Yes, Friends, do YOU habitually scare the opposite sex when you try to approach them?
It's a theme that echoes down the centuries, doesn't it, and one which was finally "put to music" by that iconic Scandinavian heart-throb "Ylvis" - Scandinavia's answer to Elvis - in his cry-from-the-heart "Someone Like Me" - remember that one?
Poor Ylvis !!!
But yes, what IS "Ylvis" doing wrong? Answers on a postcard haha!!!! Some would say it's his entire "over the top", and totally unsubtle manner of approaching 'the ladies' - see picture - but your feedback welcome as always!!!
However, Ylvis's heartfelt lyrics are firmly on the lips of me and my wife Lois this morning, here in sunny Liphook, Hampshire, this morning - that's for sure!
my wife Lois and me - a recent picture
Perhaps predictably, this afternoon there's another big bust-up between members over what Danish soldiers wear below the waist, as we read another 5 pages of our current Danish murder mystery, Anna Grue's "Judaskysset" (The Judas Kiss) - I could see bust-up coming a mile off, actually !!!! Luckily our only genuinely Danish member Jeanette, was on hand to settle the point, which is a relief!
(left) Lois and me, trying to lead one of the rowdy fortnightly meetings of our
local U3A "Intermediate Danish for Old Codgers Group", and (right)
Jeanette, our only genuinely Danish member, seen here on holiday in Australia
In our story, the Danish weather has suddenly brightened - see page 258! - and I quote, "The sky was of course still covered with clouds, but here and there were small blue patches to be seen: enough for a pair of soldier's trousers [Danish: et par
soldaterbukser], as my old class-teacher always used to say!", this criterion being the traditional Danish folk-indicator of whether the day was going to 'brighten up' for serious or not (!).
Interesting phrase, though, isn't it, because I can clearly remember, from the Enid Blyton stories of my youth, that in the UK it was very much "sailor's trousers" that provided the key weather-indicator for a possible brightening-up, and Lois recalls that her dear late mum Ruth always used to say that it was "a Dutchman's trousers", that were the key sign of a brighter day.
Your input vital, however, so get busy on that postcard!!!!
Certainly Mr Google is on Ruth's side, no question about that!!!!!
And in today's meeting of our little group, all we Brit members maintain that blue trousers, however, while being ideal for sailors, whether British or Dutch, somehow don't seem quite right for soldiers, but Mr Google lines up against us, with this neat 'broadside' (!), which Jeanette uncovers for us:
Who knew?
[That's enough blue trousers! - Ed]
And Lois and I are reminded again of how we grew to love Denmark during the 7 years our daughter Alison and family were living in Copenhagen, from 2012 to 2019, when we visited frequently.
For us, it's a "hot topic" currently, because, next week, Alison's daughter Rosalind, now 18, will get her A-Level results back, determining whether she can go on to do an International Politics degree course at University College, London. The course offers a subsidiary "Intermediate Danish" mini-course, with a year in Copenhagen "thrown in", no less (!) - also providing Lois and me with an excuse to go visit her while she's over there, which would be nice. So watch this space!
(left) Rosalind showcasing the locket that Lois and I gave her for her recent
18th birthday, and (right) flashback to 2017: Rosalind (centre) with her siblings,
when Lois and I were dropping them all off at International School,
during their parents' absence on a business trip to Hong Kong - happy days!!!
20:00 Evening falls, at last!
And Lois and I, as usual totally exhausted by having to control another rowdy meeting of our Danish group, fall gratefully onto our sofa to binge-watch more episodes of recent Canadian "riches to rags" series "Schitt's Creek".
The series follows the adventures of a billionaire family, the Roses, after they're cheated of their fortune by a crooked business associate, and are forced to sell their mansion and rent two rooms in a seedy motel in the backwards town of Schitt's Creek, a town that family patriarch Johnny Rose, a.k.a. "Daddy Rose" had bought "for a joke" a few years previously - what madness wasn't it !!!!!
Tonight, in this iconic scene over the opening credits, former billionaire Johnny volunteers to play in the local baseball team - baseball is called "ball" in Canada - when a gap emerges in the team just before a vital championship.
"Who or what is a 'latke'?", I hear you cry!
Well, let's ask that nice Mr Google again !!!
Unfortunately, the team manager, who is also the town's seedy mayor Roland Schitt, is unimpressed at the prospect of fielding 'Old Man Johnny' on the team, to put it mildly!
Ouch !!!! Isn't that a bit 'ageist', Mister Mayor, to put it mildly (again) ????!!!!!
Team secretary Ronnie, however, protests. She is strongly in favour of including "Old Man Johnny" in the squad, because there appears to be no other option.
Ouch (again) !!!!
Glossary: CPR = cardiopulmonial resuscitation, by the way!
[That's enough patronising footnotes! - Ed]
But fabulous stuff isn't it! They don't write scenes like that any more, that's for sure!!!!
[Something to be thankful for, there, perhaps? - Ed]
Will this do?
[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz!!!!!
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