Friday Pics.......

I forgot about the rest of my pics from my trip to Savannah. So here they are! I think I will let the pics do the rest of the talking today! Have a nice weekend all!

If Slide.com doesn't show all the pics let me know and I will make another slide show because it's been acting up but I thought it was because of this crap comp I have at work.....

Throw Back Thursday!

It's just one of those days when the thought of doing a long involved post makes me tired even before I have laid a finger on the keyboard. So I'm going to make this quick and easy.

90% of the music made today is crap. Yes there are still some jewels out there like Matisayahu, Anthony Hamilton et al, but on the whole most of what is out sucks. This year's record sales have echoed my point, you could talk about downloading but not as many people download music as people think. It is usually the same culprits who stock pile gigabytes of data. Last year's music sales compared to the same time this year are very different, anyway that is a discussion for another day.

Anyway here are some songs from way back when that are always in my many playlists.

1.New Edition - If it isn't love. From back in the day when they made good music before egos got in the way.

2. Billie Myers - Kiss The Rain. I think this was her only hit. I saw a video of her singing live and I wasn't terribly impressed. But that song was really good!

3.Ace of Base - The Sign and Happy Nation. The Swedes used to churn out these super pop groups like they were being paid sometime back. I have all their greatest hits somewhere and they never fail to make for good listening.

4.Whispers - And The Beat Goes On. To me this is the quintessential soul song. It brings back many memories of buzzer beating (trying to get to Carnivore for soul before 9pm for free entry) and other fun soul playing joints I have been to!

5. Snow - Informer. Way before Eminem showed his face on the block, there was this other white boy on the block. This song rocked! I can recall it being played over and over and over on Rastrut.

6.The Culture Club - Do you really want to hurt me? When people think of the Culture Club, they always think of Karma Chameleon. Well these dudes were more than one hit wonders!

7.Zhane - Request Line. This track was from their second album which in my opinion wasn't as good as their first but is still far better than alot of what is on offer these days; these chics has class, style and a unique image.

Anyway that's today's offering of music. If you have any ideas or requests for next week, holla and I'll try to find 'em.

Letting my fingers do the Talking...

I can't for the life of me think of something to blog about. I think a hiatus is seriously in order. Well whenever this happens all I can do let my fingers play with the keyboard.

My fellow male bloggers out there, do you remember the good old days of kudandia? This was when you would imitate makanga/ matatu touts style of jumping on or off the matatu or manyanga while it was still in motion? It was during that activity important physics lessons were reiterated, such as an object in motion stays in motion and the law of gravity.

I had a friend who used to live on one of those routes where there were no matatus but KBS buses only. So things would get rather hectic come rush hour and to get home the only thing one could do is enter the door of the bus and add themselves to the throng of humanity in there.
It was a rainy day and my friend did not see how he was going to spend any more time in town being soaked, so he attempted to force his way into the bus via the back door. The sheer mass of people hanging on the door was slowly pushing him out of the now slowly moving bus; he saw one of the steel rods that he thought was the poles in the bus and reached for it.
As he grabbed on it was steady for a moment but then began to move. What happened next was a blur as he found himself on the wet tarmac entangled in arms, legs and two pieces of metal.
In his haste he had mistaken a cripple's crutch for one of the poles in the back of the bus and held onto it, and ended up pulling the cripple out of the bus onto the everwelcoming wet tarmac. It just wasn't his day.

Another pal of mine was on what we used to think of as one of the coolest matatus in the neighbourhood and thought he would embark in style by leaping off while it was still in motion (dandia style). What he hadn't figured out was that the matatu was moving faster than it looked. He jumped off and couldnt run fast enough and ended up falling and rolling.
The matatu stopped and my friend tried to save face by pretending he was fine and walking off but the makanga stopped him and the driver began to lecture him in front of the chics in the mat he was trying to impress. As the lecture was going on an elderly lady turned to the driver and told him, "usimpigie kelele sana, ni kihii" (don't make so much noise at him, he's just a boy); thus completely tasering his ego! Ah those were the days.
Nothing beats memories.............

