Saturday December 14 2019

09:00 Lois and I tumble out of the shower cubicle, and after breakfast I sit down with my computer and browse the Danish media. I see that the Danes are wondering  if Stephen Kinnock, the former Danish Social Democrat Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt's husband, could be the next leader of the British Labour Party, if Labour decides to seek the middle ground again as it did during its years of success with Tony Blair (sources: ekstrabladet.dk , BBC, CNN etc).

Stephen scored a big win in Aberavon, South Wales in Thursday's election, and I watch a funny video clip recorded during the vote count, where Helle tells Stephen off, warning him not to talk to journalists about the party's future, but to concentrate on the local voter turnout figurs, which were especially good, it seems. My goodness, poor Stephen! But she is right, Stephen - and the wife always knows best, no doubt about that !!!!

Helle: ”Why are you doing this now?”

“Umm… I don’t know.”

Helle: “What are you going to say?”

“Do you think I should just wait?”

Helle: “Yeah, you should wait! You don’t know anything! It looks like we’ve had a really good turn-out here, which is amazing.”

“Yeah, it won’t be about this.”

Helle: “But just talk about this: ‘It looks like turn-out is up here. I’m hoping lots of young people have come out to vote. I’m hoping this will be a new chance for Labour….’ ”

“Yeah”

Helle: “ ‘…and we fought a positive campaign.’ ”

“Yeah”

Helle: “Just keep it to the campaign.”

“Nothing about what you thought Jeremy would say.”

[de kysser  hinanden]

Helle: “Keep it simple!”

Later in the day, I get an email from Steve, my American brother-in-law - he thinks Brexit will be a good thing in the long run, which encourages me a little - Steve reads a wide range of sources online when it comes to business issues. He adds that Trump will in any case save us with "the greatest trade deal ever" - yikes !!! But I suspect he's only joking here.

12:00 Lois and I have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap.

Meanwhile, Lois gets ready to join online in her sect's special "study sessions" taking place this afternoon and evening at the sect's church in Malvern, with a break for cups of tea, sandwiches and little cakes, etc. The Malvern Church has invited sect members from nearby towns to come over and attend the sessions in person. However, Lois has been suffering with a sore throat today, so she has decided to take part online instead.

15:00 I get up - Lois is in the dining room, taking part in her sect's study sessions online. I step into the living room and sit down on the sofa. I listen to radio a little, an interesting programme trying to answer the question, "If dinosaurs hadn't gone extinct 65 million years ago, would humanity still exist today?"

Interesting question, and the scientific consensus seems to be; no, we wouldn’t exist!

Until "the big dinosaurs" went extinct after a comet or asteroid hit the earth (ie, all of them except the birds, which of course survived), the size of the mammals that existed at that time was quite limited - the largest were a bit like the size of a pitbull terrier.

The mammals of the time were small enough and fast enough to be able to live among, and coexist with, the big dinosaurs without being completely wiped out, it seems. Some mammals got eaten by dinosaurs, but on the other hand, the larger mammals ate some of the dinosaurs' babies, which was fair enough.

After the dinosaurs became a thing of the past, the mammalian world changed "rapidly" (by evolutionary standards): after 200,000 years, we see mammals as large as wolves, for example, and after a million years, mammals as large as rhinos, and the rest is history.

Within individual species, birds and animals always tend to gradually become a little more intelligent, and they may also acquire certain skills if they need them to achieve their goals. We hear about crows and other corvids, a species that is particularly intelligent, it seems. Researchers put food in the bottom of long test tubes filled partly with water: the food was too far down for the crows to grab it with their beaks, but they learned to drop tiny stones into the test tube, which gradually raised the food to a higher level, so the crows could grab it – good grief, what madness !!!!

Isn't evolution totally fascinating? Who would want to study anything else? !!!!

16:00 I switch off the radio and watch some television. An interesting edition of the series "The Sky At Night" - this edition gives an overview of developments in astronomy and space science over the past 12 months. The programme's hosts are the charming Chris Lintott and Maggie Aderin-Pocock (crazy name, crazy woman, the excitable one that Lois and I call "orgasm woman").

