Wednesday 11 September 2019

09:00 Lois and I jump out of the shower cubicle and after breakfast I head out into the back yard to try to mow our 4 remaining, smaller lawns - I mowed the "Big Two" yesterday. Unfortunately, it starts to rain lightly after 30 minutes and I decide to give up work for now.

I notice some animal has been digging two neat, straight lines of holes in two of our lawns at the bottom of the garden - is it a fox or badger perhaps? But the jury is still out on that one - and I have no idea what to do about it, that’s for sure.

some animal has been busy digging lines of holes in two of our lawns -

my god, what a sick world we live in !!!!

Foxes and badgers are such bastards - no doubt about that !!!!

10:00 Meanwhile, Lois rushes into the kitchen and starts making some jars of home-grown spiced apple chutney - yum yum! She uses a recipe we came across in our daughter Alison's cookbook when Lois and I were staying with her and her family a couple of weeks ago.

Trying to be like a seasoned millennial I took a picture of the recipe with my phone, instead of writing it down.

spiced apple chutney: the recipe we came across in our daughter Alison's cookbook,

when Lois and I were staying with her and her family a few weeks ago

Lois starts making the chutney using

some of our home-grown cooking apples

Later in the morning, I look into the kitchen - and see 3 jars on the kitchen table: the recipe has only made 2 and a half pounds, which is a little disappointing, but it will keep us going: and we only use a little chutney for any given meal anyway.

The recipe makes only 2 and a half pounds, 

which is a little disappointing maybe,

but it will keep us going for now

12:30 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap.

15:00 I get up and start vacuuming all over the house. Our U3A Danish group is holding its regular fortnightly meeting here tomorrow afternoon, and Lois and I don't want them to realise that we live like pigs most of the time ha ha ha!

If only they knew what kind of filth we are quite happy to put up with when they're not here ha ha ha (again) !!!

16:00 We relax with a cup of tea and a few mini chocolate bars on the sofa. Afterwards, I start reading the next 5-6 pages of the Danish crime novel, Anna Grue's "The Further You Fall", which is our Danish group's current project.

Anna Grue's " The Further You Fall", a Danish crime novel,

which is our Danish group's current project

 Anna Grue, the author of the novel

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

Police pick up Benjamin, Liliana's workmate as their first suspect - the young man has already lied to police about his movements during that night. And with his unusual fashion choices (makeup, piercings, safety pins, etc.) he resembles the prototype of a serial killer, think many of the police.

However Flemming Torp, the novel's leading police detective, doesn't believe Benjamin is the killer  - in fact he thinks the young people who are most painted and pierced and tattooed are usually the softest inside, and Lois and I think he’s right on that one.

Detective Flemming Torp (André Babikian), seen here on the left

Flemming and other police detectives are now going crazy interrogating not only Benjamin but also all the advertising agency's staff, including the agency's "big cheese", Sebastian Kurt. Many staff are breaking down in tears under the intense interrogation, and "big cheese" Kurt actually stormed out when they were finished with him, with “a face like thunder”.

There is a terrible atmosphere in the agency at the moment because of the gruesome murder that occurred the previous evening, and the brutally intense conduct of the police interrogations.

Fortunately however there is always the sexy secretary Fiona Krause, who is guaranteed to make some delightful, funny comments, and lighten the mood.

Fiona Krause, the agency’s sexy secretary

Fiona noted that some people have first names which are also last names and vice versa, and she comments that under different circumstances, their big boss might have been called "Kurt Kurt", and "If Bille August had married Joen Bille, then he could call himself Bille BIlle ”- and she laughed so much at her own joke that tears ran down her cheeks.

Bille August, the famous Danish film director

Joen Bille, the famous Danish actor,

and grandson of Henrik Ibsen, the Norwegian playwright

Atta girl, Fiona, you go girl! She says that while it was a little awkward that someone seems to have killed one of the agency's cleaning ladies, people couldn't just go around crying about it all day, which seems reasonable enough ha ha!

On the other hand, I have a bit of a problem with Fiona's example:  Bille August marrying Joen Bille and becomes Bille Bille.

As far as I know these 2 men are not gay, but anyway I personally have nothing against same-sex marriages.

However I tend to think that the joke works better with a traditional marriage between a man and a woman. Is it really true that when two men marry, one or other of them feels the pressure to change their last name? Especially if they are both well-known in professional circles? 

