Another day.

Hi.

Today was hot. I woke up again with no power. It wasn't too hot in the morning though, so this was ok. It had poured with rain for most of the night which, while making it oppressively hot and sticky during the night, had eventually cooled everything down.

As my phone and computer were flat from there being no power since the day before, I headed out to visit my new friend at the internet cafe. It was on my way there that the eeriest of coincidences occured. I was stopped by a guy who 'knew' me. He commended me for stopping and talking to him and not being rude. He told me that he had just gotten married yesterday and I should meet his wife before he goes on his honeymoon tomorrow.

Hmmm.

Interestingly, he said he got married in the same mosque that Wally did – the very place I went to yesterday and saw no sign of any marriage. It was pretty quiet really. Anyhow, in the spirit of idiocy, I decided to go along with it for a while – I decided to go and see his place. On the way there I told him that I knew it would be 'customary' for me to give something to his wife but that I didn't have any money. I wanted to see what would happen. This plan backfired like all hell – he discerned that I needed to go to the bank to get more money, so rapidly changed course. All of a sudden his wife, who we were going to see, was miles away – right near the bank!

The coincidences just kept stacking up.

Anyhow, I told this guy that the reason I was going out was to go to the internet cafe and I had to talk to Penelope there and she was waiting and I didn't have time to go to the bank now and maybe another day perhaps but hopefully not. He said ok, his wife was getting her hair done just on the way to the internet cafe and I should stop and see her on the way.

I am an idiot and I hate myself sufficiently.

Turned out 'on the way' was about a kilometre past the internet cafe, right near the bank. I met his 'wife' and stole some groundnuts from her – I had to get something out of the shanking I was receiving. At this stage, I knew I was too far gone – I figured I would be better off just giving him money and pissing him off. This guy had already arranged with someone in a shop to give him some milk powder (which I was going to pay for) on the condition that I was going to the bank to get the money. I then told him I didn't have any money in the bank either – I had to go to the internet to get money in my bank. Aha! Great plan.

So he followed me to the internet. Shit plan.

The internet cafe I go to (it has wireless and I have paid for access whenever I want) was still not working. I made out that I was just going to wait hoping that this guy would go away, but he had already taken the milk so was in for the long haul. Additionally, we bumped into my close personal friend Wally (whom I met yesterday and got married the day before and had left for his honeymooon... today?). He didn't so much as blink at the apparent inconsistencies in his life but just came up and was my friend. He told me later he saw me with this other guy and knew he was no good so he wanted to look after me. Anyhow, we went to another internet cafe. Once there I pretended to do internet banking on dodgy African computers. Like I'm actually going to put my password into a computer sending out Nigerian scam emails. I mean, I'm obviously pretty naive and out of my depth, but sometimes I know.

So, after my several efforts, I was thoroughly beaten by desperate African scammers. We went back to the bank (it's not a small walk, probably about 1km each way) my new friend Lamin (the name for every first born), Wally and I. I drew out just enough money to pay for this guy's thing – I didn't want any extra on me to be 'needed' and a bit to give to Wally to piss him off as well. After trying to talk me into taking a taxi (I told him he could go and I wouldn't be offended. Please.) he followed me back, scamming all the way. We bumped into some guy he knew (I think he was some guy in the fire brigade) who needed two 50 dalasis notes as change for a 100 Dalasis ($4) note. I opened my wallet in an empty display of generosity, thinking I didn't have any money, to find two 50s staring back at me. It's wonderful being rich. So, I gave him the 'change' but didn't receive the 100 in return. Instead I had to go to his shop with my best friend Wally and get it from the manager who wasn't there and maybe I'll get it later.

Good day so far.

Anyhow, $4 is worth having something to hang over these guys – I can now tell him that he owes me 100 dalasis if he ever asks for anything. It's worth it.

Wally also seemed to have sort of organised for me to play at a club with the guys I met yesterday – apparently they liked my white jive and wanted me to play with them. I have to do that about 9pm tonight. I'll give it a bit of time but am expecting to find it to be shit and leave early. In my naivete and against my experience I am still holding out hope that it may be worth doing but we'll see. Maybe tomorrow I will be famous. Or mugged. I am not taking my phone or any money with me. I think this is the best way to avoid having anything taken or given from me. Yay Africa.

So, after all this farting around, I went back to my favourite cafe with a sign saying 'internet'. It still wasn't working. The girl there is lovely though and keeps putting on Youssou N'Dour DVDs for me. She offered to refund the money I had paid for wireless access which was refreshing too. I got a drink from the bar next door and sat with her for a bit waiting for the technician who was coming in '20 minutes'. Since yesterday. I then went to the bank again, with no friends in tow, to take out as much money as I could – I was actually broke. I managed to get a couple of hundred dollars' worth before the ATM ran dry. I'll have to make a bigger trip into Serekunda next time I need money.

On my way to the bank I ran into a guy named Omar who lives at the place at which I'm staying. He is actually ok – he has helped me with a few things, hasn't ripped me off yet and hasn't asked for anything. Allah bless him. I've been bumping into him a bit and telling him I'll come and see him at his friend's music shop – he knows I am here for music and had been sizzling this place for a couple of days. I went to the shop and it is actually really good. A lot of 20- and 30- year-old vinyl – African music, old jazz and soul, old reggae. The guy says he charges 500 dalasis for a record (about $20) but might work out a deal if I buy a few. He actually seemed pretty straight up, but was used to dealing with tourists/rich white people. I will go there some day and listen to a bunch of stuff. I'm not sure that I'm rich enough to buy much. We'll see.

Then, I went back to the internet cafe and found it was still just a cafe. I told the girl (whose name I cannot remember – I think it's Patu or something) that I was going and asked her to call me if the internet came back on.

Then I went home. And ate this:

Which was awful but made me slightly happier. I did have to open it by stabbing it with a knife and breaking my multitool and digging in with a spoon. I didn't cry though.

Much.

Also, as promised yesterday, I bought some toilet paper of which I took some photos:

I decided to go with 'Clean' first, maybe work my way up to 'Trendy' as I make some more friends and save 'Kissy' for when I am lonely and realise that my friends are all scammers.

If you play your cards right, I might be able to work out a way to bring some of this back home for some lucky, lucky people. Maybe some creamed rice as well.

Ok. That's it for today.

Thanks bye.

I'm in Gambia

Hi there. Sorry for my absence. The reason I have been absent is because I haven't been here.

Ok? Good.

I am in Gambia now – I got here on Tuesday night. I couldn't do a post on Tuesday morning before I left because the power was out at the guesthouse. In the spirit of continuity, when I got to my accommodation in Gambia, the power was also out. It was also about 32º and dead still. I barely slept because it was so freaking hot. The power came back on at about 2am and the fans kicked in, but then was off again in the morning. It didn't bode well.

That was a couple of nights ago. Yesterday I pretty much spent the day wandering around. I got a couple of sim cards so as to be contactable and to be able to call back home but discovered that international call rates here are really expensive. In Ghana it's very cheap (compared to Australia) to call international mobiles, in Gambia the price seems to be about the same as in Australia. So no go there as a regular means of communication. Additionally, I don't have the luxury of an internet connection here where I am staying so getting online is difficult. I found out that one of the telcos here has a 3G network which can be accessed with a USB stick for about $120. I went into the shop in Serekunda and they had run out. Maybe they will have more next week.

