Misschee aka Kipepeo started this blog a year ago today and I guess I just happened to be in the right place at the right time so I joined in as a contributor. The blog is pretty much life as we see it, academic discussions, current global and national events, politics, love, relationships, drama; you name it, we’ve blogged about it.

Unlike Kipepeo whom some of you old-school bloggers may remember, T&S was my first blogging experience. I have immensely enjoyed the freedom of having a space to air out my T H O U G H T S on everything and I definitely regret why I hadn’t discovered blogging sooner. Blogging has a two way experience for me so as much as I’ve tried to share as much as possible on here, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed keeping up with the bloggers on the roll, whose posts have been thought-provoking as well as entertaining and once in a while I’ve “borrowed” an idea or two.

Quick shout-outs to a few fellow bloggers for all their support and insightful comments this past year:
CB, jmmk,|d®|, Msanii_XL just to name but a few.

Here’s to another year of blogging!

Peace.

—
Now playing: Kanye West – “We Major”

Mood: Easy

Mode: Recap ‘09

Thoughts: …

Same idea as last Monday’s post but this time I loaded my mp3 player with RnB and decided to focus more on events that made local news here in Kenya as opposed to regional or international news. Here goes:

Karua’s resignation: Alicia Keys – “A Woman’s Worth”

A tumultuous year for this Honourable MP to say the least. Prior to her resignation, Karua’s loyalty to the President and her party allegiance were beyond question, she was one of the President’s men, so to speak. Therefore it was only fitting that Kibaki would reward her with the powerful Justice, Constitutional Affairs and National Cohesion docket after taking office (pun intended) in 2007. Fast forward to this year when the Iron Lady of Kenyan Politics came out and openly declared her intention to bid for the 2012 Presidency (A tad premature? Hmm). What followed were attacks and criticism from all quarters of government most notably from her fellow lawyer Amos Wako. She reportedly complained to the President on numerous occasions that her work was being undermined, sabotaged and disrupted by Wako and others. The President clearly wasn’t listening to his loyal servant and the final straw came when several High Court judges were appointed with Karua, as the Justice Minister, not even being consulted! Karua, feeling dejected and almost betrayed by the man she had so diligently served, decided enough was enough and quit.

The Migingo saga: Brandy ft. Monica – “The Boy is Mine”

Unless you’ve living under a rock (pun intended), I know you heard about the diplomatic row that erupted over the 1 acre island known as Migingo. A classic case of Kenya’s leadership being caught snoozing as Uganda stepped in to claim territorial sovereignty over Migingo even going as far as hoisting their flag over it! Although it was clear that the real dispute wasn’t really over the rock but the fish-filled waters surrounding it, the media made a meal of this story and our rowdy MPs jumped in some even calling for Kenya to use military force to regain control over the island and its waters. To date, I’m not really sure how the Migingo issue ended, all I’m hoping is that if Al-Shabaab decided to declared parts of Northern Kenya as its own, our government will step in promptly and diplomatically show those cattle-rustling bastards what’s what.

Helen Sambili & Drama Galore: Missy Elliot – “All In My Grill”

I would think that running the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports would be a fulfilling and pressure-free job especially since it is perceived as being far from the wrangles and stress of main-stream politics. But Prof. Sambili proved me wrong. Or maybe it’s her no one seems to like? This year, She’s been constantly embroiled in public debacles and confrontations for all corners and it seems that everyone wanted a piece of her. Her own assistant Minister complained to President about her while continuing to publicly undermine her authority and hurl insults at her every opportunity he got. Her fitness to run the ministry was called into question by everyone from Athletics Kenya, KFF, and most recently by the Youth Development Association members, who all quit in protest. Well, kudos to Sambili for continuing to weather the storm despite the harsh opposition unlike some people (*cough* Karua *cough*)

G10 and the Sex Boycott: Faith Evans – “You Gets No Love”

Sometime in mid 2009, we all were getting a little sick and tired of seeing our top two government leaders namely Koala and Tinga unable to agree on a single thing while the country recovers from an unprecedented period of violence and disaccord. But it was the women of Kenya who found the most unique way of venting out their frustrations over the existing political impasse. Urged by a national coalition of women calling themselves the G10, all women went on a one-week long sex strike. In hindsight, I think it would be fair to say that although their motives were understandable, the sex strike was probably not the most effective means of attracting the right kind of publicity on an issue that was of significant concern to the entire country.

Raila Odinga: Of Circumcision and Baptism: John Legend – “Lets Get Lifted”

Just when I thought that political leaders couldn’t make 2009 any more ‘memorable’, Baba Fidel pulled a hat-trick on us. Earlier this year, Agwambo himself urged men from his ethnic Luo community to go and get circumcised. The response to this call was overwhelming especially since we all know that aside from the hygienic merits of “being cut”, there is also the direct correlation between HIV/AIDS infection and male circumcision which is now common knowledge. At last a positive message to come from a politician. But Raila wasn’t done with us. In a bid to declare that he has truly turned over a leaf, Tinga was baptized Kamlesh Pattni-style dressed a full white suit in a swimming pool. (remember this?)

