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Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra (100 unread)

• August 29, 2010
• 7:19

  Kenya on the move with a New Constitution: Implications for Ghana's own review process?

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra

  Picture from the Kenyan Daily Nation Online showing "Mr Simon Wachira of Mt Kenya Tourism Circuit [being] assisted to climb Mt Kenya, where he placed a copy of the new Constitution on Friday"  Let's face it; as soon as some of us hear "Constitution", we automatically go into snooze mode. That's exactly the attitude I had when I heard that Kenya had a new constitution. I knew there had been a referendum on the constitution, I had even caught glimpses of a glitzy ceremony and was sure there had finally been consensus between President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga but frankly, it did not seem too exciting to me. I could not have been more wrong. Shamefully, it was only after I had listened to young Kenyan points-of-view on the constitution aired on BBC World Have Your Say that I actually became interested in the process and its implications.

  New Constitution Day: Kenyans Jubilating (Hmmm...where are the women at?) Source: AFP via the BBC Not only is this Kenyan constitution cutting-edge for an African democracy, it is particularly poignant coming from a country with a long history of ethnic tension and a very recent history of post-election violence. The constitution also paves the way for similar processes in other African countries. Did you know Ghana is currently undergoing a constitutional review process? In 2010, a Ghanaian Constitution Review Commission was set up. They have commissioners working hard already and also have a pretty helpful website (www.crc.gov.gh).

  
  
  According to their website:
  
  "The Constitution Review Commission was set up by a Constitutional Instrument 2010 (C.I.) 64 as a Commission of Inquiry to conduct a consultative review of the operation of the 1992 Constitution."
  
  
  *Sigh* All those 'C's in that one sentence above may elicit instant boredom but we often forget that a constitution provides the sets of laws/rules by which we are all governed and protected in any democracy. Therefore, it is imperative that we take more interest in any constitutional review.
  Did you know that the Ghana Constitution Review Commission:

  • Has a radio promo? 
  • Is on Facebook and Twitter? 
  • Has a blog? 
  • Has been criss-crossing the country hearing views and suggestions from ordinary people regarding the constitution? 
  • Has an online submission form on their website? 

  Apparently 31,000 submissions have been made so far. This surprises me since I am not sure how seriously people (especially young people) are taking this process.
  I do have questions of my own regarding this constitutional review process:
  

  • Young people (0-24 year olds) form the vast majority of the Ghanaian population and are also those who are going to be most affected by any constitutional changes. How seriously engaged are they in this process? I am talking specifically about the 18-24 year olds? 
  • How are all the submissions being sifted through and narrowed down? 
  • Which suggestions will be deemed worthy to be part of the new constitution or a referendum ? 
  • If a suggestion is not in the government's interest but comes from a sizeable number of people what happens to that suggestion? 

  Anyone out there with thoughts on constitutional reviews and amendments? What suggestion would you have for a new constitution?
• August 25, 2010
• 16:49

  Today on Twitter: #RIPAaliyah

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  Today one of the hottest topics on Twitter, or what we tweetheads call "trending topics", was #RIPAaliyah. In my spaced-out state of mine, I  had first thought people around the world had only just realised that the amazing RnB singer Aaliyah Haughton had passed on. It eventually occurred to me that today marks 9 years since the sad death of Aaliyah. 
  I always remember Aaliyah's death for two reasons:
  1. She  was super-talented and was one of my favorite female RnB singers
  2. New York was just recovering from Aaliyah's death (she was born in Brooklyn and raised in Detroit) when chaos rained supreme exactly 17 days later. 
  

  Aaliyah Haughton: January 16 1979 - August 25 2001

  So here's to always remembering that special talent that was Aaliyah Haughton. She may be gone, but just as Twitter proved today, she has never been forgotten.    "It's been too long and [We're] lost without you/ What [are we] gonna do.." #RIPAaliyah; We still miss you!
• August 23, 2010
• 5:57

  Ghana Politics 101: To avoid unnecessary damage, control your loose cannons

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra

  Cannons at Fort Antonio in Axim in the Western Region, Ghana Source:  My personal album of fabulous pics

  In military history, cannons transformed the art of warfare and were essential artillery for some key battles dating back to Ancient China. Cannons were also vital to naval combat and the phrase 'loose cannon' alludes to the fact that if your cannons were not secure, they were likely to roll about on deck and cause damage to your ship.  It is not surprising therefore that modern English has adopted the term:
  Main Entry: loose cannonFunction: noun: a dangerously uncontrollable person or thingSource: Merriam-Oxford Dictionary Online
  
  Over the years, a number of colourful 'loose cannons' have dotted the Ghanaian political landscape and just like improperly secured cannons, these are usually from one's own armoury. For some reason, some chairmen of incumbent parties have  demonstrated uncanny propensities towards mis-speaking in public. 
  A few years ago, the chairman of the previous administration's party was caught on tape making damaging disclosures that appeared to amount to corruption and graft among his party members. Just this past week, the chairman of the current ruling party made statements about cleansing the judiciary that supposedly could be interpreted as inciting others towards violence.  
  It is not surprising that these comments have sparked a real storm in a tea-cup. 
  Class, the take-home message is simple: if you do not want your political opponents to make mischief of ambiguous statements emerging from your camp, then control your  loose cannons. If you are unable to do so, the ensuing damage could be serious. You would then be forced to field spokespeople who have the excruciating task of explaining the indefensible to the general public. At that point, you just have to hope that the spokespeople are able to use enough circular logic to dazzle the populace and prevent further questions.
• August 22, 2010
• 9:50

  Sign of the Times: Close Elections

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  Sunday morning and the world woke up to find that the just-ended Australian election was inconclusive with no party likely to emerge with an outright majority. At the moment, the current Prime Minister Julia Gillard is attempting to form a coalition government.

  Australian Prime Minister Ms. Julia Gillard (left) and her main contender Tony Abbott Hmmm Tony Abbott looks mysteriously like Tony Blair in this picture Source: BBC Online

  
  Interestingly, this outcome was very similar to the British election of 2010 that resulted in one of the strangest marriages between liberals and conservatives that the world has ever seen. Closer to home, the 2008 Ghana election was the closest in Ghanaian history and probably one of the closest in world history.  

  The BBC Focus on Africa magazine cover that aptly predicted the outcome of the 2008 Ghana election So are close elections the new sign of the time? What do they indicate? Are they a sign of a vibrant democracy or perhaps apathy and ambivalence of electorates across the globe? Food for thought.

  
• August 16, 2010
• 4:03

  Is Young Mario Balotelli part of the Ghana-Deniers Club?

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra

  The victorious Italian national football team (Azzurri) hoisting the World Cup at Germany 2006 Source:  [www.i-azzurri.com]

  Even if you are not a football fan, you may know that a certain Mario Balotelli of Italy has just been scooped up by the millionaire football club, Manchester City. Just in case you did not know, Mario Balotelli is the 20 year old Italian footballing whizz-kid known to have a little attitude on and off the pitch. Mr Balotelli is also known for his smouldering exotic looks. In fact, he is so exotic that if you saw him, you may be inclined to think he looks alot like:
  

  1.  That trotro* mate who refused to give you the correct change on your way to work last week 
  2.  The guy selling DVDs at Adum Market in Kumasi who tried to get you to buy The Ultimate  Steven Seagal collection 
  3.  A cool young guy hanging out with his buddies at Accra Mall 

  Mario Balotelli (nicknamed 'Super Mario') in football action Source: www.goal.com

  So how does a guy that looks so typically Ghanaian end up with such a distinctly Italian name? Is he part of the Ghana-Deniers club that has featured prominent personalities such as pro-wrestler Kofi Kingston formerly of Jamaica now of Ghana? 
  
  
  Well, according to the folks over at Wikipedia, Mario Balotelli was born Mario Barwuah in Palermo Italy to Ghanaian immigrants. Due to his childhood health-problems, his struggling immigrant parents eventually turned him over to social services where he was fostered by an Italian family named the Balotellis. He later legally took the Balotelli name and formally became an Italian citizen in 2008. His contact with his real family is apparently minimal.
  
  
  
  Recently, Mario’s real parents featured in the Italian press   explaining how they lost their son and how they had tried to get him back over the course of 10 years 
  Super Mario came out blazing to lambast his biological parents in an official statement:
  “I have no other recourse than to repeat what I said two years ago: if I hadn’t become the football star Mario Balotelli, they wouldn’t have cared what happened to me."                     Source: Ghanasoccernet.com via Joy FM online
  It appears that young Mario has some deep-seated feelings of abandonment. Interestingly, he was courted persistently by the Ghana Football Association to join the Black Stars, but always stood firm that his dream was to play only for Italy and never for his country of origin. This was despite the fact that some Italians had serious objections to him joining the Azzurri. 
  
  
  But what about his real parents? Is it a case of giving away a lottery ticket with a winning number or parents' honestly yearning for the child they gave up only thinking about his welfare?? It's quite impossible to know now. In the meantime, I would love to see how Balotelli gets along with his Ghana-loving Togolese team-mate Emmanuel Adebayor. Perhaps Adebayor can teach him a thing or two? 

  The always charismatic Emmanuel Adebayor Source: Daily Telegraph online

  **Trotro: A commercial mini-bus that operates in most Ghanaian cities and towns 
• August 05, 2010
• 14:53

  The Beauty, The "Dirty Stones" and Urgent Curriculum Changes needed at Supermodel Finishing School

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  
  
  Let's face it; model Naomi Campbell's long-anticipated appearance at the Charles Taylor war crimes tribunal in The Hague is akin to life imitating art. It is the stuff that actual movies are made of. I can just imagine the synopsis for the upcoming blockbuster...
  
  
  The Beauty, The Despot and the Blood Diamonds
  
  
  
  Our heroine, the forever radiant, always weavelicious international superstar model Miss Rayomie   Rambell escapes the hustle and bustle of life as a jet-setting supermodel to sojourn in the blissfully enchanting African Kingdom of Zamunda. While in Zamunda, Miss Rambell attends a grand banquet hosted by the benevolent King Jaffe Joffer. One of the other guests at the dinner is the evil, conniving dictator of the nation of Mogambo, Kunta Kinte. Mr. Kinte is charmed by the sultry supermodel and presents her with a gift of sparkling diamonds. She graciously wears these on a necklace. Years later, Mr. Kinte is implicated in fuelling a vicious and ferocious conflict in Mogambo's peaceful neigbour, Narnia. This conflict revolves around the control and extraction of diamonds.There is no evidence linking the cunning Mr. Kinte to the vicious civil war and he is just about to get away with his heinous crimes. In the closing scene of the film, Miss Rambell bursts into the international tribunal that is trying Mr. Kinte and demands to be heard by the panel of judges. In a cinematographically  dramatic moment akin to the courtroom scene in To Kill a Mocking Bird,  our heroine tears the diamond necklace off her neck and holds it up declaring that the diamonds were given to her by Mr. Kinte and that they are proof that he was involved in the deadly conflict. There are cheers of joy in the courtroom as victims of the conflict mouth the words "Thank you" and tears of joy roll down Miss Rambell's high sculptured cheekbones. The film closes with Nkosi Sikelel' iAfriKa (God Bless Africa)  playing in the background. Justice prevails as good triumphs over evil.
  CASTRayomie Ramble     -----------------    Kerry WashingtonKing Jaffe Joffer   ------------------   James Earl Jones Evil Kunta Kinte      ------------------   Denzel Washington***
  
  
  
  
  ***Yes, Denzel Washington as the evil despot. After all, we know Denzel can play bad people. Did someone say Training Day? Besides, what's a big black blockbuster movie without Denzel?? What's any blockbuster movie without Denzel? 
  Unfortunately, real-life is more complex and far less polished. As it turns out the 'diamonds' were hardly the proverbial "girl's best friends". Ms. Campbell herself described them as "dirty stones". Moreover,  Naomi Campbell is not quite the Hollywood heroine by blockbuster standards. She is stunning but however, is also notorious for her ability to deliver a mean bitch-slap to her employees as well as a perchance for throwing tantrums and assaulting various people. Who can forget that she actually refused to appear at the tribunal  and eventually did so only when subpoenaed. According to excerpts of her testimony available on the BBC news online website, she said her appearance was "an inconvenience" I think Ms. Campbell must have gotten that word lost in translation! She also went on to explain that she feared for the safety of her family.  
  Perhaps the most surprising revelation  that may have stunned  Africologists and Afrophiles alike, was the following excerpt from BBC online:When asked if she had also believed Charles Taylor had sent the Diamonds; 
  "I assumed it was. I don't know anything about Charles Taylor. Never heard of him before, never heard of the country Liberia before. I never heard of the term 'blood diamonds' before. So I just assumed that it was."
  
  
  
  Clearly, Supermodel Finishing school needs to expand its curriculum to include a little geography, current affairs, decorum and above all altruism.  This way, highly successful alumni  will not go out and make complete asses of themselves in public. 
  
  

  Naomi Campbell oops I mean Kerry WashingtonSource: Star.media.com

  
  
  
  
  
• August 01, 2010
• 23:32

  The Temporarily Relocating Procrastinator

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  One thing I will always regret is that that I took up blogging AFTER my trip to Gabon in 2008. After all, Gabon's beautiful green rolling hills, warm tropical environment and colourful people provide ample fodder for anyone's blog. As did the surreal research commune I was living in where at some point, I was convinced we were participants in some twisted reality television show being broadcast on German television. Moreover, the Gabonese culinary approach i.e. anything-that-moves-in-the-forest was *erm* fascinating. I admit  that  indeed, I did enjoy the little python I had.
  

  That's me at the official Equator line in Gabon. Standing between the hemispheres

  Anyway, I digress, for the next couple of months, I will be leaving the fair shores of Ghana for the Netherlands. Another regret I have is that I was unable to complete a piece on foot-soldiers before I left. Ghanaian political foot-soldiers  that is NOT Dutch ones. Speaking of Dutch soldiers did you hear they have pulled out of Afghanistan? Alas, I digress again. The foot-soldier post has proved challenging because  this group is probably the most dynamic and fluid aggregation on the Ghanaian political landscape today and thus very hard to pin-down and characterise. I can still complete that piece from the Netherlands but it does seem a little disingenuous blogging about Ghana from elsewhere. After all, I need to be surrounded by inspiration from the tropical sun, traffic, flavours and the wonderful glow of Ghana living. 
  
  So what could one possibly blog about from Holland?
  

  • Is it true that it is mainly Western foreign tourists that smoke marijuana in The Netherlands while the Dutch are largely uninterested?
  • Is it 'Holland' or 'The Netherlands' anyway?
  • Leave your bicycle unlocked and it WILL be stolen
  • Why are Dutch people so tall?
  • How long does it take a tulip to grow?
  • Do people still wear clogs in the Netherlands?
  • Dutch Politician Geert Wilders is popular among some and it is not only for his *shocking* blond hair

  
  Okay, I'm being facetious. I'm sure I will find interesting things to blog about! In the meantime, I'm dreaming of Dutch pancakes already. *Hmmmm*
  Delicious Holland Style Pancakes
  
• July 25, 2010
• 3:50

  Third World Living: Mesmerized by Roadworks Part 3

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  I just found out yesterday that Wes Craven is filming the 4th installment of his teen-slasher horror film franchise  Scream. I must admit I was quite a fan of the  Scream films. Scream 1 poked fun at the whole teen-slasher genre but managed to be entertaining and had a brilliant twist-ending. I was pretty sure it answered all dangling questions but then came Scream 2  which sought to prolong the drama while making more money. Finally, there was Scream 3  which for me was like beating a very dead horse with a stick. So you can understand why I was perplexed to find yet ANOTHER Scream film was in the pipeline. Speaking of perplexing horror sequels, early Saturday morning, I was awoken by the deafening sounds of machines  working hard on our street. What?! Roadworks again??!
  If you happen to follow my blog, you will recall that in September last year, our untarred road was finally tarred. Well, not quite. It was indeed too good to be true.The road contractor managed to complete half the road leaving us with a bizarre Yin-Yang pattern:   RoadWorks Part 1: The Half-baked Yin-Yang
  The road contractor mysteriously disappeared and we were left to wait with bated breath for the sequel. Finally, in  January this year we were given  Roadworks Part 2; the memorable sequel: Roadworks Part 2: The Mysterious Yang-Yin Dusty Trail
  Roadworks Part 2 was strange and completely unsatisfying. Alas, yet again  before any questions could be asked, the road contractor had evaporated into thin air! Life went on and seasons changed. Heavy rains came and the shoddy nature of the first two installments of the Roadworks franchise were becoming apparently. Suddenly, this past Saturday, the roar of engines signalled the 3rd installment in the horror franchise: 

  Roadworks Part 3: All Yin and some zen

  Finally, after almost a year, it appears our street is finally uniform. There is zen on our street. But here's a thought; instead of half-baked shoddy work, wouldn't it be better to do a really good job the first time around?  Or like horror film franchises, do we have to keep waiting for yet another installment? Sad to say, but that is why I call it "Third World Living".
• July 18, 2010
• 15:21

  When everthing has to be # -ed: Confessions of a Twitter Addict

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  How well do you know any of the following:

  1. Twitter
  2. Tweet
  3. Followers/Following
  4. Unfollow
  5. Retweet
  6. Trending Topics
  7. @username
  8. DMs 
  9. Twitter is Overcapacity
  10. Verified Account
  11. Justin Bieber
  12. Tweetphoto/Twitpic
  13. Twitlonger
  14. Snaptu/Hootsuite/Nimbuzz/Pixelpipe/Gravity/TweetDeck/UberTwitter/Twaitter
  15. #nowplaying
  16. #MusicMonday
  17. FollowFriday (#FF)
  18. Hope140
  19. Jack Dorsey/Biz Stone
  20. Who.unfollowed.me/Qwitter

  
  So....how well did you fare?
  Scores0 : Clearly you are not into social media and have never heard of Twitter. Looks like I have to break it down. According to the folks over at Wikipedia; "Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers."
  1- 5: So you have heard about Twitter? You probably had a peek at a friend's account but still do not see the use.You are convinced that people join Twitter to find out what Demi Moore (Kutcher) had for breakfast and so you think its pointless.
  6-12: You have a Twitter account. You joined out of curiosity but  yet you still fail to see the use. You can't even remember your username and password.
  13-18: You are on Twitter. You enjoy news updates or occasional words of wisdom from people you follow. You check your account from time to time but can go days or weeks without being on Twitter. You are in a good place.
  more than 18:  You are a complete Tweethead; an absolute Twitter addict  who craves a Twitter fix morning, noon and night.
  Symptoms of Twitter addiction may include:

  • Panic at your inability to log on to Twitter either through phone network malfunctioning, internet downtime or the dreaded ""Twitter is over capacity. Please wait a moment and try again" message

  
  

  • Your number of Tweets exceeds 2000+ even though you have only been on Twitter for a few months

  
  

  • You are on Twitter at odd times of the day: 1am, 3am or 5am 

  
  

  • No one around you understands why you are on Twitter and is still hooked on Facebook or even (tragically) hi5

  
  

  • You use Twitter to find directions to places or get recommendations for movies, restaurants or software

  
  

  • You send messages to friends on Twitter instead of texting them

  
  

  • You start to # everything on #Facebook. You refer to your friends in text messages, facebook or emails as @James and start to restrict your facebook status to 140 characters

  What I'm desperately trying to understand is how I went from seeing Twitter as futile and useless to being a complete Tweethead. I  now have  4,485 Tweets to my credit and counting. Anyway, I have accepted it and I'm off to get my fix. If you are looking for me, you know where to find me! My Twitter homepage
• July 07, 2010
• 17:48

  When Sorry seems to be the Hardest Word: Rambling on about Women in Ghanaian Politics

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  "...It's sad, so sad
  It's a sad, sad situation
  And it's getting more and more absurd....."
  Elton John - Sorry seems to be the hardest word
  Last week, I was running late (popular theme these days) when I happened to see Ghana's Vice-Presidential spokesman on the popular television newspaper review discussion show Good Morning Ghana. It was like deja-vu because the last time I saw Mr. John Jinapor on this show was some weeks ago and AGAIN I was running late for work!
  
   Source: www.ghanabase.com
  On his last appearance, I witnessed how a civil discussion with a female member of the main opposition party Ms. Ursula Owusu, quickly became heated and turned super ugly. Insinuations were made by both parties and the show was taken off the air. Gory details can be read here. Fellow bloggers over at Adventuresfrom had an excellent post on the original encounter aptly entitled Women, Sex and Politics: The Dynamics of Being Labelled a Whore. Definitely worth a read.
  
  So flash-forward to last week, Mr. Jinapor  was on the show again and he announced that he wanted to make an apology. My heart warmed instantly at the noble gesture. Well, that was until I heard his apology! Please read it here. He made no reference to his allusions that some women in politics prostitute themselves to get ahead but rather he emphasized that his apology was directed at  the viewers for having to witness the encounter and the show being terminated early. He totally got it wrong: us viewers LOVED that live exchange! After all, it made for excellent conversations for everyone's working week. 
  So this whole debacle has gotten me thinking. I won't deny that  in Ghana we live in a male-dominated, (more than) slightly misogynistic society but at the same time, this country prides itself in being the prototype for the perfect African society. If we are indeed the Beacon of African Democracy then:
  

  • Why is it that women politicians are often belittled and demeaned?
  • Would a male politician  attack a fellow male politician from an opposing party by making insinuations about his personal life? 
  • Is the fact that society expects women to be nurturing and soft the reason that makes it so hard for women in politics? 

  I had a lot of thoughts about these points. In fact, I also had a lot to say about women attacking fellow women in politics once the men who started the initial fires had long vacated the building. Another time perhaps, another time.
  Interestingly, the greatest test of how we really feel about women in politics comes from the impending challenge of former first lady Mrs. Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings for the flagbearship of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the  2012 election. Although she hasn't exactly declared her aspirations, there are more than a few indications out there. This morning she was also a featured guest on the Joy FM Morning Show. 
  
  Mrs. Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings  Source: Citifmonline
  
  The thought of Mrs. Rawlings as president seems to generate strong sentiments. Here are some thoughts from different people I quizzed:
  
  

  • "I think she is presidential material for sure but I resent the fact that the Rawlings have a sense of entitlement when it comes to Ghana"
  • "She does not respect" 
  • "She has an excellent track record with community mobilisation dating back to the '70s. She is completely capable of pulling this off"
  • "Mrs. Rawlings' biggest obstacle is history"
  • "The people who object to Mrs. Rawlings candidature should really ask themselves the extent to which the fact that she is a woman, a strong hard woman is influencing their dislike in her running for president"

  Hmmm. A lot to ruminate over. In the meantime, I'm going to listen to some Elton John and wait for Mr. Jinapor to render an apology to ALL women. Well, waiting for that is probably like waiting for the 12th of Never! Hopefully a female President of Ghana will come sooner than that.
• July 02, 2010
• 5:09

  **Fever Pitch: Ghana on the brink of making World Cup history and other tales

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
   Source: Daily Guide newpaper
  For football fan-atics like myself, the World Cup is panning out to be deliciously interesting. All expected outcomes are not coming to pass and there have been surprises abundant. The drama is never-ending and its even reaching soap opera-esque dimensions. 
  Here are some delightful headlines:
  *English goal keeper Robert Green and the ball that got away
  *Nigerian midfielder gets over 1,000 death threats over his sending off 
  *France's World Cup fiasco - The Curse of the Irish perhaps?
  *The Curse of the Nike Advert?: All footballers featured never made it past the World Cup quarter finals
  *A strangely disallowed American goal   *A strangely disallowed English goal
  *An off-side Argentinian and a strangely allowed goal 
  *The">[news.bbc.co.uk] media-hyped tale of Two (Boateng) brothers  and their over-hyped epic encounter on opposing sides on the pitch 
  Not only is it drama-filled but it is (supposedly) our time...Africa's world cup. The fact that the Black Stars remain the only African team in the actual competition may make it hard to believe that it is indeed the time for the continent. Currently, our Stars have the incredible burden of the whole of Africa on their shoulders. It has been an absolute delight getting emails and  text messages from friends all over the continent and the world declaring their support for the Black Stars. I just heard that Kenyans are flying Ghana colours and it appears South Africans are affectionately referring to the Black Stars as "BaGhana" - a witty take on  their not-so successful football team "Bafana Bafana". Of course in the case of South Africa, we have to contend with the fact that as soon as we lose Ghanaians will probably be back to being not-so affectionately referred to as "Makwerekwere" (derogatory SeSotho/SeTswana term  used to refer to Black African foreigners in South Africa).
  Back to the Ghana-Uruguay encounter slated for tonight. Is there hope? Could Ghana be trailblazer in Africa yet again? Is it really "Our time" ?BBC Focus on Africa magazine July - September 2010 edition
  
  **Fever Pitch: Okay so I borrowed the phrase from Nick Hornby 1992 novel  of the same title which apparently is an autobiographical account of his lifelong love / obsession with (my beloved) Arsenal football club (The Gunners!). Fever Pitch was later made into a movie starring Colin Firth in an unforgettable lead.
• June 30, 2010
• 5:53

  When Life Imitates Art: Little Nikita for the 2010s?

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  Before young female adherents to western popular culture swooned over Robert Pattinson, before their predecessors were swept away by Leonardo DiCarprio in Titanic, there was River Phoenix. Nobody seems to remember River Phoenix these days. After all,  he was the super-talented older brother of Joachim Phoenix and was phenomenal in the film Stand by Me. Sadly, River died from an accidental (?) drug-overdose in 1993 at the age of 23.
  
  Anyway, back to my original point. In the dying days of The Cold War, River Phoenix starred in a blockbuster film called Little Nikita which also starred the quintessential  veteran actor  Sidney Poitier. The tag-line for the movie was "He went to bed an all-American kid and woke up the son of Russian spies."
  Super quick plot summary: River Phoenix plays an all-American regular teenager  named Jeff Grant. Young Jeff has no clue that his all-American suburban parents are actually Russian "sleeper" spies! Definition of "Sleepers": spies who have assimilated into a society under deep-cover awaiting orders from their country of origin.  
  Back in the day, this film seemed riveting and exciting. Of course in this post-Cold War era, I'm sure it would induce snooze in young teens everywhere. However, just like life imitating art, US authorities have revealed they have  uncovered real "Russian" sleeper cells all over the US!
  
  According the breaking news, 10 people have been arrested  accused of "conspiracy to act as unlawful agents of a foreign government". From intercepted messages, it seems these sleeper spies were tasked to find out information on topics including "nuclear weapons, US arms control positions, Iran, White House rumours, CIA leadership turnover, and political parties."  Apparently they were not really doing a great job on their assignments either!
  
  So it appears that just for a brief moment we have been transported back to the '80s when the Cold War was raging between the East and the West. To the days when Russia was still the USSR, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia as well as East Germany still existed and the late great actor River Phoenix was Hollywood's brightest star with great future promise. Speaking of the '80s, where's Michael Dudikoff? River Phoenix: Frozen in immortalitySource: Palazoo.net
• June 04, 2010
• 17:12

  To describe May 2010 as 'difficult' would ...

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  To describe May 2010 as 'difficult' would be an understatement. It was memorable in the sense that I was pushed towards my maximum endurance limit in many aspects of my life ie work and family. Losses in the family, a challenging and almost impossible to execute fieldwork regime and strains on friendships meant this May was far from mundane. As I type on my mobile phone hundreds of kilometres from Accra, I'm reflecting on how I've become much older and wiser in such a short time. I'm also announcing my return to the blogosphere. After all, life's tragedies and comedies have created ample fodder.
• April 18, 2010
• 15:53

  Moments Only to be seen In Ghana

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  The BBC had this feature called "Only in Africa" which had amusing tales of uncanny encounters from across the continent. At first I thought it would be denigrating and full of stereotypes but I ended finding it quite entertaining.
  The feature reminded me of when I first came to Ghana to live and everyday encounters were 'Only in Ghana' moments. Some left me amused, perplexed and others downright disturbed! Although these moments have become second nature now, a few new gems have come up recently: 
  
  
  
  1. A puzzle that defies logic
  You are working late on some mundane task with a young man who hasn't eaten all day.  The nearest  eatery is situated a 10 minute walking distance away. The hungry young man opts to head over to the eatery. You  decide to help out and hand over your car keys. This would also speed up the process and allow you to leave  earlier. The young man sets off. He returns to the office 45 minutes later!
  2. Beware: our approach to punctuality MAY be contagious! The other week I had a meeting scheduled for 2 pm on a Friday with a young gentleman of Asian persuasion. Around 1:55pm on the day of the meeting, I get a text message from him saying he was coming from the beautiful port city of Tema (about 30 minutes by road) so would be running late due to traffic. I then call up the young man only to find he hadn't left Tema  yet (at 1:57pm) for a meeting in Accra at 2:00pm! Eventually, we rescheduled the appointment for 2pm on another day. On that day, the young'un shows up at 3:15pm with a barrel full of excuses! Later I found out he has lived in Ghana for 6 years. This got me thinking; is our rather flexible approach to punctuality infectious?
    3. Planes, trains and fear of the witches
  Some individuals in Ghana are mysteriously hesitant to tell you when they are planning on traveling abroad. I have always joked that people don't like to announce their travel plans lest they be jinxed , cursed or literally have planes blocked by witches flying alongside on their broomsticks. I'm beginning to think I may be right!
   Just last week I was looking for a young lady who  occasionally works on our research project to discuss an upcoming field trip. She was nowhere to be found. She was last seen doing some "Bumper to Bumper" moves at our office retreat so I figured she may have taken ill during Easter. Turns out Sister-girl had boarded a plane and had jetted out of GH indefinitely two days after the retreat! Well, if she ever comes to me for a recommendation letter, I would definitely have to put down  somewhere "...displayed an inability to articulate her future plans".
  
  4. Riding in cars with Policemen + Machine guns
  Source: www.ghana-net.comHave you ever seen a Ghanaian policeman with semi-automatic rifle flag down a commercial vehicle (trotro) at a busy bus-stop in Accra? Chances are our man in blue is not  out to inspect brakes, check passenger satisfaction or glance through vehicle papers. Most luckily he out to hitch a ride! If that's the case, our policeman and his machine gun are given 'special passenger status' up in front with the driver. I'm quite certain most of these rides are free. After all, who would like to ask a fully-armed policeman for 50 pesewas in fare? Besides, he may just start inspecting brakes, check passenger satisfaction or glancing through vehicle papers.
   5. Taxis that defy understanding. 
  Please consider the two following equations: *Taxi  -  Passengers = Dangerously slow-moving obstacle on the road travelling at 15km/hour
  *Taxi + Passengers = Possessed hell hound dangerously weaving through traffic travelling at 80km/hrIf you try adding Passengers and then subtracting Passengers to the same equation, all you get is a stationary taxi. That's probably the safest taxi to have!
  6. Grumblings at the Visa CentreSpeaking of punctuality and jet planes, I recently went to pick up my passport from one of those Schengen Visa centres. I got there 30 minutes early only to find EVERYBODY else had already assembled there anxiously. The centre started calling names 5 minutes late causing the masses to grumble. So the only time we observe time rigidly is when it has something to do with leaving/escaping form Ghana??! *Sigh* You would thinking we are living in Saigon in 1975 and the Viet Cong are approaching the city! 
  *Sigh* All these scenarios could happen anywhere in the World but alas, I've experienced them "Only in Ghana". Do you have any to share? 
  DISCLAIMER: This post is in no way meant to tarnish or denigrate the image of  the warm, beautiful, vibrant country that is Ghana. I have many "Only in New York" moments to share but I feel these may traumatise and permanently scar my readers. 
• April 11, 2010
• 16:28

  The 2010 Ghana Music Awards: Biased and Prejudiced Observations from an Onlooker who accidentally turned on the television halfway through the Award Show

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
   Source: modernghana.com I had no idea the Ghana Music Awards (GMAs) were going to be held this weekend. I literally stumbled upon the show being telecast live on Ghana Television (GTV). Here are some snippets as seen by me:
  
  1. 70% Female Audience (as per usual):
  I'm continually amazed that the GMAs are oestrogen dominated. When the cameras pan across the audience its usually an array of well-dressed (sometimes tragically under-dressed) females mainly in their 20s. Why so many females? I have a couple of theories to explain the female dominance:

  • Theory A: Women are likely to be the recipients of the freebie tickets that always seem to float around each year

  • Theory B: Small boys can't afford to pay for two tickets so they buy one ticket for their girlfriends and stay home to watch the event on television

  • Theory C: Big men cannot afford....to be seen on TV by their wives in the company of their girlfriends so they buy tickets for their lady friends as well as all her friends!

  Just from what I saw of the audience, I would not be surprised if weave-ons and nails on display actually ran into millions of dollars!
  
  2.The inalienable truth:  Ghanaian audiences are hard to sway
  Since I moved to the shores of my dear Ghana some years ago, I have observed that a Ghanaian audience being treated to new, exciting and unfamiliar music usually responds with yawns, phone-playing and tepid clapping. I saw this first hand when my childhood idol Brenda Fassie took to the GMA stage way back in 2004.The audience went into a comatose state only to be revived later by the local flavour of the moment.
  Sadly, things have not changed much. At the 2010 GMAs, the audience were  treated to the South African group Jozi straight from Ejozi/Egoli/Johannesburg. Almost instantly, coma set in and revival only came later in the form of gospel starlet Ohemaa Mercy who was mysteriously clad in military camouflage. The Jozi guys were such good sports that when they came up later to present an award , they actually said that the GMA audience was the "best [they] have ever performed for".Either these guys are polite, sarcastic or have not performed in front of ANY crowd before. Bless 'em! 
  
