Saturday, March 30 2019

10:00 Lois starts preparing the Sunday School lesson she'll have to teach tomorrow: the story of Jesus healing the blind man. Her sect's Sunday school lessons take place at the same time as the day's first of two worship services, starting from 11.30 am. There is a rota, and tomorrow it is her turn to be the teacher.

the start of Lois' s Sunday School Lesson Notes for tomorrow

She finds some teaching materials online and prints them out. And then she prepares the rest of her comments on the story.

Meanwhile, I settle down in the living room and see the remainder (i.e. the remaining 40%) of the 9th episode of "Ride Upon the Storm", starring the famous Danish actor, Lars Mikkelsen, as Johannes, a Lutheran  archdeacon with problems - to put it mildly. Most of all, an alcohol dependency and a tendency to have affairs with his female church workers.

 Johannes, a Lutheran archdeacon with an alcohol dependency,

as well as a lot of other issues - yikes!

Johannes loves his wife (Elisabeth) and her 2 sons (Christian and August), but at the same time as loving them, he dominates and crushes them all the time. Elisabeth, Christian and August are all afraid of him. But they love him and also hate him, and both at the same time.

This last 40% of this 9th episode revolves around the two sons, Christian and August.

Christian's ex-girlfriend Nanna turns up out of the blue. Christian tells her that he has now become a different and more spiritual man since his conversion to Buddhism while on holiday in Nepal, and that he is now celibate.

Unfortunately, Nanna is an attractive young woman, and the couple are soon having sex again, and Nanna decides to spend the night. Loud thumps as some of Christian’s heartfelt New Year's resolutions come crashing to the ground, ha ha ha!

Is there perhaps something about a professedly celibate young man that makes some women consider it a challenge? Because Christian's lovely Lebanese literary agent, Amira, also has a massive mega-crush on him and has been trying to get into his bed for weeks.

Unfortunately Amira turns up at Christian's apartment early one morning, to find that he is out.

And she happens to meet his scantily clad ex, Nanna, making breakfast. Embarrassing!

Unfortunately Amira turns up at Christian's apartment early one morning, 

only to find that he is out. And she meets his ex, the scantily clad  Nanna, 

making breakfast. Awkward !!!!

Meanwhile, the second son, August, a Lutheran “street pastor”, has been suffering from repeated scary flashbacks, after serving as a army chaplain in an Arab war zone. He shot and killed an innocent Arab mother over there by mistake, when under the impression that she was a terrorist just about to throw a bomb at his unit.

August keeps seeing the mother’s face, constantly popping up in his mind, like a ghost. He gets the idea that if he helps Hakim, a young Arab teenage boy, an illegal immigrant living on the streets in August's "street parish", and saves him from being sent back to the Middle East, that the dead mother will decide to stop haunting him.

To start with, all goes well with the plan: August manages to get the authorities to reconsider Hakim's case, and for a while the dead mother's ghost stops appearing to him. However next time August hops into bed with his wife, Emilie, and Emilie turns over to embrace him, it's not Emilie but the dead mother's face which August sees  - yikes, scary !!!!

Emilie, August's wife, turns over to embrace him ...

 

 but it's the dead Arab mother's face that he sees  - yikes, scary !!!! 

And a bit of a mood-killer I suspect !!!!

Johannes's family is a family with serious problems - no doubt about that !!!!!

12:00 I jump up on my exercise bike and I ride 8 miles (13 km), a little further than usual.

13:00 We have lunch, and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap. I get up at 3:30 pm. In the meantime Lois swings by the neighbours (Bill and Mary) to chat to Mary, who suffers from dementia.

I sit down with the computer. I design my mother's day card for Lois and wrap her mother's day gift. The card is harpsichord-themed, because last night we went to a harpsichord concert in an art gallery in the middle of town - I always like to choose something topical for my cards’ themes.

Front page of the harpsichord -themed Mother's Day card  I have designed for Lois

By the way that “Baroque around the clock” joke is strictly copyright. It took me a long  time to think of it, so I don’t want anybody else stealing the idea!

It only seems to be Mother's Day here in the UK.  Even Australia observes the international version (in May?). Why are we in the UK always out of step with the rest of the world????

16:30. I take a little look online at my go-to local news site, Onion News. I get a bit of a shock - I have to admit. A local Canada goose who did not want to be named  is currently considering migrating home a few weeks earlier than usual this year to avoid the crowds.

A local Canada goose who did not want to be named has cited concerns over historically high seasonal traffic and the resulting potential flight delays, as his reason for considering whether to migrate home two to three weeks earlier than usual, to avoid the crowds, avian sources confirmed Friday.

"My friends think I'm a bit neurotic, but I just want a quiet, stress-free homecoming," said the 8-year-old waterfowl, who complained about having been forced to share a pond with "like, 500 tired and stressed-out geese" during his migratory flight to Scotland last mating season.

