Wednesday, October 16 2019

09:30 Lois goes around the corner to the Billy Shears hairdresser’s to get her hair cut. James, her personal hairdresser tells her he has recently taken over the entire business. My goodness, he's only in his 30’s - what madness !!!

In the meantime, I start clearing up and vacuuming in the dining room, on the stairs and in the bathroom, because Scilla's U3A Old Norse group is holding its regular fortnightly meeting here this afternoon at 2:30 pm. Afterwards, I flip through a few chapters of Njal's saga, because this saga is the group's current project. The saga was written down in the 13th century in Iceland, although the saga itself and the events in it are much much older.

The big feud continues to ravage all of Iceland. It started out as a simple quarrel between two women, Hallgerda and Bergthora, firstly over the seating plan for a feast.

Hallgerd and Bergthora’s feud originally stemmed

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

The feud has escalated, to say the least, and now the entire population is trying to kill each other. And in these two chapters we also read about a duel (a so-called "hestevig") between two horses, which a few days later leads to a mass fight between the horse owners and their relatives – my god, "When will this feud end?", I ask myself.

two horses duel in today’s chapter of Njal's saga

I do some research on the web. It turns out that the so-called "hestevig" was a mega entertainment activity in the Viking Age in the Icelandic Commonwealth (930-1262), and was thought to have been a fight between two stallions, egged on by their masters, which mainly served to choose the best candidates for breeding. It was a cultural event of great significance and sometimes led to verbal and physical confrontations among the crowd.

The events were also an opportunity for young people to meet new girlfriends/boyfriends and hook up afterwards.  How romantic (not !!!!!)! My goodness, what a crazy country they lived in, those Vikings !!!

12:00 Lois and I have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a short afternoon nap. Meanwhile, Lois goes for a walk on the local football field to test out her brand new floral rubber boots - the boots we bought yesterday - her verdict is "they're absolutely fine". I get up at 2 pm and prepare for Scilla's U3A Old Nordic group meeting.

14:30 Scilla's group members arrive and we study Old Norse for an hour and a half. Lois surprises me at the last moment by saying she wants to join in the group meeting - she has begun to take an interest in medieval Icelandic society: and it is a very mysterious and enigmatic society, I have to admit. And Lois hopes that her Danish will help her a little with understanding the Old Norse text.

At the beginning of the meeting, Scilla tells members about the local Swedish woman who has said she wants to join the group meetings. She says the woman can't attend today because she's in Nice, France - crumbs! - but the woman hopes she can attend the next meeting, on October 30 (1 day before Brexit, according to Boris - yikes (again) !!!!!)

But halfway through the meeting, the Swedish woman calls us. She's not in Nice at all, she's in Cheltenham and she can't find our house. It turns out that Scilla not only misunderstood thewoman's travel plans but also gave her the wrong address for our house. The woman had finally given up and gone back home again.

Good grief, Scilla!

Sometimes I wonder about Scilla - she's so vague and absent-minded. What a fiasco for the poor Swedish woman. I just hope that she has not been totally discouraged, and that she will try again in 2 weeks time. The poor thing !!!!

At the end of today’s meeting, we confirm that our next meeting will take place on October 30. And we have a brief but fun discussion about the Brexit-madness, which Boris says will take place on October 31, come hell or high water. Will the experience be a bit like the dreaded "Y2K" crisis when people were told that the world's computer screens would all go black on January 1, 2000, we speculate? Will all our home appliances from EU countries suddenly stop working on October 31?

But it turns out that none of us are quite sure about any of this, so the jury is still out on it ha ha ha!

At the moment, poor TV viewers are being constantly bombarded by the government's scary "advertisements" that remind us that Brexit is happening on October 31, and that we all have to "prepare" for it – my god, what madness !!! At least these stupid commercials will end on November 1st, which will be a bit of a relief, to put it mildly !!!!

16:00 The meeting ends and members leave. Lois and I relax with a cup of tea and a biscuit on the couch.

