Lara Bajomo was this gifted vocalist back in Queen's College. Now she's Lara George, the woman who gave us Ijoba Orun (the kingdom of heaven) - the gospel recording that causes goosebumps in young and old alike.
Dare Art Alade attended King's College, performing in a KC-QC operetta (championed by the QC principal) around 1997. He performs as Darey. Although he has several hits in several genres (usually R&B), I think it's this performance - his rendition of Sisi Eko - that will be played into the 22nd century.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
According to us
music
THE WINNERS OF THE 2011 NIGERIAN BLOG AWARDS are:
THE WINNERS OF THE 2011 NIGERIAN BLOG AWARDS are:
- Best Beauty Blog
- Best Blog by a Blogger based outside of Nigeria
- Best Blog by a Nigeria-based Blogger
- Best Book, Poetry or Writing Blog
- Best Collaborative or Group Blog
- Best Daily Read
- Best Designed Blog
- Best Entertainment Blog
- Best Fashion or Style Blog
- Best Fitness or Health Blog
- Best Food Blog
- Best Magazine or News Blog
- Best Music Blog
- Best New Blog
- Best Parenting Blog
- Best Personal Blog
- Best Photography Blog
- Best Political Blog
- Best Religion Blog
- Best Science or Technology Blog
- Best Sports Blog
- Best Student Blog
- Best Travel Blog
- Best Wedding Blog
- Most Controversial Blog
- Most Humourous Blog
- Most Educational Blog
- Most Inspiring Blog
- Most Unique Voice in a Blog
- Nigerian Blog of the Year
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Smart and Dumb, Yin and Yang
music
Soon after my last post, I started to think I was wrong. The research "system", centered in the United States, has evidently succeeded in producing cures, patents, missiles, NASDAQ, ... I should appreciate that at least things work in that sense, and that scientists are guaranteed a middle-class income and higher.
But then I got support from people who say, yes, that is what I'm going through or went through. So add depressed practitioners to the list of products of the research system.
Why this system? Well, division of labour is a fine thing. It makes experts, and experts are better at what they do, they are faster too.
It is also a sad thing. Here are some fundamental problems.
REPETITION IS BORING AND SOMETIMES UNHEALTHY
If you worked on an automotive assembly line (assembly lines are the apex of division of labour) , everyday for several hours you could be tasked with aligning part No. 123xyz to anterior of exhaust manifold. Repeat repeat repeat. At some point, most people would crave a change, would get repetitive stress injuries, ...
So also some people love science but can't find a "station" with tasks that match their needs. I think of the physicist I know who suffers most in science, and this person is the most engaging and well-rounded person, and THAT is the reason he suffers. I was told earnestly that I have "many interests" and THAT was a problem. Imagine a student with varied interests. Who was it that said, don't let education get in the way of your learning! Ah yes, some Mark Twain character.
LEADERSHIP MISLEADS
Another problem is that management in the factory is not perfect. For example, Michigan management (the Governor, the suits, or the lobbyists) continues to engage you in producing cars when the thing that ought to be produced is not cars but flowers for instance. It is good that policymakers in the US determine to spend $10bn on cancer or $10m on collision avoidance in unmanned aerial vehicles, but the quest for money and "success" forces scientists to reflect all day long on those matters, and on presenting answers to appeal to a certain group of reviewers. This means that the many other ways of thinking about the world, the many other matters they might have explored, have to wait.
WHO IS YOUR MASTER?
In particular, the fact of research having its spiritual home in the US means that academics in Nigeria ape the US rather than research our own world. Because their management says "write ten papers" or "publish in International journals." So instead of taking gross mechanical measurements of bamboo (an important building material nowadays), you think to take micro-mechanical measurements (since that's what the white man did for steel centuries ago).
The gross measurements might turn up results that are relevant to construction, housing, and maybe more. The micro-measurements are useless but could conceivably be built upon for publication.
