Sunday, April 7 2019

10:00 Lois and I talk a little on whatsapp with our younger daughter Sarah and her family, who live in Perth, Australia. The family has been spending the weekend in the Mandalay-Broadwater campsite, near Busselton, just south of Perth on the Indian Ocean coast.

Sarah says the family has not been away from home on vacation since Lois and I were staying with them in March and April 2018, and also that they are already talking about what they can do with us next time we visit them, which puts a little pressure on Lois and me, we feel - yikes!

We love staying with them, but Lois in particular is not especially happy about  having to fly to the other side of the world, to put it mildly.

Our next visit is provisionally scheduled for 2020. But every year we are getting older and older - yikes (again) !!!! One thing is certain - that the day will come when we are too feeble to cope with the flight. But I suspect we will not be able to escape having to fly over at least one more time – that’s for sure.

Flashback to June 2016: we visit the town of Busselton, which has

the longest pier or jetty  in the southern hemisphere, together with Sarah,

and our then 3-year-old twin children, Lily and Jessie

Sarah says she starts her new job on April 29th. She gives us some extra details about her new company, which is in the solar energy business, and whose headquarters are in Melbourne. The Perth office is the company's financial department, which makes sense because Sarah is an accountant – “simples”!

10:45 The whatsapp call ends. Lois has to go out. She wants to take part in her sect's two worship services taking place today in Tewkesbury Library. It is also Lois's turn to be Sunday School teacher this morning according to the rota.

I have some alone time, and I start writing an email to Tünde, my pen pal in Budapest, Hungary. I have recently had a bad conscience over being so late answering her last email, the one that she sent on March 1 - yikes!

Recently, I have had more and more trouble writing anything in Hungarian. This morning I write about 40 lines to her, and I send the email off, but the whole thing takes me about 2 hours – my god, what madness! But I am very eager to keep up the momentum in my efforts to get back to my previous level when it comes to reading and writing in Hungarian.

My big problem is that my friend "Magyar" Mike, whom I study Hungarian with every Tuesday morning, has aged considerably, and become much more forgetful over the past few months. He has forgotten a lot of basic Hungarian words, so I have no other choice than to make sure that our weekly "Hungarian hours" together do not contain anything too complicated – my god, what madness !!!!

Flashback to March 1994: "Magyar" Mike (on the right) and me in happier times, in Hungary,

showcasing our second-hand "excellent worker" medals from the Communist era.

13:00 I have lunch and at the same time stick my feet up in front of the television. I see the 10th (and final) episode of "Ride Upon The Storm", starring the famous Danish actor Lars Mikkelsen, as Johannes, an archdeacon priest with problems - to put it mildly - first and foremost, an alcohol dependency and 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!

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. Elisabeth, Christian and August are all afraid of him, love him and hate him, all at the same time.

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 in the churches he is responsible for and in his own family. He dominates everything, and he tends to have a tantrum when he doesn't get his own way.

What I am watching today is the 10th and last episode in the series, and I have been curious to see how the end of the saga plays out. There have been some signs that the series’s author is preparing a happy ending for the story.

In fact it seems that the opposite is true. Johannes himself suffers  a total breakdown.

Elisabeth, his wife, decides to leave him, travel to Berlin and move in with her beautiful lesbian Norwegian mistress, Liv. Unfortunately, in this episode, Liv does not appear, which is a bit of a shame. I'm curious to see if Liv still wants to hook back up with Elisabeth, or whether she will break up with her, following Elisabeth's previous decision to stay with her problematic husband and sons, and try to help them fix their lives .

flashback to previous episodes: Elisabeth and Liv in happier times.

August, Johannes’s  son, gets into some kind of spiritual trance when walking out in the countryside and crosses the road in front of a big truck that runs him over – he dies and then his ghost looks back at his own dead body from the cornfield next to the road and the he starts walking into the distance hand in hand with the ghost of the Arab mother he accidentally shot while serving as a chaplain in a war zone, which is a little spooky to put it mildly !!!!! And the whole incident happens at the same time as August's gorgeous wife, Emilie, is in the hospital, getting a quickie abortion!

Good grief, what madness !!!!!

August's gorgeous wife, Emilie, suddenly realises

that she needs a quickie abortion in the hospital where she works as a doctor,

which means that she can easily get a speedy appointment with a work colleague

and it's "job done" - yikes!

The ghost of August takes the hand of  the ghost of the Arab mother

he accidentally shot in a war zone, and they both walk together hand in hand 

into the distance. My god, a completely crazy ending !!!!

I'm a little disappointed in this last episode, to put it mildly. For starters, I do not believe in ghosts, so from my point of view this ending  is totally idiotic !!!!!

