But by that logic, we should have a topic for Endoscopes. With pictures, naturally.

G

All will soon be revealed.

We all hope.

G

Whoever wins the latest comp should set Couple Shots as the next subject.

Then we'll see how much imagination the carpers are able to demonstrate.

Have you noticed how many carp the fish-mongers are stocking this Christmas? The great Polish repatriation has clearly not yet begun.

G

Please call me George.

May I call you Edu, or should I call you mad?

G

For me to have been a tea planter, or a member of the Happy Valley set, or a policeman in persuit (sic) of the Mau Mau, I would have to have been born much earlier than I was.

At the time of independence, I was barely a teenager.

I did, however, witness the gradual deterioration of a country that had been built up by hard work, and which, like Zimbabwe, has been on a downward path ever since independence.

I don't blame anybody in Kenya for this. In 1900, Africans south of the Sahara were (with some exceptions) living in the early dawn of the Iron Age, without the wheel or written language. To go from that to a Western-style democracy in 60 years was asking a lot.

That the process has failed in Kenya and every other country says much more about the cynicism of America (which promoted independence to damage Britain), and about the Utopianism of the British Left, than it does about Africans, black or white.

G

Here's my tip:

Fish-eyes are at their best on the shelf at home. They're a novelty item. We've all had one, but most people never use them after the first few days.

Fun for a short time, though.

G

So you expected a 2000 year-old capital city, once the heart of the greatest empire the world has seen, and with an immensely rich history, to be like a crassly commercial port of entry on the eastern shores of an ex-colony?

Hmm.

Comparing American cities with the better European ones is always going to make your head spin.

But I do sympathise with people who find the scale of big cities to be rather overwhelming. Coming as I did from the wilds of Africa, London took some getting used to.

G

An exhibition of photographs by one of the 20th Century's greatest explorers has opened in Oxford.

link

Thesiger was one of very few men to have crossed the Rub' al Khali, and not once, but several times. Eric Newby's description of meeting him forms the climax of his excellent "A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush".

I met Thesiger myself in Northern Kenya many years ago when he offered to help after my car had a puncture miles from anywhere. His attire included corduroy trousers and a heavy old sports jacket with leather elbow patches, despite the high temperature. And, of course, a tie.

He was notable among other things for living amongst, and photographing, the Marsh Arabs of Iraq, who were later almost totally eradicated by Saddam Hussein, together with their ancient culture.

If anybody is near Oxford, I am sure this exhibition would be worth a detour.

G

Thanks Sapphie.

If true, that's good news for all Pentax users, not just K5 owners.

Let's hope we get official confirmation soon.

G

You have some very strange expectations. London is one of the most fascinating, versatile, beautiful, impressive, and simply great cities in the world.

Dr Johnson's words ring true today. If you're tired of London, you're tired of life. Though I'll add that it's a bad place to be in with no money.

I agree Edinburgh is delightful, but it's a wee provincial place that bears no comparison with the Great Wen.

G