Postcard from Bishkek

One of the things I found challenging about teaching a subject like Computing and Information Technology is that you are expected to know, and teach about, all sorts of things that are nothing to do with computers – much more so than in, for example, Mathematics. Computers are omnipresent, found and used everywhere in society, […]

Today, 29th April, happens to be International Dance Day … and has been ever since 1982 when the day was initiated by the International Theater Institute – one of UNESCO’s partner organizations – to “celebrate Dance, to revel in the universality of this art form, to cross all political, cultural and ethnic barriers and bring […]

The last Saturday in April – this year 26th April – is designated as Veterinarians Day. It’s not surprising that the occupation is highly regarded here in Kyrgyzstan – given the importance of agriculture to the national economy, contributing something like 25% of the republic’s GDP, and the predominance of livestock rearing and management within […]

  Although holidays are usually thought to be for rest and relaxation - travel can be somewhat stressful. It is sometimes surprising how tiring a journey can be – even just sitting on a plane flying from A to B.  A journey is never a simple thing – there are the pressures of packing, (what to include, what […]

Perfect Day is a song written by Lou Reed in 1972,and featured on his iconic album Transformer … and was the B-side of what was probably his most famous (or infamous) record, Walk on the Wild Side. I have commented before how some dates seem to attract more than their fair share of particular types […]

Kyrgyzstan lies in a seismically active zone … that is, it experiences a number of earthquakes. The frequency and severity of the earthquakes can vary considerably … as can the consequences. Some are relatively mild and pass almost unnoticed, whereas others can be strong and create serious damage. When they occur in built up, more […]

There’s a big controversy in the marketing about the value of using Social Media as channel – the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Trip Adviser, Youtube, My Space, Classmates, VKontakt, Tumbler, Pininterest, Beebo and Instagram … to mention just a few of the more common outlets. Some people think of Social Media as an extremely valuable […]

The other day I was having a chat with another ex-pat who put to me an interesting question: “Are you an Oxford man …”, to which I was about to say “Yes … albeit by ‘sneaking in through the back door’”, but then he continued, “… or a Shakespeare man.” I realized that he wasn’t […]

On the day that the Daily Mail ran a story about a possible new photo of the Loch Ness Monster … this one from space … I came across another interesting story about another “fabled” creature, Chon Maimyl – the big monkey. Although stories of the Loch Ness Monster date back to the sixth century, […]

Back in the UK, I rarely ever had to worry about paying the household bills for the utilities … they were all taken care of by Standing Orders or Direct Debits with the cash disappearing out of my bank account on a regular basis each month.  Here I get utility bills, (for electricity, water, gas, […]