And... keep up to date

To get up to date with the Australian government's plan to break the internet, have a read through this blog. I'm not sure if it's making the main news in Australia, but the government has gone ahead with a trial of its censorship scheme. This is scary. You're here right now reading this, so I figure you probably like the internet. Try not to let them break it.

If you are getting sick of me plugging this crusade, let me know and I'll think of you when I post about it next.

Also, since I am in crusade mode, I receieved an email from Mr Josh:

"Hi everyone,
I'm not the type of person that usually writes group emails ranting about politics and how the world is screwed, but this time I feel particularly moved.

If you have time, please go to www.anam.com.au and sign the petition! ANAM (the Australian National Academy of Music) is the only specialist music school for classical performers, and the only music institute in Australia that has a reputation internationally. Unfortunatley, Peter Garrett, the Minister for the Arts has decided to cancel all funding for the academy and close it down at the end of the year.

This year, all 3 finalists of the Australian Young Performers Awards were from the academy. Many of the Symphony Orchestras around Australia are filled with past students of the Academy. If Australia loses an institution like this, music in Australia will severly suffer.

Please take the time to sign the petition.
thanks, josh."

I don't know much about ANAM. You could look into it. And sign the petition although, really, internet petitions don't carry a lot of weight - email is easy and slightly more effective and old-stylee paper-type letters (like bills) are the best.

Go world! Yeah! Crusade! Change!

(Hey Josh, hope that was ok to put on here. Abuse me if not.)

Read my other post too.
Bye bye.

Update # Whatever.

Hello.

Since we last spoke, I have been as sick as a proverbial dog. Literally.

That is, I was as sick as a dog that's been made up for the sake of example (or moral lesson or whatever. Don't attack me on this, it's a joke. Shut up. Sam.) and then written down. YEAH!

This leads me to speculate here on the direction of causality between emotions and physical states - did I get sick and feel like crap because I was grumpy, or the other way around?

Ooh. How's that for pseudo-intellectual?

I propose to you that our physical reactions to things happen a lot earlier than our rationality or 'known emotions' are aware. For awesome example, if we are getting sick, we view things more negatively, react more adversely to things, get annoyed with less provocation, etc., before we even are aware that we're sick. Consequently, this idea suggests that all our emotions, thoughts, feelings, interpretations and such jazz are all dependent on our physical state, not our 'controlled rationality'. You are not in control. Take THAT you people who think otherwise! Materialism and determinism Rulez.

What do you think? Bring it, sister (I mean the proverbial sister, not just my one).

So, on Saturday, after my last post, I recorded some stuff for my NEW song (available over on the right - Manowar go to Ghana. It's a joke people. Enjoy it. Listen to it with headphones if there are people who don't like naughty words or bad music around. You've been warned. But, really, I like Manowar, so they shouldn't sue me.) and then crashed mightily. Apart from the not having water and all that business, I just felt like crap - I had barely eaten anything on Friday, didn't eat all day Saturday and had a handful of rice on Sunday. This is unlike me. I spent all day Sunday on a mattress on the balcony drifting in and out of consciousness (sounds much better than 'sleep', doesn't it?). Wah wah wah.

Whatever, I feel ok now. I figure I just got some small bug (there were runny poos involved) and it wiped me out because I was already knackered. I'm still a little bit wussy - Theofo and I did some drumming today and it was pretty hard going. It is hot as hell though. The last half a week has stepped the heat up a notch - that doesn't help.

Anyway. Got any stories?

Actually, I'll tell you what, I want to try writing a song. Just like other celebrities, I want my fans (you) to prompt me with inspiration for my art which I will then use without giving you recognition and become super rich, famous and awesome. SO, in the comments, if I get more than 7.4 suggestions for song ideas, I will choose one and try to write a song about it.

Not original, but everyone's a winner. I'd like to give it a try - I can't do lyrics, so we'll see how it goes.

Otherwise, Devo Go to Ghana is on the possible to-do list. You've been warned.

I don't want to get too carried away with distractions like this cos I'm busy, but... you know... I just want to try...

In other similar news - the beard is staying... so far... for now...

I think I am well enough to get back on the fried rice tonight.

Ok bye.

Sooky today.

And here's the next installment of the multi-part epic, Dudes in Ghana want money from Jacob:

Joseph, of course, came back that night looking for some warm, floppy cash. I hadn't had a chance to get to the bank that day so called Tettey to see if he would be able to drive me to a bank when he got back (from wherever he was, whenever that happened to be). He said that should be ok, so I waited awkwardly with Joseph for a couple of hours. It wasn't awkward in that there was nothing to say, Joseph is a lovely guy and talked a lot - it was more awkward because he was only waiting and talking because he wanted money. And I had things to do.

Anyway, we waited until Tettey got back and decided that he was tired (admittedly, it was late. That is, we'd been waiting for hours) and we'd go to the bank in the morning instead. In accordance with my suspicions of Joseph's unusual friendliness, upon hearing that there was no money tonight, Joseph disappeared with a hasty farewell.

The next morning, we got the money and Joseph came later to scam it from me. I now have his passport as a deposit. As Sam has suggested, he'll probably just come up to me when he gets back without the money to pay back and declare that he needs his passport back. I will have to be strong. Either way, if that happens, I figure I'll have good reason to not give him any more money. Alternatively, if he does bring it back, all will be ok. Poverty and desperation are awesome.

On the lesson front, things went ok for the remainder of the week. On Wednesday I had a 7.30 lesson with Theofo, going over and consolidating some of the stuff that I had been learning, then a lesson at 11 or so with Otu (Kusun don't rehearse on Wednesdays). With Otu I learned a basic outline of the Kolomashie rhythm, which is what people play when doing street parades or running at ungodly times in the morning past my window - sort of like brazilian samba rhythms. Sort of.

After this lesson, Theofo came at 2.00 or so and we went into Accra to go the fetish market. In between my lesson with Otu and going into town with Theofo, I visited Tettey's friend Don, a secretary to Atta Mills, the NDC presidential candidate. I asked him about the possibility of getting an NDC T-shirt, after which one appeared in his hand. This meant that I wore the shirt on my trip into Accra.

An interesting idea.

Basically, the whole way into, through and back from Accra, I had Ghanaians yelling out to me, laughing, coming up and shaking my hand, initiating call-and-response NDC slogans and all sorts of shenanigans. I seriously couldn't walk 2 metres without at least hearing someone call out "Blofonyo NDC-ay!". Talk about attention seeking.

Theofo thought it was piss funny. For him, maybe.

Despite the constant distractions, we did manage to get to the fetish market where I was once again tempted by dried crocodile heads. What we were there for however, were some calabashes and seeds to make shakers. This was fine. End of that story.

The remainder of that night and the next morning I was trying to sort out my enrolment for Melbourne Uni next year. Talk about balls (and not the good kind). Basically, I'm not able to enrol in the subjects I want to enrol in because the computer says I can't. I even called Melbourne Uni and was told that it just 'wouldn't work, sorry'. The frustrating thing is that if I was able to walk in there and sort it out, it wouldn't be a problem - it makes no sense that I, enrolled in Arts/Science, am unable to take subjects that an Arts student can take. Basically, in this case, the Melbourne Model is bad. Maybe I will walk in a parade.

For the rest of Thursday, after spending the morning stuffing around with Melbourne Uni, I went to Theofo's and he started putting together the shakers. It's a multiple-step process however - right now the calabashes are sitting outside his house with soapy water in them, soaking.

On Friday, Theofo was feeling sick so I didn't have any lessons with him. Additionally, my phone is out of credit (courtesy of calls to Australia the day before) and I was too poor to buy more, so I didn't call any other guys an arrange lessons. Instead, I spent the day doing private practice - going over a couple of things that I have learned and also just trying to work on technique. It went ok.

Friday night I went in to the National Theatre to a show celebrating the British Council's 65 years in Ghana. I was not in the mood to go out, but really wanted to see the Pan African Orchestra play. They were there and were great - I have wanted to see them live ever since I heard their CD
years ago. There were also some other performers (the London community gospel choir for one - seriously, what's with gospel music?), but I don't care to talk about them right now.

Instead I would like to whinge about my current situation. If you will recall that my last post lamented our lack of water for the last week or so, you will surely understand my frustration upon awaking today to find that the water is, again, not flowing from the mains. As such, I have not washed, eaten, flushed my toilet or gotten dressed today. I am not planning to leave my room until water flows. I could be here for a while. I also am running out of clean clothes.

