Nothing Nuts about “Nuts”

….after Habesha (for those who’ve read my read my earlier post u know what I mean), the day was surely set up for what I thought was going to be an encore-like ending. The missus and I proceeded to the “now hallowed” grounds of Alliance Francais to catch “Nuts”,the much hyped play by Festival of Creative Arts.

 

I’d have to say from the word go it was a letdown (and this is putting it mildly). For a play that was billed as being “hilarious” it sure was a let down. Maybe my disappointment stems from the fact that having seen many of their previous plays, I have set the bar too high. Or maybe I have suddenly developed a subdued sense of humour (then there’d have to be an epidemic since the audience too was subdued).

 

I hope they read my post since I believe the fact that they were having two concurrent shows robbed them of many of their star performers. I certainly was looking forward to another of Derrick Amunga’s (If u watched Tausi back in the 90’s,he’s the “master sugu”) performances, only to have him slotted on the other play!!!

 

For something meant to be hilarious,this fell flat on its face..it was more like a courtroom drama with none of the attorneys being special. Too much was pinned on the lunatic antics of one “Charlene” and once this got too repetitive it was obvious there wasn’t much of comedy to go around.The casting of Mbeki Mwalimu as the judge was utterly wrong!!! Such great talent shouldn’t be condemned to a peripheral role and that lies squarely on the shoulders of the  play’s director. That said, Gilbert Lukalia gave an outstanding performance as Charlene’s step-father and in the process made up for the lack of comedy.

 

The missus was impressed (aren’t they all) and I guess all is well that ends well though…plus met kenyanpoet from the blogging community…so not a bad ending to the day at all.

 

Habesha-a true Ethiopian experience

If I didn’t count my fortuitous airlift from the killing fields of Eldoret earlier in the year, I’d be inclined to name last Saturday as the best day so far in the year. Yours truly was out once and for all to understand what all the hype about Ethiopian food is. You have to understand me, I really hate fads, and no where else is this culture of fads more prevalent than Nairobi itself.

 

So under the guise of treating a beauty to her preferred cuisine, I set out to debunk this latest of fads. We strode in to the grounds, located in Hurlingham (just b4 the junction of Elgeyo Marakwet road and Argwings Kodhek road 4 those who might get lost just like I did), to the most wonderful of aromas…we could smell our way to the kitchen literally!!!

 

Once inside, you can choose to either have your meal “al-fresco” (outdoors) or within the premises. I recommend al-fresco just so that those of you not used to incense burning don’t have to be bothered every time they do that.

 

The menu is quite impressive and different (but then again that’s why I went there), though vegetarians would struggle since as far as I could tell there was only one combination that was wholly vegetarian.

Spicy food is not my cup of tea (for lack of a better expression), so it was still a surprise (ok not a surprise coz women have a way of twisting your arm without actually raising theirs) that I found myself there.

Moving on swiftly to the menu, for the meat-lovers, there is plenty to choose from, from raw (yes raw) meat called “kitfo” to “shekla tibs”-the equivalent nyama choma.

 

I suggest that you order for juice or whatever poisons that tickle your fancy as you go through the menu. Habesha experience is a classic case of “the more the merrier”, since y’all can order varied items on the menu and proceed to partake of the different bitings since you will eat from the same platter. Being three, enough to make merry, we proceeded to order each a different item: I went for the “Shekla tibs”, while the missus went for “dor wat” (chicken stew) and our friend the “key wat” (meat stew).

All items are accompanied by “Injeera”(Ethiopian chapati if you like).Once offered the large tray, proceed to lay out the Injeera neatly and then pour the various sauces on to the platter since this is the way the food is traditionally taken. The food is surprisingly served in large quantities and some had to be packed to go.

 

All in all, I‘m glad to report that the place lived up to its expectation though their amenities would do with a little improvement.

I believe its a worthy indulgence,fad or no fad….

Barcamp Nairobi 2008

The June 21,2008 barcamp surpassed my expectations. It was a chilly morning but the turnout was great. I was afraid a day spent in the company of those I had presumed to be geeks or nerds would unnerve me but I was pleasantly surprised to have met some “hip n cool” people. The format at barcamp is certainly one that should be replicated at other for a’s…the 30 minute sessions coupled with the vibrant discourse certainly served to make time fly by and I ended up staying beyond the time I had planned for.

 

I’m not a “techie” and I’m actually averse to any sort of coding and thus it follows I’m not a developer, thus my interest was singularly on Blogging. There were three sessions that addressed my concerns, namely: Blogging 4 cash, Blogging tricks and WordPress Optimisation tips. I gained immensely from this experience and I thank the organizers.