Great.

So, I got a sim from the company that has the 3G network and am using my iPhone connected to my computer to get online. Sometimes it's good to be a nerd – it's cheaper to use skype on my phone (about 2c a kilobyte) than to call internationally.

How interesting for you.

So, yesterday I found this out, found a bank and generally got lost around Bakau. Not generally lost, actually lost. I had no idea where I was. It worked out though. Good for you.

The power just went out, by the way – one benefit of using internet on my phone is that it keeps working when the power is out. Again, how interesting for you.

Gambia is quite nice – I haven't really seen enough to fully review it, ask me in 4 weeks. It is a lot smaller and poorer than Ghana. Where I am staying here also seems to have a lot more hustlers than where I stay in Ghana. Luckily I've had a fair bit of practice and can mention that I've been in Africa for a while so they don't froth too much at the mouth when they talk to me. The food is good. I have had a couple of helpings of Domodah so far which is rice with meat (chicken for me) and a peanut-based stew. A bit like groundnut soup for those of you who have eaten that. Very nice. Things can also be quite expensive here, relative to Ghana – the area I am in turns into a full-blown mass tourism resort in a few weeks, that could explain it.

Today I made my way out to an internet cafe that I used yesterday that was good. I had talked to the girl running it and she said that I could pay a one off fee of 400 dalasi ($16) and come and use the wifi with my laptop whenever I wanted over the month. First things first for nerds.

Anyhow, I was on my way there this morning and some guy called Boubacar/ Wally stopped me. He annoyed me at first and I was thinking of brushing him off – he was saying that he knew me and didn't I recognise him and I said I don't remember him where did he meet me? He couldn't answer my question (I'm pretty sure he hadn't met me) which made me suspicious of him. Anyway, I ended up talking to him for a bit, just chatting and keeping him at arms' length, when he offered to take me to meet his wife, whom he had married yesterday. Whatever. So I went.

He took me wandering through the market and some backstreets which was slightly anxiety-inducing but mostly interesting and we ended up at his house. Then came the catch. He explained to me that it wasn't polite to give or accept money as gifts but that I should go to the shop with him and buy some powdered milk to give to his wife as a gift.

At this stage I had a bit of a bad feeling but decided to ignore it.

So we went to a nearby shop where Wally told me that a big packet of milk cost 450 dalasis ($18). I decided I wasn't feeling that generous and gave him 150 dalasis ($6) which was still more than I was planning to. I also didn't have much money on me – I knew I was going to have to give 400 to the girl at the internet cafe. So after a bit of back and forth I made it clear that that was all I was giving and that I hadn't expected anything and maybe next time I would know and so on. He was fine – I'm sure he was more than happy with 150 but just decided to go for a bit more. Anyhow, I met his wife who seemed nice. I sat in his compound for a bit, talking shit, hearing about how he was going on his honeymoon tomorrow, giving him my email address and repeatedly telling him that I already had a wife and didn't need his sister in law, thank you. He offered me a coke and insisted I take it which was nice. I had a coke. So, he was fine really.

Then he found out that I was here to learn drumming and said that he would take me to some friends who played. I thought it couldn't hurt, so followed him. He asked me about what I knew and for how long I'd been playing – he got really excited when I told him I had been playing for over 10 years. He decided that he wanted me to play for his friends and surprise them. No pressure at all.

So, we went there and I played a bit of djembe blathering with these guys. They were pretty good but not as good as guys I have played with in Ghana. Well, different, but from what I saw, I don't think they were as good. Anyhow, I think I blew their mind a little bit and they wanted me to come and play with them on the beach and when they perform and stuff. I got some phone numbers and we'll see how that goes. I don't think they will be ones I want to learn from but any playing would be good. They also asked me for some money at the end – I told them I didn't have any with me and didn't plan to go there. They were fine, which is a good sign.

Then I went to the internet cafe where the internet wasn't working and sat and watched Youssou N'Dour DVDs and talked to the girl who ran the place for about 3 hours.

Action-packed.

So, that's about it for now – I just wanted to let you know that I got here ok and am alive. It's pretty full on and hard not knowing anyone, but all seems to be ok. I am getting the hang of this 'white man in Africa' thing.

As a note, I'm aware the photos I uploaded don't work. That's because I didn't upload them. Because the internet was crap. Maybe later.

I also took some photos of some toilet paper today. I will upload them sometime soon – I'm just sizzling them at the moment. Getting you all excited.

Please forgive the blurty, rambly nature of this post – I'm doing it quite quickly in the dark. I really do care about you.

Ok bye. Thanks for reading.

Leaving tomorrow

Hello to you. And you too.

I'm off to Gambia tomorrow. Have pretty much just spent today farting around, getting packed, getting organised and other such excitement. I didn't train with Kusun today. Oh well.

So, nothing to report really. Kanchana says that life is only as interesting as I am – that must be why there doesn't seem to be much going on.

I'll post again when I'm in Gambia.

Thanks for reading.
Bye.

Today's afterthought

By the way, I have uploaded most of the photos I mentioned in my earlier post. You can view them by clicking on the link down there on the right or by clicking here.

Also, to my Jewish brethren, I know I know. I'm just trying to be hip with the Christians. Don't worry, I'm still kosher.

Also, also, have I mentioned the Fat Gold Chain podcast? It's got a pounding remix of our song, Lazy Ways, in it – I think it is going to smash all the dance clubs.

Bye.

The Sabbath

Hello. Today was Sunday, hence the title of this post. Well, it still is Sunday.

OK.

Today Tettey, Jane, Theofo, Adotey, Rita and I had arranged to meet an old friend of Ray's who has just recently started working at the Australian High Commission here in Ghana. About 15 minutes before we were meant to be there a group rocked up in a bus and I found out that I had to take publicity photos of them for some reason. So, I spent half an hour farting around with them – photographing them with 25 backseat photographers giving me lots of irritating advice ("Oh, shoot there"). Eventually, they seemed satisfied enough so we left for Robin's (Ray's friend) house, where he and some friends were jamming. Tettey, Theofo, Adotey and I joined in. It was kind of awkward initially and was rad at times. We played Afro Blue. We also had lunch – spaghetti and meatballs which was FANTASTIC. I have been craving spaghetti for a while. I think I have a problem. It was doubly fantastic because Theofo had to eat white man food – he loves giving white people shit for having trouble with African food but doesn't like eating white people food. It was nice to turn the tables.

The dinner tables.

Then we came back and hung out for a bit. Theofo and I ate some fish and pepper that Theofo cooked – we were both full but ate anyway. We talked some shit for a while and that was pretty much it.

In other news, to pimp Fat Gold Chain some more, the first podcast episode is up. GO HERE to subscribe in iTunes.

As per usual, that is a command, not a request.

Thank you so much for reading and making me feel cool and loved.

Well, for reading anyway.

Also, I posted this yesterday, but just so you know for SURE, I am leaving for Gambia on Tuesday now – my Monday flight was 'cancelled'.

This means I should be able to post again tomorrow.

Cool dudes.
Bye.