"If I get a decent head start, I won't have to deal with the big flocks and all that endless damn honking."

“Last year, the stopover sites were so crowded that no one could find a decent place to shit before the flock had to take back off again - everyone had to take a dump in the air and when you’re the last guy in the big V, well, that’s just no way to live. "

But the goose's travel plans could be complicated by the fact that he would be “monumentally” bored  after arriving early in Scotland and being forced to spend idle days with his parents, as he admitted later to journalists.

The official Google Maps-recommended route 

for the goose to follow when he migrates

I sympathise with that anonymous goose, and I hope his amended schedule goes to plan without any hitches.

Fortunately, as a couple of retirees Lois and I are lucky, in that we can generally choose to travel during the quiet and peaceful hours between peak times. Plus, we don't always have 100's of other travellers tagging along with us wherever we go, which is nice too.

The downside of all this, however, is that when it becomes absolutely necessary to travel during the rush hour, the whole business suddenly becomes quite scary, to put it mildly - just like for example last Monday, when I had to drive Lois to the St Paul's ear clinic for a 9 a.m. appointment, so she could get her left ear "vacuumed" by the clinic's specialists. What a nightmare that was – the traffic was murder! Later in the day I had to pour myself a strong gin and tonic, just to calm down – yikes!

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching a bit of television - a fun program, "Goggle Box", where various regular sets of TV viewers watch some of the week's programmes and comment on them from their sofas and armchairs etc.

We see Uri Geller trying to hypnotise Theresa May in an attempt to stop Brexit. Some of the Goggle Box’s TV viewers are quite interested in seeing whether he can succeed or not. But others are more sceptical.

Some other viewers are a little annoyed when Theresa May expresses her frustration at the slow progress of the Brexit-negotiations, while saying also that she knows MPs in the House of Commons also feel frustrated. Goggle Box commentators, however,  think she should show more sympathy for the country's frustrated population, and rightly so !!!!

The American constitution tackles these kinds of situations much better than ours, I think. If Congress doesn't do what he wants, Trump can just come up with an executive order or directive, and ignore their opinions. Alternatively, he can declare a state of emergency, and hey presto, job done!

I ask Lois if the queen has the same superpowers as Trump. Lois often says that George Washington was an updated version of King George III, elected by the people, rather than just inheriting the job from his father or from other relatives.

But Lois is not sure whether the Queen has these Trump-powers or not. So the jury is still out on that one.

21:30 We go to bed - a little earlier than usual. It’ll be a busy day tomorrow - we have to put the clocks forward one hour; Lois will need to look over the Sunday School lesson she has to teach, before driving to Tewkesbury, where her sect holds its 2 Sunday worship services; plus another concert to go to in the afternoon; not a mention a conversation on whatsapp about 9 am, one hour earlier  than usual, with Sarah, our daughter in Perth, Australia – they don’t have summer and winter time over there. So busy, busy, busy!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!

Danish translation

10:00 Lois går i gang med at forberede den søndagsskolelektion,  hun skal undervise i morgen: historien om at Jesus helbreder den blinde mand. Hendes sekts søndagsskolelektioner finder sted samtidig med dagens første af 2 gudstjenester, startende fra kl 11.30 . Der er en turnus, og i morgen er det hendes tur at være lærer.

starten på Lois’ søndagsskolelektionnoter

Hun finder nogle undervisningsmaterialer på nettet og printer dem ud. Og hun forbereder så resten af hendes kommentarer til historien.

I mellemtiden, sætter jeg til rette i stuen og ser resten (det resterende 40%) af det 9.  afsnit af ”Ride Upon the Storm”, stjernespækket den berømte danske skuespiller Lars Mikkelsen, som Johannes, en provst med problemer – for at sige mildt. Først og fremmest en alkoholafhængighed, og en tendens til at have affære.

Johannes, en præst med en alkoholafhængighed,

samt en masse andre problemer – yikes!

Han elsker sin kone (Elisabeth) og sine 2 sønner (Christian og August), men samtidig med, at han elsker dem, dominerer han og kvaser dem alle. Elisabeth, Christian og August er bange for ham, elsker ham og hader ham, alt på samme tid.

Dette sidste 40% af afsnittet kredser om de to sønner. Christians eks-kæreste Nanna dukker op ud af det blå. Christian fortæller hende, at han nu er blevet en anderledes og mere åndelig mand, siden hans konvertering til buddhismen på ferie i Nepal, og er nu cølibat.

Desværre er Nanna en attraktiv ung kvinde, og parret er snart i gang med at have sex. Høje lyde af nogle nyårsbeslutninger, der ramler til jorden dér  ha ha ha!

