A friend of mine today told me about her mother’s plans for Xmas ’05 and that’s when I realized that we are already having November 1st. Can you imagine people actually planing their celebrations for this event as early as October/November?
Category: style
irgendwie kewl
Gaultier²
"A perfume that makes people want to love each other" – yeah, right…
Three days ago, I got this sample of JPG‘s new fragrance "Gaultier^2". They actually gave out 2 little dispensers along with 2 strange strings – maybe assuming that customers would want to use those extra items to be given to a special person? And even worse – it’s unisex – meaning: yes, YOU – the man – will probably smell like Paris & Co (Perez included :-). Yeah, go figure…
Now, what makes this relevant enough to become a BE on Kiku’s realm – the SMELL reminds me of Nairobi. Ndiyo, good old Biashara Street. Gaultier says it’s a mixture of vanilla, ambergris (sp?) and musk – but!, I tell you, it’s more like the smell inside one of those tailorings mixed up with OMO new powerfoam, joss sticks from a hindi temple, chloride from your fav swimming pool and, once applied on your skin, 12year old suntan lotion. Now go ahead and love me! :-)
tool time at the crack of dawn
Is there anything on the internet that really generates traffic? Especially for weblogs? Ndiyo. Nerd-content and that msn-search-nini I talked about the other day. Huuu….embarrassing.
Whatever.
There’s this jamaaa who lives in St.Petersburg, FL, USA and who’s been schooling with me in NBO. He moved there the other day becos he got a decent job offer and apparently couldn’t stand the rainy weather over here. I think by that time no one had told him about hurricanes (hurry – cane = hakora haraka? :-) – those not-so-occasional diarrheas by the Mungus of water. Ati bwana, wot exactly are u doing there? Ama should I come ova and teach u some manners? Ah…ntz….tz… Kwani?
Because of this:
(..those leafes weren’t included..)
Ati? I really really appreciate this, lieber Mathias, but honestly – would YOU wear this when your gf is around? Wot? She’s the one who picked it out? (yes, I AM AFRAID of wearing this in public :-)
…
I like that tool bag, though. Nice one! :-)
On a more serious note: calling either a fixed line or mobile number in the US from Germany costs around 0,016 EUR (1,59 cents!)/minute. Calling a german mobile number from within Germany costs at least 0,22 EUR (22 cents!). Something is SO wrong with this country (and I haven’t even mentioned the costs of sending short messages…).
blog with flock
"We love Flock as much as you do (maybe more), so we’ve decided to make free WordPress.com blogs available to Flock users…"
Hehe….inspired by Ory’s latest posts from Poptech, I just had to check out Flock (these guys even have funny pics on Flickr – well, the usual start up stuff – as featured on BoingBoing et al the other day) and it’s just NICE! Flock is a new browser, similar to Firefox. The difference is that Flock make use of Web 2.0 stuff like tags, blogs and shared favourites as seen on del.icio.us. Of course I don’t want to share ALL my favourites/bookmarks with you out there – BUT!, it’s just a neat all-in-one tool for all those Web 2.0 related goodies like Flickr & Co.
So why would you want to use it?
Simple. It’s a new browser and new stuff is always cool. LOL….that of course isn’t the only reason. I don’t know how long this hype around Flock will actually prevail, but what I do think is that it might take a full browser to help other browsers like FF, Opera or even MSIE get goin’ and eventually realize what users will need in the end. I am dreaming of a browser that works as the basis for all (a.k.a. reference for webdesigners) and still gives us the chance to make proper use of extensions as in FF & Co.
In any case – I am still thinking about this FabLab nini… (thx, Ory!)
salama moma
The Leatherman Wave has made it into MoMA’s latest exhibition!:
SAFE: Design Takes On Risk…presents more than 300 contemporary products and prototypes designed to protect body and mind from dangerous or stressful circumstances, respond to emergencies, ensure clarity of information, and provide a sense of comfort and security. blabla…
I never leave home without my Leatherman Wave a.k.a. gadgetimoja!
(hey, i’m just a happy cass-tuuu-maaa :-)
SAFE: Design Takes On Risk
October 16, 2005–January 2, 2006
@ The Museum of Modern Art, NYC, USA
Howtoons & SasaSema
Inspired by Hash’ BE on MAKE: magazine, I was just flickrbrowsing MAKE:’s flickrpool and came accross this Howtoons project, which is part of Instructables.com – a website full or step-by-step instructions on how to build your own stuff (searchable by tags!).
Now, since we don’t get this MAKE: magazine over here in Europe (or?), I don’t even know if Howtoons is part of their print edition. However, Howtoons >>are cartoons showing kids of all ages "How To" build things.<<
And that’s exactly when I thought of Lila Luce’ "Sasa Sema publications" from Nairobi, Kenya. In an article in the April 2005 edition of Eve Magazine she is quoted saying: "Philosophy makes you think and use the brain God gave you. The problem with the educational system is that it does not train people to think…. (…) …children need to overcome this by reading good books that make them ask questions….. (….) …Thinking is good because even when you get it all wrong at least you would have used your brain and not borrowed someone else’s."
That’s so true. Both initiatives are just nice. I also think that Howtoons would be a great partner for Sasa Sema Publications…. (ama?)
And then I come back to this basic question that keeps on bugging me: how can we bridge this gap between the Internet and real life?
I mean, Web 2.0 with awesome technologies like AJAX (as used in flickr, basecamp or kiko) are just the tip of the iceberg to bring people closer together. And isn’t this what the Internet is all about? This exchange, the direct interaction as sought-after way back in 1999 when we had those cluetrain discussions going on ("markets are conversations")? This technology has reached a much higher level nowadays which enables us to cooperate on a global scale, yet those things are still just too virtual. Or not? Where’s the connection between the stuff we do on the internet and things that will really have an impact on our life? Where’s the connection between the GTZ/USAID/etc. posting their Ecosan fact sheets & manuals (for instance) on the internet and a sewage treatment plant in Homa Bay, Kenya? How can the web be of any help to distribute knowledge? How can we change something in this world through technologies as used on the internet? Comments please!
iMtoto
Remember this ipodmybaby / iBaby thingy from August 2005?
Well, it inspired me to eventually create my own iBaby version for my lovely niece…
(Kudos to Jason Costomiris for this perfect iBaby template).
Lakini….isn’t it that the iPod comes with a power switch?
Man, this is just plain fun. I think I will make another one once she’s become even bigger! (iKikuyumojawear™ :-)
Kwani?
Martin Kimani of "African Bullets & Honey" already blogged about the "Funkiest Literary Journal This Side of Heaven" in July 05.
And you know what? Thanks to my secret agent Lady Kikuyumbuzi who provides me with all this funky stuff kama tapes with Kameme FM, interesting sniplets from the newspeahhpaa and other small bubudius to help a mZungu Kiuk in exile get goin’ – I eventually got my own copy of this GREAT book today!
(note to Mbuzimoja: Mapenzi ni kikohozi, hayawezi kufichika. :-)
Let me just quote from Binyavanga’s editorial: "…I prefer to see Kenya as a diverse place which needs diverse conversations: no publication or person can represent all of Kenya’s literary aspirations"…"Kwani? is a place for seekers. Not all seekers. Just some" (…) "I am beginning to see that Kenya (The Parliament and Sections Kenya..) is dying. (…) There is another Kenya growing out of these ashes. It has learnt to need nobody; to be competitive and creative. It speaks Sheng. It is the Kenya we are waiting for."
And then of course you open the book, read some pages and think to yourself: Ati??? WHAT has happened to Kenya? This IS GREAT, that’s what I’ve been waiting for all the time, this is MY GENERATION taking over now. This is part of the new Kenya that actually blogs on the internet, this is Kenya with it’s mobile phone crazyness, it’s language mix-ups (Sheng et al)…. this is what my fellow Europeans need to have in mind when they are speaking to Kenyans. And I also think: the revolution will not be televised, no, it is right here, in the middle of everything and we’re part of it. And it has already started. We are here to ask questions, look back in history and create a positive future. This Kwani?3 book is just part of a new Kenya coming up. And it rocks!
If you happen to live in the London area, pls make sure to check out "AFRICAN VISIONS 2005 – Think Africa: A festival of African Literature, Culture and Politics" taking place at the British Library on October 15th-16th. => "…the UK launch of the exciting Kenyan-based New Writing magazine ‘Kwani?’."
Mbuzimoja, I owe you big times! :-)