Venturing into central Bangkok these days is bit of a weird experience with nearly everyone, Thais and foreigners alike, understandably wearing face masks as protection from the double threat of caronavirus and dust pollution. The City of Angels is transforming into the City of Masks, but it is encouraging that people are taking the situation seriously. However, it is a strange feeling being in the Land of Smiles but not seeing many grins, owing to the masks. But do not despair. You can still see those Thai smiles in the eyes.
I haven't seen so many masks in Bangkok since the days of street demonstrations at the turn of the decade, although the masks at that time were worn primarily as a form of disguise rather than for health issues. It almost became fashionable to don a mask in those days. The V masks, inspired by the film "V For Vendetta", otherwise known as Guy Fawkes masks, were particularly popular, but wouldn't be much use in the present situation.
Of course there are similar scenes in cities around Asia. It is ironic that in Hong Kong, where the wearing of face masks was banned only a few months ago, the authorities are now urging people to wear them. But in Singapore, the Straits Times recently carried a headline which read "Don't Wear Face Masks If You Are Well". These are confusing times indeed.
Perhaps it's time to adopt the old wartime slogan, "Coughs and sneezes spread diseases".
Yesteryear hero
The first mask I recall seeing was as a kid in the 1950s, watching the Lone Ranger television series starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. It was only a simple mask over his eyes and one seldom seen these days except at Halloween parties.
Like millions of kids I was hooked by the exploits of the Lone Ranger, Silver and Tonto, and every week would eagerly await the stirring strains of the William Tell Overture. It was accompanied by that memorable "voice-over" which every self-respecting kid could recite off by heart: "A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty Hi-Yo Silver…"
The opening sequence concludes with "Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear … the Lone Ranger rides again". It must have been the first time I had ever come across the word "yesteryear".
Every episode seemed to end with Moore riding off into the distance on his white horse after putting the bad guys in their place, while an onlooker would ask in awe, "Who was that masked man?"
Scary movies
Masks have played an important role in countless films including the aforementioned "V For Vendatta". They range from the uncomfortable-looking facial disguise Leonardo DiCaprio had to wear in "Man in the Iron Mask", to the rather campy outfits in the Batman series. Jason's hockey mask was certainly a bit creepy in the early days of the "Friday the 13th" series, but after 12 films in this slasher franchise the mask is more likely these days to prompt stifled yawns rather than screams.
The same probably goes for the mask worn by the Michael Myers character in the Halloween series, which has now experienced 11 outings of murderous mayhem. Initially a low-budget production, they resorted to using a Captain Kirk (Star Trek) mask, pulling off the hair and eyebrows and painting it white.
Perhaps the scariest mask of the lot was the one worn by Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in "Silence of the Lambs". Before filming began, Hopkins tried on several types of mask including that of a beekeeper and a baseball catcher's helmet. But the one they settled on, which resembles more a muzzle than a mask and is truly scary, was definitely the right choice.
Back to front
Something I overlooked last Sunday was that it was a global palindrome day, with the date reading 02/02/2020, which fits both the American and international formats for writing dates. According to the Guardian, it was the first global palindrome since 11/1/1111, which was a bit before my time.
A palindrome is any number or name that reads the same backwards or forwards, such as radar, madam, rotator and noon. Palindromes are also quite common in personal names, including Anna, Hannah, Eve, Otto and Bob. For the curious, the longest palindrome found in the Oxford English Dictionary is "tattarrattat" which appears in James Joyce's novel Ulysses for describing a knock on the door.
Whole sentences can be turned into one long palindrome, but they tend to be very contrived and seem a rather pointless exercise. They can also drive you nuts, as in "Dammit, I'm Mad."
Ringo the navigator
Finally some musical nostalgia. Today is the 56th anniversary of the Beatles' memorable first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964. A record 73 million American viewers tuned in to hear the group open with "All My Loving" and close the first set with "She Loves You". The studio audience went absolutely bonkers. They finished the second set with "I Want to Hold Your Hand". Scarily, I know most of the lyrics.
The Americans were quickly introduced to Scouse humour. Only minutes after landing at New York's Kennedy airport, the Beatles were asked rather prematurely by a reporter, "How do you find America?" Ringo Starr replied, "Turn left at Greenland."
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