Ringera and KACC: Madonna – “The Power of Goodbye”

In hindsight, Ringera’s resignation may as well have been the closest KACC will ever get to capturing a “big fish”. This was a man who was earning about 2 million shillings per month (more than the President!) for sitting on his ass and running a toothless government institution whose very existence was more for purposes of political expediency than enforcement of the law. But I guess Ringera was used to sitting on his ass and doing nothing especially since most of our High Court Justices don’t seem to do much else on the Bench anyways. With all the external pressure on the Executive to prove that it was serious about reforms, Ringera must have known that he would be sacrificed for the “greater good”. If this wasn’t clear to him then surely he noticed the overwhelming vote of no-confidence from both the public at large and blood thirsty MPs. Still, Aaron refused to budge, hoping Baba Jimmy would miraculously come to his rescue or had forgotten that his position to not tenured like that of his fellow Judges on the bench? So in the end, we said goodbye to Justice Ringera.

Amos Wako’s Never Ending Tenure: Craig David – “Slicker Than Your Average”
When you’ve been the State’s top lawyer for two decades non-stop, I guess you’ve earned a spot in the country’s history books, good or bad. But negative publicity is something the smiling A-G had not bargained for as he was publicly slapped with a USA travel ban recently. Kipepeo told me that the track by Ruff Endz – “No More” seemed appropriate and I agree somewhat. The only clarification I would make is that this travel ban wont necessarily be enough to keep the smiling Wako from showing his teeth especially since it is reported that he does most of his shopping and banking in Europe anyways.

—-
Now playing: Erykah Badu – “Didn’t Cha Know”

Promise Yourself:

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only the best, to work only for the best and expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

by Christian D. Larson

]]> http://misschee.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/day-341/ Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:43:24 +0000 misternv http://misschee.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/day-341/

Mood: Lighthearted

Mode: DJ mode

Thoughts: …

In the spirit of #musicmonday on twitter and trying to get my blog writing juices flowing, I made a point of lining up tracks I feel like listening to on my mp3 player aka ‘theme music’. On occasion, I hear a beat, hook or a line in a track and I immediately think of someone I know, mostly because the track sounds like something they say or do or suits them in one way or another. Since you may not know those people, I thought I’d pick people that you may know particularly because of the media coverage they’ve received this year. Although the music speaks for itself, my association of these tracks to the individuals below requires explanation.

Jakaya Kikwete: Ludacris – “Pimpin’ All Over the World”
I stand to be corrected but I think that unlike Mkapa, Kikwete mirrors all the things we have grown to know and associate Tanzanians with: calm, easy going, charming and friendly. So it’s no surprise that Kikwete has been able to woo both his African compatriots and the international community so as to get financial aid and technical support thereby increasing Tanzania’s visibility on the world stage. This year “Mr. Hollywood” has been all over the map, promoting his country soliciting private investors and aid agencies and strengthening his country’s ties especially with the West. At some point, the media even did a story where his globe-trotting ways were called into question because it was said that he was never in his country long enough to ensure that this reform agenda was being implemented on the ground. The most notable example of Kikwete’s jet-set year in 2009 was when he travelled to the US to meet Obama shortly after the latter he was sworn into office (one of the first heads of state to do so). The agenda of this special meeting was apparently to discuss the situation in Kenya involving the coalition government.

Jacob Zuma: Methodman & Redman – “Hey Zulu”
Most of the locals I know adamantly told me that the “people of South Africa” would never allow someone like Jacob Zuma aka JZ to see the inside of the Presidential Limousine. Sure enough, he was already fired as Deputy President, had several pending cases for corruption and not to mention his infamous rape charge where he claimed that a post-coital shower protected him from contracting HIV/AIDS. All that aside, we all watched as JZ literally dance his way to the presidency this year and so I always imagine him, now in state house, dancing to this track with one or all of his many wives.

Muammar al-Gaddafi: Kanye West – “Cant Tell Me Nothing”
This year, one of the most talked about Hollywood events was Kanye’s infamous Grammy interruption and whenever I listen to any of West’s records, its easy to see why that incident was far from staged. I believe this arrogance and egoism is also shared by Colonel Gaddafi. It’s everything from the way he dresses, the way he speaks like he did recently at the UN General Assembly for a record 1 hour and something. But the one image of Gaddafi which was indelible in 2009 was when he got off the plane in Italy with armed female bodyguards! This air of self-importance and bigheadedness seems to have been inherited by his son Hannibal, who’s also made news this year for his shenanigans in Switzerland and in the UK.

