Saymama's Favorite Things - The July/August Edition

Tae Dress [pronounced Ta-yay with an apostrophe on the 'e']- One of my favorite recent purchases from one of many budding Nigerian designers using the very popular Ankara fabric. The label Tae, is run by Bisola Edun and I got this from a new collection show she had a couple months back at Terraculture. It's a perfect dress-up or down dress, with flats or heels, out with the girls or off to dinner with tha' man. And sorry I must say, very unabashedly, that it looked gorgeous on me:--). I love the ruffle detailing at the bodice. Check out the website here for more info and gorgeous numbers.

Cool Restaurants Istanbul - I discovered this book while sipping capuccino's at Salamader Cafe in Abuja a few weeks back. There's an entire collection of books in these series for different cities around the world. It feeds into my cafe and restaurant design obsession right now and gives quite a lot of ideas in terms of themes and the like. I'm on a mission to own all 15 in the collection. So far I have 2: Istanbul and Capetown. They make great coffee table reads too.

The Chloe Cyndi Tote - love it, must covet it and it's only $2,000. *Smirk*. Nuff Said. Here.

Love Quotes Scarves - These are sooo gorgeous. Must get these in every color. And regardless of the weather or country, a nice pashmina throw classes up any look - whether you're going for jeans casual chic, or a knee length tunic or if like me you're at work and your neck is always cold. These are particularly lovely. Plus they make great gift ideas for that special chica-sister-lover-friend. It's all in the wrapping :-)

The New Mack Book. I salivate. Not only is the packaging it comes in beyond sexy, it also lists what comes in the box upon delivery (or purchase): a display cleaning cloth to boot! Imagine, isn't this accessory obvious? But as all notebook lovers know, this never comes with a computer. And to be totally frivolous, the packaging alone just makes me...happy. Now to the computer itself. I currently use (and am about to dump) a Sony Viao. A pretty computer, but has been a most heart-breaking experience to put it mildly. Within the first 6 months of ownership, it crashed on me twice. I lost all important documents and unfortunately for me I hadn't backed up. Their customer service is awful, I got transfered to India and conversed with a totally clueless and barely intelligible unhelpful rep. Aside from that my Viao overheats because apparently, the Intel processor used for my laptop is of the cheap Chinese kind (Celeron). I've heard that some from this model had been known to catch fire. Go figure. The battery life sucks beyond measure. My Viao (from which I type)'s battery life after less than 2 years old is less than 20 minutes from full life. My friend's Macbook is 'over' 2 years old and the battery life on his still exceeds 3 hours!! Then lets not go into all the virus attacks and issues I have had nearly from day one. And lastly, for this entry, but certainly not the least, it took Sony almost 2 months to get the bloody thing to me from the day I placed my order. Macbooks ship in 24 hours. Of this alone I am ecsatic. I have, my whole computer literate-adult life, shied away from Macs, because I thought they were so cumbersome to use and incompatible with everything. In addition, I didn't like their previous keyboard arrangement and that just turned me off. They've since changed all that and Saymama's loving the prospect of a future of virus-slow processing-overheating-free life. They come in 2 colors: black and white. I'm loving the white. So off I go to the nearest Apple store..through the Atlantic, across the Sahara, over the hills and whatever else it would take to get me there. Steve Jobs, you rock.

Naeto C - Artist and Album Review

Storm Records’ newest Naija cross- over sensation, Naeto C, is making his contribution to the ever changing ever fresh Naija music and export-worthy scene. I saw him in concert for the time a few weeks ago at the D'Banj album launch. He was quite good, appeared a bit shy, but I'm sure with more stage experience he will get better.

Naeto’s roots I find particularly interesting. He’s among a new crop of guys bursting onto the music scene in naija (and by no means do I mean to come off as elitist inclined here): aje butter aso boys abandoning the ‘must please daddy and do something respectable with my life (doctor, lawyer, IT Guru, bleh bleh)’ who are pursuing their passions and delving fully into the arts (music in this case).

A profession formerly perceived to be unrespectable (somewhat) and non-lucrative; left for the high, rebellious and mostly school-drop out ilk. There’s since been a paradigm shift, that you can be well schooled and well brought up and pursue a career in music in ‘Nigeria’ “AND” be successful at it, financially and socially. The other notion in the past is that Nigerian aspiring artists had a better chance of achieving stardom in the West - SEAL, Sade, Femi Kuti, Nayo – to name a few. Now it’s cool to be proudly Nigerian ‘in’ Nigeria. And so it should be.

Naeto C is young, fresh, quite authentic and very much a repping member of the new Facebook generation. His album is an excellent groove to play while driving through Carter Bridge traffic on a pressure-free Saturday evening. For the first time, I don’t really have anyone to compare him to, which I think means he’s holding down his own with no references necessary. According to TP, his brand of music is poetry with street cred.

Naeto makes it easy to be Nigerian but still have multiple identities with easy global appeal for all, whether you’re Nigerian or not.

Purchase your copy from your nearest steetpreneur ;-). Saymama gives 4 stars (out of 5).

Fave tracks:
8 – I’ve Been
9 – One 4 Me feat. Wande Coal
7 – Lagos City Hustler*****
15 – Bami lo feat. Morell
10 – Ashewo feat. Wande Coal

Celebrating Me..

It's my birthday and as of today, I'm officially not 31 anymore as I was yesterday. There. I said it. I was going to sob about that, but I've decided not to. So today, I'm making a conscious decision to embrace and love myself and make a conserted effort to forge ahead like as though the challenges of yesterday did not exist. So I have come up with a list of birthday resolutions as well as 'slightly-past' mid year re-resolutions. I think that publishing this will force me to make an effort to accomplish those things. So here goes ( and this is by no means exhaustive)..

• Love me more


• Fear not, mull not, just do it


• Get back into the gym and stop being afraid of passing out at first try


• Tidy up on securing funding for projects


• Get back to working on my book before the idea and concept shrivels up in my mind


• Work harder on my friendships - call more, email more and not rely soley on facebook for primary interaction! (pathetic almost)


• Finish ALL uncompleted personal tasks and projects and I mean like yesterday!


