09:00 Lois and I drive over to
the small town of Bishop's Cleeve, 3 miles away, to donate to the local
Longfields charity shop our daughter Sarah's unwanted trinkets and kitchen
utensils - things she left with us when in 2015 she moved to Perth, Australia with
Francis and their (then) 2 and a half-year-old twins.
Afterwards, we drive back to
Cheltenham and head to the Red Cross charity bookshop on the Bath Road to donate
some of Sarah's old books and tapes.
The Red Cross Bookshop, Bath Rd.
This part of this morning's plan
is less successful, however. The store no longer accepts VHS tapes - the
manager tells us that they have a hard time selling them nowadays – my god,
what a sick world we live in !!!! But he tells us that the Dundry Garden Centre
on the other side of town still accepts them, just for recycling, and the
centre is now the only place in the Cheltenham area that does that - what madness! We'll have to make an outing there later this week.
Finally we pop into the
CookShop store to buy 6 ready-meals. Lois is currently suffering from back
pain, and cannot cope with complicated cooking, and she will soon be getting
tired of my very limited skills in the kitchen, no doubt about that !!!
Then we recharge our batteries by
having a cup of coffee and a bun in the store's café, which makes a
refreshing change. We are getting old, no doubt about that either.
we have a cup of coffee and a bun in the CookShops café
11:00 We return home and I start
reading the next 2 chapters of Njal's Saga, written in the 13th century in
Iceland, although the saga itself and the events in it are much older. Scilla's
U3A Old Nordic group is holding its regular meeting here tomorrow afternoon at
2:30 pm and this saga is the group's current project.
It is nice to see, in this early
work, some small vignettes of everyday life in medieval Iceland – for example we
see Gunnar, one of the heroes of the saga, find his horse, vault himself into
the saddle with a single bound, and ride away, centuries before Errol Flynn,
John Wayne and the other Hollywood superstars did the same thing in countless
cowboy films.
with one bound Gunnar leaps on his horse, and rides off into the sunset
And we also have other delightful "snapshots" - as Gunnar rides off, his mother, Rannveig, decides to step into the
living room of their lovely house. But she is immediately annoyed by the noise
of all the different conversations going on: I'm pretty sure she just wants to
read a book in peace and quiet, but no chance, as usual. I can just imagine
her bawling them out, and warning them to "keep it down already, or else"
and similar threats.
However, I can sympathise with
her - and I imagine that Gunnar has designed one of those awful modern living
rooms that also includes a kitchen area and a dining area, and so much noise from other people that you can't concentrate on anything intelligent for a second. Good god, what a
sick world we live in.
12:30 We have lunch and
afterwards I go to bed and take a short afternoon nap. Meanwhile, Lois hurries
into the kitchen and makes a raspberry crumble with home-grown raspberries -
yum yum!
15:00 I get up and start reading
2 more pages of Anna Grue's Danish crime novel, "The Further You
Fall", which is our U3A Danish group's current project. I am trying to
read 2 pages a day and compile a vocabulary list for each page. I do this to
save our group members from looking up the harder words in a dictionary - I'm
so thoughtful ha ha ha.
Anna Grue’s crime novel “The Further
You Fall”, top row, second from left
Dan Sommerdahl, the novel's hero,
is an advertising consultant in a large Danish advertising agency, where there
has been a gruesome murder - Lilliana, one of the agency's two young cleaning
assistants has been murdered - actually garrotted - in the agency's kitchens
while she was cleaning in there late at night.
The murder particularly interests Dan, because he has fantasies of becoming an
amateur detective, and fortunately he is also best friends with the local
police chief, Flemming Torp, who’s in charge of the case.
(left to right) Inspector Flemming,
Marianne (Dan’s wife) and Dan himself
In these two pages, we see the
two men searching Lilliana's apartment, which she shared with a young African woman,
Sally. Lilliana is now dead and Sally has disappeared without trace, which is
a bit strange to put it mildly.
I just hope Dan and Flemming
aren't just another couple of perverts, though, because I can see they're having a lot of fun rooting
through the two young women's underwear drawer - but I suppose that kind of
thing might be necessary when the police are investigating a murder case. Is
it? I'm not quite sure: the jury is still out on that one.
Dan is an advertising consultant,
a big wheel in the company, so he only knew Lilliana, the victim, a humble cleaner,
by sight, and he had never exchanged a single word with her.
