Saturday, September 28 2019

09:00 Lois and I drive over to the local Sainsbury’s supermarket to shop. We come back home again and relax with a cup of coffee on the couch.

We have noticed that the neighbouring house this morning has a "for sale" sign in front of it. Bill and Mary lived there for 12 years after moving in in September 2007. Unfortunately, in recent years, Mary was suffering from dementia, and Bill looked after her until his death a few months ago. Mary now resides in a local nursing home.

11:00 Lois drives the car around the corner to the Burgage and parks it near the Royal Oak pub. The borough council has decided to block off the road in front of our house and many others in the neighbourhood between 7 am and 1 pm tomorrow, because of tomorrow's Cheltenham half-marathon.

If we do not move the car today, she may possibly not be able to attend her sect's two services, which will take place tomorrow in Tewkesbury  library.

What a crazy world we live in !!!! They are such such jerks, those half marathon runners, no doubt about that. Lois and I are heartily sick of their ability to persuade the council to block off roads and disrupt the lives of hundreds of local residents. What madness !!!

All the road closures demanded by the area's half-marathon runners -

my goodness, they are such bastards, those runners

- no doubt about that !!!! What madness !!!!!

I'm tired of living under the tyranny of the half marathon runners. My fellow couch potatoes, let us rise up and assert ourselves - we have nothing to lose but our comfortable armchairs and cushions ha ha ha! 

But I jest merely...

11:30 Meanwhile, I go out in the backyard and dig up our remaining potatoes - it's generally been a disappointing year when it comes to potatoes, but many of the ones I dig up today are of an decent size, which is heart-warming - I love potatoes.

our remaining potatoes, which I dig up this morning.

12:00 I get started with updating my summary of what we’ve read so far of the Danish crime novel, Anna Grue's "The Further You Fall", which is our U3A Danish group's current project.

I like to keep the summary updated for the benefit of those members who have to miss out on one or another of our regular fortnightly group meetings, so that they can keep themselves abreast of the plot. I am so warm-hearted ha ha ha!

Anna Grue's novel, "The Further You Fall," which is

our U3A Danish group's current project

The author herself, Anna Grue

But unfortunately, I very quickly regret my plan to update the summary. I do not finish the update till 3pm - I find I am working at it all day, taking a break only to have lunch and afterwards a gigantic afternoon nap.

The problem is, I think I've discovered a number of inconsistencies in the plot, and now I'm not quite sure what to do.

The plot of the novel has been very interesting so far. A cleaning assistant, Lilliana, whom no one knows anything about (including her last name), has been murdered (actually garotted - ugh, creepy!) whilst working late at night in the kitchens of a large Danish advertising agency.

Mysterious cleaning assistant Lilliana gets murdered in the kitchens of an  ad agency,

just as she was about to put detergent in one of the agency’s dishwashers.

Yikes - what a nasty end !!!!

Police pick up Benjamin, Liliana's workmate, as their first suspect - the young man has already lied to police about his movements during on the night in question.

Fortunately, the agency's management has installed a personal access card system at the front door, so they can keep track of which of their employees are coming in or going out, and exactly when. So times of entry and exit seem to be very important from the police point of view.

Unfortunately, the author has not made clear about when Benjamin and Lilliana started their work, whether it was at 8 pm or 9 pm. On some pages it is 8 pm and on other pages it is 9 pm, which seems to make it a bit of a farce, to put it mildly. I have no idea which of the times in the book I can believe in, and which ones I can't - my god, sheer madness !!!

I email our group members and warn them not to spend too much time at this stage trying to understand the timings of the murder and the movements of the suspects etc. We will just have to wait and see if the picture gets any clearer over the following chapters, or not, as the case may be.

What a nuisance! If only I hadn't looked at the text so closely - sometimes I hate myself ha ha ha! But the damage is done now, no doubt about that. It's sometimes tough to be a U3A group leader - but I have to be true to my calling and not hide these nasty facts from my members ha ha ha (again)!

a typical U3A group leader convention, in which 

a bunch of old crows discuss some very important topics as standard

16:00 Lois and I relax with a cup of tea and a piece of bread with home-made greengage jam - yum yum! Then I jump up on my exercise bike and cycle 7 miles. 