Paul Kagame: Jay-Z – “What More Can I Say”
Getting Rwanda into the Commonwealth last week was the coupe de grace of a successful 2009 for this head of state. His progressive and expansionist approach, business-mindedness and no-nonesense attitude has made him a household name in the books of global investors and international organizations alike. Although on paper Kagame has put Rwanda on the map in more ways than one, I question the manner in which this military-turned-civilian leader is running his country. As a minority Tutsi himself, it’s not hard to imagine that a person in Kagame’s position would want to take advantage of the emotive impact of his country’s past not only to appeal for funding and investment partnerships with the guilt-ridden West but more so to instill an authoritarian system of government where human rights are suppressed “for the well-being and safety of the country”. All I’m saying is that you can take the man out of the uniform but you cant take the military out of the man. In Kagame’s case, the suppression of basic civil liberties such as freedoms of speech, the media and association are worrying. In addition there are reports that a small powerful clique of minority Tutsi connected to Kagame have largely been the beneficiaries of Rwanda’s booming economy.

Robert Mugabe: Busta Rhymes – “Respect My Conglomerate”
I’ve blogged about Zimbabwe and uncle Bob on several occasions this year plus I think the hook sums it up pretty much. The uncanny parallel between Busta’s ever-animated vocals and the constant image I have of Mugabe in the middle of one of his anti-imperialist tirades, is the reason I see the latter in this track. And in case you’re thinking the conglomerate was the ZANU-PF/MDC marriage. Nope! It’s all about him and his ZANU-PF cronies who consider Tsvangirai as a sellout and an obstacle in their way of bringing “development” and “progress” to the land formerly known as Rhodesia. Among the many news-making incident featuring Comrade Mugabe this year, his over-the-top birthday party early this year was a sign that he did not give a flying fornication what anyone thought about him or the way he runs the country.

Notable mentions:

Barack Obama: Nas – “Black President”
I know he’s not African but this list wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention Mr. Nobel Laureate 2009. On the same year the world watched Obama become the first black president of the US, those who doubted he would ever ascend to those heights undoubted echo this Tupac-sampled track. But the jubilant ending of this track was an exact prediction of the election outcome. What is striking about this particular track is that there is also emphasis on the fact that Obama is not a saviour, he’s a politician like all the rest so his primary concerns are himself and those around him who matter most.

Kofi Annan: Drake – “Best I’ve Ever Had”
I know he’s not a head of state but this good doctor (Honorary doctorate holder from you-know-where) has been at the forefront of helping us resolve our post-election mess, so much so that he almost had wanainchi imagining he would just be made our interim president! (okay, maybe I exaggerate a tad). But his most visible role this year has been that of wise African elder/ headmaster watching over the two squabbling school boys Tinga and Koala even summoning both of them to his offices in Geneva to scold them for their bad behavour earlier this year.
Kofi, Kenya and all her citizenry would gladly dedicate this song to you. You’re the f*cking best! Best we ever had!

—
Now playing: Mos Def – “Life in Marvelous Times”

Mood: Purple

Mode: Auto-pilot

Thoughts: So I pray.

Actually I don’t pray much. Same applies to going to church. Not as much as I used to. But sometimes, we have to pray. Yes, we mostly pray when sh*t hits the fan or when we want something really really bad or those few times you’re stuck in one of those family get-togethers and THAT one member of the family, the one with the big voice, insists on saying prayers in vernacular for journey mercies and you end up spending the night, 10 hours and 5435 “jeehovahs” later. But I digress. Prayer. Yeah, that. So, I’ve started praying these days. A lot. At home mostly, not knealing down, but seated at my desk, with only my half-full coffee mug as my witness, I think about each one of them and what they could be going through this very moment. They are the reason I am moved to prayer. They’re both so far away and both at crucial points in their individual lives and since they’re all connected through me, all I can offer them, in way of support, are my prayers. It is said that God helps those who help themselves and my two Cs are far from slackers, they’re working hard to achieve their goals in the face of enormous odds and they still find time to worry about little old me: an email here, an sms there, I love these guys. So if God really helps those who help themselves, I should expect them to be just fine, innit? Yeah, but it also said that a closed mouth does not get fed and the way I interpret that, within the context of prayer, is that God wants us to make that first step in opening up our mouths and our hearts, trusting that He will hear us and reveal himself to us in one way or another. So I pray. I pray to let him know that I am thinking of them, and that I worry about them, I pray so that He may be with them, reminding them always that all they are going through will come to pass and that everything they are looking forward to will be waiting for them right here when they return home. And I know they would be praying for themselves too but they’re probably out there praying for me. So I pray.

Ok, the caffeine had me going for a minute there. So much for “higher” learning. Anyways, before yall start thinkin’ your boy done ran off and caught the holy ghost or some sh*t, I’ma be out. Deadlines and papers kibao so excuse me while I bond with my intellectual maker: coffee..mmmmh.
Inch’allah, I’ll be back to regular blogging and my cyber social networking nonsense after the 24th.

Peace!

—-
Now playing: Drake – A Scorpio’s Mind.

Mood: So, so.

Mode: Grindin’

Thoughts: Desert the ‘Deserve’-thinkers..

