tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50118466288107862452024-03-05T04:04:37.778+00:00Super star!Dandy philosopher;
part-time ogling and part-time reflecting.Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-72853970666025409102012-06-18T11:06:00.000+01:002012-06-18T11:19:10.647+01:00Letter to my Son; Man of production<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">My dear son </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">It was disappointing.
I strained my ears, eavesdropping on a conversation. Young men and
equally young ladies debated about life and their ambitions. It seemed they
were involved in one business venture or the other. “Admirable”, I thought.
However, disappointment strangled my hopes as the conversation descended into
familiar territory. It oscillated between what Daddy was going to do and what
uncle politician could sort out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">My son, I am burdened with being born in a society that is
ridiculous in its fixation with the past. Upon meeting a stranger, the usual
conversation begins with the school one went to and the neighbourhood they grew
up in. This, coupled with one’s surname determines one’s standing in society.
Race, tribe and social standing are seen as the getaways to future success. Or,
if your tribe or race was unfortunate to have been disadvantaged in the past,
then its mistakenly believed affirmative action will be a form of restitution. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">My son, I too was unfortunate to belong in one of the above bandwagons.
It soon enough led me to constantly wishing upon a star if only I had been born
in this or that family, or with this or that fortune or advantage. I too was
plagued severely, wondering why so and so were so and what it would take to be
like them. At every corner I began to see all the disadvantages upon my lot.
Surely if my blood had been bluer or if my father had been of a certain creed
then my fortunes would change.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">It is the nature of human beings to be wishful and wishing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I urge you, at a very young age to dissuade yourself of all
these notions. People are successful because they exert themselves in efforts
that bring advantage to themselves. True winners care less about where, how and
what they were born into. All they understand is that they themselves have the
power to determine whom they become. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">In life, you will achieve small measures of success, and
equal if not more measures of failure. Such is life. It is not for me to coach
you how nor to provide the five steps to ensure you win all the time. What I
understand of life, and mere observation of nature is that both success and
failure shall be constant visitors in your home, especially at a young age.
What is important is how you deal with both.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Both, the bible instructs are visitors in our lives. None
has found the alchemy or magic to choose one and not the other. When these visitors
rest in your home, be assured they remain just that, visitors. You will lament
in melancholy when success departs, and you will be elated when failure decides
to leave. You have no control over these emotions, in as much as you have no
control over the sunrise or sunset.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">What you are in control of is your own person and the
exertions of your abilities. The more you practise and exert your abilities in
the direction of production the more success shall visit your home. The more
you delay gratification and build a tolerance for hardship and pain the more
your home is insulated of coldness of failure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">There is a reason why a lion fights with its claws, a bull
its horns, a crocodile its teeth and a bee its sting. The bee does not ask for
horns or a bull for a sting. Each animal and insect uses its natural potency
and strength. It is folly of the highest for a lion to learn to fly and spend its
days in this pursuit. A lion’s success is directly linked to its natural
abilities. So it is for any human being to succeed. Play to your natural
strengths and exert effort in those activities you have the best capability.
Invariably, as you will learn from the animal kingdom your natural abilities
are aligned to your survival. For humans,
survival is producing in surplus. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">It is not to say that he with the best natural ability will
succeed. Far from it. A lazy, slothful crocodile will never survive the jungle.
An intelligent human being without exertion is as dumb as a fish. Muscles not in exercise are as good as
crippled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">But what is production and in what manner does production
have to do with one’s life? Production is at the epicenter of man’s life. Man is a creature bestowed with the worst
affliction, of many wants and not enough resources to meet those wants. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">You might be tempted, like most, to answer this riddle of
life, by limiting your wants. I cannot say with certainty if this is achievable.
Since it is the nature of man to want. Then there is the possibility that
without the urge to want, man can easily fall into rudiments similar to a
donkey. But then again I have seen that a donkey never tires of wanting
pasture. Give it hay in the middle of the night and a donkey will still munch.
What does this say about the human being? Upon satisfaction of one want,
another arises.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Listen careful my son, and how you can conquer this.
Production ensures you are at the service of other mankind’s wants. By fishing
more than you need, you fish for the next man not willing to fish or without
the ability to fish. When at the service of other man, that is, in production,
other men are more than willing to trade with you and giving you back what you
want. Thus by fishing in surplus, the builder is willing to build you and your
family shelter in exchange for your surplus fish. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">By leaning towards your natural abilities and exerting
pressure in those endeavors you will be in continuous surplus. When one is in surplus
they gain the most important variable in the universe; Choice. By choice, I
mean the ability to choose. This is the most liberating variable for human
kind. There are those that cannot choose. Usually they languish in poverty.
Poverty reduces one’s ability to choose even the most basic of wants like food.
They only eat what they are given. Choice derived from production ensures one
is able to choose what they eat, where they live, and how they conduct leisure
and work. It is not to say that the wants of the man in production are
satiable. Rather, it is to say that a man in production’s wants at least the
rudimentary and those for his basic survival are met. Furthermore, beyond the
rudimentary he has the ability to choose and pick what best will satisfy him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">It is not to say that a man of production is materialistic.
Rather, in his urge to be in production surplus he helps society directly. To
be in surplus, the production man must be innovative. I grew up in an era
without mobile telephony and certain production men exerted pressure and
abilities to eventually come up with mobile telephony. Men wanting this gadget
were plenty and the production men were soon in surplus. Two goals had been
met, the production man and the wants of other men. Society was better off. The
nature of life is that there is always something that society wants and still
wants. Society will never run short of wants. It is the moral duty of
production men to meet those wants.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">By doing so they exhibit qualities that make them rise to
the top of society. They are gallant, daring, thinkers, fighters, of valor,
determined, strong willed, long suffering. Indeed every attribute that brings
out the best in individuals. The nature of this meritocracy is that only the
best kind, with the greatest determination succeeds. In front of their peers
they are successful because they have brought society to excess. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">While I extoll the virtues of the production man, I must
warn you of his nemesis. The political man, and the war man. These two types
invariably find common cause and are often in one person. In this letter I will not comment more than
this; the political man is never keen on production, at all times he has
neither teeth nor claws to survive. He has not the abilities in production and
relies in forcing other men to comply with his way. Usually they use the law to achieve coercion.
Usually to ban or impede men of production.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Study carefully history and the man that dot history books. Not the men that made noise, but rather the
men that built our civilization. They were almost always men of production.
From Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, British and American
civilizations, it has always been men of production who bring satisfaction to
society. Almost always it is self-made
men. And in those centuries when society was endowed with Self-made men,
civilization was at its greatest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">For every Borgia and
Napoleon, there is Medici and Rothschild. Men of war versus men of production.
Interesting that men of war accumulate their largess by forcefully taking from
others while man of production accumulate surplus through innovation. Man of
war, destroy, and men of production catapult society to a place where most
people can meet their rudimentary wants and begin to have choices in their
lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Monarchs and churches created barriers to aristocracy.
Creating a myth of the “chosen individual” to rule over other men. Suddenly man
had blue blood. It was the men of production, from misers, bastards,
housemaids, illiterates, slaves and all of lowly individuals who had nothing
but ambition who brought us our civilization. They gained aristocracy through
toll and production. By being in surplus, they raised the lives of their lot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I have travelled in great many cities and towns and I have
been imbued with the history of it all. The Majesty of Barcelona, the glamour
of Paris, the Art in Rome, New York, Alexandra, Sydney, Johannesburg, Nairobi,
Lagos, Oslo and many more. What I saw was evidence of a trail that men of
production had been at work. Even more when I studied the artwork, museums,
libraries, universities, medical centers, theatres and the entire sort that habitants
enjoy I realized something. It was all made possible through the endowments of
men of production. Michelangelo and his work was commissioned by the Medici
Family, the largest theatres and museums of New York by JP Morgan, Chicago
University by Rockefeller. All, men of
production. Diseases and ailments that shortened the lives of humans were
exclusively eradicated through funding by endowments of men of production.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">The trend is clear my son. I can only wish that
you live a successful and fulfilling life. Rather than wobble and straddle
along, it is important at an early age certain truths are made clear to you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Your loving, faithful</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Father</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-77137309331597674682012-04-21T11:06:00.001+01:002012-04-21T11:07:33.643+01:00Saturday morningWhat gets me excited and thinking about my next life;<br />
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<br />Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-62023610097035670402012-04-12T12:23:00.004+01:002012-04-12T14:48:28.792+01:00Falling...<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark/> 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mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">I remember well, I must have been a little over nine years old.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I was neither clever nor better looking than the next boy. My passions lay in the play field, at break-time kicking and batting balls in a game of soccer or rounders’. There was no persuasion at all to venture beyond this boy caricature.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">My first encounter, it jolted my little sinews and in a moment of paralysis my mouth mumbled. I had not developed the rudiments of the English language nor the cheesy one-liners boys inherit from their older siblings. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Worsening my fumbles. Instead of calming my nerves and composing myself in the best possible way to my advantage, I was overcome by an urge to say something.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I wish I had controlled that urge, because it exposed all my disadvantages.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">She giggled and ran away.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">What she left behind, were sweaty palms and a dry mouth.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">For the next three years or so I recounted this episode in my head so many times over. It was my daydream and my night capsule. Yet, I avoided her at every turn.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">With every thought, my feelings grew, bubbling inside like hot larva. Perfect enough reason to claim her as my own. Yet she had no idea she had been spoken for. Like the tyrant of old, I claimed her as mine to my friends and foes. Any disputes were swiftly resolved in threats and fists.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">My possession of her had little to do with how she looked, neither her intellect nor amorous thoughts. It was simply how I felt. The debilitating sweats and pumby thoughts came from deep inside me. From depths I never knew a human could have.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I often wonder how she felt, or what would have happened if I had had the courage to share my agony.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The next time I experienced the bubbling hot larva was in my late teens. My voice had cracked the edifice of youth and sounded manly. In essentials I had become precise, well formed and had my share of admirers.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Yet she took the grasp off my breath. Literally. It was my first kiss. This time the rudiments of boy and girl missed me totally. Yet she placed with great dexterity her lips on mine. Slowly, she nibbled and whispered. My loins failed me.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The one kiss, the only one we ever shared possessed me for a long time to come. Suddenly I had all inclinations to make her my wife and consummate our passions. I was deliriously enchanted. I wrote verse and played musical codes to her amusement. I gave up all reason and she consumed my thoughts and days.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">She was my forever.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Fast forward and somehow the tinge of a kiss is lost and the loins demand more enchantment.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> The in's and out's, the twists and turns, the hurts and hates, painful love and delightful romance. Becoming a creature of habit.</span>One is further and further away from deep depth where hot larva resides. The heart dies, slowly.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Love is an experience. The closest I can recount is through the “mis-education of Lauryn Hill,” the power of her voice, the calamity of her words and the soothing melody is the best of my encounters. Nothing matters anymore. Not food, not ambition not family. You fall beyond understanding. For her it was either her Magnus opus or the fruit of the uterus. She had to choose, Zion or fame; She had fallen.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Therein lies the tragedy of love. Best personified by Heathcliff, the character from Wuthering Heights. In Heathcliff we experience the best of our emotions and the worst of our passions. It swirls in intrepid romance and crushes in lunacy.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We are like Catherine, ready to forgo our prospects to be with Heathcliff. Yet in the very next turn, willing to give up our feelings for good prospects. A whirlwind of good and bad. Or like Heathcliff, the love that overwhelms and falls over the cliff.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Through Cathy’s character Emily Bronte is as close to the nature of man than any other;</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"> <i>“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine (Heathcliff) are the same, and Linton's is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire.” </i></p><p class="MsoNormal">Yet she chooses Linton. There is an obvious war between the soul and the physical self. To have one is to deny the other. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This is the choice that love demands from us.