This neo-LeCorbusier / Amyas Douglas Connell styled Tower is part of Parliament Buildings in Nairobi, Kenya. Everyone who’s been to Nairobi has prob. seen it – yani, what’s inside? Offices? Toilets? A secret golf range? Some city clerks peddaling on a bicycle that generates power for that clock?? …Could anyone please enlighten me on this mystery? Thx!
(Kenya’s) President Mwai Kibaki has unveiled his new-look Cabinet.(…) In a speech delivered from State House, he said it was necessary to reorganise his government in order to make it more cohesive and better able to serve the people of Kenya. The new-look Cabinet is also aimed at restoring donor confidence.
(source: The Standard)
Mvunja nchi ni mwana nchi. God bless Kenya…
1. There’s this France-based German photographer Uwe Ommer who spent four years and traveled 250.000 kilometers (160.000 miles) in a cross-country vehicle to photograph families of the world. He “simply” travelled the world to meet some 2000 families using a Rolleiflex 6008i camera. The result is an amazing collection of 1000 family portraits from 130 countries covering five continents… (PHOTOgraphical.NET)
(KUDOS to Lady Mbuzimoja for showing me this wonderful book :-)
2. There’s this Germany-Jamaica-based German musician by the name of “Gentleman” who spend a long time on Jamaica, sings in Patois (!) and blesses us with wonderful music. Actually, Reggae/Dancehall isn’t my most fav style, but there’s this one song that really got me during the weekend: “send a prayer” – published on Gentleman’s “Confidence” album in August 2004. I just love this song (mp3 preview)! BIG UP TO OUR JAMAA Gentleman!
Gentleman’s new video to that song was released on December 2nd, 2005 and so when I sat here during the weekend, being bored by all this stuff on my desk, I switched on the tv and tuned into the music television channel where I saw it….
The result?
See for yourself and compare:
(all screenshots made with VLC – the best cross-plattform media player around :-)
Update:
Oh, and I eventually managed to get my hands on an mpg version of this nice video – and got to see the last image of it:
“Pictures by Uwe Ommer, taken from the book 1000 Families”
(Now I just wish this associative function way up in my brain could work on more important things as well…. sigh…)
Around this time last year, I went to Amsterdam, NL to visit a friend. Amsterdam is a cooooooool place to be :-) A busy city with a huge cultural mixup, lots of tourists and many small interesting details to discover.
Among those interesting things was this shop called LUSH – fresh handmade cosmetics (better than The Body Shop if I may say so). Until then, my self-inflicted exile in this rural area called Kijiji never made me realize that there are some LUSH shops in Germany as well. Anways, there are two or three LUSH shops in Amsterdam and I ended up buying all sorts of SOAP (Swahili: sabuni) for my family. That is, since nobody smokes at home, I couldn’t come up with any homemade ashtrays made out of clay or other useless stuff… Imagine it’s Xmas and you’re in for those soap presents. Yeah, great. They LOVED it, though. Soap is always welcome! (attention: please do not blame me for any excessive shopping on lush.com – i know they’re having an adictive product range…and no, i am not metrowhatever… :-)
Sabuni à la LUSH: EXTRA VIRGIN OIL SOAP, OOH LA LA SOAP, DEMON IN THE DARK SOAP
So today I posted this Leatherman mod of mine on Craftster and came across another interesting thread on homemade soap. SOAP! Sabuni! Kiku’s soap? Should I try to make some soap as well? Obviously, I would call it Sabunimoja® then…. :-)
…which points me to another issue I’ve been thinking about: the income generating project, as I would like to call it.
Whether you’re employed or working as a freelancer, it’s always nice to have some sort of extra income, something that will give you more independence. Of course one could start doing reselling, like selling Kikois from Kenya on eBay or maybe wood carvings or other nice stuff. However, how do you advertise those products over here? Who would buy a Kikoi on eBay in Europe except for those who have been to East Africa and know about the many uses a Kikoi can provide (I never travel without my Kikoi!).
Some of the Kikois I’ve tried to sell…
A friend of mine started a shop online – she sells trendy bags and other accessories, even some from Kenya. I’ll still have to ask her about custom and shipping charges – all costs that add up to the price. Also, another problem with reselling is the quality. Suppose you have a good manufacturer who supplies you with a certain handmade product – can he really guarantee that his understanding of quality equals yours? The way I understand it is that quality = same standard all the time. Now imagine those Kikois with their flaws – how do you explain that to customers? “Yeah, you see, those are handmade products..blabla…”. Not everyone is as relaxed and easy going on such things as I am, accepting such quality faults…and then of course there’s The Kikoy Co. that has a beautiful range of Kikois & other great clothes. Expensive, but good.
