Postcard from Bishkek

Back in the autumn of 1962 a film was released which was to have a significant effect on the genre of espionage movies in the West: Dr. No, based on the James Bond novel by Ian Fleming.  Indeed, Bond is not just a Western icon, even here everyone knows about James Bond. Although it was […]

Today, 22nd March, marks World Water Day – and has done so ever since 1993 having been approved as such by the General Assembly the previous year.  The idea of the day is to encourage member nations to implement measures regarding the world’s water resources.  Perhaps one of the most concrete aspects of the day […]

It was a year ago that Chicken Little came to Russia … at about 7:30 in the morning, the dark sky over Chelyabinsk in the Urals brightened, but it wasn’t the dawn breaking … An glowing object appeared in the sky, leaving a white plume in its wake … and was followed by two loud […]

I have absolutely no idea where the phrase comes from … and it seems that I am not alone.  There are several references on line that suggest a link with the ancient Olympic Games … but no-one seems to be able to quote an origin for the catchphrase … I seem to remember Sherlock Holmes muttering […]

Triskaidekaphobia – what mouthful … ! If you split it into its component parts then its meaning becomes immediately apparent: tri, kai, deka and phobia. tri = three, kai=and, deka = ten and phobia = fear of … it’s the name of the fear of the number 13.  For some reason, (apparently tied in with […]

Although Ian is a Scottish name, as far as I am aware I have no Scottish blood flowing through my veins, (however there is some Celtic blood there, because some of my mother’s forebears came from South Wales). I mention my ancestry, (or, at least, my lack of Scottish ancestry), because today happens to be […]

I see that a survey of books borrowed from British Libraries reveals that there are definite fashion trends among the books that get taken out.  If Enid Blyton was the favourite author of children’s books when I was growing up, (with over over 800 titles about the likes of Noddy, the Famous Five and the […]

I came across some fantastic photographs the other day of the snow which fell in Cairo last month – apparently it is the first time the Egyptian capital has seen such weather for 112 years – arriving as the storm Alexa battered the Middle East. Such events have aroused great interest – especially in these […]

The name James Bond is known all over the world … the name of the character created by Ian Fleming as the hero in his novel Casino Royale in 1953. Apparently Fleming wanted a name that would sound as ordinary as possible … “brief, unromantic, Anglo Saxon and yet very masculine”.  He picked on the name […]

Every city has a has a number of sights which are associated with it – and today marks an important anniversary for one of London’s: Westminster Abbey. Although construction of the building which everyone recognizes today began in 1245 and, according to tradition, there was probably a church on the site since the seventh Century […]