The Namesake Re-watched

I watched The Namesake last year when it was shown at Nu Metro. I loved the book and liked Mira Nair's films, so I hoped that I would like the film. Thankfully, I loved it. I think my friend and I were the only non-Indians in the cinema hall. I said I would get the film on DVD.

I did a few weeks ago and re-watched it several times (I'm currently listening to the director's commentary). It still strikes me as such a beautiful poignant film. I would have added "one that so astutely depicts the immigrant experience in the US, or anywhere for that matter", but I fear that would be so nauseatingly cliched. LOL! Okay, so I just said it.

However, it still does bring back those feelings of loneliness, being the outsider, having to explain your country and culture to people over and over again when they ask you the maddeningly vague "So tell me ALL about Nigeria", and listen to them patronise you with their 'deep insight' on what the problem with Nigeria is.

However, the Namesake is so much more than that. It's such a gorgeously told story about family: you love them sometimes; you can't stand them sometimes; but somehow they always seem to be the ones at the start of the story and with you at the end.

ICT and Democratic Empowerment

This is an interesting article I read on African Path on how two Kenyan women are making a difference to peoples' lives in Kenya using ICTs.

On to another book

Yeah! I FINALLY finished Bluebeard's Egg by Margaret Atwood (will update my sidebar soon). It was good, but I was reminded why short stories are really not my thing. With each new story, you need to get acquainted with a fresh set of characters and just when you're getting into their story, it ends; often abruptly and I'm left feeling shortchanged.

Now, I'm on The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver. It's my first book by the author and I'm excited to start it. The premise sounds *very* interesting.

Scholarships for ICTs for Development Masters Study in Manchester

I seriously hope that I am not getting to be such a slack blogger that I'm recycling old posts. This one, in particular, looked kind of familiar...... Ah well.

The University of Manchester is offering scholarships to succesful candidates for the one-year MSc ICTs for Development degree, which aims to create "ICT4D champions" who combine technical competencies in information systems and project management with an understanding of development context and practice:
http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/courses/06237/index.asp

Applicants who have applied, received and accepted a formal offer by 30 June 2008 will be considered for two fee-waiver scholarship opportunities. The IDPM Golden Jubilee Scholarship, worth £11,000, is available on a competitive basis for applicants from developing countries to any of IDPM's Masters degrees. The IDPM ICT4D Scholarship, worth £5,500, is available exclusively for developing country applicants to the MSc ICT4D programme. There is no specific application process for the scholarships but candidates are welcome to include a scholarship statement when applying for the MSc programme.

Details on other funding sources and on part-time employment opportunities while studying in Manchester can be found at:
http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/idpm/postgraduate/taught/funding/

Biyi Bandele Book Reading

I attended the Biyi Bandele book reading over the weekend at the British Council. I'd have loved to do a proper post about it, but seeing as I missed most of it, I'm really not in a position to. I was running late, having had an earlier appointment, and I hoped that this would be one of those events that observed African time, but I guess even if they did, it still started early enough that I missed the actual readings.

I am not a fan of stories about war, so while I'd seen the book Burma Boy around, I'd not considered buying it. Plus, I already have too many unread books sitting on my bookshelf. However, I like attending book readings still, whether I've read the book or not; or intending to read the book or not.

Biyi Bandele, the author, appeared to be a very laid-back and chilled individual. He had an accomodating manner, as he responded to most of the questions pleasantly. There had been a fair amount of publicity for the event, as evidenced by the huge turn-out (standing room only); or perhaps this was a testament to the author's popularity. This might have been one of the most relaxed readings that I've been to in a while too; with the audience laughing easily at both intended and accidental humour; sniggering wickedly at sarcastic comments by the commentator; and sighing with impatience at questions that meandered just a bit too long.

Today

I attended the Titans of Tech's Women in ICT forum today at the MUSON Centre. It was interesting and, as it is with these things, I finally met someone who I've corresponded with many times by email and have spoken to on the phone. I was really tripped that she gave me a shout out after I asked a question and introduced myself. Woohoo! I'll have to blog about the event later; including the 'well-meaning' but sometimes off-the-mark comments on women working in technology.

Anyway, I've spent what looked like it would be a promising evening in front of my computer trying to figure out how to convert a TIF file to a PDF document. I mean, really, how hard can it be? Well, VERY trying as I was to find out. After several hours spent cruising the web for software that could do such conversions, downloading different applications and trying them out, I finally ended up with 3 that were able to do the job - albeit it with ugly watermarks across them. Ah well, they were trial versions, so I took what I could get. So, that was my 'relaxing' evening. Technology helps and yet it can really stress you out sometimes. Now, I'm going to really relax with a very, very late dinner, Top Chef and Project Runway.

Open Society Fellowship Launched

Still at the linking thing, but this one for a good cause.

The Open Society Institute has launched a fellowship program to enable outstanding individuals from around the world to pursue projects that will inspire meaningful debate and shape public policy.

The Open Society Fellowship will award $2 million in 2008 to scholars, journalists, activists and others working on national security; citizenship, membership and marginalization; authoritarianism; and new strategies and tools for advocacy.

Fellows' projects may include books, articles, documentary films, online media, and efforts to seed new campaigns and organizations. OSI seeks fellows who will engage with its staff and inform its thinking.

See for more info.

The Innocence of Youth

Indeed it seems like all I do these days is link to other bloggers' post. Perhaps not quite, but getting there.....

Anyway, I loved reading this post. Writer Tayari Jones wrote about finding a memento from her youth and how she was reminded about how fearless she was in her youth: she applied for every grant she heard about; sent out her manuscripts with wild abandon (I might be paraphrasing rather too exuberantly myself); and generally had loads of confidence to spare.

Aaah, the innocence and joy of youth. It's a time when you still believe that everything is possible and just because you REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want something and because you deserve it, then you *should* get it. In due course we find out that life doesn't exactly work that way, but at that stage our almost blind belief that everything will work out well strangely enough ensures that it frequently does.

Blogging in Africa From the Early Days

Read this, via African Path: Sokari (of Black Looks) traces the development of the African blogosphere. Read it here.

V-Monologues - Last Show

The last V-Monologues show is tomorrow (Thursday) 6PM at TerraKulture (Tiamiyu Savage Street, V/I). So if you haven't seen it, this is your last chance.

Biyi Bandele Book Readings

Ooooh, it's that thing I love so much - a book reading! I read about this Biyi Bandele book tour in the papers and meant to blog about it. And then promptly forgot until I saw it on Naijablog.

Here are the details:

Lagos
April 5 2008
British Council, 20 Thompson Road, Ikoyi
5 PM

Kano
April 8 2008
British Council, 10 Emir's Palace Road
6 PM

Abuja
April 9 2008
British Council, Plot 3645 IBB Way, Maitama
6 PM

Port Harcourt
April 11
British Council Information Centre, Plot 127 Olu Obsanjo Way, GRA II
6 PM

An Overview: Local Participation in Nigerian ICT Sector

This Technology Times article gives a good overview of indigenous participation in the Nigerian ICT sector.

It highlights the lack of skilled manpower and the need to address this in order to keep the industry growing and developing as it should.

A Blogger on Blogging

Read this interview, via Loomie's blog (Thanks, Loomie! Looking forward to exploring your blog.)

A blogger Steve Clemmons was interviewed by the Pakistani Spectator about blogging among other things. As you know I like to blog; I also like to blog about blogging so enjoy......

So, the V-Monologues ....

So, the famed/notorious (depending on your p.o.v) V-Monologues FINALLY arrived in Lagos yesterday. For a few months, I had read posts about the writing process and also seen photos from the rehearsals. After reading and hearing a lot of differing opinions about it, I was curious to see it and make-up my own mind.

I was looking forward to it, because after seeing the production of the Vagina Monologues two years ago, while I enjoyed it immensely, I felt that it would have so much more significance to Nigerian women if it were rooted in a more familiar cultural context. Besides, we have so many of our own issues that women in Nigeria are dealing with that I felt that would offer such a rich palette of experiences to draw from.

The first thing I noticed was how the title of the show had been modified from the Vagina Monologues to the V-Monologues. Hmmmm, was this some form of prudery and trying to avoid using the word “vagina”? I sincerely hoped not. Maybe it had its reasons in something legal? Or an attempt to indicate that this was an adaptation? Anyway, let’s move on.