As a special bonus for you all, I have, in the spirit of Movember (towards which you should donate, despite my lack of updates... one is coming though.. just... here!), grown an 'I'm not shaving until the freaking water is flowing again because it's too hard and I am a wussy' beard. I see this as a Movember/Ghana/Jacob bonus for you and expect due appreciation. Photos are below (sorry to Eve on dial-up):



In conclusion, you only have a week to donate to my Movember fund, but don't feel too pressured - you would be better off giving it to me. Well, I would be better off if you gave it to me. I think the beard is here to stay for today at least. I know the poll has finished, I just have nothing interesting to do with it. What I mean is that I have a surprise up my sleeve but I want to keep it a surprise. For the present, just in case you, after seeing these photos of my manly beardness, have fallen in infatuation and think that I should remain bearded for a time, even if we get water, I have put up a short, new poll.

So, if anyone wants to email me a shower, feel free. Also comment if you have any ideas I should know about for stuff.

Ok bye.

There's been no power. Shut up.

Hello.

Here's whatup:

Thursday night: I didn't manage to have a lesson with Afotey. It rained again. I was out in the rain again. I got wet again. This time, however, it was just wet and uncomfortable, not cool and relaxing. Bad rain.

Oddly enough, despite the rain (which doesn't get collected), we have had no water since about Thursday. The water flows on the weekends only and is stored in tanks. Inconveniently for me, Ghanaians come and take/steal the water from the tanks which means that we run out. It's not like they're sneaking in though, they're just walking in and no-one says anything. This is balls. Also, the water didn't run this weekend.

On Friday, I did my thing - had a lesson with Theofo at 7.30 and again in the afternoon. I didn't rehearse with Afotey's group as they were doing some thing at a funeral (the one for the guy who was a dancer in their group and died about a month ago). I was told by Tettey that from about 11pm there would be a fetish ceremony nearby that would play all night. It was decided that I would join in. Of course, due to some mismanagement or miscommuniation, the ceremony didn't happen. I had fried rice for dinner.

Saturday, I woke up feeling like crap. About lunchtime, I went to the funeral which was highly interesting. There were so many people there. First we kind of hung around an area where a big marquee had been put up in the street (it was really hot) and saw some groups (Afotey's included) play. This was quite full-on - because all the people playing were friends with the dancer who had died and were dedicating their performances to him (and had written and arranged things especially) there was lots of emotion and crying. Even while playing and dancing some of Afotey's group could barely stand for grief. Full on.

Then, after a couple of hours of hanging around the street, the coffin came and there was a big procession to the graveyard. There would have been about 6 or 7 groups playing music in the procession - all were playing different things, some only 5 metres or so from each other. I didn't have my camera, so bad luck for you.

After the body had been buried, there was a performance with a heap of groups. Kusun and Afotey's groups played. I only saw an hour or so of the performance - Theofo had heard there was a fetish ceremony happening nearby and wanted me to see and play at it. So, I went with him, walked around, met some guys, waited around and then was told that the ceremony had finished a while ago.

So, yeah.

By the time we got back to where the performance was at, they had finished. So I caught a tro-tro back home with a bunch of loud and semi-drunken Ghanaians.

Sunday, was a runny day, in that I went running.

And did a runny poo.

To your great delight, I took a camera with me to the beach. Unfortunately, due to the fact that everybody knew the guy that had died and was at his funeral the day before, they were all too tired/hungover to go running, so the beach was quite quiet. To see the photos, go here. Although it was relatively quiet, there are still enough people in the photos so as to give you a bit of an idea of how it works. I may have to take some more another time.

While stuffing around and taking photos, I have a feeling I agreed to go on a 'walk for peace' kinda thing on some Saturday, to encourage peace surrounding the election on December 7th, regardless of the winning party. I suspect that I will be walking a long way with a lot of Africans. For you, I may take photos.

The rest of Sunday I wasn't feeling too well, so spent the day hanging around and avoiding Africans. The power went off at 6.30 or so. That was bad. It is now 3.00 on Tuesday and it's only just come back on. That is bad too. In similar news, the water didn't flow this weekend, so we now have no water for the next week (apparently the water started flowing late on Sunday, but with the power off we couldn't draw the water into the tanks with the pump. Bad luck, hey).

On Monday, I woke up cranky. I rang Theofo and told him not to worry about the lesson at 7.30. To get water to wash in the morning, I had to find a small boy (anyone under about 23 and the cheapest labour force available) and get them to climb into the water tank to fetch buckets of water to bathe. I wasn't in the mood for learning. Additionally, because the power was out, the fans weren't working. Because the fans weren't working sleeping was difficult - Sunday night was HOT. So, I was grumpy.

Eventually, although still sticky and feeling unclean, I got over it a bit and had a lesson. Then I went to another Fetish ceremony. This was the one that was supposed to happen all night Friday, except it was happening at 3pm on Monday and going until about 6pm. So, Theofo and I went over there at about 3.30 and waited until about 5.30 for it to start. It got dark, I wasn't in the mood.

I had banku, fish and pepper for dinner.

Today, I woke up similarly cranky although didn't cancel my 7.30 lesson. So, I stank, sweated and sulked while Theofo tried to teach me stuff. Afterwards, at about 10.00 I went down to Kusun's rehearsal to organise a lesson in the afternoon with Otu. The plan (as was agreed to by those concerned) was to have a lesson with Otu straight after training and then go into the fetish market in Accra with Theofo to buy some shakers. As a side note, the rehearsals start at 9 - when I got there at 10, they still hadn't started. Apparently a 'witch' had been caught out in the street so some of the guys were running around gossiping and trying to get a view. I attempted some discussion on the validity of this lady being labelled a 'witch' discovering that she was a witch because she used magic to do bad things to people.

I couldn't be bothered following that any further so I went home.

When home, I did a couple of scattered hours of practice. I've been trying to fix up a few technique things and it is taking time. While practicing, the power came back on (after two days). Then, 5 minutes later, it went off again. It wasn't just my room that was darker.

A couple of hours later, thankfully, the power came back. All my things are recharging as I write.

During the afternoon, (just after I started writing this) Joseph showed up wanting to have a meeting. Apparently his wife is going to leave him because he doesn't have money and he has cattle up North (where he's from) so he needs to go up there to sell some cattle and then he'll have money and he doesn't have money now for a bus ticket and here's his passport as a deposit so can I lend him money and he'll give it back when he gets back in a week's time.

Not my problem. Also, I don't actually have any money handy - I have no cash at the moment. But, on the off chance that he will pay it back (I think it's far more likely that he'll just not come for his passport, but at least then the next time he asks for money I have solid grounds for rejecting him. Or so I think), I agreed to lend him the money which I was planning to get at the bank in Accra later that day.

However, despite our arrangement (as outlined above), Otu showed up at about 3.00. After chasing him around and sitting him down, I managed to have a lesson. Just now, I have finished. My plans to go into the fetish market are not going to happen - it's too late now. But, I now need to get some money for Joseph who's coming back later tonight.

So, if you want me, that's where I'll be.

I also haven't eaten all day because I am poor. I am wasting away.

Please excuse this post's lack of structure (unlike all my other, finely crafted pieces) - it has been written over about 2 hours of interruptions and I am cranky and can't be bothered fixing it and the power's been off and shut up.

Bye bye.
By Jacob.

The Last Couple of Days. By Jacob.

Since Monday, this week has picked up. I've been busy as a bear (non-hibernating and non-koala, which isn't a bear anyway).

Tuesday I had a lesson at 7.30 with Theofo then spent some time going over the lesson and practicing while he was at rehearsal. Then, some hours later, he came back and we had another lesson, which I had to go over. Then I had a lesson with Afotey. I think for dinner I had fried rice.

So, this day was significantly more successful than the previous.

On Wednesday, Kusun don't rehearse, so I asked Theofo to come at 9 rather than 7.30. Apart from being lazy, this was because I hadn't had a chance to go over (involving transferring the video from the DV tape to the computer, writing down all the new material and practicing) Afotey's lesson from the day before. As such, I did this before my lesson at 9. Then I had my lesson, then we got some wakye (pron. Wah-che) for breakfast/lunch. Again, Theofo went off for a while then came back for another lesson after I'd been through the stuff. Then I went to Afotey's group's rehearsal. To mix it up, I had an egg in bread for dinner. And went to the Coming spot for a Malta. Malta is not something I ever need to drink again, I've decided.

Today, I blew off the early lesson - even though I had been going through the material after my lessons and writing it down and stuff, I hadn't really had the time to internalise it properly. I need more time. Drumming in Ghana is hectic when people turn up!

So, right now, I am waiting for Theofo to come for today's lesson, after which I have another with Afotey. I am going to do some practice now while I'm waiting, just thought I'd update y'all.

So, everything's ok, albeit busy as hell.

Cheeregards.
Jacob

FTW (For The Weekend)

Hi.

I have a headache. Like, a real one.

On Saturday I had some lessons with Theofo and did some practice. Sunday, Theofo and I went back to the fetish ceremony from Thursday. From this I have a bit more video:



(For those of you who don't know him, Theofo is the guy drumming in the middle for the first 4 minutes or so of this video [with the blue drum]. He's pretty darn good.)

So, that was Sunday. I didn't go running - I was feeling crook. Next week. I promise.