It was interesting to see the government represented through theMr. Kukubo of the ICT board.

 

Met interesting bloggers too,namely:bankelele,hash,kenyanpoet,diary of a mad campus teenager and the legendary kenyan pundit….

 

Needless to say,i’m already looking forward to the next barcamp….

MASH MUSINGS: THE RETURN

As Israel celebrates its 60th independence anniversary, i have opted to look at my perceived affection for the Holy land. I cant quite trace why i love Israel so much, but i know i do. When i find that i am willing to exercise bigotry knowing very well its against what i stand for-i can only attribute such moments of utter folly to that which makes me ashamed…BIGOTRY.Its defined as “stubborn and incomplete intolerance of any creed,opinion or belief that differs from one’s own”.

When it comes to Israel,i am a bigot.

How else would i explain the fact that the death of an Israeli soldier would irk me to a greater degree than that of 1000 Palestine men. I know that i have my reasons for backing Israel but that shouldn’t excuse my bigotry….The Indian poet and essayist Rabindranath Togore refers to bigotry as that which “tries to keep truth in its hand with a grip that kills it”, and i totally agree.

The israelis are truly a resilient people, i’m reminded of a tale in a book titled ” O’Jerusalem” that details what lengths the Israeli movement called Haganah went to so as to gain independence…while smuggling in small arms at the harbour, they decided to hide the arms in a container full of onions!!…not even the most hawk eyed British custom official could keep tears away in the wake of all the Onion aroma hitting the eyes..

To be continued….

TAGGED:RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME

Rules

Link to the person that tagged you

Post the rules on your blog

Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself

Tag five people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs

Let each random person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs

Been away for some time and just got a tag from from tweety and so here are my top 6 random facts….

1.I love comfort zones so much that if the world didn’t rotate on its own axis while making a revolution round the sun i probably wouldn’t budge an inch from bed.

2.Just like disgraced former New york governor Eliot SPIETZER(more popularly known as client 9), i have a penchant for using hard words that really aren’t necessary…take this,client 9 once while describing “an unhappy man” used the statement,”…his visage described discountenance“….now thats vintage me.

3. I place a premium on genuine articles, be it clothing or any other accessory…rule of thumb being-if its expensive,the better.

4.I’m so indifferent that i’d make Kibaki’s aloofness seem like child’s play…especially kama “Hauongezi,Haupunguzi”

5.I admire Obama in many ways(…don’t get it twisted) but i find him no more inspiring than the next man.

6.I prefer Peninah Karibe to Lilian muli-i’d have to consult my lawyer b4 i expound on this further.

7.I’m totally unconventional-cant keep to any rules, this post was for 6 random facts and i wrote 7…

KENYANS PROVE MICHAEL JOSEPH RIGHT….

Michael Joseph once stated that kenyans had “peculiar habits“, and he must feel vindicated after the events of yester-night and early morning today!! I’m not here on behalf of him nor do i necessarily concur with his views, but the swahili have a saying, “Mgala muue na haki umpe”-translated it basically means “give a man his dues,friend or foe”…n i’m about to give Miachael Joseph his dues.

Early this morning the chicken came home to roost, kenyans have previously not failed to disappoint when it comes to acting in a peculiar manner, but the latest incident must surely take the price!!

Safaricom, kenya’s premier mobile service provider, was having a network upgrade that was to run from midnight yesterday to today at 6 a.m and an advert was duly placed in the papers to this effect. Now Safaricom had all the good intentions, informing their customers of this expected disruption in normal service, but then they didn’t know that they were giving kenyan’s a heads-up…Kenyans in what is a sign of normalcy to us, took to this with zest, i mean i have been bombarded with calls at what i’d consider ungodly hours in the name of FREE calls!!!! And in typical kenyan fashion again, this bit of news was translated to many other unwitting friends that they may partake of this early x-mas!!!

If you could just picture the glee on Michael Joseph’s face…and i forgot, the fact that i’m penning this piece,complaining about “free” calls, is in itself a peculiar habit indeed.

VAL’S….

So here we go again,…at least this one started off on the best possible note…a recap of how it all panns out will be forthcoming…stay tuned for the next episode…

OF FADS AND BANDWAGONS….

The cambridge online dictionary defines the word fad as “a tendency to like a style,activity or interest for a very short span of time”. It got me thinking of the kenya situation where we’ve had quite a few fads in the not so distant past. First came “afro-fusion”, the genre of music that got many waxing lyrical of how they were decolonising their minds and getting back to the motherland’s true musical exploits. Before you could even say mississippi,alas, the same persons had switched to another bandwagon…Hail the entry of “neo-soul”.