I don’t think so!

I'm considering writing to the novelist's author, Anna Grue, to suggest that Fiona, in later editions of the book, uses, for example, Taylor Swift and James Taylor as her fantasy married couple - both are famous singers, for a start, and would have a lot in common from the outset.

Taylor Swift would totally have no problem changing the name and becoming Taylor Taylor, I think. Or am I completely wrong? And has the world suddenly gone crazy ???

country star / folk singer James Taylor

pop singer Taylor Swift, the future Mrs Taylor Taylor perhaps?

I should probably ask our Danish group at tomorrow's meeting if they think James and Taylor would make a good married couple or not.

a Swift-Taylor fantasy wedding (artist's impression)

- A good match, right? I will have to ask our Danish group tomorrow.

The jury is still out on that one, Lois thinks.

snapshot of an excerpt from the back of Taylor Swift's High School Yearbook

with doodles removed.

18:00 We have dinner, a little earlier than usual, because Lois has to go out. She wants to attend her sect's monthly business meeting, taking place tonight in Tewkesbury library. She is getting a lot of back pain at the moment and she has asked me to drive her over there. Her friends Alf and Mari-Ann, who are also members of the sect, will drive her home at the end of the meeting.

19:00 I drive Lois over to Tewkesbury - the weather clears up and the Malvern hills look lovely silhouetted against the sky - romantic !!! I drop Lois off in front of the library and drive home.

I have some alone time and listen to the radio, a programme with an interesting-sounding title and description, "The long and the short of life expectancy". The programme's host is the BBC's charming Timandra Harkness.

The protracted (200-year) major increase in life expectancy began to level off in the UK in 2010-2012, which was also the period when David Cameron's government first implemented a number of health budget and social services savings, etc. But was this the reason why the increases in our life expectancy began to level out?

Timandra Harkness doesn't think so. The problem has hit several countries, including the United States, Australia and most European countries (except Denmark - yikes, Danes win again !!!! And why doesn't Timandra take this chance to discuss Denmark's unique situation? A wasted opportunity there).

Statistics for the UK and the Netherlands, for example, show a similar levelling off, despite there being far fewer budget cuts in the Netherlands.

Italy, Spain and Greece have also made budget savings, but have not seen the same levelling off.

It appears that researchers are not entirely sure of the causes, and there may be more than one factor responsible for the results.

Damn!

At the end of the programme, however, Timandra comments that the levelling out in "healthy old age", as opposed to "old age in general" is even more disappointing - what is the point, she says, of living longer if we are increasingly hit by illness, pain, etc. That is the area, we need to concentrate on, she says.

Timandra's guest, the charming journalist Camilla Cavendish, an ex-adviser to David Cameron, stresses the importance of having a purpose in old age, and a sense of feeling useful. She says that nuns, for example, tend to live longer than most.

This is the answer for me - I can see it all of a sudden! To take holy orders and become a nun! I imagine that they have male nuns now, but I'm not sure - the jury is still out on that one. But I will leave the necessary research until tomorrow.

Camilla Cavendish, journalist and ex-advisor to David Cameron

22:00 Lois comes home and we tumble into bed - zzzzzzzzzzz !!!!!

Danish translation : onsdag den 11. september 2019

09:00 Lois og jeg hopper ud af brusekabinen og efter morgenmand går jeg ud i baghaven for at forsøge at slå vores resterende mindre græsplæner – jeg slog de to store i går. Desværre begynder det at regne let efter 30 minutter, og jeg beslutter at opgive arbejdet.

Jeg lægger mærke til, at et eller andet dyr graver to sirlige, lige linjer af hullene i to af vores græsplæner i bunden af haven – er det en ræv eller grævling måske? Men det er juryen stadig ude om – og jeg har ikke den fjerneste anelse om, hvad jeg kan gøre ved det – det ved jeg med sikkerhed.

et eller andet dyr har haft travlt med at grave linjer af huller i to af vores græsplæner –

du godeste, sikke en syg verden vi lever i !!!!

Ræve og grævlinger er sådanne nogle sjufter – ingen tvivl om det!!!!