Today (Monday) started well - Theofo came around at 7.30 for a lesson, which was good. After that, he went to rehearse with Kusun. I am sitting out of the Kusun rehearsals for a while as I haven't felt like I've been getting enough done there - instead, I am trying to spend the time going over my lessons and practicing.

So, Monday started pretty well. From there on in, however, the day rapidly detoriated.

Well, not rapidly... Rather, it deteriorated slowly, painfully and with a lot of waiting.

After Kusun's rehearsal I was meant to have another lesson with Theofo. He ended up getting caught up doing something else. As such, I waited.

This was more frustrating than the following sentence would suggest, mostly because I would call him (or receive a call from him on a borrowed phone) every 30 minutes or so and he'd tell me he was finished and on his way. Also mostly, it was frustrating because I couldn't really do anything else or concentrate because I was expecting him to turn up at any minute. In the end, I waited from 11.30 until 4, when I left to go to Afotey's rehearsal.

When I got to their training ground (at about 4), no-one was there. They'd travelled and played at a funeral (the one for the dancer in Afotey's group) on the weekend, so I had suspected that rehearsal wouldn't be happening, even though Afotey said on Thursday that it would.

Just to check, I called Afotey. To my surprise and despite all evidence to the contrary, he informed me that they were rehearsing.

So I waited.

After another 40 mins there was still no-one there. Additionally, some nasty-looking clouds had rumbled in. I decided to stop waiting and get home as quickly as possible - it was about to rain. Heavily.

In true Ghanaian style, as I was heading home I ran into some of the dancers who were going to rehearsal. It seems that, after the rain clouds showed up, rehearsal was on. I, however, not too thrilled about being caught in the impending rain, kept going.

To cut it short, this story ends with me being drenched in the downpour on my way home. In about 5 seconds I was soaked. I just kept walking home (20 minutes in pouring rain. Poor me).

In a dramatic epilogue, although you probably feel really sorry for me and perhaps are crying into your keyboards (as well you should), it was actually quite nice getting soaked. I mean, it was cold and all, but I figured I may as well embrace the discomfort and just take it easy getting home.

I let all my frustration and anxiety wash from my body in a muddy stream, forming a rancid, mosquito-infested puddle at my feet.

Delicious.

All in all, another day in Ghana - Theofo is coming again at 7.30 tomorrow morning. We'll try again.

Bye.

And here's some more GREAT African music

This is Awilo Longomba from Côte d'Ivoire The Democratic Republic of the Congo. You love it. The guitar sound is sick. It makes me jiggle.



Bye.

Here's some more video for YOU.

Yo.

I have uploaded some video of the fetish ceremony I went to on Thursday with Theofo. I am learning these rhythms. They are complicated.

You work it out.

To see the video, you can go here (or, as always, the link in the right-hand column).

Also, I'm working on a song titled 'Manowar go to Ghana'. If you listen to my earlier, similarly-titled song and go here, you may be able to guess vaguely what it will involve.

Watch out. Power and might are on their way, direct from the kingdom of steel.

Today was Saturday. I had a couple of lessons with Theofo, waited for Otu to show up for a lesson (he didn't, unfortunately) and that's about it.

I repeat, that's about it.

UPDATE: The above link now works - it seems if I don't include the 'http://' in a link it tries to link to a site within my own blog. Fine. Fixed now.

Goodbye.
By Jacob.

The Internet Strikes BACK™.

Hello.
Regarding my earlier post about our naughty government trying to break the internet, there is a site dedicated to voicing concern about this problem. You can get to it by clicking on the button over there on the right. It gives you information about why it's a problem and provides you with several ways to contact people about it. At the very least, you can sign a petition.

Thanks.

Also, thank you to those who have commented or emailed since my last post (except for Scout. I don't care about Scout). Keep it up. Or else you will be got.

Thanks.

Sayonara.

Ghana is ok.

This post is going to be short but packed with wonder.

Today I paticipated in a somewhat lukewarm rehearsal with Kusun. Then I had a lesson with Afotey (which was really good, as always). Then Theofo, Otu and I had some lunch. Then Theofo and I went to a fetish ceremony in Labadi. The drumming was great. I was able to take some video - I will upload some sometime.

Afterwards, we went to Theofo's mother's house (in Labadi) to wait for the traffic to quieten down. She fed us and was lovely. We sat there quietly eating and just chillin' in the hood. It was great.

Thus, although this morning was suboptimal, I had a good end to the day.

This is fortunate - the last week or so Ghana has been giving me the shits - it's hard to get things done, people have been especially flaky, unreliable and asking-for-money-ey, no-one comments on my blog and it's been really freakin' hot. This evening has restored my level of enjoyment.

We'll see how we go tomorrow.
Cheers.

How are you?

The Mo stays.

Thanks to the hundreds of thousands of you who voted on my poll. It took me hours to count all the votes and 54% (6) of you think that it's ok for me to just leave the mo as is.

Which I guess means that you will donate anyway.
So do it.

America, hey?

Not much newsworthy has happened. I've done another song called "Yngwie Goes to Ghana".

Yes, it's what it sounds like. It's roughly thrown together, but you will love the POWER of it anyway.

Listen to it over on the right.

No one comments anymore. I think you should. It would make me less lonely and hopeless.

Come on, send some love.
Have a love-sending time.

Today it rained.

So I wrote another song. Called Raining. Because it was raining.

It started with me recording the rain, then just playing about. Then doing wicked electric piano solos over the top (just like Chick Corea).

Please listen to it in the player up on the rop right. I haven't posted it on the other website (the one with all my photos and stuff) but will shortly.

I had fried rice again.

Thanks very much.
Have a dry time.

The 'What I did today' post for today.

Today, I went running again. At 5.00 again.

Unfortunately for me, I also didn't sleep much last night. Again. And my hip hurts....

No, really, running was fine.

Sure it was.

Anyhoots, after spending the remainder of my morning zombie-ing around and feeling sorry for myself, I went out to lunch with my mother's friend Thomas, a teacher. This was nice - we drove to Tema to a chop bar. The food was really good (even though I wasn't that hungry - I'd had wakye for late breakfast). So I spent an hour or so with him and his wife, then came back home.

From then on, the day wasted away. It was the sabbath, so that means bumming around for a day is ok.

Tetteh and I watched Kung Fu Panda and 10,000 BC. Kung Fu Panda was surprisingly good. I was entertained and may have even giggled once or twice. 10,000 BC was... well... it felt like it should have been awesome but, really, I was underwhelmed.

Thus ends my review for this holy day.

This cinema thing is becoming a bit of a habit. I need to be careful though as I am running out of movies. Luckily, Ghanaians like Willow so much that I think they would watch it at least another 103 times without complaint (it is pretty good though. If you haven't seen it, do so. I command it. Val Kilmer is such a good actor).

Additionally, I looked up a heap of music (see my earlier post for the tip of the iceberg) and tried to burn some DVDs for Theofo. It was a no-drumming day.

Kusun start rehearsing again tomorrow so I will be drumming properly all day again. I also have a lesson and a rehearsal with Afotey's group, so I think I'll be ok for drumming tomorrow.

That's about all. Anyone there got any more interesting Sabbath adventures?

Comment and Follow and Vote and Read and Love and Listen and Wash.

Yes, wash. Please wash.

Cheerio.

I am a detective.

After doing some sleuthing, I found out the name of the song I talked about previously (Tetteh told me). Its name is Africa Money and the artist is Sidney feat. Morris Babyface. You love it. Apparently it's about 'the master' having lots of money while everyone else is poor.

True.

Here's the video clip. You should definitely watch it.





[UPDATE: Go here for some more info about the meaning of the song and a link to the lyrics.]

Also, here's another song which is great:



It's called Alhaji [Ey Alhaji] by Tha' Donet.
Listen. Enjoy.

Also, don't forget to vote. In my poll regarding Movember.

By the way, WHO said I should get rid of my mo?
You are in big trouble.

Bye.

Today I did squat.

Not an actual squat, rather, I did not much at all.
I was in a grumpy mood today, so spent most of it in my room.

I watched Goldeneye, The Thin Red Line and National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

Goldeneye was tacky but enjoyable. Thin Red Line was great but disturbing and odd. National Treasure was a tour de France.

And that's my movie review for today.

In addition to broadening my mind with movies, I did a bit of drumming practice and writing things out.

And that's about it.

Read all my other posts, they're much more interesting.

Heal the World.

Movember

--- Begin Suggested Movember Donation Email Wording ---

Hi All,

During Movember (the month formerly known as November) I'm growing a Mo. That's right I'm bringing the Mo back because I'm passionate about tackling men's health issues and being proactive in the fight against men's depression and prostate cancer.

