Tuesday, September 24 2019

09:00 Lois and I tumble out of the shower cabinet and get dressed – there’s no urgency this morning. Earlier, when we were relaxing in bed, my friend, "Magyar" Mike called me to say that he was not coming for our weekly "Hungarian hour" - the weather girl had said it was going to be very windy with torrential rain and perhaps a thunderstorm this morning:  what’s left of Hurricane Humberto.

Mike has turned into a bit of a nervous driver, which is a bit of a shame. But we have agreed to meet next Tuesday, as usual.

flashback to June 2014: "Magyar" Mike (left) in happier times,

along with Lois (in the middle) and Mike's wife, "Magyar" Mary (right)

12:30 Lois and I have lunch, a little later than usual, and afterwards Lois has to go out. She wants to attend the funeral of her former work colleague, Mary, at the local crematorium. In the meantime, I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap. I get up at 3 pm and hop up on my fitness bike. I cycle 6 miles.

I have been wanting to follow up my exercise bike rides with a little light weight training, but my instruction book went missing a few months ago, which is really annoying, to put it mildly. I have discovered that it is only the useful books that go missing: it is totally impossible to mislay the useless ones, for some reason.

I try again to find the book, but without success. I decide to order a different instruction book online - the one I choose is targeted specifically at men and women over 50, which makes better sense perhaps.

15:30 Lois comes back from the crematorium and we relax with a cup of tea and a biscuit on the sofa. She talks a little about her former work colleague Mary's funeral. Mary and Lois both worked at a local nursing home.

Lois retired in 2006, at the same time as me, when we had both turned 60 years old. But Mary, who was a few months younger than us, continued to work at the nursing home until she was forced to retire in May at the age of 72, following a diagnosis of cancer.

Lois and I often wondered why Mary continued to work, considering she too was old enough to retire in 2006, and she and her husband, Dave, were not short of a few bob as far as we knew. We came to the conclusion that living alone with Dave day in and day out in their comfortable if not luxurious house could perhaps have been her biggest nightmare, but this was just speculation ha ha! And Dave seems to be such a sweet guy, so we are really not sure - the jury is still out on that one.

17:30 We have dinner, a little earlier than usual, because Lois is going out. She wants to attend her sect's Bible seminar, taking place tonight in Brockworth  library. The seminar is the first of the sect's new autumn semester. She drives over to her friend Mari-Ann's house and Mari-Ann is going to drive them both over to Brockworth.

19:00 I have some alone time, but I feel strangely restless. Suddenly, I recall that I have an appointment tomorrow morning with my Romanian dentist, Daria. At my usual 6-month check-up in August, she told me that I had somehow lost a filling - it must have fallen out without my noticing - damn (again) !!!!

Daria (left), the Romanian dentist with the good, relaxed conversation skills

and the charming smile, photographed here with a typical dental patient

Tomorrow's appointment will be a bit of a nightmare, to put it mildly, because I have also remembered that Daria intends to take two routine x-rays during the same appointment - damn! X-rays in the mouth are my personal worst phobia - no doubt about that !!!! Yikes !!!!!!!!

I’ll just have to try and “stay zen” throughout – no choice there really.

I try to put these thoughts aside, and spend the evening listening to the radio and watching some television, but with only limited success, I have to say, and I find it very difficult to concentrate.

20:00 I listen to the radio a bit, the latest episode of BBC Radio 4's "The Film Programme" series. The programme's host is the charming Antonia Quirke.

The programme includes an interview with Kenneth Moore's widow, Angela Douglas. Kenneth More was Britain's most prominent film actor in the 1950's, and a true British icon. And I remember the scandal in the 1960’s when Kenneth left his wife to move in with Angela, who was just 21 years old. Kenneth was 26 years older than her.

It was a scandal probably due to Kenneth being a big British icon (plus because of the massive age difference), but I'm not quite sure about that. I had a bit of a mega-crush on Angela at the time, and I remember the affair giving me hope that life could be a bit more interesting than it had seemed to be hitherto ha ha!

And that's also why it comes as a bit of a shock to me, to suddenly realise that Angela is turning 80 next month (Kenneth died in 1982).

Kenneth More and Angela Douglas

An interesting interview. Although Kenneth seemed to be such a confident man on stage and on screen, Angela says he got incredibly nervous before all his acting performances. Also that he avoided making any friendships - and if an acquaintance rang the doorbell in the evenings, he and Angela would turn off the lights and pretend they were not home. Now that's the kind of behaviour I really really admire and respect - I have to say.

21:00 I switch off the radio and watch a bit of television, the first hour of an interesting documentary about the Swedish film director, Ingmar Bergman. The film concentrates on the year 1957, which the filmmakers say was his most productive year.

Bergmantop

Bergmanlisting

I myself see movies very rarely and I do not know one film director from another, which is a bit of a shame because some of the TV quizzes I love are packed with questions about movies and directors.

