Parklife…

 Thursday 9th April 2026 

I get up when I want except on Wednesdays when I get rudely awakened by the dustmen (Parklife)

I put my trousers on, have a cup of tea and I think about leaving the house (parklife)

I feed the pigeons, I sometimes feed the sparrows too

It gives me a sense of enormous wellbeing (parklife) and then I'm happy for the rest of the day

Safe in the knowledge there will always be a bit of my heart devoted to it…

I didn’t spring out of bed the same today, not sure if it was because I didn’t have to or the fact that I have an ache or two from yesterday’s walk?

I need to evaluate my fitness if I’m going to complete my solo challenge.

My feet, knees and calves seem fine but, bear with me as I’m not a medical expert, the muscles that connect my bumcakes to my legs seem to be affecting my ability to climb stairs…surely I don’t need a Stannah stairlift yet??

With the lyrics from Blur's "Parklife," and the phrase “you should cut down on your pork life, mate, get some exercise" ringing in my ears, I realise that I have probably been sat on my arse for too long and now solemnly swear to keep more active from now until eternity…but not today, it’s raining!

To cap it all this arrived by email…

Is this the start of the old age medical world where I just go back and forth from the local surgery? I’l nip round on my way back from the tip with a pre-filled bucket of samples and see if they will settle for that??

You would need to be brain dead not to know this indie banger for today’s track so it needs no introduction, just enjoy the tune and the video.

Birth, School, Work, Death…

Wednesday 8th April 2026

So, today, as I spring out of bed and put the kettle on, I use the time it takes to boil to evaluate my life… 

Iv just turned 60, I’m now a pensioner and now have no job and therefore need to ask myself…“So, what happens now?”

It would appear that I have an undefined period of time left on the planet so I thought I’d make an early start in being proactive and try using Chat LGBGT for inspiration.

‘Ready to turn your retirement into a thrilling new chapter?’…Yep, Sure am!

‘Discover 25 exciting ideas to keep your days vibrant, engaging, and full of joy’- 10 mins read.

…sounds like just what I need!

Pigeon fancier

Classic car restoration

Golf

Metal detecting

Grow your friendship group

Gently moving….

STOP…That will do, il start with this easy one first and build up to the more technical stuff in time as I have an unknown period of life left before it needs to get complicated.

It’s just ‘nearly’ turned Spring, but rather than contemplating and ranking my favourite top ten shrubs or watching David Dickinsons ‘tantastic’ antique bargains in the sun, I need to get a wriggle on, I have loads of stuff to do and now a bit more time to do it…there is a bit more life in this old blogger yet!

…Today I’m also back on Strava so I can ‘walk the earth’ to reflect, just like Caine in Kung Fu (circa. 1972): Meet people, Get in Adventures.etc.

Over the next few weeks I need to do some prep for a big solo trip which il record and blog about so watch this space, if ur interested, as the planning will start in ‘Ernest’…as it always does!

 "It's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years"

Indie band ‘The Godfathers’ start us off with a tune from my indie era of 1985.

And as someone once said “If this song isn’t played at my funeral, I’m not going”…wise words indeed!

Birdhouse in your soul…

Leaving our Iken Park Residence apartment in Founty and heading off to Al-Massira International airport gave me chance to see the extent of the development in Agadir. It’s on a huge scale, but the largest seen, by a long chalk, was the unfinished Kempinski Royal Palace, located a couple of minutes walk away. It is undoubtedly, one of the city's most prominent "ghost hotels".

 Its history interested me to find out that it is defined by a decade-long legal and financial battle that has left the massive structure a skeleton of its intended luxury. 

Crazy to think that this remains the legacy of Rafic Hariri, a 60 year old man, a billionaire and then President of Lebanon who got assassinated, in a massive truck bomb, by Hezbollah back in 2005 in Beirut.

Now, in 2026 it’s just a massive birdhouse!!

Is such a complex life driven by political power and money worth it?

As we prepare to leave the sunshine we wish the ‘Atlas lions’ 🦁 footballers all the best in the final tomorrow and head back to the frozen north.

See you for the next ride…..THE END

‘They Might be Giants’ came up with this in 1990 and if I had a massive birdhouse palace I would make a video like this too…

Riptide…

Surfs up Dudes…!

…back on the road to recovery it’s time to head for ‘Le Plage’ today. 

With a choice of adrenaline pumped water sports on offer I opted for a gentle walk up the promenade for a bit of fresh air - il just let the photographer command the blog today.

Agadir Beachfront Promenade

 

 

I like this version of ‘Riptide’, originally by ‘Vance Joy’, but this cover by UK’s Jasmine Thompson is a great version IMO…

Revelry…

I didn’t need to set the alarm as I’d been kept awake for most of the night so I stormed back again in the direction of the council offices at first light.