To donate to my Mo you can either:

1. Click this link https://www.movember.com/au/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink&rego=1768336&country=au and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account, or
2. Write a cheque payable to ‘Movember Foundation', referencing my Registration Number 1768336 and mailing it to:

Movember Foundation
PO Box 292
Prahran VIC 3181

Remember, all donations over $2 are tax deductible.

The money raised by Movember is used to raise awareness of men's health issues and donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue - the national depression initiative. The PCFA and beyondblue will use the funds to fund research and increase support networks for those men who suffer from prostate cancer and depression.

Did you know:

• Depression affects 1 in 6 men....most don't seek help. Untreated depression is a leading risk factor for suicide.
• Last year in Australia 18,700 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 2,900 died of prostate cancer - equivalent to the number of women who will die from breast cancer annually.

--- End Suggested Movember Donation Email Wording ---

So, this whole thing. I figure that, since I'm in the mo business anyway, I may as well try to assist in raising money for good causes.

However, as you all know and care, I have already been growing a mo (for about a month). As such, the question I put to you is this: do I need to completely shave off my current mo and start again (I don't really want to do this)? Alternatively, I could just trim it back to fuzzy caterpiller status and sort-of 'begin' again? OR, I could just figure that I got into Movember a month early and can just continue with my mo-ness the way it is.

As such, because I can, I have created a POLL just up there at the top of this page. This means that YOU decide. It finishes at midnight in 4 days' time. Also, feel free to comment. I will give your opinions very careful consideration.

And, of course, donate.

Cheers,
Jacob

I am using my power for personal gain.

Which is what power's all about, no?

It rained last night. REALLY heavily. Like, the heaviest rain I have ever experienced - like being under a fire hose.

Kinda wet.

More importantly, if you click on this link and sign up to Mozy I will get extra online backup storage. If you can be bothered, please do it.

For your information, Mozy is a free (or paid, for more space) service whereby it enables you to backup your important files to the net. This means that if your house burns down and your computer and all files and backups are destroyed, you still have an offsite back-up (2GB free) of your most important files. I recommend it - it's free and totally could save you if something bad happens. Additionally, if you don't have any backup solution at the moment, this is better than nothing, easy and free! Alternatively, if you wanted to back up your whole photo library or something, you can pay a monthly fee for more storage space.

It's a good idea. Please do it.

[UPDATE: Apparently, I get my free space (and you too) when you actually use Mozy to make a back up, and not before. As such, I encourage you all to use it, not just sign up...

Really, you should use something like this anyway if you don't currently back up - hard drives die and your data will disappear with them. Thanks. Sweet dreams.]

On another note, I have added one of my favourite songs that I've heard in Ghana to the music player over on the right. I'm not even sure of the song's name or artist. Listen to it. I am putting it up there for purely educational reasons, if anyone likes it I will find out who it is and buy their CD (I hope to do so for myself).

No worries.
Bye.

It was hot today.

Like, really hooootttt. And humid. I was as sweaty as a sweaty alligator.

Anyway, to the important news:

I have added some music over there on the right. This is my music. You can listen to it while you read. You can download it. You will love it. I will try to keep writing a few little doodley things and putting them there.

Additionally, I played around on Google Maps and annotated a little map that shows you where I am. You can see where I live, where Kusun train, where Afotey trains and other such lovelyness. The link is over on the right under 'About Me', or you can click here.

Have fundybungles.
By Jacob

The Australian Government is trying to break the internet.

Basically, they are trying to implement a 'child porn' filter on the Australian internet pipeline. While this sounds like a noble idea (think of the children), it is evil and scary. And Bad.

While in the short term this filter will probably only make browsing a little bit slower (which is Bad anyway), its long-term ramifications are worrying. The government is effectively putting in place a means by which to censor all internet traffic into Australia. In short, they want to break what makes the internet the internet - a means for people like me to write waffle like this.

Now, I'm sure they will deny this up and down and, truthfully, they may not even have any such totalitarian plans. However, they are laying the groundwork for some scary stuff later on, should someone Bad get their filthy hands on it.

I think if any of you know what I'm talking about or agree with me, you should contact Stephen Conroy or your MP and tell them 'No.' Just like you would a puppy dog.

Please read about it at my headstrong young friend's blog here.

Aaaaand in The Age, here.

Also, read Senator Conroy's press release here.

Thanks.

Oh yeah, I did another song.

Yo.

I just remembered that a couple of weeks ago, when the internet was down, I did another song.

You should totally listen to it here.

And download it.

And give it to your friend at the radio station.

And get them to play it on the national airwaves.

And then pay me lots of royalty money.

I also took some photos, here.

That's all.

Something I stumbled across on the Interwebs

This is nice:




I found it here.

I was a commando for a day

Salutations.

Apologies once again for the delay between posts - the internet and power have been not working again. Bad luck for you.

The last couple of days:

Monday, I finished all the shipping business. Everything is now packed, all fits and is ready to go. It is now out of my hands. Thanks to those of you who have expressed concern for my mental health due to this organising - I was stressed as a gnome earlier but now that it's all done, I have relaxed a bit. Once again, it's now out of my hands.

Thanks be to the tiny baby Jesus.

On Monday night I finally managed to get to Afotey's rehearsal, which was good. It was nice to do some drumming for a change.

On Tuesday, Kusun didn't rehearse - apparently they have this week off. So, after having a phone chat with Mr Ray the other night, I'm planning to just have some daily playing sessions, where I can just practice my stamina and chops, instead of the rehearsals. Yeah!

So, instead of rehearsing, I hung around and organised some things - got some video transferred to the computer and generally did academic sort of work. I washed some underwear. At 4 I had a lesson with Afotey.

Ove the last couple of weeks, it has been getting easier and easier to get distracted and not spend time drumming. I am attempting to put a stop to this.

In order to do that, I have to finish here.

Bye.

A Post from the Holy Day.

Today is Sunday.

It has been a day of FAILURE.

I didn't go running in the morning - I barely slept last night and was still awake at 5 when I was supposed to get up to go. I took a raincheck and tried to get some sleep. I did sleep, until 9 or so.

FAIL!

Not much happened from then on. I hung around, had some toast, had a lesson with Mr Lokko... and that's about it.

FAIL!

Later, after dinner, I went to an NDC (National Democratic Congress) meeting - the NPP (New Patriotic Party) is the corrupt right-wing government currently in power and the NDC are the left-wing hopefuls. There is an election on December 7th. The current government is one of those that feature in any discussion of African politics, with the President receiving millions of dollars in kickbacks, regular power outages (because the electricity is being sold to other countries) and the president apparently "can't close his fly". Alongside this corruption and bribery, the majority of the population is impoverished. Indeed, because the government has so much money, there is a very one-sided representation in the political advertising arena and hundreds of Ghanaians have been paid 10GHS (a significant amount for people who have nothing and virtually nothing to a government with everything) to wear propaganda t-shirts. Additionally, the government still has the capability and resources to bribe police into switching ballot boxes with rigged papers. Fun eh? So, the NDC's situation is interesting to say the least - the NPP government is sucking the country dry and there seems a desperate need for change (sound like any other countries?). The NDC then is very involved in trying to be vigilant and ensuring that no shifty business takes place.

That said, most of the meeting was in another language. I just sat there.

FAIL!

I think I will try and vote on December 7, see what happens...

(I will most likely get turned away [and so I should]... FAIL!)

[As the first independent African nation, Ghana has a very interesting political history. If you're interested, (and it is interesting, though long) go here. Also (shorter), Jerry John Rawlings, the Flight Lieutenant who staged a coup, gave power back to the people, formed the NDC and really is to credit for Ghana's unity and political success, can be read about here. Alongside that, if you haven't already, Wikipedia has information about Ghana here (don't you care about where I am at all?). FAIL!]

Finally, my last failure for the night.

We went to Mr Ricky Nana's house. His daughter was being tutored in basic algebra. Tettey knows that I'm doing math at university and asked me to solve one of the problems on the board (solving linear equations with fractions). I blanked out and couldn't do it. Even though I am doing math as a major and am quite good (albeit lazy) at it, I couldn't do something from year 8.

Oh the pain.

I shall cry myself to sleep tonight.

Also, I am trying to learn French.

Au Revoir.

The silence brakes.

Hello.

By 'brakes', I mean 'stops', or 'ends'... or even 'breaks'.

It's been a while. The internet has been down here. It's working again now. So I am writing this.

What's happened:

Monday 13th Oct and Tuesday 14th Oct:
Do you really expect me to remember back that far? I think what happened was, I rehearsed with Kusun, had a lesson each day with Mr Lokko and went to Afotey's group for a rehearsal on Monday and a lesson on Tuesday. Pretty standard fare. (As a bit of a spoiler, the same thing happens on the following Monday and Tuesday - you heard it here first).

As a guess, I probably had fried rice for dinner.