What a strange man Bergman was. In the 1930’s, as a high school student, he visited Nazi Germany to improve his German, and he became Hitler's biggest fan. And he rooted for the Germans throughout the entire war (Sweden itself was of course neutral), even after Hitler invaded Denmark and Norway.

His first really big success in the film world was a shamelessly soft-core film that turned into an international hit, "Summer with Monica" (1953), showcasing young naked bodies against a romantic Swedish archipelago setting:  idyllic lakes, deserted islands, motor boats, and lots of strawberry picking in the nude etc etc.

Not a great movie by any standards, but maybe Bergman's last movie to make any sense ha ha ha!

"Summer with Monica" – not a masterpiece by any standards, but maybe

the last of Bergman’s movies to make any kind of sense ha ha!

After “Monica”, however, his later films seemed to be for him a way of working out all the traumas and neuroses from his childhood. He later said that all his films were autobiographical and each lead character represented Bergman himself, his life and his dreadful physical and mental problems, although he didn't admit to this at the time. Yikes!

In 1957, after his mega-cult success "The Seventh Seal", he could do no wrong in the art world. And when Dick Cavett, the American TV host, wanted to interview the workaholic Bergman in 1957, he had to go to Stockholm to do so.

And it was Cavett  who was nervous, not Bergman, and he made a lot of mistakes in the interview: he called "The Seventh Seal" "The Seventh Veil" and he called Bergman "Ingrid" instead of "Ingmar". My god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

flashback to 1957: Dick Cavett (right) interviews Bergman in Stockholm

22:00 Lois returns from Brockworth. I go to bed but Lois needs to relax a bit more first and wind down after tonight's stimulating Bible seminar, so she stays up for a little longer. She hops into the bed at 10:30 pm. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz !!!!!

Danish translation:  tirsdag den 24. September 2019

09:00 Lois og jeg vælter ud af brusekabinen og klæder os på – det er ikke noget, der haster i formiddag. Da vi tidligere var i gang med at slappe af i sengen ringede min ven, ”Magyar” Mike til mig for at sige, han ikke kommer for at deltage i vores ugentlige ”ungarske time” – vejrpigen har sagt, det blæser kraftigt, og det bliver styrtregn og måske tordenvejr i formiddag:  resten af orkanen Humberto.

Mike er blevet til lidt af en nervøs chauffør, hvilket er lidt af en skam. Men vi har aftalt at mødes næste tirsdag, som sædvanligt.

”Magyar” Mike (til venstre) i lykkeligere tider,

sammen med Lois (i midten) og Mikes kone, ”Magyar” Mary

12:30 Vi spiser frokost, lidt senere, end normalt, og bagefter skal Lois af sted. Hun ønsker at deltage i begravelsen af sin tidligere arbejdskollega, Mary, på det lokale krematorium. I mellemtiden går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15 og hopper op på min kondicykel. Jeg cykler 6 miles.

Jeg har lyst til at forfølge min kondicykeltræning med lidt let vægttræning, men min instruktionsbog blev borte for et par måneder siden, hvilket er irriterende, for at sige mildt.

Jeg har opdaget, at det bare er de nyttige bøger, der bliver borte : det er umuligt at forlægge de unyttige, af en eller anden grund.

Jeg prøver endnu en gang at finde bogen, men uden succés. Jeg beslutter at bestille en anderledes instruktionsbog på nettet – den, jeg vælger, er målrettet specifikt til mennesker over 50 år (både mænd og kvinder), hvilket lyder fornuftigt.

15:30 Lois kommer tilbage fra krematoriet og vi slapper af med en kop te og en kiks i sofaen. Hun taler lidt om sin tidligere arbejdskollega Marys begravelse. Mary og Lois arbejdede begge to på et lokale plejehjem til anglikanske præster.

Lois gik på pension i 2006, ligesom mig, da vi begge fyldte 60 år. Men Mary, der var et par måneder yngre, end os, fortsatte med at arbejde på plejehjemmet, indtil hun blev tvunget til at gå på pension i maj på 72 år, efter en diagnose af kræft.

Lois og jeg spekulerede ofte på, om hvorfor Mary fortsatte med at arbejde, i betragtning af, hun var gammel nok i 2006 til at gå på pension, og hun og hendes mand, Dave, ikke var i bekneb for skillinger. Vi kom til den konklusion, at dét, at leve alene med Dave dag ud dag ind i deres bekvemme men næppe luxuriøse hus var hendes største mareridt, men dette var bare spekulation ha ha! Og Dave synes at være sikke en sød fyr, så alt det der er vi ikke helt sikre på – juryen er stadig ude om det.

17:30 Vi spiser aftensmad, lidt tidligere, end normalt, fordi Lois skal ud. Hun ønsker at deltage i sin sekts bibelseminar, der finder sted i aften i byen Brockworths bibliotek. Seminaret er det første af sektens nye efterårssemester. Hun kører over til sin veninde Mari-Anns hus, og Mari-Ann vil køre dem begge over til Brockworth.

