Friday, December 28 2018

09:30 Lois and I drive over to the local Sainsbury's supermarket to do some food shopping. We have been staying for 8 days with Alison, our elder daughter, and her family in Haslemere, Surrey, and there is a conspicuous lack of food in the house, especially fruit and vegetables – damn it!

11:00 We come home and relax with a cup of coffee on the sofa.

11:30 We go for a short walk around the local football field - Lois needs to walk very fast to improve the condition of her digestive system: she always looks as if she is running late for the bus or the like. I can't keep up with her because of my iffy joints – and also, (and I can’t stress this enough), I have no desire to walk that fast.

So instead I repeatedly walk diagonally across the field while Lois walks around the edges. We meet and part again at the corners - ha ha!

A bit like "Brief Encounter", the "stiff upper lip" romantic British film from 1945.

Lois and I meet and part at the corners of the football field, a little

like the film Brief Encounter (1945), where Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson’s stiff-upper-lip

"affair" is conducted by means of occasional meetings at a railway station – how tragic !!!

our complicated geometric walk: I walk diagonally across the football field (c),

while Lois hurries around the edges (a + b)

We must to be a very impressive sight, from a bird's eye perspective. Lucky birds, I say.

It's a bit like a typical complicated geometric Busby Berkely dance routine, but without the forest of bare legs: both Lois and I are wearing trousers / jeans today because of the winter weather.

Typical Busby Berkely geometric dance routines

13:00 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap. I get up at 3:30 pm.

15:30 Lois is reading an interesting review about a current exhibition in London's V&A museum, called "V&A Cast Courts". During the Victorian period, every major museum and art college in the UK apparently had its own collection of plaster casts - most of which were copies of Renaissance or classical sculptures.

However, these plaster casts, created to teach students about the art of the past or to educate the public about European culture, at a time when it was unusual to travel abroad, unfortunately went out of fashion in the 20th century. It was a bit of a shame, but most of these collections were destroyed or thrown away, except for those that you can see today in the V&A Museum, London. The most spectacular is a plaster cast copy of Trajan's Column in Rome.

Lois and I visited London's V&A Museum in 2013, and we were delighted to see the plaster cast copy of Trajan's Column - and it is in far better condition now than the original one, that has been irreparably destroyed by Rome's air pollution. The original inscription on it is almost unreadable now.

My goodness! What a crazy world we live in !!!

flashback to June 2013: Lois and I visit the V&A Museum's "Cast courts".

16:00 We listen to a bit of radio, an interesting programme called "The Last Word". Lois and I have got into the habit of hearing this program every week because we want to find out if anyone in the last 1-2 weeks has died or not (I have noticed that most weeks exactly 5 deaths occur).

Prof. Sir Aaron Klug died recently at 92 years. He was "a towering giant in the world of molecular biology," according to the current president of the Royal Society. His research focused on viruses - yuck, scary !!!!! But he won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry as a result, which was a bit of a triumph, even I have to admit that.

Prof. Sir Aaron Klug, the virus expert, who unfortunately died recently

He was a bit of a child prodigy, to put it mildly. He was born in Lithuania, but his Yiddish-speaking family moved to South Africa to escape persecution when he was only 2 years old. However, he managed to teach himself to read South Africa’s English newspapers before he reached his 3rd birthday. My god, what madness!

He decided to work on viruses after he happened by chance to bump into, and meet, another scientist, Rosalind Franklin, at that time one of the world's few virus experts, on the stairs at Birkbeck College, London. During their first chat he became so interested in her subject, which at that time had not received much attention, that he immediately dropped his then current project and concentrated thereafter just on viruses – good grief, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

His friends say that the Nobel Prize he won in the 1960's did not change his life very much - the biggest change apparently was that he decided to buy a new bike, which apparently was a bit of a radical step from Aaron's point of view.

And his interests were not limited to biology. He was always very interested in history and archaeology, and in his old age he used to tell his wife that it was archaeology he would really have liked to have gone in for. She apparently she replied that it was a little too late for that now.

What a man! He seems very like me, except that I haven't won a Nobel Prize, which is a bit tragic, to put it mildly.

Once during a family holiday he was so fascinated by seeing a basket-weaver  at work, that he sat watching  her for several hours, getting her to tell him all the details of her craft and her skills. And he refused to go away until he felt satisfied that he understood it all, even though he never actually went on to weave a basket himself in his entire life – good grief, what madness (again) !!!!

