Gosh, I really am slacking on the blogging front. It's not like nothing's happening- loads are but I just get sucked up by other stuff and so don't get round to blogging. Perhaps it's something to do with the grey days that are fast upon us here. There's something about the greyness that almost seeps into your soul as My talking beginnings muses on his blog.... http://mytalkingbeginnings.blogspot.com/2006/10/sigh.html
Had a good weekend even if the all day rain yesterday made any and every thing that required any energy an unappetizing prospect. I still managed to drag myself to the National Portrait Gallery to meet friends for the David Hockney exhibition that just opened. I just love the man's use of colour- it's so vibrant and warm, but then I like colour. I also admired his photographic collages which made very interesting viewing. I was quite interested in a series that detailed portraits of all the people who had visited his California studio one year, and was struck by the absence of a single black person. But later down a few rooms there were paintings of an African American doctor, a close friend. Should I have noticed, or am I becoming paranoid?
Dinner on Saturday night with friends in their modernist flat in the East End. Crab done in three ways- a souffle, dressed in its shell and as a tart with smoked fish. Delightful. Amazing views of the Thames and fireworks exploding everywhere over London- we debate whether they mark the end of Ramadan or Diwali- no one seems to know for sure.....
I still do not know what to make of the events in Nigeria. Everyone I speak to at home is convinced that there is some grand plan by Obasanjo to foment chaos and render next years elections unworkable. Yet there is very little in the public domain to confirm or deny this. I suppose the people at home are privy to all the little tittle tattle that in Nigeria is often better than any formal media for communicating happenings in government. I do find it strange that only a few months to the elections, all remains so quiet on the campaign and manifesto front.....
The police say they have found the killers of one of the governorship aspirants who was murdered recently in Ekiti State. I would ordinarily congratulate them except that there already seems to be much murkiness and things that do not add up in the alleged confessions. On the subject of murders, it's twenty years this month that Dele Giwa, the journalist was killed by a parcel bomb while Babangida reigned as president. No one has ever been found guilty of his murder. In a few weeks it will be five years since Bola Ige, serving attorney general was killed while Obasanjo reigned as president. No one has ever been found guilty of his murder either. When I think of all the murders that have happened and been solved in the years that I have lived here, I wonder what it would take to just find one set of these Nigerian killers.....
I have just started reading Ahmadou Kourouma's Allah is Not Obliged- a fictional account of life as an African child soldier. It's quite different from Uzodinma Iweala's Beast of No Nation, to which it will no doubt be compared. I'm loving the humour in Allah is Not Obliged and can almost visualise the cheeky war hardened little boy narrator......
It was good to see the veil debate put in perspective. Apparently less than 10 000 women wear the veil.The majority of Muslim women in the UK do not wear the veil. In a country of over 50 million, debating the veil issue surely seems like really really high priority
I want to go and see the Velasquez exhibition and I want to go and see Caroline or Change- the new musical set in civil rights America that's written by Tony Kushner and I want to read the new Ngugi wa Thiongo and I want.....that'll have to do for now
Monday, October 23, 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Really back this time
Okay, so it's been nearly three clear weeks since my last post. Got sent to the US at rather short notice for work and it was pretty hectic so I wasn't really able to post. Not that the dizzying whirl of events in Nigeria and the UK made things any easier- from the debate about Muslims wearing veils and the media brouhaha over Madonna's adoption (or not) of a Malawian boy to the rash of impeachment notices in Nigeria- it's been dizzying to try and keep up. Anyway I'm back now and hopefully will be a bit more regular.
Virgin Atlantic have got it right with their new in-flight entertainment system. I was able to watch a number of fairly recently released films I'd been meaning to see, and the ability to pause, rewind and fastforward each film meant that you didn't have to stay in your seat with your bladder bursting for fear that you'd miss an important part of the film. I watched Scarlett Johansson in The Black Dahlia, a James Ellmore thriller set in the thirties with a suitably complex plot which I often found difficult to follow but the sight of the lovely Miss Johansson more than made up for it. Meryl Streep turned in a sterling performance in The Devil Wears Prada which wasn't a great film..I suppose no one said it was but which was funny. Richard E Grant's WahWah was also good to watch- a tale of a young English boy growing up in Swaziland in the last days of colony there as his parents' marriage falls apart. It's autobiographical and very well made. I was fortunate enough to read his account of making the film- the Wah Wah Diaries almost immediately after watching the film and it was great to gain insights into the challenges that it takes to bring a film from concept to the big screen at a seminar near you.