Wednesday 15th Oct:
Kusun now don't rehearse on Wednesday's as the place at which they train is used by some church group (because Wednesday is the holiest of days). Thus, on this Wednesday I didn't train. Additionally, Mr Lokko wasn't around so I didn't have a lesson. What I did was go into Accra with Jane and Okuley. We wandered about for a bit, got some (good) food and went to Okuley's house. It was hot. I fell asleep on his couch for two hours or so. Then I realised that I was missing Afotey's rehearsal, so I called him and apologised. That was bad. Then I went to a western supermarket in Osu and bought chocolate hazelnut spread. And a Kellogs variety pack. And some hot dogs in a can. And Milo in a can. All very necessary items. I haven't eaten the hot dogs yet, I'm saving them for when I really need them.


Thursday 16th Oct:
Today I also didn't rehearse with Kusun as Nii Noi and I went into town to post some drums to Eve (one of the peoples on the tour. Hello Eve) in Swaziland and then go to the Fetish market to buy some bells and shakers. Posting was fun. Well, not in the usual sense of the word, but fun in a way that refers to hanging around getting bored and frustrated while waiting for people to do things inefficiently. The Fetish market is always interesting - if you want a dried alligator head, any bones, 'voodoo dolls', human arms, etc., this is the place. I got some bells and a shaker. That was nice. It was really hot. Actually, I would like to mention that it has started to get hot here. In the last two weeks or so, it's warmed up and gotten very humid. So, yeah. I guess I should've expected that in Africa, but it's still freakin' hot.


Friday 17th Oct:
I can't really remember what I did this day apart from the fact that I didn't do any drumming. That makes a couple of days in a row. In reality, I was busy and also a bit overloaded so was in need of a break. Surely I did something wonderful (like kill a buffalo) on Friday, but I just don't know what.


Saturday 18th Oct:
Today I got organised (ie., paid lots of money) to get a crate made to ship some people's drums back to Australia (I remember what a large part of Saturday was - organising and finding out about getting this crate made and other shipping-related matters (I was waiting for several weeks to find out from the agent what the dimensions of the crate would need to be before getting it built. As you'll read later, after finding this out [after weeks and weeks of not hearing anything and actually thinking I was waiting for a quote, not for things to be put in motion] I had about 3 days to get everything packed and ready to go. Fun fun fun). Apart from that, I hung around. Yes indeed, I hung very much. I have a feeling I did a lot of washing as well. Yeah, I think I did. Darned interesting.


Sunday 19th Oct:
I did the silly running thing again. At 5.00. We actually ran faster this week than last week and I hadn't had very much sleep, so it felt a lot harder. Nicely though, it wasn't raining this time. After getting back from my awesome run at about 7.30, I made some eggs for breakfast. I think I am establishing a Sunday routine. Other stuff went on, but I either don't remember or don't want to tell you. Actually, I just don't remember.


Monday 20th Oct and Tuesday 21st Oct:
As suggested earlier, my schedule on these two days was very similar to last week. Fortunately, I did some drumming again after my little break. The stuff I am learning with Afotey is good and interesting, likewise what Mr Lokko is teaching me. I also managed to have another lesson with Otu on the Monday. I also found out some more information about the shipping and, by the end of Tuesday, the crate was made. Once this was done, I packed every one's drums into the crate to make sure they'd fit. They fit easily with some extra room, which meant that I would have to get more things to fill it up.

The good news though, is that my legs didn't hurt from running - last time they hurt like hell for about 5 days. I am becoming an iron man.

From memory, I'm pretty sure I would have had fried rice for dinner.


Wednesday 22 Oct:
Like last Wednesday, there was no drumming today. I did some running around to get kpanlogo pegs (to replace broken ones) and bought another drum. Also, the plan was that I would go into the Fetish market again with Theofo to get some more shakers and then meet someone who had some djembe shells for me to look at and buy. However, I ended up waiting for Theofo for hours and by the time we got to Accra, he decided that it would be too late to go to the market. So, cutting my losses, I figured we'd at least catch up with this djembe shell guy. Unfortunately, a phone call determined that he was still in Kokrobite (2 hours or so away, where he was when I called him earlier that day to check that it was ok to meet up with him) and couldn't get back until the next day. So, cutting my losses, we had some food and went home. The food was chicken with stew, not fried rice. Unfortunately, all this ineffective tomfoolery meant that I missed another of Afotey's rehearsals. Poo.

Thursday 23 Oct:
Hmmmmmmmmm. On Thursday, I got everything together for the shipping. First, we loaded all the drums onto the Kusun bus and put the empty crate on top, then drove it to where the shipping company lives. I went separately in Tettey's car and we went via the Arts Centre market. As I mentioned earlier, the extra space left in the crate meant that it would work out better if I could fill the crate - we were paying by volume in units of cubic metres. Also, since my trip to the Fetish market was unsuccessful, I was looking to pick up some shakers. So, I went to the market and after a long time of bartering, being hassled and standing in the sun, I got some djembe shells and shakers. Hoorah.

Then we went to the shipping company. The crappy thing here was that I had to pay a heap of USD (all my remaining USD - a bad move considering how the Australian dollar is completely tanking at the moment. For your information and entertainment, every time I withdraw money [Ghana cedis, GHS] from the ATM, my Australian dollars get converted to USD, which then get converted to GHS. This means that a crappy Australian dollar versus the USD means that I have much less money than I had 2 months ago. This is bad. Could someone out there stop the economy from crashing? Thanks.) as well as GHS. Right now I'm still in the middle of sorting out what exactly it is that I have paid for so am too confused to really tell too much more of a story. Needless to say, the day was long and difficult with lots of waiting interspersed with lots of running around in circles. Again, I missed the Kusun rehearsals, lesson with Mr Lokko and lesson with Afotey.

Friday 24rd Oct:
Yesterday. More running in circles concerning shipping. The idea for Friday was (as I was told on Thursday) to take the shipping address, as well as a receipt for what was in the crate (for insurance) to the shipping company and then be there when they (re-) packed the crate. I also got the impression that I was waiting for some forms from the agent. So, after waiting for him, not being able to contact him and then leaving without him, we got to the shipping company. They told me that they assumed I wasn't coming because it was 'late' and that the people packing the crate had gone off to do something else, leaving it half done.

Ghana.

I was told to come back on Monday at 8.30am. So I, kinda frustrated, turned around and went home. This day was even less useful than the others. And I missed rehearsals (Kusun and Afotey) and my lessons. Poo. Additionally, when I asked the person at the shipping company some clarifying questions, I got completely different answers from what I had got previously. This is really messing with my head - I made every possible effort the previous day and weeks to ask questions so as to determine what I was paying for and what was necessary. The answers to these questions change dramatically according to when and by whom they are given. This brings me to my mission on Saturday. I didn't get to sleep until about 3am because I was sorting out shit and working out every one's costs for the shipping (I had egg and bread and kebabs for dinner. Gotta have variety).

Saturday 25th Oct (TODAY, fools):
Today I still haven't really gotten up. I've been awake, but haven't yet emerged from my room. It's now nearly 12.00 (this has taken a long time write though). I did sleep in too due to my late night, head full of worry and total stuffed-ness.

Something I forgot to mention was that, as well as the internet not working the last couple of weeks, the power has been going off for whole days at a time (not so much in the last week thankfully, but the week before it went off for at least 4 or 5 hours a day and sometimes, when going off in the early afternoon, wouldn't come back until afternoon the next day) and we have no water. The way the water works here is that it only flows from the mains on Saturday and Sunday when tanks are filled, then we use the tanks during the week. Last weekend the water didn't flow from the mains, so we had no water all week. Thus, another reason I can't be bothered getting up is that I don't want to wash out of my buckets (which are empty anyway - I'd have to go down to the tank and get some more and I just can't be arsed). I want the pump to be pumping water to my shower. I will stamp my foot if necessary.

Did I mention that I'm in Africa? Serves me right I guess.

Well, that's it for this post. I think I made up for the silence. I think you are extremely grateful and will email and comment to that effect.

I am alive.

Bye.

The Weekend. Of Jacob.

Yo.

Saturday: A big day. I went to a funeral with Theofo (a different person dying from the previously mentioned one - this guy was the husband of someone I met in Ghana 9 years ago). It was big. And a day. A big day, some would say - we hung around and listened to overly-loud and distorted music, ate, drank a lot of coke and then went home. I met a heap of people. On the way home I went to the bank. Then I watched Resident Evil: Extinction, which was quite good. Then I slept.

Sunday: A bigger day. I got up at 5.00 and went running. As I mentioned a few posts ago, every Sunday a large group of people run down to the beach (a couple of km) singing, drumming and all running in time. This week, I joined. We ran to the beach, then hung around (in the rain) and did aerobic exercises and stretches, ran up and down the beach, (running up and down in soft sand is hard. The main running I did here was running away) then ran back. I ran the whole way there, did a few exercises and got laughed at and then ran most of the way back (my stomach got upset. And I'm unfit. And lazy. And I cry all the time).