• Get on those advanced french classes I've been trying to take for past 2 years


• Investigate photography classes and up my 'amateur' photography game


• Investigate TBS franchise opportunity for West Africa


• Alter my sometimes attitude to life: be more solutions oriented!


• Get Olori website up up up!

My optimism runneth over. I'm also going to learn to celebrate myself. How hard can that be? Happy Birthday to Me! It is Saymama's celebration week. Check back shortly for daily postings in lieu of this for the next one week.

Timi's Letter to Obama

This is a letter that my budding "ata wewe" political activist of a brother wrote to Barack Obama. A saucy if not interesting read. I have often told him to forward his thoughts to me as I think they were worthy of publishing. Let's discuss.
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My Problem with Barack

By Timi Odulate

I was born in Washington DC to Nigerian parents. I am a Philadelphia, PA resident, and I graduated from Temple University with a double in Computer Science & Political Science with a minor in French. I drove 2 and a half hours from Washington to Philadelphia to vote for Barack in the PA primary due to the fact that I’m still a Pennsylvania resident, after telling my boss that I was taking part of my day off to assert my constitutional right to vote.
I also braved the commute because it was one of the most motivated periods of my life. I was intrigued, zealously so, by somebody who had adopted the right views and positions about the path that this country was long overdue for, despite the paradoxically suicidal path elected officials had assumed, and their willingness to continue bleeding the country until it was dead. I was captivated by someone who wasn’t afraid to change the fate of this country. The citizenry, prior to Barack’s emergence on the national scene, were comparable to a dying person refusing a blood transfusion. How else could you explain the re-election of our current president and the world’s subsequent declaration that Americans were stupid, embodied in a UK paper’s headlines on Thursday November 4, 2004, The Daily Mirror, “How can 59,054,087 people be so Dumb?” Americans made this decision with the knowledge that the basis for war, weapons of mass destruction (now affectionately known as WMDs) was manufactured and thus non-existent.
It was frustrating that what was common sense to the rest of the other 50 million or so voting electorate was apparently rocket science to the remainder of that said electorate. The Republican Party, and George Bush, until recently, were immensely averse at using issues to polarize the electorate and using dirty tricks to smother their opponent. An excursion into the annals of political science will reveal that that concept has been historically utilized for a considerable amount of time, and it tends to benefit Republicans more than Democrats because Democrats will usually respond negatively to dirty tricks by their candidate as opposed to the same by a Republican candidate and his supporters. Gay marriage, weakness on our national defense, and a charge that the Democratic candidate was wayward, shamelessly convinced the rest of the nation into voting for a weaker candidate thus plunging the country into deeper economic mediocrity whilst lowering our moral standing with the international community.
I never understood why such a number of people allowed themselves to be confused or polarized by the aforementioned tricks. I supported Barack because he spoke the truth from the beginning. I firmly believe his stark increase in popularity was due to the fact that the truth never goes away and can only be discovered. He spoke against the war. He said we didn’t properly assess the consequences and that was true. He said we rushed into it and that was also true. We were told by Republicans, including McCain that the oil would pay for the war. Huh? The long-held Democratic view that Bush’s tax cuts were only benefitting the wealthy and were ruining the economy and middle class is being proven more and more every day. The weakening of the US dollar against all other major currencies and its contributing effect on oil prices has put the majority of the country in an immensely compromising situation. Did anybody notice that America is being bought up by the world? All part and parcel of the status quo. I just can’t remember when it’s been this bad. When the first Bush was in power, we had a bad economy but our standing in the world was above par, and the economy wasn’t as bad as it is today. When are we going to fully realize the extent to which this country has been mismanaged? When gas is $6 a gallon next summer?
What’s hurtful about Obama is my belief that his incredible success has gone to his head, of late, and is clouding his judgment. There’s no doubt about it. Do all politicians, including McCain, do it, and as a matter of fact, do it more? Yes. But Barack is supposed to be different. On issues such as FISA and whether or not the telecommunications companies should receive immunity for unlawfully aiding the government in eavesdropping, his position clearly shifted. He categorically labeled it as illegal and unjust. His position now, indicating that he’s for that immunity, is clearly different from the one he adopted before. Who’s he trying to fool? Barack also previously stated that he would fully utilize diplomacy and talk to states America considers hostile. Not only is that a great position that had been adopted by respected former presidents such as Kennedy and Roosevelt, it is also common sense. It saves lives, resources- both military and monetary- and aggravation. Anybody can be talked to, and wars aren’t as great as they’re built up to be. His position on that obviously changed to a more confrontational one, especially on the Iranian front. He’s shifted his position on guns when he didn’t have to. Bill Clinton was anti-gun throughout his eight years in office. Lastly, but certainly not least, not by any means, was his statement regarding Iraq stating he would be opening to refining his position. Sometimes I wonder who’s being paid to sanction these statements and positions in light of the fact that they’re silly and just don’t add up. He beat Hillary on Iraq. Why would he even try to appear to be open to modifying his position on Iraq, for political purposes?
The Republican Party did erroneously label Barack as a leftist. By leftist, what they really meant was that he was on the other side of their positions which all appear to be wrong by the way. Politicians and political pundits alike have blurred the line of left and right. Left and right would normally be associated with mostly conservative and liberal principles that the Republican and Democratic Party have identified themselves with, like abortion, small government versus big government, taxes, social programs, gay rights, and the like. They are now being used, in the context of what’s being discussed today, outside of the core principles. If McCain and the Republicans say drill offshore for oil and the Democrats say don’t drill, that is not a traditionally conservative or liberal position. When McCain said American forces could stay in Iraq a hundred years if needed and the Democrats said hell no, that had nothing to do with conservatism or liberalism. It’s policy, not left or right, nor conservatism or liberalism. And some of it is just common sense. Barack’s Obama sudden, yes conspicuously sudden, adoption of a whole bunch of issues championed by Republicans was stupid. It doesn’t make sense to start abandoning your positions that were slated to usher in change so you can be more appealing to people who either will be open to you or not. Those hard right Republicans who aren’t being affected by the economy aren’t going to vote for him. To give an air of being open to modify his position on Iraq, something that’s been proving him right every day, is as big a blunder as anybody could ever make. Thankfully, it either hasn’t been fully noticed, or the electorate realizes he’s twice as good candidate to deal with what ails America as McCain. In playing sports, I remember being told, and seeing, that you don’t change a strategy if it’s working. If you’re beating a team, you don’t drastically adopt a new tactic. You keep at it. He opened up double-digit leads over McCain in several polls just so he could shoot himself in the foot? Talk about being self-destructive.
Now, I don’t think McCain or Hillary, or anybody would have fared any better. Hillary had her own huge gaffes when she outright lied about sniper fire and called it a misspeak, my favorite word of 2008. McCain’s a huge flip-flopper, if there ever was one. Barack was supposed to be different though and didn’t have any reason to start acting weird.
I still like and support Obama. I know he’ll be a great president. I’m just worried about a few silly things he’s done. I’m not as enthusiastic or as zealous as I once was. I don’t feel the need to massively abandon my job as myself and three hundred fellow employees once did to vote for him. Maybe when Election Day dawns, I’ll further see how enormously flawed McCain is and how he really is an extension of failed policies, and find a way to vote for Obama.
By the way, if Republicans want a small government, why don’t they refrain from running for office? Government would be a lot smaller without them in Congress, the Senate, and most notable the White House.