Er der måske noget ved en tilsyneladende cølibat ung mand, der får kvinder til at betragte ham som en udfording ? Fordi Christians libanesiske litterære agent, Amira, også har en massiv megacrush på ham, og har i flere uger forsøgt at gå i seng med ham. Desværre dukker Amira op til Christians lejlighed, mens han er ude, og hun møder en letklædt Nanna i gang med at lave morgenmad. Pinligt!

desværre dukker Amira op tidligt om morgenen til Christians lejlighed,

mens han er ude, og støder på en letklædt Nanna i gang med at lave morgenmad. Pinligt!

I mellemtiden har den anden søn, August, en lutheransk gadepræst, lidt af gentagende skræmmende tilbageblik efter han tjente som feltpræst i en arabisk krigzone. Han skød og drabte en uskyldig arabisk familiemor derovre ved en fejltagelse, da han var under det indtryk af, at hun var en terrorist, der skulle lige at kaste en bombe mod hans enhed.

Han fortsætter at se moderen, der konstant dukker op i sine tanker, ligesom et spøgelse. Han får idéen, at hvis han hjælper Hakim, en ung arabisk teenagedreng, en ulovlig indvandrer, der bor på gaderne i Augusts ”gade-sogn”, med at slippe for at blive sendt tilbage til mellemøsten, vil moderen holde op med at hjemsøge ham.

I begyndelsen går alt godt med planen:  det lykkes August at få myndighederne til at overveje Hakims sag igen, og i et stykke tid dukker den døde moderens spøgelse ikke op til ham.  Men næste gang August hopper op i sengen til sin kone, Emilie, og Emilie vender sig om for at omfavne ham, er det den døde moderens ansigt som August ser lige dér foran sig – yikes, skræmmende!!!!

 Emilie, Augusts kone, vender sig om for at omfavne ham...

....men det er ikke Emilies ansigt, men ansigtet af den arabiske mor,

som August dræbte i krigzonen, der viser sig foran ham lige der i dobbeltsengen 

– yikes, skræmmende!!!! Og lidt af en stemning-killer måske !!!!

Johannes familie er en familie med alvorlige problemer – ingen tvivl om det !!!!!

12:00 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og jeg cykler 8 miles (13 km), lidt længere, end normalt.

13:00 Vi spiser frokost, og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15:30. Lois smutter ind hos naboerne (Bill og Mary) for at snakke lidt med Mary, der lider af demens.

I mellemtiden  sætter jeg mig ned med computeren. Jeg designer mit morsdagskort til Lois og pakker hendes morsdagsgave ind. Kortet er cembalo-tematiseret, fordi vi i går aftes hørte en cembalo-koncert i et kunstgaleri midt i byen – jeg kan altid lide at vælge noget topisk som mine korts temaer.

Forsiden af det cembalo-tematiserede morsdagskort, jeg har designet til Lois

16:30 . Jeg kigger lidt på nettet og mit go-to lokale nyhedswebsted, Onion News. Jeg får lidt af et chok – det må jeg indrømme. En lokal Canadagås, der ikke ønskede at blive nænvt, overvejer tilladende at migrere hjem i år et par uger tidligere, end normalt, for at undgå flokkene.

En lokal Canadagås, der ikke ønskede at blive nævnet, har talt om sine bekymringer over historisk høj sæsonmæssig trafik og de deraf følgende potentielle flyforsinkelser, og har indrømmet, at han overvejede at migrere hjem to til tre uger tidligere, end normalt, for at undgå de største flokke, bekræftede fugleagtige kilder i fredags.

"Mine venner synes, jeg er lidt neurotisk, men jeg vil bare have et stille, stressfrit hjemkomst," sagde den 8-årige vandfugle, der beklagede sine oplevelser med at dele en dam med "ligesom 500 trætte og udstressede gæs "under sin returflyvning til Skotland sidste parringssæson.

"Hvis jeg får en hæderlig start, bliver jeg ikke nødt til at tumle med de største flokke og alt det endeløse skrigeri.”

Sidste år var stopover-stederne så overfyldte, at ingen kunne finde et anstændigt sted at skide, før alle skulle gå på vingerne igen - alle måtte smide skidt i luften, og når du er den sidste fyr i den store V, nå , det er bare ingen måde at leve på. "

Men gåsens rejseplaner kunne blive kompliceret af dét, at han måtte erkende, at han ville kede sig ”gudsjammeligt”  efter at være ankommet tidligt i Skotland og blevet tvunget til at tilbringe røvsyge dage hos sine forældre.

den forslåede rute, gåsen skal følge, når han migrerer, ifølge Google Maps

Jeg sympatiserer med den der anonyme gås. Som pensionister kan Lois og jeg generelt vælge at rejse eller kør i bil i de stille og roliger timer mellem myldretiderne. Ulempen ved det er, at når det bliver absolut nødvendigt at færdes under myldretiden bliver det hele pludselig ganske skræmmende, for at sige mildt – ligesom for eksempel i mandags, da jeg måtte kører Lois over til St Pauls-øreklinikken så hun kl 9 kunne få sit venstre øre ”støvsuget” af klinikkens specialist.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn, et morsomt program, ”Goggle Box”, hvor forskellige tv-seerne ser på nogle af ugens programmer og kommenterer dem i deres sofaer og lænestole osv.