To do the gross measurements, you might have to rig your own measurement device and language. To do the steel-type measurements, you would fit in, in fact, you would import fancy equipment from Europe.
So...what do you do? Primitive manual labour? Or publishable science?
It is similar to the crisis in our literature, which is that since it's hard to sell or distribute to the 1 billion Africans and thereby make a living writing for Africa, Nigerian writers sort of have to ask first, "what does my master at some stepping-stone Western journal or media house like?" (To which I say look at the local music and movie industries and be encouraged: as soon as we unclog a few channels, Africans can serve our local markets as well as the world.)
RE-THINK WHAT WORKS
Well, it just occurred to me that the subheadings reproduce the classic economic questions (so stale that it makes me sad that students still learn this as "economics" and not "history") - What to produce, How to produce, For whom to produce.
It seems that division of labour solves problems in each area:
How to produce - chop up the tasks,
What - let the boss decide,
For whom - I guess whoever can pay.
Then it introduces problems in each area too as shown above: drunken leadership organises you to produce the wrong thing, past efficiency gains from dividing labour lead to more mindless dividing, and the poor and recently-poor are perennially under-served.
Picture: My liberty, by yin-yang-destinity (on deviantart.com)
I have an old book titled Re-engineering the Corporation that has little useful to say. Still, it was a bestseller for stodgy mid-1990s managers, and the authors suggest that division-of-labour along functional lines might be overhauled in ways that create better outcomes for the firm.
So, don't wait. Overhaul.
Soon after my last post, I started to think I was wrong. The research "system", centered in the United States, has evidently succeeded in producing cures, patents, missiles, NASDAQ, ... I should appreciate that at least things work in that sense, and that scientists are guaranteed a middle-class income and higher.
But then I got support from people who say, yes, that is what I'm going through or went through. So add depressed practitioners to the list of products of the research system.
Why this system? Well, division of labour is a fine thing. It makes experts, and experts are better at what they do, they are faster too.
It is also a sad thing. Here are some fundamental problems.
REPETITION IS BORING AND SOMETIMES UNHEALTHY
If you worked on an automotive assembly line (assembly lines are the apex of division of labour) , everyday for several hours you could be tasked with aligning part No. 123xyz to anterior of exhaust manifold. Repeat repeat repeat. At some point, most people would crave a change, would get repetitive stress injuries, ...
So also some people love science but can't find a "station" with tasks that match their needs. I think of the physicist I know who suffers most in science, and this person is the most engaging and well-rounded person, and THAT is the reason he suffers. I was told earnestly that I have "many interests" and THAT was a problem. Imagine a student with varied interests. Who was it that said, don't let education get in the way of your learning! Ah yes, some Mark Twain character.
LEADERSHIP MISLEADS
Another problem is that management in the factory is not perfect. For example, Michigan management (the Governor, the suits, or the lobbyists) continues to engage you in producing cars when the thing that ought to be produced is not cars but flowers for instance. It is good that policymakers in the US determine to spend $10bn on cancer or $10m on collision avoidance in unmanned aerial vehicles, but the quest for money and "success" forces scientists to reflect all day long on those matters, and on presenting answers to appeal to a certain group of reviewers. This means that the many other ways of thinking about the world, the many other matters they might have explored, have to wait.
WHO IS YOUR MASTER?
In particular, the fact of research having its spiritual home in the US means that academics in Nigeria ape the US rather than research our own world. Because their management says "write ten papers" or "publish in International journals." So instead of taking gross mechanical measurements of bamboo (an important building material nowadays), you think to take micro-mechanical measurements (since that's what the white man did for steel centuries ago).
The gross measurements might turn up results that are relevant to construction, housing, and maybe more. The micro-measurements are useless but could conceivably be built upon for publication.
To do the gross measurements, you might have to rig your own measurement device and language. To do the steel-type measurements, you would fit in, in fact, you would import fancy equipment from Europe.
So...what do you do? Primitive manual labour? Or publishable science?
It is similar to the crisis in our literature, which is that since it's hard to sell or distribute to the 1 billion Africans and thereby make a living writing for Africa, Nigerian writers sort of have to ask first, "what does my master at some stepping-stone Western journal or media house like?" (To which I say look at the local music and movie industries and be encouraged: as soon as we unclog a few channels, Africans can serve our local markets as well as the world.)
RE-THINK WHAT WORKS
Well, it just occurred to me that the subheadings reproduce the classic economic questions (so stale that it makes me sad that students still learn this as "economics" and not "history") - What to produce, How to produce, For whom to produce.
It seems that division of labour solves problems in each area:
How to produce - chop up the tasks,
What - let the boss decide,
For whom - I guess whoever can pay.
Then it introduces problems in each area too as shown above: drunken leadership organises you to produce the wrong thing, past efficiency gains from dividing labour lead to more mindless dividing, and the poor and recently-poor are perennially under-served.
Picture: My liberty, by yin-yang-destinity (on deviantart.com)
I have an old book titled Re-engineering the Corporation that has little useful to say. Still, it was a bestseller for stodgy mid-1990s managers, and the authors suggest that division-of-labour along functional lines might be overhauled in ways that create better outcomes for the firm.
So, don't wait. Overhaul.
Sunday, July 03, 2011
One dumb thing about science
music
how is research? I got released from
Caltech recently (changed from
sabbatical to separated) but when I'm
ready got to get back to science. That
said, glad I left. The dumbest thing
about science is how small the audience
is. Why not speak / write to be
understood? Why not enter policy
decisions on occasion? Why not derive
which problems to solve from nature and
society? I mean, the exercises are very
useful, the edifices of theory, very
beautiful even, but if you ever feel
hungry for a change of diet, go for it, I
promise it will aid your science. (And
that ends my sermon lol)
- From a message I just sent to one of the physicists in my life.
how is research? I got released from
Caltech recently (changed from
sabbatical to separated) but when I'm
ready got to get back to science. That
said, glad I left. The dumbest thing
about science is how small the audience
is. Why not speak / write to be
understood? Why not enter policy
decisions on occasion? Why not derive
which problems to solve from nature and
society? I mean, the exercises are very
useful, the edifices of theory, very
beautiful even, but if you ever feel
hungry for a change of diet, go for it, I
promise it will aid your science. (And
that ends my sermon lol)
- From a message I just sent to one of the physicists in my life.
Thursday, June 09, 2011
Been there, seen that
music
I recently found my pretty little copy of The Child's Garden of Verses.
I find this poem so exciting, especially as I've been to some of the places now. But what did my pre-travel self make of it in 1990 - I wonder? Did Stevenson's poetry lurk in my subconscious, to someday inspire some of my own?
TRAVEL, by Robert Louis Stevenson
I should like to rise and go
Where the golden apples grow;—
Where below another sky
Parrot islands anchored lie,
And, watched by cockatoos and goats,
Lonely Crusoes building boats;—
Where in sunshine reaching out
Eastern cities, miles about,
Are with mosque and minaret
Among sandy gardens set,
And the rich goods from near and far
Hang for sale in the bazaar,—
Where the Great Wall round China goes,
And on one side the desert blows,
And with bell and voice and drum
Cities on the other hum;—
Where are forests, hot as fire,
Wide as England, tall as a spire,
Full of apes and cocoa-nuts
And the negro hunters’ huts;—
Where the knotty crocodile
Lies and blinks in the Nile,
And the red flamingo flies
Hunting fish before his eyes;—
Where in jungles, near and far,
Man-devouring tigers are,
Lying close and giving ear
Lest the hunt be drawing near,
Or a comer-by be seen
Swinging in a palanquin;—
Where among the desert sands
Some deserted city stands,
All its children, sweep and prince,
Grown to manhood ages since,
Not a foot in street or house,
Not a stir of child or mouse,
And when kindly falls the night,
In all the town no spark of light.
There I’ll come when I’m a man
With a camel caravan;
Light a fire in the gloom
Of some dusty dining-room;
See the pictures on the walls,
Heroes, fights and festivals;
And in a corner find the toys
Of the old Egyptian boys.
I recently found my pretty little copy of The Child's Garden of Verses.
I find this poem so exciting, especially as I've been to some of the places now. But what did my pre-travel self make of it in 1990 - I wonder? Did Stevenson's poetry lurk in my subconscious, to someday inspire some of my own?
TRAVEL, by Robert Louis Stevenson
I should like to rise and go
Where the golden apples grow;—
Where below another sky
Parrot islands anchored lie,
And, watched by cockatoos and goats,
Lonely Crusoes building boats;—
Where in sunshine reaching out
Eastern cities, miles about,
Are with mosque and minaret
Among sandy gardens set,
And the rich goods from near and far
Hang for sale in the bazaar,—
Where the Great Wall round China goes,
And on one side the desert blows,
And with bell and voice and drum
Cities on the other hum;—
Where are forests, hot as fire,
Wide as England, tall as a spire,
Full of apes and cocoa-nuts
And the negro hunters’ huts;—
Where the knotty crocodile
Lies and blinks in the Nile,
And the red flamingo flies
Hunting fish before his eyes;—
Where in jungles, near and far,
Man-devouring tigers are,
Lying close and giving ear
Lest the hunt be drawing near,
Or a comer-by be seen
Swinging in a palanquin;—
Where among the desert sands
Some deserted city stands,
All its children, sweep and prince,
Grown to manhood ages since,
Not a foot in street or house,
Not a stir of child or mouse,
And when kindly falls the night,
In all the town no spark of light.
There I’ll come when I’m a man
With a camel caravan;
Light a fire in the gloom
Of some dusty dining-room;
See the pictures on the walls,
Heroes, fights and festivals;
And in a corner find the toys
Of the old Egyptian boys.
Monday, June 06, 2011
Friday, June 03, 2011
Now that's what I call painting!
music
I looked up Tolu Aliki in Google (Images) and this is what I found:
And when I think of Rom (Isichei) , it's still these faces that haunt me
(I can't find the most haunting one...I'll try to find it)
Rom also does all sorts of stuff, like Women, people, and objects.
When I think of Victor (Ehikhamenor), I guess it's Red.
I looked up Tolu Aliki in Google (Images) and this is what I found:
And when I think of Rom (Isichei) , it's still these faces that haunt me
(I can't find the most haunting one...I'll try to find it)
Rom also does all sorts of stuff, like Women, people, and objects.
When I think of Victor (Ehikhamenor), I guess it's Red.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
I'm Too Old For Youth Lunch
music
I didn't go to this week's Youth Lunch with the President of Nigeria. I got a couple of invitations by email and text, to which I answered, "how many diners will be at the lunch?" Since I had no assurance that it would be a somewhat exclusive lunch - you know, eba and egusi soup with orange juice around the table with Mr. President - and not a rowdy carnival with us jamming to D'Banj music, I decided to respect myself and save my money.
Brings us to two related reasons why I didn't bother:
1. I turned 30 this month. I declare myself a retired youth. Since I am older than 2/3 of Nigeria's population, don't you think I ought to be considered a full-grown citizen and not part of an age-deficient interest group? In some villages, I would already be a young grandmother.
2. The small money I have should not be spent "entering moto" to attend frivolous events. That said, I was sure they would "share money" at the "lunch" and this would just be embarrassing. I am too broke for jokes. Yet I don't feel like joining the mindless feasting on the Nigerian treasury.
You see, this President embraces all interests groups, with a wide PDP umbrella indeed. It's just that I want to be loved differently. Not with jollof rice, Naija music, and transport fare, all of which last a short time, but with good policies, more megawatts, and a working government which will last for generations.
From 411daily:YOUTH LUNCH WITH JONATHAN TURNS INTO ANOTHER BRIBE-FEST
Big Grammar version: Nigeria: The Youth at Lunch with Jonathan
The pictures:
I didn't go to this week's Youth Lunch with the President of Nigeria. I got a couple of invitations by email and text, to which I answered, "how many diners will be at the lunch?" Since I had no assurance that it would be a somewhat exclusive lunch - you know, eba and egusi soup with orange juice around the table with Mr. President - and not a rowdy carnival with us jamming to D'Banj music, I decided to respect myself and save my money.
Brings us to two related reasons why I didn't bother:
1. I turned 30 this month. I declare myself a retired youth. Since I am older than 2/3 of Nigeria's population, don't you think I ought to be considered a full-grown citizen and not part of an age-deficient interest group? In some villages, I would already be a young grandmother.
2. The small money I have should not be spent "entering moto" to attend frivolous events. That said, I was sure they would "share money" at the "lunch" and this would just be embarrassing. I am too broke for jokes. Yet I don't feel like joining the mindless feasting on the Nigerian treasury.
You see, this President embraces all interests groups, with a wide PDP umbrella indeed. It's just that I want to be loved differently. Not with jollof rice, Naija music, and transport fare, all of which last a short time, but with good policies, more megawatts, and a working government which will last for generations.
From 411daily:YOUTH LUNCH WITH JONATHAN TURNS INTO ANOTHER BRIBE-FEST
Big Grammar version: Nigeria: The Youth at Lunch with Jonathan
The pictures:
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Monkeys defeat monkey master
music
I found this months ago in the e-book From Dictatorship to Democracy.
The "Monkey Master" fable
A Fourteenth Century Chinese parable by Liu-Ji, for example, outlines this neglected understanding of political power quite well:
In the feudal state of Chu an old man survived by keeping monkeys in his service. The people of Chu called him "ju gong" (monkey master).
Each morning, the old man would assemble the monkeys in his courtyard, and order the eldest one to lead the others to the mountains to gather fruits from bushes and trees. It was the rule that each monkey had to give one tenth of his collection to the old man. Those who failed to do so would be ruthlessly flogged. All the monkeys suffered bitterly, but dared not complain.
One day, a small monkey asked the other monkeys: "Did the old man plant all the fruit trees and bushes?" The others said: "No, they grew naturally." The small monkey further asked: "Can't we take the fruits without the old man's permission?" The others replied: "Yes, we all can." The small monkey continued: "Then, why should we depend on the old man; why must we all serve him?"
I found this months ago in the e-book From Dictatorship to Democracy.
The "Monkey Master" fable
A Fourteenth Century Chinese parable by Liu-Ji, for example, outlines this neglected understanding of political power quite well:
In the feudal state of Chu an old man survived by keeping monkeys in his service. The people of Chu called him "ju gong" (monkey master).
Each morning, the old man would assemble the monkeys in his courtyard, and order the eldest one to lead the others to the mountains to gather fruits from bushes and trees. It was the rule that each monkey had to give one tenth of his collection to the old man. Those who failed to do so would be ruthlessly flogged. All the monkeys suffered bitterly, but dared not complain.
One day, a small monkey asked the other monkeys: "Did the old man plant all the fruit trees and bushes?" The others said: "No, they grew naturally." The small monkey further asked: "Can't we take the fruits without the old man's permission?" The others replied: "Yes, we all can." The small monkey continued: "Then, why should we depend on the old man; why must we all serve him?"
Before the small monkey was able to finish his statement, all the monkeys suddenly became enlightened and awakened.
On the same night, watching that the old man had fallen asleep, the monkeys tore down all the barricades of the stockade in which they were confined, and destroyed the stockade entirely. They also took the fruits the old man had in storage, brought all with them to the woods, and never returned. The old man finally died of starvation.
Yu-li-zi says, "Some men in the world rule their people by tricks and not by righteous principles. Aren't they just like the monkey master? They are not aware of their muddleheadedness. As soon as their people become enlightened, their tricks no longer work."
