08:30 Lois and I take a shower, and after breakfast we
drive into the village. We swing by the local post office to send a package off to
Lois 'cousin in Southport and to buy a gift certificate for one of Lois' 15
relatives in Oxford, all descendants of her late brother, Andrew.
Afterwards we pop into the local pharmacy - Lois has some
kind of eye infection. The pharmacist looks at the eye and recommends applying
a warm compress to the eye for approx. 5 minutes, approx. 4-5 times a day, to
speed up the recovery, which will take a few days.
a typical warm compress that you can apply
to your eye
Poor Lois !!!!! I joke that we must be sure to avoid eye
contact at all costs until she is better ha ha. We come home and relax with a
cup of coffee on the couch.
11:00 I get going with ironing my shirts and underwear,
for the first time in 6 weeks - yikes, there are piles of the stuff, I've been
a little lazy recently, I have to admit.
Lois is in the dining room decorating her red Christmas
hat in preparation for this afternoon's special Christmas Baby Bounce and Rhyme session for young children at the local library, so I step into the
living room and put the ironing board up. I listen a bit to the radio while I'm
ironing.
Ironing is a lonely task, no doubt about that. But under
the right circumstances, it can give singles some opportunities to find love
(source: Onion News).
Fearing their friends and
family members might not understand or accept the unconventional origin of
their relationship, a local couple, Margot Bradley and Josh Ezdon, recently
confessed their apprehension over divulging that
they had met online in the comments section of a YouTube video entitled "Iron
your shirts - STEP BY STEP."
"My parents are a little old-fashioned, so it would
be difficult to tell them, though more and more people are actually finding love in online comments sections every
day," Bradley explained, disclosing that she and Ezdon had been brought together
after a brief exchange of comments praising the clarity and effectiveness of
the video's ironing techniques.
"Although the internet has made it easy for
like-minded people to meet in interest-specific online communities, it has
become much harder to explain the exact circumstances of these meetings. I
think one of my best friends met their husband in the comments section of "Bruce Springsteen - Jungleland (LYRICS), "and that kind of granular instantaneous
connection just doesn’t happen in real life."
Bradley also reluctantly admitted that she and Ezdon had
still not met personally.
I recall that when I read this article about Bradley and
Ezdon a few years ago, I was initially unsure as to whether a shared love of ironing
was a sufficient basis for a long-term relationship, especially if the couple did
not see very much of each other (as in this case). Let's not write off this
young couple, though - Onion News is
always very meticulous about following up on this kind of "human
interest" story and I look at the site’s web page every day hoping to find
the expected update. We will see!
12:30 Lois and I have lunch and afterwards I go to bed
and take a huge afternoon nap. Meanwhile, Lois walks around the corner to the
local library to help library staff manage the weekly Baby Bounce and Rhyme
session for young children, plus their mothers, or (in some cases) their papa-latte-style fathers or grandparents.
It's the last session of the current "semester",
and the library staff, including Lois, as a volunteer assistant, have dressed
up in various Christmas costumes: Lois is wearing her brand new Christmas
sweater and a red hat with sprig of holy stuck in it, which really suits her.
She looks good enough to eat - I have to say!
a typical Baby Bounce & Rhyme session at the local library
the local children's library - with preparations well in hand for the
session
flashback to May 2014 - Lois and
I used to take our (then) 1 year old
twin grandchildren, Lily and Jessie, for the sessions every Friday,
until our daughter Sarah, and Francis, her
husband, moved to Australia
taking them away from us, in December 2015 - sob sob !!!!
Happy times !!!!!
15:00 I crawl out of bed and wrap up my Christmas presents
to Lois - a pair of slippers bought the other day in Bishops Cleeve, and three
long-sleeved cropped sweaters that I bought online.
A couple of weeks ago we tried to find some long-sleeved,
cropped sweaters in M & S and other shops in the town centre, but without
success. Almost all the sweaters were full length or longer, which was a bit of
a shame. Lois is shorter (at 5 foot 3) than most of today's young women, so she
prefers the cropped style. She rarely wears trousers - she prefers skirts, so cropped
sweaters look much better on her.
