Danskcolin: Tuesday 10 September 2019

09:30 Lois and I drive over to the small town of Bishop's Cleeve to shop at the local Tesco supermarket. On the way I sneak into the local hardware store, Cleeve Supplies, to demand that they take back the 6 inappropriate electric bulbs they sold me last week. I point out that the boxes say that the bulbs are not suitable for private homes, only for harsh industrial environments.

The assistant tries to convince me that "NOT FOR HOUSEHOLD ILLUMINATION" appears on the boxes' labelling because of some obscure legal requirement, and that it does not matter: in other words, it does not mean what it obviously means - what madness!

one of the 6 inappropriate electric bulbs

which the guy at the local hardware store sold me last week -

good grief, what a sick world we live in !!!!!

Eventually, he agrees to exchange the inappropriate bulbs for some appropriate, harmless bulbs, thank goodness. I think I'm getting more and more aggressive in my old age ha ha ha!

Cleeve Supplies - our friendly local hardware store

10:30 We head into Lowrys café and sit down at a table outdoors. There's a couple sitting a few feet away from us at the next table, and the man asks, "Are you Colin?"

It's Mark, an ex-work colleague that I haven't seen in at least 13 years. I recognise the voice - not his appearance, at first: Mark is younger than me by 15 years or so, but his hair has become very very white and he has gained a lot of weight, to put it mildly. He took early retirement a few years ago, he says.

It's a lot of fun to talk to Mark a bit about the old days and about the ex-colleagues we still come across from time to time. Who’s died, who's sick, who's seriously ill, etc. ha ha ha!

Lois doesn't know Mark and doesn't know his friend Angie, but this morning she gets a lot of pleasure from talking to them, I notice. It strikes me how much Lois enjoys social occasions - she suddenly becomes full of life, and on top of that she stays in good spirits for several hours afterwards. Vacations do the same for her, in comparison to me - I tend to avoid both social occasions and vacations as much as possible - yikes !!!!

I have to try to be more like her, I have no doubt about that. In fact, we are preparing to go on vacation again at the moment, a situation whcih always fills me with increasing unease - yikes (again) !!!!!!

Lowry's cafe, showing roughly the seating that

the four of us occupy during our conversation

(approximate only: also note the tables are now a bright blue colour)

12:00 Lois and I come home and have lunch. Afterwards, I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap.

15:00 I get up and go out into the garden. I mow the lawn in front of the house and the one that is directly behind the house. I'll leave the remaining 4 lawns until tomorrow.

16:00 I go back in the house, and Lois and I relax with a cup of tea and a couple of mini chocolate bars on the couch.

I take a look at my smartphone. I see that Francis, our son-in-law in Perth, Australia, has posted a charming photo on Facebook showing our 42-year-old daughter Sarah and the couple’s 6-year-old twin daughters Lily and Jessie in the Araluen Botanical Park, about 20 miles south of Perth.

Francis' message reminds Lois and me once again that seasons down there are quite the opposite of ours. "After a cold, wet winter, spring has finally sprung".

Our daughter Sarah and our 6-year-old twin grandchildren Lily and Jessie

seen here in the Araluen Botanical Park, just south of Perth, Australia

For Lois and me the opposite process is underway and we now need to have the central heating on early mornings - brrr !!!

My god, what a topsy-turvy world we live in !!!!

16:30 I carry on looking at my smartphone and I see Morten Ingemann's latest cartoon. It gives me a bit of a shock, to put it mildly.

Morten Ingemann, the Danish comic genius, is my favourite cartoonist, no doubt about that. He has a great interest in ugly, obese, middle-aged or older people: the kind of people most cartoonists do not pay attention to, or even notice.

the 59-year-old Danish comic genius Morten Ingemann,

my favourite cartoonist

Ingemann knows very well that negative medical diagnoses can be a little depressing, but the human spirit is very robust and indomitable, and always ready to fight its destiny and refuse to accept defeat. Medical archives are full of heroic stories in which patients have recovered from horrible illnesses against all the odds.

In tonight's cartoon strip, we see two ugly, middle-aged men sitting in a bar. The first man has a regular glass of beer in front of him on the counter, and the second man has a 2-foot tall giant glass, full to the brim with beer.