Necessary sources of political power
The principle is simple. Dictators require the assistance of the people they rule, without which they cannot secure and maintain the sources of political power. These sources of political power include: (Read more...)
Saturday, May 14, 2011
What are you reading?
music
I'm reading Great Scientists, a "children's book" by Victoria Sherrow. Bought this one years ago as a gift to my sisters, learning a lot these days reading its biographies of Pauling and Einstein, Oppenheimer and Fermi, Compton and Goddard, and a couple of biology researchers named Thomas Hunt Morgan and James Dewey Watson.
No chics on this list.
No chics on the list of Nigerian governors either.
On Thursday, I attended this year's speech and prize-giving ceremony at my alma-mater, Queen's College. Those students are the females who will someday make those lists.
What was special too, was that I live-blogged the event for my classmates. A summary will appear in the paper soon (Update: read online).
I'm reading Great Scientists, a "children's book" by Victoria Sherrow. Bought this one years ago as a gift to my sisters, learning a lot these days reading its biographies of Pauling and Einstein, Oppenheimer and Fermi, Compton and Goddard, and a couple of biology researchers named Thomas Hunt Morgan and James Dewey Watson.
No chics on this list.
No chics on the list of Nigerian governors either.
On Thursday, I attended this year's speech and prize-giving ceremony at my alma-mater, Queen's College. Those students are the females who will someday make those lists.
What was special too, was that I live-blogged the event for my classmates. A summary will appear in the paper soon (Update: read online).
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Ribadu moved on, nice and quiet
music
Nuhu Ribadu only received 7% of the vote in the April 16th 2011 presidential election, but no problem, he has already returned to his job at the United Nations. He's visiting Afghanistan as an anti-corruption expert for the UN.
I meant to vote for Ribadu but was too busy covering the elections. Maybe I should join the ACN? Even if the political parties are all corrupt, Fashola and Ribadu at least represent the action required for development.
Nuhu Ribadu only received 7% of the vote in the April 16th 2011 presidential election, but no problem, he has already returned to his job at the United Nations. He's visiting Afghanistan as an anti-corruption expert for the UN.
I meant to vote for Ribadu but was too busy covering the elections. Maybe I should join the ACN? Even if the political parties are all corrupt, Fashola and Ribadu at least represent the action required for development.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
That's so California!
music
You know I work at a news organization, but not as a writer. Well, I wrote something this morning: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announce separation.
Not bad, eh?
You know I work at a news organization, but not as a writer. Well, I wrote something this morning: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announce separation.
Not bad, eh?
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Some borrowed words
music
I started writing again this week. For more than a month prior, I'd not been able to think leisure. Then I started writing a short City Girl diary about a night on the town in Cairo. It's only slightly fictional. Later I'll write the Paris one, and one recent afternoon date in Lagos.
But this blog post is not about current writing, but about my first published book. I want to confess that I didn't write every single line myself. In some cases, I borrowed from some admired masters.
You already know that I dubbed Shakespeare in Indecision, and that the poem Rufus Wainwright ends with an amazing line from Rufus Wainwright's 'The Consort': together we'll wreak havoc - you and me. With this my current low-Rufus diet, sometime I'll come back to Rufus BIG-TIME. I can't wait.
There's more of course
"ninety-nine lovers" (in French Cat) is an exaggeration of Carla Bruni's thirty lovers, and
The First Lady's Oath adapts the popular oath of office, while
the entire music chapter borrows tunes from popular songs - Sinatra, rock, musicals - Annie and The Sound of Music.
In Festen (The Celebration), a poem named for the Scandinavian film about family secrets, "the seeming result of confusion" is from Natalie Cole's song "I'm glad there is you"
"How does it feel to be a problem?" the opening line of Prophecy II: Blame Game, is from W.E.B. DuBois's "The Souls of Black Folk."
And there are certainly more dubs in Yalla!, my upcoming collection to be published next month.