Subscribe to the Fat Gold Chain podcast in iTunes

It's done! There aren't any episodes up yet, but I have a button for you to click which will take you to iTunes where you can subscribe to the Fat Gold Chain podcast. This means that each week, when there is a new episode, it will automatically download into your iTunes library. Sick!

Here is the button:

Hoorah!

On another note, I got an email from my travel agent today. Apparently my flight was cancelled. I fly out on Tuesday now, not Monday. 

Oh well. At least I found out a day before.

Bye.

I'm going away.

On Monday, for four weeks. I bought my ticket on Thursday.

Hello.

So, on Thursday I took a trip to Accra Mall to pay the travel agent. That was pretty much my day. I also bought the downloadable copy of the Lonely Planet guide for West Africa - I needed to book some accommodation for when I got to Gambia.

On Friday I made a few phone calls and booked some accommodation – I think I booked a place for the first 3 nights. I hope so, anyway. I didn't get a confirmation number or anything so we'll see how I go. I'm sure it'll be fine.

I'll be staying in Bakau and trying to get some lessons in sabar drumming. I'll keep you posted.

I've also spent a fair bit of time doing computer music work, getting some things ready for the upcoming FAT GOLD CHAIN PODCAST. It will be very exciting for you. Kanchana is currently putting the first episode together – it will be up before Monday. Every week we'll have a new episode available with some interesting tidbits – music, news, repartee and such – so you can follow what we're up to. It will be like having me and Kanchana in your ears, whenever you want. Also, we're going to set it up so that if you like any of the music you hear in the podcast, you will be able to buy it here.

What a plan!

The podcast is a way to force ourselves to write a bunch of new music – over the next four months or so we are hoping to create several themed albums worth of material – the podcast will be a sort of record of our progression. I hope you subscribe and enjoy it. There will be an iTunes link shortly – it's coming. For now, click here to subscribe. Alternatively, you can check the Fat Gold Chain website on Monday mornings.

Thanks. Have FUN.

A few days' worth of delicious post.

Hello, my good friend. It's been a while. Here's a quick, day-by-day sort of account of what I've been up to until you last heard from me on this blog on the internet.

On Saturday night I went to bed fairly late – about 2am. This was because Pen (my lover) had been running in the marathon and I got to talk to her while she was running and then again after she had finished and that was exciting for me and she ran the whole way what a good girl. 

Then I got woken up at 4am by Theofo who wanted a talking drum and some shakers that were in my room for some fetish thing. That was mildly unpleasant, but I went back to sleep.

Only to be woken up again less than two hours later – the 'fetish thing' that Theofo needed the drum for was now happening outside. Great. At the time I didn't know this for sure, but could hear fetish drumming and singing and suspected it was a bit too much of a coincidence. All the same, I stayed in bed and hoped it would go away. 

It didn't.

Instead, someone came and said I had to go outside. I told them to go away. Then, someone else came and told me I had to go outside. I could sense the inevitability of a pattern emerging, so gave in, got dressed and went.

Outside, Theofo appeared to have been possessed by a spirit who had a message for someone in the house. There were about 6 or 7 other guys around him, playing drums, clapping, singing and pouring gin everywhere. That's about it. Theofo did a lot of spinning around, yelling, hitting himself quite hard and miming messages. It was interesting, but not at 6 in the morning.

How foolish I was for thinking that I was lucky I don't have to go to church every Sunday morning. Instead, church came to me. Hooray for that.

This all finished at about 8 or so – I fell back to sleep for a few hours and then… can't really remember what else happened that day. I know I was tired and grumpy. For a change. I think I had a nap during the day.

On Monday, Theofo was still feeling sick from the stuff the day before, so I didn't have a lesson. I went into town and bought some cups, bowls, plates, cutlery and a washing tub to make myself more self-sufficient. That was exhilarating. For dinner, I went to a chop bar with Theofo and had rice with tomato stew and chicken. That was ok I suppose.

On Tuesday I pretty much organised my travel to The Gambia. I have a plane ticket booked to leave Accra next Monday the 18th of October. At the moment, my return flight is booked for the 14th of November – this gives me four weeks in Banjul. I'm not sure what my internet connectivity will be like but I will try to keep this wonderful blog going if possible. If not possible, you'll just have to wait. With bated breath. 

Eww.

I still didn't have a lesson with Theofo – he still wasn't feeling good. I had chicken and fried rice for dinner.

Today, I don't feel like I've done much. I did a fair bit of computer music work – I did a rough remix of one of the songs that Kanchana and I released (coming soon) – but that's about it. I've still been rehearsing with Kusun each day and doing a bit of practice but am looking forward to moving away for a bit. No lesson today either.

I haven't had dinner yet. I have had really bad indigestion for the last 4 hours or so and don't feel like eating. But I will. I'm not sure what though – I'll be sure to let you know.

How interesting for you.

I hope your life is fantastic and that the spirit is looking after you.

By the way, Kanchana and Arun made some really good tracks. You can listen to them here. I think they're going to be selling them soon – I didn't ask permission to link to them so HURRY!

Here's a sample for those of you who don't like clicking on links:

Village by CreaturesMusic

The end. 

Okay, it's been a week. Or should that be 'OK'? I'm not sure.

Hello. Haven't spoken to you for a while. Or written at you. Or whatever.

Basically, the internet and power here has been extremely shonky over the last week. This is why I haven't posted. Not because I don't care, because I do.

Very much.

So, here's what I have been up to in the last week. Briefly.

Early in the week I didn't feel that good. Emotionally. This happens to me because I am a sensitive guy. When it happens, I have to shut down a bit and hide, so that's pretty much what I did. It all worked out though. Now I am happy. You too are happy to hear this. Because you care.

Very much.

Mid week I had a chat to Mr Ray who gave me a few instructions, some motivation and direction. This helped me pull my finger out, which is what I did. Over the last couple of days I have had a few hours' of lessons with Theofo and have done some rehearsing with Kusun. I feel like I'm finally getting into doing what I'm meant to be doing. I'm also getting my sleep pattern sorted out a bit more – trying to go to bed earlier and get up earlier (and stay healthy, wealthy and wisier).

Today was Saturday (it still is, if you ask me). I started the day by going to Theofo's and having some fish, kenkey and pepper. It was delicious. Then, after a fair bit of waiting and stuffing around, we went back to the centre and recorded another of his fetish rhythms on my computer device. That's about it. Things move slowly here.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. The answer is probably no.

So, that's all I can really be bothered with right now – sorry for the wait, I'm trying to keep this blog as up-to-date as possible – it serves as my replacement for a 'HI! IT'S ME!' group email, just to let you know that I'm alive and what I'm up to. Hope that's ok.

You're awesome.

Bye.

A lot of movies

Hello there. Feeling a bit crook today so I haven't left my room. Except to get some phone credit. And some two-minute noodles.

Last night I watched The Matrix. It was good.

Today I watched Shooter, Twilight and The Godfather Part II. They were mildly amusing, more enjoyable than I had expected and really quite good.

That's about it. I hope I am feeling better tomorrow. So do you.

Because you care.

Bye.

Hello from Jacob

Hello. From me. Jacob.

Today I got woken up by Afotey wanting some money. A good start, I thought. Afotey was one of my teachers last time was here and I plan to do some more stuff with him this time. Thus, I thought it would be prudent to give him something, if not as much as he was asking. So I did. And I was up. So there.