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">It seems from my little self, I have been quite aware of this choice. But like most I have denied my soul to edify my self. <o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-80154796698441289262012-03-13T07:52:00.003+00:002012-03-13T08:26:44.958+00:00David Hatendi; Books are the best of things, well used; abused, among the worst<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; "><b>"The old fable covers a doctrine ever new and sublime; that there is One Man, present to all particular men only partially, or through one faculty; and that you must take the whole society to find the whole man. Man is not a farmer, or a professor, or an engineer, but he is all. Man is priest, and scholar, and statesman, and producer, and soldier. In the divided or social state, these functions are parceled out to individuals, each of whom aims to do his stint of the joint work, whilst each other performs his. The fable implies, that the individual, to possess himself, must sometimes return from his own labor to embrace all the other laborers. But unfortunately, this original unit, this fountain of power, has been so distributed to multitudes, has been so minutely subdivided and peddled out, that it is spilled into drops, and cannot be gathered. The state of society is one in which the members have suffered amputation from the trunk, and strut about so many walking monsters,--a good finger, a neck, a stomach, an elbow, but never a man.</b></i><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; "> "R. </i><span>Emerson</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; "><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; ">David Hatendi was the first black Rhodes Scholar to come out of the then Rhodesia. That, in itself is a high recommendation. Yet, as society we are privy to the many Rhodes scholars who wobble and dither, whose actions make us wonder what good is scholarship if in action it is indistinguishable from the street brute. In David we find what Emerson called the Man. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; ">The man is no more.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; ">He died in his sleep. As private and quiet, far from the maddening crowd as was his living years. Typifying what Emerson saw as the true scholar, as someone imbued to reflect and act; “action ripens thoughts into truth”, Emerson wrote to the American public. A man must think and act, think and act. His actions always guided by his thoughts. Very difficult enterprise today, where actions are rather spasmodic. Zimbabwe has lost its own Emerson. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; ">For a young man, David represents a breed very rare in Zimbabwe. That fine essence of being, the combination of thought and action that made him a Superstar. He achieved many firsts, the least of which was his Rhodes scholarship in 1977. He was one of the first black students at the prestigious Peterhouse Boys school, an elite private boarding school 80kms outside of Harare in Marondera. His father, a priest was an Anglican rector there. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; ">From high school, he went on to graduate from the University of Zimbabwe. Throughout his scholarly life he was active in sports and culture. At oxford we are told he, “took part in cricket (including playing for the Authentics), squash, hockey, and athletics, served as President of the Oxford University Africa Society, and was President of the Shakespeare Club (a dining club), and a committee member of the Grid Iron Club.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%; ">After an international illustrious career at the World Bank, Morgan Grenfell, IFC </span><span style="font-size: 100%; "> </span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">and NM Rothschild and Son, he went back to Zimbabwe to become the first black managing director of MBCA. </span><span style="font-size: 100%; "> </span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">This was not just any bank but, then an extremely private and prestigious one, whose major shareholders were Old Mutual and NM Rothschild and Son . Which he led for ten years before a brief stint at NMB. </span><span style="font-size: 100%; "> </span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">So prestigious, was MBCA at the time corporates would fall over each other to have an account and it was the best employer in the country. Testimony of how he led the ship.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; ">What is interesting is to contrast the path he chose compared to the path many bright black scholars in Rhodesia chose. On one hand, you have the Edison Zvobgo, Nathan Shamuyarira, Bernard Chidzero and Simba Makoni who went to prestigious schools and worked in prestigious organisations in America and the UK. They chose public life and became politicians. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; ">David chose the private life and to be in business. Choosing industry over politics is a rare achievement in Zimbabwe, especially during the 70’s when politics dominated the landscape. And every black young man thought it his duty to contribute to the black struggle after which become a government technocrat in Zimbabwe’s early years. Even rarer was that he never became a politician in his later years, or as is the norm in Zimbabwe, an extension of one. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; ">So much political madness has occurred in recent years. One that would have reeled him over would be the political appointee at the central bank in December 2003. His brother in Law Julius Makoni bore the brunt as his Bank NMB was targeted and he fled the country. So did many bankers and industrialists. In one defining scoop, what was a bright future for Banks and Industry turned into a nightmare, worse than a blistering “snowed in day” in Dickens’s Oliver Twist. Zimbabwe’s best left the country at this point and were easily assimilated in the best organisations in London and New York. David chose to stay and build in what little way he could. Spending most of his time in private business and charity.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%; ">I remember him most, in his pristine bespoke, Anderson and Sheppard navy blue blazer with glistering gold crown buttons, pinstripe shirt and a polka dot pocket square. Khaki chinos probably made by John Lobb, red socks and standing upright in velvet brown loafers. This was his favourite dress and one he was most comfortable in. </span><span style="font-size: 100%; "> </span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">Did I mention he had full hair? He was a gentleman in deeds and manners. In conversation he was well read, well thought out and well spoken.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%; ">When I look at the personal decisions he made I ponder at how easy it could have been for him to choose a different path. That he remained a private individual and could walk the streets of Harare nonchalantly as any other, only his dress and stature to recommend, is probably his most enviable quality. He was accessible.</span><span style="font-size: 100%; "> </span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">A man of such breadth and depth, could still hold a conversation with the common man and have direct influence on young ambitious men. Above all make it possible for someone like me to imagine a non political life as a real possibility. That one can still achieve without political connections. </span><span style="font-size: 100%; "> </span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">Perhaps Africa can learn a thing, Politics does not mean Influence.</span></p>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-63351704917523270442012-03-03T08:23:00.002+00:002012-03-03T08:41:05.955+00:00This and that<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; "><b><i>“There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. “ Ralph Emerson</i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%; ">There is something to be said about a man’s state of mind. It is either he spends the better part of his life wishing he were something else or doing something else other than the present. Or, he spends a great amount of time complaining how this or that does not work or is not suitable to his liking or whim. This, I have observed is what rules the nature of the present man. He is neither happy with his present state nor the state of the world.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Man is the only species whose weakness is apparent to him alone and whose world is then governed by those weaknesses. Plants and animals are prone to greater vagaries that expose and make bare their weaknesses. Yet never has a plant or animal stopped sprouting or its being, to complain of inherent short falls. The eagle soars as far as it can and so do ordinary flies, roses bloom and so do thistles. The day never stops.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%; ">Man cannot survive as if the world owes him a living. The universe, in its reality and existentialism has existed way before man and his thoughts ever existed. His birth is significant and unique, since he possesses ability no body or form possesses. Man can create in the same likeness and foam, nature and nurture like his maker.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><i>The drivel</i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Yet man is best useful and happiest, in another’s creation. He is told of a “New York state of mind”, and thus leaves his village in Kenya, sells his cow and soul to fund his trip. Upon, his arrival in New York, he toils, changing his accent and stride, acquiring those peculiar habits that will make him a New Yorker. In this quest, of embodying New York, the boisterous boy shouts in mantra, “New York State of mind”, (after all he lives there) as if to convince himself and not the crowd that he shouts at.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%; ">A state of mind is a spirit. It is not a location. Search New York itself and you will find the caricature is boxed and preserved in a fantastical Hollywood location site. </span><span style="font-size: 100%; "> </span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">And never evidenced in New York itself.New York, was someone’s creation. </span><span style="font-size: 100%; "> </span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">Before they sold it to those men fond of being followers.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>Of Politicians<o:p></o:p></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">What of those men keen on revolutions and ravel as surrogates of defunct ideas? Whom one finds happiest amongst fellow hordes in "occupy this" and "occupy that". 99% nonsense and 1% noise. I see many coming out, with t-shirts and such, with aplomb subscribing to the Obama frenzy. “I got your back”. What foolishness, utter laziness to abrogate one’s ambitions to a political demagogue. Obama is a man blessed with trickery to force other men to follow a fade. The more that follow, the more popular he becomes. Never leave one’s fate to any politician of any hue.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><i>Entrepreneurship and starting something that changes the world</i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Whatever it is let it be what has never been done before. Only then can you attest to have changed the world. Write a book if you must, break the Olympics record, record music, paint art, invent- innovate, in all remember fortune favours the brave. Be different. Let your story be one your grand children will find relevance. That is good enough.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "> A venture like any adventure is best explored with closed eyes and an open heart. Trust your guts and will power. Dream differently and relish the creative realm- therein the story of life is weaved.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><i>Of youth and school days</i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">What I learnt most in high school was less the core curriculum and more the extra- curricular. In extra activities-non core (the irony) I veered off science and economics and entered the worlds of Dickens, Hardy and Austen. I debated with much acclaim and understood team spirit on the grounds of sport. Here, the lesson is quite clear for any young man out there. The best of humanity is found on the sports field and in liberal subjects outside of the classroom. One learns to lead through experience as a track captain, learns of human attachment by being part of a team, and meritocracy through competition. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Sadly these virtues are lost to the stupidity of youth. Saddest, is that the less stupid find great accomplishment in the classroom to the detriment of the extra curricula? The classroom teaches one to parrot and become a follower. Most people are of this fold. True leaders, those of a breed of born qualities such as intuition, courage and will power find practise in some sport, art or cultural pursuit. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><i>On Marriage and life long associations.</i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">In all of society the propensity to get married is equal if not more than the propensity of a bird to fly. It is an innate human quality, a selfish desire for affection. No matter how primal or sophisticated the human becomes, instinctive desires lead us to mate. This ability to create is a laudable endeavour and gives one a sense of purpose beyond the self.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span ><span style="font-size: 100%;">What I find disconcerting is the desire to mate as the single most important human desire to live for. How pathetic is the human race in its desire to copulate and wish all troubles away. The hurdle is twenty six living ages for women and thirty five for men. After which, </span>hormonally<span style="font-size: 100%;"> the human species cannot habitat alone and the desire becomes greatest to be hitched. This has obvious dangers, which any mind can decipher.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%; ">My comments shall be restricted to finding the right mate. Circumstances permitting, an individual shall come across as many hopefuls as the stars in the sky. A difficult endeavour to compute the “right” mate, since any metric used is likely to change with time. Moreso, a star in the sky only shines brightest depending on where one stands. </span><span style="font-size: 100%; "> </span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">The wisest words I have heard where in a parable about Wheat and Tares. Let them grow together, since it is difficult to differentiate when they sprout and are growing. But at harvest time, Wheat and Tares become obvious. </span><span style="font-size: 100%; "> </span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">Live life and be patient until harvest time. Before then, everything is murky and ill conceived. Imagine harvesting a maize cob before its time.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Upon finding the right mate. Never regret one’s choice, since regret is self fulfilling. The more one regrets, the more disappointing the choice. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b><i>Should I conclude?<o:p></o:p></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%; ">The danger is apparent. One cannot live a life as if they owe it to anyone. Not even their parents. Man owes it to himself to live. To his spirit to determine his course and state. Only then will the universe listen. Man is made to lead. Uncover this great secret and watch how other men of weak disposition will imitate.</span><span style="font-size: 100%; "> </span></p>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-43464329644462247162012-02-06T10:27:00.004+00:002012-02-06T11:01:15.620+00:00My thoughts on "Lazy (intellectual) African ScumOn Field's opinion piece<span style="font-size:85%;"> <a href="http://mindofmalaka.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/you-lazy-intellectual-african-scum/">You Lazy (Intellectual) African Scum!</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The weird and the bizarre</span><br /><br />The first time I read Field’s opinion I had my moment of chuckle and I quickly moved on. I did not see the need to pass his opinion around; actually it had no substance whatsoever. Alas, between the times I had my first chuckle and now, my email box has been inundated with comments directed at this opinion piece. Field’s opinion has gone viral. Perhaps, in itself a testimony of how to attract African “intellectuals” to anything. Ridicule, and make fun of Africans and in hordes and heads they come out of their holes to defend. So I had to re-read and understand the fascination.<br /><br />So what is it that I found weird and Bizarre about this opinion piece? Well I goggled Field Ruwe and from what I gather he is an intellectual with a penchant for fictional writing. I suppose that sets the tone for his opinion piece since most of what he wrote was fictional. Beginning, with this character called Walter. In my estimation, this character is one Field imagined and the conversation that took place took place in his head. My estimation is based on the following; Walter works for a Vulture fund. That is, a hedge fund that buys 3rd world debt. Yet, in all that Walter says, besides the insults there is nothing to convince me that he works for a hedge/vulture fund, nor has he ever been part of the Zambia debt restructuring.<br /><br />The factual case noted against Zambia with respect to Vulture funds is Donegal International vs the government of Zambia for an amount of $3.28m with respect to a loan between Government of Zambia and government of Romania. A London court ruled on this matter and as far as I am concerned, a legal issue that was addressed appropriately. The other Vulture funds, perhaps I should add, where vulture funds have been of concern or raised concern is in DRC, Uganda and Cameroon. Nowhere have I found Zambian lawsuits or notable disagreements with its external creditors.<br /><br />But, you must realise that Walter oscillates between Zambia and Africa with such abandon I am convinced he either does not know of the issues or believes Zambia and Africa are the same. If Walter does ostensibly exist beyond the imagination then surely he is not the intellectual we suppose him to be. Truly weird and bizarre. The premise on which the argument stands on is nothing but quick sand!