• OPINION

  The train robbery that gripped a nation

  Roger Crutchley, Published on 20/08/2023

  » Last week on television I watched the two-part series The Great Train Robbery, an intriguing account of the audacious heist that made headlines in Britain all those years ago. It slowly dawned on me that this month is the 60th anniversary of that extraordinary robbery which took place on August 8, 1963, on the Royal Mail train from Glasgow to London. Frightening how time flies.

• 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

  There's no excuse to be lost for words

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 06/06/2021

  » It is always nice to come across new words and last week I discovered a tiny treasure trove of fancy locution thanks to the Grandiloquent website which specialises in flowery, but genuine language. Grandiloquent means a "pompous or extravagant style of language" and there is plenty of that about.

• OPINION

  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).

• OPINION

  Possibly the worst job in the world?

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 01/11/2020

  » On the day Americans went to the polls four years ago the Miami Herald ran what must have been its shortest-ever editorial which simply read: "Her, Not Him, Enough Said". In light of what ensued, it must have been tempting to blame the proof-readers and come out the next day with: "Correction: Him Not Her."

• OPINION

  The day the filming had to stop

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 11/10/2020

  » An article headlined "The man, myth and legend" on Wednesday by Tatat Bunnag marked the 50th anniversary of the death of Thailand's biggest-ever film star, Mitr Chaibancha. The actor plunged to his death at the age of 36, while filming a helicopter scene at Jomtien for Insee Thong (Golden Eagle). Mitr had insisted on doing his own stunts and was clinging from a rope ladder dangling from the copter but couldn't hold on. He truly is a legend.

• OPINION

  The sun ain't gonna shine anymore

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 31/03/2019

  » In last week's PostScript concerning the use of the word "ain't" in music, one song not mentioned was The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore, a big hit for the Walker Brothers in 1966. Sadly, the number is being remembered this week following the passing of Scott Walker at the age of 76.

• OPINION

  A pleasant escape into La La Land

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 22/01/2017

  » I must admit to being a bit wary of cinema musicals, simply because if you don't like the music, it's unlikely you will enjoy the film. When I saw that La La Land was showing in Bangkok, the prospect of sitting through a "musical romance" did not appeal at all.

• OPINION

  I'll never forget what's'isname or thingy

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 24/09/2017

  » The other day a friend and I were trying to remember the name of an obscure British actor from back in the 1960s. His name continued to escape us, although we both knew who we were talking about. So we settled on calling him "what's'isname" or on occasions "what's'isface".

• OPINION

  From train whistles to monkey chatter

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 08/01/2017

  » In the final hours of New Year's Eve, I was sitting with my wife on the porch of our abode in the middle of Nakhon Nowhere.

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