Vi ser Uri Geller i gang med at prøve at hypnotisere Theresa May i et forsøg på, at stoppe Brexit. Programmets tv-seer interesserer sig meget for at se, om han har succés eller ej. Men nogle er skeptiske.

Nogle andre er lidt irriteret, da Theresa May udtrykker sin frustration over den langsomme fremskridt at forhandlinger, men siger, at Underhusets medlemmer også føler sig frusteret. Goggle Box-showets kommentatorer synes, hun skulle vise mere sympati for landets frusterede befolkning, og med rette – det ved jeg med sikkerhed!!!!

Den amerikanske forfatning takler disse slags situationer meget bedre, end vores, synes jeg. Hvis Kongressen gør ikke dét, han ønsker, kan Trump bare komme med et dekret eller direktiv, og ignorere deres meninger. Ellers kan han erklære et nødstilfælde, og vupti, job done!

Jeg spørger Lois, om dronningen har de samme superkræfter, som Trump. Lois siger ofte, at George Washington var en opdateret version af kong George 3., der blev valgt af folket, i stedet for bare at arve jobbet fra sin far eller andre slægtninge.

Men Lois er ikke helt sikker på, dronningen har disse kræfter, eller ej. Så er juryen stadig ude om det der.

21:30 Vi går I seng – lidt tidligere, end normalt. En stor dag i morgen – vi stiller urene frem en time; Lois bliver nødt til at blade igennem for 2. gang den søndagsskolelektion, hun skal undervise, før hun kører til byen Tewkesbury, hvor hendes sekt holder sine 2 gudstjenester; endnu en koncert om eftermiddagen; en samtale på whatsapp en time tidligere, end normalt, med Sarah, vores datter i Perth, Australien. Travlt, travlt, travlt!

Zzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!

Friday, March 29 2019

I wake up with an unpleasant feeling - I recall that in a weak moment I agreed to buy tickets for a concert taking place tonight in Lois's former church building, which has now been converted into an art gallery. I like concerts, but I don't like going to them, especially in the evening, in the middle of the town, and having to find a nearby parking lot in the dark and all that.

I expect I will like the experience as soon as the concert begins, but right now I have only one thought, ie how much cosier it would be to spend the evening with my feet stuck up in front of the tv - I have already drawn circles about the programmes I’ve chosen, in the Radio Times magazine, the old crow that I am.

Meanwhile, the prospect of going out tonight is going to overshadow my whole day, which is a bit of a shame - damn! It is crucial that I somehow learn to confront my phobia about being out of the house in the evening in the company of strangers - though it may be that it's a little too late for that, after 73 years.

"In the company of strangers" - a nice expression, although Paul Simon has already patented it in "The Boxer".

When I left my home and my family

I was no more than a boy

In the company of strangers

In the quiet of the railway station

Running scared.

I hope I don't have to pay Paul Simon sixpence to use the phrase, but I’m going to let that one slide. If I keep a low profile maybe Paul won't notice it.

It helps with all my phobias, if I remember the insignificance of my life, compared to the long history of the earth - reserachers in Mexico have just excavated the fossils of piles of fish and other animals that died when the meteorite hit 66 million years ago and wiped out the dinosaurs. 

It appears that these fossilised fish died very quickly after the meteorite hit, due to an almost immediate local earthquake and mini-tsunami (or "seiche"), and not because of the huge tsunami that arrived several hours later, which is interesting. Poor fish, anyway, I don’t suppose they minded too much whether it was a tsunami or a seiche that got them, the poor things.

piles of fossilised fish that died almost immediately after that

meteorite hit the earth 66 million years ago - poor fish !!!!

10:00 I can't concentrate. I order extra copies of our most iconic family photos to put in frames.

flashback to February: our younger daughter Sarah's 5-year-old twin daughters,

Lily (left) and Jessie, in their new school uniforms on the balcony of their house

in Ocean Reef, Perth: the Indian Ocean can be seen in the background

a charming photo of Alison, our elder daughter with Ed and their 3 children

on an exciting day out to London (Wembley Stadium) where they arrived early

to watch the Spurs team’s football match against Leicester City (February 2019)

flashback to April 2018: me (left) at a beach café in the Margaret River region,

Western Australia, along with Francis, Sarah, and the twins

I jump on my exercise bike and ride 6 miles (10 km). Meanwhile, Lois takes a short walk on the local football field. Her digestive problem has disappeared, thank goodness.

