Wednesday November 6 2019

08:00 Lois and I get up and after breakfast I start reading about 200 lines of Chaucer's middle English poem "The House of Fame", written in the 14th century. Lynda’s U3A Middle English group is holding its regular monthly meeting on Friday in the bar of the town’s Everyman Theatre, and this poem is the group’s current project.

Lois and I also have our U3A Danish group's next meeting in store (tomorrow afternoon at our house), so we must not forget to read the next 5 pages (or so) of our Danish crime novel, Anna Grue's "The Further You Fall".

My god, busy busy busy! And I myself have to take care not to mix the two languages ​​up – Middle English and Danish. In many ways they are quite similar, which does not help, to say the least - damn!

Chaucer's poem, "The House of Fame," written in the 14th century

Chaucer's poem, "The House of Fame," is a little strange. The poet dreams of a giant eagle's claws lifting him high into the sky, to a place called the "House of Fame" where a goddess lives, who has her feet on the ground and her head high in the clouds.

My goodness, what a crazy world they used to live in in those days, no doubt about that !!!!!!

The poet comments that in the ancient world, the hero Ganymede had a similar experience when Zeus, disguised as an eagle, abducted him to Mount Olympus because he had a vacancy for a good, reliable butler.

Poor Ganymede !!!!

Ganymede, the successful candidate for a job as Zeus's butler

My god, what a crazy world they lived in in those times!!!! But the plus of it was, from Ganymede's point of view, that he did not have to go through a long, complicated selection process before getting the job.

Ed, our son-in-law in Haslemere, Surrey, moved back to England last year after being laid off by his company in Copenhagen, and since then he has taken a number of temporary jobs while on the hunt for his dream job. And he has found that nowadays the interview process and the selection process are all done via the computer - he has to record his answers to the questions on video and send them to the company via email.

And it is software that decides which candidates to eliminate in the earlier stages of the process – my god, what a crazy world we live in !!! And the software, for example, can even analyse his facial expressions and tone of voice when he’s  answering questions, and it uses the results as part of the decision about whether to reject a candidate or move him on to the next stage. What madness !!!! And very exhausting and agonising from the candidate's point of view, no doubt about that !!!!

But sorry – that was a bit of a digression - back to Chaucer's poem!

It is interesting that the vacancy that Ganymede was chosen to fill was Zeus's "butler". I did not know, although it now seems obvious, that the English word "butler" comes from the French word "bouteillier", which meant the person responsible for the stash of wine bottles kept by some rich aristocrat or other in his wine cellar. "Simples !!!!"

Chaucer expresses his puzzlement as to why Zeus, disguised as an eagle,

has decided to lift him in his claws high up in the sky: and he recalls

other people who have had similar experiences:

Enoch, Elias, Romulus and Ganymede. What madness !!!!

12:30 We have lunch and afterwards I decide to miss out on my usual afternoon nap, as an experiment, to see if I can do without it - we'll have to see.

Lois and I get started with reading the next 5 pages of our Danish crime novel, Anna Grue's " The Further You Fall ". Our U3A Danish group will be gathering at our house here tomorrow afternoon. The house is one big mess, as usual, but we decide to postpone until tomorrow morning all the cleaning-up, vacuuming, etc. – my god, busy busy busy! But we just can't bring ourselves to do all that cleaning work right now, so we settle down on the couch with Anna Grue's novel.

Anna Grue's novel, " The Further You Fall", which is

our U3A Danish group's current project

Anna Grue, the author of the novel

Police Detective Flemming Torp is currently investigating the killing of Lilliana, a mysterious cleaning assistant who gets garrotted whilst working late at night in the kitchens of a large Danish advertising agency, Kurt & Ko.

Police suspect the killer also works for the same agency as Lilliana, so Flemming has asked his best friend Dan Sommerdahl to help him with the investigation, because Dan, of course, knows the agency staff well, "who’s sleeping with who" and suchlike.

Police Detective Flemming Torp (left) along with

his best friend, Dan Sommerdahl, and Dan's wife, Marianne

Lois and I are a little exhausted - I must say - after an exciting couple of days visiting our daughter Alison and her family in Haslemere. But we are trying to do our best to understand the plot.

In this week's episode, Dan has had another fight with his wife, Marianne, and she is giving him the "silent" treatment. This only means one thing - there's a round of "make-up sex" in prospect: yikes, not again, Dan !!!!!!

In Dan's opinion, the prospect of make-up sex was "a valid reason for starting a fight. The worse the obscenities that he and Marianne shouted at each other in the heat of battle, the more passionately they threw themselves at each other after they had vented their anger". And this time, the fight had been "as hysterical as it had been short, and this had set the tone for the ensuing make-up sex" apparently, whatever that means. 

My goodness, Dan, all this sheet gymnastics, as the Danes call it, is not going to help solve the crime, is it !!!!!

