Tuesday February 24th 2026 "Friends, when do YOU 'come alive'? We're all different, aren't we haha !!!!"

Yes, Friends, when do YOU 'come alive'? We're all different, as this morning's local Onion News for East Hampshire illustrates so graphically, in a story that was soon "picked up" by all the 'nationals', which was nice!!!!  

Poor Harris !!!!

And Yours Truly, reading Harris's story this morning with my wife Lois, here in grassy, semi-autonomous Liphook, Hampshire, I can't stop myself remarking to Lois how strongly I identify with Harris's "trials and tribulations" (!) - with one small exception: although I'm not an afternoon or night person, I am very much a morning person, which is almost the same, and close enough for me to "claim" Harris as my inspiration, would you believe !!!!!!

[What rubbish, Colin! - Ed]

me and my wife Lois - a recent picture

Highly active in the early morning, by 7:30 am I've pretty much "shot my bolt", "finished for the day", and looking forward to spending most of the rest of the day in bed, if I can!!! Lois doesn't let me, however, apart, obviously, from afternoon "statutory nap-tim", which is probably for the best !!!!

Fortunately, we're having a "quiet" week this week, and we're using it to recharge our batteries after last week's "mayhem", but we're still maintaining our goal of doing a walk every day, weather permitting, although the weather here in Liphook this February hasn't been very "permitting" recently, to put it mildly! 

Most days there's a small "window" of time when it isn't raining for a bit, so it's just a question of keeping our eye on the forecasts and on the sky, and trying to pick a good time to venture outside of the house. The quixotic British weather this month is restricting where we go for our walk, however, because we want to pick somewhere where we can quickly get back to the car, "if the heavens open". 

What madness isn't it !!!

us today, taking advantage of a small "break in the weather",

to do half an hour of "squelching", in the mud and puddles

of Old Man Lowsley's Farm, just outside town - what madness, isn't it!!!

What a crazy world we live in !!!!!

And just how crazy the world is, is brought home to us loud and clear this evening, as we finally settle down on the couch to watch a slightly worrying documentary on BBC1, all about the AI phenomenon.

Lois and I were thinking that AI "chatbots" who have "virtual conversations" with the computer-user, were a totally new phenomenon, but as we learn tonight, it's been around for longer than we realised, starting with some more "clunky" versions going back several decades.

We didn't know that it was way back in 1966, that MIT's Joseph Weizenbaum, a pioneering computer scientist, created the world's first chatbot. His chatbot was called "Eliza", and it was modelled on a type of psychotherapist, who asked you to tell her your problems, and who then talked back to you using a set of standardised answers - so very much like a real psychotherapist, perhaps (!!!!).

When the program couldn't find a rule to follow, it simply said to the user, "Please go on!".

And it was soon realised that "chatbots" should, for preference, always agree with whatever the user was saying, constantly "validating" them and their ideas. After all, nobody would want to talk to a chatbot who constantly argued with them, and you can understand why! But this very feature is why chatbots are so dangerous today in the hands of psychotic people. 

As we hear in this documentary, Jaswant Singh Chail, who tried to break into Windsor Castle to assassinate Elizabeth II on Christmas Day 2021, had talked to his chatbot girlfriend, Sarai, about his plans for the assassination, asking for her views. And Sarah simply answered, "I think you're very wise", and "I have faith in you!". 

Tonight presenter Hannah Fry discusses Jaswant's computer logs with Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism expert Dominic Murphy.

Luckily, in the event, on Christmas Day 2021, Jaswant was caught by police at the Castle, and he won't even be starting his 9-year prison sentence until Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital thinks he's in a state to be released from his secure unit there. Let's hope that that means "never" - or even longer if that's possible haha!!!!

21:00 It's now 9 o'clock in the evening, and, looking to go to bed on something a bit "lighter" (!), Lois and I turn to Channel More4 for the latest programme in the fascinating series, "Saving Country Houses with Penelope Keith".

Most of the UK's stately homes have changed owners during the centuries after they were first built, but an exception to that is Whitmore Hall in Staffordshire, which has been owned by the same family for almost a thousand years. It was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. 

And the current owner, Edward Cavenagh-Mainwaring inherited the house and its estate from his father in 2021, and became the 34th generation "lord of the manor". The estate comprises 1500 acres of farmland and includes a church, a lake, and even a pub - what madness, isn't it!!!

In this sequence, Edward's sister Fleur and their mother - whom Fleur calls "Mumbo" (!) - explain something about the history of it all.

When asked to say what the family has achieved in those 1000 years, "Mumbo" says simply, "Not much, but, well, we survived! As a family, we have "scrabbled through"", suggesting that this would make a good family motto, "We scrabbled through!"

The family's actual motto is the Norman-French "Devant, si je puis!" (English: Forward, if I can!), which is more inspiring, perhaps, although the family crest has frequently been mocked, we're told, featuring, as it does, the head of a donkey.

Significantly, however, the donkey is seen to be wearing a halter, which also illustrates one of the family's traditional legal rights, as "Mumbo" explains.

What a truly crazy world they lived in, back in those far-off times!!!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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

Monday February 23rd 2026 "Friends, do YOU keep a mad little diary about YOUR fitness goals?"

Yes, Friends, it's a temptation isn't it, at the gym, to make brief notes about how you think you're doing! We've all been there, I think!

If not, why not "take a leaf" out of local man Philip Keller's little notebook - no pun intended !!!! Keller's super-fit torso was plastered all over the sports pages of today's local Onion News for East Hampshire, in case you didn't notice!!!

"Kudos, that man!!!" is what my wife Lois and I are saying this morning, reading the Onion News piece here in rural, semi-subtropical Liphook, Hampshire, although some, locally, are calling Keller "a bit sad", which we think is grossly unfair!

my wife Lois and me - a recent picture

And reading Keller's story brings a knowing smile today, to my lips in particular, because I've been stung into action about my own fitness, now that I'm 79, would you believe, and will be an incredible 80  in just one month's time, even though I've been described, in my own blog, no less, as "marvellous for my age", which is some comfort, to put it mildly!!

Having read on a website last year that old codgers need to take in more protein than younger people, just to stop themselves literally "cracking into pieces",  I recently upped my protein count by instituting a daily boiled egg into my breakfast so-called "routine" (!). 

Having been informed that older adults need to take in 1.2g of protein for every kilogram of their weight, I laboriously, and selflessly, translated those metric figures into "imperial", figuring that others could benefit from my maths skills for once (!). And I concluded that, as a fully paid-up "old codger" weighing 10 stone 1 lb, that I needed to take in 77g of protein day (2.7 oz), and that an egg a day would contribute a vital 13g (half an ounce), or about one sixth of my daily requirement - something of a breakthrough at the time, even though I say it myself!

flashback to August 2025: the original notes from 

my now famous "egg breakthrough" discovery

Don't take it on trust, though, you do the maths! And let me know about any errors (postcards only!!!!).

All well and good, you may say, but I've now read this week that the protein you ingest isn't the whole story; apparently you also need to exercise your muscles, which is a bit of a blow!!!! And what madness, too!!!!!! So today, I find myself more or less compelled to blow the dust off my old standby, "Executive Fitness for Men", which, according to my blog, I haven't looked at since 2009, would you believe - to my shame!!!!

(left) me today, dusting off my old copy of "Executive Fitness for Men", 

and (right) flashback to February 2009: me as a fresh-to-freshish-faced 62-year-old,

posing for a picture to illustrate the Hungarian version of my blog. What madness!!!! 

And even today, in 2026, I certainly need to be strong, to help Lois by getting the tops off her little containers of bouquet garni and other challenges! [You lazy bastard, Colin! - Ed]

But there's another possible use for my muscles, I learn today.

Could I also try on my old football boots, and help our poor struggling local football team, Liphook United, in their hour of need? As you may have read, "the lads", as they're known locally, have had another miserable month this February, with their usual tally of "played two, lost two", and they're still "languishing" in the relegation zone of the local Hampshire Premier League, which is an utter disgrace, and brings no glory to the town, that's for sure!

Losing 2-0 away to Bishop Waltham Dynamos was bad enough, but then losing 2-4 at home to Hedge End Rangers - that really "sucks" !!!!

(left) what's believed to be the approximate position of Hedge End in the UK

and (right) the village's bustling shopping centre

How are "the lads" of Liphook United ever going to crawl their way out of the Hampshire Premier League's shameful "relegation zone" with those kinds of averages?

And it begs the question, "Could I personally do anything to help them?" [You ARE joking, aren't you, Colin? - Ed] 

Because, with my now soon-to-be-beefed-up muscles, I'm beginning to believe that I really could make a difference, as the side's potential "exciting No. 2 shirt", maybe? What do you think?

I wonder.....!

