Not very much has changed i see

It is quite evident to see that not very much has changed on the African continent since the colonial times and perhaps even before. Things being muddled up and the eventual request for help from the colonial masters....
Recently, Lagos Politician Funsho Williams was found stabbed and strangled at his residence; apparently the victim of a political vendetta seeing as he had aspirations for elective office in the state. I didn't know the man personally and didn't weep for his death; however I did feel for the situation and the eventual "open yarnsh" scenario that is about to play out. I have just read the latest reports on this on the Thisday website and the article filled me with disgust and left me unsettled. Once again, the Nigerian government have attacked the situation in the usual idiotic badly strategised haphazard fashion, peculiar to that part of the world. A series of random arrests, stupid questions that will not lead anywhere, irrelevant political solidarity, silence on the part of the president, ludicrous reports in the Media and (this one takes the akara) the eventual import of detectives from the met! Are you shocked? After all we import everything else we might as well import police men who will solve a crime properly or at least appear to do so...
In the badly written Thisday report, the writers point out how the detectives arrive with pomp and pageantry (specifying that they arrive in white jeeps like that makes a difference, Nigerians and aesthetics!) only to find out that the "victims first son had locked the door and taken the key" !!!!!@@#$$%%%%. What a load of ridiculous bullshit! In this day and age, the scene of a crime, especially one of that magnitude is left to the antics of a possible inheritor who is more concerned with his "investments" and less with uncovering the mystery by the blundering authorities. And then, the "detectives" are asked to return later when the key would have been found only for them to be received first by the family and blah blah blah...the list goes on!
In this situation, not only does the Nigerian government admit it's inadequacies by importing detectives from a police organisation that comes with its own shortcomings (or have they still solved the Steven Lawrence case, or released the truth of their findings) to help with a mystery that is absolutely beyond it's means, it once again points out our poor position in today’s world order. Can they not see what they are doing? What they have done? Whilst the rest of the world battles more important issues, India and it's booming economy and quest for a place in the sun, China and its ascendancy to world super power, Japan and its place in the UN security council, the US's need to exercise its hegemony, even south Africa's quest to be taken seriously; Nigeria and the most part of Africa remain aeons behind squabbling like thieves after a heist as they loot and plunder completely oblivious of all that goes on around them. They, those in power are quite content to continue with things as they are and have always been; the west all powerful and giving whilst they at least have the crumbs from the table...much more than their people has.
As I said, not very much has changed on the African continent since colonial times...obviously!!

Is

Thinking about the Beeb's expose on the steven lawrence case last night and i think to myself, is racism only inherent in white people?

the rediscovery of soul!

On my lunch break listening to Gladys Knight whom i have only recently just rediscovered.....she's a devine diva!!!

Back in fucking ceardydd and hate it!!

I am back in cardiff now and hate it!! Well not entirely, it's just that i miss what london does for me. I see all my friends again and have a great time, go to the sort of places i want to go and just generally forget. Perhaps why i like it there better is once again the theory of escapism i find explains my situation.
I was standing outside the Godiva store on regeant street impatient and annoyed. It was hot and i was lugging around this bag i didn't need to have taken out in the first place. I was waiting for my friend A and his girlfriend E, who were doing some last minute shopping for A who had to be back in Lagos for work monday. The waiting gave me time to absorb the multi-cultural epicentre of Britain's people. Young and old, white and black, rich and poor didn't quite define this lot. It was beautiful to see all those people going about their daily business....work, shopping...more shoppers..and even more shoppers. The Nigerian old lady who struggled with her bags from M & S whilst struggling to rescue her wrapper. At least i assumed she was Nigerian going solely by her George top..although i understand Africa has so integrated; these definitions no longer matter. Of course there were the Hare Krishna group banging up and down the street looking stranger than ever more so for the enthusiastic caucasian members who looked out of place in the bhuddist-esque grabs of the group. Across the way were the group of goths who were off towards Oxford circus carrying placards that read "take a picture of us for 2pounds and help us get drunk". As appealing as the senario was and charitable i like to think i am, i didn't take up their offer but on the other hand looked away to the only other spot that i could legally ignore their beautiful strangeness...the window of the Godiva store. The lovely spread was making my mouth water and i stopped thinking about liquid for a moment simply to relish in the idea of which i would eat first if i had the opportunity. ..
One tends to forget when you live outside London that Britain is Multicultural and beautifully so. Why the silly Nationalist, racist and Media groups try to pull away from this i cannot understand. This image could have been from the 15th century save for the freedom and modernity...that is the price of colonialism and globalisation as it is known in modern day society. That day, the streets were full of Indians, Nigerians, pakistani's and even Americans...all ex- colonies of the ex greatest country on earth.
TIME magazine in the last couple of weeks has published stories on Russia and the G8, India and it's flourishing economy and China as it ascends to its place in the sun. The world order is changing no doubt, but how will this affect the lives of the people on the street like those on the sunny thursday in London?
P.s Eventually got the chocs in the end, couldnt help myself; afterall i had been standing there for long enough, how long could i endure for?

NOI revisited!

Have arrived in London and after oxford street, lunch and a snooze; i am baking!! Literally! It is really hot here and i feel like a prat for saying so, considering the fact that i endured the lagos heat successfully for almost twenty years.
Anyway, i have come across a story by elendu reports on Minister NOI which could be read here. I will have to rest my perspective for a cooler evening!!

Off to london to see the queen....right!!!

Today is one of those days when you feel glad to be alive. When the sun glows brighter than usual, your optimism is tuned to the highest level and your glass half full! Today i am thankful for all that is good in my life and the not so good. I am greatful for my tastes and goals. I am even thankful for the job i hate so much....what is it about days like this that make us so giddy with joy as if one has consumed a large dose of life's exlixir with every breath of the sun filled breeze?
Perhaps it is because i am going away for a couple of days....
My bedroom is strewn with clothes and i have on my jazz number one's cd at the highest volume....poor sean, he is probably tossing and turning in bed upstairs; but i do not care!! My holdall has clothes spilling out of it and there's magazine's, shoes and what-not's all over the place..but i love it!! I am off for a couple of days to see my good friend A in london. Shaftsbury Ave, trendy bars, leiscester sq...the usual hunts. This i try to explain to Eniola is the joy of NOT living in london.
Perhaps another reason why i feel so good is because of this undeserved holiday (a couple of days outside of your normal environment classes as one even though it is just down the road). Anyway, forecast says to expect a heatwave this week, it can't be as hot as Niger....cannit?

2000 Giga bytes of true love and understanding

"Still I cannot see, if the savage one is me..How can there be so much that you don't know..You don't know...."
Pocahontas, Walt Disney: 1995

I woke up this morning and with nothing to do (as usual), I downloaded the 1995 Walt Disney cartoon Pocahontas and watched it all over again (I was annoyed at how much disc space it took up). Of course I saw things that I had not noticed earlier...things that have just come into perspective as I have grown. Perhaps it is understandable as I was just about twelve when the movie was released and as expected I was more enraptured by the movie's graphics, it's love story and even the very idea that it was another Disney cartoon...a child's fix at the time. Now as I watch the movie, I see what the movie's producers set out to achieve and its blatant message for adult understanding. It highlights the issues of difference and understanding laced with the complexities of modern society. The movie shows us that things haven't changed very much since the English set about conquering the world. It's protagonist, a beautiful young (What is now known as an American Indian) girl who is caught between the steady path that has been pre-ordained by the society she knows or unknown presented to her in the form of a beautiful stranger with white skin as she had never seen before. Of course, Disney seek to present to us the audience the problems of the world today as merely an issue of misunderstanding and mistrusting what we do not know and therefore regard as threatening however; the irony here remains the art of telling the story which sees the heroine conforming to western standards of beauty and even the musicology tampered with...I know for sure that American Indian music does not sound like Vanessa Williams doing a number.
Last night I watched Tribe on the BBC and was impressed by the presenter's Audacious visit to far flung ends of the earth. I must confess that I could not do half of what the man did on television, I just wonder if this has anything to do with where he comes from, who he is, where he is going...
Last week, L my manager announced in that grand patronising manner of hers that the department was to have a party this Wednesday as a result of our brilliant performance in the last month. I alongside some others snorted in the bathroom about it. We laughed at her ludicrous hairdo and silly declaration..."like that was what we were looking for, kpppsshhheewww (that was the hissing bit), its not like they would kuku bring proper food, it would just be that nonsense chips and sandwiches" Did it make a difference that all that were party to that conversation were Nigerians, or was that obvious?
Perhaps the movie producers were right. All the world needs is true love and understanding. Perhaps if we like the characters the producers sought to represent, just listened with our hearts we would understand. Perhaps if we thought in the bathroom that crisps and sandwiches were more suitable for an office party than rice and oily stew would be, we would not have been so harsh in our judgements (and all is conveniently away on holiday at the time). I don't know, can the world's problems truly be solved with true love and understanding? Meanwhile can someone tell me why Israel is pounding Beirut?

Do they do karoake in the Paris Hilton!

Sorting out emails this morning while listening to the radio on my yahoo messanger, i have finally heard the much talked about Paris Hilton Song....good God, what the devil is going on??
Does she have any talent?
Or is that the issue?

Even though I hate to admit it, I was bored to tears at mass yesterday morning! Yes the whole idea is appealing, this assumption of sanctity and association with spirituality that comes naturally with the words church and in my case Sunday morning mass but if I am to be completely honest with myself I felt nothing. Where does the blame lie? Is it in the lack of the confidence evident in the parish priest's homily despite his godly effervescent robes glowing splendidly on his pale pink skin? Or perhaps it was the cold emptiness of the vast church hall despite its ornamental glory? There is also the issue of why I was there in the first place, am I catholic by choice or circumstance?
Mon 03/07:
I woke up this morning and suddenly realised I was like the proverbial insect that had played away the summer and with winter fast approaching, scurried around desperately for food. It is the height of the summer and I have not done anything. I made up my mind today to get fit (started working out again) and also plan out the remainder of the summer in terms of making more money and perhaps getting another job. Not that I haven’t gotten another job or can't get other jobs, it's my silly picking and choosing. Am I in the end a silly toff with misplaced priorities?
Tues 04/07:
Emma my boss is back at work looking tanned and in my opinion unevenly so, I do not say this out loud however; I just ignore her. And she ignores me. I can't understand why she is so finicky with her silly mood swings and alternate personalities. I have made my mind up today to take my life into my hands and work for me. I will apply for a shift change (which means leaving her team) and holidays of work to plot and scheme on my next venture. It is time to think about me and stop operating on emotion, success only comes to those who can divorce these two concepts.
Wed 05/07:
After having a 'orrible week (last week), I find out that Kay is back in town and I am absolutely delighted. He is my mentor and my friend and as usual never ceases to inspire. His tales of adventure in all the countries he has been over the past weeks help me past the disappointment I felt this morning. This morning was judgement day as the results from last school year arrived in the post. Whilst I obviously passed the year easily (failure is not an option for me so that was never in my line of thinking), it wasn't quite what I hoped for. On the other side of town, best mate M has received his also but is not smiling as he has failed and might have to do the year again, a luxury I cannot afford! I have resolved to work hard next year, a first class is attainable!
Thurs 06/07:
It almost the end of the week and it feels fantastic. I am listening to hard fi's living for the weekend and I reckon it is apt for the occasion. In the centre of London, Kay has kindly texted me the codes for an international call card to ring home, a very kind gesture peculiar to him. It is annoying that I have tried to use the card once more before bed and it has stopped working, these ruddy things are just plain useless.
Friday 07/07:
It is a year ago that those idiots carried out their awful plan and I am still angry, still; it is the weekend and I refuse to let that get me down. The heat wave has finally eased and the weather is starting to cool. It seems to be working out finally!! Sean's little Indian is coming down today so I suppose I will be seeing as little of him this weekend as possible, not that I am complaining. Emma is still not speaking to me and I think she is smarting over my application to change shifts/teams...er I still don't care. I just feel really positive about it all. I just got some extra money today and maybe that explains things (tee hee)! It is funny how across the country, people are going through so much anguish as they remember the events of a year ago whilst things seem to have never been better for me!
Sat 08/07:
I have had to get up early to go to work which is a bit of a bitch but I eventually get it over and done with and head across town to M, R's and their two cats. I am still amazed at how many books they have, the stuff seems to be everywhere. Perhaps that's why I love them so much. Incredibly arty people, who are not influenced by race and contemporary affairs, do not watch television and understand how a 23year old could love AHA and Duran Duran. A couple of beers later and tottering down the lane back my house I eventually receive Michelle who stays till about 2am. I spend a fortune but I do not mind as it is nice to have someone with whom you click so well with....
Sunday 09/07:
I have woken up early and gone to mass. Inside the grand old church, I cannot understand why I am there even though I mouth the words with ease and necessisity. All through the day I do nothing except laze around and chat to friends around the world. It is funny how as you grow older you seem to know more people in more places than ever before!!
I think the happenings of the last week all boil down to identity and perception. My melancholia on Monday and later on, during mass in the following Sunday makes me wonder at what true satisfaction is and how the perception of this is affected by our identities. Am I more successful at what I do because I have the drive peculiar to Africans in the Diaspora? Fortunate enough to have a mentor who instructs on the intricacies of life’s details! Is dissatisfaction the key to true success? Do we battle life’s securities so we achieve more or is the phenomenon to be welcome with open arms as a luxury for few? I ponder these issues as I await the verdict on my shift change, bearing in mind what it means for me in the direction of change and advantage taking (ref: making hay whilst the sun shines). As I chat to Eniola about her next move, she mulls over having to move out of London for university even though she doesn’t want to do it. I instinctively reply to her with the below quote:

