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!!!!!

Friday February 20th 2026 "Friends! Respect YOUR clothes - don't just cast them aside like an old "squeeze" haha!!!"

Yes, Friends, take a look inside YOUR wardrobe, and say hello to the old friends 'closeted' therein (no pun intended!!!), and do it now haha! 

And take a leaf out of this local man's book, whose face was 'plastered' all over the local papers -  and even some of the nationals (!) - this morning. Here's the Onion News "take" on the story, which my wife Lois and I were reading with interest a few hours ago, at our home in rural, semi-professional Liphook, Hampshire, to put it mildly!!!!

Kudos, that man!!! At least Roberts is showing his clothes a bit for respect. How often do we just throw out our old "clobber" without a second thought, when their time is due. 

It's so easy, isn't it, to cast off your "clout", like an old "squeeze", especially when May is out!!!

By the way, the old proverb "Ne'er cast a clout till May is out" neatly divides our nation, doesn't it, with some folks insisting that "May" refers to the month, and other 'sticklers' and pedants linking it to the blossoming of the may tree, or the common hawthorn. And I'm running an informal poll amongst my readers this month, so we can decide this issue for all time, closing date February 19th - postcards only please haha!!!!

a typical member of my "straw poll electorate" preparing to cast her vote

If you miss the close of this poll, not to worry, because, as a heads-up, there'll be another of my popular straw polls next month, this time all about whether the correct form of words is "till May is out" or "till May be out", so start weighing the pros and cons now, and watch this space!!!!

And expect to see some of mine and Lois's new clothes "in action" in future pics of mine and Lois's daily walks - we could certainly do with some new "clobber", what with this year's cold, wet winter weather - brrrrr !!!!

flashback to us, earlier today, taking our daily walk over Old Man Lowsley's Farm,

braving the mud, and the puddles, trying to look cheerful (!), and fighting 

the icy wind, in clothes that frankly have seen much better days - brrrrr!!!!!

What madness, isn't it !!!!

I sometimes try to work out how long I've had some of my awful old coats and hats, for example, by looking through our old photos. I'll spare you some of the "numbers" on this one - it's not a pretty story, in more ways than one! And we'll certainly both of us have to try to look "decent" tomorrow, when we go to the opera, if you please (!), in nearby Godalming, just over the county line in Surrey, but more of that later - watch this space!!!!

It's no secret that Lois and I have been retired for almost 20 years - our 20-year anniversary of being "gentleman and gentlewoman of leisure" (haha!) is next month, March. And I say "haha", because you'll know that in fact, since retiring we've both, in fact, been busier than ever, and, frankly, not 100% sure how we ever managed to squeeze in 7.5 hours of work every day. Since our retirement in March 2006, these last 20 years have been total madness, but also fun at the same time, just from trying to squeeze it all in! 

[I'd like to see some evidence of that, Colin! - Ed]

flashback to March 2006, my 60th birthday, and 

also the date both Lois and I retired 

This evening, however, I'm transported back to those old working days in a delightful programme on BBC4, "Derek Jacobi Remembers.. Breaking the Code", in which the actor recalls playing the part of wartime code-breaker Alan Turing in the BBC drama of that name, from way back in 1997.

Health warning: there's a little bit of maths to cope with in this programme, but not very much, thankfully! And Jacobi says that the big challenge for him, playing the part of Turing, was to make it seem natural that all this clever stuff was coming out of the Jacobi head!

In this scene, Turing, played by Jacobi, is being introduced to an actual German Enigma machine for the first time after starting work at the Government's wartime codebreaking unit at Bletchley Park.

Well, no, obviously !!!!!

But there was another aspect of Turing's character that Jacobi says he found it much easier to replicate. Like Turing, Jacobi was, and is, a homosexual. 

In this scene from the play, Turing is having a heart-to-heart with his co-worker and would-be girlfriend, Joan. When Turing comes clean about his sexuality, Joan tells him that she knows all about that already, but that it wouldn't stop her loving him, and needn't stop him loving her.

And although Joan didn't see a problem, it wasn't the sort of life that Turing wanted, as he then makes plain to her....

And Jacobi confesses, that at the time - 1997 - when he was playing the role, he himself hadn't really thought through is homosexuality, and that playing the role of Turing helped him to explore his own deepest feelings.

And it's especially interesting for me personally to see Joan, Turing's girlfriend, being portrayed, at the time a young woman, and also the only female member of Bletchley's senior team, a highly respected code-breaker, who worked on cracking the German Naval Enigma machine. 

This is because, back in the 1970's Joan was a well-respected member of the office that I myself was employed in, in the days when I worked for a living (!). At the time I knew her, Joan was a very kindly and quiet, unassuming member of the office, who was approaching retirement. But Bletchley's role in the war hadn't yet been declassified, so I had no idea of Joan's past until much later, and so I never got the chance to talk to her about it.

Happy days !!!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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