Then, after talking to my mother on Skype, I went to Theofo's. He had cooked jollof rice (rice with fried chicken and a tomato and onion sauce – really nice). As I mentioned just now in the parentheses, it was really nice. From there we went back to my place and got set up to to record Theofo playing some fetish rhythms. He saw my 'studio' setup here in the room when I first got here and decided that I should record him. I thought it would be interesting and easier to comply than to try and avoid him, so today we started.

This meant borrowing some monitors that I noticed Tettey had lying around, sorting out power transformers and such, getting the mic, headphone monitoring and drums set up and generally acting all techy. After a bit of stuffing around, fixing things and testing we recorded most of one of the rhythms he wanted to do – when it's finished I'll put it up here for you to hear. The whole process was actually pretty enjoyable – I knew I brought all this gear for a reason.

Oh, here's a picture:

That's my laptop on a box of water bottles, with some speakers behind and all sorts of other goodies. I even brought my trackball. Sometimes it's good to be a nerdy boy.

Anyhow, that was pretty much my day. Right now I'm listening to music through real speakers rather than headphones (which get uncomfortable after not-too-long) or my shitty computer speakers. That is nice. I'm listening to the Allman Brothers Band – I like them because two words in their name make it very clear what gender they are and the other word lets you know that they're a band.

And their music is ok too.

Ok bye. You are special.

Bye.

Here's a couple of days' worth of blog post.

For you, my special reader person.

Nothing very much has happened that I can remember or is relevant. I have written parts of a fair few songs since I've been here – the last couple of days I fiddled around with a very sample-heavy remix of Rihanna's song, Rude Boyz. That is coming. Look forward to it.

I've had a few lessons with Theofo and have been training with Kusun. Nothing too much there – it is good to actually start playing and learning a little bit as I have been pretty lazy so far.

Uhhhhhhhhhh.

Last night I went to a concert at the French Alliance which was part of the Accra Jazz and World Music Festival. The concert was free and totally packed out – it was a tribute concert for Mac Tontoh (one of the founding members of Osibisa) who has died recently. I didn't stay for long – too many people and too loud. The music was good though. The festival looks like it will be pretty good and I hope to go to a few more shows. Exciting. At the concert I had a sausage.

Tonight I had fish and chicken in light soup with fufu for dinner.

Sorry I didn't post over the last two days – the internet and the power were out. At different times. Right when I wanted to post. To you. Darling reader.

Goodnight.

Oh, by the way

I'm out of muesli. I thought I should let you know. I do like to keep you informed up to the minute.

See how much I care?

Cool.

The yesterday of today

Hi. I deeply care about you.

Yesterday I didn't do much, really. I had a lesson with Theofo, played at a very short Kusun training session and spent a lot of time screwing around with the internet, trying to get it to work. I also spent a fair bit of time trying to get Indiana Jones movies playing for small boys and girls in the house. That was fun. I think it didn't work in the end – I guess that gives me something to do today.

I had some really delicious fish for dinner, with banku and tomato saucey-stuff (pepper). This is not my photo, but it looks sort of like this:

The banku is the doughey looking stuff, the tomato is the tomatoey looking stuff and the fish is that fish right there. Normally, with my banku and pepper, I only get the 50 pesewa fish (which is about AUD$0.35) but last night I splashed out for the 1.5 cedi fish (AUD$1.05). It was all salty and gingery and grilled and delicious – I don't even like overly salty or gingery food but, man, this was nice. I may go for the expensive option again. In the future.

Anyhow, that was my news for yesterday. Exciting, huh?

So far today I have gotten up. I haven't washed or anything yet. I'm not really in the mood to go outside and am planning to see how long I can survive in my room. I've got plenty of water and some cheese. Should be fine.

I still deeply care about you. Thanks for reading. 

Yesterday.

Oh, hey there. How are you?

Whatever. Here's what happened to me yesterday.

I got out of bed to the beautiful sounds of 'Fire, fire. Jacob, get out of your room.' which was an interesting way to wake up.

What had happened was that the wall socket on the wall outside my room (less than a metre away from where I was sleeping) had caught on fire and was shooting out flames and sparks and smoke and other fire-related things. Quickly, the power was turned off at the mains and everything was ok, except for the fact that we had no electricity until it was fixed, this morning. A day later. So, we had the lights and fans off and a few bare cables sticking out of the wall for a day. Fun fun. I didn't die though so I suppose it's ok. So that's why I didn't post anything yesterday. I have an excuse.

I also went to a fetish ceremony with Theofo yesterday. Well, I 'went to' it and 'participated', I think. I'm not completely sure. I was meant to provide two chickens and a guinea fowl but Theofo couldn't find a guinea fowl in time, so he got a dog. I can't really give much detail about what actually happened in the ceremony, but it was basically me asking for protection of some kind. As far as I can tell. Basically, the two chickens and the dog were offered, killed, cooked and eaten and I had to drink a lot of gin and give a lot of money.

Yes, I ate dog. It was fine. Watching it getting killed was not very nice – I have been told that I shouldn't put a description of what happened on here. It was pretty nasty and I don't want to make you, dear reader and close personal friend, upset.

There was shit everywhere and I got some on my foot.

Anyhow, after eating, I had a nap at Theofo's house while he was at a funeral celebration nearby. I think the funeral coincided quite 'fortunately' with whatever the ceremony was that I participated in and with the end of some season of offering or something. I have no idea, really. I got the impression there was some sort of annual celebration, a funeral and whatever I was doing all rolled into one. Bargain.

After my nap, I went and watched some music at the celebration (fetish drumming and dancing – very fast, furious, tricksy stuff) then went home. In the dark.

I then started watching the movie Platoon, decided I wasn't in the mood for Charlie Sheen and changed to Swordfish. I remembered Swordfish as being a bit crappy when I first watched it so I didn't have particularly high hopes. I was neither overly pleased or disappointed.

This is how I like to be.

So, that was yesterday. Today I have checked some email, eaten some bread and cheese and muesli (not all together), talked on Skype, practiced a (very) little bit and generally bumbled around (very slowly) on the internet, desperately searching for meaning in my dismal existence.

Lovely, really.

Thanks for reading, talk to you again soon. Well, not really, but I'll post something on here soon. Well, not soon, but whenever I feel like it.

Whatever.

Bye.

What happened in the last day or so

It rained a lot. Lots of things got very wet. I barely left my room. I had muesli for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I don't have much muesli left now.

That's about it.

Today I'm going to some Fetish ceremony with Theofo near his house. I'll let you know how that goes.

This is a short blog post.

Cool man.
Peace.

A more exciting second post

Hello. Thanks for coming. Please, sit down. This may take a while.

My name is Jacob, I am studying percussion in Ghana from now until February and this here is my 'blog'. It is now officially up or running. It has been a while since my last post in which I exclaimed that my world tour had begun. In a display of marketing genius, I then didn't post anything for two months – just building suspense and hype. Now that I have you all good and hyped, let me fill you in on what's been going on.

In July, I travelled to the US with my mother and sister to attend a conference. This part of the story is family holiday stuff and not going to be told here. In short, we spent a few weeks hanging around LA, San Diego, Santa Clara and San Francisco. I had some milkshakes. All was good.