I'm postponing resuming some light weight training until tomorrow: I've been a little sore in the back since getting up in a slightly awkward way from the dentist’s chair on Wednesday, after an appointment with my charming Romanian dentist, Daria - a bit of a shame, to put it mildly.

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching some television. An interesting documentary is on, all about Churchill's relationship with the Hungarian-born film mogul, Alexander Korda in the 1930’s and beyond.

A fascinating programme - it seems impossible, but it appears that there is always something new to learn about Churchill.

Who knew that in his years in the political "wilderness" in the 1930’s, when the Conservative Party leadership put pressure on newspaper owners not to give publicity to his criticism of the government's appeasement policy, Churchill was hired as a scriptwriter and screenwriter by the film mogul Alexanda Korda?

Churchill was an emotional man, also a big movie fan, and he knew the power of movies and images both to inspire people, and also to make the tears flow. Hitler knew this too of course, and he utilised the famous director Leni Riefenstahl to produce Nazi propaganda blockbusters such as " Triumph of the Will ”in 1934.

And according to the programme, Churchill's speeches in Parliament and on radio also show the kind of cinematic imagery and dramatic story-board style descriptions, which he knew would delight his audience and grab their attention, just like a film director would.

Korda and Churchill were close friends throughout the 1930’s, helping to produce a number of historical blockbusters that depicted times in England's history when we were threatened by European dictators and other tyrants, etc.: "The Private Life of Henry VIII" "The Scarlet Pimpernel", "That Hamilton Woman" and others.

Churchill later reflected Korda’s historical approach in a speech in Parliament and on the radio speech in September 1940:

excerpt from Churchill's radio speech (September 1940)

Churchill knew from the beginning that Britain could achieve nothing more than a limited period of stand-off with a continent entirely occupied by the Nazis, unless, that is, he could win US support. Many of Korda's historical blockbusters became very popular in the United States, which Churchill was very pleased to see, needless to say.

But many Americans were not receptive to Churchill's appeals. Col. Robert McCormick, for example, who owned the Chicago Tribune newspaper, felt that British imperialism was more dangerous than Hitler's fascism.

It is interesting tonight to see the campaign run by other top American isolationists, such as Charles Lindbergh, both in the media and in Congress, a campaign that also pointed the finger at Korda's many currently popular historical films, which isolationists specifically branded as British propaganda - actually the honest truth of course. Lindbergh commented that soon after the war broke out in 1939, American cinemas were suddenly mysteriously filled with films that glorified wars waged by the British against continental dictators, many of the films having been produced by Korda.

And the FBI actually started an investigation into Korda, as a possible British agent.

an FBI memo, talking about the possibility that Korda was a British agent

Lois comments that Lindbergh was also generally anti-Semitic. After Pearl Harbour, he was persuaded to support America's war against Japan, but he refused to join the war against Germany, and he continued to root for the Germans in the European theatre, despite Hitler declaring war on the United States and carrying out military operations against them worldwide.

My goodness, 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 - zzzzzzz !!!

Danish translation: lørdag den 28. september 2019

09:00 Lois og jeg kører over til det lokale Sainsburys-supermarked for at købe ind. Vi kommer tilbage igen og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

Vi har lagt mærke til, at nabohuset i formiddag har en ”til salg”-skilte foran sig. Bill og Mary boede derinde i 12 år efter de flyttede ind i september 2007. I de seneste år led Mary desværre af demens, og Bill passede på hende indtil sin død for et par måneder siden. Mary opholder sig nu i et lokalt plejehjem.

11:00 Lois kører bilen rundt om hjørnet til Borgergaden og parkerer den i nærheden af den lokale Royal Oak-pub. Kommunen har besluttet at indspærre vejen foran vores hus og mange andre i nabolaget mellem kl 7 og kl 13 i morgen, på grund af morgendagens Cheltenham halv-maraton.

Hvis vi ikke rykker bilen i dag, vil hun ikke kunne deltage i sin sekts to gudstjenester, der finder sted i morgen i byen Tewkesburys bibliotek.

Sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!! De er sådanne nogle sjufter, de der halvmaratonløbere, ingen tvivl om det. Lois og jeg er godt trætte af deres evne til at overtale kommunen til at indspærre vejer og forstyrre livene af hundredvis af lokale indbyggere. Sikke et vanvid!!!

Alle de vejlukninger, krævede af områdets halvmaratonløbere –

du godeste, de er sådanne nogle sjufter, de der løbere

- ingen tvivl om det !!!! Sikke et vanvid !!!!!

Jeg er godt træt af at skulle leve under halvmaratonløbernes tyranni. Mine medsofakartofler, lad os rejse os og hæve os – vi har intet at tabe, men vores komfortable lænestole og puder ha ha ha!

11:30 I mellemtiden går jeg ud i baghaven og opgraver vores resterende kartofler – det har generelt været en skuffende år, når det kommer til kartofler, men mange af dem, jeg i dag opgraver er af en hæderlig størrelse, hvilket er hjertevarmende  - jeg elsker kartofler!

vores resterende kartofler, som jeg i formiddag graver op.

12:00 Jeg begynder at opdatere min resumé af den danske krimiroman, Anna Grues ”Dybt at falde”, der er vores U3A danske gruppes nuværende projekt. Jeg kan lide at holde resuméen opdateret til fordel for de medlemmerne, der skal gå glip af ét eller andet af vores regelmæssige fjortendagsgruppemøder, så de kan holde sig selv i ajour med plottet. Jeg er så varmhjertet ha ha ha!

Anna Grues krimiroman, ”Dybt at falde”, som er

vores U3A danske gruppes nuværende projekt

Selve forfatterinden, Anna Grue

Men desværre kommer jeg meget hurtigt til at fortryde min plan om at opdatere resuméen. Jeg er først færdig med at opdateringen kl 15 – jeg tager en pause blot for at spise frokost og bagefter tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

Problemet er, at jeg tror jeg har opdaget en række uoverensstemmelser i plottet, og nu er jeg ikke helt sikker på, hvad jeg skal gøre.

Romanens plot har hidtil været meget interessant. En rengøringsassistent, Lilliana, som ingen ved noget om (inklusive hendes efternavn), er blevet myrdet (faktisk garrotteret – ugh, uhyggeligt!), mens hun arbejdede sent på aften i køkkenet af et stort dansk reklamebureau.

Rengøringsassistenten Lilliana bliver myrdet i bureauets køkkener

da hun lige skulle at putte opvaskemiddel i én af bureauets opvaskemaskiner.

Yikes – sikke et uhyggeligt ende!!!!

Politiet henter Benjamin, Lilianas arbejdskammerat som deres første mistænkt – den unge mand er allerede har lyvet til politiet om sine bevægelser i løbet af den pågældende aften.

Heldigvis har bureauets ledenskab installeret et personlig adgangkortsystem ved indgangsdøren, så de kan holde sig ajour med, hvem af deres ansatte kommer ind eller går ud, og præcis hvorfor. Så tider af indgang og udgang virker at være meget vigtige set ud fra politiets synspunkt.

Desværre har forfatterinden ikke klargjort, om Benjamin og Lilliana startede deres arbejde kl 20 eller kl 21. På nogle sider er tiden kl 20 og på andre sider er den kl 21, hvilket gør det hele til lidt af en farce, for at sige mildt.  Jeg har ikke den fjerneste anelse om, hvilke tider jeg kan tro på, og hvilke jeg ikke kan tro på – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

Jeg sender en email til vores gruppemedlemmer og advarer dem ikke at bruge for meget tid i dette stadie på at prøve at forstå timingen af mordet og af de mistænktes bevægelser osv. Vi må bare vente og se, om billedet bliver klarere i løbet af de følgende kapitler, eller ej.