Goodbye, Aaron - and hail to thee. You kept us out of war.

Geoff Emerick, an innovative sound engineer, has also died unfortunately aged 72 years (exactly my age: yikes !!!!). He worked on many groundbreaking versions of pop songs, especially with the Beatles.

He had the ability to think outside the box, to put it mildly. He used to cover Ringo's snare drum with a tea towel to prevent it from “ringing”. And it was Geoff, who, for example, created the creepy carnival and circus background sounds on "For the Benefit of Mister Kite".

The poster that inspired the Beatles song "For the Benefit of Mr Kite"

Geoff Emerick in a 1960s recording studio, with Ringo Starr

18:30 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching a bit of television. A special Christmas edition of the dating show "First Dates" is on.

This show is mine and Lois’s favourite dating show, where participants go on a date and dine at a special restaurant with a potential partner that the TV channel has chosen for them.

Lois and I are just a couple of old crows, so it's nice to see a show sometimes trying to match older couples and middle-aged couples, as well as the usual young couples. But tonight, however, we both agree that the TV channel in this case has gone a bit too far by trying to find a match for a 101-year-old man, Eric, even though it’s true that his potential partner, Norma, is herself in her 80’s.

A little over the top in our opinion.

But their discussion of mutual health problems makes a refreshing change from the usual saucy off-colour jokes, innuendo and explicit sexual "green lights" we tend to hear with the younger couples, we have to say.

My god what a crazy world we live in !!!!

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

Danish translation

09:30 Lois og jeg kører over til det lokale Sainsburys-supermarked for at købe ind. Vi har opholdt os i 8 dage hos Alison, vores ældste datter, og hendes familie i Haslemere, Surrey, og i vores hus er der en iøjnefaldende mangel på fødevarer, især frugt og grøntsager – pokkers!

11:00 Vi kommer hjem og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

11:30 Vi går en kort tur rundt omkring den lokale fodboldbane – Lois har brug for at gå hurtigt for at forbedre sin fordøjelsessystem: hun ser altid ud som om hun er sent til bussen eller lignende. Jeg kan ikke holde trit med hende på grund af mine led, så jeg går gentagende gange diagonalt tværs over banen, mens hun går rundt omkring banens kanter. Vi mødes og skilles ved hjørnerne – ha ha! Lidt som ”Brief Encounter”, den romantiske britiske film fra 1945.

Lois og jeg mødes og skilles ved fodboldbanens hjørne, lidt

som Brief Encounter (1945), hvor Trevor Howard og Celia Johnsons

”affære” bliver ført ved hjælp af lejlighedsvise møder på en banegård – tragisk!!!

vores komplicerede geometriske gåtur: jeg går diagonalt tværs over fodboldbanen (c),

mens Lois skynder sig rundt omkring kanterne (a + b)

Lois og jeg må være en meget imponerede syn, set ud fra en fugleperskeptiv – det må jeg nok sige.

Det er lidt som en typisk kompliceret geometrisk Busby Berkely dansfigur, men uden skoven af nøgne kvindeben: både Lois og jeg går i bukser/jeans i dag på grund af vintervejret.

typiske Busby Berkely geometriske dansfigurer

13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15:30 .

15:30 Lois er i gang med at læse en interessant anmeldelse om en nuværende udstilling i Londons V&A-museum, der hedder ”V&A Cast Courts”. I den viktorianske periode havde hvert størt museum og kunstkollegium i Storbritannien sin egen samling af gipsafstøbninger – hovedparten af disse var kopier af skulpturer fra renæsanssen eller den klassiske periode.

Men disse gipsafstøbninger, skabte for at undervise studerende om fortidens kunst eller for at udanne offentligheden om europæiske kultur dengang, det var usædvanligt at rejse i udlandet,  gik desværre ud af mode i det 20. århundrede. Det var lidt af en skam, men hovedparten af disse samlinger blev ødelagt eller smidt væk, bortset fra dem, som man kan se i dag i V&A-museet, London. Den mest spektakulære er en kopi af Trajansøjlen i Rome.

Lois og jeg besøgte Londons V&A-museum i 2013, og vi var meget glade for at kunne se kopien af Trajansøjlen – og den er faktisk i lang bedre stand, end den oprindlige, som er blevet uopretteligt ødelagt af Romes luftforurening. Den oprindelige indskrivning er næsten ikke læselig nu.