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Much ado about nothing</span><br /><br />That brings me to the other issue, this idea of intellectuals driving development. Or rather the lazy intellectuals in Africa. Field studied History at Master’s level. I am not sure of his particular specialisation but every History student is aware of research methodology. Of my History friends, I find there are more pedantic about facts and historical accounts. Even pejorative remarks are taken to their logical conclusion through a very precise and elaborate exposition. I find this opinion piece lacks in intellectual rigour. If indeed Field and Walter sat on a plane and exchanged words, then I am utterly surprised Field could not see through Walter’s lies. And call his bluff. I am therefore surprised it has received the attention that it has. Especially from Africans.<br /><br />Another fact is that nowhere have I ever read that America was built by Intellectuals. Indeed I am yet to find a civilisation built by intellectuals. Hardly, have I come across an article hailing Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Sean Parker as intellectuals. Andrew Carnegie could hardly read. An immigrate worker who came with nothing and with basic arithmetic he became an industrialist. The same is true of Rockefeller . The same with Lincoln and Washington. Men blessed with nothing else but the will power to get things done.<br /><br />If ever, I am to be part of this conversation and contribute meaningful then I would direct readers to one Joseph Schumpeter whose work on development is the most erudite and comprehensive. Schumpeter after studying nations and how nations develop summed it beautifully; “ successful innovation requires an act of will, not of intellect. It depends, therefore, on leadership, not intelligence, and it should not be confused with invention". Indeed Field’s postulation is much ado about nothing.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">“i beseech you in the bowels of christ think it possible you may be mistaken.” O Cromwell</span><br /><br />Evidently Field is mistaken in all fronts. And it is not him I beseech. But the many people who have found time to make this opinion piece go viral. If Field meant to instigate, then let him be. If he meant to insult, then take his insult as harmless. Of the many opinion pieces in the world in this new age era this my friend is what you decided to dwell and labour on? Of course taking pot shots at you, incidentally means I am guilt as well. To that I am ashamed. But my shame paled in comparison to the damage this viral has already caused. I have been amused as some defended the indefensible, as some agreed with pies in the sky and some became resolute to fight a cause. Yet all we had to do was open the book of Ecclesiastes “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-14094306140775108232012-01-18T19:24:00.007+00:002012-01-19T09:28:22.350+00:00This part of my life... this part right here? This is called "happyness."<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZxXoP_mpmgW-vwUCRwJxEWZRwmLjgPmtsFAyNXSoxWpRfeZFQtwmLnTDASPR11Gzo1UT7TBvv6HzdVMEgiCCbrim0wmptrDjHN1qxRNARUXg1qcVBmlrc3Q_HVbEX5pYeXLnPy4RsPluc/s1600/nyanga+063.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZxXoP_mpmgW-vwUCRwJxEWZRwmLjgPmtsFAyNXSoxWpRfeZFQtwmLnTDASPR11Gzo1UT7TBvv6HzdVMEgiCCbrim0wmptrDjHN1qxRNARUXg1qcVBmlrc3Q_HVbEX5pYeXLnPy4RsPluc/s400/nyanga+063.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699270890343796626" border="0" /></a>I am inclined, in most instances, to deliberate and interrogate all issues in my life. I am disinclined to sway that way at this moment. At this moment I have the flower bloom spirit, I content in my little happiness. Like the blooms of spring I attract the bees and their sting. But, that little irritation will not sway or abate my happiness. I am alive, i am alive, thank God i am alive.<br /><br />Do not be bothered much on why i was reading "little red riding hood". It's not what you think. Anyway, i found an interesting interpretation of the story, that made the little fable even more interesting;<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left; font-style: italic;">"The wolf in the fable was likely fabricated out of an inherent fear of the unknown, not on the genuine threat of wolf attacks. While wolves are in fact predators, there is only one recorded death of a human by a healthy wolf; and yet, fables like this have led to the gross misrepresentation of this keystone predator. Both wolves and wilderness were treated as enemies of humanity in that region and time. Sadly, these types of stories continue to misrepresent true patterns of wolf behavior (i.e., fearful of humans) and they perpetuate the false notion that wolves are a threat to humans (all historical evidence shows that it's actually the other way around)."<br /><br /><br /></div>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-86181007124565926452012-01-04T10:27:00.005+00:002012-01-04T10:41:12.398+00:00The man in the arena<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-GB</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> 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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-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">“<span style="font-style: italic;">It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> The year came to an end. Like most, I too reflected on all that happened. My first thought, was to look back and think it a hard year. My first thoughts were to look at the many friends lost, the uncomfortable terrain, the embarrassments, the let downs and the failures. I started reflecting on life and how it would all be much better in the comfortable fold, in the pastures of wellness. I started envying those quiet souls surrounded by calm waters. I thought about how sleep is a distant relative, and when it does come, like many distant relatives it’s not welcome at all.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I started making new year’s resolutions- how I will be a better person, I jotted down all the lovely things I will do, places to visit and all the generalities of the normal life. I almost prayed for normalcy.</p><p class="MsoNormal">I stopped in my tracks. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> What solder trains and prepares for peace? A soldier’s time is in battle. I then blacked out all thoughts and remembered Hannibal, the Carthaginian General. To fight the Roman army, he tracked through the Alps and lost half his army before his first battle. <span style=""> </span>Losing his eye was no worse than losing his family in battle.<span style=""> </span>The Romans, called him a savage, a barbarian without superiority of mind. His fellow Carthaginians did not support him, in fact the senate stopped his food and men supplies. Hannibal, after tracking for over a year and bracing the vagaries of the deathly Alps winter did not hold back. He brought war to the Romans. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I started, thinking, what Hannibal would have wished for after that year. What was supposedly a disastrous year? Hannibal, was a soldier, what he wanted was war. He thought it fortunate, that although he had lost a lot, what he lost was what was pruned off. What remained was the most suitable for war. He wanted war. For the next sixteen years, that is what he gave the Romans.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">To understand what sort of man Hannibal was, the historian Titus Livy provides useful background information; </p> <p class="MsoNormal">“ <span style="font-style: italic;">Hannibal was possessed of enormous daring in facing dangers. He could be physically exhausted or mentally cowed by no hardship. He had the ability to withstand heat and cold alike; his eating and drinking depended on the requirements of nature, not pleasure. Not given to sleep, when he did it was not brought on by a soft bed or silence-many observed him lying on the ground, amidst the sentry-posts and pickets, wrapped in a soldier’s cloak. His dress was no better than that of his comrades, but his weapons and horses marked him out. On horse or foot, he was far the best soldier; the first to enter battle and the last to leave once battle was joined.</span>”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> All of sudden it dawned on me. My heart is least settled in quiet waters. In any case it is too early to lie in my pastures, much needs conquering. Being the man in the arena, I am aware of many errors along the road and the pitfalls of any journey. It does not mean I give up my sense of adventure and my sense of building something. It’s war that I wish for and to be a better solder.</p>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-1065285992314873112011-11-11T09:57:00.002+00:002011-11-12T00:06:34.436+00:00The morning after<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6-JusXO6kVDGK3xdHnqbD832jnlvGdsvekRXtcfytu72Dj6ScMOJten-Of5mgpkiD2sPMKQadT73OGcnnegPJ2tSYujXlbHyTHsWifSDQa88xCLoNbyDaWR7Tr_T4g7IgLm9vS94UoN5k/s1600/Kariba+145.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6-JusXO6kVDGK3xdHnqbD832jnlvGdsvekRXtcfytu72Dj6ScMOJten-Of5mgpkiD2sPMKQadT73OGcnnegPJ2tSYujXlbHyTHsWifSDQa88xCLoNbyDaWR7Tr_T4g7IgLm9vS94UoN5k/s200/Kariba+145.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673675940976984210" border="0" 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The sheer effort drains the little energy I have. Yet I must breathe, so here goes, once again. Breathe, breathe and breathe.<span style=""> </span>At this moment breathing has become a conscious and deliberate effort for my survival. If I take a moment away from it, I will forget. Breathe, breathe I must breathe.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">The journey started with so much expectation, after all, how hard would it be. I was a clever guy, with a brilliant idea, a vast network and excellent exposure. The plan was simple; I laid it out on paper and practised my pitch. I had done this before, the idea-writing and pitching. I was the best. I recalled my best pitch and the applause I got. Surely now, with such a brilliant idea, they would fall over each other to be part of the next big thing. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">I remember pitching across the world, the audience varied with pockets dragging with gold and honey dripping. “If you are part of this,” I argued, “you will find your Nirvana.” Today, the morning after, when I can breathe a little, I open the emails I got after the first few pitches many seasons ago. “Brilliant,” they all said. “The idea is brilliant and definitely doable.” They all wanted to be part of it. With such feedback, everything was going according to plan.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">Yet a month later, not even one investor had invested. We had planned to raise $5million dollars, initially tranche at $1.6m. That would take care of our needs. But, wait a minute; $5m is a lot of money. We knew this, but one had to look at the idea, it was the best idea ever. “Look at the returns”. <span style=""> </span>“Look at what you will make out of this,” we argued. In any case, we had a benefactor who had already pledged $1m. We pitched to Russians, Americans, Africans and Europeans, individuals, family trusts and anyone with money. We knocked on so many doors and sold many a pitch.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA"> It came to naught, and it was<span style="color: rgb(0, 176, 80);"> </span>at that moment that<span style="color: rgb(0, 176, 80);"> </span>it suddenly dawned on me. I had left my job, that cushy safe haven I once had. In my estimates I had thought, “Surely with my experience and exposure I can do more and become more?” I had overestimated. Here I was without a job, managing overseas expenses and living in a country no investor wanted to invest in. I had my first nervous breakdown.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA"><span style=""> </span>None of the promises had come through and the initial benefactor who had been meeting all our expenses and had pledged $1m, suddenly pulled out. It was too risky, in his estimation. I remember thinking about what I would tell the team. After my nervous breakdown I reconciled with the fact that I had failed and it was time to reconsider everything. I even drafted a letter to a former boss, whom I hated so much; but I had heard he was looking for someone and I jotted down why I should be in consideration.<span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">I got to the office with a heavy heart, ready to disband. As I got in, before I could say anything the guys spoke. “How much money to you have?” a question greeted me. “Huh?” I answered. “How much money do you have saved up and or in other investments?” the question came again. I reckon I have about $$$ in savings and another $$ in stock market investment but the market is down and it won’t make sense to liquidate</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">The guys had a plan.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">“We have looked at all our budgets and expenses; we have studied the business plan again and have revised everything. We did not get the money we required, but we can bootstrap and start rolling out the project and get some income”. This I heard before I could even sit down. My mind was racing faster than the E type in a Le Mans circuit. I was now pacing across the room. I could not sit down. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">Breathe, breathe. I must breathe, calm my nerves and hold my chest, just in case my heart leaps out.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">With the little that we had, we made a plan. That day I learnt my first entrepreneurial lesson: Bootstrapping. Coincidentally, around about the same time a friend sent an email about a former Mckinsey partner who had gone back to India and stayed in one room with just a mattress and laptop. It was there that he built his first company. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">My temporary abode with my mother became my permanent abode. I liquidated everything. I soon understood my erstwhile folly. One cannot ask other people to risk their money in one’s idea when they themselves are not willing to risk their own money. However, little it is. Secondly, by keeping an investment on the stock market it is an admission that other people are better managers of your money than yourself. If you are not an entrepreneur, that’s quite understandable, but quite ridiculous if you are starting a start-up.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">And so the train moved, we launched and started moving. Three months later – which for a start-up is an eternity – we were bankrupt!<span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">This time I did not have a nervous breakdown. It was much worse. Bankruptcy exposed all my insecurities as a man and as a person. I started gaining weight; I simply did not care much about what I ate. I started relying on my mother for the barest minimal in terms of cash; even petrol money. I was overly indebted to friends and family and frequently overstayed my visits when I travelled. The only person who knew this was my mother. Every Wednesday night she held<span style="color: rgb(0, 176, 80);"> </span>a prayer vigil with her friends.<span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">My mood swings were wild and unpredictable. The joys I had, I found in our office. There I learnt another important lesson in entrepreneurship: It’s a love affair. One must love it enough to die for it. It is a visceral ideal that requires steadfast confliction to see things through. It is not about a brilliant idea or brilliant qualifications. It was obvious we did not have money – no salaries were being paid out. But everyday people came to work and every day we held our own vigil.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">We made it past another three months with the help of<span style="color: rgb(0, 176, 80);"> </span>friends and family who chipped in. God alludes to the principal that if birds never go without food, surely mankind, God’s prized love, shall be taken care of. Indeed, we were taken care of. From as little as the lunch lady who started supplying food to us at concessionary rates and on credit (yes it was a $1 a plate, delivered to the office), to random letters of encouragement.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">We were still looking for money at this time and never gave up knocking on doors. The promises were many, just as many as the disappointments. I questioned myself greatly and thought perhaps I had overestimated the idea and my capability. I was highly insecure.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">What kept us going was the belief that surely we cannot die. I remember vividly a friend’s mother, who had heard about us, coming into town and sending word to meet me. She sat me down, and in the vernacular told me to remain strong. She quoted bible verses and spoke of Gideon, the valiant and courageous man. She intimated how this was not about the money or how far it would go, but about life, about survival. “At your weakest, your insecurities are like uncovered wounds for all to see,” she said. “Some will help, while others will take the opportunity to poke and inflict even greater harm.<span style=""> </span>Remain strong. The spirit is strong.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">Thus it became about survival. If we survive a day, we have survived an eternity. Breathe, Breathe, inhale and breathe.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">Yet, in those moments came the most brilliant ideas. <span style=""> </span>Lessons in entrepreneurship. Because we had stepped out and were visible, our courage led us to people in the same industry across the world. Inspired by our courage and our business idea they agreed to partner with us and provide all the capex needs of our business. But, we would need to meet our recurrent expenditures (Their little way of keeping us hungry). That was great, but unfortunately we had no liquidity. It did not bother us one bit, but what would<span style="color: red;"> </span>we tell all our creditors?<a name="_GoBack"></a> Some understood and some did not. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">Slowly we started making progress and contracted for projects beyond the borders. The morning fog started clearing. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">This morning I woke up and did not have the recurring nightmare of creditors running with an axe after me. <span style=""> </span>I thought of the monthly tummy runs, the cycle that usually starts on the 25<sup>th</sup> of each month. My brain and body has not fully comprehended the change. My limbs are weak and the heavy burden though lifted has left an overweening, throbbing and piercing headache. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-ZA">Yet again, I must breathe, breathe and breathe.<span style=""> </span>I must stay hungry. Stay focused. Never get tired.<span style=""> </span></span></p>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-3434329909957729122011-07-22T10:46:00.004+01:002011-07-22T11:48:12.323+01:00To pfungwa; a poem<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmtrHonUuo16RH6ceva1QPaeJrynjFlWCk_PFv2BqnimU4sS-nGmbLV6WRESjrIyzwUkjzxhu6_kvRX-iqTn7nvu0kGjXj17x3BcCG2N2eAWcSu3pIMLPVfMhyZK6kDMFTuNv7oO1Y21yX/s1600/my009.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmtrHonUuo16RH6ceva1QPaeJrynjFlWCk_PFv2BqnimU4sS-nGmbLV6WRESjrIyzwUkjzxhu6_kvRX-iqTn7nvu0kGjXj17x3BcCG2N2eAWcSu3pIMLPVfMhyZK6kDMFTuNv7oO1Y21yX/s320/my009.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632114135407489810" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte 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mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--><b><span style=";font-family:";font-size:16pt;" >To Pfungwa</span></b><span style=";font-family:";font-size:16pt;" >*</span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style=";font-family:";font-size:16pt;" > </span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The others, they're the living dead in solitude,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">of friends and foes who fizzled for lack of attitude,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">ladies who dreamt of becoming beauty queens,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">dreams that became hollow manuscripts; never to see the screens.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">But me and my life, our destiny is significant,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">my passion remains militant.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">To fulfil a purpose,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">A cause littered with all but intelligent verbose. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Pfungwa,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">forgive my folly of yesterday,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I have my excuse, the tardiness of youth I say.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Allow me to enter your better dreams,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">of sunny blue skies and many awes in screams.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Forgive me, if in all this I still fall short </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Caress my guts and chide what hubris brought.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">It was your fault in any case,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">You sowed a seed in me to bargain for nothing less.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Little did you know God’s plan and action,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">is for me to lead a nation.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">A nation I call me,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">that with no borders, tax, or any fee.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The path I travel has crossed many,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">providence and dividends for the price of a penny.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Of strangers and creatures, </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">writing fiction and vanity pictures.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I learnt of Oysters that bore a pearl,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">hardships that will make me an Earl!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">*pfungwa- mind, thoughts.<br /></span></p><div style="text-align: right;"> </div>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-19091266043931432872011-07-05T09:33:00.010+01:002011-07-06T11:04:21.866+01:00The love for Chinos<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEObn1QZNbpmSdItLK5LZjPXdvIt4fLs_bBxP1Ba0kXUbb5AvFq6j-9Zcm78dASrYRbTAPu7wW6-ipTN7L1OfEp1BS5DpdkzxqMaLvIEfhM7O0TE79CuK-6Z9Y_ixORiWbhTe5NRj0p6T_/s1600/chino5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 344px; height: 369px;" 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mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">I love Chino’s. I love the way they feel on my skin. The tapered and tailored fit gives me a confidence to take on the world. Chinos are an excellent travelling companion, worn for multiple functions and dressed up in various ways. I wear mine, with a blazer, cardigan, polo shirt or shirt and immediately assume a different persona. I accessorise with belts and shoes and the same pair assumes a different aura.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">I have noticed that many men have taken to wearing chinos. Unfortunately they wear chinos as they would ordinary trousers. This is wrong and a travesty. I understand that Americans have to wear everything pleated and buggy. But please not for a pair of Chinos; it doth destroy the “look”. The chinos look says “cool” not “granny pj’s” or “hammer pants”. And that should be the standard of whether or not one is wearing chinos correctly. Do you feel cool? Are you the coolest person in the room? If not, then it might be time to stop wearing chinos. Try something else. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">My personal favourites are Chinos by Eden Park, Ralph Lauren and Hackett. </p> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrFBokgvhmGpXbXz7QEeUN8XLyxZDXDgqgJ4Lb-oRI_oLTu8zfUK6FsOROr3d9e055O3m7x_2ab2Ow7T74DnumVI4pPglb1hZGpdlXVuUYDChsTJkK7qnlSSzrMdyDkmqiFMcpEGy8Pc-8/s1600/chinos9.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 321px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrFBokgvhmGpXbXz7QEeUN8XLyxZDXDgqgJ4Lb-oRI_oLTu8zfUK6FsOROr3d9e055O3m7x_2ab2Ow7T74DnumVI4pPglb1hZGpdlXVuUYDChsTJkK7qnlSSzrMdyDkmqiFMcpEGy8Pc-8/s400/chinos9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625787782075273938" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZQ5hucz1k3xB7UIA_Pwfxs8XcXjN_LmQ13qDiGrx4HXNclDDHa_b2NKDtLrhrqQsuqMPyV75eWlTgb4hp1MvYy3oX_BZ32YB22zeVbJ7_KXP740gKk9qVO-41OQVFlI2qz1KAl-xZkUa/s1600/chino4_filtered.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 332px; height: 175px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZQ5hucz1k3xB7UIA_Pwfxs8XcXjN_LmQ13qDiGrx4HXNclDDHa_b2NKDtLrhrqQsuqMPyV75eWlTgb4hp1MvYy3oX_BZ32YB22zeVbJ7_KXP740gKk9qVO-41OQVFlI2qz1KAl-xZkUa/s400/chino4_filtered.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625787772234382034" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wB2EL90pi-RfexuUOoeJzkeT25JIs21ANOMgzSZGHqcPyTJ45B26Lrkne9m3cOfM0K5gS5yIZmsfokBOjui7pf2ijDAN2-Hslff-gWNxl6FIqLC93Ot8Ut1R4Zehnt6ATISvGQzTGTYs/s1600/chino3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 358px; height: 284px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wB2EL90pi-RfexuUOoeJzkeT25JIs21ANOMgzSZGHqcPyTJ45B26Lrkne9m3cOfM0K5gS5yIZmsfokBOjui7pf2ijDAN2-Hslff-gWNxl6FIqLC93Ot8Ut1R4Zehnt6ATISvGQzTGTYs/s400/chino3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625787770576663554" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8bG9DhzS-dK0YBfAnbRHA3E2auTU87IOxPdW8fNzZWKhBTnZvD-xHSVGFzjBnNDSfK5EyDeup1UtCDXShuZEUZ89fRBALWX96NYCWAUoEnx9lw1hX7i7x8Osq9JRrm5_ngFjVw6rjOIRf/s1600/chinorl.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 159px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8bG9DhzS-dK0YBfAnbRHA3E2auTU87IOxPdW8fNzZWKhBTnZvD-xHSVGFzjBnNDSfK5EyDeup1UtCDXShuZEUZ89fRBALWX96NYCWAUoEnx9lw1hX7i7x8Osq9JRrm5_ngFjVw6rjOIRf/s400/chinorl.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625787761085352930" border="0" /></a>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-36378521872240429202011-06-28T10:40:00.003+01:002011-06-28T10:54:45.884+01:00All manner of manners<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-GB</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> 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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-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">There was a time, not too long ago, when all it required to unnerve a man was mere flirting and slight body contact would discomfort the innards of a man and tailspin his ways. From across the room, the discreet dress slit would reveal womanly flesh, only for a moment and for a tease. Indeed, there was, once upon a time. Now it is no more. The lady in a slit has been replaced with the slut on heels.<span style=""> </span>I hasten to add how difficult it is to find a lady with manners. <span style=""> </span>Now, I write to declare a lady with manners is sexy. <span style=""> </span>Yet such a breed, one finds not.</p><p class="MsoNormal">When was the last time you came across a man of manners? A gentleman? Not a chivalrous courtier, but simply a man of manners?<span style=""> </span>I have been thinking about this quite a lot and grieved deeply the death of manners. Common decency has escaped the human race, we have become more and more crude and crass than wild animals. Please, May I, thank you's have been taken away from our vocabulary and all that is left are expletives about our behinds, our mothers and showing the middle finger as a sign of displeasure. <span style=""> </span>When did it all go wrong?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Some argue, when writing, correct grammar and punctuation must be used at all times. Others think lowly of those that revert to text short-hand in emails or wherever the written word must be used. I am not too fussy on this. Honestly, why should I be worried? It is pretty lame to argue it bastardises the English language- when the English language itself is a bastard child of pure linguistic tongues like Latin and Greek.<span style=""> </span>Yes, it shows impetuousness, but it is never offensive. Truly, use text message when you write me and I will certainly not think highly of you. But, neither will I think lowly of you. But use expletives as punctuation and my regard is gone with the wind. I totally understand the need to be dramatic and emphatic, when Chaucer used such words it was more emphatic than an exclamation mark. Now, if writers are told an exclamation mark can only be used after every hundred thousand words, then an expletive is the mother of emphasis. So let it be. Imagine then if every other word is a swear word or such. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">There is nothing more sensual than a woman with manners, dressed appropriately and of intelligent countenance. I am quite convinced now; every woman in more carnal of relations can be quite Wolfish. But, I am not convinced in society too, the she-wolf can be a lady. So in mating I would rather simply look for a lady. The mini-skirts, make up, artificial coloured long nails, synthetic hair pieces and rowdy behaviour of our women folk is disgraceful. Is this what equal rights really mean? Is this what drinking beer means? To debauch one’s high regard and debase one’s standing to the lowly province of manly brutes in beer binge and sordid tongues? Honestly ladies, how do I become a suitable defender of your honour when such is nonexistent? </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Don’t get me wrong, I love the mini-skirts on a feminine body. Only when appropriately dressed, with one with appropriate anatomy to flatter. Same with make –up, I love it to bits, on occasion and not every occasion. I love it when a woman dresses up; it is perfect manners to do so. Such efforts and indulgence are quite exemplary. My love for dresses and all femininity is well acknowledged. There is nothing more feminine than a sensual woman. Note, sensual, not selling sex. Sensuality is that refined allure when beauty meets charm. A lady who is both beautiful and charming. <span style=""> </span>Now, it seems there is no difference between walking at the meat market place where every vendor is throwing all sort of meat at one. In a room full of ladies, the same applies-they have become vendors selling sex. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Men do not fare any better. But, in society there has always been a distinction between the brute and the gentleman.<span style=""> </span>We knew what to expect from the brute and his ways. Similarly we knew the gentleman was raised in the highest order of manners. I decry the dearth of gentlemanly behaviour now. So few and far in-between. What has happened? </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I remain forthright in my beliefs. I will dress up appropriately for any occasion and will address people with much regard and common decency. I will go to church in my Sunday best and shall demand the same of my off springs. Sunday reverence is demanded as a respect to God and those around me. Unless demanded, and by forceful of demands shall I swear- only for emphasis. I aspire to be a gentleman, because of all aspirations it is one that my children will remember me most by. And probably one I want my epitaph to say. He was a gentleman. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-76995389546404652742011-06-23T13:16:00.003+01:002011-06-23T13:41:12.805+01:00Chanel. Tis swell i find you alive and well.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5N78zHrPYOMp4NvchaMtMjV_IcQaIFUAFstCd9qXRnpCkt5CXxnZM3gTvBpdkmZfo1aKKMzpPqGF7kbpyc6MVAhZfqNRj5VV64Hsvzcev1By0oIZYr_2X6oWfgmB-7ZjGAPVy2KpCQyB/s1600/chanel+girl.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 271px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5N78zHrPYOMp4NvchaMtMjV_IcQaIFUAFstCd9qXRnpCkt5CXxnZM3gTvBpdkmZfo1aKKMzpPqGF7kbpyc6MVAhZfqNRj5VV64Hsvzcev1By0oIZYr_2X6oWfgmB-7ZjGAPVy2KpCQyB/s400/chanel+girl.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621393132194167474" border="0" /></a>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-61942340533716946712011-06-13T14:04:00.004+01:002011-06-13T14:32:55.848+01:00In which TV finds redemption<!--[if gte 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mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">For purely aesthetics, I bought a TV. Well, at times it played a functional role in watching the old classics movies with Aubrey Hepburn and the like. Honestly though, I spent a considerable more on superior technology; that is, the sound system to accost my ears with innumerable pleasures of sound. Nonetheless,on those rare occasions the TV was a useful appendage in movie watching. Clearly, I can live without a TV, and its attended pollution.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But, this last week I have been enamoured with such fascinations as to please my person considerably. Cajoled to watch the TV series “The Tudors”, I was deeply appreciative of all. It is about King Henry VIII, the enigmatic fellow in England during the tail end of the Renaissance and the beginning of reformation. I am a student of history and a child of the Renaissance and thus on this count I did not need much persuasion. I was indeed persuaded most by the ability of the series to capture fully the time, trials and goings on of our favourite King. The producers have surely done a splendid and glorious job in bringing to TV the most troubling of times. The history content is apt and much has been done to preserve the historical account of things. Though I find the TV series to be extremely damning of the King. He was after all, a superior in intellect , widely read and a writer of note.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">King Henry VIII, stands at the edifice of reformation, when the church of England broke away from the Papacy. This was fundamental, and it could only take a man of such fortitude and scholarship as Henry VIII. Of course there was the small matter of wanting to marry Anne Boleyn and subsequently find an heir to the throne. But, let us be honest, every man has his own trifles. And it is on these trifles of six marriages, the main focus of the series.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have watched all four series and highly recommend this. I could not honestly claim to have a favourite character, but believe the Chancellors, Wolsey, More, and Cromwell did fabulous jobs <span style=""></span>as actors and brought to character the most formidable individuals during this period. Of all, though he played a minor role in the series, is the Earl of Surrey who brought to foe the tyranny of the king, and paid it all with his life. It didn’t matter his superiority in blood, those of low pedigree had gained favour.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Enjoy his poem, the happy life. A timeless piece with such eloquence and force in words it provokes at every stance:</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:13.5pt;" >M</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >Y friend, the things that do attain</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >The happy life be these, I find:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >The riches left, not got with pain;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >The fruitful ground; the quiet mind;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >The equal friend; no grudge; no strife;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >No charge of rule, nor governance;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >Without disease, the healthy life;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >The household of continuance;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >The mean diet, no dainty fare;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >Wisdom joined with simpleness;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >The night discharged of all care,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >Where wine the wit may not oppress:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >The faithful wife, without debate;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >Such sleeps as may beguile the night;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >Content thyself with thine estate,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >Neither wish death, nor fear his might.