Momma - A Celebration In Life

My mother turned 60 on the 29th of June 2008. I was insistent with my siblings and my father that we had to mark this particular occassion. I was intent on making her feel special not just to us but to others and making her feel loved. My mother on the surface, is very cool, calm and collected. But at her depth, she is a true diva. And I must tell you, the sleeping diva in her blossomed to no end on this day. I had arranged for a makeup artist to come doll her up in the morning and for my photographer friend Mubarak to bring in his best for a photo session with her as the primary focus before heading out to church. The weeks leading up to this event were grueling to say the least, but I think it turned out beautifully and it was well worth it. Objective achieved. Momma felt like a queen bee all day and she thoroughly enjoyed herself with her nearest and dearest. Pink is her favorite color so we themed the event to revolve around that. She looked gorgeous.

I believe that celebrating those that mean the most to us is something that we dream of doing, but sometimes we don't actually get around to breathing life into it. All my life I have wanted to celebrate my mother in a big way, but it was never convenient, especially financially. Then I realized earlier this year that if - God Forbid - anything happens to a member of our familiy, especially if it's at a permissible age, we, especially in our pan-Nigerian culture, would throw in the works. From aso-ebi to caterers to feed the so-called mourners and sympathizers, to expensive press releases and the like. So I decided, along with my siblings that even though it is not particularly financially convenient to celebrate mom this year, we must find a way to do so anyhow. This is a woman that has spent the better part of her life in sacrifice to us and our well being; a woman that has endured so much for our sakes. This birthday was simply an excuse to celebrate her in so many ways and to show that in her life and while she is here, we are grateful to God for her and the pillar she has been to us and more. And so the plotting and the planning began and voila! We certainly couldn't have done it alone and I'm so thankful to all those that contributed over and beyond and helped to make it happen. It was trully a beautiful day. One to remember for many years to come.

Happy Birthday Momma.

A Truth - By Temi Adepoju

(With humble permission from a friend, Temi Adepoju, who wrote this..don't think I could've articulated it better..read on..)

As women we are divine beings- made to love and be loved- I mean, men want and need to be loved as well- but women - we need it on a whole new level. We can choose to accept this important part of our makeup or deny it and run away from it- creating a lot of uneccessary pain, hurt and bad choices (in love).I've always believed we have much more at stake as women- afterall, we're the species that release the hormone progesterone after sex -talk about catching feelings faster and deeper than the guy- Then we have the babies (lets not even talk about the excruciating pain of that), whose umbilical cords contains this magical hormone as well so we're designed to always be in tune with our offspring and cannot abandon them- unlike most animals in nature. We are usually the #1 caregivers and home makers, the nurturing mammals under whose care the family blossoms, we're instinctive and intuitive, basically able to plan stages ahead for the unexpected and all over the world we are the worker bees, the mules and the pack horses (especially black women) . There're more women engaged in breadwinning activites including farming, both in developing countries and the West! So whats the point of having all of the responsibilty and none of the glory, sweetness, the loving, the divine feminine aspects? None! But we do this to ourselves- we let ourselves be treated like pack mules, instead of the beautiful, fragile, but strong creatures we are. Remember, "people treat you the way you let them" (Oprah W.)Let me break it down this way- Sisters- enjoy your femininity, elevate your womanhood, revel in your abilities, enjoy the love and respect of your men- and teach your little girls not just how to be the 'little helpers' but how to engage the boys and men in their lives to support, protect and love them. Teach the boy-child how to love and protect his sisters/mothers/cousins, how to encourage and help them flower into beautiful powerful beings- If your men won't then teach these boys the practicals of cooking, opening the door for ladies, ideals of 'ladies first', holding out the dining chair and all around chilvalry- don't complain about the lack of these qualities (as if you're not contributing)- afterall we're mainly in charge of raising the family and crafting these young 'uns minds and behaviors. (No doubt, I've made a huge assumption that you've chosen your mate, carefully and in faith that you have the same ideals, and plan to walk the earth and grow together as long as possible- and he is your #1 supporter)Speak your truth, speak it often- take time out for yourself. Allow yourself to be pampered- ask for it! Show and tell- don't expect a mind read ladies- especially if your guy is african- most likely he wasn't brought up this way- but I assure you he is willing and open to pleasing his queen, the way she pleases him and blesses his life with her love, grace and beauty!

Asa's coming to Lagos! Finally!