  3. Vision in Progress (VIP): Return of the Prodigal sons?
  You put three veterans of Ghanaian hiplife (hiphop + rap) into dashing suits and they can actually look like they are on their way to a corporate meeting. I think VIPs performance was probably the one that left me most impressed. Not only were VIP on fire but I was more surprised about how the audience were really into them. After all, I have been to a few performances in the past where these three plucky guys from Nima were not shown much love at all.
  SarkodieSource: Ghanaweb.com
  4. The King of Tema: Sarkodie
  The biggest winner of the night was the "fastest rapper in Ghana" the self-titled "King of Tema". Young Sarkodie should have also gotten an award for largest entourage.
  It appeared that the King of Tema actually brought the whole of Tema with him including Dr. Duncan of Adom  FM. One couldn't have overlooked Dr. Duncan. He was the guy who had to say something every time  Sarkodie won an award. Now that Sarkodie has signed up with Akon and Konvict music, I'm sure he is either going to have to change his name or risk being called "Sar-Cody" for the rest of his career!
  5. So that's who R2Bees are?!
  A clear sign I'm so not rolling with the times is that it was only at the award show that I was finally educated on who exactly R2Bees (Refuse to be Broke) were. Heard their song
  but didn't put two and two together. Apparently they are representing the Tema Metropolitan Area (TMA) along with the King of Tema. Maybe that's why Mugeez from R2Bees features in Sarkodie's Baby. Finally education!
  
  6. Asem: Ambassador for.... Education??
  
  Speaking of education, bright young thing Asem got an award from the government for his song "School  Dey Be" and was installed as an 'Ambassador for Education'. Very impressive! Alas, it appears that the good 'ol public servants have not educated themselves on some of the other fine works in this young man's portfolio. Asem's lyrical contributions to Richie's song "When I get U" are far from being educational! Well, unless the class is Sleaze-filled songs for a New Generation! Check out the enlightening video here.
  7. Did someone say Jon Germain???
  For song of the year, the last nominee in the category was the TV presenter Jon Germain who has released an album of his own. As a young friend on Twitter said "How does Jon Germain fit into this picture?".It was like he read my mind. I have never been a fan of Jon Germain's presenting talents so I looked him up on YouTube and was actually impressed by his song. Check it out.  Jon Germain Source: www.juizemag.com 
  8. Phrase of the evening "That remembers me.."
  *Sigh* When one of my favorite hiplife artists of all time was  approaching the podium to present an award, his very first hit  was playing in the background. Clearly  overwhelmed by feelings of nostalgia, my hero had an English language slip-up and declared: "That remembers me blah-blah-blah-blah....". This vocabularly slip was met with roaring laughter from  the unforgiving crowd. Poor guy. This is not going to be forgotten for a long time especially since he was looking so hip, happening and fresh from London.  So there you have it. My Ghana Music Awards experience for the year 2010; overlooking many things in my completely biased, slanted and one-sided perspective. Any gems anyone has to share that I missed? Wande Coal? Becca's nonchalant acceptance speech? The ever gorgeous Chris Attoh?
• April 04, 2010
• 18:23

  GLO Literary Event in Accra- *Strictly by Invitation*

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  The Nigerian telecommunication giant, Globacom Limited,  which  touts itself as "Africa's fastest growing telecommunications company" is on  the brink of storming Ghana. Well, I should add that they have been on this very brink for a while now! 'Glo' as the company is called, is probably one of the most advertised companies  in Ghana that does not actually sell any products on the Ghanaian market...
  Despite the lack of availability of Glo products, they are really making their presence in Ghana felt. Apparently, they are a major sponsor of the Ghanaian premier football league and lately, eye-catching Glo billboards are splashed across town featuring some popular Ghanaian celebrities endorsing Glo. Speaking of popular, there's one woman in the billboards I had never heard of and at least 3 different people have asked me who she is. Her name starts with an 'S'. Any clues anyone?
  
  This past week, Glo caught my attention once again. This time, the  Thursday edition of the Daily Graphic newspaper had a full-page advert about an  Evening with Wole Soyinka & Ghanaian Literary Giants with performances by the Senegalese great Youssou N'dour and many others. Sounded tantalizing to me.The Glo Advert 
  
  Some years ago, I had the privilege of partaking in an evening with Wole Soyinka at my undergraduate college. I was held spell-bound by this African luminary with his unapologetic views on African governance, corruption and literature. At the end of the evening, when I had the perfect opportunity to approach Wole Soyinka to gush about the genius of the poem Telephone Conversation or how I got to play Sidi in our English class production of the Lion and the Jewel, I literally froze in my seat.
  
  The Glo evening promised to combine the literary prowess of Soyinka with his Ghanaian counterparts such as Atukwei Okai and Ama Atta Aidoo. Perhaps it would also be an opportunity to (think about) approaching the literary giant for an autograph. As my mind drifted off to the happy reunion, I failed to see the small print at the bottom of the advert with the curious proviso "Strictly by invitation". I say 'curious' because I cannot understand why Glo or any other company would go through all the trouble of publicizing an event that was already closed to the public? Can it really count as a Glo publicity gambit?
  
  Luckily, fellow Ghanablogging  blogger Golda was one of the privileged invitees. I cannot wait to read her blog posts on the event. In the meantime, I'm Glo-ing green with envy!
• March 22, 2010
• 16:33

  World Water Day: Water, Water Nowhere, Nor any drop to drink

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  Water, water, every where,Nor any drop to drink.Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
  
  Today is World Water Day and to  mark this annual event, GhanaBlogging is making the noble effort of highlighting the problem of water in Ghana and the world.
  
  I thought long and hard about the best way to explore water issues associated with Accra life. I thought about pictures of polluted water in choked gutters in my neighbourhood or perhaps a vivid description of the very pungent 'water' my nostrils encountered in the ironically nicknamed Lavender Hill last week. In the end, I have opted for a post on the essential everyday items one needs to tackle water shortage blues associated with living in urban Ghana from my perspective.
  
  Item 1: The Polytank
  
  Polytank is a brand name for a water storage tank that has become a generic term in Ghana. A bit like 'cellophane', 'aspirin' and (believe it or not!) 'heroin'. Polytanks are essential for all homes in Accra. First of all,  not every area in Accra is fortunate to have steady water flow and even in the very rare areas where water flows 24 hours, shortages are inevitable! Some years ago, my 'hood was supposedly such an area but my parents still had the foresight to get a polytank. Our polytank has multiplied into three and these have buffered us from recent water shortages. Interestingly, one problem we recently encountered is not realising that our neighbourhood was griped by water shortages until even our three polytanks finally emptied!The water-tanks that buffer water shortages...well, until they also run out!
  
  Item 2: When the Polytank fails, enter the yellow jerrycan
  
  One of the must-have accessories in Accra at the moment is the bright yellow cooking oil jerrycan affectionately known as the Kufuor gallon. It was during the Kufuor administration that these oil gallons supposedly became synonymous with water shortages but are causing quite the stir lately. I must say they are perfect for water storage. Leaving work after dark, you are always bound to find someone outside nicodemusly filling a car boot full of gallons destined for a water-deficient part of town. During a dire  water shortage a few weeks ago EVERYONE at work had at least one gallon with them!  Some water gallons I caught on my camera phone outside a mechanics workshop I visited today. We told him I was highlighting the problem of water shortages in Accra and he asked if we were journalists...citizen journalists perhaps?!
  
  Item 3: The Water Sachet
  When it hit the Ghanaian scene a few decades ago, water in a sachet seemed like the best thing since plantain and beans. Before the water sachet, water was available in traffic from recycled plastic cups filled by large gourds....apparently. The plastic water sachet is now more of a bane than a boon given the shocking masses  of plastic waste it generates! In fact, in one of my earliest posts I highlighted the work of an amazing company Trashy Bags on tackling the plastic waste problem in Ghana through innovative recycling.
  Unfortunately, sachet water/bottled water is essential as a source of drinking water in any home. Even if you are lucky to have water flowing through your taps can you trust  where your water is coming from?  A friend of mine described how he discovered the dubious water delivered to his home by tanker was mysteriously hard and refused to  lather. In the end he had to wash in sachet water! Let's not even talk about drinking that hard water. 
  Speaking of trust, do we actually know the source of water sachets? A few years ago, an undercover TV  report revealed how some water sachet companies advertising filtered mineral water were actually preparing sachets in people's bathrooms and were neither filtered nor hygienic!  The humble water sachet
  Indeed, unless you have your own private reservoir of chlorinated water, you are bound to be affected in some way or another by water shortages in Ghana. Sadly, solutions are nowhere in sight. Or do you have one you would like to share?
  
• March 21, 2010
• 17:00

  Everybody needs some time away, You heard me say. From your Blog...

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  Okay, that's supposed to be a twist on those Peter Cetera lyrics but I think it adequately reflects that I have been away from the Blogosphere for a while now. Well, not that long but for me it has seemed like an eternity.
  
  The reasons have been quite simply. A quick trip abroad and  a series of meeting served as a reality check/ (rude) wake up call; my procrastinatory ways were in need of curbing. I think that's the simplest way of putting it.
  Ironically, the lightning bolt realisation came at the same time my workplace decided to institute  the Mother of all Firewalls. Everything is now blocked; gmail, blogger, twitter, facebook, certain google searches. In fact, I'm just waiting for them to block google and implement a no talking rule. 
  So anyway, I'm back. Well, then again, not really. I'm blogging cautiously at designated times and also on very limited internet connectivity. In the meantime, I have also developped a serious twitter addiction.  
• February 21, 2010
• 15:30

  A Nation under Fire: Moving Beyond 'Happenstance', 'Past coincidence' to 'Enemy Action'???

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  "Once is 'happenstance'. Twice is 'coincidence'. Three times is 'enemy action' "-Mr Auric Goldfinger, from the film GoldfingerGoldfinger about to experience his first encounter with 007 via earpiece. At this point he was far from suspecting 'enemy action'
  
  If you happen to be in the Beacon of African Democracy (Ghana) then you know that aside from the usual politricks, poor utility service delivery and sweltering heat, our nation is being plagued by mysterious fire outbreaks:
  
  
  21 October 2009: Fire at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  Last year, the 10 storey Ministry of Foreign Affairs was transformed into a towering inferno by a blaze that completely razed the entire building and all its contents. Aside from extensive damage costing millions of dollars, documents dating back to independence we turned into ash.
  
  
  19 January 2010: Tema Oil Refinery Fire
  A fire outbreak at the nation's premier oil refinery saw the main loading dock up in flames. The fire was eventually contained but  still resulted in the tragic deaths of two people.
  
  
  14 February 2010: Fire at the Rawlingses' Residence On Valentine's day, the nation was aghast to hear that the official residence of Ex-President Rawlings was completely gutted by a fire that started in the early hours of the morning. The fire destroyed their possessions as years of memories were lost forever.
  
  Late last week, the tragedy of this event was eclipsed by a curious incident involving a young man named Nana Darkwa Baafi and the spokesman of the Ex-President, Kofi Adams. Overnight, Mr. Baafi went from zero to hero while Mr. Adams  went from zero to  *erm* zero. The incident also managed to throw the spotlight on questions surrounding freedom of speech in Ghana.   17 February 2010: Fire at the Ministry of Information A fire started at the Ministry of Information but was luckily put out by vigilant staff. Speaking of the Ministry of Information, are they still running their Facebook interactive sessions or did these (excuse the pun) go up in smoke?
  21 February 2010: Fire at Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC)A fire believed to be the result of a power surge problem was contained by the Ghana Fire service preventing what could have been a major outbreak at our nation's national broadcaster. 
  
  So are all these fires simply a result of archaic electrical wiring combined with frequent power outages and surges? Are we past 'coincidence' and now in 'enemy action' territory?
  
  Interestingly, the outgoing Minister for Information Mrs. Zita Okaikoi has her own take on the matter which she expressed on the popular Accra radio station Citi FM last week:
  
  “I strongly suspect foul play. It is no longer an accident or a coincidence. It can no longer be a coincidence that almost everyday there is one fire or the other, I am ruling out coincidence at this stage because it is no longer a coincidence that we are having these fire outbreaks”
   
  Clearly, Mrs. Okaikoi has ruled out 'coincidence'. Could this be the work of a fire-starter? A (really) twisted fire-starter?
  
  
  
  Could there be an instigator out there?!
  
• February 16, 2010
• 14:55

  Movie Making on an Accra Street: The Gawker's Paradise

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
    Movie-making on a dusty street in Accra
  Being a curious, nosy gawker, when I see a crowd of people gathered I instinctively stop and stare.  You would be appalled to see the effect a street brawl has on me! So when traffic was held up on a dusty road in my 'hood  2 weeks ago, I just had to pull to the side of the road  to satisfy my curiosity. There was a small crowd gathered and all I could see up ahead were some people making strange bodily motions on the side of the road near a parked car. They appeared to be expressing elements of surprise at the car's contents. As traffic was waved on, my eyes fell on a camera, an overhead microphone and an actor I have seen in that Ghanaian TV series Sun City. A movie was in motion! I was excited since I think this is the first time I have stumbled onto a set anywhere in the world. People I know always seem to be in some fast-food restaurants when one Nigeria-Ghana film collaboration or another is being made but never me. In other parts of the world they use paid extras to decorate the scene while in our neck of the woods we use real people! Do you have any experiences walking in on a movie or television series set?
• February 11, 2010
• 4:53

  First Strides into Freedom: 11 February 1990

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  It has been 20 years since one of the most phenomenal events in modern history occurred; the release of Mr. Nelson Mandela from prison. The exact sequence of that day's events are jumbled in my mind but I clearly remember the euphoria and excitement as we huddled around a television  set in our school in Swaziland. We were glued in awe and silence as Mr. Mandela took his first steps into freedom after 27 years of incarceration.
  11 February 1990: Mr. Nelson Mandela greets the crowd outside
  Victor Verster Prison, Paarl, South Africa
  Source: www.anglonautes.com
  I could ramble on about the significance of this day but  instead I'm leaving that to the lyrics of the pop idol kids like me growing up in Southern Africa worshipped; the (late) great, irrepressible Brenda Fassie (a.k.a MaBrr). Brenda Fassie's song Black President was originally released in 1989 (5 years before Mr. Mandela even became president). The song was  promptly banned by the apartheid regime. Ludicrous as it may sound today, the  paranoid apartheid dons used to ban everything; books, songs and even people!
  Black President
  by Brenda Fassie (3 Nov 1964 - 9 May 2004) 
   
  The year 1963
  The people's president
  Was taken away by security men
  All dressed in a uniform
  The brutality, brutality
  Oh, no, my black president
  Him and his comrades
  Were sentenced to isolation
  For many painful years
  For many painful years
  Many painful years
  Of hard labour
  They broke ropes
  But the spirit was never broken
  Never broken
  Oh, no, my, my black president
  He broke ropes
  But his spirit was never broken
  Never broken
  Oh oh oh, my presidentNow in 1990
  The people's president
  Came out from jail
  Raised up his hand and said
  'Viva, viva, my people'
  He walked the long road
  Back, back to freedom
  Back, back to freedom
  Freedom for my black presidentLet us rejoice for our president
  Let us sing for our president
  Let us pray for our president
  Let us sing, let us dance
  For Madiba give us freedom
  We thank you Lord
  For listening to our prayers
  Night and day
  Oh oh oh, my presidentMadiba My president
  I will die for my president
  I will sing for my presidentI will stand and say
  Viva, viva, viva, viva, viva, viva© Brenda Fassie  Source: museke.com  
  
  Later in 1990, Nelson Mandela made an unannounced visit to my school while on a trip to Swaziland. I still kick myself for opting to go to town that day!
• February 05, 2010
• 3:16

  Kofi Kingston; the Jamaican Wrestler from.... Ghana?

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
   Jamaica's own son Kofi Kingston in a rich display of national colourssource: wrestlingvalley.org
  Back in 2008, the BBC featured the fascinating story of Kofi Kingston; a professional wrestler claiming to be the first Jamaican wrestler with the multi-million dollar franchise the  World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
  
  To be frank, I have not watched the WWE since it was the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) before those pesky legal problems with the other WWF (World Wildlife Fund for Nature). Back in those days, the hottest wrestlers on the bill were The Undertaker, Bret 'Hitman' Hart and Shawn Michaels! Nevertheless, I was impressed that there was  some young Caribbean representation in this eerily popular franchise. But...

  • Apparently Kofi Kingston spoke with the worst Jamaican accent known to man
  • Kofi's real name is Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah which sounds mysteriously like he was born on a Friday and hails straight from the hinterlands of Ghana
  • Although  a large number of Jamaicans can trace their ancestry directly to Ghana, Kofi Kingston looks uncannily like dozens of Ghanaian guys I know or see on the streets of Accra  EVERYDAY!
  • Kofi's mum was head of the Ghanaian-American Association and she claimed that Kofi was born in Ghana and not Jamaica.

  So it appeared that poor Kofi Kingston was facing a cringe-worthy corporate-fueled identity crisis! Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I randomly tuned into the WWE on that new TV station eTV Ghana. Just as I was about to hop to another channel I heard: 
  "...hailing from Ghana, West Africa...Kofi Kingston!"
  What? What happened to Trenchtown? What happened to the land of Bob Marley and reggae? According to the good people at Wikipedia, Kofi Kingston has been billed as coming from Ghana since October 2009.
  So what brought about this change? 'Change' may just be the key word. Could the ephemeral spotlight shone on Ghana by  the Obama family visit in July 2009 have had a ripple effect? Very possible.
  Speaking of change, since the whole Jamaica facade has  been dropped, isn't Kofi in need of a new ring name:
  "Kofi Accra" ?"Kofi Tamale" ?"Kofi Kumasi" ?"Kofi Koforidua" ?  "Kofi Kintampo" ?
  I like the sound of Kofi Kintampo!
  Those finely-toned buttocks could only be of Ghanaian origin!Source: wikipedia
• January 27, 2010
• 8:47

  Blogging Endorsement from my workplace?

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  After 5 grueling days working outside of Accra, I  stumbled into work on Tuesday and was delighted to hear that our new staff IDs were ready. Seems like the people at work are regular followers of my blog and decided to drop my surname outright. I'm taking this as an endorsement of my procrastinatory ways! 
  
  
   I feel like Angelina Jolie !
  
  
• January 18, 2010
• 15:26

  He's the Gaffe-r!: Pat Robertson and his 'Pact with the Devil'

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  Once a upon a time in the Kingdom of Swaziland, the folks in charge of programming at the state television station decided that controversial televangelist Jimmy Swaggart on Sundays was not sufficient for the spiritual nourishment of the people. 
  
  
   Jimmy Swaggart in one of his trademark weepy moments. This may have been the one he admitted to frequenting a commercial sex worker. That was one episode I missed! 
  Source: bbc.co.uk
  
  
  So somewhere in the mid-80s, Swazi TV added a daily early evening offering of the religious programme The 700 Club. Children like me were shattered since we would have preferred more Transformers, GI Joe or Care Bears but instead got televangelist Pat Robertson sitting on a couch talking about things we did not quite understand. He seemed pious, sincere and very spiritual.  (Above) Pat Robertson and his 700 Club panelists. Source: [www.payer.de]
  
  
  More than 20 years later, the same Pat Robertson has resurfaced on my radar. This is because, from the comfort of his Christian Broadcasting  Network base in Virgina, he has offered some 'helpful' observations regarding the real reason behind the recent earthquake in Haiti. Unlike what many of us may have thought, it had nothing to do with nature but is all to do with the Haitian revolution that started in 1791 and saw the establishment of the first black republic.
  
  
   Depiction of Haitian Revolution
  Source: Wikipedia
  
  Mr. Robertson's comments are reproduced in a Reuters blog as follows:
  
  “...They were under the heel of the French … and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, ‘We will serve you if you’ll get us free from the French.’ True story,” Robertson said in a matter-of-fact tone on the broadcast.
  “And so the devil said, ‘OK, it’s a deal. .. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another,” he said.
  
  This statement led many on Twitter and Facebook to conclude that either Pat Robertson is:
  

  • Battling senility
  • Smoking *very hard* narcotics or 
    
  • Was there when this pact was made
    

  At first I thought it was all a joke but fortunately the broadcast is on YouTube. Is Mr Robertson...
  
  

  • suggesting that slaves rebelling against slave-owners  was morally wrong?
  • saying all Haitians and generations to come are cursed?
    
  •  reinforcing the old notion popular among racist bigots that black people are cursed?

  
  
  Pat Robertson
  Source: Sikh Times Online
  Interestingly, Pat Robertson is no stranger to  nonsensical statements. Time Magazine online has a wonderful piece on the Top 10 Pat Robertson Gaffes. "Top 10"  suggests there are many more gems out there. All I can say is thank goodness us kids did not understand what Mr. Robertson was saying back in the '80s.
  
• January 14, 2010
• 10:08

  The Great Television Purge and the Productive Worker Effect

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  
   Random Television
  Source: businessweek.com
  Yesterday, while listening to Haiti news updates on the BBC, I caught part of an interview with the Ghanaian Deputy Minister for Information Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah about the latest Presidential directive to ban television sets from government offices .The aim of  the directive is to  increase productivity among government workers putting them on par with their private sector counterparts. 
  
  
  
  I was particularly delighted to hear about the television-off initiative. After all, how many times have I gone to a government office to find civil servants completely entranced by a tepid plot involving Desmond Elliot/Ramsey Nouah/Emeka Ike desperately trying to woo Mercy Johnson/Stephanie Okereke/Genevieve Nnaiji ?
  
  
  The expectation appears to be that as soon as the last television is switched off, workers nation-wide will suddenly exclaim:
  
  A. "What? No more Juana la Virgen rerun reruns to enjoy? Well I guess I will just get to that pile of documents I have to review for urgent action right away!"
   
  B. "No more riveting Naija movies to relish? Why don't we work on those reports so that the school contracts can be awarded next week?"
  
  
  
  According to the government, there is a thin line dividing productivity between government and private sector workers. On this line appears to lie a television set. What I'm wondering about is whether the government has done a survey to explore factors leading to the purported low work-output among civil servants. Aside from television sets have they also taken into consideration ways to increase productivity such as:
  
  

  • Better remuneration/incentive packages
    
  • Turning off radios/banning newspapers/banning discussions
    
  • Inflexible goal-oriented approaches 
  • Strict structured supervision
  • Shorter lunches 
  • Avoiding workers going out on errands that take all day 
  • Lighter lunches (I rambled on about this in one of my earliest posts!)

  
  Post-lunch siesta in an office without televisions!
  
  The list is endless but then again I'm also guilty of talking without supporting evidence from a study! In the meantime, the televisions will go off and we are all waiting patiently to see if there are any resultant 'productive worker' effects.
  
  
  
• January 13, 2010
• 3:45

  Catastrophic Earthquake in Haiti!

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  
  Building completely destroyed 
  Source: Lisandro Suero/AFP/Getty Images
  
  Woke up this morning to the devasting news that Haiti had been hit by an earthquake of magnitude 7.3. It is being described as Haiti's worst earthquake in 2 centuries. Hundreds are feared dead and out of a population of 10 million, 3 million will be affected. The focus is now on search and rescue with the US government providing assistance. My heart goes out to all Haitians at this difficult time.
  
• January 12, 2010
• 3:11

  Tainting the Beautiful Game

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  The past weekend was a harrowing one for African football and Africa in general. Just to think it was all supposed to be about  the mounting excitement in anticipation of the glorious Africa Cup of Nations. 
  
  Yet, last Friday, disaster struck with  the tragic attack by gunmen on the Togolese national football. Three people were left dead and several wounded. Some onlookers were learning for the first time about the existence of the volatile Angolan enclave of Cabinda while others (I'm sure)  were discovering that 'Angola' did not only refer to the Louisiana State Penitentiary! 
  
  
  
  
   Togo Team Captain Emmanuel Adebayor 
  
  Source: The Gunning Hawk  
  
  I felt particularly saddened for a number of reasons. Aside from the needless loss of life there is the fact that Togo is our neighbour. Also, I can't help but feel bad for my Angolan friends who were excited that a positive spotlight  was to be shone on their re-emergent and rebuilt  nation. Finally, (completely frivolously), I have a huge crush on the young 6 ft 3  captain of the Togo national team Emmanuel Adebayor who remains *divine* despite his antics on the field.
  

  The future father of my children Adebayor in a misunderstanding with his former Arsenal teammate  van Persie
  Source: thisislondon.co.uk
  
  
  
  My entire weekend was spent following whether Togo would stay on BBC and Twitter. It has now become apparent that Togo is out of the Africa Cup of Nations  but there are a couple of issues that are still bothering me:
  
  
  

  • 'Highway to the Danger Zone'?

  Why were Togo traveling by road despite the  supposedly well-documented insurgency problem in the area?
  
  

  • The English Premier League and Ownership
    

  For years some English Premiership club bosses have disliked the Africa Cup of Nations because it involves releasing 'their' African players for national duties in the middle of the football season. After the  tragic incident , the manager of the premiership team Hull City Phil Brown made the shamelessly opportunisitic move of the weekend by demanding that 'his' players should come back 'home' to England. He was not the only one. This got me really confused. Don't these players have national allegiances first and foremost?
  
  Secondly, do the clubs actually own these players body and soul? Is English premiership football akin to slavery? Extremely well-paid slavery that is. Luckily, other managers such as Arsene Wenger of (my) Arsenal have alot more perspective as well as respect for African football.
  
  
  

  • '2010 World Cup question marks after Togo attack'
    

  The delightful Phil Brown of Hull City is also one of the people making the curious link that the attacks in Angola somehow have implications for World Cup security in South Africa. I could have sworn that there were 1000s of miles between Cabinda and South Africa but I may be wrong.
  
  
    Mr. Phil Brown of Hull City himself
  
  Source: thisislondon.co.uk
  
  If we were to equate events in Cabinda to security fears in South Africa, then that would mean the greatest threat would be from insurgents operating in the Republic of South Africa.  Of course the only separatists existing in South Africa are White supermactists agitating for a self-governing white homeland. Fascinating. Hopefully they don't have plans to taint The Beautiful Game.
  
  
• January 08, 2010
• 14:06

  Third World Living: Mesmerized by Roadworks Part 2

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  
  I have always been excited by make-over programmes. You know the type with the sad-looking,  dowdy, badly-dressed person in a pathetic "Before" shot who is magically transformed into a happy-looking fabulous person in a glossy "After" shot. So when road work started on our street back in August 2009, I longed for that beautiful "After" shot. It was not meant to be. Instead, the road was left half-done, half-baked and  fully shoddy. Voila:
  
  
  
   Our Street: The Before Shot 
  
  Suddenly, around New Year's, we heard the rumble of engines outside. Lo and behold, we were about to ring in the New Year with our road *finally* complete! 
  
  
  Alas, it was too good to be true. Instead of re-doing the tarred and making a uniform road, the good 'ol contractor was sure to just tar the un-tarred portion leaving the road still very shoddy.
  
  
   Our Street: The After Shot 
  
  It has been a week and there's no sign of the road contractor. Apparently, a crew was supposed to sweep the road to make it look slightly presentable. However, a tractor and some equipment were abandoned on the street. Maybe I should hot-wire them and use the tractor to sweep our very dusty street myself!
  
• January 01, 2010
• 10:24

  Happy New Year! Welcome 2010!

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  I must admit I stumbled into 2009 without a plan and within the blink of an eye, the year was over!
  
  Is it really possible that an entire decade has just come to a close? For me the thought was daunting. While I was trying to come to terms with the end of an era, I came across a high school friend's facebook status:
  
  "In the past decade, I graduated from university, fell in love, got marrried, birthed two beautiful boys, found meaningful work, and bought a home. This may have been the best decade yet! "
  
  Although we may have started at the same point, for some of us our journey through the decade cannot be summed up in a few beautiful sentences. For some of us, visibility on the road ahead was not always clear. We may have encountered major potholes and also, may have taken interesting diversions off the path. Even now, where the road ahead is taking us may not also be so certain.
  
  Despite so many uncertainties, there is something about 2010 that I cannot help but be optimistic and excited about. Maybe its the thought of the world's spotlight being on Africa not because of poverty, war, famine, corruption and crime but for the love of The Beautiful game. In 2010 I have resolved to be more focused, to be more organised but at the same time enjoy life alot more. Wishing you all a peaceful, prosperous and productive 2010. May it be a year full of hope, joy, possibilities and love. NB: This post was generated using my phone so apologies if it comes out looking dodgy.
• December 19, 2009
• 13:57

  New York Movie Prices in Accra?

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  
  We were all set to see the film Avatar tonight. It had great reviews and seemed like a lovely diversion from the gloomy Christmas spirit of 2009. Where else in Accra can one see fresh releases such as Avatar on a wide-screen with crystal-clear surround sound but at the Silverbird Cinema at the Accra Mall? 
  
  Any  Silverbird regular knows that they charge GHC10.00 ($7) for a movie which many people consider quite steep. I was among those "many people" but had come to accept that the price wasn't coming down anytime soon. My first trip over to Silverbird to see Quantum of Solace was so enjoyable I blogged about it.
  
  
  Anyway, I had trouble finding movie times for Avatar online so en route to Tema this morning, I stopped by the Accra Mall. I found the perfect movie time (6:05pm) but just when I was leaving, my eyes fell on a small notice at the empty ticket desk. It read something like: 
  
  
  "Due to circumstances beyond our control -blah-blah-blah- management would like to announce effective 18th December 2009 the following increases in ticket prices...."
  
  
  Indeed. Adult tickets are now going for GHC 15.00 ($10.71) while there are discounts for students, senior citizens and children. What?!! Suddenly, Avatar at GHC15.00 without drinks and popcorn did not seem worth it! I called up Daixy whom I was supposed to see the film with and told her about the price hike. She was at the mall later and called me back to confirm that I was not hallucinating when I read the notice, there was actually a 50% price hike.
   "Well", she said "We can always go dressed as Seniors!". I laughed but hmmm maybe it is not such a bad idea!
  
  
  Out of curiosity, I went online to see how much Avatar would cost at  AMC Empire 25 in the middle of Times Square New York. You get the full movie experience plus the hustle, bustle and bright lights of the city that never (ever) sleeps!
  
  
  
  Watching Avatar tonight at the AMC Empire 25 would set you back $12.50. If you were to take the subway into the borough of Brooklyn, you could watch it there for $9 at the Bay Ridge Alpine Cinema. Does the Silverbird price hike sounds like a case of New York movie prices in Ghana?!
  
  
  In defense of Silverbird, I do understand that they are MAJOR costs associated with bringing a brand-new release such as Avatar to Ghana. The company has to seriously recoup on their costs. However, I'm still wondering... doesn't raising the price of tickets by 50% scare away a number of potential customers who would be helping with the cost recovery? Has the Silverbird management carefully considered that raising the price to this level will not affect their core market? Perhaps that is the case. Clearly, I am not part of their target market. I would rather be watching a film at New York prices in New York than watching a film at New York prices in Ghana at a Ghanaian salary! 
  
  So how are people entertaining themselves in Accra these days? Am I the only one suffering from persistent acute boredom? Hmm... is it too late to make it to the Samini Experience Tour tonight?
  
  
• December 17, 2009
• 14:56

  Sinterklaas is coming to town: The most cringeworthy time of the year!

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  
  Every year around December 5th, the Dutch celebrate 'Sinterklaas' or the feast of St. Nicholas. St Nicholas was a bishop living centuries ago and is the patron saint of children and sailors. He is also the predecessor of that jolly fellow with  the white beard that we know as Santa Claus or Father Christmas. I spent Christmas 2007 in the Netherlands  and was surprised to find that  'Sinterklaas' is a popular celebration for Dutch children. I was even more shocked and appalled when I set my eyes on Santa's  little helpers.
  
  Historically, St. Nicholas was accompanied by black servants so as part of the Sinterklaas celebrations, Dutch people dress up as Santa's helper Black Pete (Zwaarte Piet). Around the time of Sinterklaas you are likely to find dozens of people wearing 15th Century garb, a black curly wig, black face paint, red lipstick and  of course gold bling. In the Netherlands they call it harmless fun for children, in America they call it Blackface. Blackface in 19th/early 20th century  America was basically white actors impersonating and caricaturing black people in popular performances called Minstrel shows. Such performances were laden with stereotypes of clappy,  happy black people who were always dancing, singing, perhaps nibbling on some watermelon. You know, all the things us black people luuuv to do!
  
  So back to Sinterklaas in the Netherlands, was I more distressed that this archaic practice was still  being carried out with such glee in one of the most liberal parts of the planet? No, I was far more bothered that nobody found anything wrong with it!! According to the Dutch, there is no racial element in the  Black Pete portrayals and he could be any colour; yellow, green or purple. I also annoyed  that people told me that I was offended because I was too Americanized and had become overly-sensitive as well as politically correct. So my question is, would you find Black Pete offensive? 
  
   Black Petes in Leiden The Netherlands, 2007
  
  
• December 15, 2009
• 14:45

  Real Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  
  I should admit straight away, I really did not like the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I found it loooonnng , sleep-inducing and utterly confusing. But... I did find the concept of being able to erase someone or painful memories from your mind really appealing! Like life imitating art, scientists have actually been able to make erasing specific memories possible in rats. Other science types have gone further and been able to do the same thing in humans using chemical-free behaviour therapy.
  
  At first I thought it was a great idea but now I'm alot more skeptical. Aren't memories good for our learning and development? Don't bad experiences, bad people, bad relationships create danger signals in our head and help us avoid making the same mistakes twice? What memories would you earmark for deletion?
  
• December 09, 2009
• 3:36

  Finding Hidden Tracks: A Nation Progressing or Regressing?

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  Work is preventing me from procrastinating. Or is it procrastinating is preventing me from working? Regardless, I seem to be caught in a befuddling vicious circle.
  
  
  Anyway, two days ago, we went on a work-related field trip to the town of Nsawam 30 minutes north of Accra . Nsawam is famous for:
  

  • Being the first large town in the Eastern Region on the Accra - Kumasi road
    
  • Scary high volume traffic
    
  • Pineapples. Mmm...love that Blue Skies juice
    
  • An infamous medium security prison
  • Being the place where trains come from. 

  No, they don't make trains in Nsawam but if you happen to live anywhere near a railway track in Accra , you may catch a glimpse of a rusty locomotive chugging slowly past. The train apparently starts in Nsawam and ends in Accra.
  
  On a map I got from the Ghana Survey Department (above), I noticed that the railway line did not end in Nsawam  but seemed to be heading north beyond Nsawam right off the map. Where was it going? 
  
  
  As we drove along the Densu River in the area north of Nsawam, I wondered "where the @#$@#$# is that railway line?". Finally, a nice lady who took us around one community pointed out the railroad. We were actually walking on it:
  
  
   The dead, gone and long-forgotten railway line  
   
  
  Apparently, in its heyday, the railway line used to run all the way to Kumasi. That was decades ago! Imagine; decades ago we had a railway line bringing  fresh produce from that place they call The Hinterlands into Accra. Alas, that does not happen anymore. Produce is brought strictly by road.
  
     
  Long abandoned railway station on the old Nsawam - Kumasi line 
  
  This has gotten me reflecting; as a nation, is Ghana slowly progressing or just rapidly regressing?
  
  
  
• December 01, 2009
• 4:12

  World AIDS Day 2009

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  
  Some have observed that there is growing global indifference when it comes to the fight against HIV/AIDS even though the epidemic continues to rage on. As part of World AIDS Day 2009, I just wanted to highlight some figures from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV (UNAIDS) to reflect on how the HIV/AIDS epidemic has impacted on our world:
  
  

  • Since the beginning of the epidemic, almost 60 million people have been infected with HIV and 25 million people have died of HIV-related causes.

  • In 2008, some 33.4 million [31.1 million-35.8 million] people living with HIV,
  • 2.7 million[2.4 million-3.0 million] new infections and
  • 2 million [1.7 million-2.4 million] AIDS-related deaths.

  • In 2008, around 430 000 [240 000-610 000] children were born with HIV, bringing to 2.1 million [1.2 million-2.9 million] the total number of children under 15 living with HIV.

  • Young people account for around 40% of all new adult (15+) HIV infections worldwide.

  • Sub-Saharan Africa is the region most affected and is home to 67% of all people living with HIV worldwide and 91% of all new infections among children.

  • In sub-Saharan Africa the epidemic has orphaned more than 14 million children

  Sobering facts and harsh realities. 
  
  
  Also in the news about HIV/AIDS in Africa:
  
  

  • South Africa's Jacob Zuma praised for new AIDS approach
    

  • South African army fights HIV stigma by allowing HIV positive South African soldiers to be  to be deployed overseas if they pass a battery of fitness tests.
    

  
  

  • Uganda proposes death penalty for HIV positive gays. 

  • Women and girls remain the worst affected by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for 60 percent of the overall HIV infections.
    

  Progression and regression in the fight against HIV on the continent?
  
• November 30, 2009
• 4:11

  Celebrating 10 years of (the other) Nana Kwaku Duah

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  
  Otumfuo Osei Tutu II swearing the oath of allegiance to Asanteman [Ashanti nation] in 1999
  Source: A Handbook on Asante Culture (Coverpicture) by Mr. Osei Kwadwo.
  
  In 1999, Nana Kwaku Duah ascended the Golden Stool as the 16th Asantehene (King of the Asantes/Ashantis) taking the title Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II. Earlier this year, the 10th anniversary of  the event was celebrated with great pomp and pageantry in Kumasi. Interestingly, it was also in 1999 that a young fresh-faced Nana Kwaku Okyere Duah burst onto the Ghanaian music scene with his debut album Philomena. This other Nana Kwaku Duah took the title 'TicTac'. 
  
  The young TicTac on the Philomena cover sleeve
   
  
  TicTac's Philomena holds a special place in my heart because it was the first hiplife (highlife + hiphop) album I  bought. Correct me if I'm wrong but the  title track, Philomena (featuring Obrafuor and Nana Quame) is about a girl with excess body hair in need of an appointment with a Gillette razor (?). Hmmm, despite the allure of this song, my personal favorite from the album was the second track K.K.B.K featuring Daasebre Gyamena.
  
  So why am I waxing lyrical about TicTac? Well, this past Saturday I randomly turned on snoozy afternoon TV and happened to catch TicTac's new video Bosoe featuring KeyNote of Nigeria. Although I'm not familiar with the collective works of Mr. KeyNote, I must say I was quite impressed by this English, Twi and Yoruba infused track. 
   
  Above: Bosoe TicTac Featuring KeyNote
  TicTac has lost the baggy clothes in favour of more trendy threads. Love the hair too. 
  
  
  Not only has TicTac managed to stand the test of time but he has also survived the  crisis facing the hiplife industry. Well, I'm not sure about the exact details of this crisis but if you have heard Obour's great song The Game featuring Ritchie and Okyeame Kwame, then you will know that the hiplife industry is (apparently) in dire straits. I should add that not all are inclined to agree but that is another matter.  Anyway, back to TicTac, over the years, this talented, hardworking young man has been quite busy. He has been featured on MTV Base,  has matured lyrically (thank goodness) and has even advertised phonecards targetting Ghanaians in the diaspora!  TicTac has also collaborated with other artistes such as  Obrafuor, Nana Quame, Daasebre Gyamena, (Batman) Samini , D'Banj, Tony Tetuila and of course KeyNote with the end products being some pretty infectious tracks. By the way, I just noticed that singer Nana Quame has completely slipped off the radar. Does anyone know where he is?
  
  Anyway, my sincerest congratulations to (the other) Nana Kwaku Duah  for 10 years years in the Ghanaian music industry and proving that no matter how high he goes he will never fall because he is indeed the son of..... a kangaroo. 
  
• November 24, 2009
• 14:08

  Ghana Politics 101: When on the Radio DO use popular cliches/catchphrases.... By all Means Necessary

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  
  Ghanaians have two favorite pastimes;  Football and Politics. What better instrument to enjoy both these two passions than the radio! Indeed, the radio is the medium of the choice to reach masses all over the nation and there are a plethora of stations in different languages such as Akan, English, Ga, Ewe, Foreign-Acquired Brooklynese and even Ghana-Acquired Brixtonese!
  
  Anyway class, I digress, our lesson today is about the aspiring politician and how the radio can be a useful tool to  share views, ideas or stupidity. If you are a politician and making a radio appearance then there are some important phrases you should be familiar with that are well-understood by listeners across the country.Some people may call these clichés but I call them 'useful catchphrases.' Examples are below:
  
  

  • "Ghanaians are discerning". Perhaps one of the most overused catch-phrase in recent times especially since the 2008 election appears to support the validity of the statement. For the aspiring politician, this phrase will be sure to endear you to many but may seriously irritate others tired of hearing it.
    

  
  

  • "In 2008 a  ball of kenkey cost 20 pesewas as against 30 pesewas in 2009". If you listen to the radio, you will discover that the real barometer for the cost of living is the price of a ball of delicious kenkey. If it is not the price of kenkey then it will be a 'tin of milk' or perhaps a 'tuber of yam'. If you will ever use this cliché then be sure to make a quick trip to one of the large markets to ensure that your price-list is current.  Nothing worse than a politician caught quoting out-dated prices.
    

  
  
  Tubers of Yam 
  
  Source: [en.wikivisual.com]
  
  

  • "Under the current administration, the people are suffering": This is a versatile and timeless must-use phrase. It  is applicable to any regime in fact anywhere in the world. Let's face it, the masses will always suffer.   

  • "Sycophant": Its a big word. Its hard to prounouce and do we actually know what it means? Well, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary a sycophant refers to  a 'servile self-seeking flatterer'. In Ghana, it appears leaders of all shapes, hues and political colours enjoy surrounding themselves with 'servile self-seeking flatterers'. Well, at least that is what people on the radio keep saying!   

  • "Grass-roots/foot-soldiers/cadres": These all refer to political party supporters known for doing all the leg-work to ensure a party takes power, remains in power or will come back to power. Discontent among this group can lead to real problems for any party. Keeping foot soldiers happy appears to be a priority for many a political party in power.

  
  
  
  

  • "I have studied the terrain": Politico-speak used to demonstrate an expertise or profound knowledge in matters affecting the masses. Usually the terrain surveyor knows squat.
    

  
  

  • "Come 20XX, we will vote them out": I missed most of  "Come 2000...", was around for much of "Come 2004..."  as well as "Come 2008...." and there are already grumblings of "Come 2012....".  This expression can be used by any opposition politician looking to galvanize support and give the masses confidence in the potential of people power. 

  
  

  • "The ordinary man living in Chorkor":  Has any regular radio listener noticed that the Accra neighbourhood of Chorkor seems to provide a barometer for how the masses are living and feeling? One wonders if the people of Chorkor have seen improvements in their area since every politician seems to have them at heart!

  
  
  Polling Booth in Chorkor, Accra. December 2008
  Source: Associated Press/BBC
  
  

  • "I know the true situation on the ground": Any politician claiming to know how the masses or political foot-soldiers are feeling will claim to know the situation on the ground. Someone who knows the situation on the ground is also likely to use the kenkey barometer or claim to be a regular visitor to Chorkor. However, like the terrain surveyor this person is NOT likely to know much about the true situation on the ground.
    

  Homework Assignment: Do you have any catch-phrases and cliches that are essential for any politician hoping to be on the radio? Please do share!
  
• November 18, 2009
• 5:02

  Return of the Prodigal Gardener

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  
  We had an unexpected visitor one Saturday morning a few months ago. After a mysterious 3-month absence our gardener nonchalantly strolled into the yard with a big metal cross around his neck. The whole household was excited to see him and we welcomed him with breakfast. Of course the big question on my mind was "Where the @#$@#$ has he been?" It later emerged that he has been staying in a prayer camp in the Akwapim mountains casting out his demons... literally. Although our gardener seems like a quiet, polite young man apparently he has been wrought with 'spiritual' problems for a while. 
  
  
  Prayer camps offering 'treatment' for mental health issues are not a new thing in Ghana. Around May this year, the BBC's West Africa correspondent Will Ross did a documentary on the phenomenon in Ghana. What he found was  sad, appalling and down-right embarrassing. He visited a prayer camp where mentally-ill individuals were chained for hours. According to the BBC report:
  
  "With only four practising psychiatrists in the country and a stigma attached to mental illness, doctors say the only way to cope with the workload is to work with the Church-run camps."
  
  
  Ironically, there are most probably more Ghanaian psychiatrists in just one zip-code in Manhattan than there are in the whole of Ghana! A snippet of Will Ross's documentary can be seen here:
  
  
  Scene from the BBC Documentary on Prayer Camps in Ghana 
  
  BTW; Where is BBC reporter Will Ross these days? It appears he has relocated to Nairobi  but someone forget to tell us!
  
  
  Oddly-enough, my family and I are no strangers to gardeners with mental health issues. Back in Southern Africa, we had a  gardener who never showed up for work one day. Days turned into weeks which eventually turned into years. One sunny day 2 years later, our gardener returned wearing the green uniform of a  mental institution close to our house proclaiming  loudly that he had come "to reap what he had sown". While my big sister and I stood perplexed, he headed straight for the garden and got to work!  Being the immature 10 year old, I immediately took off and left home leaving my 17 year old sister to deal with the erratically behaving gardener down in the garden.  Luckily she made a couple of calls and he was picked up by some nice people who took him back to the mental institution from where he had made a dramatic escape that morning. Understandably, it took my sister sometime to forgive me for that one!
   
  
  Flash-forward to Ghana; Our gardener now lives at the prayer camp full-time. He is 'receiving treatment' and comes down to pay us a visit once every month. Personally, he does not strike me as having any mental problems at all but has been convinced by others that he does. I bet he tends the prayer camp gardens pretty darn well....hmmmm.
  
  
• November 10, 2009
• 14:29

  Is the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) demonstrating a committment to romance all over Accra??

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  
  I was planning a walk around my very dimly-lit neighborhood tonight. I called home and apparently the lights are off AGAIN!  Of course the ironic part is that the electricity company was sure to bring the electricity bill 'round THIS afternoon. 
  
  Today's power-outage is particularly perplexing. I could have sworn my eyes glazed across a newspaper article  late last week that explained these recent frequent power-outages. The tone of the article was that the current spate (to borrow from the Phrasebook of Overused Phrases in Ghana) of power-outages were to be a thing of the past. So now I'm completely at a loss. But eureka...a light-bulb just went off  (sadly only in my head); the power-outages MUST be a sign of the ECG's commitment to promoting romance all over Accra! Why else are we being forced to have dinner by candlelight night after night? Mmm, let's just hope no fires are started because then we are pretty much screwed!
  
  
  
  Candelight Dinner
  Source: www.blairibmagnet.org/
  
  
• November 09, 2009
• 4:05

  20 Years On: The Fall of the Berlin Wall

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  
  Berlin Wall
  Source: Associated Press/BBC
  
  
  The world has changed a lot since 1989. It is hard to imagine that Germany was once divided into two parts for many years after World War II.  It is hard to believe that city of Berlin was once divided by a wall and difficult to fathom that it has been 20 years since the wall came down and sparked a chain of events that eventually led to the end of the Cold War. For all those too young to remember the Cold War, all you need to know is that it meant constant tension, threat of a nuclear war and inspired some of the best movies of our time! Who can forget all those films where the bad guys always  seemed to speak Russian? Did someone say Hunt for Red October? In the end, the West 'won' the Cold War but it is ironic that 20 years later, capitalism has basically imploded and we are all feeling the effects of the world economic crisis. 
  
  I'm trying to remember 1989. TV Images that come to mind revolve around sledgehammers hacking away at the Berlin Wall, families being reunited and celebrations all over Germany. I also recall how real and fake chunks of the wall were up for sale everywhere. In fact, if the internet was up and running in 1989, I'm sure chunks of the wall  (real and fake) would have been all over E-Bay.
  
  
  
  Speaking of East Germany, a couple of months ago, I finally got round to seeing the 2003 film Good Bye Lenin! which is set in Communist East Berlin. The film  is a comedy/drama that chronicles events from just before the collapse of the wall in 1989 all the way up to German Reunification in 1990. Aside from the amusing plot underlying the film,it shows the shocking disparities between  life in East Germany compared to the much wealthier West Germany. Was also interesting to see the rapid changes that took place as communism gave way to capitalism literally overnight! Of course the major catch for me was that I watched the film entirely in German with no subtitles .Thanks to the good people over at Wikipedia, I was actually able to follow the story!
  
  
  Today, celebrations are set to take place all over Germany. Hopefully, the rest of the world will reflect on other barriers such as race, religion, ethnicity that separate people all over the world. Can't we all just get along?
  
  
• November 04, 2009
• 6:15

  Nov. 4th 2008, One year later: The Beautiful Dream becomes Stark Reality

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  
  President Obama in the Oval Office
  Source: White House Museum Online
  
  
  November 4th, 2008: The Beautiful Dream
  The US Democratic Party Candidate Senator Barack Obama achieved one of the most amazing feats in history. He won the US Presidential race becoming the first African-American President of the United States.
  
  It is hard to believe that that was actually one year ago.
  
  
  November 4th, 2009: The Stark Reality
  President Obama is now firmly at the helm of affairs yet he is facing many obstacles in his way:
  

  • Dealing with the grave impact of the sub-prime mortgage crisis on the US economy
    
  • A health-care reform bill for universal health coverage that has been far from being universally accepted
  • Tough decisions to make concerning American troop numbers in Afghanistan
  • The War in Iraq and looming questions
    
  • Two gubernatorial races in the states of Virginia and New Jersey have just been won by the opposition Republicans

  Beautiful dreams may have given way to harsh realities but the chapter has not ended. Despite skepticism and cynicism, I still believe that President Obama will pull through and live up to many expectations.
  
• October 30, 2009
• 6:55

  What's in a Name......Change

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  Daniel and Abena aged 2 years: Daniel's family lived next door to us in Swaziland from when I was 2 years. Yes, I know, earring-free I looked like a little boy. The name 'Abena' would instantly send out alarm bells that I was a girl....well, only alarm bells that could be understood in Ghana!
  
  When my big brother Kwabena and I were 12 and 10, we presented a petition to our parents. We had grown tired of our names being mispronounced and butchered all over Southern Africa. We were weary of being different and wanted some English names. I think I had chosen something like Annabelle or Amber. My father laughed for minutes on end and finally the abrupt response came: "No". I was peeved and upset at the time. Now I'm just peeved and upset with myself for coming up with such a ridiculous idea. I love my name. It has always been unique. I have learnt to embrace this unique-ness and suffered through:
  

  • Ahhhhh-Ben--Naaaaahhh in Southern Africa,
  • Ah-Beeeee-Naa in America and
  • Ap--Nah in the Netherlands.

  I will not lie. I myself have not been the best pronouncer of my own name!
  
  Then I moved to Ghana years ago and suddenly my name was no longer unique. It was so common that it raised more curious questions:
  

  • "Your name is Abena???? Please, what is your other name, your Christian name"
  • "Your name is Abena??? You have really tried. You have come to our country and have adopted one of our local names to fit in"

  It did not help that just days before my flight to Ghana, I stood in front of a mirror with a large pair of scissors in my friend Nabs' apartment and did something completely spontaneous. I chopped off all my hair and left myself with a short-cropped hair-cut any Ghanaian Senior Secondary School girl would have been proud of. Of course what I did not realise then was that I was about to be constantly mistaken for a Senior Secondary School girl despite the fact that I was well into my 20s!
  
  If it was not an SSS girl, I was presumed to be visiting Ghana from the US, East Africa or Southern Africa. In those days, natural hair for females 20 years + was quite rare. Eventually I conformed. With time, any traces of an American accent disappeared. My hair grew, it was re-processed and I joined the ranks of the 'weavealicious' to borrow from fellow blogger Sankofa.
  Fast forward to the present. Living in Ghana with a name like Abena also comes with some level of familiarity that can be quite annoying. Imagine you go to the bank and are asked to wait and as soon as you are called it is likely to be:
  
  "Abena, please come to Teller 2"
  
  If my name was something like Janet Mensah. I'm pretty sure that it would automatically be:
  
  "Ms. Mensah, please come to Teller 2".
  
  My brother finds that too. At banks, instead of Mr. So and So he is addressed as:
  
  "Kwabena" , "Kobby" or even more inappropriately "Charle, Kob-Beeeeee".
  
  Of course things are even more interesting for Kwabena since his 1 year old son was also born on a Tuesday. Young Kwabena and his dad Kwabena also share the same middle name so sometimes my family and I get confused about who exactly we are referring to.
  Kwabena and Kwabena when Kwabena was 1 month old. Hopefully neither Kwabena (nor Kwabena) will kill me for putting this on my blog.
  
  Having a name that is easy to remember like Abena has also gotten me into some sticky situations. I have met random people in various parts of Ghana for work or in some other random capacity. All they need is the first name, my place of work and they can be sitting on the dusty couch in our office in no time!
  
  When I first started blogging from Ghana, the name Abena was also pretty unique in the blogosphere. Now suddenly there are so many Abenas that I myself get confused: Did I just post that comment? Sounds like me!
  
  I am also very curious... Where are all the Akuas, Amas, Afuas, Adwoas and Yaas in the blogosphere? Is it because I'm more aware of other Abenas? Is it perhaps that us Tuesday-borns are just uniquely creative? Hehehehe!
  
  So finally, I have come to terms with the fact that if I remain as just Abena I am no longer unique. I have had to accept that change is inevitable. Enter Abena Serwaa. Well, until another Abena Serwaa comes along!
  
  Daniel and Abena Serwaa 20++ years later: Please don't tell me I still look like a boy in this picture!
  
  PS: My Cameroonian friend tells me Abena or Abendo is a popular male name in Yaoundé. YIKES. Also, a Danish company markets a brand of adult diapers under the name Abena. Double YIKES!
  
• October 23, 2009
• 15:46

  No Water, No Electricity, No Ministry of Foreign Affairs BUT We do have The Cup courtesy of Pastor T.B. Joshua!

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  This past week has been weird, wacky and also tragic all over the land of GH.
  
  Just to think exactly a week ago the nation had assembled in homes, pubs, clubs and spots to witness the euphoric FIFA U20 World Cup victory. Impromptu parties started all over my 'hood from Friday to Sunday morning.
  Black Satellites in Accra
  Source: JoyFm online
  
  By Sunday things started to unravel:
  
  Sunday: I got the Light-Off Blues
  Accra was hit by power outages with a vengenance. It was not just my area, your area it was like EVERY area! My entire working-week has been punctuated by light offs from Monday morning all the way until Friday morning. Where from all this? Are we load-shedding on a full dam? Is it that rusty transformer from the 50s that still has to be replaced?
  
  Monday: No Water
  Ignorance is bliss. I only noticed on Monday that the water pressure at home was worryingly low. I later discovered that the water has been off for 5 days +. We are just about getting to the bottom of our polytank. *Eish* Waiting for the moment when I turn the tap and we are finally out.
  
  
  Tuesday: Pastor TB Joshua, YouYube and the FIFA U20 World Cup
  Turns out that there was much more to the FIFA U20 World Cup victory. The spiritual adviser to the President of Ghana, Pastor TB Joshua of the Synagogue Church of All-Nations 'engineered' the victory in our favour. Not only had he been in consultation with Coach Sellas Tetteh before, during and after the match but he had a video on YouTube to prove it. The snippet I heard on the BBC had the Pastor instructing our coach to play "Number 10" (team captain Andre Dede Ayew) first in the impending penalty shootout. He also asked to speak to Dede directly. A number of questions have buzzed about Accra since:
  

  1. How come none of us saw the Coach or the captain on any phone just before the shoot-out?
  2. How come the young captain says he never spoke to or has ever met Pastor Joshua?
  3. How come the Pastor did not 'engineer' the Flying Eagles of his native Nigeria staying in the competition or the Super Eagles of Nigeria going to the World Cup?
  4. Why can't we cut out the middle-men and make Pastor TB Joshua the Black Stars coach for our World Cup 2010 campaign?

  Oddly enough, the video has since been yanked off YouTube.
  
  
  Wednesday: Holy (Towering) Inferno!
  I stopped watching television a while back. Well, aside from offerings on Viasat-1. As I randomly navigated through channels and landed on Metro TV, I was shocked to see the Ministry of Foreign Affairs completely ablaze! What??!!
  
  Thursday: Where my Ministry at?
  The sad reality finally hit. Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs was indeed no more. Property valued at millions of Ghana Cedis completely destroyed and data dating back to the 1950s destroyed. I shudder to imagine how much we have lost as a nation. Three people have been arrested and there are whisperings of arson. One conspiracy theory I overhead: The fire was the wrath of God visited on us for doubting Pastor TB's 'engineering'.
  
  
  Ghana@50 Emblem
  Source: Ghana web
  
  Friday: Ghana@50 Probe Live. Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani finally takes the stand.
  The long-anticipated appearance of the Former Chief of Staff at the official probe into expenditure during the celebration of Ghana's 50th anniversary was finally slated for today and was due to be broadcast live on a number of radio and television stations. I have missed almost all the sittings and like many people, had really wanted to hear proceedings. So I tuned into Joy FM and started entering some data while I listened in. I don't know whether it was the data, the fact that my coffee was wearing off, my empty office or the monotonic drones of some of the voices I heard but the Ghana @50 Probe put me to sleep mid-morning! I had to 'leave' the hearings in favour of loud trance music courtesy of DJ Tiesto. If anyone 'sat' through the hearings (including that man and that woman who were chastised by the Chairman for sitting in the wrong place right at the beginning!) please fill me in.
  
  Also, Blogger has not been my friend all week. I'm having a problem with posting comments on other people's blogs...mmm sounds like my procrastinatory wings are being clipped. Hopefully not engineered by anyone!
  
• October 19, 2009
• 15:32

  Of Random Thoughts, Balloon Boys and Missing Blog Action Day

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: large;"I have had alot on my mind lately but very little time to blog. Here are some of the random trivialities that have whizzed through my head this past week while I have been away from the blogosphere:/spanbr //divul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"lispan style="font-size: large;"How come a href="http://www.gimpa.edu.gh/"GIMPA/a Executive Conference Hall lobby looks better thannbsp; Kotoka International Airport Arrival Hall?/span/li/ulul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"lispan style="font-size: large;"Should one be wary of a sweet gesture of unexpected chocolate from a random new friend?br //span/li/ulspan style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"/spanbr /ul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"lispan style="font-size: large;"Racing down a dusty road barefoot and screaming at night: a great way to celebrate the Black Satellites FIFA Under 20 World Cup glorious victory or the best way to get tetanus?/spanbr /span style="font-size: large;"nbsp;/span/lilispan style="font-size: large;"Do you speak Ghanamechanic-ese? How to avoid being taken to the cleaners by mechanics in Ghanabr //span/li/ulspan style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"/spanbr /ul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"lispan style="font-size: large;"a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8314482.stm"Balloon Boy Saga/a: is this just a case of wanting 15 minutes more of fame when your 15 minutes are already up?/span/li/uldiv style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: large;"One thing that saddened me was that I missed the a href="http://www.blogactionday.org/"Blog Action Day/a on climate change. Kudos to fellow Ghana bloggers a href="http://mayasearth.blogspot.com/2009/10/blog-action-day-climate-change.html"Maya/a, a href="http://nonjeneregretterien.blogspot.com/2009/10/blog-action-day-climate-change.html"Kajsa/a, a href="http://tagoeblogger.blogspot.com/2009/10/getting-paid-to-save-world.html"Edward/a and a href="http://hollisramblings.blogspot.com/2009/10/stumps-to-spark-action-abroad-ghanaians.html"Holly/a who had thought-provoking postings on the subject. I would also recommend the latest iBBC Focus on Africa/i magazine for their special issue on climate change in Africa.nbsp; Even the cover captures the barren, dust-filled desolate landscape that is inevitably encroaching upon us all. The desert IS coming.br //spanbr //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sty2OebuBfI/AAAAAAAABQM/U49zS5SftR8/s1600-h/climate+change.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sty2OebuBfI/AAAAAAAABQM/U49zS5SftR8/s320/climate+change.jpg" //abr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: large;"span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"Why is it that the topic of climate change does not spark enough anger and indignation among more people living on the African continent? Aren't we noticing that the weather is getting much hotter, aren't we wondering where all the parrots that used to inhabit our forests have disappeared to? Aren't we appalled that the thick, lush, equatorial forests of the hinterlands are thinning down? Apparently not. Maybe we feel powerless, maybe we are not well-informed or maybe we are just living for the moment? /spanbr //spanbr //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-7257461006946581600?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• October 12, 2009
• 14:44

  Obama for Peace...Prize!

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/StN2nUtgYBI/AAAAAAAABPc/MvLYwXpY8-k/s1600-h/obama+being+sworn+in.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 223px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/StN2nUtgYBI/AAAAAAAABPc/MvLYwXpY8-k/s400/obama+being+sworn+in.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391783596839165970" border="0" //aa onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.someecards.com/sec/images/trans.gif"/adiv style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"This past Friday, Twitter, span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"Facebook/span, Google and the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"blogosphere/span were all abuzz with one item on span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"everyone's/span (span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"*erm*/span) keyboard. Everybody had an opinion on the 44span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"th/span President of the United States getting this year's coveted Nobel Peace Prize.br /Just to think a year ago, President Obama was Senator Obama; one term State Senator from Illinois span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"criss/span-crossing America on the campaign trail with his infectious span style="font-style: italic;""Yes we can!" /spanmessage. A year later, not only is Barack Obama a president, he is also a Nobel Peace Prize span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"recipient/span. Indeed, span style="font-style: italic;"Yes HE can!br /br //spanEven ardent fans of Obama like myself were taken aback by the noble Nobel Committee's announcement. Later it became apparent to me that the prize is for work to be done to promote peace rather than work done. This puts immense pressure on President Obama. The critics are everywhere. Already Obama has come face-to-face with fiery opposition to his Health Care reform bill from opposition Republicans who have accused him of everything from being a liar to (shock-horror) a communist. Even the same people on the left who helped propel him to his current position are expressing dissatisfaction. Have you heard of the a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"Obameter/span/a at span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"PolitiFact/span.com? Basically, the good people at span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"PolitiFact/span.com have compiled more than 500 promises that President Obama made during his campaign and are tracking their progress on their span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"Obameter/span. /span/divp style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"They rate each span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"promise's/span status as:strong No Action, In the Works/strong or strongStalled/strong. Once they find action is completed, they rate them strongas Promise Kept, Compromise/strong or strongPromise Broken/strong./span/pp style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"So far things are not looking too good on President span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"Obama's/span scorecard. Imagine we had something similar in Ghana. I would hate to see President's Mill's report card right about now!br //span/pdiv style="text-align: justify;" span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Poor President Obama. He may have wanted to take a backseat when it came to world politics and focus more on internal domestic issues. Now this seems impossible especially with the Nobel Prize looming over his head. /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" For me it has now became clear as day, Obama is basically the superhero that we have all being waiting for to save the world! /spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Move over Superman, here comes span style="font-style: italic;"Obama-man/span:/spanbr /br //spanul style="font-family:arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-style: italic;"Got problems in the Middle East? Here Obama-man comes to save the day!/spanspan style="font-style: italic;"/span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-style: italic;"/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-style: italic;"Conflict in span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"Darfur/span? Obama-man to the rescue/spanbr //span /lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-style: italic;"Nagging issues with juntas in Burma? Obama-man is on the job../span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-style: italic;"North Korea still testing those pesky missiles? It's a bird; it's a plane; No, Its Obama-man.br //span/span/li/ul span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" I admire President Obama right this minute. He has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Literally. /spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/StNxNIh8puI/AAAAAAAABPM/o0wJPA3bQLM/s1600-h/Obama+the+superhero.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/StNxNIh8puI/AAAAAAAABPM/o0wJPA3bQLM/s400/Obama+the+superhero.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391777649334724322" border="0" //aPresident Obama the Superherobr /Source: a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.flickr.com/photos/12905355@N05/3004739150/"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"Flickr/span/abr //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-1723265571843851808?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• October 05, 2009
• 3:58

  Ghana Politics 101: Political Power must come with control of Public Toilets!

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"About 10 years ago there was an email making the rounds that described the characteristics of people from different African countries. According to the email , "span style="font-style: italic;"Ghanaians think they invented politics/span". Okay, so maybe we didn't actually invent politics but in recent time we have shown that we know a thing or two about how to do democracy! Anyway, I do think we have a number of valuable political lessons to share with Africa and the rest of the world so let me welcome you to the first installment of my online course: /spanspan style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" "Introduction to Ghanaian Politics 101"/span/spanbr //divdiv /divdiv style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"br /Lecture 1: Political Power span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"must /spancome with control of Public Toilets!br //spandiv style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.janchipchase.com/2007_11_08_Accra_0174-thumb.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 152px;" src="http://www.janchipchase.com/2007_11_08_Accra_0174-thumb.jpg" alt="" border="0" //aPublic Toilet in Accrabr /Source: www.janchipchase.combr /br //divspan style="font-size:130%;"After President J.E.A. Mills was sworn into office on 7 January 2009, one of the first things that happened was that hordes of his party supporters stormed public toilets all over the country to seize control of their operation. Likewise, after President J.A. Kufuor was sworn into office on 7 January 2001, one of the first things that happened was that hordes of his party supporters stormed public toilets all over the country to seize control of their operation. Many Ghanaians were shocked and some pontificated on how ludicrous it was to grab toilets. I beg to differ. I have come to realise that there is real wealth in every flush.br /br /With the help of two associates, I present to you the span style="font-weight: bold;"Toilet Revenue Generating Model for Economic Empowerment/span:br //spanullispan style="font-size:100%;"So lets say we are 4 men belonging to the ruling party in government. Following an election we have managed to seize control of a public toilet complex with 20 water closets (WCs) in the bustling Tema Station area right in Accra Central./span/li/ulullispan style="font-size:100%;"Let's say everyday our toilet facility has an average of 2000 visits from people 1. living in the area, 2. transiting through Tema station and 3. visitors to Tema Station Market /Makola Market./span/li/ulullispan style="font-size:100%;"Suppose we charge 20p (Ghana pesewas) per visit to our facility. This would mean that we should expect a total daily revenue of GHC 400.00. /span/li/ulullispan style="font-size:100%;"However, we must subtract the various daily operational costs associated with running the facility./span/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-size:100%;"OPERATIONAL COSTSbr //span/spanullispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-size:100%;"Water/span/span/li/uldiv style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.ghana-pedia.org/org/images/stories//watertruck1.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 331px; height: 192px;" src="http://www.ghana-pedia.org/org/images/stories//watertruck1.jpg" alt="" border="0" //aWater Tanker in Accrabr /Source: [www.ghana-pedia.org] //divspan style="font-size:100%;"br /span style="font-family:arial;"*Each flush will take between 1.6 gallons of water (for new toilet models) and 4 gallons (for older models). So we can strike an average of 2.8 gallons per flushbr //span span style="font-family:arial;"*Therefore, one visit will require 3 gallons of water (2.8 gallons to flush + 0.2 gallons to wash hands)/span span style="font-family:arial;"br /*2000 people per day will require a total of 6000 gallons to flush and wash their hands./span span style="font-family:arial;"*One water tanker carrying 3000 gallons currently costs around GHC70.00. So we are looking at a total daily water consumption cost of GHC 140.00./span /spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-size:100%;"span style="font-weight: bold;"br /span style="font-family:arial;"*span style="font-style: italic;"Subtract GHC 140.00 from our projected daily revenue for water/span/span/spanbr /br //span/spanullispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-size:100%;"Toilet Paper:/span/span/li/uldiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:100%;"*One 2-ply toilet roll costs around 50p (maximum)/spanspan style="font-size:100%;". If you have ever frequented a public toilet you will know that they are not generous with the amount of toilet paper they give you.br /*If one roll has 100 sheets and each person gets 5 sheets, each roll could serve 20 people comfortably./spanbr /span style="font-size:100%;"*Therefore 100 rolls would be required per day and we are now looking at a total daily toilet roll expenditure of GHC 50.00./spanbr //divspan style="font-size:100%;"br /NB: There is also the free old newspaper option but we will not consider that for this model.br //spanspan style="font-size:100%;"span style="font-weight: bold;"br /span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" *Subtract GHC 50.00 from our projected daily revenue for toilet paper/span/span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-size:100%;"br //span/spanullispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-size:100%;"Toilet Cleaners:/span/span/li/ulspan style="font-size:100%;"*Lets say we employ 2 workers to maintain our toilets. Each day we pay each worker GHC 5.00br //spanspan style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" span style="font-weight: bold;"*Subtract GHC 10.00 from our projected daily revenue for salaries/span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-size:100%;"br //span/spanullispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-size:100%;"Toilet Cleaning supplies./span/span/li/ulspan style="font-size:100%;"*Daily we spent about GHC3.00 on soap and all other cleaning suppliesbr //spanspan style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" span style="font-weight: bold;"*Subtract GHC 3.00 from our projected daily revenue for toilet cleaning supplies/spanbr //spanspan style="font-size:100%;"br //spanullispan style="font-size:100%;"Total Operational costs to subtract per day = GHC 203.00/span/li/ulullispan style="font-size:100%;"Total projected daily profit = GHC 197.00/span/li/ulullispan style="font-size:100%;"Average total monthly revenue = GHC 197.00 X 30.5 days = GHC 6008.50/span/li/ulullispan style="font-size:100%;"Divide monthly revenue by 4 men. Thus, each person controlling the public toilet is looking at a cool GHC 1502.00 per month (approximately $1036.00 at the current exchange rate). This is tax-free money and more than most people in Ghana make span style="font-style: italic;"per annum/spana onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2008/01/080106202952-large.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 166px; height: 129px;" src="http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2008/01/080106202952-large.jpg" alt="" border="0" //a/span/li/ulullispan style="font-size:100%;"FAVORABLE FACTORS: Consider a popular rice seller operating in the station who does not wash her hands and infests her food with enteric bacteria causing an outbreak of diarrhoeal disease in the area. The outbreak could result in an average of 4000 visits to the toilet facility and thus increase revenue and increase the projected profit margin!br //span/li/uldiv style="text-align: right;"span style="font-size:100%;"ABOVE:span style="font-style: italic;" E-coli Bacteria /spanbr //spanspan style="font-size:100%;"span style="font-style: italic;"Source: NIAID sciencedaily.com /span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-style: italic;"/span/span/divspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-style: italic;"/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-style: italic;"br //spanJust think about how this model is replicated all over the country. The take-home message is that toilet facility operation is a undeniable revenue earner for the members of ANY party in power. It can go a long way to appease (some) party grass-root members/cadres/foot soldiers. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"So next time you declare that it is completely ridiculous to seize toilets, think again./span/span/divbr /div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"HOMEWORK/ASSIGNMENT: Please discuss why electricity costs were not factored or considered in the Toilet Revenue Generating Model. This is despite the fact that the toilet facility is likely to be bathed in electricity light 24/7/365!/span/spanbr //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-1263737404335607411?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• September 30, 2009
• 6:10

  MOBO time is here again!