Some scientists are not as tall as others - so, while dr. Katriona Jackman of Southampton University is updating us on the Juno mission, that has been in orbit around Jupiter for three years, and giving us the latest on the planet's famous "red spot", I see that she needs to offset her “low altitude” by standing on a simple box, which is a nice idea.

And I didn't know that scientists from ESA (European Space Agency) have embarked on a 9-year project called "Comet Interceptor", where a space probe will be sent to the outer regions of the solar system to look for "new comets", i.e. ones that are about to fly into the solar system for the first time.

We have, of course, investigated a lot of "old comets" that have been "in the neighbourhood" for thousands of years, but these comets are not in their original form any more: every time they fly past the sun, they and the ice on their surface, get heated once again, and also get covered with a new layer of dust. The researchers hope that "brand new" comets can tell us more about the materials that were floating around the universe before the solar system was formed.

Isn't space science totally fascinating? Who would want to study anything else? !!!!

17:00 Suddenly Lois bursts into the living room - her internet connection with the Malvern Church has been interrupted for some reason. I help her send a text message to Andy, one of his sect's more active members, to tell him about the problem, but there is no answer. A bit of a shame for Lois - the connection was severed midway through the second presentation of the session, which she was enjoying massively, she says – poor thing. Modern technology - great when it works !!!

18:30 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching some television. Once in a while, during the evening, I squint at my smartphone. I see that Ed, our son-in-law in Haslemere, Surrey, has won a bottle of gin - but he doesn’t say if it was a raffle or a pub quiz win, so that's something the jury is still out on. He has posted a charming photo on "Insta" at one of the city's new bars, "Real English Drinks House", with some of his friends, which is nice.

Ed tonight (right), with his "prize" in one of Haslemere’s

new bars, the "Real English Drinks House"

21:00 We watch some television, the 7th episode of Ken Burns' series on the history of American country and western music. This 5th episode covers the period from 1973-1983. The programme's host is the charming Ken Burns.

Lois and I often say to each other that it seems a little extraordinary that Ken Burns managed to stretch this series to 9 episodes, but Lois says that the original American version of this documentary was actually a lot longer – good grief, what a crazy world we live in !!!

Tonight we see even more singers whose lives were (temporarily at least) ruined by alcohol and / or illegal drugs: Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams Jr for example. But also many others who managed to avoid these risks, which is nice.

Lois and I often say that so many country-and-western songs seem to have the same (or similar) tune: we suppose it's often the lyrics that are more important than the tune - and the mood of the lyrics is mostly pretty tragic, to put it mildly !!!

It's nice to see Dolly Parton, who we think is a gifted songwriter who has often come up with good tunes that avoid the banal.

Dolly Parton (left) with the other (less famous?) Carter Family

22:00 It's nice when people have a sense of humour and can laugh at themselves, we think. We go to bed and try to remember that  - zzzzzzz !!!!

Danish translation: lørdag den 14. december 2019

09:00 Lois og jeg vælter ud af brusekabinen, og efter morgenmad sætter jeg mig med computeren og blæse igennem de danske medier. Jeg ser, at danskerne spekulerer på, om Stephen Kinnock, den tidligere danske social-demokratiske statsminister Helle Thorning-Schmidts mand, kunne være den britiske arbejderpartis næste leder, hvis Labour igen skal søge mod midten som under succesårene med Tony Blair (kilder: ekstrabladet.dk, BBC, CNN).

Stephen scorede en stor sejr i Aberavon, Syd-Wales i torsdagens valg, og jeg ser et morsomt videoklip, optaget under stemmeoptællingen, hvor Helle irettesætter Stephen og advarer ham ikke at tale til journalister om partiets fremtid, men bare at koncentrere sig om det lokale valgdeltagelse og stemmeprocent, der var specielt god, ser det ud til. Du godeste, stakkels Stephen! Men det har hun ret i, Stephen – og konen ved altid bedst, ingen tvivl om det!!!!

