Postcard from Bishkek

I passed a milestone last year … I was 60 - sixty years old, that is. I didn’t, however, make too much of a fuss about it … I made more of an effort at 30 - the so-called, dangerous age, 40 - the onset of middle-age after which, (at, least, according to the advertisers), you need “fortifying” […]

I always joke that whereas I have “the body of a weak and feeble sexagenarian,” (having recently celebrated – if that’s the right word – my sixtieth birthday), inside I still “have the heart and stomach” of an eighteen year old, (to misquote Elizabeth I’s speech to the troops at Tilbury). Like most people as […]

As I have approached a new milestone in my life, I have had to learn a new phrase in Kyrgyz: Men altymysh zhashtamyn - I am 60 years old … today. In Kyrgyzstan it is very common to ask someone personal details when meeting them for the first time: how old they are, if they are married […]

It’s amazing how many people seem to find pictures of cats alluring.  A few days ago, however, there was a startling photo posted  on a series of websites. The Daily Mail, in the UK, headlined the story about a cat show in Bishkek, “Is this the world’s scariest cat? Sphynx monster looks more like a […]

Tom, the youngest of the kittens has a loud mew and a very demanding character. We think that someone abandoned him when he was only a few months old, possibly because of his mew and possibly because he hadn’t been properly house trained … something I think we have finally dealt with.  We are not […]

Today, January 13th, as well as being Stariy Noviy God, (“Old New Year”), marks the anniversary of the death in 1625, of Jan Brueghel the Elder.  He was one of a whole dynasty of artists called Brueghel, (including Peter the Younger, Jan the Elder and Jan the Younger), and he was the son of Peter […]

The Americans call it “Soccer” to distinguish it from their home grown version of Football, but the rest of the world calls it Football. Some people, however, call it “The Beautiful Game”. Now, I have never been very keen about soccer, although I am happy to watch the odd game.  Maybe this is because I […]

Every now and again I sitting working, or in a meeting, and the peace and quiet is disturbed by a sudden noise as someone’s mobile telephone bursts into life. If it happens to be in a meeting, then a set frowns usually erupt on the faces of the participants – so I always try to […]

On November 8th, 1602, the Bodleian Library in Oxford opened it’s doors  for the first time. One of the oldest libraries in Europe, and the second largest in the UK, (after the British Library), its history goes back to collections which started in the fourteenth century.  It takes it’s name, however, from Sir Thomas Bodley, […]

Maxim, one of the “baseball kids” that I have written about before, has been quite creative recently. For one thing, he has started calling himself Maxim Claytor.  This is not something I have encouraged – but he is using it as a sort of “pen name” when it comes to setting up an email account […]