Monday, October 14 2019

08:30 Lois and I roll out of bed - Lois is going to Tewkesbury again today: her friend Fran has promised to pick her up, and the two women have agreed to spend 1-2 hours walking around another of Tewkesbury's residential neighbourhoods, delivering their sect's pamphlets to the residents’  letterboxes: pamphlets publicising  the sect and its activities: worship services, meetings, seminars, illustrated presentations  on biblical topics and the like.

Lois says the worst problem she faces is loud, aggressive dogs sitting on the other side of the front doors, ready to bite her fingers if she pushes a pamphlet through the letter box:  to be safe, she tends to just turn around and creep away.

The booklet itself is quite attractive in my opinion - the photo on the front page channels George Michael's  iconic "Faith" album cover, which is a refreshing change. But the George Michael lookalike just has a Bible in his hand:

The front of the sect's latest pamphlet

The pamphlet channels George Michael's iconic "Faith" album cover,

which is a refreshing change, to put it mildly.

"Would the pamphlet be more effective if the George Michael lookalike had the pamphlet itself in his hand?", I wonder.

But maybe not, because there would be an infinite series of pamphlets within pamphlets, with each pamphlet slightly smaller than the last, with smaller and smaller George Michael lookalikes on the front, which might be a little distracting, to put it mildly.

Flashback to December 2015: problems with the concept of infinity -

The Lousiana Art Museum in Denmark, and endless images of me

taking photos of Lois.

But apologies! That was a bit of a digression. Back to reality!

11:00 Fran rings at the door and the two women leave.

I have some alone time and get going reading the next chapter (no. 63) of Njal's saga, written in the 13th century in Iceland, although the saga itself and the events in it are much much older. Scilla's U3A Old Norse group is holding its regular fortnightly meeting here on Wednesday and this saga is the group's current project.

The big feud continues to ravage all of Iceland. It started as a simple quarrel between two women, Hallgerda and Bergthora, firstly over the seating plan for a feast, and later compounded by  Hallgerd's alleged crime of sending her Irish slave, Malcolm, on a mission to steal cheese from one of Bergthora's farmhouses, and  also to burn down the farmhouse.

Hallgerd and Bergthoras feud originally stemmed

from an unexpected brawl that broke out over the seating plan for a feast

the bad vibes between the two women deteriorated further after Hallgerd

allegedly sent her Irish slave, Malcolm, to steal a large piece of cheese

from one of Bergthora's farmhouses, also to burn down the farmhouse

while he was about it.

Now it is several years later, and because of the two women's feud, large parts of Iceland are  now littered with dead bodies. In Chapter 63, a mass fight rages between Hallgerda's husband, Gunnar, and a bunch of his enemies, and all the combatants are heavily armed, to put it mildly! And heads are flying off bodies in every direction - yikes!

However, Gunnar must be careful not to kill more than one member of the same family during the same fight. His best friend Njal, who can to some extent predict the future, has told Gunnar that if he kills more than one member of the same family during the same fight, it will be his destiny (Gunnar's) to die himself soon afterwards - yikes , scary, because many of Gunnar's enemies are related to each other, as would be expected!

Watch out, Gunnar ha ha ha !!!

12:00 I hurry into the kitchen and make a portion of lunch for myself: ham and cucumber sandwiches with mini tomatoes, and an apple for dessert - yum yum! I watch a little television while eating, the first half of an interesting programme, recorded at Warwick University, where a panel of experts answer the audience's questions about astronomy, life, the universe, and everything else.

For the most part, Lois doesn't care too much about science programmes, so now is a good opportunity for me to see it, while she’s out. Astronomy programmes always make me feel totally insignificant, which is nice, because it puts our short lives into true perspective - so refreshing!

The evening's first question is a typical one, from this point of view. It's about the mirrors left on the moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts, which show that the moon is actually gradually moving away from Earth - and as a result, total solar eclipses will become progressively rarer and rarer. But when will the very very last solar eclipse take place?, asks a member of the audience.

At this point in time, apparently, we are able to see total solar eclipses precisely because the size of the Sun's disc and the size of the Moon's disc look similar from a human  vantage point on Earth. But now we know that the moon is actually moving very slowly away from us, at 1.5 inches or 3.8 cm per year. And so scientists have calculated that the very last total solar eclipse will occur in approx. 580 million years time – good grief!

Another question concerns the fact that the universe is constantly expanding in all directions. So if this is true, asks another questioner, why do scientists say that our galaxy (the Milky Way) and our nearest neighbour, Andromeda, are on a collision course?