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" The annual MOBO awards show will take place tonight in the rather interesting location of Glasgow, Scotland. In case you are scratching your head wondering what the MOBOs are, /spanspan style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.mobo.com/"MOBO stands for Music of Black Origin (MOBO/a/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ) and according to the good people over at /spanspan style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOBO"Wikipedia/a/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" :/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"br /br //spana style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SsMnsztKoZI/AAAAAAAABMc/al6Y5zs_7tA/s1600-h/what+are+the+MOBOs.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 81px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SsMnsztKoZI/AAAAAAAABMc/al6Y5zs_7tA/s400/what+are+the+MOBOs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387193230012621202" border="0" //a span style="font-family:arial;" span style="font-size:130%;"br /Of course the term 'black music' is completely ambiguous to me. In fact, /span/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" discussions of (so-called) black music remind me of an amusing meal-time conversation that took place in my first year of undergraduate in the US. We were all having a lively music discussion at dinner one evening when a 4th year student at the table (whom we will call 'Devika' for this story) declared:br /br //spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" span style="font-style: italic;""No offence Abena, but I really don't like black music!"/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"br /span style="font-style: italic;"/span/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" br /Me (to myself): span style="font-style: italic;"That is such a shame! I will be sure to let everyone know at the next meeting of the Black People High Command since I'm clearly representing all black people on the planet at this precise moment in time!/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"br //spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" br /Devika/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" : span style="font-style: italic;""Actually, coming to think of it, I like Prince and Michael Jackson so I do actually like/spanspan some/spanspan style="font-style: italic;" black music"/span/span span style="font-size:130%;"br //spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" br /Me (to myself): span style="font-style: italic;"Whew! What a relief, almost thought we lost one there./span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"br //spanbr /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" So what is 'black music' anyway? Is it music performed by black musicians as Devika seemed to think? This raises some fascinating questions. For example,/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" the British Indie Rock band /spanspan style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloc_Party"Bloc Party/a/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" is fronted by a black man a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kele_Okereke"Kele Okereke/a so does that make their musical genre 'black music'? Okay, so maybe Kele Okereke alone is not sufficient to turn the whole band black. So let's say Kele formed a new band made up exclusively of say 5 British guys of Nigerians descent playing only Indie Rock music do they then qualify as a 'black music' band?br /Besides, isn't rock-n-roll music of black origin anyway? Didn't Elvis Presley basically mimic some of the black contemporary artistes of the time? These are some of the reasons the term 'black music' is still foggy in my mind. /spanbr //divspan style="font-family:arial;"br /br //spandiv style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SsMoCpdB6UI/AAAAAAAABMk/Ly7Bnx-sBDM/s1600-h/Samini+MOBO.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 189px; height: 244px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SsMoCpdB6UI/AAAAAAAABMk/Ly7Bnx-sBDM/s400/Samini+MOBO.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387193605217708354" border="0" //a span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Anyway, back to the MOBOs. A couple of years ago, a new category was added to the awards which was /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" span style="font-style: italic;"Best African Act/span. This was meant to showcase and honour some of Africa's finest artistes. In 2007, Ghana's very own (Batman) Samini was the proud recipient of this award. I was very excited at the time since I used to have a massive crush on Samini dating back to his performances at La Pleasure Beach with KK Fosu and Kokovelli. Ahhh good times.../spanbr //divbr /Above: Batman Samini at the 2007 MOBOsbr /SOURCE: BBC Onlinebr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"br //spandiv style="text-align: justify;"span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" According to the MOBO website, the 2009 nominees for /spanspan style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.mobo.com/awards"spanBest African Act/span/a/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" (shortlisted by public vote....somewhere) are: /spanbr //divullispan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Eidee/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" (Nigerian artiste heard him on the BBC this morning- pretty good stuff)/span/li/ul ullispan style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DJ_Mujava"spanMujava/span/a/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" (South African DJ)/span/li/ulullispan style="font-size:130%;" a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nneka_%28singer%29"spanNneka/span/a/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" (Half German - Half Nigerian soul singer)/span span style="font-size:130%;"br //span/li/ulullispan style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oumou_Sangare"spanOumou Sangare/span/a /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" span style="font-size:100%;"(Malian traditional music songstress/span)/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"br //span/li/ulul style="text-align: justify;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salif_Keita"spanSalif Kelta/span/a/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" (I think the MOBO people meant Salif span style="font-style: italic;"span style="font-weight: bold;"Keita/span,/span one of the undisputed Kings of contemporary Afro-pop music)/span/li/uldiv style="text-align: justify;"span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" I'm sure some Ghanaians are up in arms that no Ghanaian artistes made it on to the nominee list. But are we really that surprised? Are there any Ghanaian music acts of the moment who can really stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Salif Keita or Nneka? /spanspan style="font-size:130%;"br /br //spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" In a convoluted way however, Ghana is well-represented at the 2009 MOBO through some of the hottest UK hip-hop acts such as /spanspan style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dizzee_rascal"Dizzee Rascal /a/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" (who is apparently half-Ghanaian) and the newest grime sensation you may never have heard of /spanspan style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinchy_Stryder"Tinchy Stryder/a/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" (real name Kwasi Danquah). Other UK grime/hip-hop acts /spanspan style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethal_bizzle"Lethal Bizzle/a/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" (real name Maxwell Ansah) and /spanspan style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sway_DaSafo"Sway/a/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" (real name Derrick Safo ) are also past MOBO winners. /spanspan style="font-size:130%;"br /br //spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" So now I'm very curious now, can anyone think of a Ghanaian artiste who has been overlooked for a MOBO nomination this year?br //span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-3361426425823072603?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• September 27, 2009
• 14:24

  Giving Thanks on a Blogoversary!

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family: arial;"September 24th marks one year of my blog! Well, to be honest, I started this blog in 2005 under the name “span style="font-style: italic;"Procrastinator's Paradise/span”. Sadly, I abandoned it only after a couple of posts and someone stole my name!!! /span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family: arial;"br /Exactly one year ago, a harrowing stressor made me hit a very low point and *strangely* blogging was a real cathartic release. So in celebration of one year blogging I will like to give thanks to so many who have inspired. Thanks go out to:/span/spanbr //divspan style="font-size:130%;"br //spanul style="font-family: arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"The two span style="font-style: italic;"unnamed/span people whose cruelty and self-centeredness combined with my own naivety taught me a bitter life-lesson and provided the spark that got me blogging to cope with the utter shock of being played. Interestingly, I have never blogged about these playas since the topic of self-absorbed unfeeling vain bastards has not come up yet.....*yet*./span/li/ulul style="font-family: arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"My friend a href="http://serotoninchachacha.blogspot.com/" C /awho first introduced me to blogging but seems to have abandoned her blog featuring fascinating musings out of Atlanta, Georgiabr //span/li/ulul style="font-family: arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"The wonderful people blogging out of Ghana who have taught me about the fascinating, cerebral, diverse individuals in Ghana. Especially my fellow bloggers over at a href="http://www.ghanablogging.com/"Ghanablogging.com/a. Of course a special mention to the indomitable a href="http://ekbensahinghana.blogspot.com"EK Bensah/a who first introduced me to the group and featured me in the span style="font-style: italic;"Sunday World/span. Thanks to my fellow bloggers for providing me with endless hours of procrastination with their entertaining posts and challenging comments. /span/li/ulul style="font-family: arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"The Ghana Police Service for providing protection to our great nation and for providing ample blogging fodder from our numerous interactions/span/li/ulul style="font-family: arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"My family, especially my mother who prompts me to lie when she calls me and asks span style="font-style: italic;""I hope you are not blogging" /spanwhen I am. /span/li/ulul style="font-family: arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"My friends for encouraging me to blog especially El even though he thinks I'm crazy for putting a picture of my street on the internet.br //span/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"/spanul style="font-family: arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"My beloved Ghana for providing too many situations that prompt laughter, thought, frustration and the need for commentary. /span/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family: arial;"A special thanks to all those who read my ramblings, you are truly appreciated! /span/spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-1228284567976705647?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• September 22, 2009
• 15:40

  When Samia met Abena: Two Daughters, Two Legacies and One Meeting

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SrkbZgYnLyI/AAAAAAAABLk/db6IUXXKtCw/s1600-h/Abena+and+Samia+2.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SrkbZgYnLyI/AAAAAAAABLk/db6IUXXKtCw/s400/Abena+and+Samia+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384364954501984034" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Between waves of stomach bug-induced nausea this past weekend, something caught my eye in the Saturday's span style="font-style: italic;"Daily Graphic/span newspaper (19-9-09). According to an advert in the paper, the popular TV3 interview programme /spanspan style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"Kwaku/span-One-on-One /spanspan style="font-family:arial;"hosted by seasoned journalist span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"Kwaku/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"Sakyi/span-span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"Addo/span was scheduled to have two guests. One of the guests was going to be Hon. Ms. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"Samia/span Nkrumah, Member of Parliament for span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"Jomoro/span and only daughter of our first president/spanspan style="font-family:arial;" Dr. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"Kwame/span Nkrumah. The other guest was Professor span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"Abena/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"Busia/span, Professor of English at Rutgers University and daughter of Dr. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"Kofi/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"Abrefa/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"Busia/span, Prime Minister of the Republic of Ghana 1969-1972. /span/spanbr /br //diva onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SrkgZ0ILBSI/AAAAAAAABLs/6g3gG7OZEdk/s1600-h/kwame-nkrumah.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 272px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SrkgZ0ILBSI/AAAAAAAABLs/6g3gG7OZEdk/s400/kwame-nkrumah.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384370457359877410" border="0" //adiv style="text-align: justify;"div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"During their lifetimes, Nkrumah and span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"Busia/span can best be described as political /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"adversaries on opposing sides of the political divide. On the one hand, /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"there was the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"Nkrumahist/span ideology: the leftist, pan-African socialist force that led us after independence from 1957 until 1966. On the other hand, there was the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"Busia/span legacy: the liberal democratic right of centre force, that underlines the 'span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"Danquah/span-span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"Busia/span' political tradition and is associated with the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"Kufuor/span administration from Jan. 2001 to Jan 2009. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"So despite, my weird stomach bug and promises of a scheduled power outage by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), this was one show I did not want to miss. /span/spanbr /br //diva onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Srkg4679ifI/AAAAAAAABL0/XbXFuPnAGdU/s1600-h/Kofi+Busia.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 173px; height: 190px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Srkg4679ifI/AAAAAAAABL0/XbXFuPnAGdU/s400/Kofi+Busia.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384370991763655154" border="0" //aspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Yet I missed the first 5 minutes. I missed the initial exchange of pleasantries as both /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" women in their beautiful span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18"afro/span-centric themed outfits recounted their first meeting sometime in 2007 or 2008. Their smiles were beautiful, the atmosphere was warm and one thing I noticed was how both women bore striking resemblances to their respective fathers. /spanbr /br /div style="text-align: justify;"div style="text-align: justify;"span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" The first sign of controversy revolved around a statue. In 2007, a number of parks in different regions were renamed span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19"Jubilee/span Parks as part of the celebration of 50 years/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" of Ghana's independence. This included the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20"Kwame/span Nkrumah park in span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21"Sunyani/span, the capital of the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22"Brong/span-span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23"Ahafo/span Region. A statute of Dr. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24"Busia/span (being a son of span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25"Wenchi/span/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" also in the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26"Brong/span-span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27"Ahafo/span region) was erected in this very park. Apparently they are calls to rename the park and remove the statue. Prof. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28"Busia/span was appalled about being called by radio stations to answer whether she felt that the statue should be removed. /spanbr //divbr /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Ms. Nkrumah agreed that the park should revert back to its original name while Prof. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29"Busia/span did not see why the statue would have to be removed. After all, is her father not one of the most famous sons of the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30"Brong/span-span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31"Ahafo/span? Ironically, span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32"Kwame/span Nkrumah can also be credited in creating the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33"Brong/span-span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34"Ahafo/span region in the first place. During the commercial break, the two women came to an interesting compromise; maybe the park can be renamed span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35"Kwame/span Nkrumah (Jubilee?) Park with the statue of span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36"Kofi/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37"Busia/span allowed to remain. They both laughed at how little say they actually have in the fate of the park or the statue. /spanbr //divbr /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Most of the show was devoted to both women recounting their differing stories of forced exile and the bravery of their respective mothers in the face of family upheaval and adversity. They talked about the effect of the political turmoil in Ghanaian history on their own family units. /spanbr /br /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" I learnt something very interesting from the programme. According to Prof. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38"Busia/span, in 1959 when her father escaped from Nkrumah's Ghana, the person who warned her father about impending danger and precipitated his exile was none other than span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39"Kwame/span Nkrumah's ebullient loyal minister Mr. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40"Krobo/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41"Edusei/span. Imagine that?! /spanbr /br /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" The tone of the interview was civil, conciliatory, full of stories of separate but span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42"paralled/span histories and also quite emotional. Both women avoided the finger-pointing that is so characteristic of Ghanaian political discourse today. The show convinced me more and more of something; we need more intelligent, strong women as political leaders in Ghana. Ms. Nkrumah has made already made a brave and dignified entrance into the murky Ghanaian political scene and I quietly await Prof. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43"Busia/span.br //spanbr /div style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SrkbCM0NbII/AAAAAAAABLc/Mmm3odHxnf4/s1600-h/027.JPG"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 249px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SrkbCM0NbII/AAAAAAAABLc/Mmm3odHxnf4/s400/027.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384364554112035970" border="0" //aProf. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44"Busia/span and Hon. Ms. Nkrumah. Unfortunately, the positioning of the cameras meant that we got more side views of Ms. Nkrumah more than anything.br //div/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-2762734761514130217?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• September 14, 2009
• 10:45

  The Photograph of Kwame Nkrumah in the Album

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sq4rkF-1WLI/AAAAAAAABJw/mpsJN86ihH0/s1600-h/Kwame+Nkrumah.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 315px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sq4rkF-1WLI/AAAAAAAABJw/mpsJN86ihH0/s400/Kwame+Nkrumah.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381286503835326642" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"In a dusty, browning album belonging to my late father, I found the above photograph of/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" the first President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The album, covered in /spanspan style="font-family:arial;"red psychedelic flowers houses my father's pictures from the mid-1960s up to 1973. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The photos follow a natural fashion time-line and show how extremely tight -fitting trousers, beehives /span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"and mini-skirts gave way to unkempt bushy hair, bell-bottoms, /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"afros and platform shoes. It's like a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118655/"span style="font-style: italic;"Austin Powers/span/a meets a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067741/"span style="font-style: italic;"Shaft/span/a all in Ghana. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Interestingly, completely absent from the photos are any indications of the dire social and political turmoil that characterized Ghana during t/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"his period. There was the overthrow of President Nkrumah in 1966, the Busia era from 1968-1972 and then the military coup orchestrated by General IK Acheampong in 1972.br //span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"br /Somewhere in the middle of the album is the mysterious photo of Nkrumah. For a few years I have looked at the picture and have wondered:br //span/spanullispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Where did my father get the picture from?/span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" Where and when was it taken?br //span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Do the kente cloth in the background and the coat of arms on the front of the podium indicate that it was taken in Ghana?br //span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"What was the speech about and who were the audience?br //span/span/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"So many questions, so few answers. /span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"br /For the generations of Ghanaians born after the death of Nkrumah, we have learnt that he was an extraordinary man of vision. Not only did he possess great foresight but also charisma and intellect. He dream was not only for Ghana but extended to a Pan-African ideal of a united continent.br /br /As we celebrate 100 years of the birth of Nkrumah next Monday, I have made a pledge to myself to find out as much as possible about the man. After all, most official historical accounts are free of the complexities surrounding Nkrumah's personality . Just like the photograph in the album, for me Kwame Nkrumah remains largely a complete enigma.br //span/span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-212370935609663211?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• September 11, 2009
• 5:30

  Postcard from the Edge

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 130%;"span style="font-family: arial;"It is strange to think how a quiet Tuesday morning can start with your biggest worry being the fact that your roommate took too loooooong in the shower finishing all the hot water and making you late for work. As the day progresses, this concern completely evaporates as you wonder if you will ever get to shower again. You are also griped with panic and fear that the very roommate you were snappy with earlier in the morning over a shower, may be buried under the rubble of her work building. As night falls, you are still coming to terms with the very bitter realisation that the world is not a kind place after all. We did survive that day and the months that came after. My roommates, our friends, coworkers and families all managed to pull through. New York survived. The city was completely shaken but bounced back more resilient, more vibrant and (strangely) friendlier. But not everyone was so fortunate. Over 3,000 people perished as result of the /spana href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks" style="font-family: arial;"September 11 attacks/aspan style="font-family: arial;". It took just one fateful day to change the world forever. Eight years on, I'm still in awe and still lost for words at the complete senselessness of the event. I'm also trying to remember what New York was like before 11 September 2001 and then I find a reminder in a drawer at home. A postcard:/spanbr /br //spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SqoKWEA0hPI/AAAAAAAABJo/BCvN_8_bl5A/s1600-h/New+York+Postcard.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380124078998062322" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SqoKWEA0hPI/AAAAAAAABJo/BCvN_8_bl5A/s400/New+York+Postcard.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 276px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" //abr //divdiv style="text-align: center;"Postcard from the Edge...of Manhattan: The New York Skyline at night before 11 September 2001 with the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center seen clearlybr /br /br /We laughed, we cried, we fought but we were there for each other. The dear roommates from Steinway Street, Astoria, Queensbr /a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SqlQgmNR8yI/AAAAAAAABJg/5BWDJe8A_JA/s1600-h/Steinway+Street+Gang.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379919750813053730" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SqlQgmNR8yI/AAAAAAAABJg/5BWDJe8A_JA/s400/Steinway+Street+Gang.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 224px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" //a (Left to Right ) Nabyna, Wendita, (Me) amp; Laurenabr /I just hope they don't kill me for publishing this picture onlinebr //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-7820087304828776149?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• September 09, 2009
• 9:50

  Third World Living: Mesmerized by Road Work

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I have always hated the expression the "Third World" . It seems so condescending and patronizing yet it has an undeniable ring of truth/spanspan style="font-family:arial;" to it. We do things differently down here and not necessarily in a good way! Anyway, Saturday morning brought much joy to my neighbourhood. The sound of loud machinery and the smell of tar signaled the start of road work on our street and the adjoining road./span span style="font-family:arial;"I should explain that we have had a house in our 'hood for over 20 years and have endured all the dust, dirt and grime that comes from living close to an un-tarred road. We have even put up with the endless fake/pretense moves to tar our roads./span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" I cannot even begin to count the number of times some truck has arrived under the cover of darkness around 3am to dump mounds of sand on the street as part of a scheduled job that never actually happens. Eventually, a contractor will run out of money or something else will come up and the road work will be postponed./span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The strange thing is that most of the roads in the wider 'hood are tarred! span style="font-style: italic;"Note: I'm ignoring the scary potholes -the -size-of-moon-craters-issue because that is a whole different topic. /span/span/spanbr /br //divbr /div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"So when real road tarring started on Saturday morning, it was hardly surprising to find people in our 'hood had pulled up chairs by the roadside and were eagerly taking in all the action. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I myself watched completely mesmerized and in awe for a whole 10 minutes without moving. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" I was half-expecting street hawkers to show up selling plantain chips and cokes to the gathered crowd. By the way, how is it that hawkers always know where the traffic jams are all over Accra? That is something that has always baffled me. Back to the road...while we watched, my mother pointed out with amusement that it was like we were all transported to the pre-independent Gold Coast where the inhabitants of a remote community had gathered to see a tarred road for the first time in their lives. Yes, it was actually that exciting! /span/spanbr /br //divdiv style="text-align: center;"div style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SqeqkZ-GJQI/AAAAAAAABJQ/pfuFHcDfS0k/s1600-h/Complete+Road.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 376px; height: 289px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SqeqkZ-GJQI/AAAAAAAABJQ/pfuFHcDfS0k/s400/Complete+Road.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379455822340695298" border="0" //aOur freshly-tarred adjoining road. So beautiful to walk on.br //divbr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"But...it was all too good to be true. My new-road joy has already turned sour. Although our adjacent road is complete /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"and has already turned into a speed demon's span style="font-style: italic;"Grand Prix/span highway (or more like span style="font-style: italic;"Grand Pricks/span highway), /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"our actual street has been left abandoned. Apparently the contractor has run out of supplies. The road is half-tarred, half-complete and not a single peep about when work will continue. Now ain't that Third World living for ya?!/span/spanbr //divbr /div style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SqdxSNHQTXI/AAAAAAAABJI/0WNYlfe4uwE/s1600-h/Road+incomplete.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 312px; height: 303px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SqdxSNHQTXI/AAAAAAAABJI/0WNYlfe4uwE/s400/Road+incomplete.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379392837489020274" border="0" //aThis is not a shadow. This is the Yin-Yang pattern that is now our street!br //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-658587567717009597?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• September 03, 2009
• 9:00

  Policemen at the Barrier Part 2: House-Call from the Boys in Blue

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sp-uPSDtDII/AAAAAAAABI4/BnN-9KMYA0s/s1600-h/Kotoka-International-Airport.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 259px; height: 180px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sp-uPSDtDII/AAAAAAAABI4/BnN-9KMYA0s/s400/Kotoka-International-Airport.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377208057672305794" border="0" //aKotoka International Airport (KIA)br //divdiv style="text-align: center;"br //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I seem to be having lots of a href="http://chardonas.blogspot.com/2009/08/when-fears-come-true-car-trouble-at.html"run-ins/a with the "boys in blue" aka Ghana's finest aka Ghana Police Service. Our last encounter was at the airport 3 days ago when they supposedly caught me on a traffic violation. Much to span style="font-style: italic;"their/span irritation, I refused to acknowledge I was in the wrong and argued with them for about 30 minutes. Of course, in the end one must obey The Law.br /br //span/spana onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sp_Dg8ijucI/AAAAAAAABJA/XzCF4mF5I2c/s1600-h/satellite.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 256px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sp_Dg8ijucI/AAAAAAAABJA/XzCF4mF5I2c/s400/satellite.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377231450877966786" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Anyway, two days ago, there was yet another interaction with the upholders of the law but luckily I was not home. My mother was just about to enjoy a lovely morning bath when she was told that 3 gentlemen from the Ghana Police Service had arrived looking to have a word. When I heard the story I had assumed that my belligerent encounters of late had been entered into their nifty database and they had used geographic information systems (GIS) and satellite-mapping to pin-point my location. Okay, maybe that is just my paranoia talking. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"br /br /Anyway, my mother was a little concerned about the visit and since she was just about to step into the bath, asked the house-help to find out what the problem was./span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" The officers declared that they were the delightful public servants who had been at the a href="http://chardonas.blogspot.com/2009/07/policemen-at-barrier.html"neighbourhood barrier /afor the past 3 months and had served and protected the community from thieves. Alas, they were now on their way and so were bidding the 'hood farewell through house-calls. I wish I was there for that moment. Madonna's span style="font-style: italic;"a href="http://www.mp3lyrics.org/m/madonna/ill-remember/"I'll Remember/a /spanmust have been playing in the background or some such song lamenting the sadness of a parting.br /br //span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Through the house-help, my mother asked them to kindly hold on while she finished bathing. Fortunately for us, the boys in blue calculated:br /br /span style="font-style: italic;"Unnecessarily delays (UD) = are inversely proportional to the number of houses to visit (NHV) = which are also directly related to the volume of expressions of gratitude (EG) likely to be received./span The equations can be simplified to:br /span style="font-style: italic;" /spanbr /span style="font-style: italic;"UD =1/EG/spanbr /br /Having done rapid mathematics, our visitors abandoned waiting and left abruptly in a huff.br /br /Personally, I'm hardly shocked by the shameless house-call by law enforcement officers to guilt-trip individuals into providing gifts of gratitude for them doing their job. Not shocked but amused, disturbed and slightly saddened. /span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"/span/span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-5936758166787817781?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• August 31, 2009
• 5:00

  Busta Rhymes in Concert: When New York Comes to Accra....at New York prices?!

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SpuK8UH28rI/AAAAAAAABIw/X7G72mqJteQ/s1600-h/busta-rhymes.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SpuK8UH28rI/AAAAAAAABIw/X7G72mqJteQ/s400/busta-rhymes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376043348995273394" border="0" //abr /div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"It is official: one of New York's finest sons, the hip-hop veteran Busta Rhymes will be performing in Ghana on September 12th. Well, at least that is what the spread in the span style="font-style: italic;"Daily Graphic /spannewspaper said. Sponsored by the telecommunication giants MTN, Busta Rhymes is bringing his unique brand of Brooklyn-infused hip-hop to Accra. Given his Jamaican parentage, Busta Rhymes could probably trace his ancestry to our fair shores but that is another matter. Anyway, according to the concert poster I saw, it will cost GHC 80.00 to attend. That is approximately $55.00. *Yikes*. This concert is clearly not targetting the "ordinary people" circuit but then again since when have concerts by international superstars targetted anyone but the elite? Even for the elite, isn't GHC80.00 a tad steep? As much as I love remnants of a past-life in New York and still lament not attending the a href="http://chardonas.blogspot.com/2008/11/to-wyclef-or-not-to-wyclef-026-zain.html"Wyclef show /alast year, would I pay GHC80.00 to see Busta Rhymes in these current times? Would you?/span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"/span/span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-1919103873350958831?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• August 26, 2009
• 3:21

  Senator Edward Kennedy: The Sad Passing of a Political Don

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SpT79Z8tYXI/AAAAAAAABIo/NfXTnDjqS2E/s1600-h/Boston+GLOBE.gif"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 394px; height: 424px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SpT79Z8tYXI/AAAAAAAABIo/NfXTnDjqS2E/s400/Boston+GLOBE.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374197287715955058" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:85%;"span style="font-size:100%;"Source: a href="http://boston.com/bostonglobe/"The Boston Globe 26 August 2009 /a/spanbr /br //span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-540790085314730722?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• August 24, 2009
• 5:20

  When Fears come true: Car Trouble at Midnight

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SpJZUsVC04I/AAAAAAAABIQ/8MYDqnDnYek/s1600-h/supernatural+title+card.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 224px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SpJZUsVC04I/AAAAAAAABIQ/8MYDqnDnYek/s400/supernatural+title+card.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373455517438104450" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I think I watch too many television series involving psychopaths, serial killers, ghouls and demons. Two of my favorites /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"series are span style="font-style: italic;"a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_Minds"Criminal Minds/a /spanwhich revolves around a group of FBI profilers chasing the criminally insane while the other /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"is a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural_%28TV_series%29"span style="font-style: italic;"Supernatural/span/a which has two brothers driving across the US in search of really scary supernatural forces. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Interestingly, these two series have both featured similar scenarios where a woman is driving along an abandoned, isolated, /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"rural road deep in the night. As she drives along, she gets a flat tire. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The distraught lady tries her phone and for some reason it is always out of network coverage area. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"She is always forced to get out of the car and attempt to change the tire when either:/span/spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"1. A hooded person emerges from the darkness with a long butcher knife /span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"2. A strange car pulls up and offers help and that's the last time the lady is seen alive/span/spanbr //divspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"br //span/spandiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"So as I headed home alone last Friday around midnight, you can imagine my shock and horror when my car engine /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"stalled after I hit a speed bump. It all happened when I was making the steep descent outside Can-West heading towards /spanspan style="font-family:arial;"the railway line that divides Airport Residential area and Dzorwulu./span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" I managed to reach the bottom of the /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"hill and parked in the darkness on one side of the road. I started the car again and it would not spark!/span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"So I reached for my phone and realised that I deserved the 'span style="font-style: italic;"Genius of Year award/span' because the whole day/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" I had had silly conversations on both my mobile phones and completely run all my credit down. *Yikes*/span/spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"br /div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I thought about leaving my car there overnight...the only problem being that by the next morning I would have been likely to find that my car had proved /span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"useful for anyone looking for free (well-worn) tires, a cellotaped-down dodgy car radio and a battery. /span/span /diva onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SpJbh1v4yTI/AAAAAAAABIY/beJ0GhZd11s/s1600-h/my+ride.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 366px; height: 250px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SpJbh1v4yTI/AAAAAAAABIY/beJ0GhZd11s/s400/my+ride.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373457942328166706" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"As I sat in the darkness contemplating my next move, a dark-coloured pick-up pulled to a stop in front of me. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The images of my car being stripped down were rapidly replaced with picture of a dimly-lit room where my body parts were /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"being cut into small parts and being separated into plastic bags to be sold for juju charms. /span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Out of the car emerged a nice-looking man dressed all in white. White like an angel but I was still very suspicious./span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" For this narrative we will call him 'Man X'. /span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Man X asked politely if I needed help and I nodded desperately as my adrenaline levels started to rise. /span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"He tried my car engine and alas, it was very much still dead. He went over to get a rock to hold something steady but me being a little/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" paranoid imagined the rock being the blunt instrument that was about to knock me out cold. So I moved over to stand /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"by the roadside making a call with shaky hands as some woman on the line told me "span style="font-style: italic;"You have no call credit!"/spanbr /br /Man X went over to his truck and took out a short rope.../span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"At that point paranoia really took over and I found myself hailing down a passing taxi. The driver stopped and /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I realised what a ridiculous thing I was doing especially since Man X was trying to help me so waved him on./span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"In the end, my good samaritan concluded that the only way to deal with the predicament was to tow me home. However.../span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Problem number 1: The rope he had (which was not to tie me up) was too short and not standard issue for towing./span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"br /Problem number 2: The Ghana Police Service night patrols may also agree that it was illegal to be towing a car with such a rope and/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" would as we say in Ghana "worry us"/span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"br /br /Man X tied up the cars and we set off...all I had to do was watch the brakes and steer...Problem Number 1 was okay and /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"it was all working pretty out well when Problem number 2 set in. /span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Very close to my home in Dzorwulu, Ghana Police Service officers were hot on our heels in full pursuit. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"They flagged us down full of glee. Man X got out of his truck and /span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"explained the scenario and informed the officers that /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"he did not even know me. I confirmed that this was the first time I had set eyes on him and that he had actually saved me from /span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"a potentially dodgy situation.br /br /The police were not having it. They said I should have called a tow truck./span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;""A tow Wha??? At that time of the night??" I thought "Where the @#$#@%$@ is that number anyway?" /span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" After extensively searching my car, they told me that it was an offense so /span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"what was I going to do?...br /br /In the end, the nice officers understood..Well, the understanding came after I gave them a small token for a soft drink. They allowed me to /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"be towed home and were helpful enough to follow us from behind for the rest of the way. I just hope mini-buses brim full of armed robbers were not whizzing by as they provided an escort for me home.br /br //span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"It was only when I got home that I found out Man X's name. His rope was ruined but he refused to take /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"any money to replace it., Last Friday night, this good samaritan really restored my faith in the goodness of Ghanaians./span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The most annoying part of the whole story was that after Man X had left, I started the car and it sparked without a problem! I wish I had tried the car earlier...before we ran into the cops!/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" /span/spanbr //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-5635631226073922505?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• August 20, 2009
• 5:15

  Mayhem in Akwatia: Isn't Ghana ready for electronic voting yet?

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/So0SRABf5zI/AAAAAAAABHo/j89IB6qMQ3Q/s1600-h/electronic-voting+machine.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 180px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/So0SRABf5zI/AAAAAAAABHo/j89IB6qMQ3Q/s400/electronic-voting+machine.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371970013796230962" border="0" //aElectronic Voting Machine. Source: USA Todaybr /br //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"If you have been following the wonderful world of Ghanaian politricks, then you know that this past Tuesday saw the re-run of part of the 2008 election. Six polling stations in the diamond-enriched constituency of Akwatia in the Eastern region had to be done over. The final outcome of the election appeared inevitable even before the re-run since the ruling party candidate Mr. Baba Jamal needed to win over 80% of all votes cast at these 6 polling stations. This was because the opposition candidate was already ahead by over 3000 votes from 80+ other polling stations in the constituency. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Unfortunately for Mr. Jamal the election outcome was span style="font-weight: bold;"not/span a a href="http://www.modernghana.com/news/233699/1/npp-floors-baba-jamal-in-akwatia-polls.html"case of 'third time lucky'. /a/span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"What got me concerned about this particular election were the media reports of mayhem, loss of life, harassment, /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"damage to property and divisive ethnic undertones that characterised the entire process. In the end, a curfew had to imposed on Akwatia. Such reports of havoc contrast the Ghanaian image /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"garnered from the December 2008 election /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"as the Beacon of African Democracy (BAD) . /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Speaking of Ghana Election 2008, it was actually stolen ballot boxes from the 6 polling stations in Akwatia that precipitated this August 2009 re-run./span/spanbr //divbr /div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"So the question bothering me now is how to make elections freer and fairer in the BAD???/span/span span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Why can't we be making moves towards introducing electronic voting in Ghana? What is electronic voting anyway?/spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/So0R2DMY60I/AAAAAAAABHg/HWV3zp1ZsMc/s1600-h/Man+of+the+Year.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 293px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/So0R2DMY60I/AAAAAAAABHg/HWV3zp1ZsMc/s400/Man+of+the+Year.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371969550790748994" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"According to the good people at Wikipedia (God bless 'em) a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voting#Documented_problems"electronic voting /abasically encompasses electronic means of casting votes/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" and electronic means of counting votes. /span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"This could be combined with biometric facial recognition software or finger-printing systems to register voters. This would supposedly/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" ensure one voter, one vote. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Electronic voting has been used in India, Brazil, the US and a whole bunch of other countries and /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I can't see why our government cannot start lobby the World Bank/IMF for funds to introduce such systems in Ghana?/span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Note: Electronic systems are far from perfect. In the 2000 US Presidential election, the infamous failure of electronic punch-card systems in/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" the state of Florida may have affected the overall outcome of the tight race between George Bush and Al Gore/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;". Then there was the weird and wacky satirical film a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voting#Documented_problems"span style="font-style: italic;"Man of the Year /span/astarring Robin Williams that had the completely ludicrous candidate/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" winning the US Presidential Election due to a software glitch in the tallying of votes./span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Besides, the deservedly reigning Ghanaian champion of democracy, our electoral commissioner Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan a href="http://www.cddghana.org/news.aspx?news=162."does not think we are/a/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"a href="http://www.cddghana.org/news.aspx?news=162." ready for biometric systems just yet/a. He made that point at a forum held at the Ghanaian Centre for Democratic Development (CDD),/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" earlier this year. According to /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Dr. Afari-Gyan "the incredibility or otherwise of an election depends on multifaceted factors /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"which include the /span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"1. Expertise and skills of the Electoral Commission/span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"2. Timely release of resources by government for the prosecution of the elections,/span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"3. Free and fair reportage by media/span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"4. Contestant conducting civil campaigns./span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"5. Avoidance of multiple voting/span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"6. The protection of ballot boxes by the security services /span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"7. Speedy adjudication of election disputes/span/span"br /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Dr. Afari-Gyan may have a point but I still believe that electronic voting could break down some of the barriers listed above. So what are feelings out there?/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" Could we benefit from electronic voting in Ghana? Or are we just introducing more havoc to an already chaotic system?/span/spanbr //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-1858665874924762319?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• August 17, 2009
• 5:00

  Taking Time Out to chill in Accra

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SokesCuxTHI/AAAAAAAABHY/IT_dQsHXKSM/s1600-h/timeout+Accra.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 292px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SokesCuxTHI/AAAAAAAABHY/IT_dQsHXKSM/s400/timeout+Accra.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370857772612144242" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"My friend El has now been in Ghana for exactly one week and for some reason thinks Accra is a cosmopolitan and vibrant city. He was even impressed that we had a branch of the world-famous a href="http://www.patchi.com/"Patchi chocolates/a. In fact, I had no idea we did but a visit to the Accra Mall confirmed that we do have a Patchi store as we found it tucked away to the left at the mall's span style="font-style: italic;"Game/span entrance. Their chocolates are deliciously amazing by the way. I'm still hard-pressed to believe that Accra is so hip and happening but just being at the Accra mall on a Sunday afternoon amidst swarms of good-looking and vibrant people, has inclined me towards agreeing with my friend. /span/spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Finding a copy of span style="font-style: italic;"Time Out Accra /spanin a hotel store has further fermented my appreciation of the fact that Accra is definitely a place on the move. Back in my New York City days, a href="http://newyork.timeout.com/"span style="font-style: italic;"Time Out New York/span/a was the definitive guide to all the happenings in the Big Apple; the concerts, the events as well as the best places to eat etc. It did great reviews and included how much a meal at a hot-spot like "a href="http://www.russiantearoomnyc.com/subindex.php?p=home"The Russian Tea Room/a" was likely to set you back. So it was with much excitement that I bought my first copy of span style="font-style: italic;"Time Out Accra /spanfull of glossy and colourful pages that really bring the city alive. Well, it was actually El that bought it for me but lets not get weighed down with technicalities! The magazine is filled with features, sightseeing options, what/where to eat , where to stay and where to be entertained.There's even an amusing section entitled "Pigdin Buster" that gives a few words in pidgin translated into English. So if you hear someone describing something as span style="font-style: italic;"Awam/span or span style="font-style: italic;"Azaa/span, you would know exactly what they mean! span style="font-style: italic;"Time Out Accra /spanis not only a must-have for visitors but also for natives of this fair city. Check it out!/span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"/span/span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-1031486871908916368?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• August 11, 2009
• 5:50

  Two Women of the Moment: Hillary and Aung San Suu Kyi

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SoFEWKQy9rI/AAAAAAAABHQ/pHmJ4ZzqmSI/s1600-h/CNN.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 271px; height: 138px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SoFEWKQy9rI/AAAAAAAABHQ/pHmJ4ZzqmSI/s400/CNN.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368647378304956082" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"CNN International's early morning show today had the spotlight on two dynamic and very different women in their 60s. One piece of news left me sad while the other left me quite amused. /span/spanbr /div style="text-align: justify;"br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"News that Saddened: The Case of a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/world/asia/12myanmar.html?_r=1amp;partner=MOREOVERNEWSamp;ei=5040"Aung San Suu Kyi/a/span/spanbr /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SoFC8k16III/AAAAAAAABHI/GOEO7lLunJw/s1600-h/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 162px; height: 227px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SoFC8k16III/AAAAAAAABHI/GOEO7lLunJw/s400/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368645839251710082" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The 64 year old Burmese pro-democracy leader, Ms. Suu Kyi has been found guilty of violating the terms of her house arrest by allowing an American who swam to her lakeside house to stay for 2 days. She received 3 years hard labour but was given a suspended sentence of 18 months house arrest. House arrest again? I'm beginning to believe conspiracy theories that the Burmese authorities may have allowed the American to undertake his mission because it provided the opportunity to keep Ms. Suu Kyi under house arrest since her previous sentence was just about to expire. The situation has finally become completely absurd. When is enough, enough? When will world leaders start putting real pressure on the Burmese junta for change? /span/spanbr /br /br /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"News that Amused: Secretary of State a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6790980.ece"(Mrs.) Hilary Clinton loses her cool/a/span/spanbr /br /div style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SoE6wI6CRBI/AAAAAAAABGo/gHlveMYFaAs/s1600-h/ClintonCongo385_599881a.JPG"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 385px; height: 185px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SoE6wI6CRBI/AAAAAAAABGo/gHlveMYFaAs/s400/ClintonCongo385_599881a.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368636829501375506" border="0" //aSource: Reuters. Mrs. Clinton in Kinshasa/divbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"There is someone I feel sorry for in the Democratic Republic of Congo today. That person is a student who posed a question /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"for the US secretary of State (Mrs.) Hilary Clinton /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"that was clearly 'Lost in Translation' from French to English . The student was (apparently) asking what President Obama's opinion was on Chinese trade interests in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The question came out as: "what does span style="font-style: italic;"your husband /spanthink of /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Chinese trade interests in the Democratic Republic of Congo". /span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Mrs. Clinton was clearly riled up by the question and retorted: “My husband is not the Secretary of State, I am.” Although it was amusing to watch, one cannot blame Mrs. Clinton for getting a little hot under the collar. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"She is trying to do her job in her own right but is somehow still a little overshadowed by her famous husband. Of course, sensational reports of /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"former President Clinton's recent mission to North Korea to negotiate the release of two American journalists hardly helped his wife situation. Apparently she was bombarded with questions about the mission when she arrived in Kenya. Additionally, Mrs. Clinton probably thought she detected some of the famed subjugation of women associated with the African continent when she heard the question. I still can't understand how "husband" and "President" could be mixed up in French?? Oh well!br /br //span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"So here's a thought: how about President Obama sending Mrs. Clinton to Burma to see what can be done about Ms. Suu Kyi? Now that would really be killing two birds with one stone; Ms. Suu Kyi potentially free and Mrs. Clinton really stepping out into the light in her own right. Plus it would make for a great span style="font-style: italic;"Sister-2-Sister/span moment. /span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" /span/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" /span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-3292937930563034678?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• August 10, 2009
• 14:00

  Celebrating the Best of the B.A.D.

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" My span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"bestest/span buddy El will be landing at span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"Kotoka/span International Airport in a couple of hours . This is his first visit to Ghana i.e the "Beacon of African Democracy (the B.A.D.). Despite maternal origins rooted deeply on this side of the continent, this is his first visit to West Africa. El and I go way back to secondary school in Swaziland. We met at (O-Level) Form 1 Orientation and 7 years later, we both had the dubious honour of being the only 2 members of our/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" class that were boarders at the school from Form 1 Orientation right span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"thru/span to international baccalaureate graduation. Anyway, through the years, El and I have been in touch constantly and his span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"imminent/span arrival /spanbr /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" has got me thinking about the things I love best about my country Ghana. In celebration of what I love best about the Beacon of African Democracy, I present to you the top 5 things I love about Ghana./spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SoBVaGqaCuI/AAAAAAAABGY/UqMCFRXOhgM/s1600-h/Photo-0009.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 168px; height: 197px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SoBVaGqaCuI/AAAAAAAABGY/UqMCFRXOhgM/s400/Photo-0009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368384662779071202" border="0" //aspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" span style="font-weight: bold;"1. Mangoes./span I know this sounds strange but I cannot get enough of mangoes. Small ones, gigantic/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ones...yellow or green, they all have my name on them. What I love even more is passing through mango country outside of Accra and getting my/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" favorite fruit without the sometimes exorbitant middle-man costs. I crave mangoes outside and inside Ghana and my favorite time of the year is mango season.br /br /br //spanbr /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" span style="font-weight: bold;"2. Doing your Hair for Cheap. /spanAny African woman who has just moved to the US or Europe is likely to have faced hair-related woes./spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Well, unless you are like my versatile and ambidextrous friend span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"Lyd/span who can braid her own hair that is. /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" When your hair starts to go all dodgy and brittle span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"from/span lack of proper/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" salon care and chilly winter weather then you will understand what I'm on about! /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" When you find yourself hauling your butt to span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"someones/span house in North London to be charged span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"GBP/span 70.00 for a style that would have cost/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" you span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"GH/span10.00 (span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"GBP /span4.00) in Ghana, then you will feel the pinch. /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" br /In Ghana there are a plethora of good choices for your hair. These range from the kiosk by your house to more upscale endeavours. /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" My own personal favorite place for hair-braiding is /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" span style="font-style: italic;"Auntie Alice's/span a.k.a Veterinary/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" . You are likely to run into all sorts there from television newsreaders, politicians, bank ladies/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" or even students of all kinds. because they are so span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"good/span. Also, regardless of who you are, you wait your turn. The owner, span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"Aunty/span Alice is forever affable/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" and delightfully warm to all. Of course if you want to get a fabulous weave-on or a relaxer infused haircut, then look no further than /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" span style="font-style: italic;"First Choice /spanwith branches on the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"Spintex/span Road and span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"Kaneshie/span. They are extremely efficient and professional./spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" They are on the high-end in terms of costs but I find them worth every span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"pesewa/span./spanbr /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SoBjAVNQ-lI/AAAAAAAABGg/1hfSxQeFQh4/s1600-h/Photo-0075.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 318px; height: 289px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SoBjAVNQ-lI/AAAAAAAABGg/1hfSxQeFQh4/s400/Photo-0075.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368399613169564242" border="0" //aspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" span style="font-weight: bold;"3. span style="font-style: italic;"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"Fufu/span /spanand other Culinary Delights:/span Let's face it, only in Ghana can you enjoy the perfect blend of pounded cassava and pounded plantain (span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"fufu/span) accompanied by a delicious hot and steamy soup. Don't get me wrong, despite my paternal roots that should dictate differently, I only eat span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"fufu/span about once or twice a week but having the option there is delectable. Living outside of Ghana there is always an abundance of span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18"fufu/span powders to try out but one has to admit that there is nothing like the real deal. By the way, span style="font-style: italic;"Bush Canteen /spanin East span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19"Legon/span is like span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20"fufu/span heaven./spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" 4. Ghanaian Hospitality:/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" *Sigh* Ghanaian hospitality is usually reserved strictly for foreigners and as a native of this fair land you are likely to be sized up by your fellow countrymen before you are deemed worthy of respect. However, I have to admit that Ghanaians are some of the most gentle and friendliest people in Africa. /spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" 5. No Substitute for Family:/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" They say home is where the heart is. Well, for me being in Ghana means being close to my immediate family. Although this means being spoiled rotten and being rendered into a child-like state, once outside of Ghana you really feel the pangs of separation. Of course this is strange coming from someone like me who first went to boarding school for 7 years at the age of 11 and went to university thousands of miles from any family. I guess that is probably why I feel that having immediate family close is now something very important to me now . span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21"Mmm/span... extended-extended family are usually best kept at a safe distance though!br /br /So I have a difficult task ahead. I have to infuse what I like best about Ghana into a busy schedule for my buddy El. Unfortunately, I don't think he is looking to do his hair, eat mangoes, hang out with my family or overdose on span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22"fufu/span so it will be hard. The best part about him coming is that 15 years ago, he asked me to take a picture of the Independence Arch so he could gaze at the Black Star and how much it meant for Africa. I never got round to taking that picture for him but I can do much better. now I can finally take him to the arch for him to gaze upon it himself!br //spandiv style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SoBTZRO9WAI/AAAAAAAABGQ/Hni1nzAZgWI/s1600-h/EL+and+I+in+DC.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SoBTZRO9WAI/AAAAAAAABGQ/Hni1nzAZgWI/s400/EL+and+I+in+DC.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368382449413609474" border="0" //aEl and Me in Washington D.C some years ago.br //div/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-4734013898392451748?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• August 07, 2009
• 14:59

  Panic Sets In: My First Swine Flu Phone Call

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SnyAEECruwI/AAAAAAAABGI/jkhhMCSAp6w/s1600-h/H1N1_flu.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 155px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SnyAEECruwI/AAAAAAAABGI/jkhhMCSAp6w/s400/H1N1_flu.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367305663211617026" border="0" //aSOURCE: CDC- The H1N1 Virusbr /br //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I think I mentioned I do medical research. Well, basically, in a nutshell, this means I have dropped my mobile number in almost every district of the Greater Accra Region in connection with some research study or another. A couple of minutes ago I got a phone-call from a frantic young man in Madina saying I came to his school some years ago. Really? Did I? My phone number was on a flyer he saved so I must have. It is comforting to know that the flyer was not used to wrap roasted plantain or something. The poor young man sounded very perturbed and asked me for the Swine Flu/H1N1 symptoms. So I have decided to get the symptoms handy on my blog. Well, it was really a comment by fellow blogger a href="http://freduagyeman.blogspot.com/"Nana Fredua-Agyeman/a that prompted me first! /span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"br /br /According to the a href="http://www.cdc.gov/flu/swineflu/key_facts.htm"US Centers for Disease Control (CDC):/a/span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:100%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The symptoms of swine flu in people are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human /spana style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/symptoms.htm"seasonal influenza/aspan style="font-family:arial;" and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. /span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I explained to the young man that if you have some of these symptoms it does not necessarily mean that you have H1N1. Also, if you have most or all of the symptoms it would be a good idea to just swing on by your nearest health centre/hospital. Towards the end of the conversation, the young man seemed reassured. He told me that he does not have any fever. I told him to call back anytime. Oh No...what have I just done?/span/spanbr //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-9179899721281719929?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• 9:20

  The Arrival of the Inevitable: H1N1 Flu in Ghana

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SnwqZZZObXI/AAAAAAAABFw/jo9QJNjlzu8/s1600-h/Photo-0001.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 88px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SnwqZZZObXI/AAAAAAAABFw/jo9QJNjlzu8/s400/Photo-0001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367211471720574322" border="0" //aSource: Daily Graphic Newspaper 7 August 2009br //divdiv style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"br //span/divdiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"It was inevitable. Like a long-anticipated visitor, Influenza A (a.k.a. H1N1 flu or also popularly referred to as “Swine-flu”) has come to town. It was only yesterday that a post by fellow Ghana blogger a href="http://mayasearth.blogspot.com/"Maya/a alerted my attention to the fact that H1N1 flu was in our midst./span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"It has probably been around Ghana much longer than we think but our surveillance systems may not have picked it up earlier. Let's face it, we live in a dynamic world where people are always on the move. Besides, once Cote D'Ivoire was hit a month ago, it was only a matter of time./span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"We are no strangers to influenza pandemics. The Spanish Flu pandemic that started in 1918 killing between 50-100 million people world-wide, also reeked havoc in Accra apparently. Very recently, we had the avian influenza outbreak in Ghana but that eventually came under control. However, unlike avian/bird flu, H1N1 actually spreads by human-to-human contact so is alot more difficult to control./span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I came down with a really bad cold last week and was just waiting for the H1N1-esque symptoms. After a weekend of hot soup and watching expletive-filled a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadwood_%28TV_series%29"span style="font-style: italic;"Deadwood /span/aSeason 1-2, the cold cleared and I was relieved. Okay, that was probably more of an example of my legendary paranoia but one cannot be too careful./span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The a href="http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/qa.htm"US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) /ahave some pretty comprehensive web-pages on H1N1 flu which I would recommend for all to review./span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" Some of the CDC recommendations to protect your health revolve around basic hygiene:/span/spanbr /br /* Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.br /br /* Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners* are also effective.br /br /* Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.br /br /* Try to avoid close contact with sick people.br /br /* If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.) Keep away from others as much as possible to keep from makingbr /br //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" They have a lot more to say so do check 'em out. We should all bear in mind that the H1N1 flu cases seen in the current pandemic have been mild for many and severe or even fatal for only relative few. I must admit that I’m pretty freaked out about infectious contagious diseases spreading in our neck of the woods since our health systems are already fragile and ill-equipped. We also have so many more opportunities to come in direct contact with large numbers of people for example in our crowded markets or even in Churches. I don't think I have to add that some of our hygiene practices in Ghana can also be classified under the banner of "borderline shady" at times due to the lack of clean water . So you can understand why I'm a little concerned. In the meantime, I’m off to look for some hand santizers for the family!/spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SnwqtYRq9hI/AAAAAAAABF4/hF7uFwXZgV4/s1600-h/H1N1.png"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SnwqtYRq9hI/AAAAAAAABF4/hF7uFwXZgV4/s400/H1N1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367211815017838098" border="0" //aSOURCE: WHO. The Map shows the areas in the world affected by H1N1 flu as of 31 August 2009 (shaded in pink). Ghana was yet to be officially hit and just to think it was only last week!/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-7957675414984221956?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• August 04, 2009
• 10:25

  The Curious Case of the Roaming Hypnotists

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" One of late father's favorite quotes was from the James Bond film a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldfinger_%28film%29"span style="font-style: italic;"Goldfinger/span/a in which the villain Goldfinger runs into James Bond way too many times and declares: /spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-style: italic;""Once is 'happenstance'. /span/spanspan style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-style: italic;"Twice is 'coincidence'/span/spanspan style="font-style: italic;". /spanspan style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-style: italic;"Three times is 'enemy action' "/span/spanbr /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sng73QtxyzI/AAAAAAAABFA/fOuP7jBK3dM/s1600-h/Goldfinger+and+James.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sng73QtxyzI/AAAAAAAABFA/fOuP7jBK3dM/s400/Goldfinger+and+James.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366104776577764146" border="0" //abr /Picture Above: 007 and Goldfinger at their upteenth encounter. By that time, Mr. Goldfinger was clearly ticked off with all the run-ins. SOURCE: www.cbanews.cabr /span style="font-size:130%;"br //spandiv style="text-align: justify;"span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" The take-home message I have always held dear is that one has to be wary of things that come in threes. This brings me to the bizarre new breed of tricksters operating in Accra. I'm not referring to the much hyped so-called span style="font-style: italic;"Sakawa Boys /spanwho according to some newspapers seem to engage in everything from internet fraud to turning people into snakes. Yes, you heard me....snakes. Nor do I refer to the confidence tricksters who usually manipulate their victims' religious beliefs to dupe them out of everything leaving them down to their last coin and underwear. What /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" I'm talking about are a new garden variety of crooks that have been sighted at various points across the sprawling Accra metropolis. Here are three accounts I have heard highlighting their modus operandi. /spanbr /br /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Story 1: Kaneshie Market/spanbr /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" A year ago my office-mate told us about something that had happened to a friend of his. She was at the Kaneshie Market when she was approached by a group of men in search of directions. She was not sure what happened next but before she knew it, she had chartered a taxi that was heading straight for her house in North Kaneshie. Upon arrival, she found all the mobile phones in the house, loaded everything up into the waiting taxi and sped off straight back to the market where the mysterious men were lingering patiently. Sometime after handing over the phones, she realised what she had done but unfortunately, the men had evaporated into the crowd. /spanbr /br /br /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Story 2: Tema/Sakumono (Not quite Accra but you catch my drift)/spanbr /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" A month ago, a national service lady working with us ran into two gentlemen looking for directions. Before she knew it, she was leading these men to her house. She politely asked them to wait outside while she entered and retrieved her mother's and brother's mobile phones. She handed over the items to the men but not before adding her own phone. The grateful tricksters took off leaving the national service girl still in a daze. /spanbr /br /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Story 3: Somewhere in Accra/spanbr /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Just a couple of weeks ago, a prospective national service person who is currently interning with us was approached by two gentlemen very close to her home. Apparently, one can be described as short, very light-skinned with some sort of foreign accent (whatever that means!). The men were looking for some directions as usual. It appeared the light-skinned one was particularly taken by the young lady....at least that is the impression she got! He started to rub her hands while he asked her for the directions. Next minute, she was leading an expedition bound straight for her house. She asked her new friends to wait outside while she prepared a package for them; mobile phones, her new laptop and her ATM bank-card. She was sure to include her laptop password and ATM pin./spanbr /br /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" I've actually heard a 4th story but that would defeat my whole point about things coming in threes. What could explain these bizarre tales of crookery? /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Most people believe that black magic/charms/juju were involved but I'm a little more skeptical. Aside from the common thread running through the stories which is that that they all involve young women there is the fact that they were rendered into some sort of trance-like state by the tricksters./spanbr /br /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" I believe that these crooks are using hypnosis to make suggestions to their victims and getting them to steal for them./spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" What is hypnotism/hypnosis anyway? According to the good folks over at Wikipedia:/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:100%;"a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnosis"bHypnosis/b /aspan style="font-family:arial;"is a mental state or set of attitudes usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a series of preliminary instructions and suggestions. Hypnotic suggestions may be delivered by a hypnotist in the presence of the subject , or may be self-administered ("self-suggestion" or "autosuggestion")./spanbr //spanspan style="font-size:100%;"span style="font-family:arial;"SOURCE: wikipedia.org/span/spanbr /br /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" The Wikipedia article actually gives quite a lot of background to hypnosis. /spanbr /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" I've only seen hypnosis in operation once. That was back in college at some entertainment events. I was a little skeptical then but when the hypnotist was able to get people to bark like dogs and do all sorts of crazy things I realised that there was much more to it. It did appear to work./spanbr /br /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Alas, there is no way to prove that these criminals are using hypnosis but in the meantime, beware of people seeking directions and holding your hand while asking!! /spanbr //div/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-5079782818687811734?l=chardonas.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
• July 31, 2009
• 6:10

  Policemen at the Barrier

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SnLFJwg3pwI/AAAAAAAABDw/ua7l8qH6Eiw/s1600-h/Photo-0019.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 204px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SnLFJwg3pwI/AAAAAAAABDw/ua7l8qH6Eiw/s400/Photo-0019.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364566877583943426" border="0" //abr /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SnHxwOcXSQI/AAAAAAAABDo/jHZQViUgS98/s1600-h/Photo-0017.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 297px; height: 100px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SnHxwOcXSQI/AAAAAAAABDo/jHZQViUgS98/s400/Photo-0017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364334441988049154" border="0" //abr /br /br /br /div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"br /br /br /br /br /br /The Ghana Police have been very busy lately. Newspapers are awash with sensational headlines of gun-battles reminiscent of movies from the 1970s. You know the type of movies I'm talking about: cops behind a makeshift barrier exchanging gun-fire with robbers clad in black with stockings pulled over their heads.br /br /Aside from tackling the robbery problem, the Police have (or is that 'has'..I never know whether they are plural or singular)/span/spanspan style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;" really been putting the "Service" back into their name with night-time barrier check-points in neighbourhoods/span/spanspan style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;" across Accra. So why is it that when I reach the police barrier very near home each night I cringe and groan? Why is it that I would rather take a long, convoluted very pot-holed route just to avoid the barrier? Well, an encounter at the barrier I had last night may give you a clue. I present to you a chapter from span style="font-style: italic;"Policemen at the Barrier/span:/span/spanbr /span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"br /span style="font-style: italic;"On a cloudy July night our heroine Abena is making her way home. 'Kiss me through the phone' is playing on Atlantis FM and she feels good as she croaks along. Just before getting to the dirt road in front of her house, Abena pulls her creaky engine to a stop at the new police barrier in her 'hood. She is met by a jolly, jovial friendly Ghana police officer who leans into the open passenger seat window./span/span/spanbr /span style="font-family:arial;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"Police-man: Good-evening my sister, how are you (span style="font-style: italic;"he asks in the Twi language/span)/span/spanbr /span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"Abena: I'm doing well (span style="font-style: italic;"she replies/span span style="font-style: italic;"in okay-Twi/span)/span/spanbr /span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"Police-man: Yesterday you promised me something so here we are span style="font-style: italic;"(again in Twi/span)/span/spanbr /span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"Abena: It was not me!!! I did not pass this way yesterday (/span/spanspan style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-style: italic;"in not-so-good-Twi/span)/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"br //spanspan style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"Police-man: It was not you? Okay, so what do YOU have for me today? (span style="font-style: italic;"he demands /spanspan style="font-style: italic;"i/spanspan style="font-style: italic;"n very plain English)/span/span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-style: italic;"br /span style="font-family:arial;"Our Policeman notices our heroine is speaking bad Twi and also appears to have some sort of accent in English.He mentally adds an additional 15% 'Value Added Tax' to whatever he anticipates from the encounter. /span/span/spanbr /br /span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"Abena: I'm sorry but I don't have anything span style="font-style: italic;"(she says in reluctant English/span)/span/spanbr /span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"Police-man: Then when? (span style="font-style: italic;"he quickly retorts back in plain English/span)/span/spanspan style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"br /Abena: Maybe tomorrow...span style="font-style: italic;"br /br //spanspan style="font-style: italic;"At this point, our heroine mentally calculates an alternative barrier-free route for the next day. She thinks maybe it would be a good idea to load her car with loaves of bread to hand out to police-officers demanding something. Speaking of policemen and bread, Abena's mind suddenly drifts back to a rainy night in late October 2008 when she was awaken by a href="http://chardonas.blogspot.com/2008/10/of-colds-night-callers-and-15-seconds.html"a house-call from 3 members to the Machete-Wielding Thieves Association of Ghana (MWTAG)/a. The next morning after the 3am visit, despite cuts and injuries from a daring jump over her house wall, Abena finds herself ferrying police officers from the Police headquarters to her house just for them to do their job. At some point, Abena is taken aside by the Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officer in charge:br /br //spanspanCID Man in charge: Do you have some breakfast for my men for coming all the way to take finger-prints? (span style="font-style: italic;"he asks pointedly/span)br /Abena: Oh I see....(span style="font-style: italic;"naively turning to her cousin/span) do we have some bread and Lipton tea for our guests?br /CID Man in charge: No, no, no, no, if you give them the money, they can decide on the type of breakfast they want..br /Abena: I see...(span style="font-style: italic;"she says disappointed/span, span style="font-style: italic;"saddened and still in pain from her injuries/span)br /span style="font-style: italic;"br /After ferrying the officers back to the police head-quarters, Abena forks out GHC2.50 per head + GHC5.00 for the CID man in charge . Breakfast totals GHC15.00. She contemplates how she has been robbed twice: the night before by the MWTAG and now in daylight by the Ghana Police Service. She hobbles back to her vehicle on a big toe split open from the night before. Abena drives off into the clear October day disappointed by Ghanaian law enforcement. /span/span/span/spanbr /br /THE ENDbr /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SnHi1X5HjdI/AAAAAAAABDY/CX0Di8Po2X8/s1600-h/prez+lauds.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 275px; height: 158px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SnHi1X5HjdI/AAAAAAAABDY/CX0Di8Po2X8/s400/prez+lauds.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364318037749501394" border="0" //aspan style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"Let me first start by saying I'm really grateful to the police for their new approaches to combatting crime. /span/spanspan style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"So my main gripe here is why is it that the police have turned over a new leaf, started new measures but still have the same old attitudes? They still feel the need to have civilians /span/spanspan style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"express their gratitude not through formal taxes but through informal levies. /span/spanspan style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"Granted police salaries are /span/spanspan style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"terrible and the lack of suitable accommodation is extremely worrying but why are the public constantly guilt-tripped into providing /span/spanspan style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"gifts to the police just to show our gratitude for them DOING their jobs? Can someone please explain this to me? In the meantime, I'm span style="font-style: italic;"taking the /spanspan style="font-style: italic;"long way home. /span/span/spanbr /span style="font-family:arial;"/span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-2183503641926822694?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• July 29, 2009
• 12:25

  Lead me not into (Kelewele) Temptation

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"One of my first postings for the blogosphere was a treatise on the a href="http://chardonas.blogspot.com/2008/10/effects-of-lunch-on-ghanaian-worker.html"effects of high carbohydrate lunches/a on the productivity of the average Ghanaian worker. *Sigh* since then, I have been facing an up-hill battle trying to find the best lunch options besides wonderful fermented (sleep-inducing) delights.The final solution was to start bringing my own lunch. This seemed to work really well but then I found that lunch moved from 12:30pm to 11:30am so by 3pm, the pangs of hunger started a-calling.br /br /Enter my latest bad habit: the introduction of the "afternoon snack" which consists of all sorts of mouth-watering numbers that defeat the whole purpose of skipping high carb lunches!! One such delight is Kelewele. If you have never had Kelewelespan style="font-style: italic;" /spanthan you know not what you miss! /span/spanbr //divbr /span style="font-size:100%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Definition ofspan style="font-style: italic;" Kelewele/span : small cubes of plantain, smothered in salt and spices (ginger, pepper etc) and then fried in hot oil. Best eaten accompanied by groundnuts (peanuts)./span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Some of the best kelewele in Accraspan style="font-style: italic;" /spanis available at Labone Junction but fortunately (or unfortunately?) I just found a place really close to work to feed my insatiable afternoon cravings. *Yummy*. Well, my ever-expanding waist-line may beg to differ. /span/spanbr /br /br /div style="text-align: justify;"div style="text-align: center;"span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" span style="font-size:180%;"SCORE-LINE=br //span/spanbr /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" span style="font-size:180%;"Evil Calorific Bad Foods 1: Abena 0 /span/spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sl95Wur_3JI/AAAAAAAABCI/esMiNm2Bqkg/s1600-h/Photo-0040.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sl95Wur_3JI/AAAAAAAABCI/esMiNm2Bqkg/s400/Photo-0040.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359135512990833810" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:85%;"Delicious Kelewelespan style="font-style: italic;",/span have you ever noticed the weird things "fast-food" is wrapped in? The wrapping shown above was an application letter...This clearly did not reach the intended destination..mmm....Or did it?br //span/span/span/div/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-4791846059040531170?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• July 24, 2009
• 9:41

  Leaving in a Ford Everest....

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Well, it is not quite a jet plane but I will be gone for a short trip out of Accra for the field. I'm the trusty team-leader and in true procrastinatory fashion, I'm blogging when we should be putting together the final "to do" list. I'm aiming at a work-throughout the weekend schedule but hope to catch up with the last pages of Harmattan Rain which I'm hooked to and still reading. Love it! Yes, all you voracious book readers must be horrified that I'm still "on it". Car is here..have to run!/spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-2894697720317590840?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• July 20, 2009
• 17:10

  E-Waste in Africa: Why are we not more outraged?