But I see he has evidently managed
to note her (approximate) bra size because when the two men find a size 32A
(70A metric) bra, he knows right away that they've got their hands on Sally's underwear, not in Lilliana’s. "Lilliana had a much bigger bosom," he
says, "as I remember it." My god, what a sick world we live in.
a typical 32A bra
It's a little strange that the
two women's clothing styles are so different: in Sally's collection, the two men
find a turquoise bra with green embroidery, a bright red lacy bra, at least
ten different g-strings in different colours, and a pink silk camisole.
Lilliana's underwear, unlike
Sally's, is quite unremarkable - "a stack of grey-and-white cotton
panties".
But it is also clear, however,
that Lilliana must have recently “got lucky” and scored with some rich man or
other: she had a brand new, light blue satin nightgown hanging in her wardrobe,
plus an unopened bottle of expensive French champagne in her fridge, and a
large brand new pack of condoms, bought a few days ago, but already half used:
she must have had a lot of fun at least in her final few days, no doubt about
that. My goodness, what a mystery!
Had Lilliana scored with some
rich lover, and was it the lover who garrotted her?, I wonder. But why? How fascinating.
17:00 I hurry into the kitchen
and make 2 portions of one of my other signature dishes: "corn beef
surprise" I call it, ie corn beef, french fries, green beans and peas. After
all, peas is "good food". For dessert, we have Lois' freshly made
raspberry crumble, made from home-grown raspberries yum yum!
19:00 We spend the rest of the
evening listening to the radio, an interesting programme all about the role of
order in language, alphabetical order, adjectival order and other linguistic
questions. The programme's host is the charming comedian, Stephen Fry.
It's strange, but nobody actually
knows why our alphabet has the order it has - it fascinates me to speculate on
the possibility that it was originally the invention of just one single wise individual
, somewhere in Egypt or Phoenicia, thousands of years ago.
Of course the alphabet has
changed to some extent over the centuries, but it has retained its basic form -
the Romans adopted the Greek alphabet but not the Greek alphabet in its
classical form. By coincidence, the Romans learned their alphabet from an
insignificant Greek dialect that stemmed from the island of Boeotia: not the
standard form used in Athens for example - simply because, by chance, it was
the colonists from Boeotia who were the first Greeks to settle in Italy.
Adjectival order is a complicated
subject, but anyone who has English, for example, as their mother tongue,
instinctively knows which order to use in English.
When Tolkien was a very young boy
and had written one of his first stories, which he called "The Green Great
Dragon", he became very annoyed when his parents corrected the title,
telling him it had to be "The Great Green Dragon" , and couldn’t be
anything else. He was apparently so upset that he didn't write another story
for years - what madness.
Tolkien as a boy
The official order is: opinion,
size, age, shape, colour, origin, substance, purpose, it seems. Pure insanity. But as Stephen points out, we all follow the rules instinctively.
Terms like "ping pong"
"pitter patter", "ding dong" etc follow a hierarchy of
vowels, it seems, "i - o - a", ie, "i" comes before
"o" and "o" comes before "a" etc - and this is
true in all languages world-wide, even Japanese, according to Fry.
And maybe the “hierarchy of
vowels” explains some cases of anomalous adjectival order, like “the big bad
wolf” – that’s my theory at least, and I’m sticking to it, needless to say.
My god, what a crazy world we
live in.
22:00 We go to bed. I read about
20 pages of my bedtime book before drifting off to sleep - zzzzz !!!
Danish translation
09:00 Lois og jeg kører over til den lille by Bishops Cleeve, 3 miles
væk herfra, for at donere til den lokale Longfields-velgørenhedsbutik vores
datter Sarahs uønskede nips og køkkenredskaber, som hun efterlod hos os, da hun
for 3,5 år siden flyttede til Perth, Australien sammen med Francis og deres
(dengang) 2,5-årige tvillinger.
Bagefter kører vi tilbage til Cheltenham og smutter ind i den Røde Kors
velgørenhedsbutik på Bathvej for at donere nogle af Sarahs gamle bøger og
vhs-bånd.
den Røde
Kors velgørenhedsbutik på Bathvej
Denne del af formiddagens plan er mindre succésfuld imidlertid. Butikken
modtager ikke længere vhs-bånd – chefen fortæller os, at de har svært ved at
sælge dem nu til dags – du godeste, sikke en syg verden vi lever i !!!! Men han
fortæller os, at Dundry-havecentret i den anden side af byen modtager dem
stadig men bare til genbrug, og centret er nu det eneste sted i
Cheltenham-området, der gør det – sikke et vanvid!
