Saturday 8 June 2019

10:00 It's raining heavily, so there's no possibility of gardening this morning - damn!

I sit down with the computer and start to devise a Danish vocabulary list which I want our U3A Danish group members to memorise before the group's next meeting here on 20 June. I'm so demanding ha ha ha!

I also devise a test. The correct answers to the test spell out another of stand-up comedian Tim Vine's famous one-liners, "Crime in multi-storey car parks - that is just wrong, on so many different levels". Not one of his best, in my opinion, but I’m going to let that one slide, because he’s a good-hearted man on the whole ha ha ha.

A typical British multi-storey car park

Incidentally, the correct answers to our Danish group's latest  vocabulary test are top secret until Thursday June 20 at 3 pm, needless to say ha ha ha !!!

Tim Vine, our favourite stand-up comedian

12:00 Lois and I have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap.

I wake up after a while and look at my smartphone. Ed, our son-in-law in Haslemere, Surrey, has sent me an email. He and Alison, our elder daughter, got married in August 1999 and he plans to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary by taking her on a weekend break somewhere: he will ask his parents to look after the couple's 3 children in their absence, but he also asks us if we could substitute for them if necessary, and I reply by email that we would be more than happy to be there for them, if need be.

 flashback to August 1999: Ali and Ed’s wedding

 Lois and me

my mother and sister Kathy, with Kathy's husband

Steve shooting the newsreel

14:30 I get up, and Lois and I go out into the vegetable garden to enrich the soil with compost. Lois has recently been busy growing bean seedlings in small pots. Today we set up the poles for this year's runner beans, and then we plant them all out.

we enrich the soil with compost and set up the poles

for this year's runner beans

Gardening is not my bag, but it is one of Lois's great passions, and I am very happy to be able to contribute my fast-declining muscle power ha ha ha. I don't have any goals when it comes to our massive garden - I merely look at it as one enormous gym that stops me spending all day in front of the computer, which just has to be a good thing, to put it mildly.

18:00 We have dinner and afterwards see a little television. An interesting documentary is on, all about an impressive new theory to explain the Titanic disaster of 1912. The programme was first aired in 2017, but Lois and I missed seeing it, we suspect. We see a lot of documentaries, and sometimes we forget what we have seen, but tonight we both agree that this theory is news to us, and we find it very convincing, no doubt about that.

According to the theory, the Titanic disaster may principally have been caused by a huge fire on board that was kept secret, and not solely by the collision with an iceberg in the North Atlantic.

More than 1,500 passengers died when Titanic was en route to New York from Southampton in April 1912. Although the cause of the disaster has long been attributed to the iceberg, new evidence has emerged of a fire in the ship's hull, which researchers say was burning for almost three weeks before the collision.

While experts have previously acknowledged the theory of a fire aboard, new analysis of rarely seen photographs has prompted scientists to pinpoint the fire as the primary cause of the ship's sinking.

Journalist Senan Molony, who has spent more than 30 years investigating the Titanic disaster,  has studied photographs taken by the ship's senior electricians before he left the Belfast shipyard where the ship was launched.

Molony said he could identify 30-foot-long black marks along the front right-hand side of the hull just behind where the ship's liner was pierced by the iceberg.

a diagonal black mark shows the location of a fire,

already burning, even before the ship's maiden voyage began.

He said, "We're looking at the exact area where the iceberg hit the ship, and we seem to have a weakness or damage to the hull at that spot, even before she left Belfast".

Experts later confirmed that the marks were probably caused by a fire that started in a three-storey fuel store behind one of the ship's boiler rooms.

A team of 12 men tried repeatedly to extinguish the flames during the maiden voyage, but it was too big to control and reached 1000 degrees Celsius. Then, when the Titanic hit the ice, the steel hull had become weak enough for the ship's lining to be torn.

Ship's officers reportedly had strict orders from J Bruce Ismay, president of the shipping company, not to mention the fire to the ship's 2,500 passengers.

Researcher Molony also claims that the ship was deliberately reversed into its bay at Southampton to prevent passengers from seeing damage already done to the ship as a result of the ongoing fire.

He said: "The official Titanic inquiry called the disaster an act of God. But this is not a simple story of a collision with an iceberg and a sinking. Three extraordinary factors were involved: fire, ice, and criminal negligence.