The reason seems to be that the expansion of the universe is very very slow, and the gravity of the universe and other "local" factors can also still affect the galaxies’ movements and directions if they get too "close" to one another.

The collision in question will occur in approx. 3 billion years into the future. And scientists expect that no individual star will hit any other star because there is so much space between the stars in both galaxies - they will simply pass harmlessly in amongst each other. However, there will be a spectacular giant fireworks show, due to the collision of the gases from the two galaxies.

My god, what a crazy universe we live in!

we see a video clip showing the predicted collision of the two galaxies -

yikes, scary !!!!!!

The two galaxies will finally form one giant galaxy. And one of the show's experts, Oxford University professor Chris Lintott, reveals a possible attractive name that has been proposed for the new galaxy.

Chris explains that although the universe itself is expanding - very, very slowly - local side effects are much more important for practical purposes. He says we know this, because although the universe is expanding, he himself is not expanding… a statement which unfortunately causes something  to sound wrong inside his head ...

Fortunately, the BBC has an old clip of Chris, taken from a TV show in 2000, which is compelling evidence that he is actually expanding, perhaps even faster, than the universe itself ha ha!

flashback to 2000: Chris Lintott's first television interview

Maybe it's Chris' dryer that is making his clothes shrink, I speculate. But later in the day, I find that Steve, my American brother-in-law, has sent me an email suggesting that this plausible theory doesn't hold up in in a lot of people's cases haha.

13:00  Lois returns from Tewkesbury - her friend Fran drops her off in front of the house and drives home. I turn off the TV - I will have to watch the second half of the programme another time.

Lois and I talk a little about her experiences in yet another of Tewkesbury’s residential neighbourhoods with her sect's pamphlets, while she eats lunch. Afterwards, I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap.

16:00 I get up and we relax with a cup of tea on the couch.

18:00 We have dinner: the duck breasts have failed to thaw out in time, so we get Lois' "take" on one of my classic  signature dishes: corn beef, baked potatoes and baked beans - yum yum!

We spend the rest of the evening watching some television,  two TV quizzes, "Only Connect" and "University Challenge".

As usual, Lois and I, i.e. the two old crows, do our best to compete with the fresh young brains appearing in the quizzes, and we have a reasonably successful evening, I have to say, and Lois in particular.

In "University Challenge" we come up with a lot of correct answers, including 7 answers that the fresh young brains completely strike out on. Our petty triumphs are as follows:

1. Which museum in York houses attractions such as "Evening Star", "Duchess of Hamilton" and "Old Copper Knob"?

2. The International Slavery Museum and the Border Force Museum are both located in which port city?

3. In the early 2000’s, Paula Rego created a series of illustrations based on which novel, published in 1847, and written entirely in the first person?

4. "I would not make windows into men's souls" - which English monarch made this remark? [and how refreshingly democratic and anti-totalitarian, Lois and I think!]

5. "Busy old fool, unruly sun, why dost thou thus / through windows and through curtains call upon us?":  what poet came up with these lines?

6. Which title, stemming from a battle in World War II, was awarded to Field Marshal Montgomery in the year 1946?

7. Poems called "epithalamia", for example a work written in 1595 by Edmund Spenser, celebrate what kind of event?

The final score: healthy young brains 0, sick old crows 7, which is satisfying.

So Ovid was right after all, all those years ago haha.

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

Danish translation

08:30 Lois og jeg vælter ud af sengen – Lois skal til Tewkesbury igen i dag: hendes veninde Fran har lovet at afhente hende, og de to kvinder har aftalt at bruge 1-2 timer på at at gå rundt omkring i endnu en af byen Tewkesburys villakvarterer og levere deres sekts pjecer til indbyggernes brevkasser: pjecer, der publicerer sekten og dens aktiviteter:  gudstjenester, møder, seminarer, illustrerede fremlæggelser om bibelsk emner og den slags.

Lois siger, at det værste problem hun står overfor er højlydte,  aggressive hunde, der sidder og venter på den anden side af hoveddøren, og er klar til at bide hendes fingre af, hvis hun skubber en pjece gennem brevsprækken:  hun vil hellere at være på den sikre side, så hun har tendens til at vende sig om og krybe stille og roligt væk fra sådanne nogle huse, og beboerne må desværre gå glip af deres chancer for frelse, men jeg fortæller hende, at dette er selve de aggressive hundeejernes skyld ha ha!