My original plan was to remain in the US after my mother and sister had travelled back to Australia – I was on my way to Ghana but couldn't arrive there until early September. I planned to travel to New York and hang around there for four weeks doing I'm-still-not-quite-sure what. As it happened, romantic affairs (of the heart) changed my plans somewhat. I was missing Penelope (my lover) and didn't like the idea of not seeing her for another six months so I decided to fly back to Melbourne in mid August for two weeks. As my flight to Ghana was already booked via New York, I had to return to the US. Trying to delay our impending separation, Penelope  and I both went to New York for nine days. In New York we walked around a lot, drank milkshakes, ate pancakes, went up the Empire State Building, ate at a fancy restaurant, saw some music and bought some 'flip flops'. It was a lovely nine days and New York is good. That's all.

Then I flew to Ghana and Penelope went back to Australia. We were sad.

Now, I've been in Ghana for a week and a half. I got here for the last couple of days of the Kusun Study Tour which meant that I ended up helping the students out with their final performance, playing some solos or something like that. That was interesting. The tour then ended and the students gradually left. For the first week or so, I was really just hanging around, waiting to move into another room and enjoying Ghana. Once everyone had left, I set up in my room... and that's about it so far. Things move fairly slowly here. I watched Ocean's Eleven and The Rock, that was good.

So, that's where I've been and where I'm at. Here's where I'm going.

I'm planning to travel to Senegal or Gambia at some stage in the next month, but need to get some info. Penelope is coming to visit in November and again in January and my friend Sam (not my lover) is coming in December. I have just today started having some lessons with Theofo (my teacher), which is what I'll be doing most days while I'm here. I will have lessons from other teachers too, but am still warming up to that. I've been training with the Kusun ensemble (the band that teaches on the study tour) and will keep doing that. Additionally, I will be writing music.

My professional business colleague, Kanchana, and I have a nifty little musical outfit called Fat Gold Chain. We produced and released our debut EP in about April or May or something earlier this year (we're happy to sell it to you, if you would like). We're pretty much on a gigging hiatus at the moment as I am in Ghana and Kanchana is in Australia, but while we're apart we're planning to release regular Fat Gold Chain material online. I'm going to produce a weekly podcast which will basically be something new that we have made. A song or something, you'll see. I have a grand concept of creating enough material for about 5 albums, each with different themes and together telling the story of Fat Gold Chain.

Sounds wanky, huh? It probably is, but I would like to do it all the same. We'll see how we go. Regardless, there should be a fair bit of Fat Gold Chain activity on this here internet.

So, while I'm away, since you're interested, there are three things you should do to make sure that you're up to date with me and Fat Gold Chain.
1) You should subscribe to this blog
2) You should subscribe to our blog at fatgoldchain.com
3) You should subscribe to our podcast (I'll post a link when it's in iTunes).

I am aware that 'should' is a very strong word and I am using it as aggressively as I know how. So there.

Also, to finish with a shameless plug, check out Fat Gold Chain and listen to our music – our EP is available for download from our website or iTunes. If you really love it and want a physical copy of our EP, please send us an email.

Thanks for reading, feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Please subscribe.

If you want to, of course.

But do anyway.

Love from Jacob.

A very exciting first post

Hello.

This is my first post for my 2010 WORLD TOUR.

I'm in the US. Staying in a hotel in LA. I haven't had a proper sleep for ages. I had Taco Bell for lunch.

That's all for now.

Thank you for reading. Tell your friend/associate.

Bye.

Love from Jacob

I'm going again

In a few months – from July – I'll be doing some more travel business. At the moment, my rough plan is as follows:

• Fly from Melbourne to Los Angeles in mid July.

• Spend a week or so around LA and San Diego then travel overland to San Francisco.

• Fly from San Francisco to New York sometime early-mid August.

• Hang around New York for up to a month, depending on money (any recommendations, accommodation or otherwise?).

• Fly from New York to Accra, Ghana.

• Study in Ghana for at least 6-8 weeks (probably until mid/late October).

• Either fly to Dakar, Senegal or travel overland via Burkina Faso and Mali.

• Study in Senegal until late January/early Feb.

• Fly to Melbourne.

I am thinking that a 'Round the World ticket is the best way to go, thus will have some flexibility in my flights and times. If anyone is travelling nearby at any of those times, perhaps we could hang out? Got any tips? If anyone has any useful advice or information, it would be lovely if you would share it.

So, yeah. This blog will be running again around July this year. Look forward to it.

That is a command.

Bye.

Hi.

Just checking.

Bye.

Today was the International Day of Lagerphone Videos Being Posted on Jacob's Blog

Or IDoLVBPoJB for short.

Here are some goodies for you from right at the bottom of the Youtube/Lagerphone barrel.

Uncle John has some rad chops:

These two have a real spiritual thing goin' on. With the music and stuff, y'know?

The kid at the end of this has the right attitude:

So, happy IDoLVBPoJB to you all. All many, many, many of you. Fans. People who love me for who I am.

I am secure and comfortable in my own skin.

Bye.

This is funny. I said so.

Just watch this.

Beautiful.

Au Revoir.

Interesting.

I think it's interesting that I find zoos depressing but this doesn't bother me at all.

In fact, I find it quite nice.

Bye.

1, 2, 3

I thought this was funny. The more times you watch it, the funnier it gets. Or it doesn't.

This is one of those things that I found so amusing that I had to post it on my almost-defunct Web-log.

Bye.

I went to Africa

Here's a song about it. It's pretty much what Africa's like. Like a documentary.

Haven't been here for a while, hey? Well... hi.

Ok bye.

I'm BACK! YAY!

Hello.

I haven't really been gone, but I'm back. And lazy.

Here are some things:

This is the best thing ever, like, woo. A band in a box.

Keep your ears open for the bass player who really knows how to lay a groove down. Yeah! Bop-a-chow!

Things like this video actually sorta depress me and make me not want to do music any more. I get the feeling that everything that has needed to be done has been done - the art form has peaked, I have nothing to add...

And, this is also the best thing ever : making your own movies, just by typing in some text 'n stuff.

http://www.xtranormal.com

Check it out., it is fantastic. And fantastic.

Ok that's all. Enjoy.

Whatever, bye.

Oh... the 100th post has gone...

I didn't even notice. This post here (right now!) is the 101st.

Wow, huh?

Anyhow, I see a lot of stuff on the internet. Some of it is interesting, lots of it is stupid. I post some of it here when I feel like it (indeed, I have a backlog of stupid-interestingness).

Sometimes, however, I see something that amuses me so much that I run over here like a schoolboy with an itchy bottom and post it straight away.

Like this:

Nice, uh?

Bye.

This is something worth reading and then buying

Here is the first 6 weeks of a diary written by Mixerman.

He's an engineer working on an 'up-and-coming' band's album with a big budget. It is fantastic. Just have a quick read of the first week's entries and then continue if you find it interesting.

Then buy the book.

Then give it to me.

Thanks to Gordon for giving me the link aaaaaages ago.

That's all. Bye.

And some more stuff

Today I have for you a couple of funny pitchers and a article.

The Law

Statistics

The Story of the Great Zucchini

That's all for now.

Bye bye bye.

Another scattered 'stuff I saw on the internet' post. By Jacob.

Hello.

