Showing 1 - 7 of 7
Hedgehoppers in search of good news
Roger Crutchley, Published on 01/02/2026
» Being the very first day of February it would have been nice if there was some good news worth celebrating, but unfortunately nothing immediately springs to mind. Cheerful news is an increasingly rare commodity these days. It all seems to be gloom and doom and hardly portends a joyful 2026. It can get a bit wearying grappling with news reports featuring contradictions, cover-ups and cock-ups, often accompanied by half-truths, prevarications and porky pies. But this is the world we now live in.
You can look, but please don't touch
Roger Crutchley, Published on 01/09/2024
» When we were kids, most of us heard the words "don't touch that!" from our parents if we were in the presence of something breakable and possibly valuable. That's probably what a father wishes he had said when he took his four-year-old son to a museum in the Israeli city of Haifa last week.
The big black door which has no keys
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 30/10/2022
» In recent weeks whenever I have switched on the TV news bulletins I seem to have been greeted by the sight of the imposing black door at No 10 Downing Street. It must be the most photographed door in history.
The cuckoo-clock tune that went to No.1
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 30/05/2021
» It was amusing to see that the UK entry to the Eurovision Song Contest last weekend attracted a grand total of zero votes. However, singer James Newman shouldn't fret too much as not getting any votes is almost a badge of honour in this annual festival of kitsch where music takes second place to gaudy, garish, glitter.
Anthem angst and hits the singers hate
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 01/12/2019
» Rod Stewart is currently on tour in the UK belting out all his old songs, including Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?, which is admittedly pushing it a bit for someone the age of 74. The old rocker has confessed in the past that he dislikes singing that number, but the fans always demand it. This appears to be an occupational hazard among singing stars.
In the Land of the Midnight Sun
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 25/08/2019
» Living in the tropics probably explains why I tend to enjoy reading books and watching films set in places where really cold weather prevails. It must be that perverse, but comforting, feeling that once you step outside the cinema or put down the book you are immediately back in the more friendly temperatures of the tropics again.
One way to get into the swim of things
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 11/11/2018
» As a kid I would marvel at reports of someone swimming across the English Channel. Being a total wimp in water, I couldn't believe that anyone would want to swim the chilly 33 kilometres between England and France when you could hop aboard a ferry.