What madness !!!!

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching some television, an interesting documentary on the Smithsonian channel in the "Britain in Colour" series, colourised old film this time all about the Royal Family, starting with Victoria.

It is surprising how much the addition of colour to these old news film clips increases their clarity and vibrancy. For the first time, Lois and I can clearly distinguish the figure of suffragette Emily Davison, dressed in red, who in 1913 threw herself in front of the King's horse during the Epsom Derby.

Emily, dressed in red, stands on the track waiting for the King's horse

the moment of the collision

We see interesting movie clips of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, after the end of the First World War, in "retirement" in the Netherlands, where he spent his time, like many retirees, on gardening and suchlike. Here we see him chopping wood with his staff - fascinating!

Kaiser Bill, who spent his old age doing gardening in the Netherlands

Also many clips of Princess Elizabeth (the current Queen) as a young, very active and lively young girl, and already with a set of corgis.

Later, as a lively young single woman in 1947, we see her playing a game of "tag" with a group of naval officers and men aboard a warship.

It's nice to see that she wasn't always the 100% dignified and respectable woman she later had to turn into after she became queen in 1952.

Her parents visited the US just before the outbreak of World War II, and there are interesting movie clips of President Roosevelt, who could only walk with difficulty because of his polio, images that were not allowed to be made public at the time. The exact extent of his disability was hidden from the public.

How fascinating!

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

Danish translation: onsdag den 6. november 2019

08:00 Lois og jeg står op og efter morgenmad går jeg i gang med at læse omkring 200 linjer af Chaucers middelengelske digt ”Berømmelsens hus”, skrevet i det 14. århundrede. Lyndas U3A middelengelske gruppe holder sit regelmæssige månedlige møde på fredag på baren af byens Everyman-teater, og dette digt er gruppens nuværende projekt.

Lois og jeg har også vores U3A danske gruppes næste møde i vente (i morgen eftermiddag hos os), så må vi ikke glemme at læse de næste 5 sider (eller deromkring) af vores danske krimiroman, Anna Grues ”Dybt at falde”.

Du godeste, travlt travlt travlt! Og jeg selv bliver nødt at passe på, ikke at blande de to sprog sammen – middelengelsk og dansk. På mange måder ligner de hinanden, hvilket ikke hjælper for at sige mildt – pokkers!

Chaucers digt, ”Berømmelsens hus”, skrevet i det 14. århundrede

Chaucers digt, ” Berømmelsens hus”, er lidt mærkeligt. Digteren drømmer om, at en kæmpe ørns kløer løfter ham højt op i himlen, til et sted kaldet ”House of Fame”, hvor en gudinde bor, med hendes fødder på jorden og hendes hoved højt oppe i skyerne.

Du godeste, sikke en skør verden de dengang levede i, ingen tvivl om det!!!!!!

Digteren kommenterer, at i den antikke verden fik helten Ganymede  en lignende oplevelse, da Zeus, klædt ud som en ørn, bortførte ham til Olympen, fordi han havde en ledig stilling som en god, pålidelig mundskænk.  

Stakkels Ganymede!!!!

Ganymede, succésfuld kandidat til et job som Zeus’ mundskænk

Du godeste, sikke en skør verden de dengan levede i !!!!  Men fordelen var, set ud fra Ganymedes synspunkt, at han ikke blev nødt til at gennemgå en lang, kompliceret valgproces, før han fik jobbet.

Ed, vores svigersøn i Haslemere, Surrey, flyttede tilbage til England sidste år, efter han blev afskediget af sit firma i København, og siden da har han taget en række midlertidlige jobs, mens han er på jagt efter sit drømmejob. Og han har fundet ud af, at nutildags er interviewprocessen og valgprocessen alt foretaget via computeren – han skal optage sine svar til spørgsmålene på video og sende dem til firmaet via email.

Og det er software, der beslutter hvilke kandidater til at eliminere i de tidligere stadie af processen – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i!!! Og softwaren kan for eksempel analysere hans ansigtsudtryk og tonefalde, mens han besvarer spørgsmålende, og bruge resultaterne, som en del af beslutningen om, om at afvise en kandidat eller lade ham komme videre til det næste stadie. Sikke et vanvid!!!! Og meget udmattende og sindsoprivende fra kandidatens synspunkt, ingen tvivl om det!!!! 

Men undskyld - det var lidt af et sidespring – tilbage til Chaucers digt!

Det er interessant, at den ledige stilling, som Ganymedes blev valgt til at fylde, var til Zeus’ ”mundskænk”. Jeg vidste ikke, selvom nu virker det åbenbart, at det engelske ord ”butler” stammede fra det franske ord, ”bouteillier”, som betød dén, der havde ansvar for den lager af flasker vin, som én eller anden rig aristokrat gemte i sin vinkælder. ”Simples!!!!”