12:00 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap. I get up at 3:30 pm and start looking at the 9th episode  of the Danish TV drama series, "Ride Upon The Storm", starring the famous Danish actor Lars Mikkelsen, as Johannes, a provost (Lutheran archdeacon) with problems - to put it mildly. First of all, an alcohol dependency, also a tendency to have affairs with his church workers.

Johannes, a priest with an alcohol dependency,

as well as a lot of other issues - yikes!

Johannes is a leading "provost" or archdeacon in the Danish Lutheran national church. The series revolves around Johannes’s personality, as a very dominant figure, both within the churches he is responsible for and within his own family. He dominates everything, and he tends to have a tantrum when he doesn't get his way.

He loves his wife (Elisabeth) and their 2 sons (Christian and August), but at the same time as loving them, he dominates and crushes them all the time. Elisabeth, Christian and August are afraid of him, love him and hate him, all at the same time.

Johannes has alienated all 3 of them to a greater or lesser extent. And his wife Elisabeth has taken a Norwegian mistress, the lovely violinist Liv, and the two have moved in with each other.

Elisabeth on a camping trip with her Norwegian mistress, Liv, a lovely violinist

Christian has converted to Buddhism, and has released a bestseller about his spiritual rebirth, describing his childhood and his difficult and often violent relationship with his father. His literary agent, Amira, has advertised the book by putting a lot of emphasis on Christian's difficult relationship with his father, because Johannes, Christian's father, is a well-known figure in Copenhagen society, which will help sell the book.

Christian with his lovely Lebanese literary agent, Amira

August, also a priest but in another parish, has resigned and become a “street priest” - he tries to help young people overcome problems with alcohol, drugs, etc. August becomes involved with two brothers, illegal immigrants from the Middle East, whom the police are looking for because of a possible connection with terrorists. August has just let the younger brother, Hakim, move into his apartment, so that Emilie, August's doctor's doctor, can treat him away from the police surveillance - which Emilie is not very happy about, to put it mildly.

In this 9th episode  (or in the first 60% of it, which is all I have time to see), Johannes's wife, Elisabeth, finds out that her mistress, Liv, the beautiful Norwegian violinist, has just landed a top job in Berlin - she invites Elisabeth to move in with her in Berlin, but Elisabeth is in a dilemma: she feels that her husband Johannes and their 2 sons, August and Christian, are all going through difficult times at the moment  and that they need her support.

Christian's ex-girlfriend Nanna pops up out of the blue. Christian tells her that he has now become a different and more spiritual man since his conversion to Buddhism on holiday in Nepal. But I suspect that when I turn off the tv in the middle of the program, the couple are just about to start having sex again. Loud thuds as some of Christian's New Year's resolutions come crashing to the ground there - ha ha ha!

August's flashback visions from his time in a war zone have come back again, and his wife Emilie is feeling desperate. She calls her husband's psychiatrist to ask for urgent help.

Yikes, what a family !!!!

16:00 Lois and I relax in the living room with a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits. We listen a little to the radio, an interesting programme in the series "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 past 1-4 weeks has died or not (I have noticed that most weeks there are only about 4 or 5 deaths, which is comforting, to put it mildly). The programme host is the charming Matthew Bannister.

Rose Hilton recently died, sadly, at the age of 87. She was the last survivor of the famous group of modern artists who gathered in St Ives and nearby Cornish harbour towns in the 1960’s. Rose put her own career on hold to support her husband, Roger Hilton, and bring up their children, but she gained recognition in her own right after his death.

Roger and Rose Hilton and their children

The respected art critic Ian Collins became her close friend - he used to visit her at home in her cottage in Cornwall and he also once modelled for her, stark naked - most of Rose's models were in fact naked, but most of them were women. Collins was one of her few male models – she persuaded him on one visit to get naked in her studio telling him, "Thank you, that's so good of you. The last man who took off his clothes for me in my studio was the man who came to read the electricity meter." 

My god, what madness !!!!

That was the mark of her charm, Collins says. She could charm the birds from the trees, also the clothes from an electricity man.

Rose was born in Kent to a religious family - her parents were Plymouth brethren. Her parents disapproved of her interest in art (only biblical illustrations were allowed among sect members) and they did not believe that daughters needed a career. "My daughters do not leave my home until they get married”,  her father told her.

But Rose painted secretly. And she applied to study at the Royal College of Art in London – although when her parents found out they barred her from their house. Rose got TB after her first year at the college and she was sent to a sanatorium. Her mother visited her and told her that the tuberculosis was God's punishment, which seems a little harsh to put it mildly, but I’m going to let that one slide.