xxxxxxxx says:
what can you do?
xxxxxxxx says:
are you going to operate on sentiment or do what you have to do?

I only wish I would take my advice as easily as I give it!

Had a good chat with a good friend today and it is funny how our favourite things have changed with the times. I argued that i didn;t have any favourite "things" as it seemed like such a vulgar identity to assume, the one of the acquirer! However, i do have favourite things, stuff i can't seem to do without.

My Mobile phone, an absolute necessasity for me even though most would disagree. My Sony Erricson K750i does everything except dance.

My Ipod is ideal for doing most things...rinding the train, blocking out your environment and tuning in to this generation's uber cool technology. It's ultra slim outlook is stylish too

I fall into the modern metro-sexual man description with the calvin Klein beauty products i so love and seem to lug around with me everywhere i go....body mosturiser, hand creme, after-shave douche...




My Laptop computer i have discovered to be functional but not entirely necessary in my case. i like it's ultra-slim finish too






My Vittorio Grigolo cd is an absolute must....it would be the answer to those tiresome "what would you take out of a burning house", loads of laughs.


Or perhaps its all a question of vanity?

Have a good rant whilst drinking an iced drink on a hot day!

Last night I fell asleep in the bath. It has never happened to me before. I suppose I must have been enjoying myself to the fullest, just lying there in the warm heat of the soapy water as it caressed my naked goosbumped skin whilst listening to the best of jazz from Ella to krall. In defence, I tell myself that I needed that luxury to shut out the awfulness of life's reality as one would experience if one were going through a bad time at school, play or work as in my case. As often as I can, I try to shut out the harsh realities of living as a black man (and African in this society) and focus on the final destination, however; one's resolve assumes a weak persona when faced with constant battering with the evidence of racism. Why do they do it, I wonder?
The above rant is an offshoot of a week of corny office soap opera type playing out of racial prejudice and advantage taking of which yours truly was a principal character. I got home Saturday evening glad to be out of there and thought to myself, why? Why? Why? What is it about this society that makes people think they are better than others purely by virtue of their skin colour or heritage? A reference would be the idiotic ranting of a blogger called naijablog whose ceaseless ranting of the inadequacies of the Nigerian society exasperates me in the most infuriating way. And that is putting it mildly!! Perhaps it isn't my place to complain; after all I am in another man's house. Of course if I was in my own country, I would have to adopt the siddon look mentality peculiar to that part of the world!!
Today compensated for the dodgy week just gone past. Had a delightful friend over and we talked for hours and then spent most of the evening reading a new book in the back garden accompanied with great music from aha and Duran Duran, an ice cubed something and the best weather anyone could ask for!