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SmTe3r-wn7I/AAAAAAAABCo/CAhjGk053gk/s1600-h/boys-burning-electronic-cables.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SmTe3r-wn7I/AAAAAAAABCo/CAhjGk053gk/s400/boys-burning-electronic-cables.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360654504757862322" border="0" //aGreepeace picture from Ghana showing "boys burning electronic cables and other electrical components in order to melt off the plastic and reclaim the copper wiring. This burning in small fires releases toxic chemicals into the environment."br //divbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"A review article I'm writing for a local research journal is seriously clipping my procrastinatory wings and also affecting my imaginary social life./span/spanbr /div style="text-align: justify;"br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"*Sigh* I'm sure the article will make for good toilet reading...either you can enjoy it on the toilet or if you run out of toilet paper.../span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Anyway, a preliminary review of the article came with a comment on whether I had thought about the impact of e-waste on asthma in African countries.../span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-style: italic;" span style="font-size:100%;""Ermm no", I haven't....! /span/spanspan style="font-size:100%;"I said/span/span/spanspan style="font-size:100%;"br //spanspan style="font-size:100%;"span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-style: italic;" "E-Who?" /spanspanis what I thought/span/spanbr //spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I quietly went to my faithful friend (the Google search button) to find out what the @#$#@$@ 'e-waste' was anyway!! /span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"To cut a long story short, 'e-waste' stands for electronic waste and is basically the dumping of old electronic devices in poor countries such as ours. Last year, I saw a BBC report flash before my eyes on the phenomenon in Ghana. It showed children scavenging around heaps of rubbish. Some of the piles were on fire. I was appalled at the time but now I'm just down-right disgusted. /span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Did you know that a href="http://www.ehponline.org/members/2006/114-4/ehp0114-a00232.pdf"75% of the old electronic shipped to Nigeria (for example) is probably irreparable junk/a? A small percentage (25%) is used while the rest ends up in land-fills and dumping areas where it is burnt. The same thing happens in Ghana./span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Greenpeace International did some work on electronic waste in Ghana and their findings were published in an aptly entitled article: a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/poisoning-the-poor-electroni"span style="font-style: italic;"Poisoning the poor- Electronic Waste in Ghana./span/a/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" Now I'm not one to endorse some of the more radical and dramatic methods that Greenpeace uses to make statements but I think that this article raises some interesting issues very pertinent to our health here in the big GH./span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Some facts from the Greenpeace article:/span/spanbr //divul style="text-align: justify;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-family:arial;"E-waste is exported to Ghana often illegally /span/span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Unprotected workers, many of whom are children, dismantle old computers and TVs with things such as stones in search of metals that can be sold./span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" The remaining plastic, cables and casing is either burnt or simply dumped/span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The remaining waste contains toxic metals including lead, mercury, cadmium, /span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" Samples collected by Greenpeace contained toxins known to promote cancer/span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Some toxins collected are know to interfere with sexual reproductive development/span/span/li/uldiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Just imagine all the toxins we are inhaling or what is getting into our water supply. Anyway, in brief, this article reminded me of the furtive off-loading of still-unknown -substances in the port of Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire in 2006. These substances were linked to deaths and people being taken ill. Is Africa literally one big dumping site for the the industrial world's trash?/span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Also why is it that we completely take for granted our own health and well-being in Africa?/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" /span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Okay, now back to the article. It is due today. I'm looking at an 11:53pm completion time. That still qualifies for a "span style="font-style: italic;"By Monday/span" deadline....right?/span/spanbr /br /div style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SmTccOY90kI/AAAAAAAABCg/jYCaC-SEGbg/s1600-h/Old+Computer+in+our+office.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SmTccOY90kI/AAAAAAAABCg/jYCaC-SEGbg/s400/Old+Computer+in+our+office.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360651833934991938" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:100%;"span style="font-family:arial;"An old obsolete computer currently decorating our office. Once we throw this out, it could probably end up in the same place as its imported counterparts; burning in a land-fill somewhere in Accra. Scary thought. /span/spanbr //div/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-4466096065233759039?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• July 17, 2009
• 5:40

  Friday morning and Jakarta on my mind

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"Starting the morning off with sad news just seems to hang a dark cloud over the rest of that day. This is exactly what I'm experiencing after I turned on the news this morning to hear about the hotel bombings in Jakarta, Indonesia. It is particularly sad because some of the most warm and wonderful people I know are from Indonesia. In 2006, I was privileged to attend a conference in Jakarta. It was my first visit to Asia so I was extra thrilled. Although we were not in the Ritz-Carlton or Marriott hotels, we were in the very grand Gran Melia. I was like a kid in an enchanted forest....A very well-fed large kid!/span/spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SmA43CNq2uI/AAAAAAAABCQ/zso_PkIAvsU/s1600-h/Jakarta+hotel+view.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 197px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SmA43CNq2uI/AAAAAAAABCQ/zso_PkIAvsU/s400/Jakarta+hotel+view.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359346074709056226" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:100%;"View of Jakarta from my hotel room/spanbr //divbr /span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"Jakarta was a fascinating and extremely large populated city. I thought we had serious traffic problems in Accra, well that was until I went to Jakarta! One could stay in bumper to bumper traffic literally for hours. Another reason I loved Jakarta was that you can buy any sort of electronic device on this planet at a reasonable price. At the time, the Indonesian currency was exactly equivalent to our old cedi rate so it was really easy to make conversions and price comparisons. /span/spanbr /div style="text-align: justify;"br /span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"A thing that struck me on my short visit to Jakarta, was the extremely tight security in hotels. Every time our car entered the hotel compound, metal detectors were used to thoroughly sweep the whole vehicle. We were all searched before entering the hotel building as well./span/spanbr /br /span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"On a lighter note: I was completely unprepared for the curiosity reserved for African visitors to the city by some of her inhabitants. The Africans among our group drew stares and exclamations of surprise in some malls and public places. In the end I admit, I was a little overwhelmed. In one museum, a group of girl scouts/girl guides were completely surprised when they encountered our group in an artifact room. They insisted on taking a picture of us. We placed a condition; that would only happen if we could take a picture of them!/span/spanbr /br /span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"So my fond memories of Jakarta are eclipsed by sadness as thoughts and prayers are with friends and colleagues there./span/spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SmBANEIAX5I/AAAAAAAABCY/NbcE7dCivmQ/s1600-h/Dinner+in+Jakarta.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 237px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SmBANEIAX5I/AAAAAAAABCY/NbcE7dCivmQ/s400/Dinner+in+Jakarta.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359354149760688018" border="0" //aspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" Delicious Culinary Delights in Jakarta/spanbr //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-5137825760230015183?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• July 13, 2009
• 5:00

  Reflections from the Obama Ghana Visit as seen on TV: He came, He saw, He Conquered... all in under 24 hours

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Slrs3czYugI/AAAAAAAABBo/L54U7JPxJxs/s1600-h/048.JPG"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 321px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Slrs3czYugI/AAAAAAAABBo/L54U7JPxJxs/s400/048.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357855144079309314" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"An amazing thing happened the night the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"Obamas/span/span/span were due to arrive in Accra. It stopped raining for the first time in weeks and aside from brief early dawn rain on Saturday morning, we have been bathed in sunshine ever since! I call that Obama Magic. But lets get back to that Friday night. A few hours before span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"Airforce/span/span/span One touched down, Accra was all kerfuffle. Cars were hurriedly making their way home like we had all been span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"tele/span/span/span-ported back to the days of military curfews. I foolishly ignored warnings from family to leave work early and came face-to-face with monster traffic on my route home. Once I finally arrived home, I got excited text messages from my college friend M who works in Liberia (span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"incidentally/span/span/span, like Obama, she has a Kenyan father and an American mother)/span/spanbr /span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" span style="font-family:arial;"br /br /M: "Are you guys lining the streets to welcome Obama?"/span/spanspan style="font-size:100%;" /spanbr /span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" span style="font-family:arial;"Me: "No, we are all home. We were told the roads leading to the airport were blocked"/span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"br /M was span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"disappointed/span/span/span/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" but could understand why the vast majority of Ghanaians were watching Obama beamed into their living rooms like the rest of the world. She still wants a souvenir she saw on CNN: President Obama next to a Kenyan flag and an American flag. Anyone know where I can find one? /span/spanbr /br /div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Anyway, around 9pm, span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"Airforce/span/span/span One finally touched down and the Obama family emerged full of smiles and warmth instantly charming all of us including our government ministers waiting at the airport. Clearly touched by Obama-Magic, the ministers could hardly contain their excitement; they took pictures and gushed. President Mills and his wife were full of grace and the whole ceremony was extremely brief but beautiful. I hear President Obama even tried his hand at some Ghanaian traditional dance. /span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The next morning I pondered over span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"the/span span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"possibilities/span/span/span of heading into town to either loiter somewhere around the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"Osu/span/span/span cemetery near the Accra span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"International/span/span Conference Centre where the much-anticipated "Africa Address" would be held. *Alas* here's the thing:/span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"could've/span/span/span have loitered around but would completely miss the speech and possibly miss even a glimpse of Obama! In the end I /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"found myself transfixed by the TV instead./span/spanbr /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SlrzRgjwVyI/AAAAAAAABB4/x9I-f47N4OM/s1600-h/052.JPG"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 235px; height: 287px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SlrzRgjwVyI/AAAAAAAABB4/x9I-f47N4OM/s400/052.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357862188833855266" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"There was the breakfast meeting at the seat of government span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"(span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"Christianborg/span/span/span Castle). The sound of Angelique span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"Kidjos's/span/span/span span style="font-style: italic;" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"Akwaaba/span/span/spanspan style="font-style: italic;" /span("welcome" in the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"Akan/span/span/span language") was played as quite an apt soundtrack on one station. After a ceremony that involved national anthems and a super-quick inspection of the guard, the camera panned to a jammed packed area where the span style="font-style: italic;"Who's who/span of Ghanaian political elite and society had gathered. There were the 2 former presidents, political party leaders, ministers, the Archbishop of the Catholic diocese of Accra and various other religious leaders. After President span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"Obama's/span/span/span meet-and-greet , they sat down for breakfast and alas, span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"transmission/span/span/span ended. I secretly hoped we would see what was on offer for breakfast .br /br /I must have missed the visit of the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"Obamas/span/span/span to the La General Hospital because the next time I saw President Obama was when he was addressing the august House of Parliament./span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"What a rousing speech he gave! I will leave the analysis of the content to others .He spoke to all Africans; he addressed the youth, touched on issues of corruption, autocratic regimes and the need for the rule of law and democratic principles to prevail. The whole time I heard an underlying emphasis on "Africans span style="font-style: italic;"can/span and span style="font-style: italic;"should be/span self-sufficient"/span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"One interesting remark he made was a reference to the young Ghanaian span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"investigative/span/span/span journalist, the intrepidly daring span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18"Anas/span/span/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19"Ameyaw/span/span/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20"Anas/span/span/span He also span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23"mentioned/span Ms. Patience span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21"Quaye/span/span/span, a deputy police span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22"superintendent/span/span/span who has able to prevent a case of human trafficking./span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"After the beautiful span style="font-style: italic;"CAN DO /spanaddress, there was yet another meet and greet session with our span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23"parliamentarians/span/span/span. This time, we got to witness the effect of Obama-Magic on the opposition minority span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24"parliamentarians/span/span/span as they also excitedly shook hands with the Man of the hour. Majority span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25"parliamentarians/span/span/span were not left out either. Neither were Ex-president Mr. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26"JA/span/span/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27"Kufuor/span/span/span or Ex-President Flight Lieutenant (span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28"RTD/span/span/span) Mr. Jerry John span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29"Rawlings/span/span/span who seems to also have a perchance for photography. /span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The next time we caught up Obama magic was in the Central Region of Ghana. The chiefs and people of span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30"Oguaa/span/span/span (known since colonial times as Cape Coast) were making their way to a meeting ground in golden splendor. A sizable crowd had also gathered in front of the Cape Coast Castle (a former slave fort and the point of no return for millions of Africans who were trafficked to the Americas and Caribbean in bondage)./span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"At this point I realised that if I really wanted to see President Obama in the flesh, I could have camped out in Cape Coast with thousands of others. /span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The Obama family arrived by chopper for the tour of Castle and appeared to be in the company of Mrs span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31"Obama's/span/span/span mother (??)They were shown the castle by a tour guide as well as Honourable Fritz span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32"Baffour/span/span/span, a newly elected span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33"parliamentarian/span/span/span, former director of Ghana's National Museums and part-time actor. After leaving the Castle, President Obama gave a touching speech on the impact of the visit and then he disappeared! The TV commentator did not seem sure where the President and his family were. There was a rumour that Mrs. Obama was being span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34"enstooled/span/span/span as a Queen-mother but this was never confirmed. I saw on CNN this morning that it appears that Anderson Cooper was probably span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35"interviewing/span/span him in the castle during the time he disappeared from our screens. Anderson Cooper?! I love him! I did not even know he was in Ghana!br /br /President Obama re-emerged and after pausing to tie his shoe-lace and a few waves they headed off to Accra. According to one newspaper President Obama ate span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36"kenkey/span/span (fermented maize/corn) while he was here. Quite an interesting choice for a Ghanaian dish. Although it is one of my favorites, I was once told by a British class-mate in grad school that he had tasted the most "God-awful rancid dish ever" while in Ghana - Alas it was span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37"kenkey/span/span! Never spoke to the guy again but I do wonder what span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38"Obama's/span/span feelings are about span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39"kenkey/span/span!br /br //span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"After Cape Coast, my eyes left the TV and I finally went off to do other things. The last time I caught President Obama was in a final rousing address outside span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40"Airforce/span/span/span One on the tarmac at the airport. The crowd seemed to be made up of mostly Americans. He and Mrs. Obama bid farewell, climbed the stairs of the plane hand in hand, turned around and gave us a lovely span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41"unforgettable/span/span/span final wave. *Sigh*/span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Well, President Obama has come and gone and we return to the humdrum of life in Accra. The Electricity Company of Ghana jolted us back to reality on Sunday by span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43"span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42"inexplicably/span/span shutting off our electricity from 8am to 6pm. Ain't that Africa for you and me.br //span/spandiv style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Slrx-ojeyhI/AAAAAAAABBw/GCT0D-GERPM/s1600-h/051.JPG"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 316px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Slrx-ojeyhI/AAAAAAAABBw/GCT0D-GERPM/s400/051.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357860765051046418" border="0" //aToday's Daily Graphic: Fame has clearly gotten to our heads!br //div/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-8823609296214171980?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• July 10, 2009
• 6:00

  Obama's Visit: A View from Ghana

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SlcNrWHx9YI/AAAAAAAABBg/NuOsA6rTTek/s1600-h/Photo-0005.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 296px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SlcNrWHx9YI/AAAAAAAABBg/NuOsA6rTTek/s400/Photo-0005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356765320104244610" border="0" //abr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"As night falls over Accra, President Obama and his family will land at span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"Kotoka/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"International/span Airport. I'm sure Ghanaians are praying for divine span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"intervention/span (spear-headed by Pastor TB Joshua) to deal with this rain; it still has not stopped! I still think there is very little information for the general public as to where we are allowed to go. Can we line the streets outside the airport and wait for the Obama entourage to pass. If all the streets are cordoned off and cleared of people, won't Accra look like an inhabited ghost town to our span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"visitors/span? Where can we get a glimpse of the man besides TV, La Polyclinic or Cape Coast? It is all still a mystery to me. Anyway, one of the best takes I have read on the impending visit is a piece by Ms. Elizabeth span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"Ohene/span, a former minister in the erstwhile New Patriotic Party (span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"NPP/span) span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"administration/span and a former BBC journalist. Her a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8138641.stm"article/a was featured on the BBC over the past weekend and is available on their span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"web page/span. It is a witty, span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"humorous/span and sardonic view of the impending Obama visit that span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"encapsulates/span everything from envy from other African countries, Ghanaian euphoria and also Ghanaian partisan politics. What I found span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"particularly/span informative were the comments made and the reactions to the piece from across Africa and the world. I hope the BBC will forgive me for blatantly lifting a few of these from their web-page.br /br /span style="font-size:100%;"DISCLAIMER: BBC, please do not take me to court over this. I live by the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"Beeb/span and have done for most of my life. I first started listening to the BBC with my Dad when I was 7 years old ...way back in the day when (the late) Mr. Chris span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"Bickerton/span hosted /spanspan style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" Focus on Africa/spanspan style="font-size:100%;". /span/span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"br /Anyway, here are *interesting* views from the BBC span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"web page/span in reaction to Ms. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"Ohene's/span piece:br //span/spanbr /span style="font-style: italic;"My Ghanaian friend, I am a Nigerian and don't envy Ghana even if President Obama and his disciples visit your country everyday. President Obama is just another American president looking after American interests. In this case, it is your newly acquired oil shores. Your comments justifies my views about Ghanaians. Let me add that Ghana is the same size as Lagos Nigeria if not smaller. Good luck with your thriving democracy and good governance. I am happy that you are basking on something that is already in Africa./spanbr /ibspan class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"Simms/span, span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"Umuahia/span, Nigeriabr /br //b/ispan style="font-style: italic;"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"Obama's/span visit to Ghana is NOT in any way Humiliation to Nigeria or any other span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18"africa/span nations.....OBAMA is Not JESUS CHRIST simply a president who span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19"chosed/span and decided to visit Ghana and may decide to Visit Nigeria some day. He can not visit all Africa nations same day same moment, Ghana is down to inferiority complex that makes them to see themselves as Brazil of Africa When Nigeria had beaten the real Brazil in a major football competition./spanbr /ibspan class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20"marcel/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21"eze/span, span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22"abidjan/spanbr /br //b/ispan style="font-style: italic;"Aw span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23"pulezzzz/span!!! Whether Obama comes or not, Nigeria is still the giant of Africa. It is okay for Obama to encourage Ghana's democracy. In spite of our current woes we still have a profound influence across Africa. Imagine what happens when we work through our problems....the whole world will come to our door steps./spanbr /ibOno span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24"Vu/span, Abuja-Nigeria/b/ibr /ibbr //b/ispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Yikes, a serious case of very sour grapes methinks! Anyway, I would recommend reading Ms. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25"Ohene's/span article and all the comments lest I present my own slant on this.br /br /Obama day has started out bright. I drove into work this morning with the sun in my heart and rain on my windscreen listening to the BBC. Our very own Ghanaian BBC journalist span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26"Komla/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27"Dumor/span was live from Accra with a very poignant piece about the impending visit. He made a heartfelt trip to Cape Coast Castle and the slave dungeons which has had me reflecting on the impact of the upcoming Cape Coast visit for Michelle Obama in particular. Mr. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28"Dumor/span also touched on some stark realities surrounding the new Obama span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29"administration/span span style="font-style: italic;"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30"vis/span-a-span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31"vis/span /spanAfrica. There have been some unfulfilled campaign promises and real questions about span style="font-style: italic;"more trade/span and span style="font-style: italic;"less aid/span. My fellow blogger Pen Powder's a href="http://penpowder.blogspot.com/2009/07/barack-obama-in-ghana.html"posting/a this morning also span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32"encapsulates/span the real questions about economic span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33"partnerships/span to improve Africa after stripping away all the Obama-mania and hype.br /br /Not all Ghanaians are gushing with joy about the visit. Just this morning on span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34"Kwaku/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35"Sakyi/span-span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36"Addo's/span a href="http://news.myjoyonline.com/"span style="font-style: italic;"Joy FM/span/a programme some people were asking about whether President Obama will apologise to the Ghanaian people for the (purported) US role in the over-throw of Dr. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37"Kwame/span Nkrumah in 1966. Interesting question..somewhat logical but completely ludicrous at the same time! Anyway, have to get to work so I can go and bask in the Obama-Ghana glory later!/span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"/span/span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-5456577085508429656?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• July 08, 2009
• 5:45

  President Obama is Coming to Town: Fears and Anticipation

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SlRg9bK1G2I/AAAAAAAABBI/5ycX3SlAtH4/s1600-h/Photo-0048.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 257px; height: 337px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SlRg9bK1G2I/AAAAAAAABBI/5ycX3SlAtH4/s400/Photo-0048.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356012465231829858" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Ghana is clearly the place to be. We are span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"soo/span/span popular that we got a couple of honourable mentions at the memorial service for the late Michael Jackson. Also, in just 2 days time a certain President of the world and his family will be landing at span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"Kotoka/span/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"International/span/span Airport for their first official visit to so-called Black Africa. A friend of mine (a half-Tanzanian/half-Kenyan guy) says Kenyans are still perplexed that President Obama chose Ghana over the land of his father. *Sigh*, it was all for good reasons.Our span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"infrastructure/span/span may pale compared to Kenya, we lack the vibrant Nairobi feel and the flaming trees of span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"Thika/span/span but we do know how to do a mean democratic election ! So how is our fair nation preparing for the historic/historical visit? I actually do not really have a clue. My route to work is through the magical span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"Achimota/span/span forest so I avoid town completely./span/spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" I did pick up a newspaper or two today and found that 10,000 police officers were being deployed for the occasion. *Yikes* Lets hope all the armed robbers stay in their homes glued to their (stolen) TV sets watching Obama magic light up Ghana with the rest of us. Apparently the Obama family will be put up in the Holiday Inn very close to the airport. *Interesting* There are a couple of things that are worrying me about the Obama visit./span/spanbr /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SlRip4IYGkI/AAAAAAAABBQ/YmA9ItbVxGE/s1600-h/Photo-0045.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 244px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SlRip4IYGkI/AAAAAAAABBQ/YmA9ItbVxGE/s400/Photo-0045.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356014328432040514" border="0" //abr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"1. span style="font-weight: bold;"Will this @#$@ rain ever let up/span? We love rain here in Africa. In fact didn't that 1980s band Toto once do a song that went span style="font-style: italic;""I Bless the Rains down in Africa"? /span#$%#$ Toto. The rain is beginning to cause serious havoc. There is flooding everywhere, loss of life, damage to property, damage to roads and of course cars in ditches. This morning I happen to come across a newly imported Range Rover stuck in a ditch as I drove through the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"aforementionned/span/span magical span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"Achimota/span/span Forest. span style="font-style: italic;"Rain, rain please go away, come back when the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"Obamas/span/span have gone away. /span/span/spanbr /br /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-weight: bold;"2. Where's my fuel at?:/span We are span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"experiencing/span/span some bizarre petrol shortage over in the good 'span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"ol/span/span African Beacon of hope. I was tipped off on Monday and so span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"I/span/span rspan class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"ushed/span/span to fill my tank. Yesterday, others in search of fuel were not so lucky. The queues at the filling-stations are giving Accra a war-torn feel. Is this hoarding or an actual shortage? Will the Obama family catch glimpses of these queues? Will there be enough petrol to transport the Obama entourage around our fair nation?!/span/spanbr /br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SlRnR-6yIsI/AAAAAAAABBY/4cRO8nMiZWw/s1600-h/Photo-0047.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 361px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SlRnR-6yIsI/AAAAAAAABBY/4cRO8nMiZWw/s400/Photo-0047.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356019415495353026" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-weight: bold;"3. Partisan-span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"isation/span/span of the Obama Visit: /spanAccording to one (opposition-leaning) newspaper today , ex-President span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"Kufuor/span/span has not received any invitation to join in the Obama span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"revelry/span. My fears have been confirmed. The partisan politics that divide (and entertain) our nation may come to play in this historic/historical visit. Why am I not surprised? The opposition hosted President George Bush just last year and the incumbent government have been basking in the sunshine of this upcoming visit ever since it was announced. After all, there are clear parallels between the way both presidents came to power. Senator Obama, the clear span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"under-dog/span in the 2008 US elections came to power spreading a message of "Change" while Professor/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" Mills the clear span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"under-dog/span in the 2008 Ghana elections came to power /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"spreading a message of "Change ". However, credit has to be given to both ex-President span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"Kufuor/span/span and ex-President span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"Rawlings/span/span since they both span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20"facilitated/span the Ghanaian democratic dream in their various ways/span/span.br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"br /Fears aside, I can't wait for Air-Force One to land.br /br //span/span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-5793349551284637544?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• July 06, 2009
• 14:55

  Vindication for the Coffee Addict!

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SlJAA2HLUTI/AAAAAAAABA4/mKgusVM4El4/s1600-h/018.JPG"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SlJAA2HLUTI/AAAAAAAABA4/mKgusVM4El4/s400/018.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355413290166735154" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:85%;"Delicious Cuban Coffee: Black and Yummy just the way I like it/spanbr /br //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-family:arial;"My big brother texted me some good news that is bound to leave my mother un-amused: researchers at the University of South Florida have found that a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8132122.stm"5 cups of coffee a day could reverse memory problems associated with Alzheimer's Disease/a! Anyone who knows me span style="font-style: italic;"in real-life/span will know that I have an unhealthy relationship with coffee and most caffeine-enriched products. So you can imagine my delight at the news. For years I have been addicted to coffee and have been lectured on how bad it is for me! Indeed, I have worked in the field of addiction before and I know that dependency on anything can never be a good thing but coffee has always been my span style="font-style: italic;"Achilles' heel/span. So today I feel some satisfaction and some vindication. Coffee is actually not all bad! So if you have noticed my lost trains of thought, inexplicable memory losses, erratic behaviour span style="font-style: italic;"in real life/span, it is probably not due to the coffee! Okay, I should also point out that the Florida research findings have only been done in mice and human trials are yet to start. span style="font-style: italic;"/spanbr /br /Being the nerd that I am, I decided to take a cursory look through the scientific literature to explore the benefits of my favorite beverage. At the risk of inducing anyone reading this into a boredom-induced coma, I will be brief. Here are some examples of studies I found:br //span/span/spanullispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-family:arial;"Habitual coffee consumption is associated with a a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15998896?ordinalpos=1amp;itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RAamp;linkpos=4amp;log$=relatedreviewsamp;logdbfrom=pubmed"reduced risk of developping Type 2 diabetes/a /span/span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"High Coffee intake is associated with a a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19183744?ordinalpos=1amp;itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_PMCamp;linkpos=1amp;log$=citedinpmcreviewsamp;logdbfrom=pubmed"protective effect against hypertension/a, mainly in women /span/span/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Before my fellow coffee-addicts start doing cart-wheels of joy, I should add that coffee is not good for pregnant women and has been associated with cardiovascular disease. Coffee also may cause you to have shaky hands and stain your teeth. So as my mother just reminded me (of course I called her to gloat!), it is a tricky balance. Anyway, my people, have to run and find a kettle; there is some coffee with my name on it to enjoy!/span/spanbr //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-4708372093990252882?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• July 02, 2009
• 10:27

  'Celebrating' 49 years of the Republic of Ghana???

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Yesterday marked /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"49 years since Ghana was declared a Republic./span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" This public holiday is what we call "Republic Day" in Ghana. Was it really Republic Day yesterday? It passed by so span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"subtly/span, so quietly and it almost went by span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"un/span-noticed. Why would that be?:/span/spanbr //divul style="text-align: justify;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"49 is a strange odd number...not quite 50 years so it hard to be over-joyed just yetspan style="font-style: italic;"/spanbr //span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Public holidays in the middle of the week (Wednesday) are strange things. They make you think the day after (Thursday) is Monday and the day after that (Friday) is Tuesday. You also think that the day before the holiday (Tuesday ) was last week Friday..Completely span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"disorienting/span/span/span/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"br //span/span/spandiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" The main Ghanaian newspaper the span style="font-style: italic;"Daily Graphic/span chose to celebrate the day with a picture of the first President of Ghana Dr. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"Kwame/span Nkrumah and the great Muhammad Ali. The caption said something like: span style="font-style: italic;"Ghana became a Republic on 1 July 1960 paving the way for visits by important span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"personalities/span from across the world. /spanSomething like that. Since Muhammad Ali only came to Ghana in 1964 I was a little perplexed about his connection with Republic Day. Besides, I'm sure he did not count the fact that Ghana was a republic among his reasons for visiting.....or did he???/span/spanbr /br /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Republic Day 2009 started out full of hope for me. During the span style="font-style: italic;"BBC Network Africa /spanshow between 6:30am and 7:00am, I was quite proud when they played the beautiful span style="font-style: italic;"In Ghana/span by Rocky span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"Dawuni/span. I love that song. Afterwards, I hoped the the good people at the BBC would mention that Republic Day was being celebrated in Ghana but alas I was span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"disappointed/span... /span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:85%;"span style="font-style: italic;"In Ghana/span by Rocky Dawuni from 1998. I never tire from posting this video on my blog!/spanbr /br /object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zCnF32rmELoamp;hl=enamp;fs=1amp;"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zCnF32rmELoamp;hl=enamp;fs=1amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"/embed/objectbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The rest of Republic Day was completely mundane. I drove around town later in the morning and found no signs of life or any indications of any 'Republic Day' fiestas. Alas, the only jamborees being celebrated were a football match and 2 years of the radio station a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.omanfm.kencity.com.gh/"Oman 107.1 FM/a. This particular show was broadcast all night on Net2 television station. Thrills. /span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Later in the evening, the Republic Day boredom almost killed me and I settled down to watch span style="font-style: italic;"a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeds_%28TV_series%29"Weeds/a /spanSeason 2 on DVD. How I got through span style="font-style: italic;"Weeds /spanSeason 1 is still a mystery to me. In case you have never had the pleasure of watching span style="font-style: italic;"Weeds/span, it is an American TV series about a middle-class suburban soccer mum who loses her husband and somehow decides to sell marijuana to make ends meet. As I said how I got through Season 1 is still a mystery to me. span style="font-style: italic;"Weeds/span Season 2 episode 2 got my attention through. The protagonist ends up at a weird convention where marijuana is being tested and sold. There is sweet reggae music being played in the background by a live reggae artist who is none other than Ghana's own ROCKY span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"DAWUNI/span! In case there were any doubts, his name was emblazoned across the back of the stage. So my Republic Day celebration came full circle. It started off with that great Ghanaian patriot Rocky span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"Dawuni/span and when I was just about to give up, Rocky came back to me again...span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"thru/span span style="font-style: italic;"Weeds/span. It was definitely a sign! /span/spanbr //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-8867898605664172977?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• June 29, 2009
• 5:10

  Big Brother Africa: Why I'm the "Need Not Apply" Candidate!

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Skh_48ZQWPI/AAAAAAAABAg/t7VWGTs4Ix0/s1600-h/Big+Brother+Africa.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 186px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Skh_48ZQWPI/AAAAAAAABAg/t7VWGTs4Ix0/s400/Big+Brother+Africa.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352668773391292658" border="0" / /aspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" br //spandiv style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"div style="text-align: justify;"meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CAbster%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"link rel="themeData" 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• June 26, 2009
• 4:40

  Michael Jackson: Farewell to an Icon

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SkSHQ1uF6aI/AAAAAAAAA_4/0Z0YZJtC6OY/s1600-h/michael+jackson+billie+jean.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SkSHQ1uF6aI/AAAAAAAAA_4/0Z0YZJtC6OY/s400/michael+jackson+billie+jean.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351550980591053218" border="0" //abr /div style="text-align: justify;"div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"As one of my friends said on span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"Facebook/span, she just assumed he was immortal. There was indeed some undeniable invincible/immortal quality about Michael Jackson and so his sudden passing on the same day as Farrah span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"Fawcett/span is still hard to believe. /spanbr //spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Though I have not really been a fan of span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"MJ/span since I was kid, the span style="font-style: italic;"Billie Jean/span video was the first video I ever saw and he was my first crush at the age of 7. Like scores of little girls across the globe, I was going to marry Michael Jackson! To children growing up in the 70s he will probably be remembered as the the fresh-faced star of the Jackson 5. For us 80s kids who literally witnessed the physical and iconic transformation of Michael Jackson from span style="font-style: italic;"Thriller/span to span style="font-style: italic;"Bad, /spanspanhe will forever be our childhood hero/span. For 90s kids, who came to know span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"MJ/span when he was already a massive international phenomenon, he will be associated with a perchance for plastic surgery, grand videos and eccentric ways. Just this morning I have been reflecting on the fact that for children growing up in the 2000s like my nieces, he would probably be remembered as a freakishly weird reclusive star with classic hits that are sometimes played on the radio. /spanbr /br //spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Love him or hate him what is undeniable is the influence of Michael Jackson on Ramp;B and popular music. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"He has indeed left an awesome musical legacy. For me, the Michael I will always want to remember is the one from the span style="font-style: italic;"Billie Jean/span video. Rest in Peace Michael Jackson. /spanbr //span/div/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-3557002035410230936?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• June 08, 2009
• 6:08

  Farewell to the King? : The Reported Demise of El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SizamwdRb-I/AAAAAAAAA94/8crBdcKT7JE/s1600-h/omar+Bongo.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 170px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SizamwdRb-I/AAAAAAAAA94/8crBdcKT7JE/s400/omar+Bongo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344887217159499746" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:78%;"Source: Associated Pressbr //span/divdiv style="text-align: justify;"span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" On Sunday evening, news agencies worldwide were reporting that the man who held the dubious title of "Africa's longest serving leader" had finally met his demise. This coveted crown, once held by Mr. Kamuzu Banda of Malawi, was all set to be passed on to another leader such as Mr Muammar al-Gaddafi of Libya. Just when the world was coming to grips with the passing of the span style="font-style: italic;"de facto /spanKing of Gabon, the Gabonese authorities refuted all death claims. According to them, Mr. Bongo is very much alive and is continuing his "holiday" in Spain. Alas, it appears that good people of Gabon are the only ones who actually believe that Omar Bongo is still with us. Wikipedia has already written him off and have updated their 'Omar Bongo' page stating his death as span style="font-style: italic;"7 June 2009/span.br /br /Why am I so fascinated? Well, out of all the countries I have visited, my trip to Gabon last year was truly unforgettable. I was there for 2 months and during that time I failed to really understand the country. From the unspoiled beaches to the rich lush equatorial forests, it is still very hard to describe Gabon. A nation full of contradictions; extreme wealth coupled with extreme poverty. The entire nation is adorned with sign-boards with Mr. Bongo's picture, monuments celebrating him and a Presidential palace that makes the White House look like a quaint country club. The Gabonese people were equally fascinating. Customer service has a unique meaning in Gabon and a visit to Libreville is not recommended for someone looking for a budget vacation. Yet, Libreville has an undeniable vibrant pulse. I will never forget the beautiful Italian restaurant we ate in that was literally on water or the wonderfully paved streets. I spent most of my time in the provincial town of Lambaréné which has a strange 1950s colonial feel with great roads, bridges, rivers and fantastic lighting.br /br /I'm certain that Mr. Bongo has left this world to join his long-departed contemporaries but I'm also sure that the Gabonese authorities will deny the news while they strategise how best to prevent the country falling apart like a house of cards. Will power continue to rest in the hands of the Bongo family and the ruling elite? Does the death of Mr. Bongo pave the way for real power to go to the people for the first time since 1967? The possibilities are infinite. In the meantime, we can always enjoy Gabonese rap courtesy of Eben Entertainment family.br /br /object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ugEeiK6dHVAamp;hl=enamp;fs=1amp;"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ugEeiK6dHVAamp;hl=enamp;fs=1amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"/embed/objectbr //spandiv style="text-align: center;"span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" span style="font-style: italic;"Espoir (Hope) /spanBa'Ponga of Eben Entertainment /spanbr //div/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-1198847166179308956?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• June 04, 2009
• 4:45

  Remembering June 4th: The Day that Shook Ghana and China

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="font-size:130%;"br /June 4 1979: GHANA/spanbr //spandiv style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sid_8gHfb4I/AAAAAAAAA9o/6Osq4IP2xeg/s1600-h/JJ+June+4.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 375px; height: 275px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sid_8gHfb4I/AAAAAAAAA9o/6Osq4IP2xeg/s400/JJ+June+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343380160288616322" border="0" //a span style="font-size:85%;"Source: Citifmonline/spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"br /div style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"Today marks 30 years since that fateful day when a group of junior officers of the Ghanaian army staged a bloody coup to overthrow the military regime of Lieutenant General Fred Akuffo and install Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings as leader of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). This single event was extremely pivotal in shaping Ghana's destiny through the 1980s to the present. Its impact is probably one of the most debated issues among contemporary Ghanaian intellectuals, historians, politicians and of course radio commentators.br /br /br //spanspan style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="font-size:130%;"June 4 1989: CHINA/span/spanbr /div style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SieK43fdzLI/AAAAAAAAA9w/Xl3C8gD2BMg/s1600-h/Tianamen+square.gif"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 306px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SieK43fdzLI/AAAAAAAAA9w/Xl3C8gD2BMg/s400/Tianamen+square.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343392192471616690" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-size:85%;" Source: www.essentialspirit.com/span/spanbr //divspan style="font-size:130%;"br /Today also/spanspan style="font-size:130%;" marks 20 years since the Chinese government clamped down on popular protests that had been staged in Tiananmen Square, Beiijing in what is sometimes referred to as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. On June 4 1989, Soldiers broke up protests which eventually resulted in the deaths of between 200 and 10,000 demonstrators as well as soldiers. To this day, the exact number of people killed remains unknown. This event shook the world and had a grave impact on Chinese relations with the rest of the world for many years to come. /spanspan style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="font-size:130%;"br //span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"br //span/div/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-3702239893260317610?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• June 02, 2009
• 16:32

  When work attacks the Chronic Work-Avoider!