The first man asks his friend, "New style, Brunsvig?" And the second man explains, "My doctor has told me to reduce my consumption to one drink a day."

What a refreshing celebration of the indomitable human spirit! And the comic strip gets me in a good mood for the rest of the evening, to put it mildly. Suddenly, I feel incredibly optimistic about the future of the human race, no doubt about that.

18:30 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching some television and listening to the radio. An interesting documentary is on, celebrating the old BBC sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus' 50th anniversary.

A nostalgic program for Lois and me. We both stayed up late and saw the original first episode on October 5, 1969 - in our respective homes: we did not hook up until the following year.

the original programme listing in the BBC's "Radio Times" magazine

for October 5, 1969

It is interesting that the Radio Times magazine feature on the show showcased a completely un-typical photo, not of the 6 main comedians, but of (an unnamed!) Carol Cleveland, who played all the series's sexy female roles.

Many TV viewers were confused by the show, to put it mildly, and also confused about the title, as one TV viewer Mrs. DR Wilkins's letter in a later edition of the magazine makes clear:

However, the BBC's response to Mrs Wilkins was untypically robust and uncompromising, which is heart-warming.

And Lois is very happy to have another opportunity to see one of her favourite sketches, the so-called "fish duel", by the side of a canal, between John Cleese and Michael Palin.

the open salvo from Palin: a handful of small pilchards

Cleese's measured reaction: to find a giant fish and size it up

before delivering the winning blow. Here we see also Palin’s dramatic fall into the canal

Fun times!!!!!!

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

Danish translation: tirsdag den 10. september 2019

09:30 Lois og jeg kører over til den lille by Bishops Cleeve for at købe ind på det lokale Tesco-supermarked. På vej jeg smutter ind i det lokale isenkramforretning, Cleeve Supplies, for at kræve at de tager tilbage de 6 upassende elektriske pærer, de solgt mig sidste uge. Jeg påpeger, at der står på æskene, at pærerne ikke er passende til private boliger, kun til barske industrielle miljøer.

Ekspeditøren forsøger at overbevise mig, at ”NOT FOR HOUSEHOLD ILLUMINATION” bare er fremvist på grund af ét eller andet obskurt juridisk krav, og ikke betyder noget : med andre ord, at det ikke betyder dét, det betyder - sikke et vanvid!

én af de 6 upassende elektriske pærer,

som fyren i den lokale isenkramforretning solgte mig –

sikke en syg verden vi lever i !!!!!

Til sidst aftaler han at bytte de upassende pærer for nogle passende, harmløse pærer, gudskelov. Jeg synes, jeg bliver mere og mere aggressiv i min alderdom ha ha ha!

Cleeve Supplies – vores venlige lokale isenkramforretning

10:30 Vi smutter ind i Lowrys-caféen og sætter os ved et bord udendørs. Der er et par, der sidder et par fods væk fra os på det næste bord, og manden spørger, ”Er du Colin?”. Det er Mark, en eks-arbejdskollega, som jeg ikke har set i mindst 13 år. Jeg genkender stemmen – ikke udseendet med det samme: Mark er yngre, end mig med 15 år eller deromkring, men hans hår er blevet meget meget hvidt og han har taget meget på i vægt, for at sige mildt. Han gik tidligt på pension for et par år siden, siger han.

Lowrys café, visende omtrent de siddepladser

vi fire optager under vores samtale

Det er meget sjovt at snakke lidt med Mark om de gamle dage, og om de eks-kolleger vi stadig støder på fra tid til anden. Hvem er død, hvem er syg, hvem er alvorlig syg osv ha ha ha!

Lois kender Mark ikke, og kender ikke hans veninde, Angie, men i formiddag får hun en masse glæde af at snakke med dem, lægger jeg mærker til. Det går op for mig, hvor meget Lois nyder sociale anledninger – hun bliver pludselig fuld af liv, og oven i købet bliver hun i godt humør i flere timer derefter. Ferier gør det samme for hende, i sammenligning med mig, der har tendens til at undgå både sociale anledninger og ferier så meget som muligt – yikes!!!!

Jeg må prøve at være mere som hende , det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om. Faktisk forbereder vi på at gå ferie i øjeblikket, hvilket altid fylder mig med en vis stigende urolighed – yikes (igen) !!!!!!