14:00 I go to bed and  take a gigantic afternoon nap. I doze a little and wake up from time to time. I stay lying in bed with my smartphone on the pillow. I listen a little to the radio, an interesting programme, an old episode of "Desert Island Discs", a repeat of an edition that was first broadcast in 2003. The programme host is the charming Sue Lawley.

In this edition, it is Nigella Lawson, the famous journalist and TV chef who is the guest of the programme, an edition that was first broadcast in 2003, the year she married her second husband, Charles Saatchi.

Nigella Lawson, the famous TV chef and journalist

The series premise is that a celebrity is asked to imagine that they have been stranded on a desert island. During the programme, they are asked to talk about their life and / or career, and to choose the 8 "gramophone records" they would most like to have to hand to entertain themselves with, in their lonely new life. A simple idea, but a very long-lasting series, perhaps the world's longest-lasting ever, but that’s something I'm not completely sure about.

A fascinating programme. Nigella had had a life full of tragedies because her mother, sister and first husband John Diamond, all died of cancer.

Sue Lawley, the programme's host, asks her if she has a deeper take on life, considering that she has suffered so much. Nigella answers that she wishes that were true, but at the same time it is difficult to miss out on the trivial aspects of life, she says - life is both serious and trivial, she says, often at the same time. You should be able to witness, or go through, terrible suffering, without, for example, having to give up the right to feel annoyed that you have put on half a stone (7 pounds)! And I sort of understand what she means.

Nigella tells us that in her youth she was a shy young woman who lacked confidence, and it was her first husband, John Diamond, a work colleague, who gave her the confidence she needed to make her life a success.

She says that many women seem to specialise in hooking up with men who tend to undermine them, but that she has always had a talent for avoiding those kinds of men – a statement which now seems a little ironic in view of the problems she had in more recent years with her second marriage, then just starting, but which ended in divorce in 2013 due to Saatchi's allegedly violent and controlling behaviour towards her.

She believes life is for living, and food is for enjoying, she says. She feels that if you do not allow yourself to get pleasure out of eating (because of some joyless  diet for example), you are not getting pleasure out of living.

And music is for dancing to, she believes. And that’s why she has not chosen anything serious among her 8 "gramophone records" - they are all rhythmic ecstatic dance classics of a type you might be able to hear, and dance to, at some discotheque or nightclub, at a party or even at a rave.

My goodness, what a woman !!!!!

Nigella: music is for dancing to, she says

16:00 Lois comes back from Tewkesbury and we relax with a cup of tea and a biscuit on the couch.

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching a bit of television, an interesting documentary in the series, "Our Classical Century", all about the music of the last century. This episode focuses on the years 1953-1971. The programme hosts are the charming Joan Bakewell and Suzy Klein.

In the second half of the 20th century, “serious” composers have more or less stopped writing the kind of music people want to hear, so it is quite natural that the focus of this episode is first and foremost put on film-music, pop music with classical influences, and classical music in TV commercials.

It is nice to see again the "UK’s favourite TV Ad" for Hovis Bread (1973) filmed in the small town of Shaftesbury, Dorset, with dialogue in an iconic Yorkshire accent, and a tune from Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 (from the New World) as background music, all put together to create a comfortable, nostalgic mood.

It’s also nice to see again Ronnie Barker's parody of the commercial (from 1979).

Ronnie Barker's amusing parody (1979)

Flashback to March 2009 and our visit to Gold Hill, Shaftesbury:

(left to right) Alison, our daughter, with Ed, and their (then) 2-year-old daughter Josie

- happy times  !!!!

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

Danish translation

10:00 Lois og jeg taler lidt på whatsapp med vores yngste datter Sarah og hendes familie, der bor I Perth, Australien. Familien har tilbragt weekenden i Mandalay-Broadwater- campingpladsen, der ligger i nærheden af Busselton, lidt syd for byen Perth ved den indiske oceankyste.

Sarah siger, at familien har ikke rejst væk hjemmefra nogle vegne på ferie siden Lois og jeg boede hos dem i marts og april 2018, og de allerede taler om, hvad de kan lave med os næste gang, vi besøger dem, hvilket lægger lidt pres på Lois og mig, føler vi – yikes!

Vi elsker at bo hos dem, men i sær Lois ikke er særligt glad for at blive nødt til at flyve til den andens side af verden, for at sige mildt. Vores næste besøg er provisorisk bestemt til 2020. Og hvert år bliver vi ældre og ældre – yikes (igen) !!!! Det er helt sikkert, at dagen vil komme, når vi er for svage til at takle flyveturen. Men jeg mistænker, vi ikke vil kunne slippe for at blive nødt til at flyve derover mindst endnu en gang – det ved jeg med sikkerhed.