Overall, I enjoyed many of the monologues. As has been pointed out elsewhere, the experiences appeared to be drawn largely from the experiences of women in the southern part of Nigeria. The realities of women from the north were not really present (aside from one monologue centered on a child bride and VVF; and another on wife-sharing in the middle-belt).

Many of the monologues were sad. This was necessary to portray the reality of many women’s lives. Many of them were poignant and kept you thinking back and reflecting on them hours after the show had ended. Not a lot were celebratory (I can only think of three or maybe four that were intended to be); however even in some of the more painful ones, there were flashes of biting humour, reminding you that life can be like that sometimes.

In some of the monologues, women were identified as the main culprits in causing or aggravating another woman’s pain, in selling her out and letting her down at the worst possible time (The Black Widow, Women Trafficking). Women were shown sometimes to be pawns of men in perpetuating hurtful cultural traditions (the monologue on FGM). In some cases, women were portrayed as being too helpless to take a stand. All of which can imply that women are weak, spineless, witless or cruel. “Yes, you see! You women are your own worst enemies.”

In all this, patriarchy continues to rear its ugly, multi-hydra’ed head, although that might not be the message that many would take away from this.

The last monologue recounts many great women from times gone past and is, I imagine, intended to be a rousing call to arms. It states how patriarchy came with the white man and how the existence of the ‘great women of yore’ (e.g. Queen Amina, Moremi, Emotan, Efunsetan Aniwura) proved that historically there existed no form of discrimination based on gender. Now, I don’t believe that is correct at all! I believe that these women were the exception rather than the rule. Yes, we have had, and still have, families with strong mother figures, but they have tended to ‘know their place’ within the power structure of the family.

Women were reminded that “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” While this is true on some levels, it does not account for the women who are not sufficiently knowledgeable about their rights (this is not just in a legal context) or empowered enough to fight their way out of the box that culture, society, tradition, religion, etc has put them in. So that statement, to me, was akin to belittling their pain and suffering.

Like I mentioned though, I enjoyed many of the monologues. I appreciate the phenomenal amount of work that went into writing and producing them. I was in awe of the actresses, particularly Omonor Imobhio and Bimbo Akintola. I also enjoyed Kemi Akindoju from Theatre @ Terra (Wow! She can SING!).

I think this was a good start in telling Nigerian women’s stories, but I would love to see a wider range of experiences represented; perhaps more monologues offering some hope or glimmer at the end of a very dark tunnel (or is there none?). Yes, we know that women can be cruel to other women, but let’s also not kid ourselves in believing that Nigeria is not patriarchal society. It is very much so and that needs to be re-enforced. Also, next year, let’s do without the male narrator and drummers.

Other Reviews:
- Funmi Iyanda
- Uzo
- When I moved back to Naija
- Naijablog

IWD

Saturday was International Women's Day and also the start of International Women's Week. There have been a number of events around Lagos and the country. I attended one; a forum organised by the Nigerian Association for Women Journalists (NAWOJ) last week, the theme of which was "Financing for Gender Equality, Empowering the Nigerian Widow."

The V-Monologues play is one of the events we have to look forward to. Already, some reviews are trickling in via Naijablog. We in Lagos get to see it from Wednesday.

I was watching AM Express as I was getting ready to go to work this morning. This particular segment featured a doctor talking about how children could be protected against illnesses synonymous with the rainy season e.g. malaria, measles, etc. As she wrapped up the discussion, the presenter mentioned that Saturday was International Women's Day and asked the doctor how far she felt Nigerian women had come in recent years.

What felt like an interminable silence followed. Eventually the doctor sighed and said wearily, "Well, we have a long way to go; a long way ......"

That said it all methinks.

V-Monologues: The Nigerian Story

It's that time of the year once again: time for the Nigerian adaptation of the Vagina Monologues. However, this year there is a welcome change - the monologues, re-titled as V-Monologues: The Nigerian Story have been adapted to our Nigerian society. Sifting through over 150 stories of various acts of violence against women, some were selected for this year's show.

The dates are venue are:

• Thursday, March 6 2008: Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Hall, Abuja


• Friday, March 7 2008: National Centre for Women Development, Abuja


• Wednesday, March 12 2008: MUSON Centre, Lagos


• Thursday, March 13 2008: MUSON Centre, Lagos


• Wednesday, March 19 2008: Terra Kulture, Lagos

For more info

Hair We Go Again: To Wash or Not to Wash

I feel a hair post coming on. It's been a while after all. I read this article yesterday about how there is a rising trend among some young American women of foregoing the benefits of shampoo. I first heard about this several years when I used to cruise natural hair websites and boards like they were closing shop the very next day. I was in a phase where a lot of my personal identity was caught-up in my hair. I was also growing out my hair from its former low-cut and needed guidance on how to manage it.

So then I came across the "no poo" strategy i.e. severely limiting or eliminating your use of shampoo altogether.

YUCK!! was all I could think. I'd heard all the stories before about how washing your hair less could make it grow faster. But, erm, HELLO, your hair and nails grow at the same rate and I can't see how letting dirt accumulate on your scalp could change that. Of course, there is the truth that washing your hair probably means less stress on your hair - especially that which will come from the blow-drying and combing that follows. This tactic is supposed to be especially suited to curly and kinky hair, which tend to be more fragile than Caucasian and Asian types of hair.

However, as I thought about it I realised that so many young women barely wash their hair anyway. Let's say you put in braids or a weave that have cost a fortune and you really want them to look good for as long as possible to maximise the amount of money you have spent on them. So, you don't wash your hair for fear that your newly acquired tresses will start to go fuzzy and look rough. Weeks eventually go by with nary a whiff even of shampoo coming anywhere near your hair. Hmmm, this trend towards uncleanliness should really give us reason to pause and contemplate our hair habits. (Hasty Disclaimer: Writing about this does not mean that I also am one of those who perpetrate such heinous crimes against hair.)

Anyway, the article does talk about how some young women are farming out the washing of their hair and returning to what their mothers and grandmothers used to do i.e. going into the salon once a week for a wash and set, or wash and style. It's funny, because about a week ago, my aunt and I were talking about the decline of this very same habit. She reminisced about the days when she used to go to the salon every weekend to get her hair done. I also remembered accompanying my mother to her salon every Sunday for her wash and set (in time, I too would visit the salon for my wash and set - although my visits were less regular than my mother's). There was a feeling of camaraderie, which is lacking in many of today's braiding shops. My aunt and I pondered on the reasons for the decline of the weekly wash and set and, in the end, we took the easy route and blamed it on a lack of time.

Anyway, like I know I have said countless times before, I would like to wean myself over what has turned into an over-dependence on braids. It's a convenient crutch for me. Let's just hope that it won't be all talk this time....

Why Girls Blog

I just read this New York Times article based on some recent research conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which found that among Web users (in the U.S.) ages 12 to 17, significantly more girls than boys blog (35% of girls compared with 20% of boys) and create or work on their own Web pages (32% of girls compared with 22% of boys).

Some of the guesses floated for this in the article is that girls are socialised more to tell stories about themselves and others (or have a tendency to be more "confessional" than boys). Where guys do dominate is in posting videos and, according to one of the academics featured in the article, not because they are more skilled at it than girls but because "videos are often less about personal expression and more about impressing others. It’s an ideal way for members of a subculture — skateboarders, snowboarders — to demonstrate their athleticism."

According to another one of the academics interviewed, girls "from a young age ... learn that they are objects ... so they learn how to describe themselves. Historically, girls and women have been expected to be social, communal and skilled in decorative arts."

She continued, that this dominance by girls in creating web content, as a result of their communication skills would be called "the feminization of the Internet." Hmmm well, that certainly makes a change from the perceived masculinity of most other forms of technology.

It's always interesting to read the deductions made from research such as this. Of course, there are always a fair amount of generalisations made - and I guess that have to be made. I loved to write when I was much younger, but I think that my tastes always gravitated more towards the literary. It was less to do with my being a girl and expectations to be able to describe myself (and perhaps more influenced by upbringing). But then, I am one person and so it's difficult to say why other women blog, write or maintain websites.