I'm looking forward to going to see The History Boys- the film of Alan Bennett's play which I went to see at the National two years ago and which had me leaving the theatre musing on my teachers and knowledge and learning and how I have come to be the person I am today. I thought it would be very UK specific but it was a hit on Broadway and has now been made into a film....
While I was away Kiran Desai won the Booker Prize, beating favourite Sarah Waters. I'm looking forward to reading her book especially as I didn't think Waters The Night watch was Booker material, much as I'd enjoyed it.
Looking at the attempted impeachment of Peter Obi in Anambra State, I wonder when the people of Anambra State will say enough. After all that they have endured over the last few years and the way that Obi came to power, having doggedly fought his claim through the courts for three years, you'd think they'd stand up for him. I have met him once in London and he seemed an entirely decent person with the right attitudes and values. Impeaching him will serve no useful purpose. But perhaps the forces against him may find that this is one manipulation too far for the longsuffering people of the state.
There's a ferment in Nigeria and while it may feel uncomfortable I welcome it because I'm hopeful that it portends well for our democracy. As the various players brief and counter brief against each other, the people will hopefully see our "leaders" for what they are...
Although some suggest a gameplan by Baba to create chaos since he failed to secure his third term...we'll see
Virgin Atlantic have got it right with their new in-flight entertainment system. I was able to watch a number of fairly recently released films I'd been meaning to see, and the ability to pause, rewind and fastforward each film meant that you didn't have to stay in your seat with your bladder bursting for fear that you'd miss an important part of the film. I watched Scarlett Johansson in The Black Dahlia, a James Ellmore thriller set in the thirties with a suitably complex plot which I often found difficult to follow but the sight of the lovely Miss Johansson more than made up for it. Meryl Streep turned in a sterling performance in The Devil Wears Prada which wasn't a great film..I suppose no one said it was but which was funny. Richard E Grant's WahWah was also good to watch- a tale of a young English boy growing up in Swaziland in the last days of colony there as his parents' marriage falls apart. It's autobiographical and very well made. I was fortunate enough to read his account of making the film- the Wah Wah Diaries almost immediately after watching the film and it was great to gain insights into the challenges that it takes to bring a film from concept to the big screen at a seminar near you.
I'm looking forward to going to see The History Boys- the film of Alan Bennett's play which I went to see at the National two years ago and which had me leaving the theatre musing on my teachers and knowledge and learning and how I have come to be the person I am today. I thought it would be very UK specific but it was a hit on Broadway and has now been made into a film....
While I was away Kiran Desai won the Booker Prize, beating favourite Sarah Waters. I'm looking forward to reading her book especially as I didn't think Waters The Night watch was Booker material, much as I'd enjoyed it.
Looking at the attempted impeachment of Peter Obi in Anambra State, I wonder when the people of Anambra State will say enough. After all that they have endured over the last few years and the way that Obi came to power, having doggedly fought his claim through the courts for three years, you'd think they'd stand up for him. I have met him once in London and he seemed an entirely decent person with the right attitudes and values. Impeaching him will serve no useful purpose. But perhaps the forces against him may find that this is one manipulation too far for the longsuffering people of the state.
There's a ferment in Nigeria and while it may feel uncomfortable I welcome it because I'm hopeful that it portends well for our democracy. As the various players brief and counter brief against each other, the people will hopefully see our "leaders" for what they are...
Although some suggest a gameplan by Baba to create chaos since he failed to secure his third term...we'll see
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Back again
I cannot believe how long it's been since my last post. And yet so much has happened at work, at home, on the national and the international stages...where do I start
In true English fashion I'll start with the weather- or the lack of it- today's been drab and dark with the pissy kind of rain that never quite seems to make up it's mind whether to fall properly or not. Last week, we did have a tropical, get-drenched-dashing-between-your-car-and-your- front- door type storm which beat down on everything in sight. Hwever because there are no zinc roofs here, I missed the drumming sound which as a child often had me convinced that the roof would soon give way to the insistent pounding...
