So another dearly loved and cherished actor gone - Gene Wilder! This beaming, dancing, smiling and widehearted man, died today at the age of 83 in his home in Stamford. Gene Wilder , or Jerome Silberman that was his name from birth, is one of my very dearest childhood crushes. I loved him in The Producers and it was in Mel Brooks films I really understood the greatness of this man. He was wellknown to use every inch of space to bring joy. His greatest fear was that there would be less laughter and smiling in the world. God gave him so much, and he gave it back , to us! I wonder if he knew he was blessed?
I'll add something from a favourite of ours; Frisco Kid, also starring another teenage crush, Harrison Ford. Blazing Saddles is another favourite, Young Frankenstein, but he also played Willy Wonka, a performance I have yet to experience. I know, I don't normally do this kind of posts but I did warn you a while ago - I am a true cineast!!
When everything quiets down, the sounds and the smells and the skyviews keep altering.
I have seen some very lovely pictures of latesummer and earlyautumn scenery so I am just adding some myself here.
Melancholy grips me at times, today I took a walk through the churchyard, stopping by the headstones of people I knew and people I held funerals for. Autumn is a good time for autumn thoughts, thoughts of life passing too quickly, natures going to rest, decay, losses you have made, things you didn't get around to do, choices never taken, calls never made, voices you will never hear again. But there is still time for life and sunshine, we have some warm days left, and the crops are not all in yet. Chestnuts have not began to shower its fruits all over the place and the trees are still green although some have turned yellow. And life goes on, its just that it takes different turns than you are used to, and some people becomes vivid memories to carry in your heart. In autumn, the Lord provides the peaceful pondering and the joyous choirpractise, beginning on wednesday!!!
The last days of last week were warm and sunny, breakfast outside, lunch outside, dinner outside.
Friday night I met some friends in a tiny cottage in the woods, the air crisp and nice, darkness slowly sinking as we sat on the porch talking. Saturday came, hot and sunny, perfect for that christening in the garden of a little boy in my parish. Saturday afternoon came, hot and sunny and perfect for
a kickoff with the churchchoir, just watch this wonderful place hidden way behind the farm, the land, the woods and the dusty barns
You can't see but this field is covered with bluebells.
Right across here is that island I wrote about earlier this year, and look at these rock!
A quiet evening only disturbed by the choir singing and talking.
The remains of small cottages can be seen, but most of all they left many old appletrees.
And so evening came and the night was clear but...early sundaymorning this was the state of the skies above
Look at those ripples in the heavenly sandbed
What are you hiding?
Someone has been wipping the clouds to a turmoil and thunder is heard from afar, and very soon it was right over us and thunder and rain kept rolling for a couple of hours.
The sundaymass was a celebration with just a handful of people, a dousin perhaps. After church, the skies slowly began to clear and in the afternoon we took the girls and payed the Icecream and Herringboat a visit before it closes up for winter and goes into docking. Fried herring and mashed potatoes, onions and sallad. Oh, and icecream in large cones.
A small bay separates coast and coast, in the middle this small Rabbitisland is found.
In the harbour you can find this piece of art, square stones with words on each side, so you can turn them and make your own poetry. A new poem for every new person turning the stones. The options are limited, but its rather interesting anyway.
All summer long the small boats keep coming to our small town by the sea , imagine that rough thunderstorm just a few hours ago. Strange time of year this is!!
We went to the cinema this evening, to see the somewhat incredible story of Florence Foster Jenkins, also known as the worlds worst singer. Personally I had never heard of her, in my childhood world the worst examples of musical destroyers was mrs. Miller and Liberace. Liberace wasn't all that bad really, it was his strange divamanners that spolied it. Or did the trick, I don't know.
The film about mrs Foster Jenkins is a strange one, directed by Stephen Fryars and with music by Alexandre Desplat, also one to make music for Harry Potter. Meryl Street, the one and only, is a marvellous piece of actress. I have no idea about the real singer, but she interprets the personality and innerlife of this lady, in a very sensitive way. One does laugh, because it is so hysterically bad and hilarious. But its also very sad and devastating, and you end up wishing no one will ever tell her for real why they keep coming to her concerts. Both mrs Streep and Hugh Grant ( resident in Sweden on summervacations nowadays ) does splendid jobs and puts their utmost into the characters. And so does many others in this film. Like Simon Helberg, excellent.