Afterwards, I jump on my exercise bike and cycle my usual
6 miles.
15:30 Lois comes back from the library and we relax with
a cup of tea and a cupcake on the couch. Afterwards, we swing by the neighbour’s
(Bob) with our tons of leftover cat food, and our cat dishes etc.: Minx, our
cat, unfortunately had to be put to sleep 2 weeks ago: but she lived to a good
age (18 and a half years). Bob's granddaughter works at the local animal
shelter, and we are sure that the animal shelter staff will be happy to get
what we are offering them here.
16:00 We listen a little to the radio, an interesting
programme called "The Last Word". Lois and I have got in the habit of
hearing this programme every week because we want to find out if anyone over the
past 1-2 weeks has died or not (I have noticed that most weeks exactly 5 deaths
occur ).
Peter Boyzo (see picture above), the founder and owner of
Britain's first pizza chain, Pizza Express, recently died aged 89. He was a
very charming businessman who could sell snow to the eskimoes, according to his
daughter.
As a young man, Peter travelled everywhere he could on the
continent, and got a part-time job in Venice, where his duties were to
translate Italian films into English. He also earned money by selling nick-nacks
from a barrow as a street vendor in St Marks Square. He used to hang a horseshoe on his
barrow and told the tourists that it came from Jesus's donkey. Good grief, what
madness!
While living in Italy, he tried pizzas for the first
time, and he fell in love with the dish. When he moved back to England in the
1960's, he discovered that pizzas were at that time unobtainable here, so he
started the country's first pizza restaurant, which gradually developed into a
nationwide chain.
But he was never much of a gourmet - he liked to eat baked
beans right out of the can with a spoon. He had the habit of eating at the best
restaurants, but tended to always order something very simple, for example an omelette
– my god, what madness !!!!
Pizzas were still not that popular in England in the 60's and
70's, and I myself ate my first pizza only after we started living in the United
States between 1982-85.
Scott English, the songwriter has also died.
Scott English, the famous American songwriter also
recently died. He wrote both some of the most touching lyrics I know (Barry
Manilow's "Mandy") and some of the dumbest lyrics I know (Jeff Beck's
Hi Ho Silver Lining).
For me "Mandy" always brings back one of the
most scary parts of my life: I heard the song on the radio in my dad's car, on
my way to Heathrow airport. I was about to leave the western world behind me
and immerse myself in Japan's completely alien culture for a year. I could read
and understand medieval Japanese works, such as Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book from
the Heian period Japan, but I had hardly any experience in speaking modern
Japanese. Worrying !
Flashback to 1970: I get ready to board the Japan Air Lines plane again
after a 2-hour stopover in Anchorage
me at the local train station, totally baffled by all the Japanese signs - yikes!
me in front of the Hitotsubashi University Library - yikes !!!!
I think that when I initially tried to talk to my new classmates
at Hitotsubashi University, I must have sounded a bit like the equivalent of
the Wife of Bath in Chaucer's Canterbury tales. My god, what madness !!!!
And the worst thing was that I also had to leave Lois, my
fiancee, for a year - yikes !!!!!
Scott English also wrote Hi Ho Silver Lining, which Jeff Beck,
the respected English rock guitarist recorded. The lyrics were too short so English was asked to add more verses. He felt too lazy to do it, but in the end
he grudgingly added lines like the following:
The song was actually Jeff Beck's biggest ever hit
commercially, but he always regretted that he recorded it. He said it was like
wearing a pink toilet seat around his neck for the rest of his career – good grief,
what madness !!!! [that’s enough madness – Ed]
18:00 Lois is sitting at the computer and having a little look
online. Steve, our American brother in law, has sent us an email. His father,
John, died sadly earlier today, at the age of 93. Lois and I have fond memories
of John, whom we remember as a very sweet, gentle man. He visited my parents
twice as far as we can remember, in the 1990s it must have been, first with his
wife, Barb, and later, with Paul, Steve's brother.