Played grand final yesterday and the day before. We won, which is nice. Doesn't matter what I did or didn't do, the team won. It's a team game. Yeah. We won.

Three premierships in a row for me. I must be some kinda superstar.

So, the stuff:

Research shows that people generally aren't looking to make friends.

Elmo meets Ricky Gervais.

Apparently a portrait of Shakespeare was found (enter witty, informed side-comment here).

And, finally:

Eat this. Eat it all.

That's it for now. Thanks. by. Nice to see you. Bye.

I am a winner.

This is freakin' awesome.

My birthday's in October. Thanks in advance.

Read the original link here.

Why don't you go ahead and subscribe to Kottke.org as well?

This is interesting

Here is Jon Stewart ripping into Jim Cramer and CNBC about misreporting the world of finance - nothing you don't know or haven't heard before but everyone loves a scapegoat - especially one which is somewhat justified:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Pt. 1

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

It's in three parts.

(via Daring Fireball)

Here's the man who designed the original Apple computer

This footage is a few days old but, because it's interesting, here he is:

Some readings for youse.

Hello.

Playing cricket semi-final tomorrow. How exciting for you is that? Very.

Some 'articles':

• Chimps are scary

• Youtube mashup dj-ing remix thing

• Star Wars nerdiness

Ok bye.

Hello.

Haven't been here for a while.

I went to Womad on or at the weekend. In Adelaide. That was nice. I had an organic doughnut that looked like a poo.

Here's some stuff for you:

Funny picture number 1

Funny picture number 2

I had to start Uni last week. That is very annoying to me.

How are you?

Bye.

A VIDEO!

Hello. Here's a video what I made from photos I took nearly every day while in Ghana.

There's a lot of me in it, I hope you haven't just eaten.

Just kidding, I'm beautiful.

Here it is:

In other, more daily news, I went to Coles today to buy cotton buds. While I was there I had a craving for a Strawberry Big M. I went and got one off the shelf, walked around in a confused circle and then put it back. I FOUGHT THE URGE.

How inspiring for you.

Ok bye.

Today-oodly-oodly-ay

Hello.

Today I played cricket. At Sunshine. It was a bit cold and windy but the sun did shine.

I opened the batting and made 3 runs. This is sad for me. I got hit in the head a couple of times. This also was sad but I am tough (and was wearing a helmet) so there. The pitch was dodgy and the bowling was good. It was the first day of a two-day game to be completed next Saturday and MY team (good) made 210 and have the other team (bad) 5 wickets for 50 or so. This is good. We should win.

Yay.

Tonight I went to a CRICKET CLUB TRIVIA NIGHT!

Double-yay.

MY team came equal-second/third. I didn't help much - I have very little general knowledge. This may be hard for you to believe given the broad-reaching and brilliant nature of my pseudo-intellectualism but it is true.

In my defense, there weren't any questions on West African drumming or Nietzsche.

Maybe next year.

Good night.

I went to a concert

To see Chick Corea and John McLaughlin. And Brian Blade and Christian McBride and Kenny Garret. Rearry Good.

Right now I'm watching 2001: A Space Odyssey. It also is rearry good.

Good night.

I have more hair on my left-hand side.

I have no photo evidence, it is just something that I've noticed for several years now.

I thought you might like to know.

Perhaps the next time when we meet up, if we run out of things to talk about we could talk about my lopsided allocation of hair.

That would be nice.

It's 2am.

Good night.

What I've done so far today, by Jacob

Today I reached into my filing cabinet to withdraw some mad filez and I dropped the pen I was holding. Then I spent 5 minutes looking for the pen among my files.

Good day so far.

Bye.

Soviet Break Dancing

This is pretty freakin' awesome.

Also, click on this post's title to go to the site where I found it - there are a couple of other similar, interesting items.


Or you could just stop reading my blog and read Kottke.org.

Here's a web page about super cows

Muscly, muscly cows.

That's all for now.

Hooroo.

Actually, I remember what I did today

I went to the St Kilda festival with Kanchana. That was good. Well, I don't really like festivals, but it was nice to hang out nevertheless. I saw Jackson Jackson and had a discussion about the merits and pitfalls of electronic songwriting sort of bands playing a straight ahead rock gig with a full band when they perform live. Like, is it a problem that the music that they are performing - rocky rockness with a full band - is different in style and context, if not notes and melody, from what is on their album? It's kind of like a different band playing different music from what they do.

Then again, I don't know anything much - I hadn't heard of Jackson Jackson before a couple of days ago.

Ok bye.

And this is interesting:

This.

(via Waxy.org)

Maybe I could do stuff like this - show you interesting things. 

I mean, sure... when I have news, I'll tell you. For now, be happy with interesting things. 

Geez. You are so needy.

Thank you.

Bye.

Obama says naughty words

Go here.

That's all I's gotz for today.

Bye.

Clearing up

Herro.

So, I'm just fiddling around with life for now - been working (a little bit), playing cricket (a little bit more), filling out various forms (a lot more than is healthy) and stuffs like that. Maybe I'll give you some more news later. Maybe. Later.

Anyhow, I feel that I need to give Mr Ray some credit for my choice of the lovely title of this blog (well, I told him I would). Basically it has been a running joke/observation of his for a while that many businesses just tack 'solutions' on the end of their name when, really, it doesn't mean anything. Like, 'Health Solutions', 'Childcare Solutions', 'Wash Your Car For You Solutions', etc. You will see this now. You may even work for a company that provides such 'solutions'. 

On another note, one interesting company, while not actually having 'solutions' in their name, is known as 'The Leaders in Pipeline Renewal'. This is almost as funny as solutions. A hot dog to whomever can find out what the business is and who works there.

Heh heh heh.

Anyhow, from that amusing observation of Ray's, the concept of Travel Blog Solutions was formed and the inanity shall continue. I like it.

On another another note, here's what all the schools in China are like. 

(Via Your Monkey Called)

The end.

By Jacob.

A big retrospectivey sort of post.

Hello.

Apparently 9 people in the world like me and this blog. That's nice. As such, I will find a way to continue this blog. Well, not 'find a way' so much as 'get off my arse and try to write about things.'

I've been home for a week or so now and am still trying to get back in the swing of things. One of the chief problems relating to that is that I don't really have a 'swing of things' to get back to. This is a problem. Anyhow, I'm back at work, have played cricket, etc. and Ghana is just a distant memory. Well, not really.

Ghana.

Here are some deep thoughts.

First of all - people are really poor. Really poor.
Second thing - I don't understand how things work there. Relationships, customs, courtesies and other day-to-day things are still unknown to me. Sure, I managed to work with it, but I don't understand it - things are so different that it's dangerous to rely on my certain set of expectations, interpretations and understandings of people's behaviour when attempting to 'understand' how things work. Of course, really we don't know how anything works -- how other people think and feel, etc. -- but within our own societies we generally find that our model of 'what goes on' doesn't get proven too wrong too frequently. Additionally, when things happen in our own society that we don't understand, we are able to ignore it or ascribe some other reasoning to it. In Ghana, frequently I had to remind myself to attempt to attenuate my natural second-guessing.

So, there's that.