In other news. I was going through my usual soccer news and came across these jewels.

Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has painted a grim picture of life in England. "The food is truly catastrophic, and it rains all the time. When there's no training or match, it's a DVD under the quilt to keep warm." But the Frenchman insists he is happy at Old Trafford. He added: "Each day I thank God to be playing in a club like this." - The food might be catastrophic here too but at least it doesn't rain as much as it does over there. No wonder Brits don't smile that much.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has criticised the club's fans for being too quiet during their unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge. He said: "It's winter now and to sing and move is good to fight against the temperature. For a team with this record at home, I think the players deserve more support." (Various) - Let's be honest if you knew that bar a major cock up or effort from the other team, would you bother cheering for your team? Or even go for games, I hear that Chelsea is having a hard time selling tickets because many people prefer to watch the games at home due to the price and the fact that the outcome of the game more often than not is inevitable.

There was a countdown on MTV of the top 10 best and worst games of all time according to viewers, and a personal favorite of mine showed up as the number 3 best game of all time. Street Fighter 2! Yes in my younger days I used to love me some video games. One of the most repeated statements when playing Street Fighter was.... wait for it......"But I was blocking!"
Damn that was some good fun! They don't make games like they used to....Haduken!!!!



Have a nice day all!

R.I.P Instigator Jan 2006 - June 2006

This post is dedicated to the memory of my wonderful alter ego The Instigator. Why did I get an alter ego? Well the problem with being a long time blogger is that people get used to you and your personality. You form relationships with people and they expect you to conform to certain norms and interact with them a certain way.

This is all fine and dandy but a time came when I felt like that was intruding on my sense of individuality and set up the alter ego to be able to act outside the box and ask the hard questions; and no not to insult people. If I wanted to do so I would have just gone anonymous like most lurkers do. So I set up The Instigator to get things going.

I remember the days of yore when there were loads of feminist blogs on KBW blaming men for everything from global warming to FGM. I do agree that men have a role to play as regards some issues but I thought it had gone overboard so what I did was at first poke fun at the Western feminism that many African feminists try to model themselves after without seeing the consequences. There was also a large amount of pro-gay rhetoric and I decided to try and present the other side of the story. But of course what happens when you do something like that you risk being called a chauvinist of sorts. But that was a risk I was ready to take as long as it got people thinking and had fun playing the devil's advocate.

But that wasn't the case because even men got blasted on the blog. I called out all those good for nothing fathers who go around making babies but doing nothing when it comes to taking care of them. Since I was busy with this blog I wouldn't even write alot of the stuff but just post interesting stuff from other blogs and websites. Like this post on how if you must work in an office that is dominated by one gender choose one that is male dominated because where many women are working there is bound to be drama, a fact that was backed up by 2 of the people who commented.

I remember writing this piece on male rape after reading the stats in an article on male rape in Nairobi. Rape is no joke, be the victim male or female. That and the fact that I wish to maintain my anal virginity for life!

I do love how some people forget the fact that their words will convict them. I did this piece about why the Instigator wasn't going mainstream ala KBW because of the large amount of going with the flow that was going on there. Not that I was advocating all out war Mashada style but at that time there was no contention whatsoever going on there, giving the impression we all think the same. This is where the infamous "seal clapping" statement I made which put the nail in my good standing when it was found out it was me who wrote it. Anyway when the whole "Battle Against Censorship (better names are welcome) " was going on; one blogger talked about that statement and said they would throw me out if they were in charge. This same blogger called it a "nice post" when they first read it. Talk about being stabbed in the back and short memories!

This blog was where the first muppet queen pic and post were put up. Good Times! (tm Movie Buff 2006). I also liked this piece calling out yuppies who were driving themselves into debt just to give the impression they were balling.


Whenever I look at that pic I always smile. Those were the days! There was also serious conversation like when I put up this post about how the legislation for gay marriage may open up a door for polygamy in Western countries.