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;" align="center"><b><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey</span></b><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"> </p>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-33848224338480676592011-06-06T09:04:00.010+01:002011-06-07T14:12:19.983+01:00When Kelz used to be Robert Kelly.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxTNlA5j7gbC3Mt92qFAntnlf8LKSVQYSGNfIVFrlNQoxlJdpZ30QTk1gxz6TRCFT9lvFQ3vWTbXkBd58FvoIcDx0q9eOphxeyMalwGdrLaXoCWUmBa0lIOLqZr3tRBgwvSsR_ONJDw-E/s1600/Shaft.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxTNlA5j7gbC3Mt92qFAntnlf8LKSVQYSGNfIVFrlNQoxlJdpZ30QTk1gxz6TRCFT9lvFQ3vWTbXkBd58FvoIcDx0q9eOphxeyMalwGdrLaXoCWUmBa0lIOLqZr3tRBgwvSsR_ONJDw-E/s320/Shaft.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615043671048496962" border="0" /></a><br />How times change. Do you remember the time when Robert Kelly was R Kelly? <span style=""> </span>A music maestro with a voice so soothing it stopped a whirlwind in its tracks, so melodious the ocean tide waved to his notes, lyrics so powerful soldiers recited them before battle.<span style=""> </span>The scintillating “heaven I need a hug” became the sound track of every criminal in jail. “I believe I can fly”, the song I played before my ‘A levels’ exam was not only inspirational but was my right of passage to life. I had gained my wings. I fell in love to “Forever, and ever” waltzing to the echo’s of “marry me, marry me”, with a young damsel I envisaged I would build the picket fence for. <p class="MsoNormal"> Now R Kelly is Kelz. And there is something not right. Does success lead to fornication of one’s ideals? Is money, the cocktail of mental derangement? <span style=""> </span>So many times I have heard the proverb, “with age comes wisdom” and each wrinkle a baptism of Aristotelian ethics. Kelz defies the time old proverbs. But, he is not alone. In today’s’ society many people are walking remnants of what was the “best of them “decades ago.<span style=""> </span>So empty and vacuous are their ideals, the devil refuses even to curse a demon on them- it would be utter kindness. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Think, Vivica Fox, I remember a time standing in the queue at the local movie house for hours waiting for the movie, “set it off”. And there she was, towering splendour, an Aphrodite incarnate. That night I experienced my first wet dream, so wet I woke up panting, sweating and manly excretion dampening my sheets. <span style=""> </span>Confused, I dried myself and slept. Vivica was not yet done, the next morning my body was slurped in dry white salt. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Today, to think this is the woman that made my testicles dance and vomit for the first time, is an embarrassing admission. What happened to the glory? </p> <p class="MsoNormal">What happened to the most intelligent guy I grew up with? He committed suicide, I overheard the local barber lament,“he killed himself that is what happens when you are too intelligent”. I guess he just could not bear the life of ordinary. What of that pretty girl every guy had a crush on, “yes that one, many others and I bought a Mr bear ice cream for”. She died, Facebook advised, and left 3 kids.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In my library I picked up a GQ magazine, of yesteryear. GQ had Shaft on the cover page. A dapper man with brawn, brain and as the duke from a borough of bravery made life an adventure worth living as the “bad man”. When he told his woman, “my duty is to please that booty”, we all knew what he was talking about.<span style=""> </span>All the ladies wished they had this ravenous savage for themselves or at least for one night. GQ has replaced Shaft with the clean shaven sweet faced Jude Law, and were it not the confessions of a nanny I would never have thought he had the courage to walk past a caged dog.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Marvin Gaye asks, “<span style="font-style: italic;">has anybody here, seen my old friend, john, can you tell me where his gone. He freed a lot of people but it seems the good die young, I just looked around and he was gone</span>”. I remember my friend John- what happened dude? You introduced me to life and helped me buy my first shares. And then you just disappeared. I still needed hand holding dude. Where are you?<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I remember R Kelly today, in the prime of his manliness- at his rhetorical best. “Reality” was on the album R and unable to afford a psychologist and with a father never at home, R Kelly was my counsellor. The photo of my generation was in the inlay, whereupon R Kelly looks out of the window reflecting. The image was beautiful, it told of a man looking beyond, beyond the trajectory of what eyes could see. The image, words and baseline still writ large in my brain; <i style="">“any man can make a baby but it takes a real man to be a father, talking about a family, the kid, you and me, it’s not a fantasy but its reality.”</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Remember the time when Erika Badu could captivate with her poetry, telling us to call Tyrone, to pick us up and as far away from her, sort our lives out. A decade later Ms Badu has fallen on hard times, she can’t even hire a video vixen for her music videos. To grab our attention she has to take off all her clothes and gyrate, her amble behind, for half the video.<span style=""> </span>Years ago, she used to be covered head to toe. We were not even allowed to see a stray strain of hair; she had this huge hideous head gear on. We didn’t care; really we didn’t care, just how fashion was lost on her, because her poetry was just too powerful.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Writing this essay got me thinking, about that which is lost with time besides the slim waist and chiselled facial features as we become rotund and disgustingly lazy. Money becomes a substitute for courage, the more grey hairs we get the sillier we become (picture a 50 something year old with a grey haired jerry curl and fake Gunit chains). But not all is lost.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have a good friend that stays in the outskirts of Pretoria in a country estate with his family. One unfortunate night his house was burgled by menacing, gun touting thieves. In the middle of the night they demanded all the jewellery in the house. My friend obliged and simply asked they do not touch his wife and kids. But, the thieves had other intentions. After taking the jewellery they started to man handle the wife despite the wife’s screams of protest. My friend, in a fit of rage, did what was instinctive to him. He ran straight to the offender and gave him a fierce jugular. The thief, half in awe and half dazed by the punch fell down. The other thieves then shot my friend three times before disappearing into the night. My friend was in hospital for a month. When I visited them at their home, there was a sparkle in the wife’s eye that I had never seen in her before. Her man, she said “was her hero”.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I also got to hear a heart wrenching story about another friend, a candidate PHD at an illustrious university and a bright future ahead of him. His parents come from Mt Darwin in the rural areas of Zimbabwe. One holiday he decided to visit, unfortunately this was during the election period in Zimbabwe. Bands of marauding apparatchik Zanu Pf youth and war vets had become the new war lords in this part of the country. No opposition party was allowed in this heartland of Zanu pf. unfortunately my friend’s family feuds spilled over into the politics of the day. Apparently his uncle (father’s brother) ratted on them, accusing their family of being sympathetic to the opposition. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The war vets would routinely round up everyone who was suspected to be sympathetic to the opposition and give them a night of orientation in Zanu pf politics. This basically involves a thorough beating until one can sing all the Zanu pf songs. My friend and his mother were rounded up with others and they were taken to the middle of the forest where a night vigil would occur. He says he was scared to death and could not reason with these pot infested, alcohol infected and angry as hell thugs. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Eventual they were told to lie face down, and the leader of the war vets, prepared a sjmbok from the trees around. He then started thrashing the captives, one by one. So thorough and determined was the hiding the screams could be heard miles away. My friend says when they got to his mother he just could not lie there, especially having seen how the other victims had suffered. Instinctively, without thinking he just sprung up and went straight for the war vet leader’s throat. If you know this chap, round about now is when you start laughing. I never imagined. He says, he does not know where the strength or courage came from but he just held on tightly to the throat. The war vet was now choking, with wide eyes and fell on the floor. The strangler did not let go. The other war vets having seen what was happening quickly came to the rescue of their leader. After breaking them up, they then tied my friend to a tree and beat him up until he passed out. The war vets did beat his mother up, but she tells the tale of her son-her hero. She says they beat her up but she could not feel a thing.</p><p class="MsoNormal">In these two stories, I have begun to understand manliness. The instinctive nature of man, beyond civilisation. It is this distinction that separates us from women that women fall in love with, that society find pride in. Alas, society will never hear these two stories, they are busy watching "Survivor" or dancing to Beyonce's "i'm a survivor". The hero, is the 1m winner of survivor. Decades later I wonder where they will be.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In building the next decades of our lives it is important we focus on what is important. On those virtues, which through practise make us real man. Because, if we are not careful, we too shall change our names from Robert Kelly to Kelz. If the name change does not help then maybe our naked posterior might. Desperate to just be in the limelight, when our shine was long gone.....</p> <p class="MsoNormal">As for me, I am growing a beard....</p>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-62417049729435056732011-05-16T09:41:00.004+01:002011-05-20T14:27:32.478+01:00Dear you<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-GB</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> 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mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">“Don’t ever give up on your dreams because when you do I give up too”.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">I can never forget these words. At times when I feel like giving up, and this is most of the times, I remember first the look you gave me when you said these words and secondly I reflect on these words. No words have had greater impact on my life; no person has ever been more influential in my life. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> When I met you, and the day is clear and dear to me, I never for once thought that would be the day that defines my life. One morning, in Morningside “Waldorf” it begun, so much has changed in Morningside, much more has changed between us. Before you I was fleeting, impetuous and vain and after you, solid, determined and resourceful. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">With you I experienced the worst of life and the best of life, in both, never once did you abandon me. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I would wake up in fits in the middle of the night, from a nightmare that scared me whole. You would first calm me down and then pray for me, in an instant the ghosts went away. I thought of you dearly in Oyster Bay, when the ghosts returned and by myself I coiled. Safe is he with a woman that prays.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I remember our long walks along “Narrow” street-right through to St Kathine’s dock, as you patiently heard every thought in my head. I was broad and rabid in all my ideas and how I formulated everything. You would indulge me, chide me and hold my hand (even though I resisted this gesture) and urge me to go on.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">I read Bill and you read Hillary, we had our political argument at 3am before switching books and by breakfast we both agreed it was Hillary with the plan. I wrote on numerous treatises, and you faithfully edited my work. My thoughts then, were rumblings of a scattered head, but iron sharpens iron. Dearly, my treatises are sharper now. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We became “major”, our lives’ sound track always on repeat. Kanye and Nas spitting about the move from local to major. Each verse we revisited as if to convince each other that one day we would build our very own MOtown. You were my hommie, my buddy!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Remember our studio apartment, the match box we shared, on one side were a monastery and the other side Le bon Marche. Celestial versus decadence, and we were in the middle of all this. We could hardly afford this part of 6th, but you insisted we had to experience all that is Rue Babylon. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">And Parisian you were, the first thing you bought was a pair of Jimmy Choo 6 inches. With all I had I bought you a chemise/blouse from your favourite shop for your birthday. Really, it was all the money I had but I knew how important the day meant to you- and of course the blouse. That day you lit up like a shooting star, giggled like a child and your hug said it all. In your eyes I was a Superstar!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In the same eyes, you cried tears that never ended. I would pain you deeply and all you could do was cry. <span style=""> </span>I never want to open flood gates like that, ever again. I hurt you badly, betrayed your trust but even when we were apart the way you saw me never changed. I was still a Superstar. That, and only that drove me. I wanted to make you proud; it meant the world to me to see you proud of me, even though time had come for us to take different paths.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Years later, I still want to make you proud. I know you are far away from me, the furthest any two worlds can possibly be. And I wish you every bit of happiness, happiness I know is the running stream in your life. I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for believing in me. Don’t ever stop believing in people. Only you, do it best. I really wish you were here to see what I have become. Will you be proud of me? I wonder........</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>You sowed the seed and watered the plant. Perhaps we met at such a season where only I was to gain and you were to pain. I wish now, I would pain and you to gain. But such is life, life I hold on to dearly now and hope I have the endowment to bring joy to another, to inspire and truly believe!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Thank you</p>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-67247918413479462011-05-10T10:46:00.000+01:002011-05-10T10:46:00.039+01:00Confessions of a thirty-something year old<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-GB</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFn8KdUDApRGFXOTStNvR_LxZiIBkb1AOlEiUYvrJDyvMOvhGp5Z04brlk4xnA3mOLUNp1GG3lQPcvn5c2VbUl6Ef3sBu67-GztuuTl8trA23ZbzkxIayzRfwCCoc0nmYybrf5alkgIdLB/s1600/steve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFn8KdUDApRGFXOTStNvR_LxZiIBkb1AOlEiUYvrJDyvMOvhGp5Z04brlk4xnA3mOLUNp1GG3lQPcvn5c2VbUl6Ef3sBu67-GztuuTl8trA23ZbzkxIayzRfwCCoc0nmYybrf5alkgIdLB/s320/steve.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Once, as a child I fell into a pit and for a long time could not get out. It was pitiful. All along basketball was the only thing I was good at, I dithered in education, my syllables lacked the personality that language should have and I had no social sensibilities. Only in shooting hoops was I best. Until one day, playing with a rival school I was fouled out in the first two minutes. An inventive ploy to upstage my team, of course without me the team lost. In disgust, disgust shared all round, I protested and got into a fierce back and forth with the teacher from the rival school. Here, a little boy of not more than 10 argued vehemently and unearthed the ploy the adult had invented. To my dismay, my own teacher and coach took me away and gave me a spanking, right there in front of everyone.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>My crime was simple, I had disrespected an Adult. I cried, and with every tear the passion for basketball went. Like that I faded into a nobody, became a recluse and hated every teacher I came across. Not until years later during the penultimate year of high school did I enjoy my first lesson. Perhaps I had gotten tired of the self pity or indeed I had found a teacher who understood my troubled mind. I learnt, in careful observation the ways of my favourite head teacher, his wisdom interred in the nature of his tools. A chalk and a rod he made his plea to the class. In the chalk we gained, in the rod we scarred. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">In my teenage years, I was the perfect icon in a perfect fantasy, I was Batman. That is how I saw myself, a hero with a costume out to save Gotham. Teenagers are prone to such multi-personalities dabbling between the real and the ephemeral. Like Batman, I too had a side kick, my Robin was my best friend and high school was the playground. I too had an unattainable Rachel. I remember well she was the best looking creature I had ever seen. She was prone to and glad in every contest that paraded beauty. I called her dimples, on obvious account. We actually never dated but were totally enamoured with each other. We did write to each other, letters I still have all signed Dimples forever. Forever, a little over a decade later is married with kids.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">In my twenties, I prickled the bubble-Batman was too much of a cartoon character perhaps apt for a teenage hero but certainly not for a young adult. Batman represents the oscillation that young boys have between the real world and the world they aspire to be in, the plays of dreams and the mundane. Unable to confront bullies, rivals and adults in their real life they create mendacious caricatures like the “Joker” whom they cannot confront but find the courage under the guise of a super human being. Only in their fantasies can they confront their fears.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">The manly hero for a guy in his twenties has to perform heroic and gallant acts, must be a cross between a man’s man and a ladies’ man and a lot sterner in his cockiness than a dry martini. He must be able to save the world-indeed that is his mission, he must have a code name (nothing cooler), be accosted in fancy sophisticated gadgetry, and with no sidekicks; the answer is James Bond. My twenties were spent as James Bond, I travelled the world on the benevolence of a Boss (with all the grumpiness of M). Like James, I was good at what I did, like James I was not ready for commitment. I played the field and had dalliances with the old and young, the beautiful and bold, Caucasian, Nubian and those in-between. On occasions when I settled, I settled for the wrong ones or was blithely betrayed- just like the 007. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">It is from this vantage point I see my existential childhood and decades later I try to make sense of my current existence. What is obvious about a man who is thirty-something? I turn to literature for inspiration. The ladies would like to believe it is Mr Darcy, the charming fellow from Pride and Prejudice. I wish to dissuade such minds, Darcy was only eight and twenty courting a one and twenty lass. Thus all things Darcy are twenty something- albeit with a mature hand. Ms Austen perhaps considered this age to be the age of romance and marriage, 200 years later this is very much apparent and prevalent. It is Charles Dickens who persuades profoundly in the tale of two cities; it is there we find the time capsule of a thirty something;</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36pt; text-align: center;"><i>It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope it was the winter of despair.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">My teacher’s chalk and rod, and Dickens best and worst reveal my life as a thirty something. I lived in both cities, in Paris I gained all fashion and cultural sensibilities and in London I became all Libertarian. How ironic, during Dickens tale, Paris was the source of Libertarian ideals and London the bustling cultural hub. <span> </span>As a Parisian my chiffon scarf laden with charms from Hérmes became my Je ne se qui as I fostered and permeated an aesthetics culture. Yet Paris’s hedonism, socialism and its entire ism’s were the epoch of my disbelief. In London I straddled the incredulity in the frontiers of finance, I watched as stock prices soured and then tumble to thud. It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">The day one turns thirty is the day all randomness ends. Of course life was never random, but somehow one was easily swayed into such a belief. The clarion shouts of “whatever will be, will be” quietening to reflective slurs of “whatever shall become of me?”<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">The evolution of man is such that with each decade the best is drawn out of him and at each stance in the music of life he faces his worst fears. As a teenager he is not confident enough to face his fears or strive for what is best, the mental and the will power lack, except in his dreams. A decade later perhaps through daring acts, or as a reward to schooling accomplishment he is recruited by the MAN. The Man makes him an agent, to what ends he does not question, he does another man’s bidding.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>A decade later he recognises that no matter what he does, the seasons of life are part of existence. He cannot run away from these, he must make the best of summer and prepare for the worst of winter. Therein, the difference between the magnificent from the insignificant!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">But he is still a hero nonetheless, albeit with no super human powers. At least he has the potential. The difference is the realisation that to be a hero requires neither super natural abilities nor a licence to kill. Every man has in him the ability and wherewithal to cast wide his reach and achieve. One need not have a boss; a man is his own Boss.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">I find Thomas crown, as played by Steve Macqueen (in the Thomas crown affair of 1968) as the quintessential gentleman of thirty something. Thomas crown is a multi-millionaire of a rip age of 36, divorced and lives in Boston, in a 3 storey, 150 year old house with an elevator and a man servant at his call. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Mr Crown is his own man in every sense, from his business, fashion sense, opinions and all manner of discretions. As a divorced thirty something, we reveal the scars of life but inert is still the thrill of life. He outwits his contemporaries and boredom ensnares him to plot a heist. Reminding us a man is not composed of sonnets and odes of the ecclesiastical goodness, he lives with an evil side as well.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">I cannot but think about the head teacher with chalk and rod who impressed upon me Victorian treatise. That besides the brunt and pitfalls of a Victorian harsh hand, there was Victorian wisdom in Dickens, Hardy, Lawrence, Austen and Bronte. The chalk I have learnt, prolongs my summers and keeps me warm in winter, the rod I suppose reminds me when at times I forget to prepare for winter, innate are the years I experience the harshest and coldest winds. I have turned out to be a gentleman of sort, and if you do not like me, well that is just too sad.</div>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-73552258439632438422011-04-06T12:32:00.001+01:002011-04-07T11:57:46.128+01:00Double espresso please<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLA7mEqcqRFzb8kcCp4FDRaQ7UAH6V4JLAWKUZEvTIkUqa8RkvPJbusRJekdJOmYD4-Pq6uq8zacFLC4c9nLeOTRI-OGxS_SsRrZ4zStLb-lEfHz9V_HoMCd3vdj4SJC95D_N-GsuKP3Ls/s1600/espresso.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLA7mEqcqRFzb8kcCp4FDRaQ7UAH6V4JLAWKUZEvTIkUqa8RkvPJbusRJekdJOmYD4-Pq6uq8zacFLC4c9nLeOTRI-OGxS_SsRrZ4zStLb-lEfHz9V_HoMCd3vdj4SJC95D_N-GsuKP3Ls/s1600/espresso.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">"How would you like that served sir, how many sugars"? The waiter asked and paused, waiting for a reply. I paused and looked at him and did not let my frustrations show; “ no sugar please” I answered and the waiter moved on. How should a double espresso be served I thought, is there any other way of serving a double espresso? At that moment I had a premonition which became true as the events unfolded, the waiter brought my espresso in a big coffee cup.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There is a tiny café in Marrakesh that serves the best espresso ever. It was in the early hours of the morning and keen to get some sun and wear my plaid Tommy Hilfiger shorts I had bought the day before I headed for the streets of Marrakesh. Before long I had found a perfect spot at the corner of the café with a wide view of the walking traffic outside. A peculiar hobby I picked up on sometime, I reckoned if bird watching can be a sport then people watching must have superior intended benefits. I opened my vanity fair and picked on a story I had slept on the night before. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The café had the attended displays and decorations of all Moroccan splendour with a heavy savory aroma of roasted coffee beans. I knew I was in the right place. Music was playing in the background, almost drowned in the hollowness of the wooden floors but enough to have a distinct rhythm and rhyme. Like wolves howling, tearing apart the stillness of the night, the sound system clearly playing a record vinyl crackled and howled reggae dub beat. The slow rhythmic thud and echo of every sentence heard was enough to have my heart pounce in a tizzy and in absentia nod my head in unison to the hypnotic, slurred melody. I made note of the song it was Outkast classic <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXmqauitBkM">SpottieOttieDopalicious</a> and momentarily stopped reading as I became engulfed in the moment. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My double espresso came, in the right little espresso mug, the handle hole not even big enough to fit my index finger. With my espresso came a complementary dark chocolate tab. I put down my magazine, sipped the very hot liquid and made a bite of my chocolate. The sound knocking on my eardrums I remained engrossed in this meandering and teasing delirium. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It was not just me in selfish delight, fellow patrons in conversations or reading the daily newspaper like regulars were and in adulation of the establishment. I noticed two rascals with their mother feverishly poking her and demanding something, like marijuana junkies impatient for a spiff. The mother seems to abide and offers the rascals their due and in turn the kids were smugly content. I became curious and asked the waiter if I too could have my due. Soon enough I was chewing on these succulent caramel palm dates with my second espresso and soon enough was namby pamby.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After a while I paid my dues and thought of the day ahead. It was the best way to spend the morning and vitalise before a photo shoot in Marrakesh. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But today, far from Marrakesh I got served an espresso only in name. What I expected came to naught and instead of vitality I got agitated, ruining the rest of my day. Oh well at least I had my ipod in hand. I drew a money note from my money clip and nicely placed it on the table. Picked up my novel, stood up gently placing my ear phones in the right ear and my finger tapped play. Outkast was my only redemption.</div>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-54552018786432682692011-04-01T13:50:00.000+01:002011-04-01T13:50:03.943+01:00The delightful perfume<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-GB</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFemPZaY_IQjFC9pdHvYbExemzALS5AJj_v8Qy5kEQ_1CNf9tzKyJF4jMkJAsIsb8K6S7cVvgQcfHSRHJkMdSi_UINgrIjMPD_lGKGoAv83hghEXDc1qfDWcwB5o0qGXPIe8OYedu3EKNe/s1600/old-fashioned-perfume-bottle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFemPZaY_IQjFC9pdHvYbExemzALS5AJj_v8Qy5kEQ_1CNf9tzKyJF4jMkJAsIsb8K6S7cVvgQcfHSRHJkMdSi_UINgrIjMPD_lGKGoAv83hghEXDc1qfDWcwB5o0qGXPIe8OYedu3EKNe/s1600/old-fashioned-perfume-bottle.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Little by way of small joy is enjoyed in this tumulus world than the whiff and engulfment of perfume. Of all the wars, warts and all, the only war I will fight for is for the girl that smells just right. You have met her before, she stood next to you and you turned. She walked past you and immediately followed her path. Infatuated with the odours, the nostrils gapping for more and the heart in dalliance purely because of scent.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I am hay feverish, so too much and too strong will make me sneeze in disgust. Too little and too generic will make me easily forget-or remind me of my grandmother’s soap. Just right and it will be recorded in my memoirs.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Is it not a funny state of encumbrance that of all disabilities, the sense of smell is the least suffered? Yet so true indeed that it’s the least put to use. How can this state of affairs be fair? God hath blessed to perfection this singular strength as the great source for mating decision. The nose is an instrument as powerful as a doctor’s stethoscope yet it’s sparingly used. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Not mine, I relish in being mesmerised by fragrance on a woman. It sets me off in a reverie of memories of sunset’s cruises, beach strolls on white sandy plains or picking a basket of fruits from an orchard. It reminds me of my teenage flirtations with the giggly prettiest of pretty girls on a purple Jacaranda laden street at the tail end of Spring, when the heavens opened and the first drops of wetness drenched her white blouse. </div><div class="MsoNormal">The smell of the first rains, the sight of firm breasts still defiant of gravity pressing against the blouse- almost popping out. A painter could very well put on canvass this moment, capture the hues and make still the expressions of adulation. For me, all this can be captured in a scent.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Do not confuse my musings for a hearty romantic, which is not the case. Rather it’s remembering the vigour, vitality and eagerness of youth in play with nature and fondling the weather. To encapsulate this moment in a 100ml bottle is magical.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is not my youth that is poignantly bottled as fragrance, it is also particular sceneries. I remember my first time being in the Serengeti. Dry Savannah prairie, that stretches forever. The air is still and dry and the heat scourging. The mirage makes one dizzy and the moment like no other. <span> </span>No semblance of life around, until the evening and camping under the stars, the sounds of the darkness are heightened and trepidation fills the air. Perfume, in my opinion has the same effect on a woman, serene during the day before making her vibrant for the evening. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Sometimes, a perfume or a scent can capture a period in history well. At times I wonder what the 20’s were like, or what society was like during the Victorian era. Like music I believe scents do have their periods. This is what inspired perfumes like chanel’s No 5 to capture a period in history and all that was glorious at the time. I must hasten to add that the best scents are made more of natural ingredients and its best to avoid any scent named after a celebrity. Celebrities are fleeting and so are their associated fragrances. For more, a good read is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Essence-Alchemy-Natural-History-Perfume/dp/1586857029/ref=pd_sim_b_4">Essence and Alchemy</a> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It’s really fascinating that perfume and the use of fragrance became a routine chore before bathing was done regularly.<span> </span>Back then perfume could cover the stench from not bathing, today perfume bares all in a woman. From her sense of erotica –is she playful, intense, sensual, easy to please, mundane, does not care to her sense of well being-personality, caring, aesthetics, branding<span> </span>and desires.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Given the many prospects perfume has, why is little attention paid to citrus, musky, sandalwood, woody, honey, fruity <span> </span>inspirations that a wearer immediately assumes. More attention is given to fake hair and extensions, make-up (that is to literally make up something were there is deficiency) and stiletto for posture. I have my qualms with the hair and make-up and in the least stilettos but I find it redundant when a woman pays little attention to her true box of charm-perfume. <span> </span>Is it not true, that after a girl is gone the only thing a guy is left with is the girl’s fragrance still enamoured on his sheets.(of course the fake hair has its fair share of count-much to the disdain of every gentleman). Indeed the fragrance is the only unforgettable thing. Quite shameful then if it’s Elizabeth Aden that I get to content with.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Years ago when nobility was still in fashion, the Nobles would bath in scented waters with scented hand made soap, scented candles and burn incense acquired from faraway travels. This ritual made it easy to distinguish the nobles as they strolled in the market place. The three kings brought gifts of luxury to the new born son of man, myrrh-fine scent oils, Frankincense- incense and Gold. We are told these were wise men. I concur. Nothing distinguishes one as they stroll along in today’s’ society than wisdom and one’s scent.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">What I remember most from the girl at the parking lot coin machine in Sandton, the girl buying a Baguette along St Germaine in Paris, the girl at the airport check-in at Heathrow, the lady I sat next to at the charity dinner in Harare, is unadulterated, unflinching doses of delightfully perfect fragrance. Subtle and kind to the noise, gentle capsules of an aesthete, vivid nuances of personalities of the wearer, vibrant aroma and alluring zest. <span> </span>Enchanting notes of elegance, entreating charm and the staid countenance made me remember long after the encounters. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The encounter was brief but the whiff lingered longer and brought with it all sorts of permutations in my head. Primarily why this little joy can never be enjoyed longer and shared amongst all mortals. Alas, it’s enough to keep me happy for another day.