In our society where oral story-telling is very much a part of the culture, such results perhaps might have been expected. But to really know, someone would have to do some research on online usage trends in Nigeria for us to know for sure.

AfricaNews Seeks Reporters

This is so bad! I feel like all I've been doing here lately is making announcements (sans my last post that really only fans of The Wire would care about). Ah well!

If there are journalists out there or budding journalists, you might be interested in writing for AfricaNews. Check out their site for more info on signing-up as a reporter.

The Wire Season 4

Post for fans of The Wire:

Ah, the power of blogging. I asked and I received. I finished watching season 4 of The Wire. Amazing is all I can say. I watched and re-watched the first 2 seasons. I also watched all the commentaries, so I knew those 2 seasons backwards and forwards. With season 3, I watched that just once and didn't watch a single commentary. Plus this was about a year ago, so by the time I got season 4, my re-collection of the third season was very hazy. I debated re-watching the 3rd season before starting on the 4th season, but I too excited to start on the new episodes.

The story has developed a lot since the days when Avon Barksdale ran the drug trade in west Baltimore. Now a few years on, Avon is locked up for a long time, but a new kingpin, Marlo Stanfield, has emerged and taken his place. Life goes on whatever else happens.

The characters have progressed and grown in many ways (well, not everyone: Bunk still drinks himself sick). Each season highlights a different aspect of life in Baltimore. The first established the characters and laid a good understanding of Baltimore's drug trade; the second showed life on the docks; the third shows city politics; and the fourth on the school system. In the fourth season, you get an understanding of how such young children end up working in drugs. Although set in Baltimore, much of what occurs (if not all) takes place in other cities all over the world.

Non-Wire fans will wonder why I'm always raving about this show. You have to watch to understand. Anyway, I'm watching the commentaries of season 4 now. After that I'll re-watch season 3.

Here's a link to a sit-down with some of the cast members that my friend Funke sent me: http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguide/features/story/0,,2246952,00.html.
Enjoy.

Domestic Violence

What do you do when you hear your next door neighbours fighting constantly? I have heard the fights between (I assume) the husband and wife for a very long time now. Typically the man is shouting angrily and the woman is returning his verbal assault with equal measure. Sometimes what you hear is sounds of beating and the woman screaming. Sometimes, it's the man thundering in pain and anger after (I assume again) the woman has flung a breakable object at him. A lot of times, you hear things been thrown about and a torrent of curse words. This is what is going on right now. This morning, it was the plaintive wails of a child being beaten.

The thing about violence within a family is that it is frequently endless. The father physically or verbally assaults the woman and in some cases she retaliates, in many cases she does not. Often, she feels that she is powerless. Always, the children are caught up in this spiral of violence as they suffer from a parent or parents who can only resolve disputes in anger. They also learn from their parents' relationship how to behave in their own social interactions.

Traffic, Traffic, Traffic

I know a lot of bloggers have written about the horrible traffic situation in Lagos, but this is one thing that Lagosians cannot complain about enough. Newline did a story on this night, tracing the gridlock from CMS to the Lekki-Ajah Expressway on a typical work morning. We all agree that the current situation is terrible.

On the island, the road expansion is the major source of the chaos. For a long time no one could actually tell what they were doing - it looked like they were dusting and cleaning up. Now, what feels like decades later (in truth, about a year and 3 months), we can see determined signs of progress. It looks like it will get a bit worse before it gets better. Okay, my little rant is over now.

Call for Articles - Gender & Development Journal

Oxfam's Gender & Development journal is accepting proposals for its November 2008 issue. The issue will focus on Gender, Development and Leadership:

· What concrete strategies are being tried in different contexts worldwide, to promote and support women leaders in economic, political and social institutions - including states, financial institutions, community institutions, and the household?

· Do women leaders make a difference in terms of gender equality outcomes, and pro-poor outcomes? How can women leaders with progressive agendas be supported? What attracts women to conservative or fundamentalist political groupings?

· What else needs to change to ensure the specific interests of women living in poverty are reflected and met?

· What should the role of development organisations be in supporting women's leadership? What are the challenges?

Gender & Development provides an opportunity for all involved in development (researchers, practitioners, policy-makers, activists, etc) who uphold gender equality and women's rights to reflect on their work and share learning. The journal is published three times each year and each issue focuses on a particular in gender and development.

If you are interested in writing for this issue exploring any of the above or related themes, please send a paragraph outlining your proposed idea to gadeditor@oxfam.org.uk by February 7, 2008. Visit www.genderanddevelopment.org for more information.

Tech Museum Awards

Nominations are being accepted for this year's Tech Museum Awards.

From the site: "The Tech Museum Awards is a programme that aims to honour and award innovators from around the world who use technology to benefit humanity. Five Laureates in each category are honoured, and one Laureate per category receives US$50,000.

Indiviudals and organisations who apply should show how their technology application significantly improves the human condition in one of the five award areas: economic development, education, environment, equality, or health.

Deadline for application is March 24, 2008.

Check the site for more info: http://techawards.thetech.org/.

Slave Chamber

Slave Chamber, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

This was the final stop on our Spice Tour. We were taken to a beach in Mangapwani to work off our lunch. As the bus makes its way back to Stone Town, we were driven to this former slave cave and given the option to get out and see it quickly. Most in our party declined (it had been a long day, so I couldn't blame them), but I was curious so along with a handful of others, we paid our 1,000 Tsh (roughly equivalent to 1 USD) and descended into the dungeon.

Slaves were hidden in here after trade in slaves was abolished. The cave is a dank pit, which appeared to spiral into the ground. After taking about 20 steps down, the daylight was already being subsumed by the underground darkness. I climbed down as far as my slippers would allow me to on the slippery and damp ground. Our lone torch gave out and my camera battery, which I had been carefully nursing all through the trip (not having a battery charger with me) eventually failed. It was time to call it a day and head back.

Spices for Sale

Spices for Sale, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

After the harvesting and processing, here lies the final product.

The Nutmeg

The Nutmeg, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

Everyone who visits Zanzibar MUST go on the Spice Tour. It's like you didn't even visit Zanazibar if you didn't go on the Spice Tour. So, we went on the Spice Tour. I also happen to like spices and the mental pictures of tasty food that the word 'spice' conjures up for me. Plus, at the end of the tour, participants are treated to a meal featuring many of the island's famous spices.

This photograph is of the nutmeg, which is one of my favourite spices. I had never seen it in its raw form, so it was with utter fascination I watched as the tour guide pointed to a yellow, soft looking fruit and declared it to be "nutmeg". We all looked at him rather disbelievingly until he pulled one off the tree and split it open to reveal the familiar-looking brown nut.

Zanzibar Sunset

Zanzibar Sunset, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

So we went to the first floor of the Africa House Hotel to see the famed view of the sunset, along with what seemed like just about every other tourist on the island (oh, I hate to be such a 'touristy' tourist and be seen doing what everyone else is doing). We ordered a couple of their rather over-priced drinks and settled down to watch the sun set. It all happened so fast and then I guess I got slightly distracted with my people watching and so this is the photograph I ended up with.

It seems to be the norm for tourists now to wield heavy-duty, professional-looking cameras. What happened to the simple point-and-shoots of yore? As I sat there, I could actually see some people nervously bringing out their point-and-shoots, apparently intimidated by the preponderance of the DC4S/PP (Digital Cameras for Serious/Professional Photographers). LOL!!

We were at the Africa House Hotel for maybe about 30 minutes. The sun doesn't take that long to set, and before we knew it the mosquitoes were out in full effect, chomping at our ankles and anywhere else they could reach (which, it seemed was EVERYWHERE, including fully-clothed parts). Not wanting to be reduced to insect meal, Funke and I hastily paid and beat a hurried retreat (along with all the other tourists) to the door.

View from the Archipelago Restaurant

View from the Archipelago Restaurant, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

You can see (or perhaps not, for all the foliage) the Monsoon Restaurant. According to my guide book, if one restaurant on this island is hard to get a table at, it is this one. Or could be, on Thursday nights when they have live music. We ate there one night (obviously we got a table). The food was not bad, though again it didn't live up the expectation that the guide book had built-up. Or then again, perhaps I'm a philistine when it comes to fine dining.