So what kind of products do have a market in todays world? As for Germany, it has to be very cheap or very expensive in order to sell. And there will never be a way to compete with products from low-cost countries, so I better stick to an exclusive product….like handmade soap?
And why handmade, why not something virtual like a website? Because I can. And because I would like to create something that i can touch with my hands, something that will be there after I’ve pulled the plug. Something eco-effective, something with a certain sustainability and something that can be of use whether in Germany in the cold winter or in Kenya somewhere upcountry in the dry savannah or even at the beach. Let’s see what the future brings…
The Leatherman Tool Group (Inc.) deliver most of their multi tools with sheath (Nylon or Leather sheath) which are nice for wearing a multi tool on the belt. Although their product range includes an intelligent approach on a lot of details with those tools, they apparently ignored the sheath issue: that thing is just too small for all the tools included (the LM Wave + a bit set + a small maglite® solitaire) and wayyyyyyy toooo bulky on the belt.
The moment I ordered the new Wave a month ago (shipping from the US takes time!), I already thought about keeping my old brown leather sheath – and the new Wave fits into that old sheath as well so things could have been ok….
On the other hand though, I wanted to use pieces of that LM Bit Kit which came along (consisting of 21 pieces) and maybe also have a small holster for that maglite® – which of course didn’t fit into the old sheath. Should I use the bulky, new and awfully designed sheath?
NO WAY!
The solution? Make your own sheath:
That green canvas which I use as a basic material comes from Kenya, the blue paisley styled fabric is my very special Kikuyumoja version of Bubudiu (the story goes that it once was my grandma’s ball gown that I’ve meanwhile used on different projects ….so what am I supposed to call it except for Bubudiu? poncey?) and the leather….well, I didn’t use that one in the end.
The result:
A sheath big enough to accommodate all my desired tools. Perfect!
The size comparison: my new sheath, the old brown one (love it!), the ugly new one and a smaller nylon version for the Bit Set or the Wave alone.
I’ve also added a button / snap fastener on it so closing and opening on the blue thing will be much more convenient.
Yani, I know some of you will keep on wondering why I used that blue fabric instead of just using that green canvas along with some leather on the side….actually, I don’t know. I think it’s some sort of passion :-)
P.S.: My new blue sheath is a bit bigger than the others but less bulky, so it doesn’t wear up underneath the jacket!
Show your support for World AIDS Day by wearing the Virtual Red Ribbon online. We are aiming for 10,000 websites to wear the Virtual Red Ribbon by 1 December 2005.
Having the Virtual Red Ribbon on your site will link visitors to this site where they too can find ideas to get involved in World AIDS Day.
World AIDS Day is about people getting the facts about HIV and AIDS.
Currently, the two groups most affected by HIV in the UK are gay men and heterosexual people who have lived in Africa. Although HIV infection is most common in these groups in the UK, anybody can be infected with HIV through unprotected sex or needle sharing.
Yes it’s tool time again and I would like to tell you about my new Leatherman Wave® 2004 multi-tool. Why 2004? Because they came up with a better version of the LM Wave® some time back in the end of 2004 and since I just love good tools, I needed to get my hands on this new one.
the stuff that makes me happy: old and new LM Wave :-)
Before I continue boring you with more technical details, let me sum this all up and point you to this very detailed comparison report that takes a closer look on the Leatherman Wave® pre2004 (old Wave), the 2004 Wave® (new Wave), the Charge® Ti and the Charge® XTi. I think it’s the most detailed review I’ve come across so far and it actually tells us all we need to know about the small differences between the old and new models. And yes, there is a difference.
This new 2005 Wave just rocks, they improved a lot of things like now all the tools on the interior of the handles lock up which adds to more security and an overall better handling. The only downside so far is that they shrinked the size of the scissors as well as delivering it with a cheap looking leather sheath that doesn’t look as charming as the old one – which still holds the new, slightly bigger Wave®, hence it’s okay.
I almost never leave home without my Leatherman Wave® on the belt, and there have been numerous occasions on which that tool has not only come in handy but has been a sort of life saver. Kudos to Tim Leatherman (“My name is on every tool.”) for blessing us with this brilliant invention!
In case your name isn’t Hash and you’re not yet a proud owner of a Leatherman Crunch®, go and get a multitool NOW! :-)
P.S.: you own a VW Golf? => THIS is the tool you’ll need!