17:30 We have dinner, a little earlier than usual, because Lois wants to attend her sect's weekly Bible class, taking place tonight in Tewkesbury  library. Tonight is a special class because the area's residents have also been invited to attend, perhaps tempted by many hundreds of leaflets that the sect's members have delivered to the town’s  letterboxes.

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

The front page of the sect's latest leaflet

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

which is a refreshing change, to put it mildly.

The topic of tonight's presentation is, "The Bible is True." And I can sense that Lois and the sect's members are very excited about the prospects for tonight's event, and optimistic that they can attract new members to the sect from the town's population. We will have to see.

Lois doesn't like to drive in the dark, so she's asked me to drive her over there. Her friends, Alf and Mari-Ann, will drive her home after the event finishes.

Hopes are high among the sect members, no doubt about that. On the way, Lois and I swing by the local convenience store, Burgage Stores, so she can grab a couple of packs of biscuits to offer "the visitors".

19:00 I drop Lois in front of the library and drive home. I have some alone time and watch a bit of  television. I see the second half of an interesting programme, recorded at Warwick University, where a panel of experts answer the audience's questions about astronomy, life, the universe, everything else, and more besides.

Mike Carter, a member of the audience, comments that he has often heard that the light from very distant galaxies has been travelling towards us for very long periods of time, often representing a very large proportion of the lifetime of the universe. His question is, if light started so long ago and the universe at that time was much smaller and the earth's future position was much closer, then why has that light not already gone past us? The issue causes mild consternation among the programme's experts as they struggle to explain the concepts involved.

Chris Lintott tries to tackle the issue. He says the thing is, the universe is SO big, and that's why the issue is SO difficult. And even right after the beginning of the universe, it was already very, very big.

My goodness, how mind-blowing! These are the kinds of concepts that fascinate me about astronomy: the fact, for example, that we only see a tiny fraction of the universe.

21:30 Lois returns from Tewkesbury. The evening's preacher and his presentation were fantastic, she says, but the results of the sect members' campaign to attract the local population were a bit disappointing, to put it mildly. There were only 2 "visitors" and both had already been in contact with the sect on previous occasions. This is very disappointing for members who spent a great deal of time over the past week distributing their shiny new leaflets.

And the preacher said also, after giving his presentation, that his sermons on the web attract hundreds of comments and "likes" and so on.

I discuss the problem a bit with Lois. We live in the Internet age, and people no longer like going out on winter nights to hear sermons in the middle of town. In addition, nowadays, we get so many leaflets and advertising leaflets through our letter boxes. I'm pretty sure most people immediately throw them in the trash. I know I do ha ha!

22:00 I go to bed but Lois needs to relax a bit and wind down after tonight's stimulating sermon.

I have got into the habit of choosing her “wind-down” programme. I'm so warm-hearted ha ha! Tonight I have picked some old episodes of "Fawlty Towers," a fun 1970’s sitcom.

She wakes me up when she hops up in bed with me at midnight. We talk a little about the sitcom's funny characters and enjoy ourselves with all that stuff before we drift off to sleep. What a day - zzzzzzz !!!!

Danish translation: onsdag den 16 oktober 2019

09:30 Lois går rundt om hjørnet til Billy Shears-damefrisøren for at få håret klippet. James, hendes personlige frisør fortæller hende, han for nylig har overtaget hele forretningen. Du godeste, han er kun i 30’erne – sikke et vanvid!!!

I mellemtiden går jeg i gang med at rydde op og støvsuge i spisestuen, på trappen og på badeværelset, fordi Scillas U3A oldnordiske gruppe holder sit regelmæssige fjortendagsmøde i eftermiddag kl 14:30 hos os. Bagefter blader jeg igennem et par kapitler af Njals saga, fordi denne saga er gruppens nuværende projekt.  Sagaen blev skrevet i det 13. århundrede i Island, selvom selve sagaen og begivenhederne derinde er meget meget ældre.

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.

