Sunday December 15 2019

09:00 Lois and I are still in bed drinking our morning tea when Sarah, our daughter in Perth, Australia, calls us from the family car (5pm local time) - they are on an outing to see Santa at some mall that is a little further away from their home – it’s in Chittering, a mall they rarely visit.

Francis unfortunately says that their 6-year-old twins, Lily and Jessie, are a little sleepy: they just woke up after a nap in the back seats - how cute they are though!!!! Sarah promises to call us later in the week and tell us how it went with Santa.

It's sometimes nice to visit another mall that is a little further away from home. In Coral Gables, Florida, the Dietrich family hit the headlines round the world when they decided, on a whim, to visit "the good mall" as a special outing (source: Onion News), as they told reporters in a hastily arranged press conference.

CORAL GABLES, FL - In a remarkable shift from their usual shopping routine, the Dietrich family announced today that they would ignore the regular mall near their home in favour of "the good shopping mall" which is 45 minutes away.

The good mall, Dietrich household sources have confirmed, has all the good stores, but they are reportedly "bigger" and "nicer" and well worth an occasional visit, especially if the local Macy's is having a sale.

Christmas time especially brings out the best in the good shopping centre, the family confirmed.

"They do a great job with Santa," Susan Dietrich said. "There's a little walk-in cottage, helper elves and fake snow that actually looks pretty real. The one at Eastridge is just a Christmas tree with Santa sitting in front of it."

While there are downsides to shopping in the good mall, including higher prices and a larger and more confusing parking lot, the Dietrich family said these drawbacks were relatively minor.

"It's not like we visit it all the time," Paul Dietrich told reporters. "It's just a fun outing for us every once in a while."

"Oh, and they also have a Best Buy nearby," he added. "It's actually not in the mall, but across the road, so it might as well be."

A very well researched article - kudos, Onion News! - and the story created a bit of a sensation at the time, if I remember rightly. The overall effect, however, was massive traffic jams because people around the world decided to visit some mall 45 minutes or so from home, just for the experience, to try it out. But nothing is perfect in this world - no doubt about that !!!

10:00 We roll out of bed - Lois has a sore throat again, and has decided to take part online in her sect's two worship services taking place today in Tewkesbury, instead of attending in person. She grabs a quick breakfast and sits down in the dining room with the computer. And for the first time, she has her brand new smartphone in hand as a backup - I downloaded the mixlr app last night on her behalf.

In the meantime, I settle down in the living room and relax a little.

12:00 We grab a quick lunch during the not-very-generous 30 minute break between the two worship services – good grief, what madness!!! Afterwards, I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap.

Meanwhile, Lois sits down in the dining room at the computer, with her Bible, her hymn book, a small glass of port wine and a small plate with a slice of bread at hand, and "her Sunday hat" on her head. The whole thing is so incredibly touching, I have to say!

15:00 I get up. Lois' two services are over, and she is sitting on the couch in the living room and wallowing in the first of this afternoon's two sentimental American TV Christmas movies.

I hurry into the kitchen and make two cups of tea. And I sit with her for 20 minutes, or so, while we drink the tea.

The BBC's "Radio Times" magazine has awarded both films "two stars" - a bit of an unenthusiastic review. I haven't heard anything about the two movies, so I can't help Lois with my comments.

If only Mason George were here! He recently hit the headlines the world over, when our go-to news website, Onion News, revealed that the SunTech Systems co-worker had an encyclopaedic knowledge of most branches of pop culture, and had "heard good things" about most of the things coming out on them.

DALLAS - Astonished by a knowledge base spanning everything from 1960’s art house movies to the latest episode of Veronica Mars, SunTech Systems employees on Monday confirmed that their colleague Mason George, 31, possessed the preternatural ability to have heard good things about any pop culture phenomenon under discussion at any given time.

"Whether it's a podcast he read something about, or a movie one of his friends saw, Mason is always aware that it has generally been well received," said George's colleague, Becca Thompson, who remembered the dozens of times George authoritatively provided second-hand knowledge of superficial approval to some form of media, confirming, to anyone who would listen, that the particular movie, series, album or artist had a big buzz going around for its premiere, and was something he wanted to check out real soon.

"Even if we stand several dozen feet away from him and discuss a TV show's season or song, he seems without exception to have heard it and he shares his experience of having read a capsule review of what we're chatting about, over from real far away on the whole other side of the office. We talked about Ocean's 8 just last week and out of nowhere we heard him say that he had seen a few clips of it online and that it looked so cool. It is eerie how everything we have ever discussed is something he intends to see. I can't imagine where he finds the time."

Later, George became suddenly conspicuous by his absence from a lunchtime gathering in the SunTech break room when a discussion of the movie Last Christmas unexpectedly turned to politics.

