(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!
…but do I say?!
Dear Chancelorette Dr. Angela Dorothea Merkel,
you may not know me because I didn’t even vote for you during the last general elections, but rest assured, I am just an ordinary german chokora geek who happens to ask nasty questions and rants around in his third-rated blog on something we call the Internet (yes, that thing your buddy Joji Kichaka himself invented some time ago).
Liebe Frau Merkel – may I call you Angie? – my agenda is to promote those special relationships between Germany and Kenya.
I know both of us were born in the same city at different times, but when your parents decided to move to the East, mine decided to move to the very far East (Asia). So I take it that we both know where the East is located. And in case you didn’t know, Kenya is a country in East Africa. Africa, my dear, that continent in the south that some of your voters can’t even locate on the map but already identified as a cause of evil. Talking about the South – Germany has come a long way since the 1960s trying to integrate those turkish workers and their habbits and right now, with Turkey knocking on european doors, you’re still talking about a privileged partnership? Ahhhh c’mon, my dear, isn’t it time for a change? In fact, even Kenya has had their share of "Young Turks" with prominent leaders like Raila Odinga for instance, who’s fluent in German btw because he once studied not far away from where you obtained your permanent head damage (PhD).
To be honest – I never really liked your stubborn personality and your politics so far, but I really appreciate it that they’ve eventually made you become Chancelorette. I think this country – and many others – are in need of more female leaders. Why? Because women, I think, are more straight to the point when it comes to dealing with important issues without regard for any Befindlichkeiten.
The reason I am writing to you today is because I would like to tell you about those recent developments in this country called Kenya.
Kenyans are peace loving people ("watu kwa amani") who succesfully changed from the Moi era to the Kibaki era – which isn’t such a big difference after all, but that’s another story. So, just last week, Kenya had this referendum going on about a new constitution. These folks have been working on a new constitution for some time now and asked the public to vote on it. And it turned out that the majority (you as a democratic person, you know about the importance of obtaining a majority by all means, or?) actually disliked the proposed constitution. As a result of that and other internal twist, the acting president of the Republic of Kenya, Hon. Mwai Kibaki, sacked aaaaaaaaaaaalllllllll his ministers and their resp. assistants. He just sacked them. Just like that.
Angie, I am telling you all this because I know there will be a time in future when you’re thinking about such strong actions and you will dream about the time when you’re standing there in front of all those men and telling them to pack their stuff and go home. Yeah!
Since I know about your quest for wise consultancy on such matters (weren’t you considered the "daughter" of ex-chancellor Dr. Helmut Kohl back in those days when you joined politics?), let me give you this small advice:
YOU WILL NEED TO IMPROVE YOUR HANDICAP, Angie.
We’re talking Golf now, the Golf sport. Remember Joji Kichaka? Yup, he’s busy playing Golf. You’d like to learn how politics are actually made? Learn how to play Golf! In fact, next time you’re in Kenya, please say hi to Mwai from me and tell him that we over here at Kikuyumoja Inc. all appreciate his golfing skills. There’s a lot you can learn from others, my dear. And Golf will just be the perfect sport for you. Trust me on this one.
yours truly,
JKE