Saturday, November 17, 2018

09:00 Lois and I get up. Her back is still giving trouble so we decide not to go out of the house again today: for me it's the fourth day in a row that I have not left house-and-garden, which suits me just fine - I have to say. I am such a home-lover, that's where the problem lies. Unfortunately, there is usually always this or that that forces me to go out and do something - damn it!

10:00 Lois sits down at the dining table to prepare the Sunday School lesson she is to teach tomorrow. According to her sect's rota, it will be her responsibility to lead tomorrow's weekly Sunday school. The lesson is all about Gideon, whom God called on to assemble a small army to free the Israelites from their enemies, the Midianites.

An interesting Bible story, and I remember it well from my youth when I used to go to Sunday school every week. The thing I remember most clearly is that Gideon had a lot of wives and "begat" a total of about 70 sons. 

Beside his wives, Gideon also had a concubine, who was possibly his maid, and the couple also had a son together, Abimelech, who killed all Gideon's other 70 sons - good grief, what a crazy world we live in !!! Abimelech was such a bastard, no doubt about that !!!

Abimelech after he had killed his 70 half-brothers

I just hope he was satisfied!!! What a bastard!

He does look a bit tired though, I have to say. A bit like the way I look after I have finished vacuuming, perhaps, which is my nearest equivalent.

Abimelech is a good example of the kind of Sunday school lesson that little boys can really identify with. Little Charlie, for example, will love it tomorrow - I know that for sure.

11:00 I make a start on taking the waste, recycled waste and composting out of the house, and then I  vacuum everywhere. The house really needs a vacuum, no doubt about that: usually I vacuum the house every two weeks every other Thursday morning because our U3A Danish group meetings take place every two weeks on Thursday afternoons. But the group is currently on a 2 month break, so I miss the automatic triggering mechanism that the meetings provide me with - my god, I'm so lazy!

Perhaps I have some Homo Erectus DNA in me: I recently read online that new archaeological research from the Australian National University (ANU) has found that Homo erectus, a extinct species of primitive people, could have died out because they were "too lazy" .

An archaeological excavation of ancient human populations on the Arabian peninsula in the early Stone Age has found that Homo erectus used "least effort strategies" for tool-making and resource collection.

This "laziness", combined with an inability to adapt to a changing climate, probably played a role in the extinction of the species, according to lead researcher Dr. Ceri Shipton from ANU's Culture, History and Language Department.

"They really don't seem to have been pushing themselves," said Dr. Shipton.

Dr. Shipton said that this was clearly seen by the way the species made their stone tools and collected resources.

"To make their stone tools, they would use whatever stones they could find lying around in their camp, which were mostly of comparatively low quality in comparison to the sort that later stone tool makers employed," he said.

"At the site we looked at we saw that there was a large pile of quality stone only a short distance away up a small hill. But instead of going up the hill, the Homo erectus guys would just use the crap pieces that had rolled down and lay at the bottom.

"When we looked at the hill, there were no signs of any activity, no artefacts and no quarrying. They knew that the good stones were there, but because they had already had enough of the crap stuff, they seemed to have thought, "Why bother?" ."

I myself can sympathise with the Homo erectus guys, however - it's hard work walking uphill especially in the kind of heat you get in Saudi Arabia where the excavations took place. I myself often often make do with cheap tools from "Wilco's" [Wilkinsons - dd], rather than drive a little further and spend a little more money on getting the B & Q professional stuff located on the other side of the town - that's something I'm forced to admit!

12:30 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a huge afternoon nap. I get up at 3 pm.

16:00 Lois has finally finished preparing her Sunday school for tomorrow. She says it takes her far longer to finish it now that there is a rota, and she only has to teach every 2 months, than it used to take before, when she did it every Sunday.

We relax with a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit.

17:00 Afterwards, Lois hurries into the kitchen to take the breasts out of the pheasant our neighbour Bob shot and left on our doorstep this week. We have decided to eat them tomorrow. 

Lois cuts the bird down its front and takes out the breasts and put the rest in a bag to save work. Poor pheasant !!!!

I sit down with the computer. I've had an interesting email from my American brother-in-law, Steve, all about which words for "good" and "bad" score the highest on the Richter scale. It turns out that "abysmal" is the "worst" expression in Britain, while "very bad" is the "worst" expression  in the United States.

the US results

the UK results

"Perfect" is the "best" word in both countries, but I have noticed that waiters in English restaurants now often answer "perfect" when I order something, even if it is something quite ordinary, such as a cup of coffee. What madness!

"Awesome" is an example of a word that Lois and I, and our generation, do not use really at all in this kind of sense. And our 43-year-old daughter Alison says she and Ed do not normally use it when they talk to each other, but sometimes they are "forced" to use it when they talk to their 3 children, who use the word practically every other sentence.