Sikke nogle gener! Hvis bare jeg ikke havde kigget på teksten så tæt – nogle gang hader jeg mig selv ha ha ha! Men skaden er gjort nu, ingen tvivl om det. Det er nogle gange hårdt at være en U3A gruppeleder – men jeg må være tro til mit kald og ikke skjule disse ubehagelige kendsgerninger for mine medlemmer  ha ha ha (igen)!

en typisk U3A gruppeledereskonvention

hvori en flok gamle krager diskuterer meget vigtige emner, som standard

16:00 Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te og et stykke brød med hjemmedyrket reineclaude marmelade – yum yum! Derefter hopper jeg op på min kondicykel og jeg cykler 7 miles. Jeg overlader dét, at genoptage lidt let vægttræning til i morgen: jeg har haft lidt ondt i ryggen, siden jeg rejste mig på en lidt akavet måde fra tandlægestolen i ønsdag efter en aftale hos min charmerende romanske tandlæge, Daria, hvilket var lidt af en skam, for at sige mildt.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad, og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om Churchills forhold til den oprindelige ungarske filmmogul, Alexander Korda i 1930’erne.

Et fascinerende program – det virker umuligt, men det lader til, at der altid er noget nyt, man kan lære om Churchill. Hvem vidste, at han i sine år i det politiske ”vildnis”, da det konservative partis lederskab satte pres på avisejere ikke at give publicitet til hans kritik af regeringens appeasement-politik, blev ansat som filmscripter og scenarioforfatter af den oprindelige ungarske filmmogul Alexanda Korda?

Churchill var en følelsesmæssig mand, også en stor filmfan, og han kendte magten af film og billeder både til at inspirere folk, også til at gøre tårerne til at flyde, ligesom Hitler udnyttede den berømte instruktør Leni Riefenstahl til at producere nazistiske propaganda blockbusters såsom ”Triumph des Willens” (Viljens triumf) i 1934.

Og ifølge programmet viser Churchills taler i parlamentet og på radio den slags cinematiske imager og dramatiske beskrivelser, som han vidste ville begejstre sit publikum og gribe deres opmærksomhed, lige som en filminstruktør.

Korda og Churchill var tætte venner gennem 1930’erne, og de medarbejdede om at producere en række historiske blockbusters, der skildrede tider i Englands historie, da vi blev truet af europæiske diktatorer og andre tyranner osv: ”The Private Life of Henry VIII”, ”The Scarlet Pimpernel”, ”That Hamilton Woman”.

Churchill genspejlede senere denne historiske tilgang i parlamentet og i en radiotale i september 1940:

uddrag fra Churchills radiotale (september 1940)

Churchill vidste fra begyndelsen at Storbritannien ikke ville kunne opnå mere, end en begrænset periode af fastlåst stilling med et kontinent helt okkuperet af nazisterne, undtagen hvis han kunne vinde amerikansk støtte. Mange af Kordas historiske blockbusters blev meget populære i USA, hvilket Churchill var meget glad for at se, unødvendigt at sige.

Men mange amerikanere var ikke modtagelige overfor Churchills appeller. Col. Robert McCormick, for eksempel, der ejede Chicago Tribune-avisen, følte at britisk imperialisme var mere farlig, end Hitlers fascisme.  

Det er interessant i aften at se kampagnen kørt af ypperste amerikanske isolationister, såsom Charles Lindbergh, i medierne og i Congress, en kampagne, der også pegede fingre ad Kordas mange historiske film, som isolationister brændemærkede specifisk som britisk propaganda, hvilket var den ærlige sandhed selvfølgelig.

Derudover bemærkede Lindbergh, at snart efter krigen udbrød i 1939, blev amerikanske biografer fyldt med film, der glorificerede krig, mange af dem produceret af Korda.

Og FBI startede faktisk en undersøgelse af Korda, som en mulig britisk agent.

en FBI memo, om muligheden for, at Korda var en britisk agent

Lois kommenterer, at Lindbergh også var generelt anti-semitisk. Efter Pearl Harbour blev han overtalt til at støtte Amerikas krig mod Japan, men han nægtede at deltage i krigen mod Tyskland, og han fortsatte med at heppe på tyskerne i det europæiske teater, på trods af, at Hitler havde erklæret krig mod USA og kørte militære operationer mod dem.

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 – zzzzzzz!!!