18:30 We have dinner and watch a bit of television. A
documentary (1st part of 3) is on, all about the history of musicals in
the cinema. The host of the programme is Neil Brand.
This kind of programme is not really to my taste, I have
to admit, and Neil Brand has, in my opinion, an excessive tendency to over-analyse
everything. But I’m going to let that one slide.
None the less, it is interesting to see Hollywood movies
before the film boards began censoring them on moral grounds, I have to
say. In tonight's programme we see movie clips from "Love Me Tonight", which is now 10
minutes shorter than the version originally released.
In the censored version, a number of things have
disappeared: Myrna Loy's transparent nightgown (replaced with a non-transparent
one ha ha), a naughty ambiguous reference to "virgin springs" and the
lyrics of a song:
Good gracious, what a crazy world we live in !!!!! [I’ve
warned you about this already: second strike now! – Ed]
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz !!!!!!
Danish translation
08:30 Lois og
jeg tager et brusebad og efter morgenmad kører vi ind i det lokale postkontoret
for afsende en pakke til Lois’ kusine i Southport og købe et gavekort til en af
Lois’ 15 slægtninger i Oxford, alle efterkommere af hendes afdøde bror, Andrew.
Bagefter
smutter vi ind i det lokale apotek – Lois har en eller anden slags
øjeninfektion. Apotekeren kigger på øjet og anbefaler at anvende et varmt
omslag til øjet i ca. 5 minutter, ca. 4-5 gange om dagen, for at fremskynde
forbedringen, der i hvert fald vil tage nogle dage.
et
typisk varmt omslag, man kan anvende til øjet
Stakkels
Lois!!!!! Jeg spøger med, at vi må sikre os, at vi for enhver pris undgår
øjenkontakt, indtil hun har det bedre ha ha. Vi kommer hjem og slapper af med
en kop kaffe i sofaen.
11:00 Jeg går
i gang med at stryge min skjorter og undertøj, for første gang i 6 uger –
yikes, jeg er blevet lidt doven, det må jeg indrømme.
Lois er i
spisestuen i færd med at pynte sin røde julehue i forberedelse på
eftermiddagens specielle juleversion af det lokale biblioteks ”Baby Bounce and
Rhyme” session for små børn, så jeg smutter ind i stuen og stiller
strygebrættet på plads. Jeg lytter lidt til radio, mens jeg stryger.
Strygning er
en ensom opgave, ingen tvivl om det. Men under de rigtige omgivenheder kan den
give singler muligheder for at finde kærlighed.
Mens de var lidt bange for, at deres venner og familiemedlemmer måske ikke ville
forstå eller acceptere den ukonventionelle oprindelse af deres forhold, tilstod
Margot Bradley og Josh Ezdon deres angst over at oplyse, at de havde mødt online
i kommentarafsnittet af en YouTube-video med titlen "Stryge dine skjorter
- TRIN FOR TRIN."
"Mine forældre er lidt gammeldags, så det ville være svært at fortælle
dem, selvom flere og flere mennesker finder kærlighed i online kommentarafsnit hver
dag," sagde Bradley og forklarede, at hun og Ezdon havde fundet sammen
efter en kort udveksling af kommentarer, der rosede klarheden og effektivitetet
af videoens strygningsteknik.
"Selvom internettet har gjort det så nemt for ligesindede mennesker at
mødes i interessespecifikke online-samfund, er det blevet meget sværere at
forklare de præcise omstændigheder ved disse møder. Jeg mener, at en af mine
bedste venner mødte sin mand i kommentarafsnittet til "Bruce Springsteen -
Jungleland (TEKST)", og den slags granulære øjeblikkelige forbindelse sker
bare ikke i det virkelige liv. "
Bradley
indrømmede også modvilligt, at hun og Ezdon stadig ikke havde mødt sig
personligt.