19:00 Jeg har lidt alenetid, men jeg føler mig mærkeligt rasteløs. Jeg har pludselig mindes om, at jeg har aftale i morgen formiddag hos min rumænske tandlæge, Daria. Ved min sædvanlige 6-månedes checkup i august fortalte hun mig, at jeg har på én eller anden måde mistet en plombe – den må være faldt ud, uden at jeg bemærkede det – pokkers (igen) !!!!

Daria, den rumanske tandlæge med de gode, afslappede samtalefærdigheder

og det charmerende smil, fotograferet her sammen med en typisk klinikpatient

Morgendagens aftale bliver lidt af et mareridt, for at sige mildt, fordi jeg også har mindes om, at hun at har til hensigt at tage to rutinemæssige røntgenbilleder under samme aftalen – pokkers! Røntgenbilleder i munden er min personlige værste fobi – ingen tvivl om det!!!! Yikes!!!!!!!!

Jeg forsøger at lægge disse tanker til side, og bruger aftenen på at lytte til radio og se lidt fjernsyn, med bare med begrænset succés, det må jeg nok sige, og jeg finder det meget svært at koncentrere mig.

20:00 Jeg lytter lidt til radio, det seneste afsnit af BBC Radio 4s ”The Film Programme”-serie. Programmets vært er den charmerende Antonia Quirke.

Programmet inkluderer et interview med Kenneth Mores enke, Angela Douglas. Kenneth More var Storbritanniens mest ypperste filmskuespiller i 1950’erne, og et sandt britisk ikon. Og jeg husker skandalen i 1960’erne, da Kenneth forlod sin kone for at flytte ind med Angela, der var lige fyldt 21. Kenneth var 26 år ældre, end hende.

En skandale sandsynligvis på grund af, at Kenneth var sikke et stort britisk ikon, men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på. Jeg havde lidt af et megacrush på Angela på det tidspunkt, og jeg mindes, at affæren gav mig håb om, at livet kunne være mere interessant, end det hidtil havde virket at være ha ha!

Og derfor er det er lidt af et chok for mig, pludselig at blive klar over, at Angela fylder 80 år næste måned (Kenneth døde i 1982).

Kenneth More and Angela Douglas

Et interessant interview. Selvom Kenneth virkede at være sådan en selvsikker mand på scenen og på skærmen, siger Angela, at han blev utroligt nervøs før alle sine skuespilpræstationer. Også dét, at han undgik at stifte venskaber, og hvis en bekendt ringede på døren om aftenen, at han og Angela slukkede for lysene og lod som om, de ikke var hjemme. Det er den slags adfærd jeg virkelig virkelig beundrer – det må jeg nok sige!

21:00 Jeg slukker for radioen og ser lidt fjernsyn, den første time af en interessant dokumentarfilm om den svenske filminstruktør, Ingmar Bergman. Filmen koncentrerer sig på året 1957, som filmmagererne siger varn hans mest produktive år.

Jeg selv ser film meget sjældent, og jeg kan ikke genkende den ene filminstruktør fra den anden, hvilket er lidt af en skam, fordi tv-quizzer er propfyldte af spørgsmål om film og instruktører.

Sikke en underlig mand – i 1930’erne, som gymnasiumelev, besøgte han nazistiske Tyskland for at forbedre sit tysk, og han blev til Hitler og nazisternes største fan. Og han heppede på tyskerne hele krigen igennem (selve Sverige var neutralt naturligvis), selv efter Hitler invaderede Danmark og Norge.

Hans første succes i filmverden var en skamløst blødpornofilm, der blev til en international hit, ”Summer with Monica” (1953), fremvisende unge nøgne kroppe imod et romantisk svensk øhav-baggrund.

Ikke en stor film ved enhver standarder, men måske Bergmans sidste film, der gav mening ha ha ha!

”Summer with Monica” – måske Bergmans sidste film, der gav mening ha ha!

Hans senere film var imidlertid en måde, han kunne udarbejde sine neuroser fra barndom. Han sagde senere, at alle sine film var autobiografiske og hver hovedrolle repræsenterede selve Bergman, hans liv og hans forfærdelige fysiske og psykiske problemer.

I 1957, efter hans mega-kultsucces ”Den syvende segl”, kunne han gøre ikke noget forkert i kunstverden. Da Dick Cavett, den amerikanske tv-vært, i 1957 havde lyst til at interviewe Bergman, måtte han rejse til Stockholm for at gøre det, og det var Cavett, der var nervøs, ikke Bergman, og han tog en masse fejl i interviewet: han kalde ”Den syvende segl” ”den syvende slør” og han kaldte Bergman ”Ingrid” i stedet for ”Ingmar”. Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

tilbageblik til 1957: Dick Cavett (til højre) interviewer Bergman i Stockholm

22:00 Lois kommer tilbage fra Brockworth. Jeg går i seng men Lois trænger til at slappe længere af og geare ned efter aftenens stimulerende bibelseminar, og hun forblive oppe lidt længere. Hun hopper op i sengen til mig kl 22:30. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!