And today, partly as a "recce", Lois and I decide to take our daily walk over the team's "hallowed turf", to check out the lads' latest popularity ratings, as posted on the windows of their disused-looking, so-called "clubhouse", and to check out the vibes generally, prior to my offering the team my services, maybe later next week? What do you think?

[Don't bother, Colin. I can't see you making it out of the clubhouse without tripping over your bootlaces and falling down the steps, to be frank! - Ed]

Lois and me taking our daily walk this morning over the "hallowed turf" of 

local soccer heroes, Liphook United, checking out the exotic birdsong

as well as the team's disused-looking so-called "clubhouse" - what madness, isn't it!!!!!

Yes, I have a dream! Liphook United has just got to believe in itself, and with my encouragement, success is going to be a dead cert, that's for sure!

Remember how another lowly amateur club, Neasden FC's fortunes rose to glory (although sadly without avoiding relegation) back in the 1960's, after another "old codger", own-goal specialist "Baldy" Pevsner, was recruited for a then-record (for Neasden FC)  negative-£5 transfer fee?

Miracles happen - so let's not forget that! And we have to thank that tireless football-journalist E.I. Addio for chronicling the team's giant-dodging exploits back in the day!

Veritably the club's "glory days", weren't they. And the same thing could happen to Liphook, I believe, given my own participation and encouragement! [???- Ed]

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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

Sunday February 22nd 2026 "Do YOU know anybody famous? Do tell haha!!!!"

Do YOU know anybody famous? Most of us do, don't we, and it lends us a particular variety of second-hand charm, people find!

Like local man Kevin Laver, whose face is plastered all over this morning's regional papers, like the Onion News for East Hampshire, and even some of "the nationals", like the Times and Telegraph, would you believe!!! But here's the original Onion News "take" on today's big story....

"Kudos, Laver!!!", is what my wife Lois and I say to each other as we read Laver's "rags-to-potential-riches" story today, here in rural, semi-translucent Liphook, Hampshire, to put it mildly!

me and my wife Lois - a recent picture

The great thing about once having known celebrities, Lois and I always say, is that there's a kind of a "domino effect" - have you noticed?  And my spies tell me that people in this neck of the woods are already starting to reveal that, although they have never met basketball star Hayward, they were once vaguely aware of Hayward's former classmate Laver, and so it goes on!!!! 

So the moral is - when at school, try to find out, and to memorise, the names of your classmates: it could be useful "chat fodder" at dinner parties in your later life! 

Our 12-year-old twin granddaughters, Lily and Jessica, are going through that painful process right now, getting to know new classmates, having just a couple of weeks ago started "big school" over in Perth, Australia. And Lois and I are keen to find out about their latest experiences this morning, during our weekly Sunday morning "catch-up" whatsapp call with them and with mum Sarah, our 50-year-old daughter, that's for sure!

Lois and I, here in wet, cold Liphook, Hampshire, get a tantalising second-hand 

glimpse of summer sunshine this morning, through the magic of the internet, 

talking to our daughter Sarah and her twins Lily and Jessica in Perth, Australia

It's proving a bit "sticky" for the twins, Sarah tells us, trying to "gel" with their new classmates, who all know each other from the school's primary classes, but it's early days yet, so fingers crossed. And at least they've got each other, while they're trying to "break the ice". 

The twins are fascinated by some of the new subjects they've started learning, like Food Science and Technology, and also Basic Japanese. They only know a couple of phrases of Japanese at the moment, but, as an old "Japanese hand" myself, I take the opportunity on our call this morning to teach them two useful phrases, the Japanese for "How are you?" and "Who are you, exactly?", which I can still remember from my years studying for a Japanese degree, which I eventually achieved back in 1968, almost 60 years ago, would you believe!

For my wife Lois, one of the many obvious drawbacks (!) of her marriage to me, is my interest in foreign languages, but at least it's given her the opportunity to travel the world, and see some beautiful and fascinating countries, so I don't feel too bad about it haha!

flashback to 1971 - Lois comes to visit me during my

study year in Japan 1970-1971

Another challenging language which I studied on my own starting in the 1990s is Hungarian, and Lois and I visited that fascinating country several times during the twenty years or so that I was trying (and mostly failing!) to learn the language.

flashback to1990's: (left) me with our Hungarian friend Istvan and his son Marty,

in the town of Pecs, Hungary, down south near the Croatian border,

and (right) Lois with  my Hungarian penfriend Tunde in her flat in Budapest

Hungary is currently in the grip of far-right politician Viktor Orban, who over his 15 years as Prime Minister, has managed to make himself super-rich, together with all his family and "cronies", as well as exerting pressure on the country's anti-government press and media, and altering the constitution to favour his own Fidesz political party. 