Bagefter smutter vi ind i CookShop-butikken for at købe 6 færdigretter.
Lois lider i øjeblikket af rygsmerter, og kan ikke hamle op med kompliceret
madlavning, og hun kommer snart til at blive træt af mine meget begrænsede
færdigheder i køkkenet, ingen tvivl om det!!!
Så genoplader vi vores batterier ved at drikke en kop kaffe og spise et
stykke kage i butikkens café, hvilket er forfriskende.
vi drikker
en kop kaffe og spise et stykke kage i CookShops café
11:00 Vi kommer hjem og jeg går i gang med at læse de næste 2 kapitler
af Njals saga, skrevet i det
13. århundrede i Island, selvom selve sagaen og begivenhederne er meget ældre. Scillas
U3A oldnordiske gruppe holder sit regelmæssige møde i morgen eftermiddag kl
14:30 hos os og denne saga er gruppens nuværende projekt.
Det er rart at se i sikke et tidligt værk små vignetter af hverdagslivet
i det middelalderlige Island – vi se Gunnar, en af sagaens helte, finde sit
hest, springe sig selv ind i sadlen med ét hop, og ride af sted, århundreder
før Errol Flynn og de andre Hollywood-superstjerner gjorde det samme i utallige
cowboyfilm.
Gunnar springer
sig selv ind i sadlen med ét hop og rider af sted
Og vi har også mere hyggelige snapshots – da Gunnar rider af sted,
beslutter hans mor, Rannveig at træde ind i stuen af deres dejlige hus. Men hun
bliver med det samme irriteret af lyden af alle de forskellige samtaler, der
foregår: jeg er helt sikker på, at hun bare har lyst til at læse en bog i fred
og ro, men ingen chance, som sædvanligt!!! Jeg kan bare forestille mig hende
skælde dem ud, og advare dem at ”holde støjen ned” osv.
Jeg sympatiserer med hende imidlertid – og jeg forestiller mig, at Gunnar har
designet én af de der forfærdelige moderne stuer der indeholder også
køkkenområde og spiseområde. Du godeste, sikke en syg verden vi lever i !!!!
12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en kort
eftermiddagslur. I mellemtiden skynder Lois sig ind i køkkenet og laver en
hindbær-crumble med hjemmedyrkede hindbær – yum yum!
15:00 Jeg står op og går i gang med at læse endnu 2 sider af Anna Grues
danske krimiroman, ”Dybt at falde”, som er vores U3A danske gruppes nuværende
projekt. Jeg prøver at læse 2 sider om dagen og udarbejder en ordforrådsliste
til hver side. Det gør jeg for at spare vores gruppemedlemmer for at slå de
sværere ord op i en ordbog – jeg er så betænksom ha ha ha!
Anna Grues
krimiroman “Dybt at falde”, øverste række, nr 2 fra venstre
Dan Sommerdahl, romanens helt, er reklamekonsulent i et stort dansk
reklamebureau, hvor et grusomt mord er fundet sted – Lilliana, én af bureauets
to unge rengøringsassistenter, er blevet myrdet – faktisk garrotteret i
bureauets køkkener, mens hun arbejdede der sent på aftenen. Dan har fantasier
om, at blive til en amatøragtig detektiv, og heldigvis er han også bedstevenner
med den lokale politichef, Flemming Torp.
(venstre til
højre) Flemming, Marianne (Dans kone) og selve Dan
På disse to sider ser vi de to mænd ransage Lillianas lejlighed, som hun
deler med en afrikanske kvinde, Sally. Lilliana er nu død, og Sally er
forsvundet sporløs, hvilket er lidt mærkeligt for at sige mildt.
Jeg håber bare på, at Dan og Flemming ikke er et par perverse, fordi jeg
kan se de hygger sig med at rode igennem de to unge kvinders undertøjsskuffer –
men jeg formoder, den slags måske er nødvendig, når politiet undersøger en
mordsag, men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på: juryen er stadig ude om det.
