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One of the more creative jokes about England’s demise at the World Cup I’ve seen so far…..

When in doubt, discretize…. - Probably the most important thing I never learnt

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

A moment of rashness by a certain Sani Kaita will go down as the defining moment of Nigeria’s World Cup - when the tenuous grip of one hundred and fifty million people was savagely hacked off. At that time Nigeria was 1-0 up - thanks to a somewhat fortuitous goal – and had largely being untroubled by the Greeks who had been pedestrian all through. The rest, as they say, is history and Greece went on to win to put Nigeria’s world cup dreams effectively on hold for four more years. ...

Long before I segued into the way of all flesh, I had always had a sense of connection with the Prodigal Son. In these dark days when my faith vacillates between the highs of unquestioning belief and the depths of blatant scepticism with the increasingly longer spells of being mired in the drudgery of self deprecating musing, I find myself drawn to the text again and again. Something about the lost son finally coming to himself, realizing there is a better life, a better way of doing stuff resonates with me. I fear I am lost, that somehow I have eaten so long of the hors d’œuvres of the beguiling tempter that his full feast of bitter gall is an ineluctable consequence. Trust me I have tried; but the overwhelming sense of guilt at the bloke I have become weighs me down. Like the proverbial swine given pearls, I appear to have taken world class opportunities and contrived to lose them amidst the quotidian pursuits of the good life. ...

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.) ...

They say its a small world - and that everyone is connected to every one else by at most six people. Today I learned that first hand. My friend K has mentioned in the past that she’s got a sister in my town. Today I finally worked up the nerve had the opportunity to talk with her a bit (if talk can occur in 25 secs that is). Thing is K and I have some history of sorts - its one of those online collaborations which segued into an occasional offline chat and all. So when K’s sister asked how I knew K, I was a bit stumped.. Turns out there is another bloke, a T this time, who is mutual friends with K and I (again that undefined, web 2.0 kind), his name jumped out as the basis of my knowing K.. Turns out T also has a sister in my town, and in my church.. Cue the hems and ahh as to her I knew her brother - the official line was we ‘worked on a project together’.. That’s what I’m sticking with though.. Fingers crossed that the meeting ends up forgotten (or at least the bit about me knowing their siblings), else I’ll be having loads of explaining to do.. :) ...

I’ve spent the last few months probing - looking to find a rationale for blogging that is not inextricably connected to feeding the over arching desire of my inner narcissist to be heard above the din that is the blogosphere…. 2009 was different…. I followed over 1,000 blogs, I bounced from blog to blog leaving comments, there was banter, there was drama, there was poetry on a level I’d only dreamed of, there were blog collabos…. and a few crushes…. My old favorites were still around, and a few newbies served up delicious stuff… Oh.. the Anons spiced things up too… ...

I miss the old days. Growing up on a University campus in Nigeria, books were my salvation and the BBC World Service was the information source. We didn’t have decent television (it was an archaic black and white National television set with aerials that never worked), didn’t have the internet, was the weird kid on the block, and generally stuck out like a sore thumb. I got my nose in books, the bulk of which were boring, ponderous, academic reads. ...

When you bill per the hour, looking busy is of paramount importance… The criticality of this black art is never more obvious than when you sit in full view of the Oga and can ill afford to be found playing solitaire, surfing the internet mindlessly, blogging, or God help you - being nabbed on ogling the goodies on offer on Page 3. Below are the top tips I have gleaned from the best – trust me I’ve learned from the very best - a stellar cast of international pedigree.. ...