This running thing was a great idea. < /sarcasm>

Actually, despite my SORE HIP (see much earlier post - a theme, perhaps?) I have been ok since and will do it again next week. It was actually quite enjoyable hanging out with dudes running and being the token white guy. I will do it every week, laziness permitting.

After the running (got home at about 7.30), I had a very eggy breakfast. Laterz on, Tettey and I went and got a large pile of food and drinks (including 5 chickens) for a party tonight. The rationale for the party involved the guys in the band getting upset that I kept quiet about my birthday (until the day after when we had cake). They were upset that they didn't get to celebrate with me, that is, they were upset that I didn't throw them a party with free food and drinks (in my honour, of course. And from my wallet). So I did.

Between buying chickens and the party, young Tetteh (Tettey's second son) and I watched Alien Resurrection. It was a pretty awful movie.

Right now, the party is sorta maybe finishing but still kinda going on. I, having satisfactorily attended to my hosting duties for the evening, am stuffed and going to bed. I will try and get up ridiculously early tomorrow too. I'm kinda like the Energizer battery man. Yeah. That's right. You read it here first.

Comment, email, follow, love.

A kick in the face to all the haters out there,
Jacob

I posted. So there.

Hello.

Today was a massive day.

As alluded to in my previous post, my schedule is going to be quite hectic. Today was the first day in which that's really hit me. Being Friday and all, I'm wiped. Here's what I did:

Rehearsed with Kusun from 9-12.30
Had a lesson with Mr Lokko from 1.30-2.30
Had a lesson with Otu from 3-4
Went to Afotey's rehearsal from 4-6.30.

That's a lot of drumming. I like it. But I am tired. Hence, this post is going to be only this long.

Actually, I lied. It's going to be this long.

Bye.

Today was a nice day. By Jacob, of course.

Hello.

Today was a nice day (as is suggested by this post's title).

The morning was not as planned - Kusun were supposed to rehearse here at the house but, for some reason or other, there was no rehearsal. Although not unpleasant this wasn't the bit that made it a nice day, that bit is coming.

So, instead of rehearsing, I went through some video, looked over and notated what I had done in yesterday's lesson with Mr Lokko, read a bit and generally busy-bodied myself around the house. At about 2.00 I had another lesson with Mr Lokko and at 4.00 went to Afotey's rehearsal.

This rehearsal didn't really happen either - it was a meeting about the death of one of the group members (a dancer) the day before. They were speaking in Ga and I didn't realise this until afterwards. I don't know how he died. In case you weren't sure, this is not the nice bit.

While I was there, before the group meeting, I spoke with Mr Afotey and arranged to attend all of his group's rehearsals (Monday, Wednesday and Fridays at 4.00 - see you there!) and have individual lessons (at the same time) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This means that I will be sitting in on Kusun's rehearsals every day from 9-12, having a lesson from 1-2 (realistically, the rehearsal won't finish until about 1 and my lesson time will be very subject to change), then another lesson somewhere between 2 and 4 and, finally, a lesson or rehearsal with Afotey from 4-6 (or 4-5 on Tuesdays and Thursdays). I will be busy. This realisation is part of what made today a nice day. I feel like the wheels are finally starting to turn and I am going to stupidly push myself towards a mental breakdown. For some reason this makes me happy. This is the first bit of the niceness.

Another thing that makes me happy is three dinners. This happened tonight quite accidentally (and has actually made me feel a little sick). First, I went down the street to get some fried rice (for a change), then Jane came home with some Nando's-esque chicken burger, then Otu called me and invited me to his house. I didn't realise this invitation was for dinner - even when I said I'd eaten it was insisted that I join them. Hoorah. Three dinners = happiness.

The other lovely thing about Otu's place was the children. I played with Otu's kids (not all his kids - the whole extended family lives together) for a long time and it was totally enjoyable. In fact, tonight visiting Otu I felt as comfortable as I ever have anywhere.

The difficulty here, now with this blog, which I was thinking about as I walked home, is remembering, expressing and capturing how I have felt today (It was bugging me - even as I walked home I could feel my mood changing and my thoughts of how I could express why I was happy disappearing. Bastards). It has been a simple day; nothing that happened was particularly meant to happen or expected, yet it was thoroughly enjoyable. I found, while laughing with kids calling me Mr Jacob and trying to teach me games in a language I don't understand, I was totally happy, comfortable and enjoying myself. Also, just wandering with Otu and his brothers (actual brothers, not just homies) talking to people I don't know (but apparently have met before) and generally hanging around was great.

Additionally and extra-ly, you may know, I am generally not a guy to socialise for 'no reason'. Most of the time, anyway. Tonight, in fact, my main motivation for going out in the first place was because I was invited and felt obliged. I'm glad I did.

Since I'm in the mood, I think now is the time for me to indulge in the epiphany I referred to last week (and, consequently, sizzled until burnt). Basically it referred to how I felt before coming to Ghana this year. While still at home, I was thinking of how, the first time I came to Ghana (9 years ago - 13 years old), I felt instantly comfortable and was amazed at how things worked. Coming from my childhood; receiving a large dose of tall-poppy syndrome as a kid, it was refreshing -- liberating -- to hear children's interactions and descriptions of themselves. If someone was a good drummer, they and everyone else had no problems saying so. If someone was smart or thick, the same attitude applied. Basically, false modesty and bullying born out of jealousy of natural talents existed to a much lesser degree than Australia, it seemed to me. Largely due to this, alongside an overwhelming friendliness, I felt completely at home in Ghana. Now, while still at home in Melbourne, after coming back from Ghana 9 years ago, completing secondary school and 4 years of tertiary studies (with all the normal bullshit that 'refines' and confines people's thinking according to their society), I was worried that I would have changed too much -- become too white, middle class and pseudo-intellectual -- that I wouldn't be able to tap back into what I experienced when I was 13. If that doesn't make sense, ask me and I will try to explain it again more eloquently. For now, it will do: I was worred that I would have become too much of a western, head-up-my-arse dickhead to let go and relax again in Ghana.

I am happy to report that the outcome of my 'epiphany' (It's more just a simple realisation than an epiphany but I like the word), was that I realised that, to an extent I am happy with, I can relax and be comfortable here. This is handy. Actually, all my troubles with personalities, anxiety and loneliness/exclusion/not-fitting-in-ness have been related to whities, not Ghanaians. So far. (There are lots of reasons for this, let's not go into it.)

Of course, for those of you playing along at home, this does not mean that I am no longer too much of a white, middle-class, pseudo-intellectual, head-up-my-arse dickhead. Don't worry, I am the very same that you know and, most importantly, love. The nice thing is that it hasn't gotten in the way (or at least is so effective that it can fool me into thinking that I'm relaxed and coping when I'm not) of enjoying myself here.

Phewf. That was a long one.

Before finishing, I would like to add that there is a lot more to be learned (and that I did learn) from travelling to Ghana than this one tiny aspect I referred to above (the honesty/modetsy thing). Consequently, it has shaped my life in way that has kept me, even just slightly, aware that how things are at home is not how things are everywhere else. In some places, lots of things are a lot shitter. However, for some reason, while not having decent drinking water, healthcare, housing, and on and on, there are some things that Ghana seems to have much more 'right' than we do. I won't go into it now because of time, laziness and lack of forethought -- it's very hard to discuss these sort of differences without making sweeping generalisations and value judgements and I don't want to do so without working out what it is I have to say. This issue, however, is constantly in my thoughts (alongside boom-boom-tiddly-boom-boom-bap). Maybe, if you want to think about it and ask me, I will discuss it with you. Aren't I awesome?

Thanks very much for reading.

I bet it made you fuzzy inside.

Awww.

Shut up.

So many things have happened.

Salutations.

Most importantly, I had a haircut. You are excited by this.

Also, apparently it was my birthday yesterday. That meant we had cake today. Everyone was totally rapt in me because I am such a great person with short hair.. Also, it rained yesterday and the power went out. Until this morning. Which meant no lights, running water, internet, etc. I cried a little bit, then went out for dinner. I'm not going to tell you what I had or where. So there.

For those of you who wanted to send me heaps of stuff, my address is:

Jacob Kinniburgh
c/o Kusun Productions
PO Box 686
Nungua/Teshie Estates
Accra, Ghana

Cakes, presents, money, mosquito repellent... all will be welcome (and promptly stolen at the post office).

Really, you do not have to do anything, I am just too lazy to email specific people who asked for my address. I think I may be a bad person... Any thoughts?

You could pop in and visit. That would be nice. Or you could follow my blog (over there, on the right. I don't know what it does... but Sam did it... Good on Sam [See, if you do it, you may get international recognition and acclaim]). Go on, make a tiny African child happy.

On that note, if anyone has an old mobile phone (or any other such useful thing) and would not object to giving it to a Ghanaian who would like it, email me and I'll see if we can organise a way to get it here. You could make a difference.