10:00 I mellemtiden skynder Lois sig ind i køkkenet og går i gang med at lave nogle krukker hjemmedyrket krydret æblechutney – yum yum! Hun bruger en opskrift vi stødte på i vores datter Alisons kogebog, da Lois og jeg opholdte os hos hende og hendes familie for et par uger siden.

krydret æblechutney: den opskrift vi stødte på i vores datter Alisons kogebog,

da Lois og jeg opholdte hos hende og hendes famili for et par uger siden

Lois går i gang med at lave chutneyen ved hjælp af

nogle af vores hjemmedyrkede kogeæbler

Senere på formiddagen kigger jeg ind i køkkenet – og ser 3 krukker på køkkenbordet: opskriften har kun fremstillet 2,5 pund, hvilket er lidt skuffende, men det vil holde os i gang: og vi bruger kun lidt chutney til nogen given måltid - det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om.

Opskriften fremstiller kun 2,5 pund, hvilket er lidt skuffende måske,

men det vil holde os i gang – ingen tvivl om det

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermidagslur.

15:00 Jeg står op og går i gang med at støvsuge overalt i huset. Vores U3A danske gruppe holder sit regelmæssige fjortendags møde hos os i morgen eftermiddag, og Lois og jeg vil ikke have dem til at indse, at vi lever som svin det meste af tiden ha ha ha! Hvis bare de vidste, hvad slags vanvittig tosseri vi bruger vores tid på, når de ikke er her ha ha ha (igen) !!!

16:00 Vi slapper af med en kop te og et par mini-chokoladebarer i sofaen. Bagefter går jeg i gang med at læse de næste 5-6 sider af den danske krimiroman, Anna Grues ”Dybt at falde”, som er vores danske gruppes nuværende projekt.

Anna Grues ”Dybt at falde”, en dansk krimiroman,

der er vores danske gruppes nuværende projekt

Anna Grue, romanens forfatterinde

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

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. Og med sine forskellige modevalg (makeup, piercinger, sikkerhedsnåle osv) ligner han prototypen på en seriemorder, tror politiet, selvom Flemming Torp, romanens førende poitidetektiv, ikke tror at Benjamin er gerningsmanden – han tror faktisk, at de unge, der er allemest malet og piercet og tatoveret og touperet efter hans mening er sædvanligt de blødeste indeni.

DanSommerdahl: (fra højre til venstre) romanens helt, reklamemanden 

Dan Sommerdahl (Peter Mygind),

Dans kone, Marianne (Laura Drasbæk), og detektiven Flemming Torp (André Babikian)

Flemming og politiets andre detektiver går nu amok i at forhøre ikke bare Benjamin, men også reklamebureauets personale, herunder bureauets ”høje chef” Sebastian Kurt. De fleste personale bryder sammen i gråd under forhøringen, mens Kurt, den høje chef, stormede ud, da de var færdige med ham, med ansigtet formørket som en tordensky.

Der er en forfærdelig stemning i bureauet på grund af den grusomme mord, der fandt sted den foregående aften, og den brutale fremfærd af politiets afhøringer, men heldigvis er der altid den sexede Fiona Krause, der er garanteret for at komme med nogle morsomme kommentarer, for at lette stemningen.

Fiona Krause, bureauets sexede sekretær

Hun har bemærkt, at nogle folk har fornavne som efternavn og omvendt, og hun kommenterer, at under anderledes omstændighederne kunne deres høje chef have heddet ”Kurt Kurt”, og ”Hvis Bille August giftede sig med Joen Bille, så kunne hun kalde sig Bille Bille” – og hun grinede så meget at tårerne løb ned over hendes kinder.

Bille August, den berømte danske filminstruktør

Joen Bille, den berømte danske skuespiller,

og barnebarn af Henrik Ibsen, den norske dramatiker

Kom så, Fiona!  Hun siger, at selvom det var lidt uhyggeligt, at der var nogen, der havde slået en af bureauets rengøringsdame ihjel, kunne folk ikke gå rundt og græde over det hele dagen, hvilket synes fornuftigt nok ha ha!

På den anden side har jeg lidt af et problem med Fionas eksempel: Bille August gifter sig med Joen Bille og bliver Bille Bille.