Rose had a small apartment in Chelsea, London in the 1950's, and lived the so-called swinging 60’s life 10 years earlier than everybody else.  She was beautiful, glamorous, and looked like a model, says Collins. She went to bed with Roger and when they later married, they moved to a cottage in Cornwall. He laid down only one rule for their marriage,which was that he had to be the only painter in it. Good grief, poor Rose !!!!!

Roger's artistic style had in the past been austere, says Collins, but with Rose in his life, his paintings became at once much more colourful - and figurative.

His most famous painting "Oi yoi yoi" (1963) showcases Rose dancing naked. It was inspired by an incident when they were in France in a hotel bedroom having a fight. She eventually broke the tension by stripping off and performing a wild dance on the hotel balcony. Roger burst out laughing as she expected, but what they didn't know was that there was a haystack in the field below, that was on fire, and her performance on the balcony was distracting the local fire-fighters from their efforts to extinguish it.

My goodness, what a crazy world we live in !!!!!

Roger Hilton’s “Oi yoi yoi”

17:30 We have dinner a little earlier than usual. At 7 pm we drive into town and park the car with no problem. We walk about approx. 200 yards to Lois' former church, now a small art gallery, where this evening's harpsichord concert is taking place. The soloist is Satoko Doi-Luck, and her concert is made up of works by Bach and various Baroque composers.

It is strange that I have been dreading  all day having to go out tonight, but as soon as I sit down and the concert begins, I suddenly feel very comfortable as I listen to the calming sounds of 350 years ago. 

And during the break, I make witty comments as we chat with our friends Mari-Ann and Alf, who also bought tickets. And when I find myself alone with the soloist in the art gallery's unisex toilets, washing hands side by side, I chat to her as if we have known each other all our lives, which is nice, and which isn’t like me at all, to put it mildly.

It may be that the idea is that a bunch of fish died 60 million years ago whilst I have only been alive for a totally insignificant 73 years, has given me extra self-confidence this evening, but that’s something I am not 100% sure about - the jury is still out on that one.

21:30 The concert ends, and Lois and I drive home and go to bed. I read about 20 pages of my Danish bedtime book "Two Brothers" before I drift off to sleep - zzzzzzzzzzz !!!!

Danish translation

Jeg vågner med en ubehagelig følelse – jeg mindes om, at jeg i et svagt øjeblik aftalte at købe billetter til en koncert, der finder sted i aften i Lois’ gamle kirke, der nu er omdannet til en kunstgalleri. Jeg kan lide koncerter, men jeg kan ikke lide dét, at gå til dem, i sær om aftenen, midt i byen, og at finde en nærliggende parkeringsplads i mørket og den slags.

Jeg forventer, jeg skal lide oplevelsen, så snart koncerten begynder, men lige nu har jeg kun en tanke, dvs, hvor meget hyggeligt det ville have været at bruge aftenen med benene smækket op foran fjernsynet – jeg har allerede tegnet cirkler om de programmer, jeg har valgt, i Radio Times-tidsskriftet, som den gamle krage, jeg er – yikes!

I mellemtiden vil den udsigt til, at skulle ud i aften, skal overskygge hele min dag, hvilket er lidt af en skam – pokkers! Det er afgørende, at jeg på en eller anden måde lære at overkomme min phobi om at være ude af huset i selskabet af fremmede – selvom det kan være, det er lidt for sent efter 73 år  - yikes!!!!

”I selskabet af fremmede” – et godt udtryk, selvom Paul Simon allerede har patenteret det i ”The Boxer”.

When I left my home and my family
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station
Running scared.

Jeg håber på, at jeg ikke er nødt til at betale Paul Simon sixpence for at bruge udtrykket, men det springer jeg over. Jeg må holde lav profil, og det kan være, at Paul ikke vil bemærke det ha ha.

Det hjælper med alle mine fobier, hvis jeg mindes om min ubetydelighed i sammenligning med jordens lange historie – forskere i Mexico har udgravet fossiler af bunkevis af fisk og andre dyre, der døde, da meteoritten for 66 millioner år siden ramte jorden og tilintetgjorde dinosaurerene. Det lader til, at disse fossilerede fisk døde snart efter meteoritten ramte på grund af et næsten umiddelbart lokalt jordskælv og mini-tsunami (eller ”seiche”), og ikke på grund af den kæmpe tsunami, der ankom flere timer senere, hvilket er interessant. Stakkels fisk !!!!!

bunkevis af fisk, der døde næsten umiddelbart efter,

meteoritten ramte jorden for 66 millioner år siden – stakkels fisk !!!!