Latest and hottest thing happening in Lagos this coming weekend: Asa the great will be in town!

Performing at the Civic Centre June 14th 2008. Tickets N15,000

2nd show @ Oceanview Restaurant in VI - June 15th 2008. Tickets N10,000

Apparently she will be showcasing her new album. Another new album while the current one is still raging? Wonderful abi? I've never seen her in concert before..the late bloomer that I am. If I go to the show, I'll be sure to post my review.

Ciao.

Notes on Happiness..

(Written 16th April 2008)

"It is God who gives happiness, true happiness, not man. If you try to seek or get your happiness from the world, it will always escape you. You won't get it". "Life is too short my dear, for you not to be happy from 'within'. make sure you lead a life that's happy". This was my Aunt Anita talking to me last night. I cannot begin to tell you, how badly I needed to hear that. She'd been in Nigeria for the past two weeks with my cousins (her sons) to bury her husband (my late Uncle Ayo). We were having a long chat late into the night about many things; mostly about her, life, etc. I found it amazing that even in the thick of her grief over the sudden loss of her husband and the one tru love of her life, that she was still able to say these words and make me a believer. So just as I was leaving and saying goodbye to her, as it was very late at night and I still had to drive quite a distance back home, was when she said those words above to me. It felt like she was sent specifically to say that to me. The directness and randomness of it was quite eerie. I realized in that moment, that those words were specifically intended for me to hear. And to top it all off, the timing couldn't have been more appropriate. Those words have since had me pondering. It is indeed true, that our happiness should not be made to be anybody else's burden or responsibility. It is specifically because we do that, that it is so fleeting and inconsistent. Happy today, misery-filled the next, maybe even angry the next day after that. Unhealthy. Take charge of your own joy and don't leave it to someone else to manage for you. I think of this conversation everyday...especially on a day such as this..

Saymama’s Favorite Things: The June 2008 Edition

Here are a list of things that I’m loving right now…

1.Hooter Hiders - Whenever I’m moody ‘cause I’m broody, I’m all over this site. I think they make such cool gifts to new and nursing mothers and they come in a variety of different cool colors and patterns. Imagine these in Ankara patterns? Hmmm….

2. Azaria Vudu Bag – My good friend and Lagos-based bag designer Buki De La Zaria* designed this hit of a bag. When I returned home after my one year hiatus in early December last year, this bag was all the rave in Lagos. I got me one in blue. It’s huge and perfect for that awful Heathrow ‘one carry-on bag only’ policy type travel. It’ll house your laptop for the flight, a sweater or pashmina, wipes, duty free purchases and every other thing that you’d ordinarily patrol the airport with and more! For more details on how to get this bag, or to check out other Azaria gems for the modern African gal, email me at saymama@hotmail.com for more details. And click here for other a bit more info on Azaria.

3. Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume – Oh my! This scent is

absolutely divine! It’s my favorite perfume ever and it coups my nearly two decade long love for Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel. It is light, sophisticated, modern and has the ability to make me feel beautiful, from the inside out. Not to mention the gorgeous bottle it comes in.

4. Sasha’s CD – this young and sassy female MC’s current album is off the chains! I first saw her on stage back in 2003 where she opened for Joe’s concert at the Oceanview in Lagos for the valentine’s weekend concert (my first ever concert in Nigeria I must add!). I remember her performance being solid, original and very well coordinated (with her dancers). I remember thinking, our very own Naija female rapper? And she pulled it off? Fantastic! This was when I first noticed the trend and re-emergence of bonafide and talented Nigerian artistes bursting on the scene. Blog notes for another day. Back to Sasha. The second encounter with her was at Tejusho market about 2 and half years ago (before it burnt down, sob!). I was standing in front of a sequins stand making a purchase when she came up to the same stand to do the same. She then said to me “are you a designer or stylist?” I said, “no. Aren’t you Sasha the rapper?”. She smiled sweetly and said yes. We went on to have a nice little conversation and I gave her my card. She was so personable. Then I was in traffic just a few days ago, feening for some new music material to listen to since I pretty much have a collection of all the popular naija music that’s out right now. Then I realized I’d heard snippets of her more recent work but was hesitant to buy the entire album. Anyway, on this day I bought it. Put it in the cd player and boy was I beyond impressed!! It rocks! The material is original, ‘grooveable’, and almost each track gave up something new and different with a good flow throughout; which is rare. I looooove it! This you must get! She deserves all the success she gets and much more. I must alert the TB onto this new CD. We share a love and appreciation for the impressive emerging naija music scene. Sasha is definitely and unquestionably one of our finest “Proudly Nigerian” export yet. And she’s here to stay. Eve needs to top her hat off to our home girl. Plus they have a couple things in common; they are both First Ladies of their record labels. Sasha P (as she is fondly called) is the First Lady of hot Nigerian label, Storm Records. Saymama gives 4.5 stars out of 5!
Favorite tracks:
-Adara (track 3)****
-Only One (track 4)***
-Not 2nite (track 5)**** (this track is perfect for an open rooftop drive in a 4-wheeler of your choice, be it an Escalade, Rover Sport, or the GL 450 wagon, which I’m loving to no end right now, with cool or hot air blowing through that long hair or $600-weave..LOL!)
-Baba mi (track 9),
-Run with it (track 13),
-E wa ba mi jo (track16)*

5. Farafina Magazine – This magazine is published by Kachifo and also affiliated with Farafina book publishers; publishers of the local versions of popular books by Nigerian authors Half of a Yellow Sun, Everything Good Will Come, Purple Hibiscus, Goodbye Lucille, etc.

It’s a shame that this publication is not made more widely available. Perhaps that’s intentional? However, I would tell you that the articles are of the intellectual ilk, insightful and extremely well written, touching on Nigerian/African issues that other media shun to discuss and talk about. I comes out once every 3 months (I think, please do not quote me on this) and features some of the most interesting topics you’d ever come across. You can find the online version of the magazines here and if you’re in Lagos you can pick up a copy at Glendora’s or Quinessence at the Falomo Shopping Centre on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi.