Selve pjecen er ganske attraktiv efter min mening – billedet på forsiden kanaliserer George Michaels berømte ikoniske ”Faith”-albums omslag, hvilket er en forfriskende forandring. Men George Michael-lookaliken har en bibel i hånden:

Forsiden af sektens seneste pjece

Pjecen kanaliserer George Michaels ikoniske ”Faith”-albums omslag,

hvilket er en forfriskende forandring, for at sige mildt.

”Ville pjecen være mere effektiv, hvis George Michael-lookaliken havde selve pjecen i sin hånd?”, spekulerer jeg. Men måske ikke, fordi der ville være en uendelig serie af pjecer indenfor pjecer, med hver pjece lidt mindre end den sidste, med mindre og mindre George Michael-lookalikes på forsiden, hvilket måske ville være lidt distraherende, for at sige mildt.

Tilbageblik til december 2015: problemer med begrebet om uendelighed –

Lousiana kunst-museet i Danmark, og uendelige images af mig,

i gang med at tage fotoer af Lois.

Men undskyld! Dette var lidt af et sidespring. Tilbage til virkeligheden!

11:00 Fran ringer på døren og de to kvinder tager af sted.

Jeg har lidt alenetid og jeg går i gang med at læse det næste kapitel (nr 63) af Njals saga, skrevet i det 13. århundrede i Island, selvom selve sagaen og begivenhederne derinde er meget meget ældre. Scillas U3A oldnordiske gruppe holder sit regelmæssige fjortendagsmøde på onsdag hos os og denne saga er gruppens nuværende projekt.

Den store fejde fortsætter med at hærge hele Island over. Det startede som et simpelt skænderi mellem to kvinde, Hallgerda og Bergthora, først over bordplanen til en fest, og senere over Hallgerds angivelige  forbrydelse om at sende sin irske slave, Malcolm, på en mission, for at stjæle ost fra en af Bergthoras stuehuse, også at brænde  stuehuset ned.

Hallgerd og Bergthoras fejde stammede oprindeligt

fra en uforventet slagsmål, der brød ud over bordplanen til en fest

den dårlige stemning mellem de to kvinder forværredes efter Hallgerd

angiveligt sendt sin irske slave, Malcolm, for at dræbe et stor stykke ost

fra en af Bergthoras stuehuse, også at brænde stuehuset ned før at stakke af

Nu er det flere år senere, og på grund af de to kvinders fejde er store dele af landet dækket med døde kroppe. I kapitel 63 hærger en masseslagsmål mellem Hallgerdas mand, Gunnar, og en flok af hans fjender, og alle de kombattanter er tungt bevæbnede, for at sige mildt! Og hoveder flyver af menneskers kroppe i alle retninger – yikes!

Gunnar må være forsigtig imidlertid, ikke at dræbe flere end ét medlem af samme familien under slagsmålet. Hans bedste ven Njal, der i en vis grad kan forudse fremtiden, har fortalt Gunnar, at, hvis han dræber flere, end ét medlem af samme familien i løbet af det samme slagsmål, vil det være hans  skæbne at dø selv kort efter – yikes, skræmmende, fordi mange af Gunnars fjender er beslægtet til hinanden, som ville være forventet!  

Pas på, Gunnar ha ha ha!!!

12:00 Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver en portion frokost til mig selv: skinke og agurk sandwich med mini-tomater, med en æble til dessert – yum yum! Jeg ser lidt fjernsyn, mens jeg spiser, den 1. halvdel af en interessant program, optaget i Warwick University, hvor en panel af eksperter besvarer publikummets spørgsmål om astronomi, universet og den slags.

For det meste interesserer Lois sig ikke ret meget for videnskabelige programmer, så nu er det en god mulighed for at jeg ser det. Astronomiske programmer får mig altid at føle mig totalt ubetydelig, hvilket er rart, fordi det sætter vores korte liv i perspektiv.

Aftenens første spørgsmål er typisk, udset fra dette synspunkt. Det handler om de spejle, der blev  efterladt på månen af Apollo 11-astronauterne, som viser, at månen faktisk gradvist rejser væk fra jorden – og som resultat vil totale solformørkelser bliver gradvis sjældnere og sjældnere. Men hvornår vil den allersidste solformørkelse finder sted?

På dette tidspunkt ser vi totale solformørkelse præcis fordi størrelsen af solens plade og størrelsen af månens plade ser lignende ud fra et menneskes udsigtspunkt på jorden. Men nu ved vi, at månen faktisk flytter meget meget langsomt væk fra os, på 1,5 inches eller 3,8 cm om året. Og forskere har beregnet, at den allersidste totale solformørkelse vil opstå om ca. 580 millioner års tid – du godeste!