Dan er reklamekonsulent, en stor kanon i selskabet, så kender han
Lilliana, en simpel rengøringsassistent,
kun af udseende, og han har aldrig vekslet et ord med hende. Men han har
åbenbart noteret hendes (omtrentlige) barmstørrelse, fordi da de to mænd finder
en bh i størrelse 32A (70A metrisk) bh, ved han med det samme, at de er i
Sallys undertøjsskuffe, ikke Lillianas. ”Lilliana havde en noget større barm,”
siger han, ”som jeg husker den”. Du godeste, sikke en syg verden vi lever i
!!!!
Det er lidt underligt, at de to kvinders tøjstiler er så
forskellige: i Sallys skuffe finder de
to mænd en turkis bh med grønne broderier, en knaldrød blonde-bh, mindst ti
forskellige g-strenge i forskellige farvr, og en pink silkecamisole.
Lillianas undertøj i modsætning til Sallys er ganske upåfaldende – ”en
stabel gråhvide bomuldstrusser.
Men det er imidlertid også klart, at Lilliana for nylig må have scoret
en eller anden rig mand: en splinterny, lyseblå satinnatkjole, en uåbnet flaske
dyr fransk champagne i sit køleskab, og en stor spritny pakke kondomer, købt
for et par dage siden, men nu allerede kun halv fuld: hun må have hygget sig
meget i sine sidste få dage, ingen tvivl om det. Du godeste, sikke et
mysterium!!!!
Havde Lilliana scoret en eller anden rig elsker, og var det elskeren,
der garrotterede hende? - undrer jeg mig. Men hvorfor? Hvor fascinerende!!!!
17:00 Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver en af mine andre signaturretter: ”corn beef surprise” kalder jeg den, dvs corn
beef, pommes frites, grønne bønner og ærter. Trods alt er ærter ”god mad”. Til
desserten spiser vi Lois’ nylavede hindbær-crumble, lavet af hjemmedyrkede
hindbær yum yum!
19:00 Vi bruger resten af aftenen på at lytte til radio, for det første
et interessant program, der handler om rollen af rækkefølge i sprog, alfabetisk
rækkefølge, adjektivisk rækkefølge og andre sproglige spørgsmål. Programmets
vært er den charmerende komiker, Stephen Fry.
Det er mærkeligt, men ingen ved faktisk ikke, hvorfor vores alfabet har
den rækkefølge, den har – det fascinerer mig at spekulere om muligheden, at det
oprindeligt var den opfindelse af kun én enkelr klog person for tusindvis af år
siden.
Selvfølgelig alfabetet er ændret sig i vis grad gennem århundreder, men
det har beholdt sin grundlæggende form – romerne adopterede det græske alfabet
men ikke det græske alfabet i sin klassiske form. Tilfældigvis lærte romerne
deres alfabet fra en ubetydelig græsk dialekt, der stammede fra Boiotien: ikke
den standardform, som blev brugt i Athen for eksempel – simpelthen fordi
tilfældigvis var det kolonister fra Boiotien, der var de første grækkere til at
bosatte sig i Italien.
Adjektivisk rækkefølge er et kompliceret emne, men alle der har engelsk,
for eksempel, som modersmål, ved instinktivt, hvilken rækkefølge man skal bruge
på engelsk. Da Tolkien var en ganske ung dreng, og skrev en af sine første fortællinger, som han
kaldte ”The Green Great Dragon” blev han meget irriteret, da hans forældre
korrigerede titlen, og fortalte ham, at den måtte være ”The Great Green
Dragon”, og intet andet. Han var tilsyneladende så oprevet, at han ikke skrev
en anden fortælling i årevis - sikke et vanvid!
Tolkien som lille dreng
Den officielle rækkefølge er: mening, størrelse, alder, skikkelse, farv,
oprindelse, stof, formål, lader det til. Rent galskab!!!! Men som Stephen
påpeger, følger vi alle reglerne ren instinktivt.
Udtryk som ”ping pong” ”pitter patter”, ”ding dong” osv følger en
hierarki af vokaler, lader det til, ”i –
o –a”, dvs, ”i” kommer før ”o” og ”o” kommer før ”a” – og dette er sandt i alle
sprog, ifølge Fry.
Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!!
22:00 Vi går i seng. Jeg læser omkring 20 sider af min sengetidbog, før
jeg glider over i søvnen – zzzzz!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment