I can C U dance,
In th'in between. Hear U sing.
It's my soul danceth.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
A Ghost Harmattan in Nairobi City
Yesterday afternoon I "updated" this piece on my Twitter page.
Just thought I should post it here in order to share it with my blog visitors. So, here:
Incidentally, one of this morning's papers reports that a strong wind blew a small plane off the runway and into the trees yesterday afternoon [killing a 70-year-old lady, seriously injuring the pilot, and attracting a band of looters], as it tried to land at Malindi, Kenya. I don't know if there was a connection with the winds experienced in Nairobi.
What connection there was was in what we noted and what surprised us when we got home last night. There had been rain in our part of town (while there had been not a drop in downtown Nairobi). Yet what was remarkable about the afternoon wasn't the rain there but the strong winds that had accompanied it.
So, it seems, the ghost harmattan was more widespread that I'd originally thought.
Just thought I should post it here in order to share it with my blog visitors. So, here:
A palpable temp drop, dwntwn, this mid-aft. A ghost harmattan, sort-of, grips da city. A romp of dry leaves, which -- let them romp
Incidentally, one of this morning's papers reports that a strong wind blew a small plane off the runway and into the trees yesterday afternoon [killing a 70-year-old lady, seriously injuring the pilot, and attracting a band of looters], as it tried to land at Malindi, Kenya. I don't know if there was a connection with the winds experienced in Nairobi.
What connection there was was in what we noted and what surprised us when we got home last night. There had been rain in our part of town (while there had been not a drop in downtown Nairobi). Yet what was remarkable about the afternoon wasn't the rain there but the strong winds that had accompanied it.
So, it seems, the ghost harmattan was more widespread that I'd originally thought.
Michael Jackson, via Abydos: Haiku
Th'King of Pop's no more.
O Faeries, be with him still --
For a million years!
_____________________________________
About Abydos: Click here to read more
O Faeries, be with him still --
For a million years!
_____________________________________
About Abydos: Click here to read more
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Ninja Obama Wastes a Marauding Fly With One Lightning Strike
Here, have a look at the big swat
For our very own Macharia Gaitho's tongue-in-cheek, "iko kitu", word-picture of the whole "Sagana": Click here
Need I say more? Go bro!
For our very own Macharia Gaitho's tongue-in-cheek, "iko kitu", word-picture of the whole "Sagana": Click here
Need I say more? Go bro!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Neda, Dying
Here's the distressing You-Tube video of Neda dying, to see for yourself: Click here
P.S: How to treat a gunshot wound
P.S: How to treat a gunshot wound
Vuvuzela For the Beautiful Game, in 2010!
I love Vuvuzela. The name itself has built-in poesy, which we want the world to get comfortable with. It's a new comfort zone we're offering, and we're willing to compromise.
I've recently (4 to 6 weeks ago) heard the Vuvuzela on the streets of Nairobi -- "my city, my life" -- and was pleased that it was at last here. The Vuvuzela-laden commercial I've seen on TV is heart-warming, and calls to mind the Africanness in all of us Africans. And I have seen and heard, on TV, the Vuvuzela "at full play", most currently at the FIFA Confederations Cup tournament in South Africa.
I haven't been to a live soccer match for decades, though, so I don't know if a multitude of Vuvuzelas in full blast (there is no other kind of blast here) exceeds the tolerable decibel level -- for the scientist and for reasonable men and women (young and old) -- when you are actually in there for over ninety loud and clear minutes. And I don't know what the ardent and not so ardent fan really, really thinks about the incessant bleat that's the hallmark of a jam-packed South African or other stadium. But, clearly, there are concerns being raised in important stake-holder quarters, which call for give-and-take.
Vuvuzela's haunting, primeval, elephantile bleat has something aroused and arousing about it. Something trenchant, even, when you flip the coin. It gets the soul going, but not, I suppose, that of the opponent -- or that of someone more used to a sedate (sedated?) kind of mass gathering and participation.
The question to be answered by FIFA in the not too distant future, well before 2010, is: Is too much of a/an (always good) Vuvuzela -- is making too concentrated a bleat of it -- too much to be any longer good at any one place of fun and merriment? Alternatively, is Vuvuzela a great African contribution to soccer fandom, or a fun but noise polluting and irritating instrument which Sepp Blatter, FIFA's boss, only pretends to love, for now; that is, till he is rid of his current hosts?
I think we can eat our cake and have it, Vuvuzela addicts. Outright ban would be too cruel and unbecoming, appearing as it would to be culturally particularistic. I think the use of Vuvuzela can be allowed on strictly enforced terms. Thus (a) you can choose to allow only a limited number of designated groups of entertainers (or bands)to enter the stadium with an ensemble of Vuvuzelas and other instruments (remember, not every Brazilian soccer fan enters the stadium with a Samba instrument); or, (b) you can permit only a specified percentage of paying fans, say 5-10% -- issued ahead of time with special tickets or tags -- to enter the stadium with Vuvuzelas.
Bottom line: We're going to have Vuvuzela, and we're going to have fun in 2010! And the Great She Elephant, wherever she'll be watching from, will, I believe, approve!
I've recently (4 to 6 weeks ago) heard the Vuvuzela on the streets of Nairobi -- "my city, my life" -- and was pleased that it was at last here. The Vuvuzela-laden commercial I've seen on TV is heart-warming, and calls to mind the Africanness in all of us Africans. And I have seen and heard, on TV, the Vuvuzela "at full play", most currently at the FIFA Confederations Cup tournament in South Africa.
I haven't been to a live soccer match for decades, though, so I don't know if a multitude of Vuvuzelas in full blast (there is no other kind of blast here) exceeds the tolerable decibel level -- for the scientist and for reasonable men and women (young and old) -- when you are actually in there for over ninety loud and clear minutes. And I don't know what the ardent and not so ardent fan really, really thinks about the incessant bleat that's the hallmark of a jam-packed South African or other stadium. But, clearly, there are concerns being raised in important stake-holder quarters, which call for give-and-take.
Vuvuzela's haunting, primeval, elephantile bleat has something aroused and arousing about it. Something trenchant, even, when you flip the coin. It gets the soul going, but not, I suppose, that of the opponent -- or that of someone more used to a sedate (sedated?) kind of mass gathering and participation.
The question to be answered by FIFA in the not too distant future, well before 2010, is: Is too much of a/an (always good) Vuvuzela -- is making too concentrated a bleat of it -- too much to be any longer good at any one place of fun and merriment? Alternatively, is Vuvuzela a great African contribution to soccer fandom, or a fun but noise polluting and irritating instrument which Sepp Blatter, FIFA's boss, only pretends to love, for now; that is, till he is rid of his current hosts?
I think we can eat our cake and have it, Vuvuzela addicts. Outright ban would be too cruel and unbecoming, appearing as it would to be culturally particularistic. I think the use of Vuvuzela can be allowed on strictly enforced terms. Thus (a) you can choose to allow only a limited number of designated groups of entertainers (or bands)to enter the stadium with an ensemble of Vuvuzelas and other instruments (remember, not every Brazilian soccer fan enters the stadium with a Samba instrument); or, (b) you can permit only a specified percentage of paying fans, say 5-10% -- issued ahead of time with special tickets or tags -- to enter the stadium with Vuvuzelas.
Bottom line: We're going to have Vuvuzela, and we're going to have fun in 2010! And the Great She Elephant, wherever she'll be watching from, will, I believe, approve!
Monday, June 22, 2009
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