Having spent such a fantastic time in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan during the Mongol Rally, it is disappointing to read about the escalation of the ethnic violence that has been simmering for years.

Article by the Guardian Newspaper

for RD and Andy, good luck lads.

Calliope Lila Beck joined the bad colonies' team on 5/5/10 at 11:14, weighing at 8lbs 5 oz and 21" long. Her first name comes from the greek muse of EPIC poetry, full explanation below. Her middle name is after my late grandmother.

In Greek mythology, Calliope (Greek: ????????, Kalliope, "beautiful-voiced", pronounced in English /k?'la??pi/ ka-LIE-oh-pee) was the muse of heroic poetry,[1] daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Iliad and the Odyssey.
One account says Calliope was the lover of the war god Ares, and bore him several sons: Mygdon, Edonus, Biston, and Odomantus - respectively the founders of Thracian tribes known as the Mygdones, Edones, Bistones and Odomantes.
Calliope also had two famous sons, Orpheus[2] and Linus[3], by either Apollo or the king Oeagrus of Thrace. She taught Orpheus verses for singing[4] . She was the oldest and wisest of the Muses, as well as the most assertive. She married Oeagrus close to Pimpleia[5], Olympus.
Calliope is always seen with a writing tablet in her hand. At times, she is depicted as carrying a roll of paper or a book or as wearing a gold crown.
Wikipedia

The Muses (Ancient Greek ?? ??????, hai mo?sai [1]: perhaps from the o-grade of the Proto-Indo-European root *men- "think"[2]) in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature are the goddesses or spirits who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths.
Wikipedia