Tilbageblik til juni 2016: vi besøger byen Busselton, der har den længste mole i det sydlige halvkugle,

sammen med Sarah, og vores dengang 3-årige tvillingebørnebørn, Lily og Jessie

Sarah siger, hun starter i sit nye job den 29. april. Hun give os nogle yderliggende detaljer om sit nye selskab, hvis hovedkontor er i Melbourne. Perth-filialen er selskabets financielle filial, hvilket giver mening, fordi Sarah er en revisor.

10:45 Whatsapp-opkaldet slutter. Lois skal ud. Hun ønsker at deltage i sin sekts to gudstjenester, der finder sted i dag i byen Tewkesburys bibliotek. Det er også Lois’ tur at være søndagsskolelærer ifølge turnussen.

Jeg har lidt alenetid, og jeg går i gang med at skrive en email til Tünde, min penneven i Budapest, Ungarn. Jeg har for nylig fået dårlig samvittighed over, at jeg allerede er sent på den med at besvare hendes sidste email, som hun afsendte den 1. marts – yikes!

For nylig har jeg haft mere og mere svært med at skrive noget som helst  på ungarsk. Jeg skriver ca 40 linjer og afsender emailen, men det hele tager mig ca 2 timer – du godeste, sikke et vanvid! Men jeg er meget ivrig efter at holde momentum i mine indsatser for at komme tilbage til mit tidligere niveau, når det kommer til at skrive og læse på ungarsk.

Mit store problem er, at min ven ”Magyar” Mike, som jeg hver tirsday formiddag studerer ungarsk sammen med, har ældes betydeligt og blevet meget mere glemsom de seneste få måneder, og han har glemt en masse grundlæggende ungarske ord, så har jeg ikke andet valg, end at sikre, at vores ”ungarske timer” ikke indeholder noget for kompliceret – du godeste, sikke et vanvid !!!!

Tilbageblik til marts 1994: ”Magyar” Mike (til højre) og mig i lykkeligere tider, i gang med

at  fremvise vores brugte”udmærket arbejder”-medaljer fra den kommunistiske æra.

13:00 Jeg spiser frokost og samtidig smækker jeg benene op foran fjernsynet. Jeg ser det 10. (og sidste 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.

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.

Dét, jeg ser i dag, er seriens 10. og sidste afsnit, og jeg har været nysgerrig efter at se, hvordan sagaens ende spiller sig ud. Der har været nogle tegn på, at seriens forfatter forbereder en lykkelig slutning til historien.

Tværtimod synes det faktisk, at det modsatte er tilfældet. Selve Johannes får et totalt  sammenbrud.

Elisabeth, hans kone, beslutter at gå fra ham, rejse til Berlin og flytte ind hos sin smukke lesbiske norske elskerinde, Liv. Desværre i dette afsnit optræder Liv ikke, hvilket er lidt af en skam. Jeg er nysgerrig efter at se, om Liv stadig har lyst til at danne par med Elisabeth, eller vil slå op med hende, efter Elisabeths tidligere beslutning , at blive med sin problematiske mand og sønner, og prøve at hjælpe dem med at ordne deres liv.

tilbageblik til et tidligere afsnit : Elisabeth og Liv i lykkeligere tider.

Og August, Johannes søn, kommer i en slags trance langt ude på landet og krydser vejen foran en stor lastbil, som kører ham ned – hans spøgelse ser på sin egen døde krop fra kornmarken ved siden af vejen og går i gang med at spadsere ind i det fjerne sammen med den arabiske mor, han skød ved en fejltagelse, mens han lidt tidligere arbejdede som feltpræst i en krigzone, hvilket er lidt uhyggeligt, for at sige mildt !!!!!  Og det hele sker samtidig med, at Augusts pragtfulde kone, Emilie, er på hospitalet, i gang med at få en quickie-abort!

Du godeste, sikke et vanvid !!!!!

Augusts pragtfulde kone, Emilie, indser pludseligt,

at hun har brug for en quickie-abort på hospitalet, hvor hun arbejde som læge,

hvilket betyder, at hun uden besvær kan få en hurtig aftale hos en arbejdskollega

og det er ”job done” – yikes!

Augusts spøgelse tager i hånden den uhyggelige arabiske mors spøgelse,

dvs den kvinde, han skød ved en fejltagelse i en krigzone,

og de spadserer begge to ind i det fjerne. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Jeg er lidt skuffet af dette sidste afsnit, for at sige mildt. For det første, tror jeg ikke på spøgelser, så derfor set ud fra mit synspunkt er slutningnen totalt idiotisk!!!!!

14:00 Jeg går i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg blunder lidt og vågner fra tid til anden. Jeg bliver liggende inde i sengen med min smartphone på puden. Jeg lytter lidt til radio, et interessant progam, et gamle afsnit af ”Desert Island Discs”, en genudsendelse af et afsnit, der først blev sendt først i 2003. Programmets vært er den charmerende Sue Lawley.

I dette afsnit er det Nigella Lawson, den berømte journalist og tv-kok, der er programmets gæst, og programmet blev sendt i 2003, året hun giftede sig med sin 2. mand, Charles Saatchi

Nigella Lawson, den berømte tv-kok og journalist

Serien går ud på, at en berømthed bliver bedt om at forestille sig, at han/hun er blevet strandet på en øde ø. I løbet af programmet bliver han bedt om at tale om sit liv og/eller karriere, og at vælge de 8 ”grammofonplader”, han helst vil have ved hånden, for at underholde sig i sit ensomme tilværelse.  En simpel idé, men en meget langvarig serie, måske verdens mest langvarige, men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på.

Et fascinerende program.  Nigella har haft et liv fuldt af tragedier i kraft af, at hendes mor, søster og første mand John Diamond, alle døde af kræft.

Sue Lawley, programmets vært, spørge hende om, hun har et dybere ”take” på livet, i betragtning af, at hun har lidt så meget. Nigella svarer, at hun ønsker det var sandt, men det er samtidig svært at gå glip af livets triviale aspekter – livet er samtidig både alvorligt og trivialt. Man kan vidne eller gå igennem forfærdelige lidelser, uden at slippe, for eksempel, retten til at blive irriteret, at man har taget 7 pund på! Og jeg forstår ligesom, hvad hun mener, på en måde.

Nigella fortæller os, at hun i sin ungdom var en genert ung kvinde, der manglede selvtillid, og det var hendes 1. mand, John Diamond, en arbejdskollega, der gav hende den selvtillid, hun trængte til, for at gøre sit liv til en succés. Hun siger, at mange kvinder synes at specialisere sig i at finde sammen med mænd, der har tendens til at underminere dem, men at hun altid har haft en talent til af undgå de slags mænd, hvilket er lidt ironisk i betragtning af de problemer, hun i senere år havde med sit 2. ægteskab, der i 2013 endte i skilsmisse på grund af Saatchis angiveligt voldsomme og kontrollerende adfærd over for hende.

Hun tror, at livet er for at leve, og mad er for at nyde, siger hun. Hun føler, at hvis man ikke tillader sig selv at få fornøjelse af at spise (på grund af en eller anden glædesløs slankekur for eksempel), får man ikke nogen fornøjelse af at leve.

Og musik er for at danse til, mener hun. Derfor har hun ikke valgt noget alvorligt blandt  sine 8 ”grammofonplader” -  de er alle rytmiske ekstatiske dans-klassikere af en type, man måske kunde høre og danse til på et diskotek eller en natklub, til en fest eller endda en rave.

Du godeste, sikke en kvinde!!!!!

Nigella: musik er for at danse til, siger hun

16:00 Lois kommer tilbage fra Tewkesbury og vi slapper af med en kop te og en kiks i sofaen.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn, en interessant dokumentarfilm i serien, ”Our Classical Century”, der handler om de seneste århundredes klassisks musik. Dette afsnit fokuserer på årene 1953-1971. Programmets værter er de charmerende Joan Bakewell og Suzy Klein.

I det 20. århundredes 2. halvdel har alvorlige komponister i grov træk holdt op med at skrive den slags musik, som folk har lyst til at høre, så er det helt naturligt, at dette afsnits fokus først og fremmest  bliver sat på filmmusik, popmusik med klassiske indflydelser, og klassisk musik i tv-reklamer.

Det er rart at se igen ”Storbritanniens yngdlings-tv-reklame” for Hovis brød (1973), der blev filmet i den lille by Shaftesbury, Dorset, med dialog i en ikonisk Yorkshire-aksent, og en melodi fra Dvoraks Symfoni nr 9 (fra den nye verden) som baggrundsmusik, inkluderet med det formål af, at skabe en nostalgisk stemning.

Også der det rart at se igen Ronnie Barkers parodi af reklamen (1979).

Ronnie Barkers parodi (1979)

Tilbageblik til marts 2009: vi besøger Gold Hill, Shaftesbury:

(fra venstre til højre) vores ældste datter, Alison, sammen med

Ed og deres (da) 2-årige datter Josie.

- lykkelige tider !!!!

22:00 Vi går I seng – zzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!