Sex And The (Lagos) City

Blimey, it’s June already! So much has happened this year, and I just had to propel myself out of my self-inflicted anti-blogging mode and get back into the “blog” of things. I have lots to post, but let’s start with the most pressing topic on my brain at the moment; the Sex in the City movie!! This is a review as well as the experience endured in the process of trying to see this movie yesterday – The Lagos experience.

First off, kudos to the Silverbird Cinemas people for making sure they brought the movie to Nigeria and it was being released here the same day as it was in the UK, United States and every other major city in the world that’s filled with Sex (Carrie and co.) crazed fans. And I might add, that makes Lagos a major world city, whether that’s acknowledged internationally or not is another issue entirely. But this weekend, we Lagosians were proud world citizens.

So, back to the actual experience. My dear friend BDZ, aptly planned a themed party-gathering type social event around the movie. Just like several groups of girlfriends around the world were getting together with limo Sex In The City –themed parties, BDZ planned a champagne cocktail party at the Silverbird theatre for a whole bunch of people, along with text messages instructing us to dress up fashionably conscious and like your favorite Sex* character – or whom you think yourself to be most like. Personally, I think I’m most like Miranda with inner specs of Charlotte and Carrie. But I’d say 70% Miranda. Anyway, getting all excited in anticipation for this excuse to be socially “among”, I tried to gather as many of my friends as possible to be part of this exercise, and you can imagine how tough that was, I don’t really have that many friends in Lagos. After all, the whole point of Sex* is the relationships we have primarily with our girlfriends. And the friends of mine that truly fall into that category for me are all scattered on a couple different continents you see. Nonetheless, I tried to gather a few of my good ones living here in Lagos and classically, they each fell out of the plan, due to one excuse or the other. ND dropped out, because she was pissed she’d lost her diamond pendant the night before, so she definitely was in no mood for camaraderie (and I don’t blame her), and AP had babysitter issues and couldn’t leave her kids, and BIM (my favorite cousin in law) had exams the following day, so as all smart girls should, she prioritized – “exams over Sex*”. I don’t know if I would’ve been so graceful. So as a result, I ended up going by myself as I couldn’t bare to wait another day while the rest of the world watched and had they’re fill. It had already been 2 days since it opened, and I couldn’t wait another. Tried to see it on Friday, the day it actually opened, drove my zealous self to Silverbird to try to reserve tickets for the evening showing, got there and was told that the movie was “on ground” and at the “airport” but not yet actually in the theatre yet. Hilarious bordering on the ridiculous. But for Carrie, I rose above those issues and faithfully pressed on. Then I was told by the ticket agent that he’ll “personally” try to reserve tickets for me and will call me in a couple of hours to confirm. Then I got a call from ND that she heard Nike Oshinowo was having a red-carpet event to commemorate the opening, which I took to mean that she took it upon herself to have a “Sex in the City Premiere” event in Lagos. O-K, I thought to myself in exasperation. Nike is about to cramp my style and possibly make it impossible for me to get tickets on the opening day. The mere thought of my sister and friends watching it in the States before me, made me want to bite somebody. Myself at this point. In any event, all attempts to watch Sex on Friday went up in pink hazy smoke (smoke is already hazy, right? Whatever). With my tail between my legs, I went home and looked forward to watching it on Sunday (yesterday) instead along with BDZ’s posse event.

Fast forward to Sunday. BDZ had reserved and gotten almost 60 tickets for a bunch of people for the 5pm show. But champagne and small chops were in waiting beforehand and a critical analysis party to discuss the movie afterwards. I got there at about 4.30pm (rushed there actually, as I wasn’t for any reason not going to get a good seat or miss a minute of the movie starting) and a section beside the popcorn stand had been quardroned off for “us”. I got there to meet with a thick diva stink in the air, girls checking out other girls (uniquely Naija style), designer bags looking like designer weapons and ladies looking Carrie/Samantha/Miranda/Charlotte-ified. I guess that was the whole point. And I admit, I wore a floaty wrap dress with a flower in the corner, casually over jeans, as I imagined it was the type of outfit Miranda would wear. And in the movie, I even had a similar hairstyle to hers (except my hair color wasn’t ginger ;-) ). There was a photographer arranged and waiting and after feeling starred down enough and just totally outta place with the vibes, I decided to quietly get my popcorn sans champagne and chops and go into the theatre to get myself a good seat and wait.

Drama in the theatre. It turns out that a few girls from Team Champagne had gotten the same idea and had decided to come into the theatre to sit and wait. Made sense as it was 13 minutes to 5 and the movie was meant to start at 5pm. I sat in the 2nd row from the top and it turned out that BDZ had originally reserved the top 3 rows for Team Champagne, but due to poor communication on the part of the cinema folks, nobody was manning the area to make sure that other people don’t sit there and the said tape (which I didn’t see as of the time I got into the theatre to sit down) sectioning off the area had been broken and regular people sat there. By the time I got in, the first row was fully packed and seated with people. The manager now comes in to tell the seated folk to get up as those seats had been reserved. They refused to get up, saying that they were not told of any such thing. I’d imagine that other regular folk who walked into the theatre to be seated “on time” before the movie starts, did not see the tape either and proceeded to sit in the top rows as they pleased. With random comments flying across the theatres as people expressed their disgust at the notion of being told to stand up for reserved seats for a special ‘lot’ of people and daring the cinema staff to not show the movie, 5pm finally rolled round and the previews to the movie started. By the third preview, all of the sudden the screen went blank and the movie was turned off. In true Naija fashion, you can imagine the uproar that ensued. The movie had been halted because of the seating issue for Team Champagne, and as a former team member, I sat down to watch the drama unfold. The manager finally comes in again, using a microphone to tell the theatre, now chuck full of people, that the first 3 rows had been reserved and the random people sitting there should please get up for Team Champagne and that they will be reimbursed for the “inconvenience” caused along with a free ticket for any other show of their choice. Mr. Manager’s voice was aptly drowned out by the “collective” retort, with people yelling that they did not want to be reimbursed and they were not going to get up for anybody! It was quite comical to say the least. The movie was then postponed till 6pm instead, until the matter was resolved. All in all, the people stubbornly sat in the seats, refusing to get up or be reimbursed and I guess everybody else had to find elsewhere to sit. Not that I blame them; I do think that the cinema company, Silverbird, handled and planned the whole thing quite badly; because honestly, had I been on the other “side”, and I was asked to get up when I was sold a ticket, was not specifically told not to sit in a particular area’, bought my popcorn, ready to enjoy my show, I CERTAINLY would not have gotten up either. Silverbird, should have numbered the seats, since it’s an extremely popular show, coupled with the fact that it was the opening weekend (worldwide). Then they should have sold/reserved seats 1-50 or whatever to Team Champagne and then sold the remaining numbers out to the public. That way, people have to sit according to the numbers on their tickets. That’s what is done in other countries and would have been the smartest thing to do and would have avoided the near riot that almost took place yesterday. And the movie finally started again. *Phew*.

