Showing 1 - 10 of 26
Recalling the 'the quick brown fox' era
Roger Crutchley, Published on 01/03/2026
» Every day of the year has its own niche in history and March 1 is no exception. On this day 152 years ago the first typewriters went on sale in the US. It was 1874 and the Sholes and Glidden typewriter, invented in Milwaukee, was proudly presented by Remington & Sons in New York.
The toothpaste which created TV history
Roger Crutchley, Published on 28/09/2025
» Last week marked the 70th anniversary of television advertisements in Britain. For years the BBC had been the only TV network in Britain and no ads were allowed. But in the mid-1950s along came Independent Television (ITV) which was launched to create competition, the big difference being that it was permitted to finance itself by showing advertisements.
A magician from the trenches of war
Roger Crutchley, Published on 07/09/2025
» Last month PostScript mentioned the strange phenomenon of how the 1950s British ventriloquist Peter Brough and his schoolboy dummy Archie Andrews had a successful radio show called Educating Archie. Although Brough's ventriloquist skills was a visual art and seemed wasted on radio it didn't appear to bother listeners.
A 10-day journey across snowy Iran
Roger Crutchley, Published on 22/06/2025
» Watching events unfold in the Middle East last week sparked memories of the brief time I spent in Iran a long time ago in more peaceful times. In February 1969 I travelled across the northern part of the nation during an overland trip from London to New Delhi. The country was still run by the Shah who was overthrown 10 years later in the Iranian Revolution.
Slow horses playing a strange game
Roger Crutchley, Published on 02/03/2025
» Last week's account in PostScript of the painfully slow horse I bet on at the Epsom Derby back in the Dark Ages prompted a reader to enquire if I had seen the British television series Slow Horses. I'm pleased to say I have and for those who are unfamiliar with the production I should point out that it has nothing do with the equine world but is an absorbing British spy thriller laced with dark humour.
Sleeping on the job at 36,000 feet
Roger Crutchley, Published on 24/03/2024
» There was a rather bizarre story which emerged recently of an Indonesian domestic flight on which for half an hour both pilots were fast asleep at the same time.
Leaping lizards on a Sunday afternoon
Roger Crutchley, Published on 10/03/2024
» Last Sunday I was sitting on the garden porch of my Bangkok abode grappling with the crossword and watching the birds hopping around the garden. My wife, who was away in Chaiyaphum, had just called and I had reassured her that everything was fine and very tranquil... a perfect Sunday afternoon.
Stone me, the crows are back in town
Roger Crutchley, Published on 25/02/2024
» Having a small garden I am fortunate enough to regularly wake up to the sound of birdsong, although in recent dusty days some of my feathered friends have been suffering from sore throats. Even worse was the unwelcome sound of crows and their jarring "caw" call which Cambridge Dictionary describes bluntly as "a loud unpleasant cry".
Lonely sheep survives real cliffhanger
Roger Crutchley, Published on 12/11/2023
» Some rare good news last week was the rescue of the "world's loneliest sheep" from a rugged beach in northeastern Scotland. The sheep, a ewe named Fiona, had been stuck on the beach at the foot of a steep cliff in an isolated spot of the Moray Firth for the past two years without any woolly friends or non-woolly humans for company.
If it's 'early doors' there's plenty of time
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 11/06/2023
» A Thai reader asked recently the meaning of the expression "early doors" which he had heard used frequently in English football commentaries. It has become quite a familiar observation in sport to indicate a game is still at an early stage. It also creeps into everyday language although perhaps in the more common form of "early days".