Et andet spørgsmål handler om dét, at universet konstant udvider sig i alle retninger. Så hvis dette er sandt, hvorfor siger forskere, at vores galakse (den mælkeagtige galakse) og Andromeda er på kollisionskurs?

Grunden er tilsyneladende, at universets udvidelse er meget meget langsomt, og universets tyngdekraft og andre ”lokale” faktorer også kan påvirke galaksernes bevægelser og retninger, hvis de kommer for ”tæt” på hinanden.

Den pågældende kollision vil opstå om ca. 3 milliarder år i fremtiden. Og forskere forventer, at ingen individuelle stjerner vil ramme nogen anden stjerne, fordi der er så meget rum mellem stjernerne i begge galakser – de vil simpelten passere harmløst mellem hinanden. Men der vil imidlertid være et spektakulær kæmpe fyreværkerishow, på grund af kollisionen af de to galaksers gasser.

Du godeste, sikke et skørt univers vi lever i!

vi ser en videoklip, der viser kollisionen af de to galaksier –

yikes, skræmmende !!!!!!

De to galakser vil endelig danne én kæmpe galaksi. Og én af showets eksperter, Oxford Universitys prof. Chris Lintott, afslører et muligt navn, der er blevet forslået for den nye galakse.

Chris forklarer, at selvom selve universet udvider sig, meget meget langsomt, er lokale bivirkninger meget mere vigtige, hvad angår det praktiske side af livet. Han påstår, at selvom universet udvider sig, er han selv ikke i færd med at udvide sig, før noget desværre klikker inde i sit hoved...

Chris Lintott, i gang med at forklare, at lokale bivirkninger

er det vigtige, da han pludselig mindes om sine egne vægtproblemer

Heldigvis har BBC et gammelt klip af Chris, taget fra et tv-show i 2000, hvilket er fældende bevis på, at han faktisk udvider sig, måske endnu hurtigere, end selve universet ha ha!

tilbageblik til 2000: Chris Lintotts første tv-interview

Måske er det Chris’ tørretumbler, der får hans tøj til at krympe, spekulerer jeg. Men senere på dagen finder jeg at Steve, min amerikanske svigerbror, har sendt mig en email med fældende bevis på, at denne teori i tilfælde af de fleste mennesker ikke holder stik haha.

13:00 Lois kommer tilbage fra Tewkesbury – Fran, hendes veninde, sætter hende af foran huset og kører hjem. Jeg slukker for fjernsynet – jeg bliver nødt til at se programmets 2. halvdel en anden tid. Lois og jeg snakker lidt om hendes oplevelser i endnu ét af byens villakvarterer med hendes sekts pjecer, mens hun spiser frokost. Bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

16:00 Jeg står op og vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad:  andebrystene har undladt at optø sig i tide, så vi får Lois’ ”take” på en af mine store signaturretter: corn beef, bagte kartofler og baked beans – yum yum!

Vi bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser to tv-quizzer, ”Only Connect” og ”University Challenge”.

Som sædvanligt gør Lois og jeg, to gamle krager, vores bedste for at dyste med de friske unge hjerner, der deltager i quizzerne, og vi har en rimelig succésfuld aften, det må jeg nok sige, og især Lois.  I ”University Challenge” kommer vi med en masse rigtige svar, inklusive 7 svar, hvor de friske unge hjerner er på bar bund, for at sige mildt. Vores småbitte  triumfer er som følger:

1.      Hvilket museum i York huser attraktioner såsom ”Evening Star”, ”Duchess of Hamilton” og ”Old Copperknob”?

2.      ”International Slavery”-museet og ”Border Force”-museet ligger begge i hvilken havneby?

3.      Først i 2000’erne skabte Paula Rego en serie af illustrationer, baserede på hvilken roman, udgivet i 1847, skrevet i første person?

4.      ”I would not make windows into men’s souls” – hvilken engelsk monark kom med denne  bemærkning? [og hvor forfriskende demokratisk og anti-autoritær, synes Lois og jeg!]

5.      ”Busy old fool, unruly sun / why dost thou thus / through windows and through curtains call on us?” : hvilken digter kom med disse linjer?

6.      Hvilken titel, baseret på et slag i den 2 verdenskrig, blev tildelt til Field Marshal Montgomery i år 1946?

7.      Digte, der hedder ”epithalamia”, for eksempel et værk skrevet i 1595 af Edmund Spenser, fejrer hvilken slags begivenhed?

Den finale score: friske unge hjerner 0, gamle krager 7 ha ha.

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzzz!!!!