In other headlines, Kusun are rehearsing again and I have started lessons with Mr Narku Lokko. My Visa has been extended until January so I am here until then. Sweet.

How's America going? Bit of a crash, hey? That's no good.

So, any other news? Feel free to bore me with your petty tales.

Thanks, once again, for reading.

Up, up and away.

I did a song.

Yo hodeley doo.

Welcome to this blog post.

Today I did some stuff. Every Sunday morning a big crowd of people run past the centre at about 5.30, singing, clapping, playing drums and jogging. Otu, one of the members of Kusun, was running. I got up just to check it out - perhaps one weekend I will join in. They run an awfully long way though. At 5.30 in the morning.

Hmmm...

In other news, my head is still hairy - I have booked a haircut with Okule, but it's all up to him as to when it happens.

After going back to bed at 6.00 and sleeping for a couple more hours, I did some washing; my sheets, etc. Then I went and had lunch/dinner with Otu and Shaanu. It was delicious (although, it wasn't fried rice...). On the way home, we passed a drumming group playing for a funeral (or wake, really). This was great, there was a large crowd of people singing, dancing, yelling and drumming - I had a bit of a join-in drum in the background and just listened, chillaxed and said hello to many people.

After getting home, I decided to try and make some 'music' on my 'computing machine'. This is what came out. Enjoy. Dance. Laugh. Cry.

It's an emotional rollercoaster/Romanian disco piece.

Good night, tired now. Kusun start rehearsing in the morning.

Gutenberg.

Another boring account of my day. And photos.

Hello. Today was another quiet day. Kusun's rehearsals have stopped until Monday, hence the quietness. I did have a lesson with Theofo today though. We have been through a few of the Tigali fetish rhythms. Hard, but going ok.

I had fried rice for dinner again.

Apart from that, more reading, fooling on computer (sorting out video and photos) and hanging with Africans. Another good day.

In other news, I have posted a big chunk of photos. The first lot are new ones of my room, for your updated enlightenment. To see them, click here. The second lot are photos from the party that signified the end of the study tour (a couple of weeks ago). To see them, click here. Additionally, I have added a link at the top of the right-hand (that way --->) column which takes you to the page where all my photos and video is at. This means you can just click there to see my photos rather than looking for a link in my posts. I'm all about you.

Indeed, to make your life even better , I have added a 'follow' thing. You see it? Just there under the photo link? I don't really know what it is, but I think it has to do with my ego. You should work it out and totally follow me.

The fetish video is still coming. Stay tuned.

In hindsight, I'm not really sure why I didn't just use my Me.com site for my whole blog, rather than blogspot? I thought you'd find that interesting, hence my including it here.

Any comments or love, feel free to share.

I didn't get my head shaved. Maybe tomorrow...

Buy.

Today's official blog post (+ more video)

Hello again,
This is the blog post that tells you what I did today.

Not much.

I didn't get dressed and showered (not necessarily in that order) until about 11.30, then I spent the day just reading and bumming around. It was quite relaxing and a nice break. I also watched Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. While doing so I ran my hand through my flowing 'stache. Afterwards, I changed how my blog looks (any comments? I'm not particularly attached to it so feel free to abuse my sense of colour matching). That's about it.

Oh, I had fried rice for dinner.

Additionally, I have (or will shortly have) uploaded some more video, of Theofo's fetish ceremony. Have a look. Also, any requests for other video, let me know.

I think I will get my head shaved tomorrow.

Good night little children.
Happy little children.

Some small video be up.

Just to let you know, I have uploaded some video.

I found out that, although I can't upload video directly to my site, I can upload to Youtube then embed it in my site. Odd, but it works.

The video is of cows and rather long.

Go here.

I am trying to chop out and upload some video of Theofo's fetish ceremony (trancing and freaky drumming and whatnot) in the next day or so. Any other requests? I won't be putting much up because it takes a lot of time and effort. So there.

Bye.

Mustacholini.

Wow. Sorry for that title - it hurt me more than it hurt you.

Today's story:
I am growing a MUSTACHE!
I have uploaded some photos so check them out.

In other news, I have worked out that I am going to be able to stay here until January - I have worked out how much living here is going to cost and how much money I have. Fortunately, money I have > how much it costs. This is good.

Of course, you will almost die because you miss me, but it is still good.

Actually, I think your emotional blackmail is just plain selfish. You know, sometimes things are bigger than you. I recommend you go to a mirror, look in and have a deep think about yourself. Missing me is ok though.

In fact, if you don't miss me I recommend you go to a mirror, look in and have a deep think about yourself. And me.

Actually, mainly me.

On that note, back to me. I am having lessons every day and rehearsing with a couple of groups.

The thing I said I was going to talk about tomorrow two days ago, I am not yet going to talk about it. I am going to keep that epiphany sizzling for a while more, so deal with that.

Still, be excited.

So, apart from that, I don't have an awful lot of news. I had a lesson with Theofo this morning, continuing to learn some freaky rhythms. Kusun are playing a show tonight that I am going to watch. I had breakfast. I am sitting at my computer right now. I will try again to upload some video later.

That's about it.

You got anything better?

Chow.

It's late and I'm tired. Phil should go to bed now.

Hello.

It's very late. Kanchana left for Australia last Thursday. That was sad.

Phil leaves Ghana (for the US, because he is American) at 6am tomorrow (this) morning. That will be sad. At the moment, however, he is wandering around upstairs packing and making a ruckuss.

I think he should go to bed.

On a further note, once Phil leaves, I am the last of the people on the tour who will still be in Ghana (apart from Jane who organises the tour and will be travelling soon anyway). In a way, my work begins tomorrow - I have no more white people to slack off with and hide behind.

We'll see how that goes.

I have more to say and will write something tomorrow (perhaps). I know what I want to write - I thought of something really deep and meaningful and thought 'Oh, that will be nice to blog about and really let the peoplez know how I feel'.

I am sizzling it up now so you will be excited when it comes later.

Ok. Tired. Goodnight.

Phil should REALLY go to bed now.

A post for today.

Hello. Just a quick 'I'm alive' kind of post.

Last few days have been fairly quiet - my stomach has been poopy until today, meaning not much sleep or venturing too far from a toilet. Yesterday afternoon we went to Theofo's place and had some food and got some music. That was nice.

Kusun have just started rehearsing outside now, so I have to go play.

I'm feeling a fair bit better today - I tell you because I know you care.

Cheers.

Rani Püse.

I am sitting here with a sore stomach. I care about you so much that I am still writing this post.


Not a lot has happened the last couple of days. Kusun have started rehearsing, so I've been hanging around with them (except for today because I am so sick and even though I'm sick I'm still writing this post because I care so much). Yesterday, after rehearsal, Kanchana, Phil, Okule, Jane, Theofo and I went to the Arts Centre market to look at stuff. The Arts Centre market works like this: everyone says 'hello my friend', grabs your arm, drags you to their stall and tries to sell you trinkets so they can feed their families. Awesome. While there, I ate cow intestine cooked on the side of the road. Perhaps this is why I am sick.

We also went walking around Accra. Nothing to report. Everything was under control. I had noodles for dinner. Perhaps you have something to tell me?

Stories?

Ok.

- End Token Post -

You missed me. (Alternative title: Tupac Lives)

Well hello there.

It has been a while, I know. For that, I once again offer you my sincerest apologies. What this means, however, is that I actually have STORIES. Or, at the very least, vague and bland descriptions of things that happened. So, let's start broad, then get more specific, shall we?


What happened in the last week.
By Jacob.
Just after my last post, we performed our white juju for Ghanaians at the Accra Arts Centre as the finale of the study tour. The next day we had a big concluding-the-tour-what-do-we-do-I-don't-know-maybe-we-will-throw-a-big party. On the Sunday, a select few of us were present at a Fetish religious ceremony where goats and chickens were killed and eaten. Then people went home to Australia. On the following Tuesday Kanchana (the Sri Lankan 7/8 drumming master), Phil (the philthy American) and I went on a 4-day trip around parts of Ghana. Yesterday (Saturday), we went to an incredibly-poorly-organised-but-still-fantastic music festival in Accra. Today, we had no electricity all day and I ate some more goat.

And then I wrote this.

SO, yeah.

Let's go through that again.


The performance:

I was wonderful. A DVD was made. Maybe you will be allowed to see some of it. I danced and was funny while still being awesome. I was amazing.


The party:

Nothing to say about this really. All the people on the tour put together a heap of money and then we organised a heap of food and a heap of drinks and then we just had a whole heap o' fun. So, yeah. White people are awesome.