I found Ghana to be incredibly friendly and accommodating. I suspect that much of this is due to people wanting to know 'the white guy' in case he handed out money. I don't know whether that is realistic or overly cynical. Either way, it made me feel welcome and at times annoyed by the constant greeting.

Also, the ways of teaching and learning are completely different. Everything there is transmitted, taught, remembered and learned aurally and orally. I suspect that I am chiefly visual - when remembering and learning rhythms and music, I visualise what I am playing and am able to remember and analyse it that way, from what I can tell. So, that was interesting too. Yeah. Interesting.

The lack of organisation, truth and care annoyed the hell out of me many times. Of course, much of this is to do with communication, different values and customs (as mentioned earlier), problems caused by poverty and lack of infrastructure (traffic, power outages, people getting sick, etc.) and sometimes just plain laziness. Of course it's possible to explain laziness and tardiness as effects of the hopelessness that poverty can induce, but let's not worry about that. It still is and is still annoying.

Ok. I'm bored of this. Maybe I will do some more semi-intelligent ramblings later on as they appear to me. In dreams.

I would strongly recommend a trip to Ghana. If you are at all interested in music, whatever instrument you play, it will help you understand things in a different way. Also, if you are looking for a holiday, it's more interesting than Bali. I think anyway. If you want any advice or have any specific questions, feel free to let me know.

Melbourne.

I'm finding it a little bit hard to 'get things done' back here in Melbourne. This is largely because I have an intimidatingly-large list of things to do. And I have no money. Anyhow, I am chipping away and slowly becoming (more) the awesome person that we all want me to be. Yeah!

Also, my communications are a bit weak at the moment so if you want to contact me, email is your best bet.

Have fun. If I hear of anything interesting I'll let you know.

Thanks for reading. Please continue if you want. Or don't. Whatever.

But please do.

Bye.

I'm back.

Hello. I am in Australia now.

Hoorah for me.

There is still more to come here - the song Jessica for one (I couldn't finish it in KL because I needed an internet connection to use Live because I am running the demo and that made me cry because I didn't have an internet connection).

I arrived this morning, spent an hour or so arguing with customs and eventually allowed them to take a heap of my stuff (some of which they want to destroy. Bad customs! No!). I spent the rest of the day trying to get some shit together, failing and wandering around the house with things in my hands which I would later put down at some unknown location. Oh what fun.

I have put a poll up allowing you to decide whether or not this blog shall continue. If it does, I will have things to put here. New songs, thoughts, ramblings, etc. We'll see how it develops. If you think I should quit while I am only slightly behind, let your vote count.

Obama. Woo.

I am pretty gosh darn tired.

Ok bye.

I'm leaving Malaysia

I'm in the airport in Malaysia. I'm leaving now.

Bye.

See you soon.

I'm in Kuala Lumpur

Hello. I am in Kuala Lumpur.

Here's what's been up.

In Amsterdam I met up with Zonto (after waiting at Amsterdam Centraaaaaal station for 40 minutes in the cold) and then walked around in the freezing cold. That's about it. Of course we walked through the red light district. Man, those guys love their dope and whores. I couldn't really see what all the fuss is about, however. Maybe that's because it was during the day and freezing, friggin cold.

Anyway. Now I've been. So there.

Then, Zonto had to go off somewhere. I found this awesome old video games shop and bought an old Booster Boy accessory for the original gameboy. If you don't know what it is, don't worry - I couldn't find it anywhere in the Google. But I was excited. It was 3 Euro, which is about 4 million AUD, I think, but worth it.

Then I went back to the airport.

After some time (I bought a book which I've now read and slightly regret. But not really. But a little bit...) I flew to Kuala Lumpur. Out flight was delayed by an hour or so, by the way. That was fun. Apparently the plane was undergoing 'minor' repairs on a 'minor' part. I understood that to mean that one of the wings fell off and they had to gaffer tape it back on. That was a nice thought.

I had a shitty time on the plane, literally and figuratively. This was most likely due to a Burger King meal at Schipol airport. I felt that I just had to. Anyway, I spent some effort associating the filthy hamburger with my gurgling spurgling stomach so as to discourage myself from such foods in the future. Good on me.

Regardless, we got to Malaysia with just the one wing (circling to land was easy. In fact, we could only go in circles...) (I think that was a joke. Sorry). Once there, I discovered that my bags had been checked through from Accra all the way to Melbourne, where I wouldn't be for 4 days. I figure this was just Ghana's way of saying goodbye. So, this meant a few hours of waiting around while my bags got taken off another flight and brought to me. Not very interesting really. Or fun.

Then I caught the (relatively but not actually) expensive express train to KL Sentral station, wandered around a bit with my heavy bags, found my way to the Monorail station, caught the monorail to a few hundred metres from my hotel, checked in, showered and then collapsed. It felt like I'd run a marathon or two - it was Saturday and my last semi-decent night's sleep was Tuesday. That was fun.


Anyhow, I slept deeply, had a (free) buffet breakfast at my hotel, then went back to my room and drifted between crappy TV and sleep. It's about 10pm now and I thought I'd have a wander out and find an internet cafe (hotel internet prices are ridiculous. Something like $1 a minute. I mean, come on.) so I could let you all know what's going on.

Finally, regarding my situation just before leaving Ghana (ie. waiting for people to help me with last-minute things): Ablo didn't get my Ngony finished. I gave him a pretty stern talking to and arranged for Theofo to go and pick it up from him asap and I'd work something out when I arrived in Australia. This annoyed the shit out of me (it still makes me angry writing about it)
for the obvious reasons as well as others that I can't be bothered listing here. Regardless, I'll have to work it out later. Nana Danso didn't show up with the flutes - I asked him to give them to Jane instead so that she could bring them back for me. I don't know if this happened or not (sorry Fiona, we'll see). Okuley came from Accra to see me off but forgot his clippers. Luckily, he was nice enough to go back to Accra, pick them up and then return. So I got my hair cut. Also, Otu turned up to record the things I wanted, albeit apparently begrudgingly and quite rudely. Maybe he was just very upset that I was leaving. I would be.

So, that's what's up. I'm in Kuala Lumpur and will maybe do some stuff tomorrow. Or I might just go and sit by the pool for a day. We'll see.

Ok Bye.

In Amsterdam

Hello. I got to Amsterdam. Unfortunately the computer I am using (3 euro per 15 min net access in Schipol Airport) feels like it was designed in communist Russia. So, this post is short and painful (for me, not you). It's about 7am here - the plane got in about 5.45. I leave at 9pm or something. I'm off now to meet Zonto in Amsterdam and waste a day.

ok bye..


Frickin Russsians..

I leave in 10 hours

At about 10pm today, my flight leaves Ghana. I'll probably be on it. From there, I have a day in Amsterdam and three days in Kuala Lumpur, so you're not free yet - this blog still has a little bit to go.

The last few days have been pretty good - a little bit busy but nothing too frantic. I have all my stuff pretty much organised and ready to pack but am taking time out of my packing time to write this for you. However, while I do have a lot of deep, deep thoughts and feelings to express about my time in Ghana as well as a few nice stories about my last few days here, I don't really have the headspace to structure it all right now. I figure I can plan it in my head as I fail to fall asleep on the way to Amsterdam. So, stay tuned.