Jeg har ikke noget imod samme-køn ægteskaber, men jeg har tendens til at synes, at vittigheden virker bedre med et traditionelt ægteskab mellem en mand og en kvinde. Er det virkelig sandt, at når to mænd gifter sig med hinanden, føler den ene eller den anden presset til at skifte efternavnet, især hvis de begge to er velkendte i professionelle kredser? Det tror jeg ikke!

Jeg overvejer at skrive til krimiromanens forfatterinde, Anna Grue, for at forslå, at Fiona i senere udgaver af bogen, bruger for eksempel,  Taylor Swift og James Taylor som hendes fantasi-ægtepar, for begge to  er berømte sangere: og Taylor Swift ville helt sikkert have ikke nogen problem med at skifte navnet og bliver Taylor Taylor. Eller er jeg helt forkert – eller har verden gået helt vanvittig???

folkesangeren James Taylor

popsangeren Taylor Swift, den kommende Mrs Taylor Taylor måske?

Jeg skal nok spørge vores danske gruppe på morgendagens møde, hvis de synes James og Taylor ville danne et godt ægtepar, eller ej.

et Swift-Taylor fantasi-brylluppet (kunstners indtryk)

- Et godt parti, eller ej? Jeg må spørge vores danske gruppe i morgen.

Juryen stadig ude om det, lader det til.

et uddrag fra bagsiden af Taylor Swifts højskolesårbog

med kruseduller fjernet.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad, lidt tidligere, end normalt, fordi derefter skal Lois ud. Hun har lyst til at deltage i sin sekts månedlige forretningsmøde, der finder sted i aften i byen Tewksburys biblioteket. Hun har ondt i ryggen for tiden og hun har bedt mig om at køre hende derovre. Hendes venner Alf og Mari-Ann, der også er medlemmer af sekten, vil køre hende tilbage ved slutningen af mødet.

19:00 Jeg kører Lois over til Tewkesbury – vejret klarer op og Malvern-bakkerne ser dejlige ud tegnende sig i silhouet mod himlen – romantisk!!!  Jeg sætter Lois af foran biblioteket og kører hjem.

Jeg har lidt alenetid og lytter lidt til radio, et program med en interessant-lydende titel og beskrivelse, ”Det lange og det korte af forventet leveforventelse”. Programmets vært er BBCs charmerende Timandra Harkness.

Den langvarige (200 årige) stigning i leveforventelse begyndte at jævne ud i Storbritannien i 2010-2012, hvilket var også perioden, da David Camerons regering først gennemførte en række besparelser på sundhedsbudgettet og sociale tjenester osv. Men var dette årsagen til, at stigninger i vores leveforventelse begyndte at jævne ud?

Det tror Timandra Harkness ikke. Problemet har ramt flere lande, herunder USA, Australien og de fleste europæiske lande (bortset fra Danmark – yikes, danskerne vinder igen !!!! (Og hvorfor benytter Timandra ikke lejligheden til at diskutere Danmarks enestående situation? En spildt mulighed der.)

Statistikker til Storbritannien og Holland, for eksempel, viser en lignende udjævning, på trods af, at der har været langt mindre besparelser i Holland.

Italien, Spanien og Grækkenland har også gennemført besparelse, men har ikke set den samme udjævning.

Det ser ud til, at forskere er ikke helt sikre på årsagerne, og det kan være, at der er flere, end en faktor, der er ansvarlig for resultaterne.

Pokkers!

Ved slutningen af programmet kommenterer Timandra imidlertid, at udjævning i ”sund alderdom” er endnu mere skuffende – hvad er pointen, siger hun, med at leve længere, hvis vi er mere og mere ramt af sygdom, smerter osv. Det er det område, vi har brug for at koncentrere os om, siger hun.

Timandras gæst, den charmerende journalist Camilla Cavendish, en eks-rådgiver til David Cameron, understreger vigtigheden af at have et formål i alderdom, og en sans for at føle sig nyttig. Hun siger at nonner, for eksempel, har en tendens til at leve længere, end flere.

Dette er svaret for mig – det kan jeg pludselig se! At lade mig ordinere som nonne! Jeg formoder, de har mandlige nonner nu til tiden, men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på – juryen er stadig ude om det. Men jeg vil overlade den nødvendige forskning indtil i morgen.

Camilla Cavendish, journalist og eks-rådgiver til David Cameron

22:00 Lois kommer hjem og vi vælter ind i sengen – zzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!