Showing 1 - 10 of 10
Cornflakes, cats and grizzly bears
Roger Crutchley, Published on 08/03/2026
» Readers are no doubt aware that the official codename for the current US action in the Middle East is Operation Epic Fury which admittedly sounds more like the title of a martial arts B movie. It should not be confused with Operation Urgent Fury, the name given to the US invasion of Grenada back in 1983 during the Reagan administration. Israel incidentally has its own name for the current mission, Operation Roaring Lion.
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.
Thai police officer becomes the bee's knees
Roger Crutchley, Published on 20/04/2025
» The feel-good story this week involves a most unlikely hero, a Thai policeman. It is not often that the local gendarmerie are the subject of uplifting news, but that was the case in the Northeastern province of Nakhon Phanom when an alert policeman rescued a woman from a swarm of attacking bees.
Can't be much fun being a lame duck
Roger Crutchley, Published on 01/12/2024
» From Washington we've been hearing the expression "lame duck" quite a bit lately, but it has not of course been a discussion about the health of the waterfowl population in the American capital but a reference to Joe Biden as he completes his final term as president.
We can always live in a dollhouse
Roger Crutchley, Published on 07/07/2024
» Thai tourism authorities are always quick to make the most of any new fad, which might explain the appearance of a life-sized Labubu doll on the front page of the Bangkok Post this week. Apparently, the mascot is part of a promotion to attract Chinese tourists. I confess to not knowing anything about the Labubu craze although the Post's doll correspondent informs me the designer doll is a "kind-hearted monster with pointed ears and serrated teeth". Hmmm.
The most dignified drummer in rock 'n roll
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 29/08/2021
» We sadly lost two legendary musicians last week with the passing of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts (80) and singer Don Everly (84).
Mullumbimby's 'Russians' in good voice
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 07/06/2020
» A rare piece of cheerful news comes from the unlikely locale of Mullumbimby, a small Australian town in New South Wales where 28 middle-aged bearded Aussies have formed a choir, singing only traditional Russian folk and marching songs. They call themselves "Dustyesky", dress as Russian workers in cloth caps and cheekily refer to their town as Mullumgrad. Calling themselves a "fake genuine Russian choir", their stirring rendition of the Song of the Volga Boatmen is something to behold.
It ain't real English, but sounds great
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 24/03/2019
» The other night at home I was listening to CDs -- yes, I'm still in the Stone Age -- and two of my favourite songs came up, Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers and Ain't No Mountain High Enough from Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Apart from both being soulful numbers -- and like me, pretty ancient -- you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to observe that a common factor in the title is the word ain't.
Famous last words, some less famous
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 10/02/2019
» I nearly ended up in "The Great Newspaper in the Sky" recently when a thundering truck ignored the red lights at a Klong Toey junction and missed our taxi by a whisker. The taxi driver seemed to think the incident was amusing, while all I managed was to blurt out "bloody hell!"
From a cultured cabbie to the Albert Hall
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 23/09/2018
» The recent column on the musical tastes of Bangkok's taxi drivers prompted quite a few comments from readers relating assorted cab rides featuring the joyful strains of Cliff Richard, Boney M and even Pavarotti. However, Elvis remains the favourite amongst the veteran cabbies.