Showing 1 - 8 of 8
Nuan is the cat's whiskers at Apec
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 20/11/2022
» The most important news emerging from the Apec summit in Bangkok is that it looks like Downing Street's Larry the Cat has finally got some competition in the ranks of feline celebrities. Catching the eye in the Big Mango this week has been Nuan -- a lady cat who has been adopted as the unofficial mascot for the Apec meet.
The green green grassing over of home
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 26/06/2022
» I am probably not alone in being a little surprised by the speed at which Thai authorities have performed a remarkable U-turn in their attitude to what is referred to variously as cannabis, marijuana, grass or, as it is most commonly known in Thailand, ganja. It wasn't long ago that the merest whiff of the weed would result in people being hauled off to the slammer.
Vikings and Skraelings come full circle
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 27/10/2021
» It was already known that the first and only Norse settlement in North America was at L'Anse aux Meadows, at the northern tip of Newfoundland. The specialists even assumed that it happened in the early 11th century, because the Viking sagas more or less said so. But the traditional carbon-14 dates were all over the place.
A koala gets into the Christmas spirit
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 13/12/2020
» My favourite festive season tale so far features an Adelaide family who returned home to find a koala perched in an artificial Christmas tree in their lounge. It looked perfectly happy amid all the baubles and twinkling lights, but was less than impressed by the taste of the plastic leaves.
Spaghetti westerns lose musical icon
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 12/07/2020
» The death of Italian composer Ennio Morricone last week inevitably sparked memories of those old spaghetti westerns, including the so-called "Dollars Trilogy", in which his creative music was a crucial element. Those early Sergio Leone films were not known for extended dialogue -- he let the music do the talking and Morricone's distinctive scores hit the right note.
Wonderful world of walrus whiskers
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 11/08/2019
» A couple of months ago PostScript carried an item about the late English comedian Richard Hearne, known as Mr Pastry, and how his walrus moustache gave him an uncanny resemblance to current White House national security adviser, John Bolton. I watched Mr Bolton giving a speech on TV this week and have to admit I could not shake off the image of the bumbling Mr Pastry. Despite reports that Mr Bolton's boss is not a huge fan of the moustache, Mr Bolton is said to be very proud of his distinctive bristle.
There's a whole lot of digging going on
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 23/06/2019
» This week the Bangkok Governor bravely announced that the tangled mess of overhead telecom and broadcast cables which have decorated Bangkok's streets for so long, will definitely be gone within two years. One suspects this might make him a leading candidate for the new post of Minister of Wishful Thinking.
The strange dude in the Afghan coat
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 04/02/2018
» The other day on television, someone mentioned Afghan coats and it reminded me of the time I was the proud possessor of such a coat, even though it wasn't mine. Although I travelled overland through Asia in 1969 when Afghan coats were becoming quite fashionable, I didn't buy one on the journey primarily because I couldn't afford it. As we were headed East towards warmer climes, such a heavy coat also didn't seem practical.