Postcard from Bishkek

I picked up the copy of Vecherniye Bishkek – Evening Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s biggest newspaper – and one day last week and did a double take … two in fact. Firstly because of the size … it may be Kyrgyzstan’s largest newspaper … but this issue had just 8 pages: two sheets of newsprint, printed on both […]

Although, I am not an avid sports fan, over the last few days, I have been a little distracted – thanks to the traditional sport of Alysh. Normally, I might have scanned the sporting headlines for news about: the games being played out in the US Presidential Election Race, () Chelsea’s less than outstanding performance back […]

A few weeks ago I sat down to watch a film, Tracers.  It was a bit ubnusual for me – for several reasons: Firstly, because it was new film, (2015), and I don’t get to see that many new films as I don’t go to the cinema very often, so I tend to see them […]

To say that someone is in for the High Jump is an idiom in English which means that they going to be severely punished or reprimanded for something they have done wrong … apparently it was a reference to the ‘long drop’ from the gallows. As such, it has nothing to do with the sporting […]

Whoops – Confession time … This was written to be posted tomorrow, (6th April), … but for for some reason I got mixed up and posted it a day early.   April 6th is the International Day of Sports and Physical Activity, established by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2013 in order to […]

The forecast for today is sunshine and clouds, with light and variable winds.  The temperature should reach around 5°C, and tonight it could fall to -4.  According to the meteorologists, there no precipitation expected … no chance of rain – or, for that matter, Snow. That’s a pity, because today is World Snow Day – […]

Yesterday I was scanning the news when a sentence in one of the news reports about the Asian Junior Chess Championship that was held recently in New Delhi, India, caused me to do a “double take”: Kyrgyzstan was represented by 6 sportspeople. Sportspeople? The surprise was momentary, it didn’t last for long … I know […]

The other day, when I was looking for potential themes for postcards, I came across the fact that today is the birthday of the man whose name is a “legend” and who is considered to have been the best footballer of all time: Pelé. Now, I am not a great football fan, (sorry, Soccer fan […]

During my enforced rest and recuperation, I missed out on a number of important events.  One of those was the First World Nomad Games, hosted by Kyrgyzstan up by the shores of Lake Issyk Kul and attracting hundreds of competitors from a wide variety of countries … and not to mention many visitors from around the […]

Although I was never really fond of football, (sorry, Soccer for the Americans), and rarely ever played … I did take to the game of Rugby. I was never a particular talented player, however, and I always used to joke when someone asked me what position I played, that I was usually “seventeenth man” … […]