Showing 1 - 10 of 24
The time I really put my foot in it
Oped, Roger Crutchley, Published on 19/10/2025
» A half-hearted spring-cleaning session at home during the week came to a welcome halt when I unearthed a couple of my father's wartime RAF books under a pile of disintegrating paperbacks. The Air Ministry books, published more than 80 years ago, always serve as a reminder of when as a kid I made a faux pas of embarrassing proportions.
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.
The 1970 visa run into a war zone
Roger Crutchley, Published on 15/06/2025
» The Thai/Cambodian border has been in the news lately and let's hope everything is sorted out quickly and amicably. It sparked memories of the first time I crossed into Cambodia from Thailand back in October 1970. Now that's a long time ago.
Singers who inspire the plant kingdom
Roger Crutchley, Published on 16/03/2025
» In last week's item about Thailand's talented Blackpink singer Lisa I failed to mention that Chiang Mai University researchers have named a newly discovered flower after her. It is of the custard apple variety and scientifically named Friesodielsia lalisae.
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.
Remembering a horse with no name
Roger Crutchley, Published on 23/02/2025
» Something I have always been thankful for is not succumbing to gambling. This is not because of any lofty moral stance but the reality that with my luck, I would never have a hope of winning. In fact, the only time I ever won anything by chance was at a church fete lottery at the age of 10. The prize was a large bar of soap which at that age seemed more of a punishment than a reward.
When people browsed in bookshops
Roger Crutchley, Published on 17/12/2023
» Earlier this week I watched the 1987 film 84 Charing Cross Road. The reason for my interest was that the road has always been my favourite London thoroughfare. The film, which I won't go into, is about a long-distance literary friendship between characters played by Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins.
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.
A curious place to find 'Lady Liberty'
Roger Crutchley, Published on 09/07/2023
» A headline which caught my eye in last Sunday's Post was "Highway 12 to economic heaven" with a report concerning the rich potential of this route which stretches west to east from Tak on the Myanmar border to Mukdahan, just this side of the Mekong River from Laos.
The Ides of March and perils of power
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 12/03/2023
» This Wednesday will be the 74th day of the year, which admittedly doesn't sound like something to get too excited about. But it is not just any old day. Known in Roman times as the "Ides of March" the 15th marks the anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC.