• OPINION

  Where there's a rhyme there's a reason

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 01/09/2019

  » Today we welcome in a new month, September. I have a certain attachment for the ninth month of the year for a rather simplistic reason. Whenever I can't remember how many days there are in a particular month, I still resort to the old rhyme "30 days hath September, April, June and November…" and so on. So much for my education.

• OPINION

  More a sorry scrawl than a signature

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 15/09/2019

  » Visiting the bank the other day I had to sign a bunch of documents that no doubt would be carefully filed away to collect dust in a basement, never to be seen again. By the time I had finished I was uncomfortably aware that no two signatures of mine are exactly the same, even when written in close succession.

• 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

  Bald pride and the curse of the comb-over

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 26/01/2020

  » Last weekend, the Bangkok Post published an entertaining letter from the always perceptive S Tsow, who delivered an impassioned defence of being bald. Mr Tsow, who proudly describes himself as "a person of baldness", was particularly upset after observing on television one of Rudy Guiliani's associates (Lev Parnas) brazenly displaying a "cowardly comb-over".

• OPINION

  For some, it's all getting to be a yawn

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 26/04/2020

  » One of the most common complaints arising from the current self-isolation is fighting off boredom. This is especially the case for kids, even though they have smartphones and other electronic gadgets with which to amuse themselves. I don't envy parents of young children.

• OPINION

  The doctor who became a wrap star

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 10/05/2020

  » It will come as no surprise that I know absolutely nothing about fashion. However I have been impressed by the stylish scarves warn by Doctor Deborah Birx in those White House coronavirus briefings. Whether draped over her shoulders like a wrap, or tied around her neck, the silk scarves are really quite attractive and look particularly suited to this elegant lady. Dr Birx's appearances have apparently prompted a considerable boost in sales of these upmarket scarves, especially the Hermes variety frequently worn by the doctor.

• OPINION

  A lovely bunch of coconuts and all that

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 19/07/2020

  » The humble coconut (ma prow) has been in the news lately following allegations of abuse of Thai monkeys used in harvesting the fruit. I admit to not being familiar enough with the training of the monkeys to know if they are maltreated as alleged and certainly would not endorse any cruelty. But if they are treated well it shouldn't be a problem. On sporadic visits to the South I've seen the monkeys at work and play, and they appeared to be quite happy scampering up the coconut palms. They certainly have more fun than those used in medical research.

• OPINION

  Naval skirmishes among the soapsuds

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 30/08/2020

  » The current debate concerning the purchase of submarines has sparked memories of some important naval battles I experienced as a kid. Well okay, it was in the murky waters of my bath and featured plastic toy submarines, but they were still memorable confrontations.

• OPINION

  When protesters wore duffel coats

  News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 25/10/2020

  » There seem to be daily protests going on around the world at the moment for multifarious reasons and it got me thinking about the first street demonstrations I witnessed first-hand in England as a teenager back in the Stone Age.

• 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."

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