Isn't language totally fascinating? Who would want to study anything else?

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching television. An interesting documentary is on, all about Louis XIV of France and life in his palace at Versailles. The program's hosts are the charming Lucy Worsley and Helen Castor.

An interesting program and it's fascinating to see that "Fake News" is not a new phenomenon. 

Louis was always jealous of his bisexual brother, Philippe, Duke of Orléans, and when Philippe won a major victory against the Dutch army at the Battle of Cassel in 1677, Louis was just sitting at home in the palace at Versailles.

However in the great painting celebrating the battle, Louis insisted that he was depicted as the commander of the French Army, while Philippe his brother was confined to a dark corner of the picture where he can only be seen with great difficulty .Good grief, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

In this painting Louis becomes the hero of the battle, 

while his brother Philip, the actual commander,

 is confined to one of the picture's dark corners. My god - what madness !!!!

21:00 We continue to watch some television, a documentary about the friendship of two British composers, Holst and Vaughan Williams. The program's hosts are the charming Tom Service and Amanda Vickery.

An interesting program. The house where Holst grew up (now turned into a museum about his life) is only half a mile away from our house, but Lois and I have never visited it because of "we can see that any time", which is typical of us, I have to admit. 

Holst was the son of a poor family of immigrants from Latvia, and when he became a student in London, he went there on foot to save money - a 100 mile journey - yikes! And it was there at the Royal College of Music that he met Vaughan Williams, a fellow first year student.

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

Danish translation

09:00 Lois og jeg står op. Hendes ryg giver stadig problemer, så vi beslutter ikke at komme ud af huset igen i dag, for mig den fjerde dag i træk, hvor jeg ikke er kommet ud af huset og haven, hvilket passer mig rigtigt godt – det må jeg nok sige. Jeg er så hjemelskende, der har vi problemet. Desværre er der sædvanligvis altid et eller andet, der tvinger mig til at komme ud for at gøre et eller andet – pokkers!

10:00 Lois sætter sig ved spisebordet for at forberede den søndagsskolelektion, hun skal undervise i morgen. Ifølge hendes sekts turnus bliver det hendes ansvar at styre morgendagens ugentlige søndagsskole. Lektionen handler om Gideon, som Gud opfordrede til at samle en lillle hær for at befri israeliterne fra deres fjender, midjanitterne.

En interessant bibelhistorie, og jeg husker den godt fra min ungdom, når jeg selv hver uge gik i søndagsskole. Hvad jeg husker tydeligst er, at Gideon havde en masse koner, og fik sammenlagt ca 70 sønner. Udover sine koner havde Gideon også en konkubine, måske hans tjenestepige, og parret fik endnu en søn sammen, Abimelech, der dræbte alle de andre 70 sønner – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!! Abimelech var sådan en sjuft, ingen tvivl om det!!!

Abimelech, efter han har dræbt sine 70 halvbrødre.

Jeg håber bare på, at han følte sig tilfreds - han var sådan en sjuft !!!

Abimelech er et godt eksempel på den slags søndagsskolelektion, som små drenge rigtigt kan identificere med! Lille Charlie for eksempel vil elske den i morgen – det ved jeg med sikkerhed!

11:00 Jeg går i gang med at tage affaldet, genbrugsaffaldet og kompostmateriale ud af huset, og støvsuger overalt. Huset trænger til at støvsuges, det er der ikke nogen tvivl om: sædvanligvis støvsuger jeg i huset hver 2. uge om torsdag formiddag, fordi vores gruppemøde fandt sted hver 2. uge om torsdag eftermiddag.  Men gruppen holder for tiden en 2 måneders pause, så jeg savner den automatisk udløsningsmekanisme, som møderne forsyner mig med – du godeste, jeg er så doven! 

Måske har jeg nogle Homo Erectus DNA: jeg læste for nylig på nettet, at ny arkeologisk forskning fra Australian National University (ANU) havde fundet ud af, at Homo erectus, en uddødt art af primitive mennesker, uddøde delvis fordi de var 'dovne'.

En arkæologisk udgravning af gamle menneskelige befolkninger på den arabiske halvø i den tidlige stenalder fandt, at Homo erectus brugte "minimale indsatsstrategier" til værktøjsfremstilling og indsamling af ressourcer.

Denne "dovenskab", der var kombineret med en manglende evne til at adapte til et forandrende klima, spillede sandsynligvis en rolle i, at arten uddøde, ifølge den ledende forsker, dr. Ceri Shipton fra ANUs kultur-, historie- og sprogafdeling.

"De syntes ikke at anstrenge sig," sagde dr. Shipton.

Dr. Shipton sagde, at dette var tydeligt set ud fra den måde, arten lavede deres stenværktøjer og indsamlede ressourcer på.

