How we behave.
Time magaizine has a really interesting article on how humans behave in the worst of times. I can’t really say I have been in such a situation although I remember as a kid, heading back from Molo with my dad, our car tyre blew and the car careened off the road making rapid acquaintances with an accacia tree. In the ensuing commotion my relatives had recited a couple of hail mary’s, our father’s, one called on the good lord, another one spoke in a tongue I can bet any professor in linguistics wouldn’t figure. I have since heard various versions of the story, none more elaborate than the six-step breakdown from my uncle who also claimed that he’d seen a woman by the roadside holding a kid.(it’s my understanding that Molo line drivers have encountered such “incidences”)- but I just think its all hot air. I’m not superstitious at all and here’s the math.
1.Car hits pothole = Car tyre busts + careens off the road/hits accacia tree = people speak*act funny.(duh!)
However, I do question how i’d react if I was in such a situation (9/11, tsunami etc). Back in the day I had an interesting exchange with some makangas next to the Kenya Railways station having just alighted from a 111 from ngong. A dude in our contingent had dared that should they even ‘darest thou thinkest’ to touch him, the clique would descend upon them with fury hell hath not seen before. The clique?
1. The fella Magaidi
2. A dude by the name of Gitau.
He must have said something because we managed to walk/run/squat away from the place with heads somehow held high. My actual feeling when this was going on was more of curiosity. The sweat on my brow was only due to the sweltering heat! I think my first instinct would be to go check out what happened and that’s probably not a good thing. On the flip side if I scurry away, I barely know what i’m running from or to - One thing I doubt i’d do in such situations is sit and chill.
Song Of the Week.
From the Transparency International (T.I Kenyan Chapter) B.O.G to one Gladwell Otieno
dedication:
‘T.I’s - You don’t know me.
Caption: “They call me T.I but you don’t know me”
Add yours here! ————————————>
Marathon Monday
Magaidi
Today I intend to proudly put on my ‘Kenya - Hatucheki na watu’ t-shirt and head on to town for the marathon. Its the only day miros gather around adorned in Kenyan regalia be it t-shirts, flags, bandanas,vests and since it’s almost a given that a Kenyan will win the race (Yeah I know we’re spoilt beyond words) unless Bong Ju Lee comes out of nowhere and takes it, we intend to belt out the national anthem in the streets of downtown Boston. I was astounded at how badly we mixed up the tunes and the words last year. We had fellows singing the same verse three times since none of us could remember the words until ‘Kila siku tuwe na shukrani’. Thanks to the good fellas at KenyanspaceI am ready to educate the masses.
On the same note:
I hear old man M-O-1 is also in town and they had a dinner organized for fellows to meet the dude, I believe you had to part with $250 for entrance, plus the meal. Bollox I say, it would take a well thought case for me to even part with $2.50 to meet the guy, from what i’ve seen, I haven’t been impressed
Of Affirmative Action
An acquaintance of mine has taken it upon himself to protect the world from half-roasted peas, light milk shakes, not-so-fresh salads and undercooked veggies. This particular individual sees it as his sole responsibility to inform the uneducated that it is your civil right, ingrained within the framework of affirmative action that if you order a half roasted goat and sukumawiki ‘to go’ then it had better be half-roasted and ready to go. I have observed this individual complain how, after all Malcolm X and Martin Luther King fought for, he still cannot get a decent steak at a local eating house. I cringed when once during dinner he made an awkward analogy comparing the plight of slaves in the slavery era to miniature supporting roles that people of color get in big budget movies. After this i’d have bet my last buck on him blaming the government for him not showering. MLK would have turned in his grave if word of this ever got to him. Please don’t send me email claiming I be-little the causes of ‘affirmative action’ because you’ll be wasting your time. I believe affirmative action should exist but for some reason. There seems to be a disconcerting ‘sense of entitlement’ unfairly attached to the causes that affirmative action should be advocating for. This notwithstanding, I am sure getting a decent steak at the local eatery wasn’t on MLK and other pioneers’ minds when they were fighting for equal rights.
When Hits are not so Fresh anymore
Magaidi
Nairobi’s KISS 100FM and its presenters, I have come to believe live their lives 2-months behind everyone else’s schedule. Matter of fact, I believe they might be making plans for the valentines show sometime this week. Avid listeners must dress in red and call in to request the freshest new track on the market - sema’s ‘Leta Wimbo’. In addition, if you and your friends call numerous times we just might be able to get E-Sir’s ‘Boomba Train’ back on the countdown (nairobi’s fresh 10). This morning they premiered Kevin Little’s hot new track!’Turn Me On’. It will be played countless times and rest assured it will be dubbed Nairobi’s hottest new song each time you hear it. Maybe, just maybe Sean Paul’s ‘Like Glue’ might premier sometime next week but rest assured at KISS FM, there is no such thing as an old song. In two months listeners should be keen lest you be fooled by their every funny ‘April Fools’ prank.
A.O.B
*Ogopa DJs launch Kleptomaniax’ new album ‘M4E’ later this month, I believe April 30th. Personally i’ve heard a few of the tracks on this album thanks to the ever generous Banda of Ogopa DJs. Sounds tight and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this CD!.The Ogopa Website I am made to believe is going live this Friday April 15th so check it out whenever you have a moment.
Mad Props to:
* Ory and global voices for putting us on the map.
* Mental for his unrelenting work ethic to improving the Kenyan Blogosphere. KenyaUnlimited is now up and running.
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About
Magaidi.com is the journal of the African kid. A diary of sorts, a collection of musings and a discussion point on the way forward for the motherland.