My goodness, what a guy - and if he only lived with us, we could cancel our Radio-Times subscription, no doubt about that!!! I bet he would give these two sentimental films more than a lousy "two star" verdict – that’s something I know for sure!!!

18:00 Lois and I have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching some television, an interesting documentary about the world famous crime writer, Agatha Christie, followed by a drama documentary about Christie's mysterious visit to Baghdad in the 1920s .

It's nice for once to see Agatha as a romantic young woman immersed in the steamy world of Middle East archaeology, rather than in the image she had later on in life - as a kind of stand-offish, emotionally cold, real life Mrs Marple.

We see Agatha travelling to Iraq to "help out" in an excavation led by her friends Mr and Mrs. Leonard Woolley. The entire excavation team seems to be staying in the same big house, and Mrs. Woolley and many of the other archaeologists seem to spend many of the nights (and sometimes also the afternoons, and early mornings) romping in bed with secret lovers and suchlike. And the walls are paper thin, to put it mildly.

So the downside to the situation is that Christie's attempts to continue writing her latest novel, are constantly being interrupted by the sounds of Mrs. Woolley “at it again”, coming through the paper-thin walls.

And Lois and I find out exactly what archaeologists say to each other in bed – my god, what a crazy world we live in!!

Christie herself manages to seduce a young archaeologist, Max, 11 years younger than herself. The couple later married in fact and stayed together all their lives, which is nice.

the bright spot is that Agatha meets Max (left), a young

archaeologist 11 years her junior, whom she seduces and later marries 

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

Danish translation: søndag den 15. december 2019

09:00 Lois og jeg ligger stadig inde i sengen og drikker vores morgenté, da Sarah, vores datter i Perth, Australien, ringer til os fra familiens bil (kl 17 lokal tid) – de er på en udflugt for at se julemanden på ét eller andet indkøbscenter, som er lidt længere væk fra deres hjem, i Chittering, et indkøbscenter, de besøger sjældent.

Francis siger desværre, at deres 6-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessie, er lidt søvnige: de har lige vågnet op efter en lur i bagsæderne – hvor er de dog søde!!!!  Sarah lover at ringe til os senere på ugen, og fortælle os hvordan det gik med julemanden.

Det er sommetider rart at besøge et andet indkøbscenter, der ligger lidt længere væk hjemmefra. I Coral Gables, Florida, ramte Dietrich-famillien verdens overskrifterne, da de besluttede, på stående fod, at besøge ”det gode indkøbscenter”, som en speciel udflugt (kilde: Onion News), som de fortalte journalister om i en hurtigt arrangeret presse-konference .

CORAL GABLES, FL - I en bemærkelsesværdig skift fra deres sædvanlige shoppingrutine meddelte Dietrich-familien i dag, at de ville forlade det almindelige indkøbscenter i nærheden af deres hjem til fordel for ”det gode indkøbscenter”, der ligger 45 minutter væk.

Det gode indkøbscenter, som husholdningskilder fra Dietrich har bekræftet, har de gode butikker, er angiveligt "større" og "pænere" og et lejlighedsvist besøg værd, især hvis den lokale Macy's er ved at have et udsalg.

Juletid bringer især de bedste frem i det gode indkøbscenter, bekræftede familien.

”De gør et dejligt stykke arbejde med julemanden,” sagde Susan Dietrich. "Der er et lille walk-in cottage, hjælperelver og falsk sne, der faktisk ser temmelig reelt ud. Den ved Eastridge er bare et juletræ med julemanden siddende foran det."

Mens der er ulemper ved at shoppe i det gode indkøbscenter, inklusive højere priser og en større og mere forvirrende parkeringsplads, sagde Dietrich-familien at disse ulemper var relativt små.

"Det er ikke som om vi besøger det hele tiden," sagde Paul Dietrich til journalister. "Det er bare en sjov fornøjelse for os hver gang imellem."

”Åh, de har også Best Buy i nærheden,” tilføjede han. "Det er faktisk ikke i indkøbscenteret, men på tværs af vejen, så det kan lige så godt være."

En særligt velforsket artikel – ros til jer, Onion News! – og historien skabte lidt af en sensation på det tidspunkt, hvis jeg husker godt. Den gennemgående virkning var, imidlertid, massive trafikpropper, fordi folk verden over besluttede at besøge et eller andet indkøbscenter 45 minutter hjemmefra, eller deromkring, lige for at prøve det. Men intet er perfekte i denne verden – ingen tvivl om det!!!

10:00 Vi vælter ud af sengen – Lois har øm hals igen, og har besluttet at deltage online i sin sekts to gudstjenester, der finder sted i dag i Tewkesbury, i stedet for at deltage personligt. Hun snupper en hurtig morgenmad og sætter sig i spisestuen med computeren. Og for første gang har hun sin spritnye smartphone i hånden som backup – jeg downloadede mixlr-appen i går aftes på hendes vegne.

