Odd Thomas Odd Blog

The final week in the run up to the South West Coast-to-Coast is here and, in less than a week, I will be starting my first UltraChallenge in order to raise money for Crohn's and Colitis UK . Since doing the massive 32 mile training walk a month ago, I have been able to get out for shorter walks once or twice a week, which have been steadily getting longer.   On Saturday, I managed 12.37 miles in a decent 3 hours 39 minutes, though with the wrong choice of shoes, which left me with blisters and sore feet.  It really made me appreciate how good my boot and sock combo is! Oh, and underwear.  Having walked in normal boxers and suffered the chafed consequences for a day or so, I ended up buying a couple of pair of SAXX Boxer Briefs .  I'm generally not one for buying expensive undies and feel that even £22 for 3 pair of boxers is somewhat extortionate.  However, if you want to feel like the family jewels are in good hands and you want to be able to shower afte...

  Back in 2019, my brother-in-law asked if I would be interested in undertaking 2020's South West Coast-to-Coast Ultra Challenge .  I had seen both he and my sister go through a number of these challenges and so, with all the naivety of the inexperienced - and despite several of my sister's toenails dropping of - I optimistically thought, "Why, not?!" Roll on 2020 and, as we all know, the world ungracefully fell apart.  As a result, the challenge was cancelled and the team my brother-in-law started, Chafed in Places, was disbanded.  Fortunately, we could move our registration to 2021, which I duly did and started to think about training.  Occasionally. Now, with four long-distance training walks under my belt, I am just a fortnight away from destroying my feet in a 102km trek across a beautiful part of the UK.   Starting at Minehead in Somerset on Saturday, 24 July, I will be walking pretty much non-stop to Dawlish in Devon, really only pausing for po...

Time to find out whodunnit!! The Centralians are back with their Autumn production, Prescription for Murder , which is running until Friday, 18 October 2019 . Dr. Richard Forth is a busy man in Bere Knighton with a hectic work life, an awkward relationship with an old girlfriend and with a wife, Barbara, who is constantly ill.  When a stranger arrives claiming to know Richard's second fiancee - someone he claims not to know - Barbara's health worsens ... and she is not the only one.  With bad luck spreading as quickly as bad news, it seems someone is trying to kill Barbara, and anyone else who stands in their way. Tickets are selling fast, so it is a good idea to book, though there will always be some available on the door if you decide to come along last minute. And yes, yours truly will be appearing in this as the stranger.  The script called for a good looking young man, but we've had to go with what we have instead, so if anyone wants to join us, feel free ...

Breakaway Theatre 's production of The Tempest was an eye opener for me.  After my Aunt took me to see a production of Shakespeare's play back in the late 1990s, I had come away wondering exactly what it was I had just seen; it was loud, overly dramatic and hard to follow.  By contrast, Lesley Cowland's interpretation of the well-known classic was fun, entertaining and relatable ... in part, due to the space theme, which had more than a few nods to both Star Wars and Star Trek! Above all, I actually understood what was happening! Presented in the grounds of the Inn on the Park , St Albans, this was also my first open-air theatre production, which meant very little set design by necessity, proving - to me, at least - that over-indulgent sets really aren't required if you have a strong performance. Luckily for you, there are still more performances later this week, so you haven't missed out yet!  Even if you are one of those people that "doesn't do Sha...

With the bank holiday weekend about to start, think about The Centralian Players working hard to build their next set for Peter Gordon's play, Third Week in August , while you sun yourself on the beach, enjoy your BBQ and refuse to let the Great British Rain Off stop you enjoying the break.

With 2019 well and truly under way, The Centralian Players are back with a new production to entertain you, this time a double-bill of two one-act plays. First up is Shadows , written by Josephine Carter , which explores the life of Erica, an elderly lady living alone in a single room of her home, happy with her memories.  When her family comes to visit and move her to a home, the past is ever present, but who is shadow and who is not?