The Conservatives have just finished their annual party conference and everyone seems to agree that Cameron put in a good performance. The question remains why the UK public- at least in the opinion polls are still very cautious in handing him their wholesale endorsement. To hear his people tell it- we all love Cameron but are skeptical of the Tory party- once famously referred to (by Teresa May its then chairman no less) as the "nasty party". Granted what she really said was that they were perceived as the nasty party but the quote stuck. Others argue that it's his image is everything, content is nothing approach to policies that are making the public wary. Whatever it is, his task of projecting the image of an inclusive caring sensible Tory party certainly wasn't helped by the utterances of some of his members. See http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1799471.ece for what I mean
Have just finished reading a book that I stumbled across in the library last week. It's called Desperately Seeking Paradise: Journeys of a Skeptical Muslim and it was well-written and very informative- tracing the Pakistani-born British Muslim author's journeys as he seeks to make sense of his Muslim faith in a contemporary setting. I found it very educatibve in understanding the history of the various strands in Islam- Shia, Sunni, Ismaili, Sufi and the Islamic contribution to Western civilization. What made the book fascinating for me was that the author wasn't writing from the perspective of one who had repudiated Islam, he was still obviously a committed Muslim, but was quite willing to question that faith. I did bristle at his repeated reference to Nigeria as a Muslim country and felt like firing off a letter to him to put him straight but on reflection, thought I'd just mention it here.....
I'm intrigued by the mysterious blog: stopsexpredators.blogspot.com which played a major role in the scandal engulfing the Republican Congressman Mark Foley who had to resign this week following the emergence of "inappropriate" correspondence between him and underage interns....amazing how it's blown up into such a huge issue. I'm sure all the jostling is to do with the forthcoming Congressional elections....
Saturday morning I woke up to a voice articulately laying out to one of the BBC Radio 4 interviewers the argument that the US and the West were responsible for the fighters who had overrun Pakistan. It turned out to be Pervez Musharraf, the military president of Pakistan and even though I'm no fan of his (I've heard horrid tales of what the military there have got up to in plundering the nation's resources- sound familiar anyone?) his argument was compelling...
At midnight on the 1st of October as I made my way to bed, I realized that it was Nigeria's 46th Independence Day. I still remember how awed we were as children to hear the that India was celebrating its 40th independence anniversary...and now we are 46, perhaps the continuing Obasanjo-Atiku brouhaha are the growing pains of a nation finally stretching towards maturity...
In true English fashion I'll start with the weather- or the lack of it- today's been drab and dark with the pissy kind of rain that never quite seems to make up it's mind whether to fall properly or not. Last week, we did have a tropical, get-drenched-dashing-between-your-car-and-your- front- door type storm which beat down on everything in sight. Hwever because there are no zinc roofs here, I missed the drumming sound which as a child often had me convinced that the roof would soon give way to the insistent pounding...
The Conservatives have just finished their annual party conference and everyone seems to agree that Cameron put in a good performance. The question remains why the UK public- at least in the opinion polls are still very cautious in handing him their wholesale endorsement. To hear his people tell it- we all love Cameron but are skeptical of the Tory party- once famously referred to (by Teresa May its then chairman no less) as the "nasty party". Granted what she really said was that they were perceived as the nasty party but the quote stuck. Others argue that it's his image is everything, content is nothing approach to policies that are making the public wary. Whatever it is, his task of projecting the image of an inclusive caring sensible Tory party certainly wasn't helped by the utterances of some of his members. See http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1799471.ece for what I mean
Have just finished reading a book that I stumbled across in the library last week. It's called Desperately Seeking Paradise: Journeys of a Skeptical Muslim and it was well-written and very informative- tracing the Pakistani-born British Muslim author's journeys as he seeks to make sense of his Muslim faith in a contemporary setting. I found it very educatibve in understanding the history of the various strands in Islam- Shia, Sunni, Ismaili, Sufi and the Islamic contribution to Western civilization. What made the book fascinating for me was that the author wasn't writing from the perspective of one who had repudiated Islam, he was still obviously a committed Muslim, but was quite willing to question that faith. I did bristle at his repeated reference to Nigeria as a Muslim country and felt like firing off a letter to him to put him straight but on reflection, thought I'd just mention it here.....
I'm intrigued by the mysterious blog: stopsexpredators.blogspot.com which played a major role in the scandal engulfing the Republican Congressman Mark Foley who had to resign this week following the emergence of "inappropriate" correspondence between him and underage interns....amazing how it's blown up into such a huge issue. I'm sure all the jostling is to do with the forthcoming Congressional elections....
Saturday morning I woke up to a voice articulately laying out to one of the BBC Radio 4 interviewers the argument that the US and the West were responsible for the fighters who had overrun Pakistan. It turned out to be Pervez Musharraf, the military president of Pakistan and even though I'm no fan of his (I've heard horrid tales of what the military there have got up to in plundering the nation's resources- sound familiar anyone?) his argument was compelling...
At midnight on the 1st of October as I made my way to bed, I realized that it was Nigeria's 46th Independence Day. I still remember how awed we were as children to hear the that India was celebrating its 40th independence anniversary...and now we are 46, perhaps the continuing Obasanjo-Atiku brouhaha are the growing pains of a nation finally stretching towards maturity...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
