Showing 1 - 8 of 8
A missing item in the rural soundtrack
Roger Crutchley, Published on 18/01/2026
» As usual at this time of the year I have been enjoying life in the Northeastern province of Chaiyaphum for several weeks. However on this visit there was something slightly different which I couldn't immediately put my finger on. It took a few days before realising I was not being woken up by the usual early morning chorus of roosters or chickens of any sort.
Audience of one is better than none
Roger Crutchley, Published on 13/08/2023
» There was a story from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last week concerning English actress Georgie Grier whose one-woman show Sunsets attracted a grand audience of one. A tweet with pictures of a tearful Grier after the show prompted considerable sympathy and the following night she found herself performing to a near full-house which she joked felt the equivalent of "Wembley".
Being ginger adds spice to life
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 04/06/2023
» I have been reprimanded by a reader of ginger persuasion for failing to mention two significant days in the calendar for those of us who have grown up saddled with nicknames like "Ginger Nut", "Ginger Bonce", "Tomato Head", "Carrot Top", not to mention "Freckle Face". I plead guilty to allowing the recent "Cuddle a Ginger Day" and "World Redhead Day" slip by without a single bleat in support of gingers.
Shaking off the laundromat blues
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 26/03/2023
» In last week's item concerning boutiques I wondered whether their influence could extend as far as the world of laundromats. My thanks to reader Jenifer Divine in Hamburg for informing me that in the German city's St Pauli district there is a laundromat dedicated to Jimi Hendrix which just about gives it boutique status.
Where roosters crow before daybreak
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 09/01/2022
» For the past three weeks I have been waking up to the sound of roosters, many of which sneakily start warming up their vocal chords well before dawn. With this evidence you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce that I have been in the Northeast of Thailand, or Isan. It has become a regular destination at the New Year and with the exception of the early morning calls from the chickens, it is always a pleasurable experience.
Becoming Long John Silver just for a day
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 19/09/2021
» Important news. Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, on which everyone is encouraged to speak in the manner of a buccaneer, sea dog, corsair, picaroon or whatever you wish to call them. If you are desperate Captain Jack Sparrow impersonations will suffice.
The choice is yours, and best of luck
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 17/03/2019
» There's an old dictum, "democracy is the right to make the wrong choice", and one suspects there are plenty of wrong choices available out there, but hopefully also a few good ones as we enter the final straight leading to March 24.
Order in the House, Mr Speaker
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 03/02/2019
» Watching the live debates from the British House of Commons recently has been far more entertaining than anything else on television. It's a wonderful mix of drama, oratorical outrage, brazen showboating and dark comedy, not always intended. It is spontaneous theatre -- the Washington Post called it a "dramedy".