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I have been busy lately. So busy that I've actually had limited time to do what I do best i.e. avoid work. Deadlines are coming and going, the scary query emails are coming in and I'm high on coffee most of the time. /span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Anyway, here are some of the warning signs that I may be getting caught beneath the (work) landslide:/span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"1. The cluttered desk: this is a classic one. The sure sign that one cannot cope anymore. I sorted out my desk on Sunday afternoon and today it still looks like it has been hit by a bomb blast. *Yikes*/span/spana onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SiWOECimugI/AAAAAAAAA9g/FkeytKq_KdU/s1600-h/Photo-0002.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 181px; height: 199px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SiWOECimugI/AAAAAAAAA9g/FkeytKq_KdU/s400/Photo-0002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342832732997597698" border="0" //abr /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SiWDjkXYXDI/AAAAAAAAA8w/KMXS5mz04mY/s1600-h/Photo-0003.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 175px; height: 202px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SiWDjkXYXDI/AAAAAAAAA8w/KMXS5mz04mY/s400/Photo-0003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342821180025363506" border="0" //abr /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"2.The dirty car: when leaving your car outside in the rain /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"over the weekend is the only time you have to get it washed, this can hardly be a good sign! In fact, I probably should not publish such dodginess on the net./span/spanbr /br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SiWBjqffEWI/AAAAAAAAA8Y/15XKDcph4Jw/s1600-h/250px-Oscar_the_grouch_at_smithsonian.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 114px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SiWBjqffEWI/AAAAAAAAA8Y/15XKDcph4Jw/s400/250px-Oscar_the_grouch_at_smithsonian.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342818982646714722" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"3. The re-emergence of the uni-brow: I naturally possess eye-brows a la span style="font-style: italic;"Oscar the Grouch/span (from /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Sesame Street). I absolutely hate this so any salon that does eye-brow waxing is my favorite place. Let's just say I'm past due an appointment with the waxer./span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"br /4. The deluded multi-tasker: Believing you are a great multi-tasker while losing the ability to complete tasks, sentences or trains of thought is usually a sign that things are not well./span/spana onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SiWMwsG3wfI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/dcOJmLNa538/s1600-h/Photo-0012.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 309px; height: 171px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SiWMwsG3wfI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/dcOJmLNa538/s400/Photo-0012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342831301046551026" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"5. Traffic Panic: At long last the highly anticipated Legon to Tetteh Quarshie Interchange road has been opened. What someone forgot to tell me was that this new road would mean that my commute would be extended by a whole precious 30 minutes! Arghh! So, I've had to use a new alternative route that is still 15 minutes longer than the old route. Time for a little road-rage. /span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"6. "span style="font-style: italic;"Did I leave the Iron on?/span": For years I have troubled and perplexed with this question. This same question has sent me from Manhattan back to Queens, Finsbury Park back to Stamford Hill and I have only been right 1 out of 50 times. During times of stress the question pops into my head more frequently.br /br //span/spana onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SiWF6qMsxLI/AAAAAAAAA9A/ZSt2DFES8sM/s1600-h/018.JPG"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 167px; height: 124px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SiWF6qMsxLI/AAAAAAAAA9A/ZSt2DFES8sM/s400/018.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342823775751423154" border="0" //abr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"7. Coffee High: Much to my mum's chagrin, I'm generally high on coffee most of the /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"time. The problem with my drug of choice is that I have reached tolerance levels. Normal doses are not having an effect and I have to increase my dose amount and frequency./span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"8. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Avoiding calls: phone screening - sometimes you just don't wanna be bothered or couldn't be bothered to hear from some people. Alas, I've become that person that avoids calls...I think Phone and Go Seek is quite a Ghanaian phenomenon acutally. /span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"9. Concern from the Night men: When the night shift security guards at work flag you down and ask if you have a life...you know you should be scared. Very scared!/span/spanbr /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SiWGTa9CbOI/AAAAAAAAA9I/somFGvRmeFk/s1600-h/winchesters.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 215px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SiWGTa9CbOI/AAAAAAAAA9I/somFGvRmeFk/s400/winchesters.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342824201155931362" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"10. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Crash and Burn: Finally when you can't cope with all the deadlines, you just curl up in a ball. Saturday morning rain provided the perfect excuse to avoid work. I just took one look at the rain, stayed in bed all day watching episodes of a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural_%28TV_series%29"span style="font-style: italic;"Supernatural/span/a Season 4. Nothing beats watching the courageous Winchester brothers battling demons while bingeing on span style="font-style: italic;"Golden Tree/span chocolate. Of course I failed to see the irony in watching the Winchesters chasing demons when I had my own demons to attack. Mmmm don't you just love the Winchesters??? /span/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Okay, I think I'm showing signs of some sort of burn out. /span/spanbr //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-6394802756718528909?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• May 23, 2009
• 14:20

  Afrovision Song Contest anyone?

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: center;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Shg7fke_hlI/AAAAAAAAA7o/RWizt8PLrfE/s1600-h/Eurovision+song+contest.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 166px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Shg7fke_hlI/AAAAAAAAA7o/RWizt8PLrfE/s400/Eurovision+song+contest.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339082771803375186" border="0" //a span style="font-size:78%;"Eurovision 2009 Winner /spanspan style="font-size:78%;"Alexander Rybak/span/divdiv style="text-align: justify;"div style="text-align: center;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:78%;"Source: [www.eurovision.tv] //divspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"After the annual Eurovision Song contest.... Yes, you heard me...'Eurovision': the most popular and much-hyped European reality song contest you would have NEVER heard of. Well, at least I should admit I had never heard of the Eurovision song contest until I was in England in 2005. Apparently the contest has been around since the 1950s. It is surprising that I had never heard of Eurovision considering I was brought up on a healthy staple of ABBA classics and subjected myself to camp television that included /span/spanspan style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Pop in Germany/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" in the 1980s. If there is anyone out there who has actually watched /spanspan style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" Pop in Germany/spanspan style="font-family:arial;", please let me so I know I did not just imagine this show. Why the ABBA reference you ask? According to the good people over at Wikipedia, ABBA /spana style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest"won Eurovision back in 1974 with span style="font-style: italic;"Waterloo/span./aspan style="font-family:arial;" span style="font-style: italic;"Waterloo /spanalso also happens to be my favorite ABBA song. Anyway, I digress, ever since the hype over Eurovision 2009, I have been wondering...would a trans-African song contest ever work here in Africa?/span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"br /br /Too many questions come to my mind:br //span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"1. What would the official song language be for the Afrovision competition? Would the Francophones think it is unfair if it is English, would everybody be allowed to compete in their own language? /span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"br /2. Would the competition be dominated by South Africa or Nigeria....or even the current African bastion of democratic perfection Ghana?/span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"br /3. Would the Afrovision Song Contest be open to countries on the land mass of the continent like when it comes to football or just us over on the so-called "Sub-saharan Africa" side of the continent? /span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"br /4. Would the entire world think it is unfair that we devoting time to frivolous things like song contests when we should be worrying about disease, war, poverty, debt and foreign aid?/span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"5. Which country would host the competition? South Africa or Nigeria....or even the current African bastion of democratic perfection, Ghana?br /br //span/span span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Although it would be a logistical nightmare, I think an Afrovision contest is a possibility. After all, we have done reality shows to perfection across the continent. There was span style="font-style: italic;"Idols South Africa/span, span style="font-style: italic;"Idols West Africa/span and one of my bestest buddies from high school was in the very first span style="font-style: italic;"Big Brother Africa/span. Coming to think of it, all these competitions seem to be a tad Anglophone dominated. *Sigh* let's face it, maybe we are just too diverse for a trans-African competition. We are probably not ready for a trans-Africa union either....Mmmm...no wonder the African Union does not really seem to be working out for us either! /span/spanbr //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-8180430385046852301?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• May 22, 2009
• 9:20

  Got Twitter ? : Confessions of a Social Network Addict

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
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mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";} /style ![endif]-- p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"Let’s face it, the world is turning into one big social network. Being an ardent procrastinator, social networks are heaven-sent. They are the perfect way to while away time you do not have on the internet. Anyway, here is a quick tour of my social distractions: br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:100%;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/ShaYGB_Y_SI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/HQJINFNs_L8/s1600-h/hi5+logo.png"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 153px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/ShaYGB_Y_SI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/HQJINFNs_L8/s400/hi5+logo.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338621637675253026" border="0" //a/span/p p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"1. hi5 = Well, I must confess I left this one a couple of years ago but in its heyday, /spanspan lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"hi5 was the best thing since sliced bread. Nowadays if you send someone a Hi5 request you may risk being accused of being "colo" (ancient/behind the times)/spanspan lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" !--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-- !--[endif]--/spanspan lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"2. Friendster = I must have logged onto my friendster account like once. This is (or was??) similar to hi5 but seemed to be more popular among Americans. br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"3. Facebook = the undisputed ruler of the social networks..I just became friends with someone from primary school whom I have not seen in 20 years it is that cool./span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:100%;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/ShaYxG_DWPI/AAAAAAAAA7g/5IMKFBBrYto/s1600-h/myspace+logo.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 124px; height: 93px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/ShaYxG_DWPI/AAAAAAAAA7g/5IMKFBBrYto/s400/myspace+logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338622377750386930" border="0" //a/span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"meta 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mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -- /style!--[if gte mso 10] style /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";} /style ![endif]--span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"4. /spanspan lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"MySpace = incessant references to MySpace especially in the media made me want to get my own space. Well, I got one and still don't know what it is all about!/span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:100%;"o:p/o:p/span /pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"5. LinkedIn = this is a supposed to be a social network for professionals…So if you feel you are too serious for any of the afore-mentionned networks. LinkedIn is the place to be. I find that it is the perfect span style="font-style: italic;"let-me-show-off-my-CV /spansocial network!/span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:100%;" br //spanspan style="font-size:100%;"o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"6. Google Blogger = Home of Rspan style="font-style: italic;"amblings of a Procrastinator in Accra/span, need I say more../span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:100%;" br //spanspan style="font-size:100%;"o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"7. Twitter = Finally, we arrive at my latest addiction. Well, I consider myself a semi-addict since I’m still not sure exactly how it works/span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:100%;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/ShJr5sdhAaI/AAAAAAAAA7A/N-8OTj6ycp0/s1600-h/ab+twitter.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 363px; height: 232px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/ShJr5sdhAaI/AAAAAAAAA7A/N-8OTj6ycp0/s400/ab+twitter.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337447147319132578" border="0" //a br //spanspan style="font-size:100%;"o:p/o:p/span/pspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" /spanp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"I joined Twitter a couple of months ago. I think it was around the time that there was that plane that landed in the Hudson River in New York City. Apparently the news was all over Twitter but was yet to reach any mainstream media outlets. At first I felt I had to have an iphone or at least be able to get Twitter updates (known as “Tweets”) to my mobile phone to really participate . To some extent I still think that is still true. br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" What is Twitter anyway? It is basically a network that revolves around updating the question “what are you doing now” but you are restricted to 140 characters. Anyone on facebook would recognize that Twitter is like a social network entirely devoted to updating your status! br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" At first I used to update my Twitter status every couple of weeks and did not see the point. I also did not know that Twitter was open-access so the whole world could see that I was contemplating going to the beach, planning escape routes, craving fufu and groundnut soup . It was only last week that I discovered the SEARCH button and topic trends on Twitter and really became hooked! br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"The topic trends basically tells you the hottest topics on twitter. So I clicked on span style="font-style: italic;"Grey’s Anatomy./span Indeed, everybody was buzzing about the Season finale of my show. Unfortunately, some Twittering twit ruined everything for me by updating their status with the earth-shattering events that ended the season. @#$#@% B#$! br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:100%;" br //spanspan style="font-size:100%;"o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"Of course the mainstream media has finally caught up with the Twitter craze and you can follow CNN, BBC programmes on Twitter. So lets say you are a fan of BBC span style="font-style: italic;"World Have your say/span like me and have some sort of contribution, if it is less than 140 characters, you can tweet it. They are usually good about reading out tweets during live broadcasts. Early Monday morning this past week, there were quite a few people tweeting that the Tamil Tiger leader, /spanspan style="font-size:100%;"Velupillai Prabhakaran was dead. I checked the BBC and there was no news there. Lo and behold, in a couple of hours it finally hit the BBC. /span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:100%;" br //spanspan style="font-size:100%;"o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"If you are a celebrity fanatic, you can follow Oprah, Richard Branson, Ashton Kutcher, Mitt Romney on Twitter and find out what they are doing. Still not sure why anyone would want to know what Mitt Romney is doing at any time of the day! User be warned, some of these celebrity profiles are fake. br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" br //span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" /spanspan style="font-size:100%;"o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" /spanspan style="font-size:100%;"o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"One thing I've noticed is that there are a lot of Ghanaians on Twitter but it seems that there are very few people Twitter-ing out of Ghana. Of course if you happen to do a Ghana search on Twitter right now the topic on everybody’s lips appears to be:/span/pp class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:100%;" br //spanspan lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" /spanspan style="font-size:100%;"o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;" /spanspan style="font-size:100%;"o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-US"“Obama's coming to Ghana!” /spanspan style="font-size:130%;"o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal" face="arial" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:130%;" /spanspan style="font-size:130%;"o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"span style="font-size:130%;" /spanspan style="font-size:130%;"o:p/o:p/span/p p class="MsoNormal" 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locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4" w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 4" w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 4" w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 4" w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 4" w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 5" w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 5" w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 5" w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5" w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5" w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 5" w:lsdexcept
• May 15, 2009
• 5:14

  Harmattan Rain: A Unique Phenomenon

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"div style="text-align: justify;"div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sg0grjO1j0I/AAAAAAAAA6o/Zl7p3RzXNDI/s1600-h/Harmattan+Rain.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 202px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sg0grjO1j0I/AAAAAAAAA6o/Zl7p3RzXNDI/s400/Harmattan+Rain.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335957066067840834" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family: arial;"Some weeks ago there was some media buzz in Ghana surrounding the launch of a debut novel from a young Ghanaian writer named span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"Ayesha/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"Harruna/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"Attah/span. The book was entitled a href="http://www.mtholyoke.edu/%7Eahattah/hrpage.html"span style="font-style: italic;"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"Harmattan/span Rain/span/a which is an interesting oxymoron since rain during the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"Harmattan/span season is a unique occurrence. From what I heard on one of the radio stations, it chronicles the lives of 3 generations of Ghanaian women from before independence. I made a mental note to look for the book at some point in the future. However, the buzz around it continued and fellow span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"Ghanablogger/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"Kajsa/span highlighted it in a a href="http://nonjeneregretterien.blogspot.com/2009/05/african-literature-in-making-harmattan.html"recent posting/a. Indeed, I became more curious. Finally, a tweet from my undergraduate college about span style="font-style: italic;"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"Harmattan/span Rain/span virtually put me in my car bound straight for the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"Silverbird/span Bookshop in search of my copy. As it turns out, the author happened to attend my undergraduate span style="font-style: italic;" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"alma/spanspan style="font-style: italic;" mater/span Mount span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"Holyoke/span College. Our times at span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"MHC/span never overlapped since she was a member of class of 2005 and I course graduated span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"erm/span...closer to the turn of the decade (*yikes*).br /br //span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family: arial;"Although I just started reading span style="font-style: italic;"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"Harmattan/span Rain /spana few days ago, I'm already hooked. It is beautifully crafted, vivid and entertaining and I can't help but be amazed that this is the first novel from this young writer./span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family: arial;" /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family: arial;"Oh and I'm not plugging this book because it is written by a young Ghanaian woman or because she attended the same undergraduate college as me but rather because it is refreshingly span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"brilliant/span.br //span/span/div/divspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family: arial;"/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family: arial;"/span/span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-863814006549996849?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• May 05, 2009
• 15:57

  Return from Eden: Lessons learned in "The Field"

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SgCWBoLewZI/AAAAAAAAA6A/fDKC9DsiAhk/s1600-h/003.JPG"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SgCWBoLewZI/AAAAAAAAA6A/fDKC9DsiAhk/s400/003.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332426913516274066" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"At last, I'm back from a week-long field trip to the glorious Volta Region . All part of my job as a medical researcher. Our surroundings were serene and beautiful, the people extremely friendly and all insects, mosquitoes, gnats etc. were extra hungry! I'm still covered in all sorts of strange rashes but it was worth it. The field-trip had given me a lot of angst before-hand but in the end it was not the logistical nightmare scenario that I had dreamed up. It was full of valuable lessons that have definitely enriched my life and made me a better person. Mmm, perhaps I exaggerate but:/span/spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;" /divspan style="font-size:130%;" span style="font-family:arial;"br /TOP TEN LESSONS LEARNED ON MY FIELD-TRIP/spanbr //spanul style="font-family:arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;" When sharing a guest-house with a so-called Man of God, be sure to bring ear-plugs unless you want to groove to the "Thong Song" at 3am or other hits of the late 90s/span/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"/spanul style="font-family:arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"You can keep in touch with the outside world thru MTN internet. Nothing like updating your facebook status while you walk through someone's cassava farm/span/li/ulul style="font-family:arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"You can keep in touch with Blogs through Google Reader on your phone via MTN internet..So much fun! You can read but not really blog.br //span/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"/spanul style="font-family:arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"Bring strong insect repellent or risk being covered by strange bumps/span/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"/spanul style="font-family:arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"Make sure you do not have any pages missing from photocopies you pick-up from the printers BEFORE sitting down with people in their home to administer questionnaires. Can be very embarrassing when you have to stop when you realize page 3 and 4 are mysteriously absent.br //span/li/ulul style="font-family:arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"Politely decline when offered Akpeteshie (local gin) when administering a questionnaire or you may find yourself downing 2 shots and being rendered dazed and confused. Alas, it was a hard lesson learnt for a young man in my group/span/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"/spanul style="font-family:arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"Make sure you secure your trash above ground or goats will attack!br //span/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"/spanul style="font-family:arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"When you are leading a team that includes men much older than you, you will have to baby-sit them. If not, they WILL connive to avoid work and be preoccupied with arranging the purchase of goats to take back home with thembr //span/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"/spanul style="font-family:arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"When you call your mom to lament about having to baby-sit grown men who are more interested in procuring goats than field-work, she will definitely empathize with you and give good advice. Alas, she may also ask how much goats are being sold for over there and how hard it is to procure one to bring home!/span/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"It was a good trip but it is great to be back. I missed my bed, missed my daily cup (or two) of Kenyan coffee (*yum*) and of course, missed my blog!br //spana onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SgCWRvC6z4I/AAAAAAAAA6I/hSnb3v_CGs8/s1600-h/005.JPG"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 222px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SgCWRvC6z4I/AAAAAAAAA6I/hSnb3v_CGs8/s400/005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332427190237319042" border="0" //adiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-8021587365818420913?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• April 18, 2009
• 13:04

  Shaka Zulu: Coming Soon to Viasat-1 !

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SeoMd4L8kwI/AAAAAAAAA2U/QQ0zvyvSdMo/s1600-h/Henry+Cele.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 285px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SeoMd4L8kwI/AAAAAAAAA2U/QQ0zvyvSdMo/s400/Henry+Cele.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326083216757265154" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I was really thrilled to see that /spana href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093950/"span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" Shaka Zulu,/span/a/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" the television series, is going to broadcast soon on the new station Viasat-1. Thrilled because:/spanbr //span/divul style="text-align: justify;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" This series made my Sunday evenings special as a kid back in Southern Africa/span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" I loved the theme song, loved the mighty Shaka portrayed by the late Henry Cele and of course loved the whole mysterious witchdoctor plot (gotta watch it to understand)br //span/span/li/uldiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SeoORXZNG-I/AAAAAAAAA2c/W9k5Kebx-vA/s1600-h/shaka+Zulu.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 99px; height: 99px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SeoORXZNG-I/AAAAAAAAA2c/W9k5Kebx-vA/s400/shaka+Zulu.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326085200819330018" border="0" //a/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The series also featured some high-profile British actors like Edward Fox, Robert Powell (did someone say /spana href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075520/"span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" Jesus of Nazareth/span/a/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075520/" /a?), Trevor Howard and Christopher Lee. During apartheid, it was probably one of the few series that targeted a wide audience where black characters were portrayed with any sort of power or dignity. It was only years later during my short stint at the University of Cape Town that I learned that there was a lot more to the span style="font-style: italic;"Shaka Zulu/span series than met the eye. The storyline did not quite follow factual events but then again, which historical series does?! The span style="font-style: italic;" /spanseries was actually produced for the apartheid-era South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) but this fact was concealed perhaps to get round the sanctions of the time. Apparently, the apartheid government also used the series to promote Zulu dominance over other groups in South Africa by highlighting historical Zulu dominance spearheaded (literally) by King Shaka. All about divide and conquer. Mmmmm..../spanbr /br //span/divdiv style="text-align: justify;"div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-family:arial;"Anyway, it seems apt and appropriate that someone is broadcasting this fascinating series at a time when South Africa is about to be led by another powerful and colourful Zulu warrior. Who else but Mr. Jacob Zuma./span/spanbr //spanspan style="font-size:130%;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SeoQ5GGsnqI/AAAAAAAAA2s/B2Yl2BSj3Tc/s1600-h/jacob+Zuma.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 237px; height: 305px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SeoQ5GGsnqI/AAAAAAAAA2s/B2Yl2BSj3Tc/s400/jacob+Zuma.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326088082396323490" border="0" //a/span/div/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-3558086413211631094?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• April 07, 2009
• 3:50

  15 Years On: 100 Days that shocked the world (*much later*)

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sdr8jlb_vEI/AAAAAAAAA2E/A73rtChLRv8/s1600-h/kigali+memorial+centre.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 350px; height: 233px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sdr8jlb_vEI/AAAAAAAAA2E/A73rtChLRv8/s400/kigali+memorial+centre.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321843597966818370" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;" span style="font-size:78%;"span style="font-size:85%;"/span/spanspan style="font-size:78%;"span style="font-size:85%;"Mass Grave at the Kigali Memorial Centre, Kigali - Rwanda/spanbr /br //span/spandiv style="text-align: justify;"span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" It is hard to believe that today marks 15 years since all hell broke loose in Rwanda culminating in the brutal murder of 800,000 people in the space of 100 days. At the time, the international community seemed not to notice or care. Fifteen years later, the world seems more aware about what went on thanks to films such as a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Rwanda"Hotel Rwanda/a and a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sometimes_in_April"span style="font-style: italic;"Sometimes in April/span/a or books such as span style="font-style: italic;"Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda/span./spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" However, these were all too late for the victims of the genocide. /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" This got me thinking. /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Has the world really learned any hard lessons from Rwanda? /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" This morning on the BBC I heard a song by a Rwandan singer and the Ugandan girl group Blue 3 called span style="font-style: italic;""Never Again". /span/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Are there any guarantees that a genocide will not go almost unnoticed by the world EVER again?br /br /span style="font-size:85%;"span style="font-style: italic;"I would recommend a virtual tour of the /spana style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.kigalimemorialcentre.org/old/index-2.html"Kigali Memorial Centre/aspan style="font-style: italic;" online to learn about the genocide and read some of the harrowing stories from survivors. /span/span/spanspan style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" br //spanbr //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-7669855556452737277?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• April 02, 2009
• 15:33

  Things grinding on my last nerve this week

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I'm annoyed this week. There are a number of things that are grinding on my nerves. Thank goodness none of them involve being harassed by a /spana style="font-family: arial;" href="http://chardonas.blogspot.com/2009/03/annoying-case-of-pesky-midnight-caller.html"faceless phone-stalker. /aspan style="font-family:arial;"Anyway, there has been too much drama in my life but have opted to spare you the gory details on all that. What better way to purge my frustrations by focusing on the things around me that are irking me to the 10th degree. Here are a few:/span/spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" span style="font-family:arial;"1. Unofficial Load-shedding in Accra/spana style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SdUMYiT8ehI/AAAAAAAAA18/RvtzsYIXi8w/s1600-h/Akosombo.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 271px; height: 137px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SdUMYiT8ehI/AAAAAAAAA18/RvtzsYIXi8w/s400/Akosombo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320172150474963474" border="0" //a/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"If you were living in Ghana in the late 1990s and in 2006/2007, then you know all about load-shedding! Load-shedding is basically mandatory light-out/light-offs/power outages to conserve energy. It arises from an over-reliance on hydroelectricity and bad planning on the part of governments. I was only around for the 2006/7 debacle but it was a real atmosphere killer, fridge food-rotter and costs businesses like loads of money. Well, aside from people selling generators that is. The immediate-past load-shedding was well-advertised in the papers and you knew when your lights would be going out. However, for almost a month now, our lights are being turned off almost every night for a few hours! What is this all about? Is this a sneaky attempt to have us conserve energy without letting us know? /span/spanbr /br /br /span style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SdULPK60JVI/AAAAAAAAA10/yo45AdybUr4/s1600-h/Jerrycan.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 109px; height: 143px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SdULPK60JVI/AAAAAAAAA10/yo45AdybUr4/s400/Jerrycan.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320170890065093970" border="0" //aspan style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" 2. Water, water nowhere and not a drop to drink/span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Accra is in the grips of a water shortage. Just ask the people carrying yellow jerrycans in search of water every morning . This has been going on for the past 1 week or so. These water jerrycans were nicknamed "Kufuor gallon" some years back when President Kufuor was still at the helm of Ghana. I heard today that people were agitating changing the name to "Mills gallon" after our dear new President . I should add that President Mills is indeed a fine gentleman and a father to all of us./span/spanbr /br /br /span style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SdUHz-DujgI/AAAAAAAAA1s/5N-J8-IFOVM/s1600-h/fuel+price+hike.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 144px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SdUHz-DujgI/AAAAAAAAA1s/5N-J8-IFOVM/s400/fuel+price+hike.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320167124221464066" border="0" //a/spanbr /span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" span style="font-family:arial;"3. Fuel prices on the rise orbr /When your father lies to you!/span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Sometime in December 2008 after the first round of Election 2008, then-candidate Mills released a TV ad telling us all that he realised that we were suffering under the evil hardships of the Kufuor administration and that although fuel prices had just been lowered, he said "they can be reduced further". He did not tell us about the complexities of fuel price being governed by petroleum prices on the international market. So, after President Mills came to the helm, we eagerly awaited the promised fuel price reduction. *Finally* it came last week! Although it was not very dramatic, I still filled my tank up with a smile. But in a strange twist of fate, a week later, the price of fuel has gone up! The government is telling us that this is in line with the increase in the international fuel price...Say Whoa??! NOW the international fuel prices matter? What about in December 2008? What about the past 8 years?/span/spanbr /br /*********ARGGGGHHHHHH******************br /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"That was cathartic.... Alas, I have to fly out. Apparently our water reserves at home are finally up. Have to go and grab a couple of jerrycans and join my peoples in search of water in the 'hood! Oh Joy. /span/spanbr //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-8805791965882816800?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• March 30, 2009
• 7:06

  For the Love of the Game: When Football turns Tragic

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SdB83garmAI/AAAAAAAAA1c/DwNrX-hP_4Y/s1600-h/drogba.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 205px; height: 261px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SdB83garmAI/AAAAAAAAA1c/DwNrX-hP_4Y/s400/drogba.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318888452961048578" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"It has happened yet again; a stampede during a football game has led to multiple tragic deaths on the African continent. Yesterday, a world cup qualifier match between a href="http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/At-Least-22-Killed-In-Stampede-At-World-Cup-Qualifier-Match-In-Ivory-Coast/Article/200903415251452?f=rss"Cote d'Ivoire and Malawi in Abidjan turned catastrophic/a when a post-match stampede led to the deaths of 19 people and injuries to about 130./span/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"It was supposed to be a joyous occasion. After all, a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didier_Drogba"Didier Drogba/a, currently one of the best strikers on the planet, was making his triumphant return to international football on home soil. Perhaps that is precisely why thousands of fans tried to push their way into the stadium eventually leading to the catastrophic stampede. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Ghana is no stranger to football disasters. Who can forget the May 9th 2001 disaster when a match between arch-rivals Asante Kotoko and Accra Hearts of Oak held in Accra led to the deaths of 126 people? Just like in Ghana, I'm sure there will be commissions set up to determine what went wrong. Hopefully something concrete will come out of the investigations. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"What is it about 'the beautiful game' that can inspire violence, hooliganism and riots in Europe; murder in South America and at the same time expose some of the major infrastructural/organisational flaws in Africa?br /br /span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" 31 March 2009: It turns out that the stampede actually happened before the match started and the authorities still decided to go ahead with the game. Just when you thought things were bad enough!/spanbr //span/span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-1263018817033661393?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• March 23, 2009
• 15:45

  Light it up: Getting smoked out in Accra

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/ScdDzaVnqxI/AAAAAAAAA0o/07TUDuwixuM/s1600-h/smoking+Italians.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 382px; height: 286px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/ScdDzaVnqxI/AAAAAAAAA0o/07TUDuwixuM/s400/smoking+Italians.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316292435656551186" border="0" //aspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Some of my best friends are smokers and I have no problem with an individual exercising their right to smoke but PLEASE; not all over me. Here is a nightmare scenario for me: I'm sitting outside at a cafe enjoying the lovely fresh air and having a coffee + croissant. Some strangers approach and even if there are 20 empty tables, they choose the one right by me. They settle down, whip out their cigarettes, light up and blow wafts of smoke all over me without a care in the world. That is exactly what happened to me yesterday when three men speaking rapid Italian parked themselves directly in front of me at the Accra Mall. I was livid. Maybe I'm annoyed with myself because I did not rant and spew vitriol all over them. Mmm...blogging is like a powerful outlet for passive aggressive people everywhere!/spanbr //divspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" br //spandiv style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Scfmi2El1hI/AAAAAAAAA04/wF0yTVF--ys/s1600-h/smoking_05.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 205px; height: 192px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Scfmi2El1hI/AAAAAAAAA04/wF0yTVF--ys/s400/smoking_05.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316471371438872082" border="0" //aspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Smoking in Ghana is an interesting phenomenon.You hardly see people smoking in/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" public but when you go out at night, swarms of smokers come out of hiding. Well, maybe these folks are mostly social smokers. There is something socially unacceptable about smoking in Ghana. S/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" eeing a woman smoke is almost considered an abomination and there is an unflappable stereotype that a woman smoking by herself in a club/pub is a commercial sex worker! Warning to all you ladies who may find yourself flying solo out at night ciggie in hand./spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" br /I have always been fascinated with smoking. I remember visiting Geneva in my /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/ScflOhv_3GI/AAAAAAAAA0w/zgdxeRvvrLs/s1600-h/audrey+smoking.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 301px; height: 203px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/ScflOhv_3GI/AAAAAAAAA0w/zgdxeRvvrLs/s400/audrey+smoking.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316469922874776674" border="0" //a/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" mid-teens and being shocked that everyone seemed to be smoking! It was like being in a 1950s film....you know the type of movie where a doctor offers you a cigarette in his office or where smoking is glamorized by Audrey Hepburn. Alas, it is now a well established fact that smoking is a major risk factor for lung cancer and a myriad of other cancers. Passive smoking is no better and many industrialized countries have welcomed public smoking bans in the past few years. /spanbr //divspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" br //spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" What I find interesting about Ghana is the lack of real legislature governing smoking in public in Ghana. Last year there was talk (there is always talk!) about a smoking ban coming into effect in November last year. What became of that? Will Ghanaians be able to enforce such a ban?/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"br //spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-2718503352565466528?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• March 16, 2009
• 15:52

