BANISHING BOREDOM
Bloggery on music, books, films, travel, wildlife and dark matters.Sunthorn Phu: The Shakespeare of Siam
The birthday of Thailand’s most revered writer on June 26 is an occasion for performances of the work of Sunthorn Phu and remembrances of his legacy, writes Jim Algie in the June 2019 issue of Sawasdee. Looking around the Sunthorn Phu Memorial Park in Rayong province...
read moreThriller by T. Hunt Locke Bounces Between Bangkok and Boston
T. Hunt Locke has mixed two of his paramount pastimes – history and thrillers – into an intoxicating highball, writes Jim Algie. The prologue flashes back to the American War of Independence, the siege of Boston and the Suffolk Resolves, when we’re introduced to the...
read moreClose Encounters with Rock Stars #2: Teenage Head
Jim Algie pays tribute to the hugely influential Teenage Head and recounts a humorous backstage encounter with the band’s bassist Steve Mahon in his latest book. As a teenager myself no Canadian band of that era was more important to me than Teenage Head....
read moreThe Anti-Aging Guide to Travelling Gracefully
Travel as an anti-aging agent is a persistent theme in this absorbing memoir. Throughout her witty and adeptly written travel memoirs, Janet Brown has taken the adage that “life is a journey” to a multifaceted extreme. In previous books, she has led readers through...
read moreDifferent Drummers book review: The Offbeat Generation of Bangkok
Meet some of the expat authors, musicians and a painter who have helped to make Bangkok into an international hideaway for mavericks and outliers with a creative bent. Review by Jim Algie One of the first expats I met in Bangkok was a fellow teacher at my school. He...
read moreWhen Punk Became Middle Aged: From Outliers to Insiders
Looking back at the 40th anniversary of punk in 2016 through interviews with members of the Damned and Buzzcocks, and a rundown of main events, such as the son of the Sex Pistols’ former manager burning some US$7 million of punk memorabilia. By Jim Algie To all...
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