Music-&-Media

They say life is about simple pleasures - everyday things which we are wont to make light of - which taken together serve to generate an ambience of normalcy around us. Each week, I will attempt to identify one simple thing I have grown to delight in… from my otherwise uninteresting life. When the subject of music, and my taste with regards to it comes up, I always declare unequivocally that my taste is eccletic. In the past week for instance, I have listened to Eminem, Donnie McClurkin, the Backstreet Boys, Kenny G and today Heather Headley. ...

I’m finding myself increasingly enchanted by The Script…. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLJv57zE2To]

The Script’s Break Even just came on the radio, and as usual it brought back memories. In the main they are somewhat pleasant memories, even though the lyrics to the song are particularly sad. Capital FM played the song ad nauseum last summer, and in a way it became the signature tune for that summer of my life - blighted by so many could haves and would have s. Summer started ok; my days being filled with the boringly mind numbing task of completing my dissertation. In between, I threw in attending a wedding across the Atlantic in Houston, planning my move back to my old Nigerian job and being very good friends with TheB. Capital FM was my constant companion at the time, as I stayed awake into the wee hours of the morning slogging things out. In an uncanny way, it seemed the song became a self fulfilling prophecy - Bisi and I never progressed beyond the friends zone, the Nigerian job fell through, and I missed a first on my degree…. ...

Mary J Blige’s Stronger and Carlos Whittaker’s God of Second Chances

I just heard this song.. and it blew me away.. Lea Salonga’s One Voice.. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT5E7LMu2ks]

To a fabulous week that is….. It is 11.41pm, and I am as clear eyed as I can be. I have just returned from the Muyiwa & Riversongz concert. It was fab, If I say so. Apparently the concert was designed to signal the commissioning of a ‘gospel’ choir in the city. The music was great all round - a throwback to my days back in University as an undergrad. Surprise, surprise, the bloke who leads the choir was also quite an active bloke on that same campus and was involved in plotting planning various musical events campus wide. The added benefits of catching up with blokes number 10 and 11 (the numbers refer to the number of close friends and acquaintances I have been re-united with since I made the move across the Atlantic) was fab and far outweighed any misgivings I might have had about shelling out 10 pounds to attend (and the 10 pounds I paid for a CD/DVD of Muyiwa’s album.) ...

I think things tend to look either worse off or better off in retrospect.. There must be a technical term for that - like nostalgia bias, or retrospection bias or warreva… (Help me out one of you psychologists)… Bottom line is i think when we look back at the past, we either think its much better than it actually was, or much worse…. I just had such a moment.. Thankfully, Me the pragmatist won - eventually….. Blame insomnia, the wacky DJ over at Capital FM, and nostalgia…. ...

This has been one hell of a ride. There was change aplenty - the good, the bad and the iffy. In hindsight, maybe some decisions in 2008 were hasty, maybe they were not…Bottom line is that I survived.. Call them random occurrences, put them down to luck or whatever – I think it was Divine Providence that pulled me through some really difficult times. It had to be – from getting THE opportunity after it had closed, to significant delays on bus timings that enabled me catch the train that got the ball rolling, to having a friend leave her house at the just the right time I needed a new house to stay in a new city (P you totally rock!), to getting Brooke Fraser’s Shadowfeet at the time things felt the bleakest, there had to be some orchestration behind it all. The plus side is I learned a few hard lessons - still learning even newer, harder ones. ...

I really would shoot someone if I could. The neighbour decided to have a party and proceeded to deliver an extra loud one - music blaring at obscene levels, people shuffling in the name of dance and setting off vibrations in the entire house. They live above my flat, so I was forced to be privy to the wacky selections the DJ put together. They didn’t even have the courtesy to pre-inform us of their intentions. Thankfully my days here are numbered! Can’t let anyone rain on my parade! ...

I heard John Piper tell a story in a message today from his “Don’t Waste Your Life Conference” based on the Julio Diaz story… Apparently the guy’s a social worker and, like all chronic Bachelors, frequents a particular diner for his evening meal on the way back from work on Fridays. On this day, he was ambushed by a would-be mugger. Rather than attempt to struggle, Diaz proceeded to offer his coat, and then dinner to the teenager. ...