Chaucer udtrykker sin usikkerhed om, præcis hvorfor Zeus, klædt ud som en ørn,

 har besluttet at løfte ham i sine kløer højt op i himlen: og han mindes om

andre mennesker, der har haft en ligende oplevelse:

Enok, Elias, Romulus og Ganymedes. Sikke et vanvid!!!!

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter beslutter jeg at gå glip af min sædvanlige eftermiddagslur, som et eksperiment, for at se, om jeg kan klare mig uden den – vi får se.

Lois og jeg går i gang med at læse de næste 5 sider af vores danske krimiroman, Anna Grues ”Dybt at falde”. Vores U3A danske gruppe skal samles hos os i morgen eftermiddag. Huset er ét stort rod, som sædvanligt, men vi beslutter at udskyde indtil i morgen formiddag oprydningen, støvsugningen osv – du godeste, travlt travlt travlt! Men vi kan ikke svinge os op til at hamle op med alt det der pågældende rengøringsarbejde, så vi sætter os til rette i sofaen med Anna Grues roman.

Anna Grues krimiroman, ”Dybt af falde”, som er

vores U3A danske gruppes nuværende projekt

Anna Grue, romanens forfatter

Politidetektiven Flemming Torp er for tiden i gang med at undersøge drabet af Lilliana, en mystisk rengøringsassistent, der bev garrotteret mens hun arbejdede sent på aftenen i køkkener af et stort dansk reklamebureau, ved navnet Kurt & Ko.

Politiet mistænker, at morderen også arbejder for samme bureauet som Lilliana, så har Flemming bedt sin bedste ven Dan Sommerdahl om at hjælpe ham med undersøgelsen, fordi Dan selfølgelig kender godt bureauets personale, ”hvem sover med hvem” og den slags.

Politidetektiven Flemming Torp (til venstre) sammen med

sin bedste ven, Dan Sommerdahl og Dans kone, Marianne

Lois og jeg er lidt udkørte – det må jeg nok sige – efter et spændende par dages besøg hos vores datter Alison og hendes familie i Haslemere. Men vi forsøger at gøre vores bedste at forstå plottet.

I denne uges afsnit, har Dan haft endnu et skænderi med sin kone, Marianne, og hun giver ham den ”tavse” behandling. Dette betyder kun én ting – der er en omgang ”forsoningssex” i vente: yikes, ikke igen, Dan!!!!!!

Efter Dans mening var udsigten til forsoningssex en ”fuldgyldig grund til at starte et skænderi. Jo værre skældsord, han og Marianne havde råbt i kampens hede, desto mere passioneret kastede de sig over hinanden, når de hver især havde fået luft for deres vrede”. Og denne gang har skænderiet været ”lige så hysterisk, som det var kort, og det havde smittet af på det efterfølgende forsoningsknald” – du godeste, Dan, alt den her lagengymnastik, som danskerne kalder det, kommer ikke til at hjælpe med at løse forbrydelsen, for at sige mildt!!!!!

Sikke et vanvid!!!!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn, en interessant dokumentarfilm på Smithsonian-kanalen i serien ”Storbritannien i farve”.

Det er overraskende, hvor meget tilføjelsen af farve til disse gamle nyhedsfilmklip øger deres klarhed og livlighed. For første gang kan Lois og jeg klart skelne skikkelsen af suffragetten Emily Davison, klædt i rød, der i 1913 kastede sig foran kongens hest i Derby-væddeløbsbanen.

Emily, klædt i rød, står på banen og venter på kongens hest

øjeblikket af kollisionen

Vi ser interessant filmklip af kajser Wilhelm 2. af Tyskland, efter slutningen af den 1. verdeskrig, ”på pension” i Holland, hvor han brugte sin tid, ligesom mange pensionister, på at lave havearbejde og den slags. Her ser vi ham i gang med at at hugge træ med sit personale – fascinerende!

Kajser Wilhelm, der brugte sin alderdom på at lave lidt havearbejde i Holland

Også mange klip af prinsesse Elizabeth (vores nuværende dronning) som en ung, meget aktiv og livlig ung pige.

Senere som livlig ung kvinde, ser vi hende i 1947 lege ”tagfat” med en gruppe marineofficere og mænd om bord et krigskib.

Det er rart at se, at hun ikke altid var den 100% respektable kvinde, hun blev til senere, efter hun blev dronning i 1952.

Hendes forældre besøgte USA lige før udbruddet af den 2. verdenskrig, og der er interessante filmklip af præsident Roosevelt, der kunne gå kun med besvær på grund af sin polio, billeder der ikke var tilladt at offentliggøre på det tidspunkt. Præcis hvor meget han var handicappet, blev skjult dengang for offentligheden.

 Fascinerende!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!!!