What struck me, was that there really are many people out there believing they are far better than anyone else and entitled to respect and gratitude as well as obedience and fear. How many rotten leaders hasn't been payed tribute and raised to power and influence? How many distorted minds have not been given rights to spend millions on research and labwork for the sake of humankind or some other highpitched goal without bearing? How many has been celebrated for an unprecendented skill for creating weapons? How many people have been trampled upon, ridiculed and set aside by company bosses thinking high and mighty of themselves, making everybody else go along?
How important isn't it, that someone tells us the truth before we are starting to make serious mistakes, getting hurt or seriously hurting others? The truth can be painful, yes, but its the only thing that really holds. To a sane mind, given with respect and tenderness, the truth will help us grow and take the responsibility given us, and nothing more.
But singing off key won't start any wars. Nobody was forced to listen to her, nobody took severe damage from it, there was no threat to internal affairs, there was riddicule on her behalf, but she didn't know. When she finally found out, it did break her heart. But she lived and burned for music, thinking it could heal and sooth a world in flames. And nobody can argue there. I can't say if it was wrong to keep her in the dark about her total lack of talent, but decades of singing made her loved and appreciated. If the real lady was anywhere near the filmversion, she would be impossible to dislike.
Hitler enjoyed music, Wagner f.i and those nationalistsongs that would make the boys ready to fight and die for him and his cause. The issue of music, however, is to awake emotions and enjoy the listening. Healing, encouraging, soothing, inspiring. Off key? Well, you don't have to listen, it won't force itself on you.
But when a leader is off key, you have no saying and can't turn it off. So, I liked the film, we all did.
But I won't buy her records.....below is the lady herself...
Hello! Well, as you know I am rather new in the bloggerworld, about 6 months old, and have lots of things to learn from you nice and experienced bloggers. I find it so very inspiring to read and comment on most things you write, it becomes a part of my daily life. I follow people in different parts of the world, and learn a lot from that. The things I share with you on my two blogs are sometimes commented on and I am very pleased with that but wish there was more, much more. Still, I have to be patient and become somewhat more established here. But please, do give comments, I like talking to you and the conversations I do have I enjoy a lot!! Now for a problem I'd like to bring up. I take a look every day to see if there has been visitors. Some of you have blockings of different kinds to prevent unwanted comments, but how can I prevent bad visitors? I check it up if its a webaddress I don't recognize and sometimes its ok but all too often its something disgusting hiding in that link and I realize no one wanted to read my blog, they wanted to lure me into something . How can I prevent bad visitors and get only the good ones? The real people that is, not a commercial site with dubious intentions. I want visitors here and am so happy to find readers from distant corners of this earth. Korea, Australia, India, you name it!! Welcome, I say, but please only open my doors if you have the best intentions and polite behaviour, if you are curious about my world and way of thinking and love the bloggerworlds kind interest in other people. Commersial robotvisitors are not welcome!! Any good advice about this, blogfriends??? Wishing you all a blessed and bright weekend!! Mine is filled with weddings and christenings, this afternoon I baptized a little boy in one of our villages, on a spot overlooking the sea. Grandma and some others had baked 12 kinds of pastry plus two large cakes with frosting on. And flowers. And some serious conversation over a cup of coffee. I am blessed!!!
The ocean last weekend. Surfers paradise?
And so, the other evening, everything calmed down.
The smaller beach is deserted, only the more bold will from now on have a dip!
Some of the smaller beautiful boats still lingers in the harbour.
Finally, dusk is falling and the quiet sea is barely visible. We took the small path home, through the woods, carefully minding our step!!!
Goodevening!! This week school starts again and they are all nervous and worried. New grade, new teachers, for the youngest its a new school all together. So we just had to take a small trip and clear our minds a bit. We went to Copenhagen, the town where I used to go as a child when it was really special. Copenhagen in itself is a buzzing city, filled with all kinds of people, all kinds of culture and all kinds of food. For us in Sweden, Denmark was a bit of forbidden fruit, easy to get a beer when not of age, stores filled with liqour, ladies smoking fat cigars, everything very laidback and nothing seemed impossible. Except perhaps for the sometimes incomprehensible language....
Icecream in waffelcone, complete with chocolatedrops!!!