The Movie Review. In an effort not to completely ruin the movie for my dear readers that may not have watched it yet, the movie in my opinion was awesome. Call it chick-flick partiality if you like, but I was a bit leery of how good it would be because of all the pent up hype about it over the last 2 years almost. Because of its immense popularity, there had been a lot of leaks to the press while the movie was being shot in New York City last year. A lot of pictures from the set had also been released by the paparazzi to virtually every soft-sell on the planet. But true and loyal sex in the city fans (like me) patiently waited and ignored the leaks to the story line. In spite of all these, I honestly and objectively thought the movie was VERY good. My sister, who had watched in on Friday (before me :@), and who is also a tough critic, had said to me that she thought it was fantastic also sans Jennifer Hudson’s performance in it. So I looked out for that and tried not to be biased by that comment. She wasn’t great, but she wasn’t half-bad either. Other than that, I thought the storyline was quite authentic, believable and realistic in terms of relationships and their ups and downs. I could identify with a lot of the emotions and feelings in it, as I’m sure a lot of gals could and it wasn’t as predictable as I’d feared it would be. I’d imagine that it is near impossible to make a movie after a very successful run of 6 seasons of a show. One would think, what else is there to tell “really”? And I must say, that they successfully pulled that off. However, focusing on the fashion element of the movie, which is a BIG part of the flow, I think that overall they over did it a bit. While with the series, whenever the girls went out on the town, they made clear fashion statements in accordance with being true New Yorkers, they were also realistic when it came to just hanging out at home, in sweats or old tee-shirts, etc. But with the movie, even in the laid-back home settings, they were always overly and glamorously dressed up, big earrings and all. Hard to keep up. But hey, that’s why it’s a movie I guess – total or partial escape from reality. Feeling rather melancholic afterwards, I Bibanke-d all the way on my drive home. And actually, there were many moments during the movie where I felt that a couple of tracks from Asa’s famed cd would have been so appropriate; many “Bibanke” moments especially – would have been appropriate. As an aside though, we need to get more of our extremely talents Naija artistes on more Hollywood soundtracks. Debate for another day.

On that note, I won’t go any further, ‘cause that would be telling. Saymama gives Sex in the City 5 out of 5 stars ***** (with a few conditions)! Enjoy and let’s banter about it further in my comments section.

Bible Verse for a Broken Heart..

(Written October 2007)

I finally found it! In the depths of my despair earlier this year, I searched and cried for ages, looking for a verse or a reference or something that would settle (soothe?) my frayed nerves and help to heal my sorely broken heart and soul. A balm for the deep cracks. After almost 10 months of highs and lows (mostly lows), while I wasn’t looking, I found it! Psalm 62 and Psalm 63. I could totally have used this back in March of 2007, but reading it now, I feel a fresh soothing, a confirmation that I’m ok. That my soul’s on the mend and that I’m on the cusp of something beautiful.

It’s hard to explain in written word, but I’m sure you get the idea. It is important for us to hold on to some form of faith and hold on to it for dear life; especially when it’s being tested in the midst of an emotional tsunami of issues. I felt so emotionally battered and my world seemed like a pretty dark and grey place. I felt turmoil, confusion, disappointment and deep regret. But day has since broken and I’ve learnt, in place of the regret that I felt, that there was something in it that I had to learn. And one cannot truly learn without first experiencing. I find that I’m ready to face my journey head on and will learn to deal as I am challenged and hope to rise above each time. Higher and higher. Ah Jah Bless…

Catching Up..

Hey people. Happy belated new year :-) ..

I know I know...it's been ages and have had "alot" going on, hence the procastination, hence the absense. Lots of material and trying to get back into the blog flow.

So watch this space :-)

Shalom

A Music Review: Chrisette Michele

I sort of fell upon this artist by accident. I'd heard her popular single on the radio a few times in Philly - 'Be Ok' - and loved it. Had vaguely read about her on a blog and maybe a mention here and there in a couple of magazines, but nothing really registered. But just on the strength of how much I liked the single, I decided to buy the album. I gambled. I hadn't purchased any new music in a while, primarily because I'm not really keen on what's going on in the music space at the moment, especially in the R&B/Hip Hop genres. Now after playing the entire album the first time (and it's been on permanent rotation ever since), I absolutely looove it! Chrisette Michele is unbelieveably talented, in that rare but genuine way, and she lends an incredibly refreshing voice and style to the music arena at the moment. I'd even go as far as to say that this has got to be the best album of the year. She reminds me of a modern day Billy Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald - heart-rung jazz - but with an element of intense sweetness. She's young, fresh, wholesome and authentic.

All the tracks are fantastic, but my favorites are:

- Best of Me (track 4)

- Is this the way love feels*****(track 13)

- Golden*****(track 9)

- Be Ok****(track 7)

I guess I love this album, this amazing piece of work, so much because it speaks to my current state of mind; peaceful, renewed, confident, free, joyful, and almost in love..again...with life. I almost feel like I could have written the words to some of those songs myself.