This seems to be the latest fad to have afflicted the kenyan populace…now from the leafy suburbs of Kileleshwa to the wanna-be lands of Buruburu we have folks declaring their undying interest in neo soul!! I should clarify that i have nothing against neo soul lovers at all, in fact i’m a neo soul fanatic, i only criticise those that do not see this engagement as a “labour of love”-that it takes dedication to come to terms with a new genre of music like this one.

That it is not enough to know that “Floetry” falls in the neo soul categorization, that one further needs to know that it is a group and not a person, not just a group but friends too….

I must give credence to the likes of Debbie Asila at Kiss fm, the poor girln had not much of a clue when she was slotted to host the reggae show on the station, but she now can proudly give anecdotes like how Movado is actually a true gangsta in lyfe and is just not singing about it….all this comes thru research…poor Seanice had no clue about sports but now hosts saturday sport with the likes of james wokabi at capital fm

what am i saying? Well if you want to seem to be in tune with the latest fads, get to know your thing, if not it will just be a fad

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. ADDRESS TO KENYA ON 21ST JAN 2008

On this day we mark MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY, and as fate would have it, his addresses almost 40 odd years ago seemed to have beeen directed to Kenyans just as much as to Americans!

<><>To RAILA ODINGA AND THE ODM MASSES….
The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not
revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of
futility.

Martin Luther King, Jr., The Trumpet of Conscience, 1967.

Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and
violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge,
aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Stockholm, Sweden, December 11, 1964.

<><><>TO ALL KENYANS “WA TABAKA MBALI MBALI”…
Man was born into barbarism when killing his fellow man was a normal condition of existence. He became endowed with a
conscience. And he has now reached the day when violence toward another human being must become as abhorrent as eating
another’s flesh.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Why We Can’t Wait, 1963.

It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty
important.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Wall Street Journal, November 13, 1962.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies
hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction….The chain reaction
of evil–hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars–must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of
annihilation.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength To Love, 1963.

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values
and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false
and the false with the true.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength To Love, 1963.
Man is man because he is free to operate within the framework of his destiny. He is free to deliberate, to make decisions, and to
choose between alternatives. He is distinguished from animals by his freedom to do evil or to do good and to walk the high road
of beauty or tread the low road of ugly degeneracy.

Martin Luther King, Jr., The Measures of Man, 1959.

<>TO ALL CLERGY….
The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must
be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an
irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, 1963.

how true is that!!! and we end with this verse from the bible that should save us from the brink of anarchy…..

FINALLY, BRETHREN, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE TRUE, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE HONEST, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE JUST, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE PURE, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE LOVELY, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE OF GOOD REPORT; IF THERE BE ANY VIRTUE, AND IF THERE BE ANY PRAISE, THINK ON THESE THINGS.-PHIL 4:8
<><>

TO HELL AND BACK

I’ve agonised over many things this year,i’ve agonised over the title of this post,agonised over whether to make my way to work knowing that i may not make it back to my humble abode, but what has gnawed away at my soul the most( and one i’m yet to logically comprehend) is how brother can rise against brother.

I was in Eldoret when all hell broke loose, the town that the BBC keeps referring to “the western town of E-L-D-O-R-E-T’. If the hosting of Hell is on a rotational basis then i guess Eldoret won the rights to the post election period. In the movie “the usual suspects” verbal klint(Kevin Spacey) makes mention of one “keyser soze“,the devil, i can assure you that many in Eldoret saw “keyser soze” and not many lived to tell it.

Its said that “dead men tell no tales” and its true, that i’m telling this story is a testament to the fact that some good is still left in the world. I must admit that i was in a relatively calm suburb on the outskirts of town, and its also clear that the name i bear on my ID certainly did me no favours in that part of the country.

<><><><>How bad were things? 
Well i think what can be said is that you cannot legislate for some of the events that took place. I mean from where i was to the town centre was a distance of 10km and yet about 15 roadblocks were erected, the scene that comes to mind is that from the movie City of God with lil ‘Ze running the show with his group of hoodlums!

I’d like to think of myself as an enlightened young man, i voted on issues and not tribe, i was with ODM till when i heard the Majimbo issue, that’s when i changed to PNU, I love this country so much that i was willing to back a party that had the support of the former president. We were not ready for Majimbo and the post-election violence has just served to reinforce my suspicions. So to get hounded out of town coz of my perceived political leanings was not so interesting.

The phrase “Internally displaced person” didnt seem to make much sense till it started hitting close home, i mean i had to FLY out of a town in my own country, where we’ve owned property for eons.

I feel better that i got that off my chest. More to come soon.