Oh and I almost forgot - he's been sucking up to Putin big-time, to put it mildly!

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban with friend Vladimir Putin

However, there are currently hopes that Orban will be turfed out at the coming elections in April, and replaced by a "normal" politician, with democratic ideals, Peter Magyar, head of the opposition Tisza party. Magyar's priorities are to restore a proper system of checks and balances, of the kind that Orban has been eating away at, and it's also a priority to tighten controls over what a Hungarian Prime Minister can, and cannot do.

And perhaps the clearest sign that Orban is getting worried about the forthcoming elections is that his party is pulling out all the stops to sabotage the opposition's campaign, now that Magyar is leading in the polls. And it's "no holds barred", to put it mildly!!!

My weekly feed of news "Insight Hungary", from the anti-government news website 444.hu is teasing that the government is going to release footage from a sex-videotape of Magyar in bed with his former girlfriend. And the story was also picked up by the BBC this week.

Also, Tunde, my Hungarian penfriend, tells me that the Government website has been posting an AI-video claiming that if the opposition wins the April elections, that Hungarian fathers risk being dragged to the Ukraine frontline, and being executed there, if you can believe that!!!!

The video shows a weeping child asking her mother when daddy will be coming home, followed by a scene supposedly at the front, in the Ukraine, where an officer in Nazi-style uniform shoots daddy in the head, as he clutches a picture of his beloved young daughter! The video says that this is just a nightmare for the moment, but it's what could happen if the Opposition came to power. 

Yikes! That's acceptable political debate in Hungary for you, as seen by Orban's government !!!!

21:00 One of the fears in many countries today is that their country's normal democratic political life is in danger of being subverted by super-rich billionaires, who get to power by playing on the fears of some of their poorest voters, while simultaneously taking away their state benefits, and by spreading all sorts of blatantly false facts through the media they control, which is a bit of a worry, to put it mildly!

The process by which a democracy can be turned into a dictatorship is one of the themes of the latest programme in Alice Roberts' new series, "The Roman Empire by Train", which Lois and I go to bed on tonight. 

Back in 27BC, Augustus famously turned the centuries-old Roman Republic into an autocratic system ruled by himself, and how Augustus did that is one of the themes of tonight's programme.

Less famous, perhaps, is how so many of the Romans' most celebrated achievements, their roads, and their water management systems - aqueducts, piped water etc - were started off by the mysterious Etruscans, who ruled much of Italy before the Romans started to throw their weight about (!).

In tonight's programme, Alice takes us 40 miles north of Rome to a place now called "Barbarano Romano", and to a current archaeological dig which is uncovering an Etruscan settlement - an acropolis and a necropolis, so including graves. Unfortunately the type of soil in the area isn't conducive to preserving either bones or DNA, which is a pity, but evidence of the Etruscans' early technological feats is all around.

If you live in Italy one of the big problems is going to be managing water, because there's too much of it in the winter, and not enough of it in the summer. Unlike Britain, where there's too much of it, pretty much all year round, typically, to put it mildly!

And the Etruscans got there first bringing water in and running waste water out, way before the Romans did, which Lois and I didn't realise.

Ooh "harbingers" - growing up, I always wanted to be one of those! Is it too late now, I wonder?

[That ship sailed a long time ago, Colin! - Ed]

I've always felt a bit sorry for the Etruscans, because our very scant knowledge of their language means that we still don't know the half of what they were able to achieve. Their language, thought to be one of Europe's oldest, predates the arrival of the Indo-European farmers, who spoke the ancestor of almost all the languages spoken in Europe today.

a typical Etruscan couple with enormous legs, as seen 

on this sarcophagus from the late 6th century BC

At least there are a few of the Etruscans' words that found their way into Latin, and thereafter into many European languages today, including English, which is something to celebrate I think.

Some of these are really basic words, like "person", "family", "market", "military", for example.

Even the word "satellite" is thought to have originated from Etruscan, although the Etruscans are not believed to have initiated a space programme, experts say. The word "satellite" just meant "an attendant" in those crazy, far-off days, and you can see how that might have developed into its current meaning today.

Kudos, ye Etruscans! And hail to thee! You did not live in vain! And you kept us out of war, as a bonus, which was nice haha!!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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