  The Annoying Case of the Pesky Midnight Caller

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sb6sTbo6DYI/AAAAAAAAA0g/ZoAYuMYkNY4/s1600-h/SherlockSmall.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 243px; height: 291px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sb6sTbo6DYI/AAAAAAAAA0g/ZoAYuMYkNY4/s400/SherlockSmall.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313874060180589954" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I am still annoyed. The curious case of the pesky midnight caller has turned out to be anything but "curious". For the past few days, Mr. Stalker has called me every single night and during the day too. Luckily his calls do not come through but they still register. On Friday, I passed on his number to some friends to try and find out who he was. Unfortunately for them (and me), he cut their daytime calls and has proceeded to stalk them every night around 1am this past weekend!! When he called them, in performances worthy of Academy Award nominations, he used fake deep voices and demanded to know who they were. That should have set off warning bells since the stalker has never asked me for my name. At last, today there has been a break-through on the case. Mr. Stalker texted me and gave me:/span/spanbr //divul style="text-align: justify;"lispan style="font-size:100%;"My full name/span/lilispan style="font-size:100%;"span style="font-family:arial;"My neighbourhood/span/span/lilispan style="font-size:100%;"span style="font-family:arial;"My place of work/span/span/lilispan style="font-size:100%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The project I've been involved in for the past 2 yearsbr //span/span/li/uldiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I should be freaked out but yet I just remain annoyed. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The weird part is that Mr. Stalker gave me his name (Francis) and it completely does not ring a bell. /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Oh, my stalker also told me he calls at midnight because it is cheaper. At least I know I'm dealing with a dead-beat cheap-skate. Mmmmm, I know a couple of guys that fit that bill. /span/spanbr //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-1527201962271784216?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• 4:10

  Finding the Unexpected in Tema: Tema Central Mall

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SbzgqbLC2AI/AAAAAAAAAz4/6dOfbqxdwZU/s1600-h/Photo-0009.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 227px; height: 256px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SbzgqbLC2AI/AAAAAAAAAz4/6dOfbqxdwZU/s400/Photo-0009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313368679843551234" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SbzixGqiG2I/AAAAAAAAA0A/fKdAjO0ZZog/s1600-h/Photo-0005.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 195px; height: 258px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SbzixGqiG2I/AAAAAAAAA0A/fKdAjO0ZZog/s400/Photo-0005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313370993620818786" border="0" //a/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"Ispan style="font-family:arial;"'m seriously beginning to wonder why some things /span/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" are not/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" better advertised in Ghana. This/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" past Saturday, I happened to stumble across the Tema Central Mall completely by /spana style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SbzjB6llGkI/AAAAAAAAA0I/_VXirG5vAls/s1600-h/Photo-0006.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 176px; height: 249px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SbzjB6llGkI/AAAAAAAAA0I/_VXirG5vAls/s400/Photo-0006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313371282436594242" border="0" //aspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" chance. a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tema"Tema/a, in case you did not know, is a port city east of Accra. How we ended up in Tema on Saturday morning is a convoluted tale that involves masses of traffic around the Accra Mall at the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange. Would you believe the traffic was a result of the graduation ceremony at the University of Ghana? So there we were in Tema. I decided to swing by the MaxMart supermarket situated at somewhere called the "Tema Central Mall" . I completely expected this 'Tema Mall' place to be a dinky little building but was pleasantly surprised. It is a cute and quaint mall very similar to the one at East Legon. Aside from MaxMart supermarket, the Tema Mall is complete with a beauty parlour, coffee shop/restaurant span style="font-style: italic;"(Café de Lyon/span), a span style="font-style: italic;"Woodin/span textile stop, span style="font-style: italic;"Identity/span clothing store, and a restaurant that appears to serve mouth-watering entrées. Apparently there is a gym there too. There were other shops but too little time to explore. I think the Tema Central Mall is suffering from a serious case of being under-hyped when it is actually quite impressive. Why can't the businesses there come together and have a web-page or an ad in the newspaper?/spanbr //diva onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sbzlfi5-9JI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/tRlJCi4wV0M/s1600-h/Photo-0007.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 273px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sbzlfi5-9JI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/tRlJCi4wV0M/s400/Photo-0007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313373990499054738" border="0" //adiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-6350285119925146025?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• March 13, 2009
• 14:21

  The Curious Case of the Pesky Midnight Caller

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sbp5y9HYzMI/AAAAAAAAAzg/GoCaMCZKT1Q/s1600-h/mobile+phone+stalker.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 275px; height: 207px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sbp5y9HYzMI/AAAAAAAAAzg/GoCaMCZKT1Q/s400/mobile+phone+stalker.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312692626742889666" border="0" //aspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" I am annoyed. I am annoyed because I am being mobile phone-stalked. For the past /spana onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sbp7xUzN0gI/AAAAAAAAAzw/w1qtoyX5N7E/s1600-h/scream+poster.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 307px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sbp7xUzN0gI/AAAAAAAAAzw/w1qtoyX5N7E/s400/scream+poster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312694797764252162" border="0" //aspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" few days, a mysterious number calls my mobile around midnight. When I answer the person does not say anything. I hang up and the person calls back immediately and does the same thing. When I call them back during the day to spew vitriol and venom, they immediately cut my call. So I have blocked this pesky mystery caller. Unfortunately, my phone still registers their calls and last night, this aimless individual called 5 times! There were 3 more calls this morning. I'm sure my mystery caller is chuckling with glee as he(she?) lays about in his (her?) pjs during the day. After all, would someone who is gainfully employed have such time on their hands? My national service person says it is no big deal. He says I should not worry since this is not America. /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" America or not I have watched too many movies includingspan style="font-style: italic;" a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scream_%28film%29"Scream/a/span (loved that movie by the way!). A friend of mine and I had a tradition of going to see all the span style="font-style: italic;"Scream/span franchise films on the big screen back in the US of A. Ahhhh good times! The first one was great but the successive span style="font-style: italic;"Screams/span just got a tad weird and tired. /spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Anyway, was thinking of publishing my stalker's number online but decided against that. I welcome any suggestions on how to deal with a pesky, cowardly phone stalker!/span/spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sbp6zpDVABI/AAAAAAAAAzo/-oRlAsA6pVg/s1600-h/drewscreaming.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 314px; height: 299px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sbp6zpDVABI/AAAAAAAAAzo/-oRlAsA6pVg/s400/drewscreaming.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312693738048651282" border="0" //a/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-4070867157173629797?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• March 09, 2009
• 14:20

  Fast-Food Ghana Style: Culinary Delights Part 3

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SbVcQ15rtFI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/6z8EMHsvJPY/s1600-h/adidome.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SbVcQ15rtFI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/6z8EMHsvJPY/s400/adidome.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311252779970049106" border="0" //aspan style="font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"After a very long day in the Volta Region today, we took a detour across the spectacular Adome Bridge in search of 'abollo'/'bodoo' (corn meal wrapped in banana-leaf) and shrimp. Eureka!! We were victorious! That is one thing I love about Ghana ; delicious culinary delights for relatively cheap.br /br //span/spana onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SbVbsnus7QI/AAAAAAAAAzI/QCHbnvDgPwA/s1600-h/fastfood.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 357px; height: 241px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SbVbsnus7QI/AAAAAAAAAzI/QCHbnvDgPwA/s400/fastfood.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311252157690604802" border="0" //a/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-2177246519214073917?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• March 06, 2009
• 12:20

  Independence Day: A View out of Ghana

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SbFSo5JWcoI/AAAAAAAAAyw/-INwb74d4kM/s1600-h/ghana+flag.gif"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 354px; height: 235px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SbFSo5JWcoI/AAAAAAAAAyw/-INwb74d4kM/s400/ghana+flag.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310116298134811266" border="0" //abr /div style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"span style="font-size:130%;"Today is independence day in the fair country of Ghana; 52 years of freedom and justice (with questionnable lapses here and there along the way). Independence day is also the theme for the communal blog topic amongst Ghana bloggers. For some reason I am completely uninspired by Independence Day 2009. There are a number of reasons for this:br //span/divul style="font-family:arial;"lispan style="font-size:130%;"A bad work meeting over the phone with collaborative partners in Europe that ended 30 minutes ago/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"The fact that it does not feel like independence day and in fact most people have gone to the mall or the beachbr //span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"52 is an odd number...it is not like 50 or 55 or 60...these seem to offer something more to celebrate/span/li/uldiv style="text-align: justify;"span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Before coming to work, my family and I spent our independence day lounging around after a delicious brunch followed almost immediately by my current favorite meal apem and palaver sauce (boiled plantain and spinach stew ). Like millions of Ghanaians, we watched the official independence celebrations on TV and listened to our new President's speech. He was poised and eloquent but we were a tad creeped out when the camera man captured a shot of the president's speech script and we could see that the font size was span style="font-style: italic;"Arial 60. /spanspanAfter the celebrations, television quickly turned into the usual documentaries about life in the 1950s and the path towards independence.br /br /Around lunch time, TV3 started showing a Ghanaian film classic from 1970 span style="font-style: italic;"I told you So/span starring the late greats Araba Stamp and Bob Cole. We gasped at how little Accra (especially around High Street) had changed from when the film was made to now...Not a good sign.br /br //span/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Regardless, this day should be a time for all Ghanaians to reflect on how far we have come as a people since 6 March 1957. The struggles we have faced, the adversities we have overcome and how these have only made us stronger and wiser.br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SbFWNOXi2dI/AAAAAAAAAy4/JySent2p48g/s1600-h/kwame-nkrumah+at+independence.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 175px; height: 212px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SbFWNOXi2dI/AAAAAAAAAy4/JySent2p48g/s400/kwame-nkrumah+at+independence.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310120220841662930" border="0" //a/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Just as Dr. Kwame Nkrumah had so much hope for the future when he declared that Ghana was free for ever, so too should we look towards a brighter future filled with bigger and better things.br /br /span style="font-size:100%;"span style="font-size:100%;"Rocky Dawuni's classic /spanspan style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" In Ghana /spanspan style="font-size:100%;"very grainy video but the message still rings clear for me./spanbr //span/spanbr //divbr /object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zCnF32rmELoamp;hl=enamp;fs=1"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zCnF32rmELoamp;hl=enamp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"/embed/objectdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-6029577068757143629?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• March 04, 2009
• 13:35

  Fairtrade Chocolate: Cadbury makes a sweet move

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sa6_K3bpKII/AAAAAAAAAx4/8dohK7L6qlc/s1600-h/cadburys.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 272px; height: 233px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sa6_K3bpKII/AAAAAAAAAx4/8dohK7L6qlc/s400/cadburys.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309391204115884162" border="0" //aspan style="font-family: arial;font-size:130%;" Kudos to Cadbury! I was excited to hear this morning on the BBC that a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7923385.stm"Cadbury's Dairy Milk brand is set to become "Fairtrade certified/a". This would mean that hardworking cocoa farmers in my country Ghana will now be paid a guaranteed minimum price for their cocoa even if open market cocoa prices fall below this minimum. Cynicism and suspicion aside, this is good news for Ghana and even more exhilarating for some of us who hail from cocoa farmer stock from the deepest hinterlands of Ghana. Time for me to ditch the day job and get back to working the land! On another note, it would be great to see more a href="http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/"Fairtrade certification/a for other products from developing countries. /spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sa7ENOdN8LI/AAAAAAAAAyA/bf7ogV97jeQ/s1600-h/fairtrade_logo.png"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 283px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/Sa7ENOdN8LI/AAAAAAAAAyA/bf7ogV97jeQ/s400/fairtrade_logo.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309396742214381746" border="0" //a/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-5448031154783642358?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• February 24, 2009
• 14:21

  Reflecting on the 24th February 1966 in Ghanaian History

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SaQuLOi5paI/AAAAAAAAAw4/iKIIFqJ492c/s1600-h/kwame-nkrumah.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 278px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SaQuLOi5paI/AAAAAAAAAw4/iKIIFqJ492c/s400/kwame-nkrumah.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306417031367206306" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"I'm ashamed to admit that it was the BBC that had to be the one to remind me that today marks 43 years since one of the most dramatic events in Ghanaian history occurred. On 24th February 1966, /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"the first President of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah,/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" was overthrown in what was the first in a series of coup d'états that blot the landscape of Ghanaian history./span/spanbr //divdiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SaQxta8KR-I/AAAAAAAAAxI/Egcl3Z0FpoY/s1600-h/overthrow.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 230px; height: 226px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SaQxta8KR-I/AAAAAAAAAxI/Egcl3Z0FpoY/s400/overthrow.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306420917344815074" border="0" //aspan style="font-family:arial;" Hindsight 20/20 makes it easy for everyone to present differing points of view of how Ghana would have turned out without the coup. Some insist that Dr. Nkrumah should have been allowed to continue with his seemingly promising socialist agenda and pursue his dream of a united Africa. Others on the other side of the debate argue that Dr. Nkrumah was already showing signs of becoming increasingly autocratic and less tolerant of dissenting voices. History also tells us that he seemed to be devoting more time to pursuing his vision of a united Africa to the detriment of Ghana.br /br /Regardless of what our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles tell us or what some of people may even remember about this time, today provides the perfect occasion to reflect on the span style="font-style: italic;"Butterfly Effect/span thata href="http://chardonas.blogspot.com/2008/10/life-on-mars-flashbacks-to-1973-and.html" I rambled on about earlier/a. How could Ghana's history be different if Kwame Nkrumah was never overthrown? The possibilities and scenarios are endless. Possible scenarios without the coup:br //span/spanullispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Ghana could have emerged as a leading industrial nation in Africa under the Nkrumah-ist socialist agenda with an almost egalitarian society as well as marginal differences between rich and poor. However, is there any country out there where a rigorous socialist agenda actually stood the test of time?br //span/span/li/ul/divdiv style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SaRLCLuhBZI/AAAAAAAAAxo/2yVS84kHua4/s1600-h/cocoa.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 328px; height: 218px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SaRLCLuhBZI/AAAAAAAAAxo/2yVS84kHua4/s400/cocoa.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306448761829000594" border="0" //aullispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Falling commidity prices in the early 1970s could have hit Ghana's socialist agenda in the same way they hammered another socialist country Tanzania rendering it one of Africa's poorest nations. In this scenario, Ghana may only have been able to recover years later in the same way as Tanzania.br //span/span/li/ulullispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Ghana could have become a reactionary one-party state with Dr. Nkrumah as/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" the aging dictator unwilling to give up power in the vein of a certain "Uncle Bob" way down South./span/span/li/ula onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SaRKUhPO-5I/AAAAAAAAAxg/jmd5iPa_BRk/s1600-h/mugabe.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 290px; height: 220px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SaRKUhPO-5I/AAAAAAAAAxg/jmd5iPa_BRk/s400/mugabe.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306447977329392530" border="0" //aullispan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" The authoritarian nature of a one-party state under Kwame Nkrumah could have lead to a rebellious armed opposition that would have plunged Ghana into a bitter civil war. This war would have pitted Western-backed rebels against Communist-backed Nkrumah similar to the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars./spanbr //li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Alas, as with the span style="font-style: italic;"Butterfly Effect/span, the possibilities are endless. Regardless of how history did in fact play out, this 24th February is different. Simply because this year, Kwame Nkrumah's only daughter Samia has just taken up her seat as a member of parliament for the latest incarnation of her father's party, the Convention People's Party. There is something about coming full circle about that.br //span/spana onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SaRBO8Y4RvI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/qgM9WSYtOtM/s1600-h/samia.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 360px; height: 235px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SaRBO8Y4RvI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/qgM9WSYtOtM/s400/samia.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306437985933739762" border="0" //a/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-387099350499739238?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• February 19, 2009
• 13:11

  Of Planes, Trains and Automobiles...

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Okay, so I did not take any trains but 2 weeks travelling sadly came to an end this weekend. While I'm still adjusting to post trip jet-lag and inexplicable waves of sleepiness at work, I've been contemplating a couple of stats I racked up on my travels:/span/spanbr //divulliNumber of planes travelled on in 2 weeks: 12br //liliNumber of mind-numbing hours in transit: 24 (what? a full day in transit?)/liliNumber of gambling slot machines played while in transit at Reno Airport, Nevada: 2/li/ula onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SZ2mDYB5KkI/AAAAAAAAAwQ/TzHwQzSquV0/s1600-h/008.JPG"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 264px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SZ2mDYB5KkI/AAAAAAAAAwQ/TzHwQzSquV0/s400/008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304578513032522306" border="0" //aullia onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SZ2mlJ-7WEI/AAAAAAAAAwY/-txyyQCt1_I/s1600-h/009.JPG"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 264px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SZ2mlJ-7WEI/AAAAAAAAAwY/-txyyQCt1_I/s400/009.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304579093377538114" border="0" //a/liliAmount of dollars won gambling at Reno airport: -3.00br //liliNumber of really nice, posh hotels stayed in on trip: 1/liliNumber of really shady/dodgy motels stayed in (i.e. home to escaped cons and drug dealers): 1/liliNumber of trips made to San Francisco: 3br //liliNumber of times I saw the Golden Gate Bridge while in San Francisco: 0/liliNumber of times I went to Chinatown, San Francisco while in San Francisco: 0/liliNumber of times I saw Alcatraz Island while in San Francisco: 0/liliNumber of tourist attractions visited in San Francisco: 0br //liliNumber of ATMs in the whole of Tahoe City, Lake Tahoe: 3br //liliNumber of Conference buffet meals consumed: 10/liliAmount of kilos gained in 2 weeks: 5 (yikes!)/liliNumber of high-brow presentations/lectures listened to: 25/liliNumber of high-brow presentations slept through: 7br //liliNumber of cups of coffee consumed: 45/liliNumber of hours "incarcerated" while in transit in Cancun, Mexico without a visa: 4br //li/ulullia onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SZ2lb5sF4AI/AAAAAAAAAwI/trXlI_SDnXs/s1600-h/042.JPG"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 316px; height: 219px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SZ2lb5sF4AI/AAAAAAAAAwI/trXlI_SDnXs/s400/042.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304577834873118722" border="0" //aNumber of (really polite) Cancun airport officials on the case: 5 /li/ul ulliNumber of Mexican Quesadillas consumed in the US: 5/li/ula onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SZ2oRXIcOPI/AAAAAAAAAwo/Fp_piYM508Q/s1600-h/019.JPG"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 277px; height: 208px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SZ2oRXIcOPI/AAAAAAAAAwo/Fp_piYM508Q/s400/019.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304580952332974322" border="0" //aulliNumber of Mexican Quesadillas consumed while in Mexico: 0/liliNumber of times conned by airport porters in Ghana and Mexico: 2 (what happened to once-bitten?)br //liliNumber of times camera failed when Presidents of countries randomly passed by : 2/liliNumber of life-altering minutes spent at the Che Guevara memorial in Santa Clara: 30br //liliNumber of caves visited: 2/liliNumber of rides by boat across a river: 2br //liliNumber of hours travelling by car sightseeing: 15br //liliNumber of divine Starbucks Frappuccinos consumed: 1br //li/ula onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SZ5sVrIZoPI/AAAAAAAAAww/9GnnJI8SlHw/s1600-h/frappucino.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 282px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SZ5sVrIZoPI/AAAAAAAAAww/9GnnJI8SlHw/s400/frappucino.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304796530700034290" border="0" //aulliTotal amount of money spent on credit card: unthinkable/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"This really sums up my trip; sad it is all over, glad to be back and not on another plane and enriched by new experiences!/span/spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-8456304180758916045?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• February 02, 2009
• 23:58

  Aint that America...

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div align="justify"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SYiBCZEivGI/AAAAAAAAAwA/zKXEYeI4wqo/s1600-h/feature_gallery_real_housewives_of_orange_county.jpg"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298626839691050082" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 225px; height: 157px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SYiBCZEivGI/AAAAAAAAAwA/zKXEYeI4wqo/s400/feature_gallery_real_housewives_of_orange_county.jpg" border="0" //aspan style="font-family:arial;"I will not deny that unlike some people, I love America. After a 3 year hiatus it is actually good to be back in the land of the free. It is great to watch weird, voyeuristic reality tv and my new favorite is the absolutely tacky but interesting emReal Housewives of Orange County/em (see picture above). Alas, due to the credit crunch, there are fewer ads on TV for free credit cards and car loans. Some things still remain the same on American TV, Fox News is still skewering all liberals (poor President Obama) while CNN and MSNBC are still flying the left of center media beacon. One other thing I love about America is that customer service is amazing and strangers will strike up a conversation with you on the bus and share their life-story. Usually in Ghana when a stranger strikes up a conversation with me it is a barrage of one-sided questions to satisfy their curiosity about the oddity that is me. In Europe I find most people keep to themselves. America on the other hand is bursting with smiles and friendliness. I must admit, my beloved New York is not quite Friendliness Central especially on first encounter but it still has an undenial vibe to it./span/divdiv align="justify"span style="font-family:arial;"br //span/divdiv align="justify"span style="font-family:arial;"As I type, I'm in a surreal Norwegian-style ski resort called Granlibakken on Lake Tahoe. Apparently Lake Tahoe is on the border between California and Nevada. The altitude is high, my knuckles are frozen and I'm suffering from jetlag even after 4 days or so away from Ghana. Maybe it is because this is my first visit to the West Coast and so the time difference is killing me. It is 9:30am here but in Ghana it is time to get off work for most people already.br /br //span/divdiv align="justify"span style="font-family:arial;"Despite being severely over-fed with delicious culinary delights, the hardest part about this trrips is that I'm not here on holiday. I'm attending a high-brow conference all about worm infections. It is a priviledge to mingle with people you have only read about but it is excruciatingly difficult to stay awake for some of the evening sessions. Last night, the words used by the speaker in the last presentation were all in English but strung together in sentences, they sounded like Greek to me. Fortunately, I was not the only one who heard the Greek. My fellow jetlag crew felt the same way!br //span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-6088070271671872665?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• January 20, 2009
• 13:24

  1200 EST (1700 GMT) on January 20th 2009

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SXYXFwDZmzI/AAAAAAAAAvY/GN3Z1YoqglE/s1600-h/obama+being+sworn+in.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 223px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SXYXFwDZmzI/AAAAAAAAAvY/GN3Z1YoqglE/s400/obama+being+sworn+in.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293443799586544434" border="0" //adiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-1323677699572012605?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• January 19, 2009
• 2:47

  Farewell to the man who brought us the 'War on Terror' while defying (defiling?) the English language

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SXMUVirU80I/AAAAAAAAAvQ/FRuqKsqNZs8/s1600-h/george-w-bush-picture.jpeg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 297px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SXMUVirU80I/AAAAAAAAAvQ/FRuqKsqNZs8/s320/george-w-bush-picture.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292596347408806722" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"After 8 years at the helm of America and the 'free-world', George W. Bush is finally bowing out tomorrow. The world has changed alot over the 8 years "Dubya" has been in charge and he will forever be remembered for:br //span/spanullispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The War on Terror/span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Coining the expression "Axis of Evil"br //span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The elusive "Weapons of mass destruction"br //span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The wars in Iraq and Afghanistanbr //span/span/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"From an African perspective, apparently we are grateful to Mr. Bush for:br //span/spanullispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"More funding to Africa than ever before/span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The scaling up of funding for anti-retrovials to HIV/AIDS patients on the continentbr //span/span/lilispan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Funding for anti-malarial initiatives such as insecticide-treated nets (ITNs)/span/span/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"One reason I am personally grateful to Mr. Bush is for providing us with befuddling expressions that at times defied logic. Ah yes, the now infamous "Bushisms" that were sure to put a smile on your face as you struggled to decipher what he was trying to say. With the help of a href="http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blbushdumbquotes.htm"span style="font-style: italic;"About.com/span/a, I present to you, my Top 5 favorite Bushisms. /span/spanbr /span style="font-size:100%;"span style="font-size:130%;"br /span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"Mr. George W. Bush said:/span/spanbr //spanul style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"lispan style="font-size:100%;"span style="font-family:Verdana;" span style="font-size:100%;""We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease." /span/span/spanspan style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" span style=""—Gothenburg, Sweden, June 14, 2001/span/span/li/ulul style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"lispan style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" "Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." —Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004 /span/li/ulul style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"lispan style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family"/spanspan style="font-size:100%;" N.H. Chamber of Commerce. January 27, 2000/span/li/ulul style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"lispan style="font-size:100%;"span style="font-family:Verdana;""Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." —Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004/span/span/li/ulullispan style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:100%;" "They misunderestimated me." Nov. 6 2000/spanbr //span/li/ulspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Alas, just a few in a vast collection of expressions by Mr. Bush. Mmmm, I wonder.....maybe Mr. Bush agreed to increase funding to "Africa" because he thought he was funding just one nation and not a whole continent!br /br /For the good and for the bad, we will always remember Mr. George W. Bush!!!br //span/span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-4436328896682593773?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• January 15, 2009
• 6:36

  Dr. Boom has Sounded!

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SXDJevznAXI/AAAAAAAAAvI/F8RHxQxvxYk/s1600-h/jerry3.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 222px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SXDJevznAXI/AAAAAAAAAvI/F8RHxQxvxYk/s320/jerry3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291951092226523506" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"The ex- President of Ghana, Mr. Jerry John Rawlings has just achieved a new record for himself. Just 7 days after President Atta-Mills has taken office, Mr. Rawlings has just fired a verbal salvo aimed squarely at the new president. This time, Mr. Rawlings is decrying the "poverty of inaction" exhibited by the new president and his transistion team. First of all, the exact meaning of the phrase "poverty of inaction" is a mystery. Furthermore, the fact that President Mills is being publicly lambasted by the founder of his own party is perplexing. /spanbr /br /div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"This is also a record because Mr. Rawlings gave ex-President Kufuor and the erstwhile NPP administration a grace period of 6 months in 2001 before launching his first verbal attack on 4 June 2001. Back in 1981, Flight Lieutenant Rawlings apparently gave the former president Dr. Hilla Limann a similar grace period before the 31 December 1981 coup d'etat./spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"Another classic gem from Mr. Rawlings' speech was:/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-style: italic;"Are we in power or not, have we taken over or not. They marched us out when you and I have committed no crime. They who have committed crimes and today we have been vindicated by our sense of vigilance we don’t even…what kind of diplomacy is this?”/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;" (SOURCE: Joy FM a href="http://news.myjoyonline.com/politics/200901/25090.asp"myjoyonline.com/a)/spanbr /br /span style="font-size:130%;"All I can say is span style="font-style: italic;"very interesting/span. /span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-8366197639690483384?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• January 11, 2009
• 14:23

  *Ooops* Harry Did It It Again!

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SWpHfcSamcI/AAAAAAAAAu4/SGg-QnZD5UA/s1600-h/Prince+Harry.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SWpHfcSamcI/AAAAAAAAAu4/SGg-QnZD5UA/s320/Prince+Harry.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290119317795019202" border="0" //aspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Prince Harry may never be King of England but he is seriously competing with his grand-dad the Duke of Edinburgh for the title of "King of Gaffes amp; Blunders". Poor Harry, he has given the press another one! This time, span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"he has caught himself /spanon tape referring to a fellow student at Sandhurst from Pakistan by a racist epithet. His press people will have us believe that the bantering chums over at Sandhurst all gave each other nicknames such as this. Yah Right! So what was Harry's?/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" Despite his military record and his impressive charity work in Lesotho, Harry just does not seem to stop himself from putting his foot in it. Some years ago, he courted controversy by donning a Nazi costume to a fancy dress-party. Are the Princes given any sensitivity training at all? Mmmm...anyway, why should I give a hoot?!/span/spanbr //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-3582617702343015162?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div
• January 10, 2009
• 9:41

  The Adventures of Tintin: Tintin Turns 80 years old

   » ‎ Ramblings of a Procrastinator in Accra
  div style="text-align: justify;"a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SWizxlb5sZI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/RPW0Kq8mYV8/s1600-h/tintin1.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 304px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SWizxlb5sZI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/RPW0Kq8mYV8/s320/tintin1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289675426790748562" border="0" //aspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Tintin, one of the most famous fictional character, turns 80 years old today. The adventures of Tintin have captured the imagination of generations of children across the world for decades.Even today, it is /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" hard to tear me away from the /spana href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tintin_%28TV_series%29"span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" The Adventures of Tintin/span/aspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" reruns on Ghana television ./spanbr //divspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"br //span/spandiv style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"Alas, behind the youthful looks, the ever-present brown trousers and blue sweater, there is a darker side to Tintin. Sorry to disappoint you; I'm not about to reveal that Tintin had a soft-spot for strip-clubs and binge-drinking! /span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;" /span/divdiv style="text-align: justify;"div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SWi1eOfAUkI/AAAAAAAAAtY/YaxnL97VaMk/s1600-h/TinTin_Congo.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 231px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SWi1eOfAUkI/AAAAAAAAAtY/YaxnL97VaMk/s320/TinTin_Congo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289677293235491394" border="0" //a/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" When I was a child, I came across the Dutch version of span style="font-style: italic;"Tintin in the Congo /spanwhich was originally published in 1930. It had never been translated into English at the time and I was shocked by images of thick-lipped, child-like Africans who Tintin (clad in colonial white attire) comes to save from a life of human sacrifice and ignorance. /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" It was only during my undergraduate days when I was doing research for an anthropology paper on Tintin and popular culture that I finally got to know my hero better. /spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;"The fact is that even though Tintin is now known as a children's comic book character, he first emerged in a Belgian newspaper /span/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" span style="font-style: italic;"Le Vingtieme Siecle/span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"span style="font-family:arial;" in 1929 and /span/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" basically reflected the popular views as well as stereotypes people held at the time. Well, people in the the Euro-centric western colonial world that is./spanbr /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" lang="fr"iTintin in the Congo /iprobably served to justify Belgium's atrocious colonial record particularly in the 1930s.br //spanspan style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SWi6Pd_0zII/AAAAAAAAAtw/3PWdrk7NfFg/s1600-h/tintin+in+africa.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 229px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SWi6Pd_0zII/AAAAAAAAAtw/3PWdrk7NfFg/s320/tintin+in+africa.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289682537259781250" border="0" //a/spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SWi8cm-c17I/AAAAAAAAAuA/0_RNJi0aG7Q/s1600-h/tintin+in+america.jpg"br //a/span/divdiv style="text-align: justify;"div style="text-align: justify;"span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" I still find span style="font-style: italic;"t/spanhis particular adventure /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" patronising and /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" irrelevant for a post-colonial world but apparently it /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" is still popular. I read somewhere that defenders of this adventure claim that Congolese children are quite proud that their country features in one of /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Tintin's adventure. Say wha??? They probably did a poll of 3 Congolese children all under the age of 5! Africa is not the only place stereotyped. span style="font-style: italic;"br /br //span/spanspan style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SWi8cm-c17I/AAAAAAAAAuA/0_RNJi0aG7Q/s1600-h/tintin+in+america.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 163px; height: 222px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SWi8cm-c17I/AAAAAAAAAuA/0_RNJi0aG7Q/s320/tintin+in+america.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289684962031490994" border="0" //a/spanbr /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" span style="font-style: italic;"Tintin in America/span published in 1931/1932 is like one non-stop western with Native /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Americans portrayed as if the year is 1831. /spanbr /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" br /Although span style="font-style: italic;"Tintin in the Congo /spanand span style="font-style: italic;"Tintin in America /spanspanhave basically remained the same, /span/spana onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SWjNhBse6LI/AAAAAAAAAuw/7k5TvYXVKls/s1600-h/Tintin+in+the+land+of+Black+Gold.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 206px; height: 247px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SWjNhBse6LI/AAAAAAAAAuw/7k5TvYXVKls/s320/Tintin+in+the+land+of+Black+Gold.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289703729621035186" border="0" //aspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" spanthere are other adventures that changed when /span/spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" translated or were revised for later editions.span style="font-style: italic;" Tintin in the /spanspan style="font-style: italic;"Land of Black Gold/span as it was originally run between 1948 and 1950 was set in the Middle East in the British mandate of Palestine and showed Tintin caught in the conflict between Jews, Arabs and the British. In the later versions, the adventure takes place in a fictional Arab country and the Jewish and British characters have been omitted. /spanspan style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" But that is not to say that Tintin's creator Herge had particular sympathies in the Arab-Israeli conflict; he was also accused of anti-semitic representation of Jewish people in Tintin adventures during World-World II./spanbr /br /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Another feature of Tintin comics, is the quizzical omission of a single (likable) female character in all adventures. Mmmm!/spanbr /br /span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" Anyway, the span style="font-style: italic;"Adventures of Tintin /spanseries is a clear case of the less you know, the better! May (some of) Tintin's adventures continue to delight children young and old across the globe./spanbr /span style="font-size:130%;"a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SWjDXqnYSkI/AAAAAAAAAug/pFL8BaeYk5I/s1600-h/Tintin_and_Snowy.png"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 142px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bqMtoMnTR3k/SWjDXqnYSkI/AAAAAAAAAug/pFL8BaeYk5I/s320/Tintin_and_Snowy.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289692573690513986" border="0" //a/span/div/div/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11894178-1900632589280403690?l=chardonas.blogspot.com'//div