Archive: October, 2010
Dickens’s classic novel of the French Revolution, “The Tale of Two Cities”, has probably the best opening line and closing lines in all of British literature. It is an extremely well crafted list of eight opposites that compliment each other almost like poetry: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, [...]
As I walked out of the office one morning last week, I was struck by the sight that greeted me. In the yard we seemed to have acquired a new mountain. Well, that is, of course, an example of hyperbole … it wasn’t exactly a “mountain” … here, the term is used to refer to [...]
During the Second World War, the battles raged in several different “theaters” around the world. Despite the fact that the United States entered the conflict after being caught “off-guard” by a surprise Japanese attack in the Pacific, for various reasons the war in the European Theater was given priority. That’s not to say that the [...]
The term, “Aksakal Courts” literally translates as “White Beard Courts”, and is used for a court, or council, of elders which is authorized to consider certain types of legal cases. Traditionally, these local community “courts” consisted of the oldest men in the village, who make decisions as if an elected town council. Today, they are [...]
When, many years ago, I was teaching Religious Education, some of the most successful lessons we had revolved around a book: Northbourne Tales. Published in 1976, by McGraw Hill, (no I am not being paid for the advert – I don’t even think that it is still in print), was written by Graham Cleverley and [...]
Monday was one of Kyrgyzstan’s “Professional Holidays” – the International Day of Tourism. This year, however, there weren’t any celebrations. Usually there is a banquet, or some other gathering of those of us working in tourism, to commemorate the day – but the season has been little to celebrate. The day didn’t go unmarked – [...]