"For at lave deres stenværktøjer ville de bruge nogle sten som helst, de kunne finde liggende rundt i deres lejr, som for det meste var af relativt lav kvalitet i sammenligning til, hvad de senere stenværktøjsbrugere brugte," sagde han.

"På stedet så vi på, at der var en stor bunke af kvalitetssten kun en kort afstand væk op ad en lille bakke.  Men i stedet for at gå op ad bakken, ville de bare bruge de skide stykker, der var rullet ned og lå på bunden.

"Da vi så på klippen, var der ingen tegn på nogen aktivitet, ingen artefakter og ingen stenbrudsarbejde. De vidste, at de gode sten var der, men fordi de havde tilstrækkelige ressourcer, synes de at have tænkt," hvorfor genere? ".”

Men jeg sympatiserer med de homo erectus fyre – det er hårdt arbejde at gå op ad bakke i sær i den slags hedebølger, man møder i Saudi-Arabien, hvor udgravningerne fandt sted. Og jeg selv nøjes ofte med billige redskaber fra Wilkinsons, snarere end at tage lidt videre og bruge lidt flere penge på at få de professionelle hos B&Q, der ligger i den anden side af byen, det må jeg indrømme!

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng og tager en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.  Jeg står op  kl 15.

16:00 Lois er endelig færdig med at forberede sin søndagsskolektion til i morgen. Hun siger, det tager hende langt længere at klare den, nu hvor der er en turnus, og hun kun underviser hver 2 måneder, end før, når hun gjorde den hver søndag.

Vi slapper af med en kop te og en chokoladekiks.

17:00 Bagefter skynder Lois sig ind i køkkenet for at tage brysterne ud af fasanen vores nabo Bob denne uge skød og efterlod på vores hoveddørtrin. Vi har besluttet at spise dem i morgen. Hun skærer fuglen ned ad dens front og tage brysterne ud, og putte resten i en pose, for at spare arbejde. Stakkels fasan!!!!

Jeg sætter mig med computeren. Jeg har fået en interessant email fra Steve, min amerikanske svigerbror, der handler om hvilke ord for ”godt” og ”dårligt” scorer det højeste på Richterskalaen. Det viser sig at ”abysmal” er det ”værste” ord i Storbritannien, mens ”very bad” er det værste i USA.

de amerikanske resultater

de britiske resultater

”Perfect” er det bedste ord i begge lande, men jeg har bemærket, at tjenere på engelske restauranter nu ofte svarer ”perfect”, når jeg bestiller et eller andet, selvom det kan være noget helt almindeligt, som for eksempel en kop kaffe. Sikke et vanvid!

”Awesome” er et eksempel på et ord, som Lois og jeg og vores generation ikke bruger. Og vores 43-årige datter Alison siger, at hun og Ed ikke plejer at bruge det, når de taler med hinanden, men de bliver nogle gange ”tvunget” til at bruge det, når de taler med deres 3 børn, som bruger ordet næsten hver 2. sætning.

Er sprog ikke helt fascinerende? Hvem ville ønske at studere noget andet?

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om Ludwig 14. af Frankrig og livet i sit slot i Versailles. Programmets værter er de charmerende Lucy Worsley og Helen Castor.

Et interessant program, og det er fascinerende, at se, at ”Fake News” ikke er et nyt fænomen. Ludvig var altid jaloux på sin biseksuelle bror, Filip, Hertug af Orléans. Da Filip vandt en stor sejr mod den hollandske hær i slaget ved Cassel i 1677, mens Ludvig sad derhjemme i slottet i Versailles.

Men i det store maleri, der fejrer slaget, insisterede Ludvig på, at det var han, der blev skildret som den franske hærs kommandør, mens Filip, hans bror, blev begrænset til et mørkt hjørne af billedet, hvor han kan ses kun med besvær. Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

I dette maleri bliver Ludvig selv helten af slaget, mens hans bror, Filip,

den ægte kommandør bliver begrænset til et mørkt hjørne.

Du godeste – sikke et vanvid!!!!

21:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn, en dokumentarfilm, der handler om venskabet af to britiske komponister, Holst og Vaughan Williams. Programmets værter er de charmerende Tom Service og Amanda Vickery.

Et interessant program. Huset, hvor Holst voksede op (nu blevet til et museum om hans liv) ligger kun et halvt mile væk fra vores hus, men Lois og jeg har aldrig besøgt det på grund af ”det kan vi se når som helst”, hvilket er typisk af os, det må jeg indrømme. Holst var sønnen af en fattig familie af indvandrer fra Letland, og da han blev studerende i London, tog han dertil på fods, for at spare penge – en 100 mile rejse – yikes!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!