Hallgerd og Bergthoras fejde stammede oprindeligt

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

Fejden har eskaleret, for at sige mildt, og nu er hele befolkningen i gang med at prøve at dræbe hinanden. Og i disse 2 kapitler læser  vi også en duel (en såkaldt ”hestevig”) mellem to heste, hvilket fører et par dage senere til et masseslagsmål mellem hestenes ejere og deres slægtninge – du godeste, ”hvornår vil denne fejde ende?”, spørger jeg mig selv.

to heste duellerer i Njals saga

Jeg gør lidt forskning på nettet. Det viser sig, at den såkaldte ”hestevig” var en underholdningsaktivitet i vikingetiden i det islandske samveld (930 - 1262), formodentlig en sport bestående af konfrontation mellem to hingste, der blev ægget af deres mestre, som hovedsageligt tjente til at vælge de bedste kandidater  til avl. Det var en kulturel begivenhed af stor betydning og førte undertiden til verbale og fysiske konfrontationer blandt tilskuerne.

Eventerne var også en mulighed for at unge mennesker møder nye kærester og finder sammen efter mængderne var gået hjem. Hvor romantisk (ikke!!!!!) ! Du godeste, sikke et skørt land de levede i, de der vikinge!!!

12:00 Lois og jeg spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en kort eftermiddagslur. I mellemtiden går Lois en tur på den lokale fodboldbane for at teste sine spritnye blomstrede gummistøvler ud – de støvler vi købte i går – hendes dom er ”de er helt fine”. Jeg står op kl 14 og forbereder mig på Scillas U3A oldnordiske gruppemøde.

14:30 Scillas gruppemedlemmer ankommer og vi studerer oldnordisk i en time og en halv. Lois overrasker mig på det sidste øjeblik ved at sige, hun vil være med i gruppemødet – hun er begyndt at interessere sig for det middelalderlige islandske samfund: og det er et meget mystiske samfund, det må jeg indrømme. Og hun håber på, at hendes dansk vil hjælpe hende lidt om at forstå den oldnordiske tekst.

I starten af mødet fortæller Scilla medlemmerne om den lokale svenske kvinde, der har sagt, hun har lyst til at komme med i gruppens møder. Hun siger, at kvinden ikke kan deltage i dag, fordi hun er i Nice, i Frankrig – yikes! – men hun håber, hun kan deltage i det næste møde den 30. oktober (1 dag før Brexit, ifølge Boris – yikes (igen) !!!!!

Men halvvejs i mødet ringer den svenske kvinde til os. Hun er ikke i Nice, hun er i Cheltenham og hun kan ikke finde vores hus. Det viser sig, at Scilla gav hende den forkerte adresse. Kvinden gav op endelig og gik tilbage hjem igen.

Du godeste, Scilla! Nogle gange undrer jeg mig om Scilla – hun er så vag og åndsfraværende. Sikke et fiasko for den stakkels svenske kvinde. Jeg håber bare på, at hun er ikke blevet totalt afskrækket, og at hun vil prøve igen om 2 ugers tid. Staklen!!!!

I slutningen af vores oldnordiske gruppemøder, bekræfter vi at vores næste møde vil finde sted den 30. oktober. Og vi har vi en kort men morsom discussion om Brexit, som Boris siger vil foregå den 31. oktober, hvad der end sker. Vil oplevelsen ligne den frygtede ”Y2K”-krise, da folk blev fortalt, at verdens computerskærmerne  ville alle gå i sort den 1. januar 2000? Vil alle vores huslige apparater, der kom fra EU-lande pludselig gå i stå den 31. oktober?

Men det er vi ikke helt sikre på, så er juryen stadig ude om det ha ha ha!

I øjeblikket bliver stakkels tv-seere konstant bombarderet med regeringens skræmmende ”reklamer” om, at Brexit foregår den 31. oktober, og vi alle må forberede os på den – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!  I det mindste vil disse dumme reklamer ophøre den 1. november, hvilket vil være lidt af en lettelse, for at sige mildt!!!!

16:00 Mødet slutter og medlemmer tager af sted. Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te og en kiks i sofaen.