I wanted to discuss with them their noise abatement policy as I had been woken around midnight by an unruly bunch of rowdy louts, probably high on Shisha and bubble tea, tooting car horns, blowing whistles and banging drums, until the early hours of the morning.

It sounded like the whole of Agadir had taken to the streets with Klaxons, whistles and flags but why? 

Had ‘The Donald’ put an unpopular 25% levy on dates and black olives? Or much worse, had the Taliban moved in and taken over the town?

No, far from it, he explained, this had been celebration…

At one end of the beach, in the town, a huge fan zone had been set up to cater for thousands of fans to congregate to watch the semifinal of the African Cup of Nations, which Morocco has been hosting. Last night, the national team made it to the final by beating Nigeria on penalties so, that was why, what sounded like, the whole of Morocco took to the streets in celebration.

The councillor explained to me that they had not won this trophy for 50 years, since back in 1976, so everyone had perhaps got a little over- exuberant and this had led to high spirits and the noisy, unprecedented outpouring of jubilant behaviour.

He asked when I would be heading home as the final was on Sunday and that if they won the final, then the council offices would probably be closed on the Monday. I informed him that I would be leaving on Saturday so this would avoid any possibility of further complaints.

I left thinking that the Six Nations starts next month and this sort of abundance of excessive exuberance wouldn’t be tolerated back home.

‘Revelry’ seemed an apt choice here, enjoy a live version from Reading & Leeds festival back in 2009, the year Ireland 🇮🇪 won the grand slam and the triple crown but I bet they didn’t go banging on about it…

Best Guess…

Having felt a bit under the weather today, I stood on the balcony and looked out and I couldn’t quite believe what I saw…

So, naturally, I have a theory!

Agadir was completely wiped out by an earthquake back in 1960’s,  so the city has had to be built up again, brick by brick and this building work, still going on today, is testament to that. Investment from all over the world, including China!

But today I discovered that not only are they building apartments, there is a more sinister problem that I spotted right on my doorstep…

They (presumably the Chinese) are using their technology by trying to hide their 5G listening devices by adding leaves and thus disguising them as trees to enable them to control us and infect us all, at will, with viruses at the push of a (remote) button.

Looking out I noticed that all the trees are the same size!!

My best guess conspiracy theory that it’s not a coincidence that these masts are active, one being directly opposite my balcony, so therefore, I reckon that my 24hr bug has been manufactured in Wuhan and has infected my immune system using 5G electromagnetic waves from the fake ‘antenna’ trees as an experiment in a futuristic control and cull strategy in readiness.

Viruses are biological pathogens that can be spread by radio waves or mobile networks. It is physically impossible for electromagnetic waves to transmit a virus….until now!

‘Best Guess’ is by Lucy Dacus, released only last year, is today’s track to underpin my observations.

Ali Baba…

The Souk

They are busy, vibrant and colourful places, culturally and economically important in the centre of most Arabian cities. Must see markets where you can buy almost everything you need at local prices

Part way through, I had sat down for a rest on a wooden bench by a simple tea seller when i noticed a tall man in a stripey, woollen kaftan, wearing mirrored sunglasses, sporting a large moustache and a fez on his head, heading over towards me. He introduced himself as Ali Baba, a local carpet trader and part time taxi driver.

“Where are you from?, London? Luvvly Jubbly?” he asked with a wry smile.

I told him I was from the north of England and he replied 

“Do you know Manchester? Good innit? Bobby Charlton?” and proceeded to kick an imaginary goal in the direction of a large stall of silver teapots.

He smiled and sat down next to me and tapped his long nose twice while continuing to ask questions in threes “You want spicey? For tonight? For you and your wife to share?”

Was he asking me if I wanted drugs?, Hasheesh? Or maybe Charlie?….(look, now Iv started the 3 question syndrome). Before I could answer he leaned in closer, I could now smell his breath, “Come, follow me, I show you! Good price”….and stood up and set off…

I followed him inquisitively, as he turned down a dimly lit, twisty passage leading to under the main souk. 

The passageway got darker as he beckoned me to continue and as we walked he started to ask more questions, “You like breasts?, I have…!, legs?, yes, I have…, beautiful thighs?, I have everything for you my friend, luvvly jubbly, Bobby Charlton, follow me…”

At this point, we entered a dimly lit but crowded area of noise and chaos with an overpowering, but unmistakable stench of butchery and slaughter. With piercing shrieking, yelling and squawking I realised we had entered the underground poultry market. Live birds were being grabbed from overcrowded cages and dispatched on bloody wooden chopping boards by machete wielding purveyors of fine, feathery flesh.

In the end, what I had failed to consider was that he had seen me sat there like a tourist with a souvenir tagine pot on my knee, clutching a wilted bunch of coriander and a bag of yellow saffron and had thought that I needed to find some fresh chicken for my traditional Berber cooking pot!

John Holts Reggie classic from 1973 is a perfect track to accompany today, here he is doing it live with the Royal Philharmonic in support.