Gary Strachan – "Write" Said Fred
Whimsical observations from deep within an erratic mind
It’s the 28th December. The Advent calendars are down, the turkey’s been consumed, the clementines (along with anything healthy) remain uneaten and the traditional photograph in the Christmas jumper has been taken. As the old saying goes it’s “all over bar the shouting”. I’m not sure when the shouting will take place, however I suspect... Continue Reading →
Yesterday, I had a conversation with an old acquaintance about Christmas gifts. It wasn’t a long conversation, more me asking him “Where the chuff’s my Christmas present?!” Knowing I was joking he laughed and the conversation moved on. He confided in me he’d just undergone a minor hospital procedure to remove something on his head.... Continue Reading →
Well we are into Christmas week. Chestnuts are roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost’s nipping at my nose and Yuletide songs are being sung by a choir. Well that’s not strictly true. They weren’t actually chestnuts roasting, it was a different kind of nuts after I stood too close to the open flames. Additionally,... Continue Reading →
Today is Panic Saturday! Apparently, it is the name that has been bestowed upon the last Saturday before Christmas Day. I'm not sure why we in the UK have started titling certain days of the year in this way. Up until a year or two back, I'd never heard of 'Black Friday', 'Panic Saturday', 'Cyber... Continue Reading →
Well it’s 17th December and the festive feel in Chez Strachan is slowly intensifying. How can you not feel festive when you’re greeted with the words ‘Front Bottom’ from behind window 17 on my Tourettes Advent calendar?! To add to the yuletide spirit, the unmistakable smell of spilt wine, satsumas, and the newly printed Christmas... Continue Reading →
Due to the inclement weather, I offered to drop my daughter Rachel off at work this morning. It was a frustrating journey, the type of which is never portrayed in glossy, Utopian drive car advertisements. This was no sun-filled, carefree drive at the wheel of the only automobile on a picturesque Alpine road. A journey... Continue Reading →
I’m a bit late to the party with this, but I didn’t want to let the 100th anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s birth pass without a tribute to ‘Old Blue Eyes’. Last Saturday (12th December) would have seen the late Hoboken born singer/actor become a centurion. That’s 100 years old by the way, not a low... Continue Reading →
When I wrote my last blog I was on the train from Leeds to Newcastle, last Saturday. There was a lively atmosphere in the carriage as our locomotive powered north. Our congested coach was rammed with groups of high spirited revelers drinking, singing and arguing over track gauges on the Iberian national railways! …… I... Continue Reading →
I'm writing this blog on a train from Leeds to Newcastle. Looking out of the window I've so far been greeted with a monochrome vision of heavy rain, clouds and a woman, who's just missed the train, running along the platform at York shouting "Come back you b*****ds!" I'm travelling to Newcastle to meet up... Continue Reading →