17:30 Vi spiser aftensmad , lidt tidligere, end normalt, fordi Lois ønsker at deltage i sin sekts ugentlige bibelklasse, der finder sted i aften i byen Tewkesburys bibliotek.  I aften er en speciel klasse, fordi områdets indbyggere også er blevet inviteret at deltage, fristet af mange hundredvis af pjecer, som sektens medlemmer har leveret til byens brevkasser.

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.

Emnet af aftenens fremlæggelse er, ”Bibelen er sand”. Og jeg kan mærke, at Lois og sektens medlemmer er meget begejstrede over udsigter til aftenens klasse, og optimistiske om, at de kan tiltrække nye medlemmer fra byens befolkning. Vi får se.

Lois kan ikke lide at køre bil i mørket, så hun har bedt mig om at køre hende derover. Hendes venner, Alf og Mari-Ann vil køre hende hjem igen efter klassen.

Håb er høje blandt sektmedlemmerne, ingen tvivl om det. På vej smutter Lois og jeg ind i den lokale nærbutik, Burgage Stores, så hun kan snuppe et par kikspakker til at tilbyde ”besøgerne”.

19:00 Jeg sætter Lois af foran biblioteket og kører hjem. Jeg har lidt alenetid og ser lidt fjernsyn. Jeg ser den 2. halvdel af et interessant program, optaget i Warwick University, hvor en panel af eksperter besvarer publikummets spørgsmål om astronomi, livet, universet og den slags.

Mike Carter, et medlem af publikummet, kommenterer, at han ofte har hørt, at lyset fra meget fjerne galakser er blevet rejsende mod os i meget lange perioder, ofte en meget stor andel af universets livstid. Hans  spørgsmål er, hvis lys startede for så længe siden, og universet dengang var meget mindre, og jordens kommende position var meget tættere, så hvorfor er den der lys ikke allerede rejst forbi os. Spørgsmålet forårsager mild bestyrtelse blandt programmets eksperter, mens de kæmper for at forklare koncepterne.

Chris Lintott forsøger sig med at takle spørgsmålet. Han siger, at universet er så stor, og derfor spørgsmålet er så svært. Og allerede endda lige efter begyndelsen af universet var det allerede meget meget stort.

Du godeste, hvor sindsblæsende! Det er de slags koncepter, der fascinerer mig om astronomi: det faktum for eksempel, at vi kun ser en lillebitte andel af universet.

21:30 Lois kommer tilbage fra Tewkesbury. Aftenens prædiker og hans fremlæggelse var fantastisk, siger hun, men resultaterne af medlemmers kampagne for at tiltrække den lokale befolkning var lidt skuffende, for at sige mildt. Der var kun 2 ”besøgere”, og begge to havde allerede været i kontakt med sekten. Dette er meget skuffende for medlemmerne, der brugte en masse tid i løbet af den seneste uge i at distribuere sektens spritnye pjecer.

Og prædikeren sagde efter sin fremlæggelse, at hans prædikener på nettet tiltrykker hundredvis af kommenterer og ”likes” osv.

Jeg diskuterer problemet lidt med Lois. Vi bor i internetalderen, og folk kan ikke længere lide at gå ud om vinteraftener for at høre prædikener midt i byen. Derudover nu til dags, vi får så mange pjecer og reklamesedler ind at brevsprækken. Jeg er helt sikker på, at de fleste mennesker umiddelbart smider dem i papirkurvet. Jeg ved godt, at jeg gør det ha ha!

22:00 Jeg går i seng men Lois trænger til at slappe lidt af og geare ned efter aftenens stimulerende prædiken.

Jeg er kommet i vane med at vælge hendes ”nedgearende” program. Jeg er så varmhjertet ha ha! I aften har jeg valgt nogle gamle episoder af ”Fawlty Towers”, en morsom sitcom fra 1970’erne.

Hun vækker mig, da hun hopper op i sengen til mig ved midnatstid. Vi snakker lidt om sitcommens morsomme karakterer og hygger os lidt med alt det der, før vi glider over i søvnen. Sikke en dag – zzzzzzz!!!!