The Fetish ceremony:

This was amazing. I have lots of footage. The basic schedule of events began with some ceremonial business involving singing and small percussion (bells and shakers). Next, we (Ray, Colin, Bryan, Kanchana, Fumina and I) were blessed and presented to the spirits with some libation and drinking of gin. Then, two chickens and a goat were killed and lay around and died for a while. Then the animals were cut up, prepared and cooked. We stayed around and watched the butchering, but went off to a local spot to kill some time while the food was being cooked. After an hour or so, we went back and watched the guys drumming. While drumming our friend and teacher Teofo (a Fetish man and the focus of the ceremony) went into a trance and started spinning. And kept spinning. And spinning. And spinning.

Keep in mind that this isn't something that is easily describable - if you want, when I get back I might show you the video.

Anyway, the day ended with us eating the animals and I got blood on me.

Delicious.


Our trip

Well. We went on a trip

(See the map? See it??).

Our trip began as a trip to Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti region in central Ghana. However, we got to Kumasi at about 10.30 at night and had no idea where we were or where we were going. It was great. We ended up staying in a seedy hotel (which was actually great).

After waking up and not knowing what to do in Kumasi, we spent hours looking for an ancient sword lodged in the ground - removal of the sword means the fall of the Ashanti kingdom (sort of like King Arthur, but different) and all sorts of other bad stuff. Nevertheless, people (including Muhammed Ali, apparently) have been trying to pull it out for years. In the book we read and in our minds, the sword seemed a wonderful tourist attraction. In reality however, the sword is in the courtyard of a hospital, took ages to find and is possibly the worst tourist attraction ever.

But don't worry, I have it all on video.

And, really, the sword was just a means by which to explore and experience Kumasi, not an all-important end. Sometimes life is all about the journey, yeah?

Well, this was how we rationalised wasting a day in the freaking sun in Kumasi looking for a stupid sword.

But it was fun really. No, really, it was fun.

After Kumasi, we travelled to Nkawkaw and then up into the hills to Mpraeso. We stayed the night in Mpraeso and met a taxi driver named Tupac.

Yeah. Tupac.

Mpraeso was beautiful - the 20-minute drive there from Nkawkaw was basically winding up into mountains covered in rainforests. Additionally, the town itself was peaceful and obviously not particularly a tourist location (actually, most of Ghana is like that - not touristy at all. But that's for another post another time). We spent the night in Mpraeso (and had hot showers - the first in 5 weeks).

The next day, we met up with our new friend Tupac and he drove us to Odawso on the edge of lake Volta. We paid a guy in a canoe to ferry us over the lake (there is a ferry on this side, but we had just missed it and the next one didn't leave for hours, apparently) and landed in Ekyie. From there, we took a tro-tro (a small, un-roadworthy bus crammed with Africans) across the Afram plains. Apparently, since the creation of Lake Volta, these plains have become cut off from the world and (more) impoverished - if you look at the map, you can see why - the only way to really access them is to cross over the lake, which is not particularly easy.

After a fairly uneventful and bumpy ride, we came to the other side of the plains, back to the lake. From this point, we caught a larger canoe (the ferry on this side didn't work any more - it was spoilt) and made the trip to Kpando. On the way however, the boat we were in made a detour.

We pulled up to a swampy area with some cattle grazing. After a couple of puzzled looks, the three of us realised that we weren't making some sort of drop off but rather were picking up three cows. That was an interesting revelation. I will provide some pictures one day, but for now, the method of getting cows into this canoe involved four Ghanaians, a plank of wood, a heave and some leverage, and then a cow on its back in the boat. We then had three cows in the boat for the remainder of our hour-long journey across Lake Volta (Lake Volta is massive, by the way. And man-made. Go MAN!).

From there on in, the trip was fairly uneventful (and it's late and I'm very tired right now). We spent our last night in Ho (the capital of the Volta region and a lovely place, despite the name). After waking up and engaging in a bit of hanging around, we headed to the Akosombo dam (at the bottom of Lake Volta) for a look-see, got wet in the rain, then went home.

Then we went to Tip Top Chinese restaurant in Accra for dinner. Rerry Dericious.

I am tired now. Kusun start rehearsing at 9am tomorrow and I will be sitting in with them. As such, I am going to have to be awake to keep up. Thus, I will have to tell you about the festival later.

Isn't reason wonderful?

So, thank you for reading. I will post again soon.
Or will I?
Yeah, I will. So read it. And comment. And ask questions. And look at some more photos.
Sorry for the rambling.

Ok Bye.

And, in case you forget what I look like:

One more before we play...

Hello.

It's Friday and the last day of classes for the study tour.
We (19 Whities) are performing for the masses at the Arts Centre in Accra. I say we but, really, I mean ME.

It's all about me.

Anyway, I thought I'd just say hello and let you know that we are going to get laughed at a lot. I am doing a small bit of dancing and lots of drumming. That should split some Ghanaian sides.

Also, just so you know, there will most likely be a DVD made of this coming performance. So, when I get back, if you are well-behaved, I may show it to you. If I know you. If possible, I may even upload some, but that is not looking like a particularly possible plan. So.. yeah...


I will break some legs.

Bye.

I was a day late, but it's ok.

As we say here in Ghana, bonjour.


Oti is here looking over my shoulder, so I can't write anything really interesting. He is a small boy on the trip with his mother. He broke his arm running away from a dog.


Now you know Oti. Say hi for me if you see him.


Yesterday we did some stuff. More drumming and dancing. I am fabulous. I am dancing. I am fabulous dancing.


Jane is looking over my shoulder now.


We are doing a performance on Friday night. I am still having trouble uploading video, so I dunno about that.

Simon's here now. I must look really interesting. All these people keep coming and watching me.

U no it.

I am now typing with my eyes closed because Oti told me to.

This post is going nowhere. I intended to make up for my lack of posting yesterday, but it's not working. I offer you my humblest apologies.

At least you know I'm still alive and as entertaining as ever.

Don't miss me too much....

Actually, it's ok to miss me. We're all only human.

Salute.

Today was another day. By Jacob.

Yo.

Today was a different day from yesterday. Today we waited around, then did some recording with Tachie. He played these freaky breaks while we (Ray, Bryan and me) recorded him so we can learn them later. I played bell. It made me want to cry because it was hard and I am a wussy. If I can, I'll upload a bit of video of it so you can appreciate how freaky it is.

Word.

For the last couple of days I have been trying to upload a video of a performance I recorded - with this internet connection it takes about 2 hours to upload. However, what happens is that it uploads for nearly two hours, then the connection drops out. It's fully awesome. I will keep trying, but it is HARD.

So there.

After our drumming session, Tettey (the guy here who's in charge) took us (Ray, Jane, Eve, Bryan and Me - everyone else had travelled to Cape Coast, like I told you yesterday. Geez! Don't you listen to anything I say?) to his place for dinner. It was some special meal that they only have once a year that he was saving to celebrate with us. It was nice. 10 years of Kusun study tours and all that.

Then I came home.

When I got home everyone had got back from Cape Coast and it was busy and loud. So I went to my room and watched South Park episodes (Imaginationland, Guitar Queer-O, The List and, at the moment, Stanley's Cup) and wrote/am writing this.
Self-referential, hey?

In case you haven't noticed, this is now TWO DAYS in a row where I have made informative blog posts. You should all be very happy. You are lucky.

I will continue to write each day if I can. Rejoice.

Hope all is well where you are.

Violence is bad.

By Jacob

What I did today. By Jacob.

Hello.

Today I got up at 11.30 and copped shit for being lazy. They don't seem to understand my need to rest on the Sabbath.

It was quite hot today. And quiet - nearly all of our group have travelled to Cape Coast for the weekend. I am too cool to go.

After my daily cold shower and bucket-powered laundering, Tiafo, Ray, Bryan and I enjoyed some delicious peanut soup with beef and rice balls. We then went to a festival in Teshie (10 mins in a Tro-Tro (bus) East of Nungua, where we live) and wandered around, trying not to be pushed into the open sewers while locals ran around the streets in the hot hot sun sun. Then we walked home along the beach. The beach was filthy - turds and plastic bags aplenty. Yum.

After we got back, we sat around the centre (where we live) and bullshitted for a few hours and then I wrote this. Later we'll go and rustle up some food somewhere. Maybe a cat.

That was my day. I will try to upload some video of some drumming performances - if I get it done I'll let you know.

In case you were wondering (and of course you were) this post is the beginning of me forcing myself to get into the habit of posting wonderful, informative information. Maybe every day I'll try to at least let you know what I got up to, even though I don't like doing it.

See how much I care about you?

You should totally comment and stuff to let me know you also care.

Radwicked.

Photos are here!

Hello Excited Person.


I have finally put up some photos of my room and where I'm staying. I haven't actually taken any others... I suppose I'll get around to it one day.

When you're older.



To see all the photos you have to click on the link below - it was a lot easier to use iWeb to upload my photos than do them one by one on this blog. I'll update the photo page when I have new things or if I can be bothered uploading video. When I do, I'll let you know here.


Cheers.



Here is a SNEAK PEEK:



My Room


Click here to go to the photos