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!!!!!

Saturday February 21st 2026 "We can all be heroes, just for one day! Look at this true 'local hero' !!!"

Yes, Friends, we can all be heroes, just for one day! Just see how this quiet, unassuming local guy did it - it's all over this morning's Onion News, if you want "chapter and verse" !!!!

Kudos, that man! And further proof, if proof were needed, that the ordinary guy can make headlines just by the occasional quiet example of "derring-do", which is refreshing!

And the story brings a fresh [no pun intended!!!] smile to the lips and cheeks of me and my wife Lois this afternoon, as we sit in the theatre in the Borough Hall in nearby Godalming (pronounced: Goddle-ming!), waiting for a local amateur operatic group's performance of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta "Utopia Limited" to begin. 

me and my wife Lois today, grabbing two early seats and 

waiting for a performance of a Gilbert & Sullivan Operetta

to begin, here in Godalming Borough Hall this afternoon

"Utopia Limited" was the duo's last work together after patching up their quarrel over the bill for a red carpet at London's Savoy Theatre, which was a bit sad! "Just pay up and look good!" was what Lois's old dad Dennis always used to say, God rest his soul!

"Utopia Limited" is a highly amusing operetta, written in 1893, in which the king of some fictional tropical island sends his daughter to England to find out how "civilised" people run their affairs - legal system, stock market, parliament, army, navy etc. 

It's thought to have been inspired by the real-life story of the last King of Hawaii, David Kalakaua, a great Anglophile and ukulele-player, also round-the-world traveller. 

The King famously sent his daughter, Princess Ka'iulani, to England to be educated "properly" (!).

Hawaiian princess, Ka'ulani, visiting a ranch shortly being

leaving for England, to be properly-educated-like (!)

There are also echoes of the mid-19th century King of Siam's insistence on employing a British governess, Anna Leonowens, to properly educate his children and even his concubines (!) - the story later made famous by the 1956 film "The King And I", starring Deborah Kerr, as governess Anna.

This Gilbert and Sullivan operetta "Utopia Limited", that Lois and I are going to be seeing this afternoon here in Godalming, pokes some gentle satirical fun at the British "smugness" of the time, in always assuming that the British way of doing things was the best, and that Britain's "super-modern society" was something all the world could learn from!

And talking of "smugness", it's also very nice this afternoon for Lois and me to get here super-early and grab some premier, super-spacious seats near the "bar-and-toilets-exit" (!), and watch, with a somewhat triumphant "smirk" on our faces, the other "old codgers" here today now struggling to find spaces somewhere which will also accommodate their winter coats, scarves, mufflers, gloves etc on this cold February day - brrrrr!!!!

smug in our possession of two premier seats with a good view of the whole theatre,

Lois and I can't resist a "small smirk of triumph" as we get a good view of other "old codgers"

who didn't bother to arrive early (!), struggling  for spaces, which was ironic !

What madness!!!!

And Lois and I are feeling good for other reasons, because before sneaking into the theatre super-early (!), we also had a nice walk around this little town, Godalming, that we don't really know at all well, to put it mildly, walking its cobbled streets, and revelling in the sight of its many 16th and 17th century buildings.

Lois and I this morning, taking a wander through the cobbled streets of 
Godalming, Surrey, with its quaint 16th and 17th century buildings, me in

my shabby ancient brown coat, and Lois in her shiny new one (!), which is nice!

We're also feeling particularly good after a double order of tuna mayonnaise jacket potatoes at the town's branch of JD Weatherspoons.

And as confirmed and fully-paid up history buffs (!), we were pleased to see that the restaurant also features, on its walls, pictures and historical data about some of the town's famous sons: like, for instance Jack Phillips, one of the heroes of the Titanic, who, as the ship's chief telegraphist, saved lots of passengers' lives, and James Ogilvy MP, who founded the colony of Georgia in 1732, after getting a charter from King George II, after whom the colony (now US state) was named.

Happy days!!!!

Meanwhile our elder daughter Alison is spending the afternoon with husband Edward, at London's Twickenham Stadium, after a 3-course lunch with free drinks, watching the England Ireland rugby game, in the corporate box provided by Transport UK, where Edward works as a top executive and director, "doing the corporate thing", as Ali puts it, networking, chatting etc. 

What madness, isn't it!!!

Pity about the game, incidentally, which a "disappointing" England side lost by 21 to 42, would you believe!

So there you have it - that's modern life in a nutshell, isn't it!!!!

Younger people like our daughter Alison and her husband Edward, "swanning off" to London to have a nice 3-course lunch with free drinks, hobnobbing with other executives and business people, and then casually watching some sports event or other for a couple of hours, if you please (!).

Meanwhile poor "old codgers" like Lois and me, are rushed off our feet, tramping the cobbled streets of Godalming, trying to learn lots of local and international history, and, in-between-times, having to queue up in at a Wetherspoons to grab a humble jacket potato and a coffee, just to keep our strengths up and rest our aching limbs !!!

The whole world's gone mad, I tell you!!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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