I hope Chrisette Michele is here to stay. I wish her continued success. But please support this artist and go buy the album or download it from iTunes. You won't regret it.

Saymama gives it 5 out of 5 stars ***** :-). Check her out here.

Beauty For Ashes...

10.12.2007: My childhood friend and a former schoolmate, Tanwa, died today. I’m still in shock as I write this because it feels unreal that she really isn’t here anymore. When things like this happen, it makes me realize how I still find it difficult to grasp and understand the concept of death and that it is a passage that takes you away from your loved ones forever – in the earthly sense of the word. She was only 32 and left behind a beautiful 4-year old girl.

Flashbacks: The last time I saw her was back in January. She’d come to my house in Lagos with her daughter, Ella, to say hello. Before that, we’d spoken on the phone a number of times. We bantered back and forth for a bit, talked careers and caught up generally. It was the first time in quite a few years that Tanwa and I had spent anytime one on one. She looked fine; great in fact. She had on her signature long mid-back length tiny braids. It didn’t (as it usually doesn’t) occur to me that that would be the very last time I would ever see her again.

Flashback Two: I remember another conversation we’d had on the phone in the late summer of 2006. I was in London staying at our mutual friend’s, Funmi – another childhood friend and grew up together with. Before that, I hadn’t really spoken to Tanwa much over the preceding years. To be honest, I was kind of upset with her. I don’t remember exactly why anymore. But Funmi, as always, served as an intermediary and had mentioned to her that I wasn’t happy with her. So she asked Funmi to let her know when I arrive, that she would like to speak to me on the phone (she was still in Ireland at the time). So Tanwa called, Funmi handed the phone to me and she said to me (I’ll never forget), “Oremi, joo, ma binu si mi” – translation: “my friend, please don’t be upset with me”. I was totally disarmed by that as I didn’t quite know what to expect after not having spoken in quite some time. Ofcourse I relented and we squashed the beef there and then. The few times I saw and spoke to her after that, she would repeat it to me again, “oremi, joo, ma binu”. And I had to keep telling her that we were cool. I had looked forward to re-building our friendship, especially since she’d moved back to Lagos from Ireland and we would once again be in close proximity since we were both in the same vicinity again. I had also visualized it would be easier; so much had happened to us as individuals over the years and so much had changed. In her case, she was now a mother and a young woman coming into her own. In my case, I had matured a bit more over the years, on a continous journey of trying to be more patient, less feisty and learning that it’s the smaller things in life that matter the most.

She’d been sick since April and she succumbed to that illness today. She’d been between Ireland and the UK for treatment and I kept meaning to make the time to go and see her. But that’s the thing you see, time had other plans and couldn’t wait for me.

I’m so very sorry Tanwa, for not making more of an effort to come and see you while you were sick. You were in my prayers everyday, and I was so sure, on your behalf, that you would fight and overcome it. I was so sure. I spoke to Funmi every other week, staying abreast on your wellbeing and I believed in my heart that I would see you soon. I truly can’t believe you’re gone. But I know you’re in a better place; free of pain and full of peace. My memories of you are strong and vivid: that big smile and your very loud laugh....I promise, with Funmi and with everyone else that loved you so much, to help take care of Ella, and to help to make sure that she grows into the kind of woman that will one day make you proud. Beautiful, joyful, strong, accomplished. All the grand plans you had for her do not and will not have to change.

It’s my turn to beg you Tanwa. Oremi, joo, ma binu si mi. Sun Re O.

American Gangster: A Movie Review

So I went to see American Gangster yesterday. I loved it. I've had some debates over this movie with a few people. Some thought great, others thought over-hyped, and another said he expected a bit more from it, given the story. What can I say. But my reasons for loving it are pretty simple. I thought the cast was stellar. Other than the big cahunas, Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, I've long admired and followed the works of John Ortiz (villian of Miami Vice) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dirty Pretty Things and Naija brother) whom I've blogged about before. Given Denzel's versatile talent, I haven't, however, liked him in much lately. I didn't much enjoy Manchurian Candidate, I loathed Training Day, which he won an Oscar for, and I didn't bother to watch Deja Vu. But in this flick, I really do think he extended himself and was at his best here, portraying and humanizing the character of Frank Lucas. He trully made it his own. The other major thing that had me going was the lesson in economics, business strategy and supply chain management that I got from this movie. It fed my fascination for stories of enterprising and formidable individuals across different genres of life. Like Roger Ebert said in his review, if you take out the heroin element, this would otherwise have made a great business case for business school learning, entrepreneurs and business professionals alike. Brilliant I thought.

I think I've given enough spoilers to it. Saymama gives American Gangster 4 1/2 stars out of 5. I highly recommend. Go and watch it. It's out in London on November 16th and hopefully will hit the theatres in Lagos soon too.

Remembering Dame Anita Roddick - R.I.P.

Anita Roddick lived the type of life I'm seeking to emulate in many ways; not just business-wise, but ethics-wise also. I can't believe she died just as I was beginning to plot how I'd meet her and make her my friend :-). I have looked up to her since my late teens, just as I was discovering and harnessing my love for all things scented, lotioned and potioned. I remember by first visit into The Body Shop. I felt like I was in heaven. I loved the Body Shop (and still do) and repeatedly over the last several years would go in and could stay in there, sniffing, smelling, spritzing and rubbing my hands with everything in there. I would come out smelling like I'd emptied the entire store on myself. Reading her story, she first inspired me to want to set up my own bath and body line and store, not just to mix and bottle divinely scented soaps and potions, but to do it with a conscience. Profit, but paying it forward at the same time, job creation in emerging communities, care about replenishing the environment, caring for the oppressed and destitute, but above all living life with a strong sense of purpose, each and every day. Without meeting or knowing her, this is the sort of energy that she radiated and I had always felt infected by it.

I do feel her loss painfully. I had so many questions I wanted to ask her when we finally would've met, pick her brain, have her mentor me.