10:00  Jeg kan ikke koncentrere mig. Jeg bestiller ekstra eksemplarer af vores mest ikoniske familiefotoer, for at sætte i rammer.

tilbageblik til februar: vores yngste datter Sarahs 5-årige tvillingedøtre, Lily (til venstre) og Jessie,

i deres nye skoleuniformer på altanen af deres hus i Ocean Reef, Perth:

det Indiske Ocean kan ses i baggrunden

et charmerende foto af Alison, vores ældste datter sammen med Ed og deres 3 børn

en spændende dag i London (Wembley Stadium), hvor de ankom tildligt

for at se Spurs-holdets fodboldkamp mod Leicester City (februar 2019)

tilbageblik til april 2018: mig (til venstre) på en strandcafé i Margaret River-regionen,

Western Australia, sammen med Francis, Sarah, og tvillingerne

Jeg hopper op på kondicykel og cykler 6 miles (10 km). I mellemtiden går Lois en kort gåtur på den lokale fodboldbane. Jeg hopper op på kondicykel og cykler 6 miles (10 km). I mellemtiden går Lois en kort tur på den lokale fodboldbane. Hendes fordøjelsesproblem er forsvundet, gudskelov.

12:00 Vi  spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15:30 og går i gang med at se 60% af den 9. afsnit af den danske tv-serie, ”Ride Upon The Storm”, stjernespækket den berømte danske skuespiller Lars Mikkelsen, som Johannes, en provst med problemer – for at sige mildt. Først og fremmest en alkoholafhængighed, og en tendens til at have affære.

Johannes, en præst med en alkoholafhængighed,

samt en masse andre problemer – yikes!

Johannes er en førende ”provst” eller ærkediakon i Danmarks  lutheranske folkekirke. Serien kredser om Johannes personlighed, som en meget dominerende figur, både i de kirker, han er ansvarlig for, og i sin egen familie. Han dominerer alting, og han har tendens til at have et raserianfald, når han ikke får sin vilje.

Han elsker sin kone (Elisabeth) og sine 2 sønner (Christian og August), men samtidig med, at han elsker dem, dominerer han og kvaser dem alle. Elisabeth, Christian og August er bange for ham, elsker ham og hader ham, alt på samme tid.

Johannes har fremmedgjort dem alle 3 i større eller mindre grad. Hans kone Elizabeth har taget en norsk elskerinde, den dejlig violinist Liv. Elizabeth og Liv flyttede ind med hinanden.

Elizabeth på campingtur med sin norske elskerinde, Liv, en dejlig violinist

Christian har konverteret til buddhisme, og har udgivet en bestseller, der handler om sin åndelige genfødsel, hvori han har beskrivet sin barndom og sit vanskelige og ofte voldelige forhold til sin far. Hans litterære agent, Amira, har reklameret for bogen ved af sætte stor fokus på Christians vanskelig forhold til hans far, fordi Johannes, Christians far, er en velkendt figur i det københavnske samfund.

r4 Christian med sin dejlige libanesiske litterære agent, Amira

August, en præst i et andet sogn, har siget op og blevet til gadepræst – han prøver at hjælpe unge mennesker om at overkomme deres problemer med alkohol, stoffer osv. August bliver

involveret med to brødre, ulovlige indvandrere fra Mellemøsten, som politiet efterlyser på grund af deres forbindelser med terrorister. August har lige ladt den yngre bror, Hakim, flytte ind i sin lejlighed, så Emilie, Augusts kone, der er læge, kan behandle ham – hvilket Emilie er ikke ret glad for, for at sige mildt.

I dette 9. afsnit (eller i det første 60% af det, som er hvad jeg har tid til at se), Johannes kone, Elisabeth finder ud af, at hendes elskerinde,  Liv, den smukke norske violinist, har fået et job i Berlin – hun inviterer Elisabeth at flytte ind med hende i Berlin, men Elisabeth er i et dilemma: hun føler, at hendes præst-ægtemand Johannes og hendes 2 sønner, August og Christian, alle går igennem vanskelige tider or har brug for hendes støtte.

Christians eks-kæreste Nanna dukker op ud af det blå. Christian fortæller hende, at han nu er blevet en anderledes og mere åndelig mand, siden hans konvertering til buddhismen på ferie i Nepal. Men jeg mistænker, at da jeg slukker for fjernsynet midt i programmet, er parret lige ved at have sex igen efter. Høje lyde af nogle nyårsbeslutninger, der ramler til jorden dér  ha ha ha!

Augusts flashback-visioner er kommet tilbage, og hans kone Emilie bliver desperat og ringer til hans psykiater for at bede om hjælp.

Yikes, sikke en familie!!!!

16:00 Lois og jeg slapper af i stuen med en kop te og et par kiks. Vi lytter lidt til radio, et interessant program i serien ”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 1-4 uger døde eller ej (jeg har bemærket, at der i de fleste uger kun sker 4-5 dødsfald, hvilket er lidt trøstende, for at sige mildt). Programmets vært er den charmerende Matthew Bannister.

