Showing 1 - 10 of 11
Welcome to the really silly season
Oped, Roger Crutchley, Published on 24/12/2023
» It's Christmas Eve and we are well into the Jinger Ben season in Thailand (Jingle Bells to the uninitiated). But in these dodgy times one suspects there might not be too much jingling going on. Nonetheless, considering all the gloomy news of late, a couple of weeks of being a bit daft offers a welcome break. So we might as well make the most of the Jinger Ben jollity, like a lady teller at my bank who was sporting some rather cute rabbit ears.
Seducing shoppers with special offers
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 27/02/2022
» In many Bangkok retail establishments there are frequent special offers with variations on the "buy one, get one free!" theme. It is known in the trade as BOGO or BOGOF which actually sounds a bit rude. The immediate reaction to this sort of offer, especially when the word "free!" appears with an accompanying exclamation mark, tends to be "what's the catch?"
Back in the cinema again with 007
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 17/10/2021
» Just got back from watching No Time to Die, Daniel Craig's fifth and final appearance as James Bond and the 25th film in the franchise. It was quite a decent send-off for Craig and entertaining enough to sit back and enjoy my first visit to a cinema in a couple of years.
Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 20/12/2020
» In the mid-1970s, while travelling on the slowest train in the world from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi, I recall reading a substantial chunk of John Le Carre's espionage novel, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Though not a fast-paced book, it still had more momentum than the wretched train.
The smoking volcano and the disco queen
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 19/01/2020
» Nearly eight years ago, an item in this column concluded: "If the Taal volcano does ever erupt again, I'll put on my Donna Summer album for old times' sake." An explanation of this curious combination of a songstress and a volcano is required.
Summertime, and the livin' ain't easy
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 24/02/2019
» According to the Meteorological Department, Thailand's summer officially began last Thursday, amidst warnings that this year it will be even more torrid than ever. So you can put away your fur coats, scarves, snow boots and thermal underwear for the time being. While sweltering heat is not exactly welcome news, it hardly comes as a surprise. It is a trifle absurd to complain about the heat in Thailand. After all, that's what happens in the tropics -- it gets a bit steamy.
Tuning up for another festive season
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 23/12/2018
» As we hurtle into the Jinger Ben mayhem (Jingle Bells to the uninitiated), it certainly helps if you have a bit of stamina. It is the time you prepare yourself for wearing silly hats, singing even sillier songs and acting in jovial fashion when the last thing you feel like is being jovial. You might even be subjected to inebriated gentlemen singing Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.
Are you sure you're in the right job?
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 14/05/2017
» Following last week's column on the perils of picking mushrooms, I received an email from a professional mushroomologist. I thought he might embark on heroic tales from the forests and how to avoid poisonous varieties of fungi. However, his advice was quite blunt. He admitted the mushrooms he consumes "have to come wrapped in cling film in an environmentally unfriendly polystyrene carton and from an air-conditioned establishment with a name like Sainsbury's, Tesco's, Waitrose etc".
There must be something about Hawaii
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 09/10/2016
» The most reassuring news of the week was that the leader of a much-discussed Thai delegation to the US-Asean conference in Hawaii only ate noodles and rice aboard the chartered aircraft.
Disco queen and the volcano
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 27/05/2012
» The sad passing of Donna Summer and Robin Gibb in the past two weeks inevitably stirred memories of those distant days of disco, scarily more than three decades ago. Composer Quincy Jones called Summer "the heartbeat and soundtrack of a decade", and she was apparently a very nice lady along with it.