I have no doubt that she's resting peacefully, with a big smile across her face, a life fulfilled and well lived. A wife, mother, entrepreneur, activist, environmentalist, human rights campaigner. A passionate lover of life, all rolled into one tiny woman.

October 23rd of last week would've been her 65th birthday. Click here to read her husband's moving tribute and here for her life's story. *Sigh*

Crackbook

The Facebook Epidemic! Madness!!!! Is this a new age cult movement or what. Why is "everybody" I know hooked on this thing (my humble self included)? People are facebooking at work, in elevators, while driving, from crackberries, i-phones, etc. What are they (we) doing on it exactly? Creeping on people's pages, gazing and critiquing their posted photos, looking out for who next will have a cool or funny 'status' update and the madness continues. Check out a computer near you, "anywhere", and chances are that someone's on facebook. Apparently, Facebook's been around for at least 4 years, but I and I know a million others, just caught on to it this year, with more people catching on by the hour! I find that I can't get through the day without logging on to it. And if I happen to be away from the internet for any significant amount of time, I find myslef going into withdrawal. Literally! And this is something I've witnessed all my 'friends' going through as well. What has this bloody thing ( and piece of joy) done to us? Taking up so much of our productive hours during the day? In the age of instant messaging, text messaging, real time emailing, "telephoning" even, I find that people have regressed to messaging via Facebook instead. I rarely get direct mails into my email box anymore. The messaging has now been diverted to my inbox on Facebook. People have gone off instant messaging and onto Facebook messaging instead, which is not as instant. It's crazy and I'm guilty of it too. What's the world coming to? It's comical but fascinating nonetheless.

Facebook, from what I understand was a social utility tool that was initially developed for college students. The demographics have changed vastly since then. The age groups on it vary from teeny-boppers to college students, to young working adults, to even slightly older adults (they even have a group on it called 'Agbayas on Facebook', which I found hilarious). The interaction communities also vary from deeply Nigerian social circles (or clicks), to southern African ones, to Kenyan ones, to Indian ones and so on. I check out my neice's page from time to time (she grew up in Sweden and no lives in France) and her circles are hugely Swedish and French also and activity is specifially in those languages!

I don't know what it is, but it's interesting and it's fun. Aside from contributing grossly to the rising unproductivity of individuals, I notice it serves also as an amazing networking and marketing tool at no cost. People are using it as a means of promoting their businesses and some are using it as faceless means of garnering attention to their otherwise shy selves. But you go everywhere and people are talking about Facebook, cackling over gist of what so and so is doing or what they said on someone else's page.

I was aware of other social utility forums, such as MySpace and Hi-Five etc, which I ignored and once thought to be silly things. But I was at a dinner party a month ago and it came up in conversation, i.e. Facebook vs. Hi-five (or whatever). I quickly chimed in and said Hi-5 is a fake Gucci bag and Facebook's the new Prada of social utility networks. And it's true!

I'm addicted..and happily so. I wonder, where was this stuff when I was in college? I probably would never have made it to class!!

Mark Zuckerberg, you're definitely on to something here. You've single-handedly redefined the whole concept of "friends" and "friendship"!

Bode Agusto

Yes, I know, this is old news. But it still bugs me. I was and am still infuriated over the fact that his ministerial nomination for the Finance portfolio was dropped by the 'powers that be'. I'm seriously biased, but in a good way. I know Mr. Agusto quite well and have had the opportunity to work for him in years past. He is undoubtably one of the most brilliant minds to come out of Nigeria and in my view would have been the ideal candidate for the position as well as the ideal person to continue the reversal of decay that has plagued the finance ministry for decades. Bode is also frugal, to a fault perhaps. And as his reputation may have preceeded him before he met with the senators on the floor of the House of Reps who had a big axe to grind, because they know that he won't give anybody the opportunity to chop and unscrupulously 'reallocate' funds as they please. Nigerian politics at its best.
I still regard this as a huge loss personally and to the Nigerian economy. Does this mean regression is imminent, or am I over-reacting?

To brush up on this issue, here are some of the editorials about it: The Sun News and on Janada's blog.

More TED...

Another insightful talk @ TED by Ethiopian-born economist, Eleni Gabre-Madhin (click to watch). She talks about the new Ethiopian Commodity Exchange that she founded, the first commodities market in Ethiopia intended to benefit small farmers, create wealth and further tackling the issue of aid for trade. This further testifies to the ongoing brain gain taking place across the continent and people applying their skills to ambitious projects within their respective countries. It's still a long road, but it's an exciting time to be African (and female). I'm loving me some TED! It's inspiring to have legitimate platforms dedicated to thinkers translating their thoughts into action. Time for the disturbing images of Africa to be translated to healthy radiant ones. Watch this space!

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala @ TED

Feeding further into my passion for gender empowerment and entrepreneurship, and the fact that I believe that African women are the key to Africa’s future, I recently came across this talk that Ngozi Iweala gave at the TED conference that took place in Arusha, Tanzania, early in the summer of this year. In a project I developed and presented on for an old employer that I interned with in New York, many moons ago, I was trying to make a solid case for why I thought they should set up offices in Africa and do business there. I remember calling my father in Nigeria trying to get some help and input into it from him regarding Africa and the issue with aid and trying to get him to explain some of the long-standing relationships that a lot of the older corporations such as Coca Cola, Peugeot, etc, had had with Africa and why newer companies were so resistant to setting up businesses there in spite of the seeming success that those other ones had made. He was the one who said to me all those years ago that replacing aid for trade is the more realistic way to combat a lot of Africa’s core economic issues as well as embracing the risk with open arms. That was over 7 years ago and I remember seeing the look of light bulbs going off in the room full of American executives when I said this while concluding my presentation. To be honest, as a junior in college, I don’t know how much sense it made to me then, but I really did feel like I was on to something. So did they as well.
Fast forward to now. This talk by Mrs. Iweala puts a very interesting spin on the issue of aid and trade. Brilliant actually. Check it out here.