Showing 1 - 10 of 15
News bulletins are going 'off-ramp'
Roger Crutchley, Published on 22/03/2026
» An expression that is being used with increasing frequency in recent news reports, particularly concerning the goings on in the Middle East, is "off-ramp". Switch on the TV and it won't be long before a "talking head" will be authoritatively discussing "off-ramp" opportunities.
Remember, remember the 5th of Nov
Roger Crutchley, Published on 03/11/2024
» The US presidential election on Tuesday just happens to coincide with the annual November 5 Bonfire Night (or Guy Fawkes Night) over in Britain. So it looks like we could be in for plenty of fireworks on both sides of the Pond.
It is what it is … whatever it might be
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 29/05/2022
» An expression which is increasingly heard these days on television and in political comment is the rather cryptic "it is what it is". Not exactly an illuminating observation, and it prompts the question, "But, what is it?" Apparently it means a certain situation that cannot be changed however much you want and carries an element of resignation.
Job vacancy: Must be good at promises
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 15/05/2022
» This time next week the good citizens of Bangkok will be choosing the person daft enough to want to be the next governor of the angelic metropolis known as Krungthep. Amazingly there are 31 otherwise perfectly sensible, intelligent people prepared to take on this thankless task.
Final curtain call for grand old station
Oped, Roger Crutchley, Published on 05/12/2021
» There is some debate concerning the fate of Bangkok's 105-year-old Hua Lamphong railway station which is scheduled to close at the end of the month. Hopefully a happy compromise can be reached with the station being preserved as a museum and its immediate area a public park. The State Railway of Thailand should also be given leeway to make itself some money, even if it means yet another mall.
In the wake of the not so great debate
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 04/10/2020
» While there might have been an element of entertainment in a perverse sort of way watching the US presidential candidates slagging one another off like squabbling children, these politicians still have a lot to learn in the art of insulting behaviour.
Spaghetti westerns lose musical icon
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 12/07/2020
» The death of Italian composer Ennio Morricone last week inevitably sparked memories of those old spaghetti westerns, including the so-called "Dollars Trilogy", in which his creative music was a crucial element. Those early Sergio Leone films were not known for extended dialogue -- he let the music do the talking and Morricone's distinctive scores hit the right note.
Shake hands on it… on second thoughts
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 15/03/2020
» I was at a recent gathering with friends in Bangkok where the customary handshakes were replaced by a variety of awkward fist bumps, elbow nudges, foot-shakes, waving of arms and other silly ways of saying "hello". But there were definitely no nose-to-nose greetings. Not shaking hands with your closest friends is probably the most noticeable example of how the Covid-19 crisis has affected everyday life. Even Britain's Queen Elizabeth has let it be known that she will not be shaking hands with anyone "for the foreseeable future".
2019 more a celebration of 1969
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 29/12/2019
» It is customary at this time of the year to take a look at some of the major happenings of the past 12 months. This past year has been rather unusual in that it marked a host of significant 50th anniversaries. In fact the year was almost as much about 1969 as 2019. So to kick things off, let's just recall a few of those events 50 years ago.
Of lords, ladies and gentlemen
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 22/09/2019
» Congratulations are in order to former Bangkok Post journalist Natalie Bennett who has been made a House of Lords peer and is now named Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle. Natalie, or rather Lady Bennett, who had been the leader of the Green Party for several years, was given this title in former prime minister Theresa May's resignation honours list last week.