"No one has studied these marks on the ship's side before. It alters the story completely. We have metallurgical experts who tell us that when you get that level of temperature burning against steel, it makes the steel brittle and reduces its strength by up to 75 percent.

An inquiry into the disaster that was presented to Parliament in 1912 described the ship as travelling at "high-speed" through dangerous icy waters, giving the crew almost no chance of avoiding the deadly collision.

Why was she going so fast? This documentary reveals that the captain knew the ship was actually running out of fuel, because of the loss of all the coal already destroyed by the fire – and that’s why the Titanic was deliberately being sailed at high speed: the aim was to save coal by not slowing down and then later having to speed up again – my god, what madness!!!

Lois and I think the theory rings true: from the shipping company's point of view, it was a very prestigious occasion, with a lot of millionaires on board – at all costs they did not want to postpone the ship's maiden voyage, even though this meant taking massive risks because of the ongoing fire. And that’s why the shipping company came with this cover-up, first by hiding the fire from the passengers during the voyage itself, and later playing it down during the subsequent inquiry.

And of course, the final piece in the jigsaw was the inadequate number of lifeboats, due to the company's excessive confidence in the ship's safety.

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

22:00 We go to bed - I read about 20 pages of my bedtime book,  Ben Elton’s "Two Brothers" (Danish version), before I drift off to sleep - zzzzzzzzzz !!!!!

Danish translation;  lørdag, den 8 juni 2019

10:00 Det regner kræftigt, så er der ikke nogen mulighed for havearbejde i formiddag – pokkers!

Jeg sætter mig med computeren og går i gang med udtænke en dansk ordforrådliste, som jeg vil have vores U3A danske gruppes medlemmer til at lære udenad før gruppens næste møde, der finder sted hos os den 20. juni. Jeg er så krævende ha ha ha!

Jeg udtænker også en lille ordforrådtest, baseret på listen. De rigtige svar til testen staver endnu en af standup komikeren Tim Vines berømte én-linje vittigheder, “Crime in multi-storey carparks – that is wrong on so many different levels”. Ikke én af hans bedste, efter min mening, men det springer jeg over, fordi han for det meste er godhjertet  ha ha ha.

Et typisk britisk parkeringshus med flere etager

I øvrigt er de rigtige svar på vores danske gruppes nye ordforrådtest tophemmelige indtil torsdag kl 15, unødvendigt at sige ha ha ha!!!

Tim Vine, vores yndlings-standupkomiker

12:00 Lois og jeg spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg vågner op og kigger lidt på min smartphone. Ed, vores svigersøn i Haslemere, Surrey, har sendt mig en email. Han og Alison, vores ældste datter, giftede sig i august 1999, og han planlægger at fejre deres 20. års bryllupsdag ved at tage en weekendtur med hende: han vil bede sine forældre om at passe på parrets 3 børn i deres fravær, men han spørger os også, om vi kan vikariere for dem hvis nødvendigt, og jeg svarer, at vi hjertens gerne vil være dér for dem.

Ali og Ed i 1999

Lois og mig

min mor og min søster Kathy, med Steve,

Kathys mand, som kameramand

14:30 Jeg står op, og Lois og jeg går ud i grøntsagshaven for at gøde jorden med compost.  Lois har for nylig haft travlt med at forspire bønner i små potter. I dag sætter vi et højt stativ op til årets stangbønner at klatre på, og planter dem ud.

vi gøder jorden med kompost og sætter et højt stativ op

til årets stangbønner at klatre på

Havearbejde er ikke min ting, men det er én af Lois’ store lidenskaber, og jeg er meget glad for at kunne bidrage med min hurtigt dalrende muskelkraft ha ha ha. Jeg har ikke nogle mål, når det kommer til vores massive have – jeg ser på den som en massiv motionscenter, der forhindrer mig i at tilbringe hele dagen foran computeren, hvilket bare må være en god ting, for at sige mildt.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bagefter ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om en imponerende nu teori til at forklare Titanics forlis i 1912. Programmet blev først sendt i 2017, men Lois og jeg gik glip af at se det, mistænker vi. Vi ser en masse dokumentarfilm, og nogle gange glemmer vi, hvad vi har set, men i aften er vi begge to enige om, at teorien er nyheder for os, og vi finder den meget overbevisende, ingen tvivl om det.

RMS Titanic-forlis kan være blevet forårsaget af en enorm brand om bord, ikke sammenstødet med et isbjerge i det nordlige Atlanterhav, har eksperter hævdet, og der er udgivet nye beviser til støtte for teorien.

Flere end 1.500 passagerer omkom, da Titanic sank på vej til New York fra Southampton i april 1912. Selv om katastrofens årsag længe er blevet tilskrevet isbjerget, har der udviklet et nyt bevis på en brand i skibets skrog, som forskere siger brændte  i næsten tre uger før kollisionen.

en diagonal sort mærke viser placeringen 

af branden, før skibets jomfrurejse startede.

Mens eksperter tidligere har erkendt teorien om en brand ombord, har ny analyse af sjældent set fotografier fået forskere til at bebrejde branden som den primære årsag til skibets forlis.

Journalisten Senan Molony, som har brugt mere end 30 år på at undersøge Titanics forlis, studerede fotografier taget af skibets ledende elektroteknikere, inden den forlod Belfast-værftet.

Molony sagde, at han kunne identificere 30 fods lange sorte mærker langs skrogets forreste højre side lige bag dér, hvor skibets foring blev gennemboret af isbjerget.

Han sagde: "Vi kigger på det præcise område, hvor isbjerget ramte skibet, og vi synes at have en svaghed eller skader på skroget på det pågældende sted, før hun selv forlod Belfast".

Eksperter bekræftede senere, at mærkerne sandsynligvis var blevet forårsaget af en brand, der startede i en tre-etagers høj brændstofbunker bag et af skibets kedelrum.

Et hold på 12 mænd forsøgte at slukke flammerne, men det var for stort til at kontrollere og nåede op til 1000 grader Celsius.

Derefter, da Titanic ramte is, var stålskroget svagt nok til, at skibets foring blev revet op.

Officerer om bord havde angiveligt strenge ordre fra J Bruce Ismay, formand for firmaet, der byggede Titanic, til ikke at nævne branden til skibets 2.500 passagerer.

Molony hævder også, at skibet blev bakket i sin kaj i Southampton for at forhindre passagererne i at se skader på skibets side, som resultat af den igangværende brand.

Han sagde: "Den officielle Titanic undersøgelse kalde forliset en Guds handling. Dette er ikke en simpel historie om at kollidere med et isbjerge og synke. Tre ekstraordinære faktorer spillede ind: brand, is og kriminel uagtsomhed.

"Ingen har undersøgt disse mærker før. Det ændrer helt historien. Vi har metallurgiske eksperter, der fortæller os, at når du får det niveau af temperatur mod stål, gør det stålet skørt og reducerer dets styrke med op til 75 procent.

I 2008 sagde Ray Boston, en ekspert med mere end 20 års forskning på Titanics rejse, at han troede, at kulbranden begyndte under hastighedsprøver så meget som 10 dage før skibet forlod Southampton.

Han sagde, at branden havde potentiale til at forårsage "alvorlige eksplosioner" under dæk, før den kunne nå New York.

En undersøgelse af katastrofen, der blev forelagt for Parlamentet i 1912, beskrev skibet som at rejsende  ved "høj hastighed" gennem farlige iskalde farvande, hvilket giver besætningen næsten ingen mulighed for at undgå den dødelige kollision.

Og denne dokumentarfilm afslører, at skibet faktisk var ved at løbe tør for brandstof, på grund af tabet af alt det der kol ødelagt af branden – derfor var det begyndt at sejle ved høj hastighed: med det formål, at spare kol ved ikke at køre langsommere og senere at sætte farten op igen – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

Lois og jeg synes, teorien lyder ægte: fra rederiets synspunkt var det en meget prestigiøs anledning, med en masse millionære om bord – de ønskede for enhver pris ikke at udskyde skibets jomfrurejsen, selvom dette betød, at de tog massive risikoer på grund af den igangværende brand. Og derfor kom rederiet med dette coverup, både ved at skjule branden for passagererne under selve rejsen og nedspille den under den efterfølgende undersøgelse.

Og selvfølgelig var det værste af det hele den utilstrækkelige antal af redningsbåde på grund af rederiets overdrevne tillid til skibets sikkerhed.

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

22:00 Vi går i seng – jeg læser omkring 20 sider af min sengetidbog, ”To Brødre” (danske version), før jeg glider over i søvnen – zzzzzzzzzz!!!!!