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".
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!!!!
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