12:00 Vi kommer hjem og spiser frokost. Bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagsur.

15:00 Jeg står op og går ud i haven. Jeg giver mig til at slå græsplænen foran huset og den, der ligger umiddelbart bag huset. Jeg overlader de resterende 4 græsplæner indtil i morgen.

16:00 Jeg kommer ind i huset og Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te og et par mini-chokolade barer i sofaen.

Jeg kigger lidt på min smartphone. Jeg ser at Francis, vores svigersøn i Perth, Australien, har lagt et charmerende foto op på Facebook, der viser vores 42-årige datter Sarah og deres 6-årige tvillingedøtre Lily og Jessie i den botaniske park Araluen, der ligger omkring 20 miles syd for Perth: Francis’ budskab minder Lois og mig endnu en gang om, at årstider dernede er det helt modsatte af vores. ”Efter en kold, regnfyldt vinter har foråret endelig på vej”.

Vores datter Sarah og vores 6-årige tvillingebørnebørn Lily og Jessie

set her i den botaniske park Araluen, der ligger lidt syd for Perth, Australien

For Lois og mig den modsatte proces er på vej og vi har brug for at tænde centralvarmen tidligt om morgenen – brrr!!!

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

16:30 Jeg fortsætter med at kigge på min smartphone og jeg ser Morten Ingemanns seneste tegneserie, og den give mig lidt af en chok, for at sige mildt.

Morten Ingemann, den danske komiske geni, er min yndlings-tegneserietegner, ingen tvivl om det. Han interesserer sig meget for grimme, overvægtige, midaldrende eller ældre mennesker: de slags mennesker de fleste tegneserietegnere ikke lægger mærke til.

den 59-årige danske komiske geni Morten Ingemann,

min yndlings tegneserietegner

Ingemann ved godt, at negative medicinske diagnose kan være lidt deprimerende, men den menneskelige ånd er meget robust og ukuelig, og altid klar til at kæmpe mod sin skæben og afvise at acceptere nedelag. Medicinske arkiver er fuld af heltiske historier, hvori patienter kommet sig ovenpå forfærdlige sygdomme selvom alle chancerne var imod dem.

I aftenens tegneseriestribe ser vi to grimme, midaldrende mænd, der sidder på en bar. Den første mand har et almindeligt glas øl foran sig på dasken, og den 2. mand har et 2-fods høj kæmpeglas, fuld til randen med øl. Den første mand spørger sin ven, ”Ny stil, Brunsvig?” og den anden mand forklarer, ”Min læge har sagt, at jeg skal skrue mit forbrug ned til én genstand om dagen”.

Sikke en forfriskende fejring af den utæmmelige menneskelige ånd! Og tegneseriestriben får mig i godt humør for resten af aftenen, for at sige mildt. Pludselig føler jeg mig utrolig optimisk over for fremtiden af den menneskelige race, ingen tvivl om det.

18:30 Vi spiser aftensmadd og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn og lytte til radio. De viser en interessant dokumentfilm, der fejrer den gamle BBC sketch-show Monty Pythons Flying Circus’ 50.årsdag.

Et nostalgisk program for Lois og mig. Vi så begge to det oprindelige afsnit den 5 oktober 1969 – i vores henholdsvisse boliger: vi fandt ikke sammen indtil det følgende år.

den oprindelige programliste i BBCs ”Radio Times”-tidsskriftet

den 5. oktober 1969

Det er interessant, at “Radio Times”-tidsskriftets indslag om programmet fremviste et helt u-typisk foto, ikke af de 6 hovedsagelige komikere, men af Carol Cleveland, der spillede seriens sexede kvindelige roller.

Mange tv-seere var faktisk forvirrede af showet, for at sige mildt, også forvirrede om titlen, som én tv-seer fru DR Wilkins’ brev i tidsskriftet klargør:

BBCs svar til fru Wilkins var robust og ukompromitterende imidlertid.

Og Lois er meget glad for, at kunne få endnu en mulighed for at se sit yndlings-sketch, den såkaldte ”fisk-duel”, ved siden af en kanal, mellem John Cleese og Michael Palin.