Those who rationalise events in life by claiming that ‘punishment’ or ‘reward’ was deserved or not, miss the whole point of life. Life is not and will never be fair. It will never apportion ‘punishment’ and ‘reward’ in a manner that will ever be just or equitable in everyone’s eyes. If you ‘rewarded’ and someone thinks you deserved it, that person fails to understand that your ‘reward’ is less than another’s and more than someone else’s. And the same applies for ‘punishment’. If you feel like you’re being ‘punished’, you must just know that your ‘punishment’ is comparatively less for someone else and more for another.
If this sounds to you like just another way of explaining the concept of relativity in real life terms then I’d have to agree with you. But I urge to hear me out. To illustrate what I’ve writing this far, let’s take the ‘reward’ as winning a Nobel Prize and ‘punishment’ as being raped.
What I’m saying is that thinking in terms of whether one deserved or not to win a Nobel Prize or to be raped, misses the whole point of life. Life just isnt fair. And to put it bluntly we do not have a say on what we think we ir anyone else deserves or not, be it ‘punishment’ or ‘reward’. If you’re one of those people that think Obama didnt ‘deserve’ to win or that I deserved to be raped then you fail to understand that life is about knowing to deal with both ‘reward’ and ‘punishment’ and more importantly moving on whether it leads to more of one, less of the other or a bit of both.

It is written in the Bible: “To those that have, more shall be given unto you” (fuzzy Sunday school memory talking). What this quote means to me is that there is no limit to how much ‘reward’ or ‘punishment’ someone can get whether you think they deserve it or not. Just like a rich person who wins the lottery, you may think they dont deserve it but that shouldnt be the sole basis on which you challenge the reason they won the lottery. The same reasoning applies to Nobel Laureate Obama. The issue of whether he deserved it or not is irrelevant because he still won and according to my above mentioned Sunday school teacher’s quote, tomorrow he could be knighted by the queen or be canonised by the pope. Based on the same reasoning: if I got raped, whether I deserved it or not is clearly not the issue. As much as it would be traumatic to live with without understanding why me and how to explain it, telling myself or everyone telling me I deserved it or didnt deserve it wont change the fact that I could be raped 10 times over for any number of reasons. Life has nothing to do with whether you deserve something or not. Thinking in such terms can almost become an obsession where you are constantly looking at people and looking at yourself focussing on whether reward or punishment was deserved or not. Life isnt about that. Yes, by all means empathise, sympathise, envy, dream, wish, hope to be in someone else’s shoes because of what your percieve to be another person’s reward but please dont waste life on what makes people deserving and who deserves or doesnt deserve what. Life is a personal journey of rewards and punishments, knowing that there are those who will be punished or rewarded more or less than yourself at any given time. Live with it because it will never change, whether you think your continued existence is a reward or a punishment. Wasting time pondering over whether or not someone deserves a reward or a punishment doesnt change the fact that we are all guaranteed our share of both in this world.

––
Now Playing: Lauryn Hill – ‘Everything Is Everything’

Mood: Relaxed.

Mode: Study

Thoughts:

Don’t get me wrong, there is a constant and understated need for people to voice their views, opinions, critiques and suggestions especially where the running of the country is involved. But what I have found quite remarkable is that there has been a shift from the days when it was just Civil Society doing all the complaining and protesting. Now, every Tom, Dick and Waweru is getting in on the action and this has led to an overwhelming demand among the people for information. More information, about everything.

So today, I observe with utter amazement, the dominant role being played by the media as a source of information on everything going on in the country, singlehandedly feeding the complaining wanainchi with more ammo for even more critical debate, reflection and action on important issues affecting us. Civil society can literally afford to take a back seat and let the people judge for themselves by following the media covering which more and more is exposing exactly what they’ve talking about for years.

I love it.

Watching FULL parliamentary proceedings live a la C-Span (woe on you, Mheshimiwa if you’re caught dozing during debates!), tuning in to updates, special reports and breaking stories presented and told in a way like never before, not to mention the brilliantly written pieces in the print media week after week. All need now is the likes of Muraya Kariuki and others who are responsible for “Bullseye” and “Newshot”, to come up with their own shows in the vein of “Daily Show with Jon Stewart” type thing. From an economic point of view, I guess this is all a natural by-product of having competition in any market, the quality of the goods or services offered by each competitor tends to improve. And on that note, might I digress and hope that this competitive atmosphere spreads in Michael Joseph’s direction in the form of more network providers, because frankly Suffericom is making a killing out here while still offering the same crappy service I’ve always remembered!

Okay, back to what I was saying, complaining from all corners of the country. It’s a great thing!

Democracy at work, and the fact that people have realized that its not just about empty complaining but it’s also about pushing for action while keeping abreast with news and information through mass media and communication. I love it! Gone are the days when information was like gold and only a few had access to it. Nowadays, between the media, word of mouth and sms’es, information is moving faster than ever before. Politically speaking, my only hope is that we are all able to use this abundance of information to come to the right conclusions and make informed decisions that will improve their lives. Ignorance was never bliss but even now, it wouldn’t help us to have all this information yet still have the same short memory that politicians have manipulated for years.

—
Now playing: Dead Prez – We Need a Revolution

Mood: Pensive

Mode: Silent

Thoughts: Saa Zingine..