With our schoolclasses we went to the Glyptoteket, a great museum where I encountered my very first mummy. The sausages are red and the softice covered with chocolatedrops and jam. As a teenager, Tivoli was the perfect spot! Tivoli is an old amusementpark, in the very centre of this great city. Madame Tussauds and Ripleys Believeitornot was also popular. The Tivoli park itself opened in 1843 and was an inspiration to H C Andersen when he wrote the story of the Nightinggale. It burnt down during worldwartwo but was restored again. At first there was exotic buildings and wonderful gardens and merrygorounds. Today there are several theatrescenes, open spaces for picnic and play, plenty of rides for all ages, a large aquarium and fish and birds by the ponds. The streets in the park are lovely and if you are lucky, there will be parades with musicians in bright red uniforms, children or adults!!All over you can buy candy, icecream and food, beverages of all kinds and also souvenirs and toys. The flowers and trees and decorations are brilliant, there is a calm and sothing feeling about the place, even if you can hear the screaming and bellowings all over. My absolute favourite since my teens, is the rollercoaster from 1914!!! So why did I loose my voice? Well, I'm not very noisy normally, but placed in a rollercoaster or other frightening ride, I become an absolute stranger to our girls, denying they ever knew me. Until the ride is over and we are well out of sight from people.......
Here is one more, surrounded by the most beautiful flowers
High up in some of the rides you can see far away over the rooftops, you see churches, the great countyhall and much more, if you dare!!! I dared one of the new ones, a very high tower with discs flying around it, seats along the brim....
Plenty of fountains along the streets of Tivolihaven, have=garden.
White peacocks????!! Well, in Denmark they walk around!!
Our Angles Trumpet never got this big!!!
The youngest loves flowers, these were found around the fountains!!
And she loves rides too, often more violent ones than the rest of us!!! This was not one of those. My feet are not dangling up there, I can tell you!!
This was, however....The Demon!!!! Yes, the girls took it, we did not, not ,not!! Together with them was f.i a bunch of daredevils from one of Copenhagens refugeehomes for lonecoming children. They could forget everything troublesome for a while and roamed around like bees. Happy bees.
This one she wanted to ride but we wouldn't let her......OOOO!!! She said: I turn 15 next year, then I will ride it!!!
Here we are, strolling along the streets of Chinatown!!
India - The Taj Mahal in Tivolistyle. In christmastime this palace with its fountain is absolutely ravishing!
This is one of the oldest scenes, the curtain is made to look like a peacocks tail!!
Going home from Copenhagen means some troublesome moments. The border is very closely covered by police and guards, because of the many refugees. They are fewer now but you still need to show your passport and it's rather confusing where to go. In the middle of the turmoil , covered with screaming, waving, puzzled and annoyed passengers was a bright, smiling and patient DSBofficial, answering the same questions over and over, directing us to the proper track and proper train! Still, we were homebound and safe, many are not. I hope that kind woman is the first person the newcommers set eyes on when they reach Denmark. God bless her!!!
So now we say goodbye to all these talented musicians, all these jazzlovers and all these happy volunteers. We know that this is also goodbye to many of the summerguests that has been a part of villagelife all summer long. For many of us, this is also goodbye to summer. School starts next week, for many the vacations are over and life goes back to normal, whatever that means. The days of festivals are almost over, most of our festivals are now over, summertheaters and events have passed. There is a cristalclear line between the days of carefree holiday and responsible weekday. We came to pass the last hour of the jazzfestival in deep and serious conversation with some kind and generous people in the parish. Instead of the jazzy musicevent we had hoped for , we got something better and walked home, quite happy. And now they are all going home, all except those who gather tomorrow morning in the chapel, to celebrate The freedom of Christ, the theme of this sunday. We've had bands from New Orleans, Germany, Ukraine, Finland, Denmark and Sweden
Buy a bracelet and support the festival for another year.
Brassflavour makes generations meet. Energy and generosity.
Panorama Jazz Band from New Orleans makes everybody happy and moving!! With wonderful Aurora Nealand on saxofone, although not in this picture. Joining in this evening was our wonderboy Bjorn Ingelstam!!
The talented Aurora in Panorama Jazz Band. Also notice leader Ben Schenck on clarinet.
Strawhats were very popular this year as well, together with our t-shirts they really appealed to people. We meet many nice people in the jazzshop, although we had to save our merchandise from the heavy rain that emerged from nowhere.