BTW, I think the best meals I had were at ETC Plaza and Les Spices Rendez-Vous (the New Maharaja Restaurant). It took us FOREVER to find ETC PLaza, but the food was so worth it when we got there. The night we went to Les Spices, we were actually looking for another restaurant, which must have closed down and which must also have been so bad that no one missed it either, as no one seemed to know it.

This picture was taken from Archipelago Restaurant, another place with excellent food.

Another ocean view from Prison Island

Another ocean view from Prison Island, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

Yes, yes, I know. Yet ANOTHER shot of the ocean. Can you blame me? It's so beautiful.

Speedy Gonzales

Speedy Gonzales, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

I LOVE this picture; it's easily my favourite of all the pictures I took (What? This blurry thing?). Mr. T looks likes he's dashing off for a very important appointment. Infact, someone who saw this picture asked me where the tortoise was running to. Then she caught herself and laughed. This 'masterpiece' was no doubt the result of a shaky hand, or perhaps I sneezed as I snapped.

This was taken on the tortoise farm on Prison Island.

It's funny; Funke and I were chattering away as we walked into the tortoise farm. The guide asked us if we were from Nigeria.
We were very surprised at his dead-on accuracy, especially since of all the tourists we had met on the island, we were the only Nigerians and, from what I gathered, there are not many Nigerians visiting Zanzibar in general.

- "How did you know we were Nigerians?" we asked the guide.

- "Oh", he responded off-handedly, "Nigerians are always SO loud."

Hmmm, well, excuse me!

Prison Island Beach

Prison Island Beach, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

I ended up with a lot of beach shots. Well, I couldn't help it. There was a Kodak moment everywhere I looked. The beaches were so clean and beautiful that although I feared that the pictures would all look the same, at the time I wanted to capture as much of the natural beauty as I could. Cameras of course don't do justice, but you get the idea.

Approaching Prison Island

Approaching Prison Island, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

Sailor

Sailor, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

I was a bit worried about being sea-sick on this trip, especially since I had just wolfed down a sizeable breakfast minutes before we clambered on the small boat. However, I discovered that I must have some solid sea legs (well, perhaps, the gently lapping waves were not the most rigorous test for how prone to sea-sickness I am).

Our sailor (or 'driver' as the owner of the fleet of boats referred to him) was a man of few words (I'm sure it didn't help that we didn't speak a lick of Swahili other than "Jambo" and "Mambo" and his English was pretty limited). That suited me fine, talkative drivers, when you're not in the mood, don't make for a very relaxing journey.

Tembo Hotel from the water

Tembo Hotel from the water, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

On our second day, we took a boat trip to Prison Island, also known as Changuu Island. A huge prison was built on the island, but never used for that purpose. Instead, it was used by the British as a yellow fever quarantine camp. Now, it is a tourist spot, attracting people to its serenity (there are chalets for people who wish to stay on the island).

This is the view of our hotel from the boat.

Mosquito Nets

Mosquito Nets, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

Now, this took me back to my childhood. Mosquitoes are plentiful on the island, so the hotel staff sprayed the rooms every evening. By the time you returned to your room, you'd find the windows firmly shut, with the mosquito nets now draped over the beds, and the lingering scent of the insecticide in the air. On our first evening, when Funke and I saw the made beds, we shrieked with glee and nostalgia.

View of the Tembo Hotel

View of the Tembo Hotel, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

I think I was sitting by the poolside or the patio of our hotel when I took this picture. I loved our hotel. The Rough Guide mentioned something about rude staff, but the hotel manager was very friendly and talked to Funke and I at great lengths about Zanzibar's history. He also recommended quite a few places for us to see and things to do. The rest of the staff was also very approachable. The food wasn't bad, though the dinner, as we later found out, was relatively expensive.

The Tembo Hotel sits by the water and apparently used to be the US Consulate building. I am guessing that being by the water constituted something of a security risk. The hotel decor reflected the strong Arab influences on the island, from the ottomans, to the rugs and the tiles. I would definitely recommend this hotel.

View of Stone Town by the Africa House Hotel

View of Stone Town by the Africa House Hotel, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

I realised that I didn't take many/any photographs of the narrow, winding streets that the mention of Zanzibar conjures. Shame on me, but it's always like that, I find. I get home and look at my selection of photos and wonder where my head was at the time.

Anyway, this photo, taken in front of the Africa House Hotel, but of the buildings next to it (I think this was actually a test shot or something) is probably the closest thing I have that shows the tall, narrow, white-washed buildings that are so common in Stone Town. You will notice the cars parked in front of the buildings. I was surprised at the large number of cars, for such a tiny island with such (in some places) incredibly narrow streets.

Forodhani Gardens

Forodhani Gardens, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

Forodhani Gardens is one of the biggest tourist attractions on Stone Island (Stone Island is the capital of Unguja - the biggest island in the archipelago that is Zanzibar. Unguja is also referred to as Zanzibar Island.)

People (both tourist and local Zanzibaris alike) gather at Forodhani Gardens at night to feast on a dizzying array of meat and seafood. You pick what you want and the vendor roasts its for you. Eating at FG is a strictly no-frills affair, with food served in disposable paper plates. You sit at any one of the wooden tables and benches, with cats scurrying around your feet waiting for scraps. I used to hate cats. I've gotten over that now - albeit firmly in the 'dog person' camp - but it was still slightly disconcerting for me to have so many cats in such close proximity.

The food was good though a bit of a let-down. I suppose that can happen when your expectations have been built sky-high by many excellent reviews of the food. For an island so famous for its spices, I thought more should have been used in the food.

Forodhani is great for people watching, especially seeing young Zanzibari men practice English with young female tourists.

Beach by Africa House Hotel

Beach by Africa House Hotel, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

On our first day we strolled near the hotel and passed the Serena Inn (very expensive hotel - about 300 USD for their cheapest room, but gorgeous lobby) and ended up in fornt of the Africa House Hotel. The Africa House Hotel, formerly the English Club and now famous for its prime view of the sun setting into the Indian Ocean.

Tembo Hotel dining patio

Tembo Hotel dining patio, originally uploaded by oreoluwa.

This was the sunny patio, where my friend Funke and I had breakfast every morning (we only ate dinner at the hotel once, preferring to try other places). It's such a wonderful thing to be able to eat in such a beautiful space, looking out at a gorgeous view. I totally loved loved this hotel and was glad that we chose to stay at a beach-front hotel, as opposed to one more in the centre of town.

In The New Year

Oh, it's been a long while since my last post, I know. Obviously I have been resting after what was a very, very busy year for me. This was one of the best Christmases (and birthdays) I have had in a long time. I'm too tired to write about it all properly now so that will have to wait until later.

One thing I have to mention is that you never know who reads your blog. You have a fair idea about some of the people who stop by (they comment, or they lurk but you know they lurk). So many others lurk and you never know until they tell you. So that is how I found out that many of my co-workers read my blog regularly and I never knew. Not only are some of them regular readers, but some of them have been reading it for at least a year. Interesting. It made me frantically think back to all my posts for anything with potential incriminating information. Luckily, I don't think there is any, or if there is, I have happily forgotten about it (let it stay that way too).

I have a lot to catch-up on and pics of Zanzibar to post and will try and do that by and by.

Happy New Year everyone!!!!!!

In Zanzibar

Finally! I have been wanting to visit this island for years and finally I made it. There's so much to share that I don't know where to start from. I also don't have the time to do it, especially since I am blogging from a cyber cafe located in the post office. Internet access here is cheaper than Lagos (1US for an hour). It's also kind of fast.

Although Zanzibar is really an archipelago (group of islands), the main island where I am, Unguja, also called Zanzibar. It's a predominantly islamic island. And for such a small place, there's a surprising amount to do. However, because it has such a ladi-back and olde worlde ambience, you don't feel guilty if you decide to do nothing and laze around all day.

Yesterday my friend, Funke, and I went on the spice tour, which is almost obligatory to do when you get here, seeing that Zanzibar's spices are some of their biggest exports (if not the biggest). Today I went snorkelling for the first time ever!!! I'll write more abou that later. It was also my first time swimming in open waters and I was taken aback by how salty the ocean water was. It's one of those things that I know, but was still very surprised by just how salty it tasted. The plan was to swim with the dolphins resident in the waters off the Zanzibar coast, but they were apparently not feeling very friendly today. I was still able to see a family of about 8 dolphins swimming some yards away from me. The guide said that we were out farther than we should be, as people don't normally have to go that far out to see the dolphins. Anyway, I was happy enough.

My time is up now, so I'll write more when I can.

nGOmobile Competition: 8 More Days!!

nGOmobile is a text message-based competition aimed exclusively and unashamedly at grassroots non-profit organisations working for positive social and environmental change throughout the developing world. NGOs from developing countries are invited to submit a short proposal outlining how text messaging could make their job easier.

Deadline is December 14, so get those proposals in if you're interested. Check the website for more info.

7 Wierd Things About Me

Tagged by Tayo and accused of being too serious.

I don't know what wierd things I can list here. Growing up I was considered wierd anyway, but here goes .....

1. I love to drive (though Lagos traffic makes me insane with impatience). When I was younger I envied my parents' drivers for their good fortune of spending the entire day gallivanting all over Lagos. As I was being dropped off at school for my daily 6-hour 'imprisonment', I thought how much I would rather be a driver instead.

2. I can be quite chatty when I feel like it.

3. While I love to travel, sometimes the thrill of getting away can be far more enjoyable than actually arriving at my destination.

4. Although I tend to have strong opinions about quite a number of things, I am also able to see both sides of an argument. It can be fun but also maddening (to me and the person I'm arguing with).

5. I love, love, LOVE my birthday. I get very excited when it's approaching (cough, cough, it's coming soon - on the 18th of this month) and I am on a high for the entire month. I feel that people should not have to work on their birthdays.

6. I love rice (well, people who know me are aware of this already). I can eat rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday of the week and not get tired of it.

7. I really don't what else to mention here ..... I've never been drunk. Is that wierd? Hmmm, probably not, if you know me. I like reading and learning new things, but I HATE it when people recount every minute detail when relating a story to me. It's like I ask them what a film was about. Thirty minutes LATER the have only covered a quarter of the film. I'll keep my advice brief: "Stay sharp and straight to the point."

Thank God, I made it through. Now, it's your turn. I'm tagging Ayoola (but of course), Nneoma, Adefunke, Mysterious Meander, Pilgrimage to Self, Tuckergurl, and Gbenga Sesan.

If you've been tagged with this already. Ah well, what can I say? Practise makes perfect.

Here are the rules
1) Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog
2) Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself
3) Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs
4) Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

Chika Unigwe Book Reading

'Tis officially the season to be jolly (what with it being December now and all .....). Here's news of an upcoming book reading, courtesy of Wordsbody.

Chika Unigwe reads from her debut novel, The Phoenix (published in Dutch in 2005 as 'De Feniks'). The West African edition of the book is published by Kachifo and the book readings will be held on:

• Saturday December 8 - The Jazzhole, 168 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos @ 4pm


• Friday December 14 - Quintessence, Falomo Shopping Centre, Ikoyi @ 5pm


• Saturday December 15 - Bookworm, Eko Hotel Shopping Complex, Ajose Adeogun Street, Victoria Island, Lagos @ 2pm

South African Airport Crime Syndicates

My friend sent me this news story about the so-called 'airport syndicate' operating in Johannesburg. The deal is that visitors to the city are trailed from the airport and attacked usually at the entrance to their hotel or place of residence. The immigration and customs staff at the aiport are believed to work hand-in-hand with the robbers, who later way-lay the unsuspecting victims.

These robbers target certain nationalities - Nigerians included - who they know will be carrying huge sums of money on them.

So if the authorities know so much about this crime syndicate, why are these robberies still happening?

CMPC vs. OLPC

Intel has supplied its Classmate PC (CMPC) to students in an Abuja secondary, as part of its World Ahead programme, an initiative designed to "bring technology to people around the world."

According to the school's technical manager, Mr. Dennis Etsuke, "The pilot project consists of 280 computers, 8 teacher laptops, digital content, Wimax for internet access, and a repository where we can view content offline." Impressive, given that a generator was also installed so that the school could actually power the laptops.

Check out the photos.

In March this year, another Abuja area school was signed-up to participate in the One Laptop Per Child initiative, the brainchild of Nicholas Negroponte, MIT's Media Lab co-founder.

Although both iniatives have roughly similar objectives of helping to bridge the digital divide, there of course has been a less than harmonious working relationship. Negroponte accused Intel of developing the CMPC because the OLPC computer uses an AMD processor, which is the rival technology to the Intel chip.

Cassava Republic

Interesting article on the publishing house, Cassava Republic.

Anti-Virus Software Choices

I'm in the market for a new anti-virus software. Any recommendations? Saw this interesting post by Chxta outlining pros and cons from his pov of some popular anti-virus packages. I'm looking to move away from Nortons.

Black Looks' Carnival Against Violence Against Women

Sokari of Black Looks is organising a Carnival Against Violence Against Women. To participate, write a post on anything from "a personal story, images, thoughts, a link anything that highlights and informs violence against women." Complete a form from her blog or email her to notify her of your post. That's it! It's as easy as 1-2-3. It's so easy that I must remember to do it.

She also reminds us that the 16 days of Activism Against Gender Violence, which will run from November 25th to December 10th will incorporate the following:

November 25th: The International Day Against Violence Against Women
November 29th: International Women Human Rights Defenders Day
December 1st: World Aids Day
December 10th: International Human Rights Day

The Lagos Book & Art Festival (LABAF 2007)

I forgot to write about the 2007 edition of the Lagos Book & Art Festival. It ran from a Friday through to Sunday (Nov 9-11), but I was only able to go on Saturday.

It was held at the National Theatre, I suppose in part to showcase a national treasure that has been at the centre of much hoopla this year, stemming from the government's intention to sell it.

I haven't been to the National Theatre since secondary school and although I hear about events being held there once in a blue moon, I didn't seriously think that it was somewhere that people still used. I suppose my decision to attend the festival was partly out of curiousity to see this great landmark of old (well, aside from the fact that I attended last year and was looking forward to it anyway).

I'm quite ashamed to say that I got lost both getting there AND leaving (well, at least when I was leaving it was dark and so I had somewhat of a valid excuse). The time actually spent there was quite enjoyable. I easily located the part of the theatre being used for the festival from the crowd of cars parked outside and people milling around.

I got there during the final session of the day - a panel discussion entitled Writing in - Tales from the Diaspora, which (according to the program) featured Ayo Arigbabu, Henry Akubuiro, Toni Kan, Chuks Ohai, Tolu Ogunlesi. Also participating were Wole Oguntokun and Chude Jideonwo, who moderated.

The discussion flowed from musings on what defines writing as Nigerian; who was a Nigerian writer; which writers of Nigerian heritage could be said to be 'writing in' and who were writing 'authentically Nigerian'; what the hell made for 'authentic' Nigerian writing anway; and at the end of the day did all this matter? In response to the last question, which was posed by a member of the audience, the writer Toni Kan quipped that afterall that was what they had been brought together to debate.

I visited the few stalls that had not yet packed their wares up and bought two books that I know that I will not read for at least a year. After the day's proceedings wrapped-up, I spent some time chit-chatting with participants and guests alike outside and met two bloggers. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable time was had by me.

Taking Back the Tech

Alright, the 16-day VAW (violence against women) campaign starts tomorrow (Nov 25) and ends on Dec 10.

The Take Back the Tech website has many ideas of things to do protest VAW and could be as simple as blogging about it, sharing a story, sending SMS's or including a tagline in your emails.

Learning About Living - For Youths

I'm always interests in ways that ICTs (information and communication technologies) can impact people's every day lives. So, it was some fascination that I read about the Living project, two informational services for young people launched yesterday in Abuja (nevermind the slightly sensational headline).

One of the services is MyQuestion, which will enable young people to ask questions about reproductive health through text messages, online or using a telephone hotline. The second service is the competition, MyAnswer, where young people have the opportunity of winning prizes by answering a monthly question.

The initiative aims to provide a comfortable and safe forum where Nigerian youths can learn about sexual health and related issues affecting adolescents. Check www.learningaboutliving.com for more information.

Idris Elba Interview

Interesting Idris Elba interview on African Loft.

Cell Phones & E-advocacy

I spoke with Mary Joyce earlier this year. She was in Lagos for a few days looking into electronic means of participating in the democratic process. She was particularly interested in the use of mobile phones for elecronic or e-advocacy i.e. participating in the political process through electronic/technology tools e.g. to share information, lobby the government, protest. She talks about this in her interview on CafeBabel.com. You can download a copy of her report on mobile phone use for e-advocacy here.

The Helon Habila Book Reading

I attended the Helon Habila book reading this evening at Silverbird's Nu Metro bookstore. Or rather, I caught the tail-end of the Q and A. I sat the very back next to a crowd of people poring over the books on the shelf, deciding which ones to buy. Since I missed so much, of course I cannot do a blow-by-blow of the event. I haven't read either of Mr. Habila's books either, so I cannot write about them. However I purchased Waiting for an Angel, which the author signed and I look forward to the day when I will read it.

It felt like a long time since I'd been to a reading (could the last one have been Chimamanda's in January?). It was fun to sit in the midst of books, with people who like to read books and listen to people talk about books. In the brief time I was there, Helon Habila responded to all the audience questions with a quiet confidence (I think that's my favourite type of confidence. Hmmm, but 'quiet' as opposed to what? Showy confidence? Loud confidence? Does that even make any sense?).

I like the fact that he admitted that he likes books based on how interesting they are. He does not pay too much attention to genres. When a lady in the audience mentioned that she loved Coetzee's Disgrace (I think. I couldn't catch the author or the title), while her friend hated it and asked for his thoughts on the book (it felt almost like she was asking him to settle a disagreement between she and her friend), he politely shared his belief that what people like boils down to individual taste and preference. In short, we like what we like.

How I Became Drunk with IT, By Whizzkid

I meant to catch you all up on what I've been up to in the last couple of weeks (okay, I'll tell you right now - work, work, work), but I'm too tired right now to write creatively, so I'll just post this Gbenga Sesan interview.

I met Gbenga F2F (that's "face-to-face" for you non-Internet heads aka "people who actually have a life") for the first time this January in Uganda. Since then, I've hit him for all sorts of ICT4D and NGO advice (it is a testament to his amiable character that he continues to share his knowledge and experience with me happily and without cost). I was telling him that I read a profile on him in the latest issue of Genevieve magazine. He was unaware of this. I complained that all the articles I read about him could pass for duplicates of each other. I certainly never learnt anything new about him in any of them. It was then he pointed me to this Sun article, which I just got around to reading. Interesting to learn something new about Mr. Sesan. Good to see that not all papers are photocopying each other's work.

Tech Repair

I remember when my iPods stopped working. It felt like my life was crashing down all around me. So dramatic I know. Luckily for me, Superior Technologies (they have store for Apple products at the Civic Centre and another one in Dolphin Estate) came to the rescue.

This New York Times article mentions some sites that can help you fix your broken down gadgets.

C&H Quotes for the Day

My Calvin and Hobbes quotes for the day:

The only skills I have the patience to learn are those that have no real application in life.

I suppose if we couldn't laugh at things that don't make sense, we couldn't react to a lot of life.

The Anti-Fashionista

Was reading today's This Day Style and found someone who has some of my attitudes towards fashion.

Yinka Osobu, who owns CMC Interriors (a furniture manufacturing company) bluntly proclaimed, in a magazine devoted to style and fasion, no less, that she does not look forward to dressing up. She doesn't own a single pair of high heel shows and her Timberland boots and sandals are the most expensive items of clothing that she owns. She hardly goes out to balls and formal events, because she worries too much about how she will look and in the end cannot be bothered to make the effort. (The main photograph at the start of the interview was totally gorgeous, btw).

Although I am not quite so utilitarian as Mrs. Osobu appears from her interview, I have a very practical outlook to my personal style. Yes, it must look good but it must be comfortable and totally fit the occasion. Not for the me all the endless primping and fussing. I can get ready in 10 minutes and I kid you not. It's good to know that in such an image-conscious society, there are a few of us who could care less (okay, who care a bit but not too, too much. LOL!).

Timeless

I'm watching some videos of Sade's and I am struck by how timeless all the videos look. Even the clothes that Sade wears don't scream "Help! Stuck in the 1980s!" I want that look!

As it is, I look at some of my old pictures and wonder what the hell I thought I was wearing. Luckily, I never crested the fashion wave too much - I believed too much in trying to discover my own style. My hair always looked really good though (yes, I am saying so myself!).

The Evolution of a Blog

I met up with a friend yesterday and we spent an afternoon discussing many, many things. We are both bloggers and at some point, the conversation turned to our blogs. He commented on how I never discuss any personal things on my blog. I responded that was intentional. I had decided on starting the blog that I would not reveal too many details about my self on my blog. He also commented on how serious I come across in my blog. Hmmm, okay that was not intentional but maybe the fact that I try to steer clear of writing anything that I consider too personal is to blame for that.

Over time though, I have been blogging less. I also visit other blogs much less than I used to. As for commenting on my blog or on others, I definitely do that much, much less than ever. I've noticed that unless you write about controversial issues or things that a lot of people would find interesting, you would naturally get less comments. A blog also needs to be nurtured i.e. posting regularly (the ideal is daily; several times a day if you manage it), responding to peoples' comments on your blog and visiting and commenting on other peoples' blogs.

Alas, alas, life gets in the way sometimes, especially as the initial excitement dies down. This year has seen the demise of many blogs, as the authors move on to other interests. Naijablog is a rare example of a blog that has sustained a consistency of posts since its inception. I wonder how Jeremy manages it. Maybe I'll develop the discipline for that someday.

The Stockholm Challenge 2008

"The Stockholm Challenge 2008 programme features six category awards for ICT for development projects and a chance to win the prestigious Stockholm Challenge Trophies. The prize ceremony in the City Hall will take place during Challenge Week from May 18 - 22, 2008. An extended programme of workshops, conference, study visits and social gatherings will bring together the most inspiring ICT entrepreneurs, researchers and students from all over the world to share experiences and knowledge." Read more ...

Call for Proposals: 11th AWID International Forum on Women's Rights and Development

AWID (Association for Women's Rights and Development) is calling for proposals for its next international forum, which is to be held from November 14-17, 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa.

The theme for next year's conference is the power of movements i.e. "what people without access to power cannot accomplish alone, they can accomplish together through collective action." At the conference women's right activists from around the world will gather to debate and strategize about how to build stronger women's movements globally.

I've been trying to go since they held the conference in 2002 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Maybe I will be able to attend next year.

To read about how you can submit a proposal, visit www.awid.org/forum08.

Quote for the Day

My Calvin and Hobbes quote for the day on Facebook: "I'm learning real skills that I can apply throughout the rest of my life... Procrastinating and rationalizing."

Unleashing the '80s

I used to be a serious TV addict back in the day. I had my favourite shows – at least one a day – which ensured that for at least an hour a day (more likely for 3, 4, 5 hours) I would be found glued to the television. Over the last 2 years though, I have barely watched any TV. However one of my "must-catch" shows is Unleash the '80s, which comes up on Silverbird TV every Sunday night at 11.15 (I’m really showing my age here but whatever. It's also a great way to start a new week).

I don’t know how the show’s producers manage to find all those old videos, but each week promises for me a treasure trove of "oldies but goodies." Last week, they featured Anita Baker’s Same Ole’ Love and a song that I used to love called You’re my number 1, which turned out to be by a British singer called Princess. It is hilarious watching these videos, many of which now appear extremely cheesy and which comprise of little more than the artiste singing into the camera. It’s a rare '80s video that does not look dated in today’s era of sleek, highly polished and in some cases near pornographic visual displays. Maybe that’s a good thing though, because the earnestness of these artistes, with their belief in and love for their music really shines through.

......

Saw that part of the stretch of Lekki Expressway (very close to the new Addax HQ) has been cleared of all the traders. Maybe it happened a while ago but I just noticed it yesterday. There’s a lot of land-filling going on there. I wonder if there is going to be yet another behemoth of a building is going to be erected there causing even more traffic on the road and cancelling out any benefits of the ongoing road expansion.

Maybe it’ll be a pleasant surprise instead – like a waterside park. Somehow I doubt it.

Take Back the Tech

Last year, APC WNSP (Association for Progressive Communications - Women's Networking Support Programme) started the Take Back the Tech initiative aimed at bringing light to the problem of online violence against women and helping people take a stand against it.

As this year's 16 Days of Activism - November 25 to December 10- against violence against women (VAW) approaches, the Take Back the Tech team is soliciting for ideas for the campaign. Last year's actions included sharing stories and experiences related to VAW, celebrating sheroes, making statements on radio, online (through avatars, icons and email signatures/taglines) and sharing bookmarked websites. Visit the site to learn more.

Also note that November 29th is the International Women Human Rights Defenders Day and December 10 is International Human Rights Day.

David Simon Profile

My brother pointed me to this profile in The New Yorker magazine of David Simon, the creator of The Wire. It's a long juicy read and I have only finished the first page. I thought before I defer reading it to a more suitable time and eventually forget about it, where better to 'bookmark' it than my very own blog?

Doris Lessing Wins the Nobel Prize

Just read on Wordsbody that Doris Lessing has been awarded this year's Nobel prize for Literature. Doris Lessing is my favourite writer so I am very pleased to hear this. I had actually just started reading one of her classics, The Summer Before the Dark last week. Her writing has always spoken to me in a way that no other writer has.

Links:
Wordsbody
BBC News
The Guardian

What do I watch next?

Frivolous post ahoy! I haven't written about my favourite shows in a while, possibly because I didn't have anything new to watch.

Last year, I bought seasons 1 and 2 of Homicide: Life on the Street, which was one of my favourite shows back in the day. I only got around to watching the DVDs this year. On my recent vacation, I bought season 3, which to my intense pleasure was 6 DVDs long. It was to my utter amazement this afternoon to realise that I was on the last disc. How did I get through the entire season so quickly? The addictive plots and wonderful writing undoubtedly have a big role to play in that.

Already in mourning and wondering what I would do after I completed the season, I went online to check on the other seasons. Not only did I see that all season 1 through to 7 are available, I discovered on Amazon.com that the 4th season of my fav, fav, fav show, The Wire will be released on DVD on December 4. Fans of this blog (cough, cough ....), okay regular readers will already know about my love for The Wire and all crime shows. To say that I was ecstatic is a monumental understatement. Now, I know what I want for Christmas and my birthday.

Building Some Discipline

I was telling a friend over the weekend how I had a lot of personal work that I needed to do, but how I seemed to lack the time and space at home to do it. I mentioned that I was considering checking into a hotel for a weekend so that I could get it all done.

My friend burst out in deafening laughter.

- Hehn? You have definitely hit the rock bottom of excuses. If you have so much money to waste, please come and invest in my company.

I protested that I really needed to focus on my work and how I couldn't do it at home.

- Come on, Ore! You just need to be more disciplined.

As I mulled over that startlingly simple but incisive piece of advice, he was still chortling away.

- Check into a hotel indeed!!

Why does it seem sometimes that my focus and discipline comes in ebbs and flows? When I tell people that I really think I would love to be a lady of luxury and do nothing all day, they tell me that I'd be bored out of my mind. But I think I can manage enough focus and discipline to do a good job of that.

The Traffic

Argh! The traffic in Lagos has been so bad. My journey between home and work normally takes about half an hour (and when you consider the physical distance, it shouldn't even take that). Now, if I spend just an hour, I should consider myself extremely lucky. I am far from being the only one suffering from the multiple roadwork taking place all over the city. Everyone I know is complaining. The road expansion work on Lekki Expressway is billed to last 36 months, I think, so we have quite a ways to go.

It's been Bye Bye Gym, as I don't have the energy to work out after battling through traffic, competing with other cars for valuable road space, inching forward in the gridlock and praying that my car does not get scratched or scrapped by okadas and other cars.

9th Lagos Book and Art Festival

I got this a little while ago about the 9th Lagos Book and Art Festival.

Theme: Literacy As Democracy Dividend
Date: November 9 - 11, 2007
Venue: National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos

Arthouse Parties
- Opening Reception - 50 Years Of Things Fall Apart, 10 AM, Friday, November 9, 2007. Groundbreaking ceremony for the series of worldwide anniversary events for Africa's greatest novel-starting January 2008.
- Book Presentation - A Voyage Around Wole Soyinka, by Gerd Meuer, 11AM, Friday, November 9, 2007

Colloqium: 12 Noon, Friday, November 9, 2007
Theme: Constructing a Nation: 40 Years after the first shot in Biafra
Reviews, readings and discussions of novels, drama and non-fiction works including Ekwensi's Divided We Stand, Chimamanda Adichie's Half Of A Yellow Sun, Dulue Mbachu's War Games, Olusegun Obasanjo's My Command, Eddie Iroh's Toads Of War, Chukwuemeka Ike's Sunset At Dawn and Rasheed Gbadamosi's Echoes From The Lagoon.

International Dialogue: 2.30 PM, Friday, November 9, 2007
Theme: Challenges of Liberal Democracy In Africa, William Mervin Gumede, author of Thabo Mbeki and The Battle For The Soul of the ANC spars with Dare Babarinsa, author of House Of War

Panel Discussion : 12 Noon, Saturday, November 10, 2007
Theme: Mending the Damage: Literature and the Niger Delta
A panel discussion on Literatures borne out of the Niger Delta crisis. Discussants include Oronto Douglas (Where Vultures Feast), Ken Wiwa (In the Shadow Of A Saint), Ahmed Yerima (Hard Ground), Nicholas Shaxson (Poisoned Wells), and Kaine Agary (Yellow Yellow)

Arthouse Parties - Part 2: 2 - 3 PM, Saturday, November 10,2007
Music, Wine and Dance For Fatai Rolling Dollar at 80, Bruce Onobrakpeya at 75, Femi Asekun at 75, Tunde Oloyede at 60, Yemi Ogunbiyi at 60.
Bandstand: Fata Rolling Dollar, Seyi Solagbade, Adunni Nefretiti

Symposium: 3 PM, Saturday, November 10, 2007
Theme: Writing In: Tales from the Diaspora
The emerging Nigerian literature outside the borders of Nigeria Features discussions of Segun Afolabi's Caine award winning short story Monday Morning, Biyi Bandele's The Street, Chimamanda Adichie's The Thing Around Your Neck, Diana Evans' 26A, Helen Oyeyemi's Icarus Girl and Diran Adebayo's Some Kind Of Black

Art Stampede: 2 PM, Sunday, November 11, 2007
The Myth and Realities Of A Golden Age Of Book Reading
Chair: Uncle Steve Rhodes
Panelists: Rasheed Gbadamosi, *Mobolaji Adenubi, *Akin Adesokan, *Dulue Mbachu
(* Not yet confirmed)

From: Toyin Akinosho, Secretary, Committee For Relevant Art (CORA)

ICT Journalist - Brenda Zulu

Brenda Zulu is a journalist who writes on ICT (information and communication technologies), especially with how it relates to African women.

I like to read her blog whenever I can. She has made a number of recent posts about last month's Digital Citizen Indaba conference, which explored digital media and Internet technologies and their place in Africa. The interviews make for interesting reading.

nGOmobile: Taking Mobile Technology to the Grassroots

Comp time! I received an email from Ken Banks, the founder of the FrontlineSMS system was used to monitor last April's elections.

This time, he's spearheading nGOmobile, a text message-based competition aimed at grassroots non-profit organisations working for positive social and environmental change throughout the developing world.

From the website:
The competition wants to encourage NGOs to think more about how mobile technology could be applied in their work.

NGOs from developing countries are invited to submit a short proposal outlining how text messaging could make their job easier.

The competition closes on the 14th of December 2007. Check the website for info on how to apply.

Battle of the Sexes

I don't seem to write as often as I used to. Ah, I guess it's just cycles in my life. This is one of those busy periods, which will hopefully be followed by an extremely chilled-out couple of months.

I breezed through some of the Sunday papers this afternoon and the Battle of the Sexes column in Guardian's Life magazine caught my eye. The first time I saw it, I just thought "What the hell?"

Basically each week the column poses a question to a group of young men and women (most of them seem to be in university, which might partially explain the high level of inane responses). Men respond, I suppose giving the "male" perspective, while the women respond with the "female" perspective.

First off, I hate, hate, hate things that pitch men against women. It's totally unnecessary and pointless. Secondly, the questions are always incendiary, leading to usually ignorant statements and generalisations. Today's topic questioned whether we really live in a man's world.

Some choice responses from the men include:

"Who wants to compete that it's a man's world. Women are just tools in our hands. They occupy a loop hole that wasn't meant to be there in the first place....."

"If the women have a world, it's certainly underneath the men. Apart from there, I don't see any other space for them in the world."

"It's a man's world, no doubt. We rule in all ramifications and after we're all made and done, we buy up a woman. Well, they call it dowry but in its orginal truth, we just buy them to keep company."

some of the women had this to say:
"The woman is wiser, smarter and more intelligent; plus we've got 'bottom power'"


"Take a look at the world and tell me who you think rules. No musical video makes sense if no babe shakes her buddy (I guess supposed to read 'booty')."

I suppose it's supposed to be a light-hearted debate between the sexes, but the ignorance and chauvinism behind many of the statements (and sorry to say it, but especially the men's) makes it hard to chuckle over. Instead I'm hissing non-stop until I get tired and flip the page.

All in a Weekend's Work

This weekend I have been reminded why I use computers for so long. For a few months now, I've known that I needed to get a new laptop because mine had become excrutiatingly slow. I didn't feel that it was really worth buying more memory for it, especially since it had so many cracks in that people gasped whenever I brought it out in public.

Setting-up a new laptop with all the programs and settings of my old one, while sometimes fun, is not always something I look forward to. This time turned out not to be too painful though. I transferred all my files from my external hard-drive, which I used to back-up my old laptop. I connected my Netcom modem to my my new laptop and my settings were retrieved and I was online in an instant. That meant I could get on with downloading Firefox. I was pleased.

Then I opened iTunes to see all my music displayed, but to my incredible horror, NONE of my playlists!!! This was a travesty. I could not imagine spending hours re-creating the playlists that I had lovingly and thoughtfully put together over several months. In this day and age, there had to be an easier way, I thought. I searched online for possible solutions. On various discussion boards and websites, I found long-winded suggestions. One proposed exporting the source iTunes library as an XML file, replacing the file paths in the XML file with the destination paths, and deleting redundant files. Too long and tedious! There has to be an easier way. Some suggested using your iPod as a hard drive to move all the files. This made sense, but I already had an external drive so why would I want to use my iPod as one.

When I figured it out, it was so easy and obvious. I had moved all my music files from my external hard drive to my new laptop. However on my old laptop, the files were in the My Music folder. On the external drive they were kept in My Documents. By simply moving the files into the corresponding My Music file on my new computer, all my playlists were kept intact.

The next thing I had to tackle was my bookmarks. I love to bookmark and I have so many. I don't really use any of the social bookmarking tools out there - amazing given how I love to track bits of knowledge. I discovered a Firefox add-on that allows you to transfer your bookmarks to a server and synchronise these bookmarks on multiple computers. Lovely! I had problems synching from my old laptop and nearly pulled my hair out figuring what was wrong, until I realised that it was my highly effective (read: annoying) anti-virus software, Norton. Once I switched it off, I was able to upload my bookmarks, after which I switched Norton back on again.

Ah, I can sigh in relief. This was certainly a productive weekend.

Ore in La-La Land

It's definitely nice to be back. A good break leaves you feeling very well rested and ready for more work. Monday was so deceiving. There were no ceiling-high piles of papers on my desk and all seemed to have gone really smoothly while I was out. By Tuesday, forget it! I was snowed under like I typically am. I cannot even complain. As one just returning from a vacation, the thinking is that I would have loads of energy and be raring to go. I think I need another break. Better still, during my next vacation I think I will stay at home and sleep.

Los Angeles was really great. It was my second time visiting. This time I stayed with my friend Funke. She has a really cute apartment in a city?/suburb? of LA called Torrance. There's nothing really special about Torrance, just that it's about 20 minutes from downtown LA (with no traffic). It's also clean and peaceful, which I liked.

The traffic in LA is legendary. I thought NOTHING can be as bad as Lagos traffic and truly LA traffic is nothing like Lagos. Lagos roads are narrow and over-congested. LA freeways are wide and over-congested. Everyone it seems owns a car. Almost no one takes public transport. Everyone drives everywhere - even to a place that is 5 minutes down the road! The freeway typically has 4 lanes: 1 car-pool lane i.e. for cars with more than 1 person inside; the other 3 lanes are for everyone else i.e. for people driving by themselves. Would you believe that with all this space, the usual scenario is that all 3 lanes are chock-full of cars for as far as the eye can see while the car-pool lane is near empty. Those Angelenos love their cars!

My flight into LA arrived late and it took me even longer to clear through immigration, so naturally I expected Funke to be out waiting by the time I got out. I was even half-expecting to see her waving a "Welcome to LA, Ore!" sign. I should be so lucky! The girl wasn't even there when I got out. I switched on my phone and called her. After hurried greetings, she told me that she couldn't find the terminal.

- "What terminal are you at?", she asked.

- How the hell would I know? "Errrr.. arrivals?"

-"I've been looking for the British Airways terminal and driving around and around."

- Okay, whatever! Just get here soon!

Then she checked "What airport are you at?"

Little butterflies of panic started fluttering in my belly.

- LAX. Why? How many airports are there in LA?

- "Like 3! Phew! Okay, I'm at LAX too."

I bought the September issue of Essence magazine (with Jill Scott on the cover) and settled down to read it. Funke got there soon enough. It was great to see her. From the way she'd been going on about how much weight she had put on since moving to the States, I thought she'd be fat, but the girl wasn't exaggerating when she said that she has been seriously working out.

We caught-up on the drive to her apartment. By the time we got to her house I was pretty tired. By the next day however, I was totally wiped out. I couldn't believe it! I planned on going out to get my nails done but it was so hot that I decided to wait until the sun went down a little first. In the meantime, I swanned on the couch watching cable and eating. I found that I just couldn't stop eating or sleeping. When Funke got back from work, she found me in much the same position that she'd left me - on the couch. I managed to drag myself out for dinner. However the next day, the fatigue lingered on.

"What's going on? Why am I so tired?" Well, figuring that I couldn't spend my entire time in LA prostrated on the couch, I hauled my ass (literally) to Hollywood Boulevard.

I probably should have rented a car, but I wanted a laid-back vacation. To get downtown I took a cab. It had always seemed to me that people in LA don't take cabs as frequently as people in New York take cabs. Aside from the fact that everyone in LA owns a car, the traffic means that you are stuck in the cab for a while and the meter keeps ticking away.

Hollywood Boulevard was somewhat of a let-down - kind of less shiny and glamorous than I was expecting. Of course, you do get to see (and walk all over) the famed Hollywood Walk of Fame.

I took a bus tour, which took me down the rest of the Boulevard, into Beverly Hills (through Rodeo Drive), past Paramount and CBS Studios (where many favourite TV shows are filmed). The tour-bus recording (nope, nothing as exotic as an actual tour guide on these buses) pointed out places featured in some famous movies; we also got to see some famous hotels, some famous designer shops; some famous ..... well, you get the idea.

As physically tired (and I guess jet-lagged as I was), I dozed off on the bus. It wasn't a boring tour! I did say that I was tired! And besides, being on a moving vehicle does that to me. I'm actually amazed that I stayed awake for almost the whole thing.

I was slightly worried about driving. After having had to get used to manic Lagos driving, I was anxious about driving in a sane environment. I took the bull by the horns and drove Funke's car to the mall one afternoon and was pleasantly surprised. I only cut-off 1 driver. Her shocked expression quickly reminded me that I wasn't in Lagos anymore.

Okay, this post is getting too long and I don't like overly long posts. Will continue the story of Ore in La-La Land later in another post.

Back Home!

Today was my first day back at work after my much-needed vacation. It was great! It's amazing how a good break can fill you with so much energy. I had started feeling very lethargic (not to mention exhausted) for a minute there. I woke-up this morning well before my alarm went off and was very excited to be returning to work.