There’s a lot of sense in rap slang referring to your girlfriend or wife as your wiz i.e. wisdom. I’ve been with my wiz for a year and some change and one of the bits of wisdom she’s shared with me that I’ll never forget was a famous quote by Anais Nin:
“Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish it’s source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings.”

Now that we’re back to long distance again, this quote feels like a warning of what could happen if we fail to “replenish” the source of your love. Nin is right, love only dies because someone kills it and wounds it over and over again until there is no defibrillator in the world that can bring it back to life again. In my case, I feel like my lack of or inability to properly communicate with my wiz is the closest thing to a bullet in the head of our love.

Communication per se isn’t hard, I can send emails and message detailing every second of my day from sunrise to sunset but my problem isn’t that. My problem is finding a way of sharing my own thoughts and feelings about all the things that are happening around me, especially in plain writing as opposed to via interactive IM platforms like Skype. Atleast with Skype, we could have a conversation in real-time and I found it easier to say whatever it is I have on my mind. Sitting down to type a message or compose an email for me is for purposes of information only and its never about sharing a moment, a thought, a crazy idea, an emotion or anything like that. That much I can admit. Attempting to correct this short-coming often leads me to frustration and anger directed at myself and her for pointing out my apparent nonchalant attitude towards this problem.

Back to the quote, I know I need to put my pride and my frustrations aside and find a way to reach out to her in a way that doesn’t seem so mechanical or prompted like a predicate felon checking in with his parole officer. I believe the best solution is to go back to having real-time quality-time chats online like we did before, because that seems to be the only thing that works.

By no means am I saying that IM’ing is the cure to all our communication gwans. All I’m saying is that it’ll make things easier for us to interact and share throughout the day. I will not make any excuses for myself and my failure to communicate even in the midst of power-cuts, bad internet and joblessness (no income). After a lot of personal introspection, I know I can do better with the resources I have at my disposal and I intend to make that extra effort in the hope that she’ll feel as missed, longed for and thought of, as she really and truly is.

In the end, I guess I now see that communication shouldn’t be a once-off, once-a-day thing but rather it should be an on-going, continuous effort to stay close and keep in touch – despite whatever other obligations and engagements that are competing for my time and attention.

—
Now Playing: Outkast – ‘She Lives in My Lap’

Mood: Relaxed.

Mode: Auto pilot

Thoughts: Kenya here I come..

After having only spent 10 odd years of my entire life in Kenya, I’ve grown up knowing that home isn’t necessarily where I was born, but rather home is wherever in the world my mum and my bro are at, where we all congregate over the holidays, basically. And for a long time, we’ve had “home” in different places but now it seems we’re all slowly converging in Kenya. And I couldn’t be happier. (No more packing and unpacking and packing again..atleast for now.)

Initially, I was very hesitant about returning to Kenya having no tangible experience or expertise to show for myself. I guess there was never going to be a perfect time to come back home and face all those people I left behind, compare scars, trade war stories only to ultimately discover just how far ahead of me some of them have actually are. Yes, I’ve picked up several languages, broadened my horizons immensely and acquired the kind of exposure that very few my age have, BUT nothing beats home advantage. I could do kibarua after kibarua for all my life in Europe or the U.S and I would never see the inside of an office with my name on the door or even have enough cashflow to do anything other than live from hand to mouth. Whereas in Kenya, I don’t have to worry about artificial glass ceilings because I don’t have right papers or that I’m a foreigner or that I don’t speak the language; here fortune favours the bold so instead of an endless string of kibarua’s, one may be able to enter the formal economy either as self-employed or part of an establishment and then sky is the limit.

I am not, by any means, understating the enormous task of finding said ‘kibarua’ or subsequent ‘formal job’ but I’d rather struggle here where I can use whatever connections and contacts are at my disposal for a change as opposed to always being the outsider, the new kid, the foreigner, the kwere kwere blah blah.

That being said, I looking forward to returning home and I expect to continue my blogging ways, live and direct from Nairobi!

—
Now Playing: E-Sir – ‘Hamnitishi’

Now it’s the second half of our PS.. We were deciding between Upper Seletar and Upper Peirce, but since he has already gone to Upper Seletar last week, we decided to try a different location this time.

Weather is nice and Upper Peirce is really beautiful! Blue sky, white clouds, glittering water and colourful kites.. Should have been here for my outdoor shoot =P

We got ourself a nice spot and started setting up our tripods and stuff. But instead of getting ready for the sunset, my attention was all on the monkeys! There were a lot of monkeys moving around, definitely more than 10 of them! I must have looked comical to the guys, cos I wanted to take close up shots of those cute little fellas since the 16-80 wasn’t really sufficient but at the same time I was scared that they might just jump toward me, so I ended up moving closer the monkeys slowly but run back immediately once they get near.

The monkeys seem to know the time to go home as they all left the place together suddenly. And maybe that was a signal to us that it’s time for us to go back too! This park has a regulation that the gate will be close at 7:30pm, and it is stated on the signboard that if we don’t leave before that we have to collect our car the next morning! So we ran all the way to our cars about 7:10pm and rushed out from that place! Haha what an adventure!