I mellemtiden sætter jeg mig til rette i stuen og slapper lidt af.

12:00 Vi snupper en hurtig frokost under den ikke-generøse 30 minutters pause mellem de to gudstjnester – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!! Bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

I mellemtiden sætter Lois sig i spisestuen ved computeren, med sin bibel, sin psalmebog, en lille glas portvin og en lille tallerken med et stykke brød ved hånden, og ”sin søndagshat” på hovedet. Det hele er så utroligt rørende, det må jeg nok sige!

15:00 Jeg står op. Lois’ to gudstjenester er forbi, og hun sidder i sofaen i stuen og er i gang med at svælge i den første af eftermiddagens to sentimentale amerikanske tv-julefilm.

Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg sidder med hende i 20 minutter, eller deromkring, mens vi drikker téen.

BBC’s ”Radio Times”-tidsskrift har tildelt begge film ”to stjerner” – lidt af en uentusiastisk anmeldelse. Jeg har ikke hørt noget om de to film, så kan jeg ikke hjælpe Lois med mine kommentarer.

Hvis bare Mason George var her! Han ramte verdens overskrifterne for nylig, da voers go-to nyhedswebsted afslørte at den SunTech Systems medearbejder havde en encyclopædisk viden om de fleste grene af popkultur, og havde "hørt gode ting" om størstedelen af dem.

DALLAS — Forbavset af en vidensbase, der spænder over alt fra 1960-tallet kunsthusfilm til den seneste episode af Veronica Mars, bekræftede medarbejdere ved SunTech Systems mandag, at deres kollega Mason George, 31, besidder den preternaturlige evne til at have hørt gode ting om hvilket som helst popkulturfenomen, som er i gang med at diskuteres på ethvert givet tidspunkt.

"Uanset om det er en podcast, han læste noget om, eller en film, en af hans venner så, Mason er altid opmærksom på, at den generelt er blevet godt modtaget," sagde Georges kollega, Becca Thompson, der huskede de dusinvis af gange George autoritativt leverede brugte kendskab til overfladisk godkendelse til en form for medier, og bekræfter for alle, der ville lytte til, at den pågældende film, serie, album eller kunstner havde en masse stor buzz omkring dens premiere, og var noget, han ønskede at tjekke ud snart.

”Selv hvis vi står flere dusin meter væk fra ham og diskuterer et tv-shows sæson eller en sang, synes han uden undtagelse at have hørt det og deler sin oplevelse af at have læst en kapsel-anmeldelse af det, vi chatter om fra langt væk i hele anden side af kontoret. Vi talte om Ocean's 8 lige i sidste uge, og ud af intetsteds hørte vi ham sige, at han havde set et par klip af det online og at det så så cool ud. Det er uhyggeligt, hvordan alt, vi nogensinde har diskuteret, er noget, han har til hensigt at se. Jeg kan ikke forestille mig, hvor han finder tiden. ”

Senere glimrede George ved sit fravær fra en frokosttidssamling i SunTech pauserummet, da en diskussion af filmen Last Christmas uventet vendte sig mod politik.

Du godeste, sikke en fyr – og hvis han bare boede hos os, kunne vi aflyse vores Radio-Times abonnement, ingen tvivl om det!!! Jeg satser  på, han ville give disse to sentimentale film mere end en elendig ”to stjerner”-dom  – det ved jeg med sikkerhed!!!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn, en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om den verdensberømte krimi-forfatterinde, Agatha Christie, fulgt af en dramadokumentar, der handlede om Christies mystiske besøg til Baghad i 1920’erne.

Det er rart for engangs skyld at se Agatha som en romantisk ung kvinde fordybet i den sexede verden af arkæologi i Mellem-østen, snarere end hendes image senere på livet – som en slags afvisende, følelsesmæssigt kold, virkelig liv Mrs Marple.

Vi  ser hende rejse til Iraq for at "hjælpe til" i en udgravning, ledt af sine venner hr. og fru. Leonard Woolley. Hele udgravningsholdet synes at opholde sig i det samme store hus, hvor fru Woolley og mange af de andre arkæologer bruger nætterne (og sommetider eftermiddagerne) på at boltre sig i sengen med hemmelige elskere og den slags. Og væggene er papirtynde, for at sige mildt.

Christies forsøg på at fortsætte med at skrive sin seneste bog, er konstant afbrudt af lydene af fru Woolley kommende gennem de papirtynde vægge.

Og Lois og jeg finder ud af, præcis hvad arkæologer siger til hinanden i sengen – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i!!

Selve Christie formår at forføre en ung arkæolog, Max, 11 år yngre, end sig selv. Parret giftede sig faktist senere og blev sammen hele deres liv, hvilket er rart.

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzzz!!!!