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGyOvVQlaE4xYYRF2Ofqa5iNbQfEZDEog6KJSAjSmYNF6ARrVwC17i54e9ub5MeDZIk9d9O_enZz9vREQbV8_NKHkfGJTm8hV1Yh1Dxd-M6N3aCGMLCSYx_mcpboPhLXH6I-gg_IU6y-3N/s1600/bespoke+closeup.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGyOvVQlaE4xYYRF2Ofqa5iNbQfEZDEog6KJSAjSmYNF6ARrVwC17i54e9ub5MeDZIk9d9O_enZz9vREQbV8_NKHkfGJTm8hV1Yh1Dxd-M6N3aCGMLCSYx_mcpboPhLXH6I-gg_IU6y-3N/s400/bespoke+closeup.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"> I will admit that on occasion I have been known to steal away a few minutes from the crowd and clandestinely- with a hat covering my face- buy off the rack apparel. Once I came across a suit that had the details and lining to tempt me a fitting. I sneaked into the fitting room, hurriedly suited myself and looking into the mirror I did admire the fine posture and tailoring. Of course I had one or two details I was not happy about but in all sincerity the suit was wearable.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4pkMxz3q0ZDLNREHxsw85zpTYhWzhD-8BcGpCRNiKi8jsaf6w9uMVMtZTM1wgbN2Xxi3CjzicuaKpxKyjHWPineA19uYXe8_gw6tRGusUWwqbf3eV7x3gXBrPjCz4jbghw4zM7OJXtGb9/s1600/dunhill-bespoke-tailoring+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4pkMxz3q0ZDLNREHxsw85zpTYhWzhD-8BcGpCRNiKi8jsaf6w9uMVMtZTM1wgbN2Xxi3CjzicuaKpxKyjHWPineA19uYXe8_gw6tRGusUWwqbf3eV7x3gXBrPjCz4jbghw4zM7OJXtGb9/s320/dunhill-bespoke-tailoring+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>It was a Gucci suit, brown pin striped, single button, light wool and thin lapels. I bought it, and when I arrived in my apartment I nicely cut off all Gucci insignia before taking it to my tailor for “enhancements”. My tailor was visibly distraught-but the financial crisis meant he could not turn away a customer and so agreed to the enhancement. Being curious he tried to find the label of the suit but none sufficed, he turned to me and I remained as brood as ever and did not bat an eye-lid. After sitting down and agreeing on the amendments I happily returned a week later to a well fitting suit. To ensure my tailor remained happy I ordered a shirt from him.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Bespoke ( cloth/fabric in the tailor’s shop that has already been spoken for)suit tailoring is a dying art and Savile Row remains unflinchingly dedicated to this art. We live in a world of instant gratification, instant coffee and instant Polaroid. <span> </span>Instant coffee- which by the way is not coffee at all- takes roughly 7 minutes less to make than filter coffee (provided the beans have already been roasted. </div><div class="MsoNormal">If it takes time and consideration then perhaps it is not worth it the current mantra goes. This is a funny state of affairs- Ipad2 is introduced even before one has gotten around to unpacking Ipad1. Some may want to motivate the reasons for this, but I cannot understand why. Medical reports allude to life expectancy increasing and yet people can no longer wait. It is good to know I will live longer than the six week wait for a suit, but more importantly I do not suffer from buyer’s remorse a disease those people in high street suffer from. <span> </span>Indeed, Instant joys are never everlasting; they fizzle out as quickly as they come.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is easy to be dismissive of my treatise as pure snobbery or aristocratic pretensions. My reflections are of neither but stem from the very gallantry of self-made persons. My family blood, background and connections ensured no advantage in life. From a time my father passed on I have had the burden of family and personal ambition. I have worked hard, sweated blood to simply survive. Yet the more and more I continue on the journey the more I am proud of being a self-made man. In my travels I have met men who are recommended by family and political connections, men from low abode who have made it their ambition to marry into rich families or politically powerful families. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Or those already given the advantage of blood and so only seek connections with those of similar breed. Such is the playground of life, which my disposition and pride could never fathom. I had to fight purely on merit. But from this comes a self awareness of one’s personality and creed. I owe no allegiance to anyone but only to my whims and desires. Invariably, over time I have become acutely aware of those endeavours that accentuate and perpetuate who I am as an individual. Bespoke is naturally the only dressing endeavour that enhances individuality. A man is just as the wolf in sheep’s shire</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtspUwbhxWYuZ8Y1ny2rZQ9Osb1rnJ7nxoaHuu7iC93LEkuNxb8f5Ev64Wnm0ijBVlvt0RbuYtKRx-ej_J8fJ6Bv03nRB9BTo69Wj6tcK3y0IU6-ToLtHhTAACHz1kx5yWRDtNMqCKC_o/s1600/hackett-london-bespoke-denim-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtspUwbhxWYuZ8Y1ny2rZQ9Osb1rnJ7nxoaHuu7iC93LEkuNxb8f5Ev64Wnm0ijBVlvt0RbuYtKRx-ej_J8fJ6Bv03nRB9BTo69Wj6tcK3y0IU6-ToLtHhTAACHz1kx5yWRDtNMqCKC_o/s320/hackett-london-bespoke-denim-01.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">While many have a heritage to keep and others a heritage to perpetuate, I consider myself the first to build a heritage. It becomes important to furnish my life with those distinct attributes future generations can find as worthy heritage reserves of knowledge, talent, will power and above all aesthetics. I imagine and model myself as the original Medici family and propagating the foundation on which the renaissance period would be etched, as the “ dazzling light to future generations of <span> </span>what man can be and do”. Fashion is one aesthetic pursuit and bespoke a necessity. My collection of suits and shirts tailored as presenting a peculiar heritage shall be handed down to all my descendants as symbols of personality and art. Bespoke tailoring is the haute couture of the self-made man. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Bespoke gives me the benefit of total control over the fabric used, the colour of the suit, its structure/build and any peculiar subtle fine detail I may require. <span> </span>It gives me unlimited access to a tailor whose scissors is the chisel modelling stone into sculpture. Many instances a man finds himself clothed in whatever the ignominy of high street and high labels have deemed to be in season. Everything is mass produced and manipulated to pander to the crowds. For a moment picture those hideous high collar shirts (with three collar buttons) our young men are prone to wearing these days. <span> </span>If there is a revolution that we should take seriously in these times its the burning of such shirts-I am rather tolerable of Mubarak than these shirts. <span> </span>. Bespoke on the other hand is truly an extension on one’s skin, an appendage to one’s personality. <span> </span>It is an expression of gallantry and charm of the wearer and not borrowed adroitness. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I have invested all my savings into a business; invariably I do not have extra dollars for my fashion pursuits especially for visiting a bespoke tailor. I face the inordinate trivia of either not shopping at all, or joining the off the rack band wagon. Indeed I have given up shopping. For a while now I have not gone shopping. It makes sense to me, why should I shop and get instant gratification for something that is not real at all that builds no heritage for my house. So I have given up bespoke for the meantime while I sort out my finances. </div>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-18560965794453179072011-03-16T08:32:00.000+00:002011-03-16T08:32:46.766+00:00The Dream called Franschhoek<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58cbdEc3ap_9_PxbHdB_iZBtbOoHuQPiZS0aQVQccW4LQR-1pYYErG0dnYEOuy8o-DfheIlklKY87VgrTU0fZluuSwIlN-ufwUkDmKjKt1UQ7trRHp6FHsac-nI2-0i-ABVk_RIhX1ylZ/s1600/franschhoek+031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58cbdEc3ap_9_PxbHdB_iZBtbOoHuQPiZS0aQVQccW4LQR-1pYYErG0dnYEOuy8o-DfheIlklKY87VgrTU0fZluuSwIlN-ufwUkDmKjKt1UQ7trRHp6FHsac-nI2-0i-ABVk_RIhX1ylZ/s400/franschhoek+031.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-GB</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal">The best of the world is usually in us or in Franschhoek. Those that follow my writings would perhaps be at pains to know where in history this quote is from. No spatial reference to history will yield except that I came up with this saying after spending and taking a double take of Franschhoek, enjoying the heightened experience of my palate.<span> </span>Indeed with no palate, the essentials of Franschhoek are lost on an individual. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Asked once what my occupation was I lied to impress; “GQ’s international stylist at large but mostly a gentleman of leisure” I said with such aplomb. You see she looked like she had just sprung out of a page from Vogue and her tan in the middle of winter<span> </span>betrayed<span> </span>habitual summering<span> </span>in those Caribbean islands that are very hard to pronounce. She looked at me, the least surprised and I reckoned a “wow” would suffice. None sufficed but a snigger and retort- I “work for GQ you know” and I am coming from Franschhoek. She walked away, with a triumphant stride, but Franschhoek stuck with me! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My board was<b><i> </i></b>a quaint Cape Dutch cottage on a wine estate within the vicinity of the village. If you are interested in the history of Franschhoek, 1694 this dream was “founded”. The story goes the Dutch sailors given to highly intoxicating drink, merriment and the love thereof where somehow unable to preserve correctly the wine they imported from France. The story continues either they finished all the barrels before the cape of Goodhope or whatever was left was badly preserved. The innovative answer came to bare- invite the Frenchmen from the vineyards of Bordeaux and Champagne and in Franschhoek (French corner) they would make the finest and best wines and the ready market of thirsty Dutchmen would pay for their keep. The Frenchmen got more sun on skin and the Dutchmen more wine in their blood.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This anecdote was furnished to a rather enthusiastic wine tasting crowd by a rather excitable, funny (in an off the cuff sort of way) and slightly inebriated fellow at Haute Cabrier- the makers of the finest South African champagne and wines. The tour was grand, and after tasting the Magnus opus Ratafia my head was dizzy, I was slightly giddy- and noted the dangers of a desert wine before lunch!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">How does one capture the total magic and setting in Franschhoek, a little village town surrounded by vineyards owned by the best gentlemen of South Africa. Best, purely on account of having the good sense of buying real estate in this space where anything not Cape Dutch, white, spacious, vintage, is decidedly frowned upon. It must be a relief knowing your neighbour is not only Rothschild & Rupert (or similar iconic name) but because of the municipal bylaws, MTV grotesque architecture is forbidden. The Law, ladies and gentleman is peculiarly stylish in these parts.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The best afternoon was spent in cheese tasting at Fair view. It is a 30 minutes drive from the village and there I had my dalliance with the finest cheese in the world. Reminds one of the teenage dalliance with the best looking girl from the best girls school. A whisper and brush of the lips was enough to get me excited then, now it’s cheese and yogourt!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Feeling romantic, <span> </span>Dieu Donné, the restaurant that overlooks Franschhoek was our rendezvous. She had her hair pulled back wearing a pencil slim cherry skirt with a white body hugging vest- her black heels matching her belt. Conversation flowed, but I could not get over her body in the cherry skirt. We viewed the village lights in awe and wonder and speculated if ever a place on earth was as close to perfection as that moment. And if ever possible two beings can be in that perfect moment. It was a perfect picture!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-66217314256365994192011-03-14T10:38:00.000+00:002011-03-14T10:38:21.218+00:00"Being Black"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-GB</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuAwuKBgWFNABNRGedNWmOt6MKpav-WN75JvkPDUJrDMwNd-ZnWh9VcJu3kXhL3HCC-L0bNdN1A1aiPvycs0AEXdDfvqZIVt3Mq6PKkhZPTNbdT6Kh8mZqTbWHmlkoZXro0rjCCA3QETg1/s1600/marechera_818082866.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuAwuKBgWFNABNRGedNWmOt6MKpav-WN75JvkPDUJrDMwNd-ZnWh9VcJu3kXhL3HCC-L0bNdN1A1aiPvycs0AEXdDfvqZIVt3Mq6PKkhZPTNbdT6Kh8mZqTbWHmlkoZXro0rjCCA3QETg1/s320/marechera_818082866.png" width="320" /></a></div>No one subject has been the epic of conversation than the idea of what it is to be black. February, the black history month is littered with praises to this idea called black. Beyonce, inspired by Fela Kuti has added to the dogma, in her own way. Whatever the disagreements in the conversations, the essentials of being black are topical. There is of course the stereo type of what black is, flip the coin and one finds what black is not. <div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I have toyed with the idea of blackness and tried to understand wherefrom this idea stems and where to this idea takes me. This essay, I warn the reader is rather biased. I make no apologies for this. However, I do hope the reader burdened with my thoughts would be kind enough to be a passenger to my discourse and enjoy more the journey in conversation with a stranger than where we end up.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I was born Black- itself a pejorative term I was branded with on my birth bed. Of course as a baby I was branded in more ways than this. I was given a shona, Christian name to go with my shona ancestral surname. The contradictions were blurred, tradition interred. I was given a totem, tribe and village- my birth rights were confirmed by a piece of paper. Thus the nurse- in mandatory duty inscribed on my hospital tag-black. She had, I am sure performed this task many times. The joy of a new born baby was not on her face but rather on my mother. Hers was a mechanical performance. As far as she was concerned another black male had been born. She performed the national and worldly duty of recording on a card that another black male had been born.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This journey, from my first breath to the many decades I have been on this earth has been the same. The most identifiable feature about me is my blackness- something I never chose, I was simply branded. There is a difference between a feature and a trait (embodied in character). The feature is perhaps what the nurse saw on my birth bed- if one were to ask her she would say she saw a black baby. <span> </span>And the world does this so often, I do it as well. I see certain features and I immediately infer whether black or any other race- conjecture is little.<span> </span>Second to this are particular traits- the usual “oh that’s so black” leaves one with an inference that indeed there are traits and qualities that are black. It is the feature meshed with trait that the world goes by in composing blackness.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I cannot with certainty question this insight. Perhaps it is what it is. The kinky hair, chocolate skin, thick lips and broad behinds are a matter of fact. The laugh, expressions, language and customs are identifiable traits. It is what it is. But to end there is a failure of the mind and failure to interrogate the essence of blackness. </div><div class="MsoNormal">This essay is essentially an interrogation of “being black” rather than the features and traits that stereo type blackness. By identifying what “being black” means I hope to knock on the door of black consciousness and walk the annals of an idea cradled in the heart of Africa.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The movie gladiator has a scene I have often pondered on. The emperor Marcus Aurelius sits and whispers to his favoured general<span> </span>Maximus and talks of taking back the Roman Empire <span> </span>to the senate and making it a republic again. In melancholy he questions the war victories and the military show of might- desperately trying to find meaning. Maximus chastises the Emperor, and beguiles the virtues and might of Rome- the city state the soldiers have defended. The emperor asks Maximus how he can defend and uphold the virtues of a city he has never been to- for an idea he was never part of in creating. Maximus, a Spaniard (i.e not even Roman) in defending the idea called “Rome”, a civilisation that was like no other, is illustrative of the idea of being. </div><div class="MsoNormal">That is the idea of of “being Roman” was not particular of certain features or traits. The Emperor representative of all that was glorious and might about Romans, blood as pure as ice was far away from “being Roman”. <span> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The paradox continues later on in the movie when the son as new emperor wants to mate with his sister to produce a pure heir to the throne (this was the culture especially in Egypt where a pharaoh had to be of pure blood to sanctify his rulership) .It took a foreigner, a person of vile slave background, impure blood to be the general and symbol of “Being Roman”.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Heidegger in his study of Being-called it an ontological expedition of Dasein. To simplify- what does it mean to exist? What is the very nature of existence? <span> </span>Existence is that which is alive beyond the physical.