Rose Hilton døde for nylig desværre, på 87 år. Hun var den sidste overlevende af den anerkendte gruppe af moderne kunstnere, der samlede sig i St Ives og nærliggende havnebyer i Cornwall i 1960'erne. Rose satte sin egen karriere på vågeblus for at støtte sin mand Roger Hilton, men opnåede anerkendelse i sin egen ret efter hans død.

Roger og Rose Hilton og deres børn

Den respekterede kunstkritiker Ian Collins blev hendes tætte ven - han besøgte hende derhjemme i sit feriehus og modellerede også for hende: han var splitternøgen - de fleste af hendes modeller var nøgne, men de fleste var kvinder. Collins var en af ​​hendes få mandlige modeller - han var nøgen i Rose’ studie, og hun sagde til ham, ”Det er så godt af dig. Den sidste mand, der tog sit tøj af for mig i mit studie var den mand, der kom til at læse elmåler-læseren.”  

Du godeste, sikke et vanvid !!!!

Det der var beviserne for hendes charme, siger Collins. Hun kunne have charmet fuglene fra træerne, også tøjet af elmåler-læseren.

Rose blev født i Kent til en religiøs familie – hendes forældre var Plymmouth-brødrer. Hendes forældre misbilligede hendes interesse for kunst (kun bibelske illustrationer blev tilladt blandt sektmedlemmer), og troede ikke, at døtre havde brug for en karriere.”Mine døtre forlader ikke mit hjem, indtil de gifter sig - sagde hendes far.

Men Rose malede i hemmeligheden. Og hun ansøgte om at læse hos Royal College of Art i London - da hendes forældre fandt ud af det, at bortviste de hende fra huset. Rose fik TB efter hendes første år på colleget og hun blev indlagt på et sanatorium. Hendes mor besøgte hende og fortalte hende, at tuberkulosen var Guds straf, hvilket virker lidt skarpt for at sige mildt!

Rose havde en lille lejlighed i Chelsea, London i 1950'erne, og levede de såkaldte svingende 60’er 10 år i forvejen. Hun var smuk, glamourøs, og så ud som en model, siger Collins. Hun gik i seng med Roger og da de senere giftede sig, flyttede de til et sommerhus i Cornwall. Han fastsatte kun én regel til deres ægteskab, at han måtte være den eneste maler i ægteskabet. Du godeste, stakkels Rose!!!!!

Rogers kunstneriske stil havde før i tiden været austrer, siger Collins, men med Rose i sit liv blev hans malerier meget mere farverige - og figurative.

Hans mest berømte maleri "Oi yoi yoi" (1963) fremviser Rose i gang med at danse nøgen. Det blev inspireret af en hændelse, da de var i Frankrig på et hotel, og de kom i skænderi. Hun brød spændingen ved at smide tøjet og opføre en vild dans på altanen. Han slå en latter op, som hun forventede, men hvad hun ikke vidste var, at en høstak i marken nedenunder var i brand, og hendes præstation distraherede det lokale brandkorps fra deres indsatser for at slukke det.

Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!!

Roger Hilton’s “Oi yoi yoi” (1963)

17:30 Vi spiser aftensmad, lidt tidligere, end normalt. Kl 19 kører vi ind i byen og parkere bilen uden besvær. Vi går hen ca. 200m til Lois’ tidligere kirke, nu et lille kunstgalleri, hvor aftenens kembalo-koncert finder sted. Solisten er Satoko Doi-Luck, og koncerten består af værker af Bach og forskellige barokke komponister.

ConcertPoster

ConcertSoloist

Det er mærkeligt, at jeg hele dagen har ræddes for at skulle ud i aften, men så snart jeg sætter mig ned, og koncerten begynder, føler jeg pludselig meget meget tryg, som jeg lytter til kembaloens beroligende lyde fra 350 år siden. I pausen laver jeg vittige kommentarer, mens vi snakker med vores venner Mari-Ann og Alf, der også købte billetter. Og da jeg finder mig selv alene i kunstgalleriets unisextoiletter, i gang med at vaske hænderne side om side med aftenens charmerende asiatiske solist, snakker jeg med hende, som om vi har kendt hinanden hele vores liv, hvilket er rart, og ligner mig ikke, for at sige mildt.

Det kan være, at det må være tanken om, at en flok fisk døde for 60 millioner år siden og jeg kun har været i live i 73 år, der har givet mig ekstra selvtillid i aften, men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på – juryen er stadig ude om det.

21:30 Koncerten slutter, og Lois og jeg kører hjem og går i seng. Jeg læser ca 20 sider af min danske sengetidbog ”To Brødre”, før jeg glider over i søvnen – zzzzzzzzzzz!!!!