Showing 1 - 10 of 39
On top of the world in Kathmandu
Roger Crutchley, Published on 14/09/2025
» I was sorry to read about the unrest in Kathmandu this week. As a kid in the UK during the 1950s I used to daydream about far away places with strange-sounding names. One of those places was Kathmandu.
Cheating in exams now a sophisticated art
Roger Crutchley, Published on 27/07/2025
» It was Oscar Wilde who once observed: "Exams sir, are pure humbug. If a man is a gentleman he knows quite enough, and if he is not a gentleman, whatever he knows is bad for him.''
The art of choosing the right words
Roger Crutchley, Published on 09/03/2025
» The word "diplomacy" has been making frequent appearances on newspaper pages in recent days and unless you have been in hibernation there is no need to explain why.
The lonely songbird in a gilded cage
Roger Crutchley, Published on 09/02/2025
» A few words on singer/actress Marianne Faithfull who died last week at the age of 78. I have followed her career with some interest because she lived in my home town of Reading in the early 1960s, attending St Joseph's Convent school.
Still plenty of smiles in Thailand
Roger Crutchley, Published on 12/01/2025
» A reader politely questioned a reference to the "Land of Smiles" in last week's column, suggesting the smiles are maybe not as forthcoming as they once were. Perhaps they are not but deep down Thai people remain a cheerful lot. After five decades in the kingdom I still get a kick out of an unsolicited Thai smile whether it be from a shopkeeper, check-out lady, bank cashier or simply someone on the street. Maybe it's because I look a bit funny.
The night I was eclipsed by the Moon
Roger Crutchley, Published on 20/10/2024
» I had planned to view the super full moon last Thursday night but unfortunately forgot all about it. My apologies to the Moon. That's the sort of thing that happens these days. It went down as another failure in my rocky relationship with the heavens and ranks up there with a lunar eclipse fiasco I was involved in many moons ago, if that's the right expression.
A perfectly British public paradox
Roger Crutchley, Published on 14/07/2024
» Much has been made of the "working class" background of the newly-elected government in the UK and how very few of Sir Keir Starmer's Cabinet attended posh "public schools". This brings us to one of the paradoxes of British and particularly English culture. The institutions which are called "public schools" in England are anything but public and are actually elite private fee-paying institutions.
Doubtful delights of standing in line
Roger Crutchley, Published on 03/03/2024
» It is encouraging to learn that the Prime Minister is concerned about large queues at Suvarnabhumi airport, particularly at the arrivals area. We've all probably experienced that sinking feeling after stepping off the moving walkway and being faced by a definitely non-moving formidable queue. It is especially grim if you've just suffered an exhausting long-distance flight and are already feeling knackered.
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.
When drones were bores and bees
Roger Crutchley, Published on 30/07/2023
» When I was a child the word "drone" was used either as a reference to a lazy male bee or a monotonous dull sound, epitomised by people like teachers, preachers or prime ministers "droning on" in boring fashion.