Jeg mindes om,
at da jeg for nogle år siden læste denne artikel om Bradley og Ezdon, var jeg i
begyndelsen lidt usikker på, om en delt kærlighed til strygning er et
tilstrækkeligt grundlag for et
langvarigt forhold, specielt hvis parret ikke ser ret meget til hinanden (som i
dette tilfælde). Lad os ikke afskrive dette unge par – Onion News er altid
meget omhyggelig med at følge op på denne slags ”menneskelig interesse”
historie, og jeg kigger på webstedet hver dag for at se den forventede
opdatering. Vi får se!
12:30 Vi
spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng og tager en gigantisk
eftermiddagslur. I mellemtiden går Lois rundt om hjørnet til det lokale
bibliotek for at hjælpe bibliotekets personale med at styre den ugentlige ”Baby
Bounce and Rhyme” session for små børn, deres mødre eller (i nogle tilfælde)
deres fædre eller bedsteforældre.
Det er den
sidste session i den nuværende ”semester”, og bibliotekets personale, herunder
Lois, som frivillige assistent, har klædt sig ud i forskellige julekostumer:
Lois går med sin spritnye julesweater og en rød hue med kristtornkviste,
hvilket klæder hende godt. Hun er lige til at spise – det må jeg nok sige!
en typisk Baby Bounce & Rhyme session
børnebibliotek
– forberedelser på sessionen
(2
fotos) tilbageblik til maj 2014 – Lois og jeg plejede at tage vores (dengang)
1-årige
tvillingebørnebørn,
Lily og Jessie, til sessioner hver fredag,
indtil
vores datter Sarah og Francis, sin mand, flyttede til Australien
i december 2015 – hulk hulk !!!!
Lykkelige
tider !!!!!
15:00 Jeg står
op og går i gang med at indpakke mine julegaver til Lois – et par hjemmesko,
som vi forleden købte i Bishops Cleeve,
og tre langærmede beskårede sweatrer, som jeg købte på nettet.
For et par
uger siden prøvede vi at finde nogle langærmede, beskårede sweatre i M&S og
andre butikker i bymidten, men uden succes. Næsten alle sweatrene var fuld
længde eller længere, hvilket var lidt af en skam. Lois er lavere (på 5 fods
3), end de fleste af nutidens unge kvinder, så foretrækker hun den beskårede
stil. Hun går sjældent med bukser – hun foretrækker nederdele, så ser beskårede
sweaters langt bedre ud på hende.
Bagefter hopper
jeg op på min kondicykel. Jeg cykler mine sædvanlige 6 miles.
15:30 Lois
kommer tilbage fra biblioteket og vi slapper af med en kop te og en kopkage i sofaen. Bagefter smutter
vi ind hos naboen (Bob) med vores tiloversblevne kattemad, katteskåle osv:
Minx, vores kat, blev desværre aflivet for 2 uger siden: men hun levede til en
god alder (18,5 år). Bobs barbebarn arbejder på det lokale dyreinternat, og vi
er helt sikre på, at dyreinternatets personale vil være glad for at få, hvad vi
tilbyder dem.
16:00 Vi
lytter lidt til radio, en interessant program kaldet ”Det sidste ord”. Lois og
jeg er kommet i vane med at høre dette program hver uge, fordi vi ønsker at
finde ud af, om nogen i de seneste 1-2 uger døde eller ej (jeg har bemærket, at
der i de fleste uger sker nøjagtig 5 dødsfald).
Peter Boyzo (se billedet
ovenfor), grundlægger og ejer af Storbritanniens første pizzeriakæde, Pizza
Express, døde desværre for nylig, på 89 år.
Han var en meget charmerende forretningsmand, der kunne sælge sne til eskimoer,
ifølge hans datter.
Som ung mand rejste Peter på
kryds og tværs på kontinentet, og han fik en deltidsjob i Venice, hvor hans
opgave var at oversatte italiensk film til engelsk. Han tjente penge også af at
sælge nips fra en trækvogn som gadesælger på St Marks-torvet. Han hang en
hestesko på trækvognen og fortalte turisterne, at den kom fra Jesus æsel. Du
godeste, sikke et vanvid!
