• OPINION

  Audience of one is better than none

  Roger Crutchley, Published on 13/08/2023

  » There was a story from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last week concerning English actress Georgie Grier whose one-woman show Sunsets attracted a grand audience of one. A tweet with pictures of a tearful Grier after the show prompted considerable sympathy and the following night she found herself performing to a near full-house which she joked felt the equivalent of "Wembley".

• OPINION

  The remarkable lady from Nutbush

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 28/05/2023

  » Tributes have poured in for Tina Turner who sadly passed away at the age of 83 this week in Switzerland. I would like to add a small, if inadequate thank you to this wonderful performer who brought such joy to millions. In addition to having a great talent she was also a lovely lady and her Buddhist faith played a strong role in her life. Tina had soul.

• OPINION

  The Stones just keep rolling along

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 17/07/2022

  » This past week marked the 60th anniversary of the Rolling Stones' first-ever gig which took place at the Marquee club in London. That makes me feel even more wrinkly than usual.

• OPINION

  Can't beat question time in the 'bear pit'

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 06/02/2022

  » While normally steering well clear of British politics I admit to having enjoyed recent live TV sessions of the UK Parliament. The weekly Prime Minister's Question Time (PMQ) held on Wednesdays is far more entertaining than any soap opera. Witnessing the verbal jousting as the PM attempts to side-step a withering grilling is sheer theatre. It is almost like being the accused in the dock at a court hearing.

• OPINION

  Becoming Long John Silver just for a day

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 19/09/2021

  » Important news. Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, on which everyone is encouraged to speak in the manner of a buccaneer, sea dog, corsair, picaroon or whatever you wish to call them. If you are desperate Captain Jack Sparrow impersonations will suffice.

• OPINION

  Mandalay and other magical places

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 11/04/2021

  » Thanks to many readers who came up with their own memories in response to last week's column about places that sounded quite magical as a kid. Mandalay and Kathmandu were definitely the front-runners at grabbing children's imaginations in the old days.

• OPINION

  Well, after that things can only get better

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 27/12/2020

  » What a dreadful year. We found ourselves having to tackle a whole new vocabulary and most of the words were enough to make even the most optimistic among us depressed. It all began in March with "self-isolation", a horrible expression inferring you have become a hermit, hidden away, exiled, incommunicado, which in fact is exactly what we were.

• OPINION

  The everlasting appeal of Mrs Peel

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 20/09/2020

  » I was saddened to learn of the death of actress Dame Diana Rigg at 82, best known by people of my vintage for her role as Emma Peel, the dynamic comrade of dapper secret agent John Steed in the idiosyncratic BBC series The Avengers. Rigg only appeared in two seasons, 1965-67, but she certainly made her mark, displaying a winning combination of charm, fashion, sophistication and martial arts. She was particularly proficient at karate chops.

• OPINION

  Dust in the wind and down the throat

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 06/10/2019

  » You know there's something amiss in Bangkok when you wake up to the sounds of birds coughing. Well maybe it wasn't quite that bad, but this week our feathered friends sounded decidedly under the weather. So it came as no surprise to read the gloomy headlines about "toxic smog" returning to Bangkok.

• OPINION

  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.

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