Helle: ”Why are you doing this now?”

“Umm… I don’t know.”

Helle: “What are you going to say?”

“Do you think I should just wait?”

Helle: “Yeah, you should wait! You don’t know anything! It looks like we’ve had a really good turn-out here, which is amazing.”

“Yeah, it won’t be about this.”

Helle: “But just talk about this: ‘It looks like turn-out is up here. I’m hoping lots of young people have come out to vote. I’m hoping this will be a new chance for Labour….’ ”

“Yeah”

Helle: “ ‘…and we fought a positive campaign.’ ”

“Yeah”

Helle: “Just keep it to the campaign.”

“Nothing about what you thought Jeremy would say.”

[de kysser  hinanden]

Helle: “Keep it simple!”

Senere på dagen får jeg en mail fra Steve, min amerikanske svigerbror – han mener, at Brexit vil være en god ting i længden, hvilket opmuntrer mig lidt – Steve læser en stor vifte kilder på nettet, når det kommer til forretningsspørgsmål. Han tilføjer, at Trump under alle omstændigheder vil redde os med ”den største handelsaftale nogensinde” – yikes!!! Men jeg mistænker, han spøger kun her.

12:00 Lois og jeg spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

I mellemtiden går Lois i gang med at forberede sig på at deltage på nettet i sin sekts specielle ”studiesessioner”, der finder sted i eftermiddag/aften i sektens kirke i Malvern  med en pause til kopper te, sandwiches og småkager osv. Malvern-kirken har inviteret sektmedlemmer fra nærliggende byer at komme derover og deltage personligt i sessionerne. Lois har imidlertid fået lidt halsbetændelse i dag, så har hun besluttet at deltage online i stedet for.

15:00 Jeg står op – Lois er i spisestuen, i gang med at deltage i sin sekts studiesessioner på nettet. Jeg træder ind i stuen og sætter jeg mig til rette i sofaen. Jeg lytter lidt til radio, et interessant program, der handler om det spørgsmål, ”Hvis dinosaurer ikke var uddød for 65 millioner år siden, ville menneskeheden stadig eksistere i dag?”

Interessant spørgsmål, og den videnskabelige konsensus synes at være; nej!  Indtil ”de store dinosaurer” uddøde (dvs dem, der ikke var fugle, som selvfølgelig overlevede) efter en komet eller asteroide ramte jorden, var størrelsen af de daværende pattedyr helt begrænset – den største var lidt som en pitbullterrier.

De daværende pattedyre var små nok og hurtige nok til at leve blandt de store dinosaurer uden at blive helt ødelagt, ser det ud til.  Nogle pattedyr blev spist af dinosaurer, men på den anden side spiste de større pattedyre nogle af dinosaurernes babyer, hvilket var fair nok.

Efter dinosaurerne blev til en ting af fortiden, pattedyrenes verden ændrede sig ”hurtigt” (ved evolutionariske standarder): efter 200.000 år ser vi pattedyr så store som ulve, for eksempel, og efter en million år, pattedyr så store som næsehorn, og resten er historie.

Indenfor individuelle arter er der også tendens til, at fugle og dyre bliver gradvist lidt mere intelligente, og de kan også skaffe visse færdigheder, hvis de trænger til dem for at opnå deres mål. Vi hører om  kragefugle, en art, der er specielt intelligente, ser det ud til. Forskerne lagde mad i bunden af en lang prøveglas fyldt delvis med vand: maden var for langt nede til at kragerne kunne få fat i den med sine næb, men de lærte at tabe små sten i prøveglasset, hvilket gradvist hævede maden til et højere niveau, så kragerne kunne snuppe den – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Er evolution ikke totalt fascinerende? Hvem ville ønske at studie noget andet? !!!!

16:00 Jeg slukker for radioen og ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser et interessant afsnit i serien ”The Sky At Night” – dette afsnit give en oversigt af udviklinger i astronomi og rumvidenskab over de seneste 12 måneder. Programmets værter er den charmerende Chris Lintott og Maggie Aderin-Pocock (skørt navn, skør kvinde, og den Lois og jeg kalder ”orgasmekvinde”).

Nogle forskere er ikke så høj som andre – så, mens dr. Katriona Jackman af Southampton University opdaterer os om Juno-missionen, der har været i orbit omkring Jupiter i tr år, og planetens berømte ”røde plet”, behøver Katriona at kompensere for sin lave højde ved at stå på en simpel boks, hvilket er et rar idé.

Og jeg vidste ikke, at forskere fra ESA (European Space Agency) har påbegyndt et 9-års projekt ”Comet Interceptor”, hvor en rumsonde bliver sendt til solsystemets ydre regioner for at lede efter ”nye kometer”, der er ved at flyve ind i solsystemet for første gang.

Vi har selvfølgelig undersøgt en masse ”gamle kometer”, der har været ”i området” i tusindvis af år, men disse kometer er ikke i deres oprindelige form mere: hver gang de flyver forbi solen, bliver de, og isen på deres overflade, endnu en gang opvarmet, og også dækket med et nyt lag støv. Forskerne håber på, at ”spritnye” kometer kan fortæller os mere om materialerne, der flød rundt omkring i universet, før solsystemet blev dannet.

Er rumvidenskab ikke totalt fascinerende? Hvem ville ønske at studie noget andet? !!!!

17:00 Pludselig braser Lois  ind i stuen – hendes internetforbindelse med Malvern-kirken er blevet afbrudt af en eller anden grund. Jeg hjælper hende med at afsende en sms til Andy, én af sin sekts mere aktive medlemmer, for at fortælle ham om problemet, men der er ikke noget svar. Lidt af en skam for Lois’ vedkommende – forbindelsen blev afbrudt halvvejs i sessionens 2. fremlæggelse, som hun var ved at nyde massivt, siger hun – staklen. Moderne teknologi – fantastisk, når den virker!!!

18:30 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. Engang imellem i løbet af aftenen skeler jeg lidt til min smartphone. Jeg ser,at Ed, vores svigersøn i Haslemere, Surrey, har vundet en flaske gin – men han siger, om det var en lodtrækning eller en pubquiz-gevinst, så det er juryen stadig ude om. Han har lagt et charmerende foto op på ”Insta” på en af byens nye barer, ”Real English Drinks House”, sammen med nogle af sine venner, hvilket er rart.

Ed i aften (til højre), med sin ”gevinst” på én af Haslemeres

nye barer, ”Real English Drinks House”

21:00 Vi ser lidt fjernsyn, det 7. afsnit i Ken Burns’ serie om historien af amerikansk country og western-musik. Dette 5. afsnit dækker perioden fra 1964-1968. Programmets vært er den charmerende Ken Burns.

Lois og jeg siger ofte til hinanden, at det virker lidt ekstraordinært, at Ken Burns formåede at strække denne serie ud til 9 afsnit, men Lois siger, at den oprindelige amerikanske version af denne dokumentarfilm faktisk var meget meget længere – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i!!!

I aften ser vi endnu flere sangere, hvis liv blev (midlertidigt i det mindste) ødelagt af alkohol og/eller ulovelige stoffer: Waylon Jennings og Hank Williams Jr for eksempel. Men også mange andre, der formåede at undgå disse risikoer, hvilket er rart.

Lois og jeg siger ofte, at så mange country-og-western sange synes at have den samme (eller lignende) melodi: vi formoder, at det ofte er teksten, der er vigtigtere, end melodien - for det meste er stemningen i teksten er temmelig tragisk, for at sige mildt!!! 

Det er rart at se Dolly Parton, som vi synes, er en gavet sangskriver, der mange gange er kom med gode melodier, der undgår det banale.

Dolly Parton sammen med den anden (mindre berømte?) Carter-familie

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!!