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">“Being black” entails an idea that is alive beyond the physical features and traits. It must invoke the idea of blackness beyond what the nurse saw, what people see. The debates that have ensued have dwelled and laboured hard in arguing a feature is what is black. They have argued, black was never defined by black people themselves but rather by white people. The white race in defining what is black ensured exclusivity to what is white. Thus, the argument goes, a white man in Africa cannot term or identify himself with Black Africa because he has not the requisite features or traits. His features are European. Only pure bloods, only pure bloods are allowed. <span> </span>That is foolish.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is foolish to tribalise consciousness. I as an individual can never characterise my very consciousness. What is alive in an individual is not the physical manifestation of one's being. What is alive is rudderless, matterless, featureless, dimensionless conscience . It is quite so with nation hoods and state hoods. A people can never be bordered and defined by the physical planes of a place. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We have seen this with the Diaspora, sons and daughters of three or four generations that have never been to Africa but identify with the idea of being black. It is very much so that the kindred spirit of being black is alive.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The essence of blackness is hard to fathom and I would like to believe further interrogation is in order. But I know enough to know what is not Black. Meat and bone coloured with a certain shade of black can never be the essence blackness.<span> </span>“Being black” is not an absolute phenomenon, it cannot be what we see. It is an idea that very well encapsulates our existence as black people. One should not be easily fooled by the expedience of identifying blackness with affirmative action, Black Economic Empowerment, returning land to the "true" owners. This is spatial, shallow and it too shall pass. To retain credibility supporters and beneficiaries of such programmes have to tout and define blackness as an absolute manifestation. However much booty they may acquire their folly should never be ours. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-11507342039100453502011-02-08T12:39:00.000+00:002011-02-08T12:39:47.351+00:00On the shortness of life: Seneca"<span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested. But when it is squandered in luxury and carelessness, when it is devoted to no good end, forced at last by the ultimate necessity we perceive that it has passed away before we were aware that it was passing. So it is—the life we receive is not short, but we make it so, nor do we have any lack of it, but are wasteful of it. Just as great and princely wealth is scattered in a moment when it comes into the hands of a bad owner, while wealth however limited, if it is entrusted to a good guardian, increases by use, so our life is amply long for him who orders it properly. </span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Why do we complain of Nature? She has shown herself kindly; life, if you know how to use it, is long. But one man is possessed by an avarice that is insatiable, another by a toilsome devotion to tasks that are useless; one man is besotted with wine, another is paralyzed by sloth; one man is exhausted by an ambition that always hangs upon the decision of others, another, driven on by the greed of the trader, is led over all lands and all seas by the hope of gain; some are tormented by a passion for war and are always either bent upon inflicting danger upon others or concerned about their own; some there are who are worn out by voluntary servitude in a thankless attendance upon the great; many are kept busy either in the pursuit of other men's fortune or in complaining of their own; many, following no fixed aim, shifting and inconstant and dissatisfied, are plunged by their fickleness into plans that are ever new; some have no fixed principle by which to direct their course, but Fate takes them unawares while they loll and yawn—so surely does it happen that I cannot doubt the truth of that utterance which the greatest of poets delivered with all the seeming of an oracle: "The part of life we really live is small." For all the rest of existence is not life, but merely time. </span></span></span><br />
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<span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> In short, run through the list of all these men from the lowest to the highest—this man desires an advocate, this one answers the call, that one is on trial, that one defends him, that one gives sentence; no one asserts his claim to himself, everyone is wasted for the sake of another.</span></span></span><br />
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<span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Ask about the men whose names are known by heart, and you will see that these are the marks that distinguish them: A cultivates B and B cultivates C; no one is his own master.</span></span></span><br />
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<span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> And then certain men show the most senseless indignation—they complain of the insolence of their superiors, because they were too busy to see them when they wished an audience! But can anyone have the hardihood to complain of the pride of another when he himself has no time to attend to himself? After all, no matter who you are, the great man does sometimes look toward you even if his face is insolent, he does sometimes condescend to listen to your words, he permits you to appear at his side; but you never deign to look upon yourself, to give ear to yourself. There is no reason, therefore, to count anyone in debt for such services, seeing that, when you performed them, you had no wish for another's company, but could not endure your own." </span></span></span>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-36506218863191173092011-01-31T20:45:00.003+00:002011-02-01T07:43:16.910+00:00In defense of Kanye West<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggARpa00czeTCxbI-iOitL3JZZhtA9Mwe7C9O2OUUjvua1RhNDYTUy8NACT9fwvy_uPV3LEMn_Nt61iXB_Lp6MSvxIyy9EoqSyAHmeAq997oWsYkCQBXmqVLOdxCd-bPQmUA6KtOPwdr0D/s1600/n653425150_6513819_528391.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggARpa00czeTCxbI-iOitL3JZZhtA9Mwe7C9O2OUUjvua1RhNDYTUy8NACT9fwvy_uPV3LEMn_Nt61iXB_Lp6MSvxIyy9EoqSyAHmeAq997oWsYkCQBXmqVLOdxCd-bPQmUA6KtOPwdr0D/s400/n653425150_6513819_528391.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">A man who dresses this good must be forgiven seven fold times. But wait a minute the good book says forgiveness should be a running stream no matter what for any man, in no particular preference. Yet the world has chosen to persecute the greatest imaginative mind in the music industry at the moment. Admittedly, there is something off about Kanye west, clearly Kanye is no breath of fresh air- but he certainly is a Superstar!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXqaZo6AbQB9I_ZziEbC6Ym1DKvnSW4Nx4IQXKUy8ZLGMcPlO370dgNyZcGSDXDbIvmBTQiDJvjW-R_EuaJ92WfPgQ-yONq90FJLsuqnDC7TlDE1OFrWecn6C5GQ9xZaUCiWKA6l2NE7MQ/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXqaZo6AbQB9I_ZziEbC6Ym1DKvnSW4Nx4IQXKUy8ZLGMcPlO370dgNyZcGSDXDbIvmBTQiDJvjW-R_EuaJ92WfPgQ-yONq90FJLsuqnDC7TlDE1OFrWecn6C5GQ9xZaUCiWKA6l2NE7MQ/s320/images.jpg" width="124" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Kanye West is arrogant- the mob shouts in chorus, persecute him and ban his music from the airwaves. He is the wrong role model cries the parent – in vain trying to keep his/her kids from listening to Kanye. Is this not an indictment that something is badly wrong with our society, quick to persecute a man for simply not having the inclination to pretext his askance with please and may i? Kanye has no manners, point taken. Kanye is a manic MC whose inspired words and rhyme have taken music to another level-This point should be taken.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Unwrapping Mr West’s album felt like walking into Picasso’s Museum in Barcelona, one is simply entering a zone. A zone where you return never the same, the grandeur of the tour is a glimpse of works of art of a genius!. A twisted genius nonetheless. Picasso introduced the world to blue and pink emotions, Kanye introduces the world to pink fantasies of a Socrates kind,( more chocolatie) in a Murciélago.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In recent times I have had my own existential crisis. I have tried to understand my life and what life really means. I had my sad moment, until I read L. Mises and the words “the fully satisfied individual is purposeless, he does not act, he has no incentive to think, he spends his days in leisurely enjoyment of life. Whether such a fairy-like existence is desirable may be left undecided. It is certain that living men can never attain such a state of perfection and equilibrium.” Kanye made me understand that life is a constant flux .Here is one individual who is never satisfied, who has made the world of music better off!</div>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5011846628810786245.post-32102901524135792792010-11-16T05:07:00.000+00:002010-11-16T05:07:10.433+00:00Vumba<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGl5dGFRUaB59G4Qs3ZFzhRMPZOzYPne4PepzR8WvwRT73qJkaN7s-ssxhH3aE7Yng8RPYUB2lTJia_1MjYWBN7tWCMomH6ahsKYacKf82XJjim7qR6FKCqdl8sJpNlGYSwr31g9XysZCd/s1600/vumba+133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGl5dGFRUaB59G4Qs3ZFzhRMPZOzYPne4PepzR8WvwRT73qJkaN7s-ssxhH3aE7Yng8RPYUB2lTJia_1MjYWBN7tWCMomH6ahsKYacKf82XJjim7qR6FKCqdl8sJpNlGYSwr31g9XysZCd/s320/vumba+133.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpMySyE2Wh79H1b9UGe0wy2oDntUh3jkuj3rfPo2La1_BwzAEmRI6lIor8Nc2NT2FFEPCRY9LfrHZ1olhxenhCB65bUTfh__u9UffdmcrhI8gzTZfgVTY60pOoM7LuZZNuaSD-WFX5s8u/s1600/vumba+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpMySyE2Wh79H1b9UGe0wy2oDntUh3jkuj3rfPo2La1_BwzAEmRI6lIor8Nc2NT2FFEPCRY9LfrHZ1olhxenhCB65bUTfh__u9UffdmcrhI8gzTZfgVTY60pOoM7LuZZNuaSD-WFX5s8u/s320/vumba+011.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfywBwh67zRLvCJI1LEWEtFOH8U1t3LaoUzHzPiTbST4Sn8f0duSr4RJ_J1-d6K2YPuzuYFFCBlQqD81dth7HnDXEx2_Y-FW_lvsyIZXc7nKVjRrl5npcdrZbJlDtXy7EqDkdRBH4UOJNA/s1600/vumba+085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfywBwh67zRLvCJI1LEWEtFOH8U1t3LaoUzHzPiTbST4Sn8f0duSr4RJ_J1-d6K2YPuzuYFFCBlQqD81dth7HnDXEx2_Y-FW_lvsyIZXc7nKVjRrl5npcdrZbJlDtXy7EqDkdRBH4UOJNA/s320/vumba+085.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidh9qtOL92uMVQdQ4hikqN3OPRHyKuVbiGcjYhhHMgFHPHzAKntKf6LPKvvjGGudMz13cLuX1xTnQ_400z89LLZg_4bje6QcfJvIRFfgrUanQsWz3DrjA39f95nDN8UALjdfVJ2OVQLfoY/s1600/vumba+091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidh9qtOL92uMVQdQ4hikqN3OPRHyKuVbiGcjYhhHMgFHPHzAKntKf6LPKvvjGGudMz13cLuX1xTnQ_400z89LLZg_4bje6QcfJvIRFfgrUanQsWz3DrjA39f95nDN8UALjdfVJ2OVQLfoY/s320/vumba+091.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">It was Coco Chanel who made us understand the necessity of luxury in our lives. Asked what the opposite of luxury was she quipped; “vulgarity”. In today’s world there is no shortage of vulgarism – if in doubt hop on a plane and land somewhere between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, better yet Las Vegas. Turn on the TV and watch MTV cribs. If you manage to not vomit in disgust, then perhaps your stomach is sterner than mine! Standing at the edifice of the Vumba mountains I could not help but reflect on Coco Chanel’s insight- tucked away in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe at the border with Mozambique the spectre of Coco’s Luxury descended.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Yet it is not Chanel who impresses a philosophy in these parts. Rather it is the Roman Emperor Hadrian, the last of the classical era who having lived 400 years after the classical glory in Athens went about to recreate and model everything Athenian. Recreating the ebb and flow, the art and triumphs of a by-gone time as a musing to the Roman generation of his time. In essence he captured the very best Kodak moment of Athens and its satellites. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Vumba, spanning a 24 km road of sharp curves around misty mountains and steep descents, captures the very best of the Victorian England and its satellite the Scottish highlands. It is important to step into this mist of Luxury with history in mind. The British colonial settlers at the time believed in Vumba they had found a little England, and so went about to pick their favourite grand pieces in Victorian times, recreating the cobble stone roads, architecture , castles, gardens and lakes in the most picturesque mountains and valleys.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The best in Luxury of the Vumba culminates at Leopard Rock, named after the Leopards abundant in the mountains. Perhaps it is important the reader understands why I write about the Vumba and Leopard rock in particular. Zimbabwe, after the lost decade has some of the most appalling and overpriced hotels in Africa. Most with the exception of a few tell epic stories of former glory and the hospitality is disparate and poorly. Leopard rock, recently refurbished is munificent with grandeur of the highest notch and gives one reason to still believe in the Zimbabwean hospitality. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">It was refreshing, being welcomed by dapper members of staff in navy blue blazers, white shirts, striped ties and chino trousers that were quite adept in handling the trivial and peculiar requests of a gentleman at leisure. I was suitably impressed with the home-made vanilla ice cream that comes in generous proportions and served on the terrace overlooking the wondrous garden. Every detail in the hotel has been done by a deliberate hand and an eye with a penchant for timeless splendour.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Horse riding in the game reserve, betrays visions of the English gentleman hunting hounds in Winchester- with the backdrop of whispering spring waters racing down a gorge. The gardens defeat in meticulousness all that is beautiful in Bath and rival Chateau Versailles. Decadence of mind and body is best served at the spa, after which a leisurely walk in the gardens inspires romantic prose even in a brute.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsc-wSIuIwipwnlt57SkgC9MYZRMpes8cMpNNmENmxcRzKEV5bMJY7HHNhLXsqT56jwktuNmwKreF8Q7uWgKkKma-rz__i_TjDtDgYhiPCF6IVwZSYv8I764EDPtPtbjplDQmbAwU-3cN1/s1600/vumba+081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsc-wSIuIwipwnlt57SkgC9MYZRMpes8cMpNNmENmxcRzKEV5bMJY7HHNhLXsqT56jwktuNmwKreF8Q7uWgKkKma-rz__i_TjDtDgYhiPCF6IVwZSYv8I764EDPtPtbjplDQmbAwU-3cN1/s320/vumba+081.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyQsxw4ghiq9tRqoKbEPJliIcDRLlpAVlbnibgptHTFbtiKP7E44NXG2nxi9HrNOMPtOk-BGSRb1hh5_PeyIGnTU187kQH2_vGAX7TqoDqHhyphenhyphenodGL8jtr1GshdctQKlfuCEFjFEaLVyRd/s1600/vumba+064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyQsxw4ghiq9tRqoKbEPJliIcDRLlpAVlbnibgptHTFbtiKP7E44NXG2nxi9HrNOMPtOk-BGSRb1hh5_PeyIGnTU187kQH2_vGAX7TqoDqHhyphenhyphenodGL8jtr1GshdctQKlfuCEFjFEaLVyRd/s320/vumba+064.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikxrgBRb1tv3sesGl1SN4hcqlJOoVX_KyPWdW5flGD2oufMJ6fa3grCDsfm7mQxem96OgznBwqt8GAdY1xaJ0u2Xr7RRxEP_ir4xwvAZNMfoJMQrf_J0JhVXhQybrnyavWkhb10KH99AIX/s1600/vumba+109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikxrgBRb1tv3sesGl1SN4hcqlJOoVX_KyPWdW5flGD2oufMJ6fa3grCDsfm7mQxem96OgznBwqt8GAdY1xaJ0u2Xr7RRxEP_ir4xwvAZNMfoJMQrf_J0JhVXhQybrnyavWkhb10KH99AIX/s320/vumba+109.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">On occasion, I sampled the best of Vumba. Driving leisurely I meandered the sharp bends, reminiscent of the South of France, up the mountain right up to Mountain Heights- at the apex the breath taking view was an awesome reminder of the creative hand that moulded earth. A walk in the botanical gardens is like stepping in into the very best of Hardy’s distinct prose. Everything dressed in perfection.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"> Further down my inquisitive pursuits landed me at Eden Lodge. It is at Eden Lodge, I found the staff very helpful and again bending backwards in entertaining my little nuisances. Upon discovering a quaint spot in the gardens overlooking the gorge, I was obliged with a table and chairs and devoured my generous portion of t-bone steak with rice. Priced at $10, this was a dead giveaway, considering the calf whose fine cut of tender steak I made my lunch, was slaughtered on the Estate that very day. I was tempted to simply take a nap after such a meal right there in the garden, without further hesitation I made a pillow out of my jacket and snored the afternoon away. Early evening saw me peddling a canoe at the Eden dam, a pleasant way of sipping sun downers.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Again another show stopper, is the Inn on the Vumba that serves a five course dinner. The Inn is not in the best of conditions, a little TLC would help, but the dining room is such a warm and cosy hideout and the food divine. Serving aLá carte menu, I chose the five course menu starting with chicken livers with bread fingers, and the appetiser homemade maestro soup. Trout, captured that afternoon, was my main course served with jacket potato and delicious vegetables. I skipped desert and settled for cheese and biscuits served with tea. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">For Afternoon High tea then Tony’s coffee shop is the idyllic rendezvous. Its confectionary, I was to be made aware of is world renowned. I consider myself a connoisseur of confectionary of sort and I have numerous tooth fillings to show for it- and this has to be the BEST cake and coffee shop in the whole wide world. Total decadence, scouts honour! This is the sort of place that needs no Homer myth to populate its sweetness. Only your test buds will attest.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I realise I could go on, and tell of every tale of the Vumba, but the locals will attest zviri nani kuzvionera pamhuno sefodya- its better you see it for yourself. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Apologies for this post not appearing earlier. </i></div>Super star!http://www.blogger.com/profile/17517523627619808433noreply@blogger.com1