I started writing again this week. For more than a month prior, I'd not been able to think leisure. Then I started writing a short City Girl diary about a night on the town in Cairo. It's only slightly fictional. Later I'll write the Paris one, and one recent afternoon date in Lagos.
But this blog post is not about current writing, but about my first published book. I want to confess that I didn't write every single line myself. In some cases, I borrowed from some admired masters.
You already know that I dubbed Shakespeare in Indecision, and that the poem Rufus Wainwright ends with an amazing line from Rufus Wainwright's 'The Consort': together we'll wreak havoc - you and me. With this my current low-Rufus diet, sometime I'll come back to Rufus BIG-TIME. I can't wait.
There's more of course
"ninety-nine lovers" (in French Cat) is an exaggeration of Carla Bruni's thirty lovers, and
The First Lady's Oath adapts the popular oath of office, while
the entire music chapter borrows tunes from popular songs - Sinatra, rock, musicals - Annie and The Sound of Music.
In Festen (The Celebration), a poem named for the Scandinavian film about family secrets, "the seeming result of confusion" is from Natalie Cole's song "I'm glad there is you"
"How does it feel to be a problem?" the opening line of Prophecy II: Blame Game, is from W.E.B. DuBois's "The Souls of Black Folk."
And there are certainly more dubs in Yalla!, my upcoming collection to be published next month.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Hezni
music
"Hezni," my beautiful friend Adam used to say. Hezni. After every sentence. Day one, when we met in Cairo near the now-famous Tahrir Square, we sat and talked for several hours, me drinking karkadiya, while he had _ (what was his drink? that bitter, maté-like thing perhaps?)
Hezni is literally "my sorrow" and he used this slang to mean "crap." Hezni this, hezni that, while he checked out my Nubian behind and hoped. :) I will never forget him.
One time we drank in a large coffee shop called "Arabesque" that had rough women flirting with richer men. I drew this nearly two years later, in 2010.
"Hezni," my beautiful friend Adam used to say. Hezni. After every sentence. Day one, when we met in Cairo near the now-famous Tahrir Square, we sat and talked for several hours, me drinking karkadiya, while he had _ (what was his drink? that bitter, maté-like thing perhaps?)
Hezni is literally "my sorrow" and he used this slang to mean "crap." Hezni this, hezni that, while he checked out my Nubian behind and hoped. :) I will never forget him.
One time we drank in a large coffee shop called "Arabesque" that had rough women flirting with richer men. I drew this nearly two years later, in 2010.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Monday, February 07, 2011
Oh yeah that's right I'm doing me
music
I'm an academic (yay!) which is fun when you avoid the B.S. piled higher and deeper.
Some people embrace and promote the B.S. however. We need an opposing force to their style.
What I mean is that attitudes in academia are too often competitive and fear-based. Instead of
publish-or-perish - how negative that sounds -
why not a new mantra:
discover something useful/beautiful and share it.
--> procrastination station
I'm an academic (yay!) which is fun when you avoid the B.S. piled higher and deeper.
Some people embrace and promote the B.S. however. We need an opposing force to their style.
What I mean is that attitudes in academia are too often competitive and fear-based. Instead of
publish-or-perish - how negative that sounds -
why not a new mantra:
discover something useful/beautiful and share it.
--> procrastination station
Supporting
music
WE SUPPORT YOU
by Tosin Otitoju
ootitoju@hotmail.com
Bi-l rouh, bi-l dam
With soul, with blood
Nafdik, yaa nass.
We support you, oh people.
You are one people united,
rich in soul and heart.
We have no better words
for you who give us hope:
We support you.
Bil rouh, bil dam
nafdik, yaa Comrade.
WE SUPPORT YOU
by Tosin Otitoju
ootitoju@hotmail.com
Bi-l rouh, bi-l dam
With soul, with blood
Nafdik, yaa nass.
We support you, oh people.
You are one people united,
rich in soul and heart.
We have no better words
for you who give us hope:
We support you.
Bil rouh, bil dam
nafdik, yaa Comrade.
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