Du godeste! Sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!

tilbageblik til juni 2013: Lois og jeg besøger V&A-museets ”Cast courts”.

16:00 Vi lytter lidt til radio, et interessant program, der hedder “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).

Prof. Sir Aaron Klug døde desværre for nylig, på 92 år. Han var “en tårnkæmpende kæmpe i molekylærbiologiens verden” ifølge den nuværende formand for The Royal Society. Hans forskning koncentrerede sig på virusser – yuck, skræmmende !!!!! Men han vandt Nobel-prisen for kemi som resultat, hvilket er lidt af en triomf, unødvendigt at sige.

Prof. Sir Aaron Klug, virus-ekspert, der for nylig desværre døde

Han var lidt af en barns vidunder, for at sige mildt. Han var født i Litauen, men hans jiddischtalende familie flyttede til Syd-Afrika for at slippe for forfølgelse, da han kun var 2 år gammel. Det lykkedes ham imidlertid at lære sig selv at læse engelske aviser før sin 3. fødselsdag. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!

Han besluttede at arbejde på virusser efter han tilfældigvis i midten af 1950’erne mødte en anden forsker, Rosalind Franklin, dengang en af verdens få virus-eksperter, på trappen i Birkbeck College, London. Han blev så interesseret i hendes emne, som på det tidspunkt ikke havde modtaget en masse opmærksomhed, at han umiddelbart droppede sit daværende projekt og koncentrerede sig derefter på virusser – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

Hans venner siger, at den Nobel-pris, han vandt i 1960’erne, ikke forandrede ret meget sit liv – den største forandring var tilsyneladende, at han besluttede at købe en ny cykel, hvilket var lidt af en radikal trin, set ud fra Aarons synspunkt.

Derudover var hans interesser ikke begrænsede til biologi. Han var altid meget interesseret i historie og arkæologi, og plejede at fortælle sin kone, at det var arkæologi, han egentlig ville have kunnet lide til at studere. Hun svarede tilsyneladende, at han er kommet lidt for sent til at starte nu.

Sikke en mand! Han ligner mig meget tæt, bortset fra, at jeg ikke har vundet en Nobel-pris, hvilket er lidt tragisk, for at sige mildt.

Og han blev engang fascineret under en familieferie ved at sidde og kigge på en kurvevæver i gang med sit arbejde. Han kiggede på hende i et par timer, og spurgte hende om at fortælle ham alle detaljerne om sit håndværk og færdigheder. Han afviste at gå af sted, indtil han følte sig tilfreds, at han forstod det hele, selvom han derefter faktisk aldrig vævede en kurv i sit hele liv – du godeste, sikke et vanvid (igen) !!!!

Farvel, Aaron – og hyl dig! Du holdt os ud af krig!

Geoff Emerick, en innovativ lydingeniør, døde også desværre, på 72 år (nøjagtig min alder : yikes !!!!). Han arbejdede på mange banebrydende versioner af popsange, især med The Beatles. Han kunne tænke uden for boksen, for at sige mildt. Han plejede at dække Ringos snare tromme med et viskestykke for at hindre den i at ringe. Han skabte for eksempel de uhyggelige karneval- og cirkus-baggrundlydene på ”For the Benefit of Mister Kite”.

Den plakat, der inspirerede Beatles-sangen ”For the Benefit of Mr Kite”

Geoff Emerick i 1960’erne sammen med Ringo Starr

18:30 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en speciel juleudgave af dating-showet ”First Dates”.

Dette show er Lois’ og min yndlings-datingshow, hvor deltagere går ud på en date og spiser på en special restaurant med en potentiel partner, som tv-kanalen har valgt til dem.

Lois og jeg er to gamle krager, så det er rart at se et show, der forsøge at matche ældre par og midaldrende par udover de sædvanlige unge par. Men i aften er vi imidlertid begge enige om, at tv-kanalen i dette tilfælde har overskredet grænserne lidt ved at prøve at matche en 101-årig mand, Eric, selvom hans potentielle partner, Norma, selv er i 80’erne.

Lidt over toppen efter vores mening!

Men deres gensidige sundhedsproblemer er en forfriskende forandring i sammenligning med de sædvanlige frække ekvivokke vittigheder vi hører med de yngre par – det må vi nok sige!

Sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzzz!!!!