This was also one of my best pieces (in my opinion). A tongue in piece cheek about my interview with a reporter from a Gay magazine. A fine piece of satire if I say so myself!

Anyway post promoting aside. Instigator wasnt a secret as such, I shared his existance with some bloggers close to me and whenever they saw a comment they knew it was mine. As the Instigator, I met some worthy opponents. I recall having an exchange with a certain Europe basted blogger that went upto 90 something comments back and forth. We had so many heated exchanges that some wise asses just said that we should get a room and screw each other. Ha ha ha ha!!!! That was funny! But we did become good pals after that especially after Milo sold me out as Instigator. Then there was another Euro based blogger who after tussling with Instigator several times must be dancing with joy when he died, because she hated him to the core. I won't even talk about Mshairi and her grudge after our run in.

Even when Instigator retired from blogging me and some bloggers would have fun once in a while with him. I remember once with Nick's blessing we used him to get Devious One all hot and bothered. It was fun chatting on yahoo and deciding what we would say next to get her riled up! Those were the days! But Devious One is a good sport because when she found out that it was me, she didn't hunt me down and chop me up.

But as it goes, all good things must come to an end. I became too busy to maintain 2 blogs and decided that Instigator should be put out to rest. I am sure he is happy in Blog Valhalla. He will be missed greatly by those who loved and hated him!

30 is the new 20!

I don't know if I have written this post before but I have had it buzzing in my head for the last few months.

Anyway I got to thinking and I realised that 30 is the new 20. For most people nowadays it is because we do most of the things that our parents generation were doing at the age of 20 when we are 30. Don't believe me? Look at my examples;

Moving out of Home - In the old days when you were done with high school you were booted out of the family home to make a living for yourself. But nowadys loads of people are going to university and clearing their undergrad degrees in their early 20s and in many cases going for a master's which they finish in their mid to late 20s and by the time they move out they are in their late 20s. Of course there are those who are lucky enough to get jobs or live outside Kenya where they can meet their immediate financial needs and do so earlier.

Getting Married - During our parents' generation most people were married by the age of 25 and some as early as 18. It wasn't unheard of for a couple to get together, move into a one room house and work their way up the ladder.
Nowadays what most people want to do is finish college, get established proffesionaly and then get married. Of course outside the urban centres people still marry early but in the larger towns, people would rather get a foothold and then think about marriage. Add to the fact that is no longer the social priority that it once was, and you get more people getting married closer to the age of 30 or not at all.

Hobbies and Past-times - The past was somehow harsh on earlier generations with gender and class roles being very rigid. People of a certain age or gender were meant to do certain things. I remember a time when it was very rare to see a woman on her own in a bar because unless she was a hooker, she was supposed to be with her husband or boyfriend. But now that is no longer the case at all and girls nights out are the order of the day.
With more and more people being single in their 20s people have a lot more free time to do their own thing as opposed to doing activities that revolve around family and their proscribed roles. So it isnt uncommon to have people who are in their early 30s clubbing with college age students and the such.

I do know there is a whole lot that I have left out that has changed and I would appreciate you all adding them in the comments section. It's good to be 18!

Moving on, I think that some celebs should know that the limelight doesnt shine forever and just move on. LL Cool J was moaning about the poor sales of his last cd and blamed Def Jam, attributing it to their poor promotion. Let's be honest, people are getting tired of seeing a man close to 40 taking of his shirt and licking his lips. I think he should just move onto Hollywood seeing as he has a somewhat respectable acting career.
A great example of a person who failed to hear their curtain call is K-ci, Mary J Blige's ex from Jodeci. Below is him (far right) during Jodeci's heyday.


This is him now.

Some people need to stop smoking crack and listening to their groupies, no good comes from it at all! Sometimes all a comeback does is destroy any legacy of note you had in the first place.

I decided to go and look at the rest of the K-ci concert pics here. I came across this picture there.

I don't know about you, but there is something skanky about it. I think my monitor needs some Valtrex.

Have a nice monday, if that's possible.