:: live :: love :: laugh ::

This is our second official Project PS after our last one which was already couple of months ago.. Somehow we are quite into sunset photography these days, so we decided to try taking some sunset shots today. We couldn’t decide whether to go to Upper Seletar Reservoir, Upper Peirce Reservoir or MacRitchie Reservoir for taking sunset, so we started off from the latter in the afternoon which we thought would have more interesting things to take before it gets dark compared to the other two.

The whole place looks really different now from my vague memory of it.. The last time I was here should be at least 10 years ago for my school cross country. Hmm how time flies..!

And so we began our bug hunting adventure!

As what the photos showed, all we got were ants, dragonflies, trees, trees, and more trees!! Hmm actually nothing much there, or maybe I was to tired carrying all the camera stuff and the tripod so not much energy to really go and hunt for bugs.

After 2 hours, we were finally out from the trail and decided to head towards Upper Peirce Reservoir for our sunset shots. So off we go!

:: live :: love :: laugh ::

This week has been a really terrible one for me at work, so he suggested photo-taking on Friday to cheer me up. We wanted to go Upper Seletar to take sunset since we (or rather me) did not manage to go last week. Thanks to someone who fly me aeroplane and went on his own instead =P

Anyway, the weather didn’t seem too good for the whole day as it was quite cloudy, hence we changed our plan to go Mount Faber so at least we could still capture some night scenes instead of sunset. However, on our way there we made a wrong turn and missed Mount Faber, so Uncle Leong brought us to Labrador Park in the end. I’ve always enjoyed going out with Uncle Leong cos he is really like the street directory and GPS, and he knows all the interesting places which I have not been to before! I always find myself going on a tour and getting to know this fine city better after every outing!

Now, something which I have always hoping to shoot – the MOON! My attempts to snap a nice picture of the moon never succeed, but I thought while I still have the 18-200 with me, I might as well try shooting it again despite all the discouraging comments from the guys. And this time, the effect seems to be closer to what I’ve alwaya wanted! So excited! Shall try shooting again when it’s full moon =)

:: live :: love :: laugh ::

Mood: Chilled out.

Mode: Procrastinating

Thoughts: Random post..

Apart from International Women’s Day which has already passed, South Africa has its own National Women’s Day which happens to be today. Truth be told, the most important role played by women today is as our mothers. If you ask me, it seems like all black mothers went to the same school and came out with the same hardcore, disciplinarian, no-nonsense, school of hard knocks approach to raising children: sons and daughters alike. Regardless of whether you were raised by a single mother (like I was) or by both parents, the role played by your black mother in instilling values and teaching right from wrong (the hard way, if necessary) is the reason we grow up to be the men and women we are today.

That being said, you know you have a black mother if:

1. You`ve ever been called from downstairs, upstairs, the back of the house,or from the front of the house to fix her a glass of ice water, get her,the remote control, or change the channel

2. You`ve ever been hit with an extension cord, a switch or the nearest shoe or object

3. You`ve ever had to pick your own switch or belt, and she sent you back if the switch or belt you got was to small

4. You`ve ever been hit in the head or knuckles with a hairbursh or comb

5. You`ve been told to “Shut Up or I`ll give you something to cry about” while she beats you with a belt-pronouncing every syllable —”Didn`t —I– tell —- you — not— to — do —that — *!*!$? — no — more?

6. You were scared to go home wen you got a bad report card

7. You were never “on punishment” just got whippins str8 out of the bathroom shower

8. You`ve ever been pinched for going to sleep in church

9. She made you participate in every church activity (choir, Jr. Usher>>Board Easter play, Christmas play, etc.)

10. When you ask her for something, her response is…”You got a job?” or “Go get a job”

11. You`ve ever been beaten for something your brother or sister did, just because you were around.

12. You`ve ever been told to turn off the TV, get off the phone, or sit down and be quiet when it`s storming outside because the Lord was doing His work.

13. You`ve ever been hung up on…for calling her to collect you.

14. Friends, family and friends of the family try to keep you out of trouble because they know your mother and how she is

15. You would never even dare think of calling the child abuse hotline.

16. She has to pray to GOD..”Lord, please don`t let me hurt this child!!”>> Before she gives you a whippin

17. You would pick up something (sweeties and other nonsensical stuff that you’d NEVER use) in the supermarket she would give you “the look” and you’d put it right back!

18. When you wanted something a common reply was “we have got it/can make it at home”

19. Swearing would get you killed a few white friends did it

20. If you did or said something stupid a common response was “who do you think I am? do I look like your friend!?”

21. Her cooking was the best beaten only by grannys

22. She would say things like: “I brought you into this world, I can take you out of it ….”!

23. You want to hide your self under a rock as soon she starts going off on managers, waiters, shop attendants and anyone in her path.