Mens han boede i Italien,
prøvede han pizzaer for første gang, og han blev forelsket i retten. Da han
flyttede tilbage til England i 1960’erne, opdagede han, at pizzaer dengang ikke
kunne fås herovre, så han startede landets første pizzaria, som efterhånden
udviklede sig i en landdækkende kæde.
Men han var aldrig en gourmet
– han plejede at spise baked beans lige ud af dåsen med en ske. Han havde for
vane at spise på de bedste restauranter, men havde tendens til at bestille
noget meget simpelt, for eksempel en omelet – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!
Pizzaer var stadig ikke ret
populære i England i 60’erne og 70’erne, og jeg spiste min første pizza kun
efter vi boede i USA i 1982-85.
Scott English, den berømte
amerikanske sangskriver døde også for nylig. Han skrev både en af de mest
rørende sangtekster jeg kender (Barry Manilows ”Mandy”) og en af de dummeste
sangtekster jeg kender (Jeff Becks Hi Ho Silver Lining).
For mit vedkommende vækker ”Mandy”
til live en af de mest skræmmende dele af mit liv: jeg hørte sangen på radioen i
min fars bil, på vej til Heathrow lufthavn. Jeg var ved at forlade den vestlige
verden bag mig og fordybe mig i Japans helt anderledes kultur i et år. Jeg
kunne læse og forstå middelaldige japanske værker, som for eksempel, Sei Shonagons
pudebog fra Heian-periodens Japan, men jeg havde haft
næsten ikke nogen erfaring i at tale moderne japansk. Skræmmende!
tilbageblik til 1970: jeg ankommer
til Japan, skræmmet fra vid og sans – yikes!!!!
Jeg synes, at når jeg i begyndelsen
prøvede at snakke med mine nye kammerater på Hitotsibashi universitet, måtte
jeg have lydt lidt som Enken fra Bath i Chaucers Canterbury-fortællinger. Du
godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!
Og det værste var, at jeg skulle gå fra
Lois, min forlovede, i et år også – yikes!!!!!
English skrev også Hi Ho
Silver Lining, som Jeff Beck, den respekterede engelske rock guitarist optog.
Sangteksten var for kort, og English blev bedt om at tilføje flere vers. Han følte
sig for doven til at gøre det, men til sidst tilføjede han linjer som de
følgende:
Sangen var faktisk Jeff
Becks største hit kommercielt, men han fortrød altid at han optog den. Han
sagde, at det var ligesom, at skulle bære en pink toiletsæde omkring halsen i
resten af sin karriere – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!
18:00 Lois
sidder ved computeren og kigger på nettet. Steve, vores amerikanske svigerbror,
har sendt os en email. Hans far, John, døde desværre tidligere på dagen, på 93
år. Lois og jeg har kærlige minder om John, som vi mindes om som en meget sød,
blid mand. Han besøgte mine forældrer to gange, så vidt vi husker, først sammen
med sin kone, Barb, og senere, sammen med Paul, Steves bror.
18:30 Vi
spiser aftensmad og ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser en dokumentarfilm (1. del af 3),
der handler om historien of musicals på biografen. Programmets vært er Neil
Brand.
Dette slags program
er ikke egentlig til min smag, det må jeg indrømme, og Neil Brand har efter min
mening en for stor tendens til at overanalysere alting. Men det springer jeg
over.
Det er
imidlertid interessant og se Hollywood film før filmverdens myndigheder
begyndte at censurere dem af moralske grunde, det må jeg nok sige. Vi ser
filmklip fra ”Love Me Tonight”, som nu er 10 minutter kortere, end versionen
oprindligt udsendt.
I den
censurerede version er en række ting forsvundet : Myrna Loys gennemsigtige
natkjole (udskiftet med en ikke-gennemsigtig), en fræk tvetydig reference til ”virgin
springs” og teksten af en sang:
22:00 Vi går i
seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!!!
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