From a distance, the small harbour looks the same. But close up you can smell barbeque and fried fish, donuts and langos. And you hear the caotic sound of jazzmusic from three different scenes hovering over the surface.
For six years you could by pins as a contribution to the jazzfestival. Most people had their buttons on a hat. That has never occured to me, so I keep them this way, during the festivities.
Some very spontaneus music finds its way to peoples hearts, here they pay tribute to Pink Floyd in jazzy costume!!
Here they are live in Dresden a few years ago. Not only the young players can fire away, this very reliable and jazzing gang can make the hall swing, the danish oldboys in Henning Munk och Plumperne.
And so we gathered in the chapel this morning, about 400 people in all, not all of them could be inside but stayed outside in the sunny weather. Our local musicians and singers took charge of the service with spirituals and hymns. This year, the very talented and wonderful Amy Roberts stayed on and contributed with all her instruments lined up. So I got to sing my "In the sweet by and by" with her as well. Singing, preaching and praying with all these people is a wonderous joy!!!
Amy Roberts from England. Here without the band with Richard Exall.
No this is not me singing but it is "my" song!! Now everyone is returning home and soon the village will be very quiet and normal again. School starts in a few days and everything will become bright memories of friends and happy days. For those who are not present with us we propose a toast to absent friends, or if you like, a second of thought and warmth!! The music has faded now but lives on in our hearts. Today we celebrate the freedom in Christ, a freedom from the inside and out, however life lay burdens upon us, within we are free and loved. Festivals or no festivals.
In these summerdays there are several festivals everywhere. Not that amazing kind of flowershows that some have, but musicalfestivals, boatfestivals, nostalgiafestivals, folklorefestivals and pridefestivals. In our village we have a Jazzfestival, 13 years now I think. I am on my way down to the meeting in the harbour. We are a bunch of enthusiasts trying to help out, some more than others.
I do very very little. I spend a couple of hours now and then to sell t-shirts and other things and keep people adviced of what bands play where. Bands from Sweden, Denmark, England, USA, Germany and ...I forgot, there was some more countries.
I will give you a more detailed story when its all over. It all ends with a Jazzservice in the chapel where this minister sings and preaches. Always " In the sweet bye and bye", its a tradition.
More of that in a few days!!
This is our own local jazzband with our former headmaster and some teachers and others playing!!!
They are called Ziplock because that rimes well in swedish!! DRAGKEDJAN.
If you like, pay a visit to my other blog, where I have started to write down some of the short stories I've collected in my head and drawers. Novels and true stories.
Goodmorning!!! This will be a somewhat grumpy post!! Today its a sunny and beautiful day, two weddings awaits me in one of our churches and one of the brides had her confirmationday 7 years ago with this minister.
Every time this happends or they come with their newborns for the christening, I feel old. However, I have yet to wed someone I have baptized, ... Here you can listen to classical, swedish weddingmarches!!!
Anyway, the topic for the sundayservice is Faith and Life. Today some people, many, say that they can't believe in what they can't see, but I think that is really all we do. We believe in the internet and have faith in it, but we can't see it. We pay money we can't see with our Visa, we practise Yoga to find inner peace that we can't see, technicians put faith in tools to fix our netproblems, that can't be handled and can't be seen. And now also we run all over the place to capture monsters that most of us can't see... They say its so good for the teenagers and children because they go outdoors and use their feet and legs to walk, run and bike their way round instead of sitting by their laptops (like me right now) all day. Well, not ONLY children, adults as well. Buying groceries the other day, I had to jump aside for a man in his early thirties, running his trolley and staring hard at his mobile. I read in the papers that some stops can be found around the railroadtracks causing dangerous situations. Also in church and in the churchyards they run around, crossing graves and disturbing prayers. Perhaps I am just oldfashioned, maybe I should contact that gamecompany and make them provide us with a fullscaled gospelversion of the hunt!!! And yes, my girls hunt and so do some of my friends....hm... And the other day the oldest one discovered that she could catch pokemons from the backseat of the car.... What could that lead to on the highways...??? It's true we believe in what we don't see and set our hopes and faith to it. But we find the traces of the unseen everywhere and really should be hunting for the miracles of grace happening in peoples lifes everyday. But, there is no business in that, is there? Not in weddings either, but at least I can see, feel and hear the young couple, the music, the singing and crying, the rustling of beautiful clothes in the benches. The prayers and blessings for those two may be invisible but it is indeed, very very real.