24. Her definition of a giving your a haircut was vigourously shaving all your hair off.

25. If you complained of headaches or stomaches, she would first tell you to drink water and lie down. It will go away.

26. Certain teachers in the school office are scared of her.

27. You’ve never been grounded? just beaten

28. Sometimes the silent glare/ death stare…. would say it all………. no words necessary!

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I know most of you can relate to this post and I’m sure there are plenty of other things I forgot to mention that remind you of the way our mothers raised us back in the day. Feel free to share them.

God bless our beautiful black mothers.

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Now playing: Raheem DeVaughn – Woman

Mood: So, so.

Mode: Chillin’ (Break from the books & thesis writing)

Thoughts:The “New Bar” Syndrome & Social Networking Sites.

Over the years I’ve noticed that when a new bar opens customers flock to it – especially ones that target the young crowd. Then over time the number of patrons drop. The bar closes and remodels. The “in crowd” shows up again, and once again, over time the number of patrons drop as they move to another remodeled bar.

I believe that social networking sites are, to a large extent, akin to bars. People log in to meet friends, chat, socialise, exchange info and news etc.. The heyday of webpages like Lycos, Yahoo, Geocities, AOL, Hi5 are now no longer visited and no amount of remodelling can change that. The truth is that unlike bars, social networking sites have a limited lifespan which cannot be changed by any amount of updating or upgrading. They just die out like we’ve seen recently with Myspace. Therefore it would not surprise me if Facebook, Badoo, Twitter, 2nd Life, etc., die a slow death in the future.

That being said, I still joined Twitter and Facebook in the same way I would check out the newest nightspot in whatever city I’m in because in today’s world, having a social life is not only about face-to-face interaction – there’s a growing cyber dimension to it as well. However I draw the line when tweets and facebook status messages become my only form of expression and communication merely because they’re an easier way of getting my opinions and views out there rather than typing out a blog post or facebook note. And that’s probably why I tend to neglect blogging.

But if you ask me, with the way these social networking sites come and go, or are constantly being updated and crash unexpectedly, we’re all better off just sticking to emails, blogs and IM.

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Now Listening – J Dilla – “Won’t Do”

Mood: Chilling

Mode: Slow mode (Been gone for a while but I’m back)

Thoughts: Georgia Not On My Mind…

I spent my summer last year in the “A” visiting family and it felt like that was my best summer vacay ever.

Not anymore.

After this year’s summer escapades through parts of Europe (pics from the trip are on my Flickr), Madame and I back to her Swedish village where we’ve both been resettling and catching up with the world out there (paperwork, emails, blogs, fb.. the usual stuff). Things are calm now, no more running around in airports, crashing on sofas, playing tourist by day, partying and drinking by night, checking out the sites, taking pictures, living out of a suitcase.. etc.. etc..

The really cool thing is that we did all this together.

Let’s just say that the trip and this summer as a whole has been filled with a whole lot of first’s for us as a couple (good times and rough times too). But seeing as we’ve just celebrated one year and we’re still together, I can only hope that this whole experience will serve to help us grow closer and understand each other better.

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Now listening to- Q-Tip Feat Raphael Saadiq – We Fight/We Love

Dear Michael,

Peace,
Cloudvillian™

Have been trying to playing hide-and-seek with these little birds for the whole afternoon.. They have been my ‘tenants’ for a couple of weeks, and should be moving away soon after the young ones are able to fly on their own. This is already the third or fourth time that these little ones came to build a nest on our plants.

Still remember the first time when we noticed a bunch of rubbish hanging on our plants – dried leaves, papers, hair, twigs etc.. Yeek it definitely looked disgusting and messy. We thought somebody must have played a prank on us and threw the rubbish there, so we cut the whole branch away. Not long after, there was another heap of rubbish hanging there again, so we left it there this time. And to our surprise, the rubbish formed a nest on the next day and that’s when we realised we have wasted the effort of the little bird for building its first nest! So we started to observe it, and after a week or so, we saw some little birds peeking out from the nest! All ready with my camera and tripod, but it was still rather challenging to take the photos as the nest is facing outside so we can’t really see from our angle. The mummy bird is very sensitive and would fly away once it sensed that our door is open and there’s a camera behind it.

Same for this afternoon, have waited patiently for the mummy bird to come back and feed the young ones. Guess it was frightened by my giant camera as it tried a few times to return to the nest but flew away before it even reached the nest and stayed on another branch. Managed to capture it in the end, but most came out blurred.

:: live :: love :: laugh ::

All prepared and fully equipped as I have promised someone to put this into action. Actually I have a couple of things in mind which I could capture today, but was simply too occupied with work that I didn’t have chance to take those photos. Hmm, it would have been more interesting if I had managed to snap some pictures of the ‘brownies’ in office today, but someone wasn’t very keen on this idea =P

So in order to kickoff this, I got a few shots of the beautiful sky while we were driving back from work. Not exactly my favourite shots, but the lovely colours never fail to amaze me.

:: live :: love :: laugh ::

I love to take photos and have always wanted to do something like this – taking a couple of photos everyday and describe the little things that take place in my life. Well, this is something that stayed in my mind for don’t know how many years but I never had the motivation to really do it until now. Got inspired by this person, who shares the same passion for photography and never fails to nag at me that uploading pictures is such an easy task. So thanks to him, the sophiesticate world is finally here!

