwick Frog
frø
harmonica
E Pluribus Eagle
ørn
horn
Pelican Trio
pelikan
triangel
Squeaky Equirrel
egern
trommer, perkussion
[en anonym fjeret sanger]
fugl
sanger
Ferdinand Fox
ræv
orkestrets leder

Jeg mindes om, at koncerten på det tidspunkt ramte verdens overskrifter og forårsagede en sensation, i sær i den zoologiske verden.

Nyhederne fra Woodland Pals’ jamboree-koncert spredte sig hurtigt over verdens zoologiske kredse, som blev elektrificeret ved opdagelsen af dyr, der ejede kunstneriske impulser og resonansfærdigheder - kvaliteter, som man i lang tid troede, hørte udelukkende til menneskeheds domæne.

"Hidtil havde der aldrig eksisteret bevis for, at lavere pattedyr var i stand til at udføre musik," fortalte University of Florida zoolog Lynn Sontag. "Dette er virkelig det mest bemærkelsesværdige tilfælde af afvigende dyreadfærd siden Douglas Ducks fødselsdag i 1986."

Zoologer var også stærkt fascineret af Woodlands Pals' usædvanlige anatomiske struktur.

"Disse skabninger er utvivlsomt pattedyr og fugle", sagde Dr. Russell Frehling, professor i zoologi ved Northwestern University. "Men deres anatomier er radikalt anderledes, end de fleste firebenede dyre. For eksempel, ræven og geden virker at bestå af intet andet end en serie af cirkler og rør, som maser sig og strækker sig, som de bevæger sig. Væsnerne kan repræsentere en slags bizarre evolutionær tilbagekaldelse, selv om intet i fossil-recorden synes at understøtte en sådan teori. "

Jeg finder denne debat meget interessant. Er det muligt at Woodland Pals er et eksempel på det der mest sjældne fænomen i evolutionarisk historie – den lejlighedsvise ”stor spring fremad”, hvor en mindre forandring, for eksempel, en pludselig tilfældig genetisk abnormitet, udløser en massiv spring fremad i evolutionær fremskridt? Der må være en, der ved. Jeg synes, vi skulle få at vide!

På den anden side må man bemærke, at denne koncert, der fandt sted for 20 år siden, ikke blev fulgt op af den forventede Woodland Pals verdensturné, så måske var fænomenen af denne impromptu koncert en af evolutionens berømte blindgyder. Men det er juryen stadig ude om. Vi får ses.

17:00 Vi kommer hjem. Vi har besluttet ikke at spise en fuld middag i aften på grund af cream-tea’en vi mæskede os i tidligere på eftermiddagen, hvor vi var lidt uartige – det må vi indrømme! 

Vi bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn, en dokumentarfilm, der handler om denne års sommerudstilling på Royal Academy i London.



Det ville være bedre, hvis jeg ikke så sådanne programmer som det her: det er ikke godt for mit blodtryk! Efter at have set programmer i den ”Stor Kunst” serie (for eksempel Manet, Hieronymus Bosch osv) er det lidt af et chok at se en egoistisk, narcissistisk, talentløs såkaldt pottemager som såkaldte Grayson Perry overtage den engang prestigiøse Royal Academy for at udstille en masse lort, fremstillet af sig selv og andre talentløse såkaldte ”kunstnere”, der ligner børn, der fjoller rundt i deres skoles kunstrum under frikvarteret. Du godeste, ræk mig lige opkastningspose, Alice!!!!

Faktisk er der nut til dags ikke nogen stor kunstner nogle steder i verden efter min mening – de beskæftiger sig alle med såkaldte ”installationer”, der kun er en undskyldning for ikke at have talent! Du godeste, du kan kalder mig en gammel krage, hvis du gerne vil det!!!!



bare et par eksempler på, hvad man kan se i udstillingen:
ikke de værste på nogen måde – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!


No comments:

Post a Comment