:: live :: love :: laugh ::

After spending so many years in South Africa, its taken me this long to realise just what Youth Day is all about. Today commemorates the start of the Soweto Riots of 1976, initially sparked by a government edict that all instruction in black schools would be held in Afrikaans during the Apartheid regime.
The bravery and courage of those schoolchildren in Soweto on June 16, 1976 is alive in all of us as the youth.
Let the example of those brave children in Soweto remind us all that we must fight to change our world just as they did. siyabonga.

Young people, we CAN change our world!

Since landing in this little village a week ago, I have been at my lady’s side at two big events in her life: first was her thesis defence last Friday which she passed with flying colours and second was last night at her birthday party. Its late in the afternoon right now and the birthday girl is still bed… rum and coke all night and red wine prior to that, seem to have done the trick. The fake summer out here played its role in making it rainy and cold forcing to plan a dinner-party at home as opposed to painting the village red. She’s a year older and several months older than myself. For someone who’s only dated guys older than her, I often got the feeling that everytime I screwed up somehow, my age would probably be an attributing factor in her eyes. In contradistinction, I’ve only dated girls younger than myself and I never hesitated to label them as ‘childish’ at the slightest slip. That being said, I think I’ve proved myself capable of handling the pressures and responsibilities of being her man so I don’t expect her to give me that “you’re-still-just-a-boy” look or even hear a similar tone in her voice ever again. I hope. Anyways, it goes without saying that thoughout this past week, I’ve been the proudest boyfriend around, witnessing her scholarly accomplishments and celebrating her birthday are definitely the highlights of my summer so far.

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In other news, my touristy side got a tiny bit of action this past week when I noticed something peculiar about this Swedish village. See below.

I know what you’re about to ask me: who are those kids in sailor hats packed that lorry? Well, those noisy, in-your-face brats wearing those ridiculous sailor hats listening to rubbish music, holding-up traffic, being objectionable to passers-by are swedish high school graduates!
Unlike most parts of the world where you have a high school prom after graduation, swedish kids go through the formal grad ceremony in the morning (where I presume they are capped in those silly sailor hats) then in the afternoon, they have this so-called procession where they are all bundled onto lorries and tractors decorated in all sorts of stuff and then they are driven around the city/town/village. Coincidentally these celebrations took place on the very same day madam was defending her Masters thesis, which was interesting because unlike high schoolers, Masters graduates in Sweden dont get a graduation ceremony of any kind, let alone a full “wedding style” procession.

And yes, those high school grads in that lorry are all drunk!

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Now listening: Cassidy ft. John Legend – Celebrate

He almost makes you want to feel sorry for him, doesn’t he? Then again, that’s like a Brazilian body-painter complaining about a hard day’s work…

Seriously?

So, I’m back for the third time in Sweden visiting madam and I must say its not the kind of place I’d personally be able to live in. First off, the whole language barriers thing. I speak and understand 3 European languages but whenever I come here, I STILL end up feeling like I am completely unable to communicate with all the Italian, Czech, Polish, Swedish speaking people running up and down this place. I mean, why can’t everyone just stick to English!! Okay, to be fair they do speak in English, some of the time, and its usually about inconsequential nonsense like how drunk they all got last Friday and how many different types of Vodka’s and other jet fuel they consumed (willingly, might I add) and how they all got sooo wasted, passed out wherever, lost their keys and whatever else and ofcourse how they woke up the next day with hang-overs and spent the whole morning puking (yes, puking is discussed and laughed about indiscriminately whether or not a guest is present or whether the discussion is taking place over a meal or any other inappropriate time). In all fairness, these are student apartments and they’re all students so I guess this is pretty much all they do, especially after submitting their theses as they prepare for summer break.
Another thing that I still haven’t quite gotten used to with these students (madam included) is how they can go weeks without any trace of meat in any of their meals… EISH man, all these veggie meals day in day out and assorted green leaves are even making my complexion lighter! Okay, I understand meat is expensive especially out here but surely if they all chipped in (say for example the way they chip in to buy alcohol for instance) then maybe we would be able to see some meat floating in all the green herb-smelling stews once in a while.
As for the weather, I still have beef with madam who tells me how nice and warm it is out there in Scandanavia only to get here and find that its barely 5 degrees Celsius with scattered drizzles.. yeah, next time she says pack for a Swedish summer, I’ll know what to do.
I could go on and rant about the whack music, the boring ambience, and this quiet almost lifeless town as a whole, but I’m sure you get where I’m going with all this…

To be continued.

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Now listening to: Lauryn Hill- Everything Is Everything

I said I’d be back.. didn’t I?

So, wrapped up my internship, cleared my exams, packed up my belongings and booked my ticket for home.
Now I’m up north spending my last summer in Europe with the Mrs.
In between playing house and …expect more blogging for me very very soon.

Peace.

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Now listening to: Nas – Surviving The Times