Also, the song, Jessica, is coming - I've made the music and written the lyrics (as of about 5 days ago) but haven't had the time/privacy to record the beautiful, angelic vocals. So it's coming - I have a hotel room/studio in Malaysia waiting for me. Stay tuned. Luckily, to console you in your time of need, I have added my Song of Freedom to the playlist (on the right, of course). It's something I had to write when I went to music school once in the past. This is a new 'made in Ghana' version. So, yeah. Enjoy and stuff. Again, please stay tuned.

Finally, a note regarding my earlier description of my packing up and leaving experience as comprising 'nothing too frantic'; at the moment I am waiting to hear from Ablo who is in Accra 'fixing' my Ngoni, waiting for Nana Danso to bring me some flutes, waiting for Okuley to come from Accra with his clippers to cut my hair and waiting for Otu to come and record some things for me. We'll see how frantic things are in a couple of hours' time when no-one shows up.

Awesome.

I'll post again today if I get time and space, but I doubt that will happen. Next post will probably be from Amsterdam, or Kuala Lumpur.

Thanks for reading. Really.

Bye.

A waking vigil...

That title sounds good enough to me. That may be because I haven't slept very much.

Here's why:

Attempting to get to bed at 'a reasonable hour' last night, I managed to be in bed sometime shortly after 12 listening to some podcasts.

Snug. Warm. Comfortable. Drifting away...

I must have got some sleep because I was woken to a drowsy, semi-awake state at about 2.30 by scratching sounds. Little harmless scratching sounds. The little, innocent, harmless scratching sounds of a cockroach in my bed, next to my head.

Alas, the rhyming nature of my situation didn't make it any more pleasant.

All of a sudden, I was fully awake and looking for my nearest available whacking-thing. I then spent the next hour or so hunting and (eventually) destroying this incredibly dangerous and menacing creature (Dan, it's ok. I didn't eat it). By the time I emerged victorious from battle, I was fully, fully woken up and unable to relax again. So, I checked my email and spoke to some of you on the computer.

It was nearly 3.30am.

While on the computer, checking my email, I discovered that, as alluded to in an earlier post, I am indeed to be stranded in Kuala Lumpur for 3 days on my return journey. After some email correspondence with my travel agent and mother (hello mother) and determining the likelihood of my being detained at Malaysia airport due to my 'unusual' luggage (not very likely, apparently and fortunately), I managed to wangle the situation so as to have my hotel and breakfast paid for, along with some small cash to cover other food, transport and the like. So, while still being a pain in the arse, I guess this means that I will have a mini-holiday in a nice hotel in Malaysia on my way home.

Could be worse.

By now it was after 4.00 and I figured I really needed to try and get some sleep.

So I went back to bed, relaxed, thought of a Malaysian poolside and began drifting...

and then heard scratching sounds.

With some naughty words and thoughts, I very reasonable and calmy figured that I would just stay awake.

THAT'LL LEARN YOU YOU d*&ING COCKROACH! I'M NOT GOING TO SLEEP, TAKE THAT! YOU LIKE THAT!? SCRATCH AROUND NOW, FOOL!

So, yeah. Now I'm tired and semi-incoherent

Bye.

Nah... False Alarm...

They were just stuffing around...

Back to waiting...

Today was Monday

Today was Monday. That is either the first or second day of the week, depending on whether you think Monday or Sunday is the first day of the week.

As you may be able to tell, I don't have a lot to write about.

I had beans and plantain for lunch:


Which was more delicious than it looks (like a beany turd).

Ummm... I did some practice... Theofo went into Accra to get a talking drum bag made for me. That was nice of him.

Uhhhh... that's about it. Last night I went to Otu's for dinner and hung out, which was good. I took my camera which made the kids excited - I ended up taking quite a few photos of them. Maybe I will upload them. If you are lucky.

Do you feel lucky?

Also, I am starting to think about getting my stuff organised - I leave very soon. I am also starting to think about how it is too soon that I am leaving. This is sad. Unfortunately, I have a finite amount of visa time and money. So, yeah. Soon it is.

At the moment I'm waiting for Theofo to come and give me a lesson (for a change). Baby Kusun are rehearsing outside, so I think I'll go and join them.

Bye.

Voting is stupid

Well, all the millions of votes are in and have been counted, checked and checked again - the results are 50/50 (from 4 votes... thanks. You guys must really care).

So, my next song will be Devo Go to Ghana or Jessica, depending on what I feel. Although, the reason I did the poll was so I didn't have to choose - for you, dear readers, I will do so anyway.

Because I care.

In other news, I went to the Accra Mall yesterday. This was a bad experience. The Accra Mall is like a mini chadstone - all white tiles, Nike and air conditioning - in the middle of surrounding poverty. So, yeah. Feel free to feel righteous about that.

Although I am a little bit ashamed, I did have a chicken burger and chips at Barcelo's, a Nando's ripoff which I think was actually nicer than Nando's. It was delicious.

Also delicious are these biscuits I saw in the supermarket and subsequently bought:



They're coming back with me and will find their way to the stomach of some lucky person back home. Yummy.

Today I went out with Thomas, an old friend of my mother's and lecturer at the teacher's college in Winneba. I went and saw a couple of the schools that he helped set up in Teshie then went and had coconuts and lunch at his house with his family. This was nice. Because he's been in Winneba for most of the time I've been here and his kids (the youngest two are around my age) have been at Uni, I haven't seen as much of them as I would have liked to, I realised today. Oh well. Next time.

An interesting tidbit for you sentimentalists: when I was here 9 years ago I went to Thomas's house and had coconut from the same tree and sat in the same spot and so on. So there. Take that.

Thanks for reading. Home soon.

Bye.

Yesterday

So, yesterday I did a bit of 'stuff'. No lessons- Theofo was in Labadi doing some stuff at his mother's house. I did some practice, had beans and plantain and, in the afternoon, went into town to do some stuff. First, I took my ngoni in to Ablo at the arts centre market to have it fixed/un-broken from his last fixing. Nothing too important and hopefully won't be too much trouble. When I got there, his group was rehearsing, so I spent 40 mins or so watching them. That was nice.

Then I went and met Jane and Okuley in Circle, had some food and then bought some shoes. I'm very happy with my purchase. Also, those who are sick of my usual Converse shoes (that I love so much and you should get off my back about it - I like them, all other shoes are just ripoffs, so why not get the original? And they're cheap) can finally breathe a sigh of relief. I have changed:



Although, perhaps not for the better. I am now officially Jewish, my shoes say so. Cool.

And that's about it. Then I went to bed and woke up and it was today. Who knows WHAT exciting stuff I'll get up to!?

Oh yeah, the new President was inaugurated yesterday, so Accra was a bit crazy. The end of politics in Ghana for Jacob. Change is HERE.

By the way, in case you don't read my comment-replies to the comments, Anonymous, just post as anonymous if you have that much of a problem. By my plea for people to identify themselves in the comments, I was just trying to make the world a better place, but that doesn't matter. Whatever makes you happy dear, deer readers.

I'd rather have comments on my blog than live in a perfect world.

Ok Bye.

Vote.

A desperate effort.

Hello again.

I have made a new poll in a desperate effort to draw some form of participation from you information-hungry, never-satisfied parisites that read this wonderful blog (many thanks for reading, hope you enjoy it).

By voting in this poll you can choose which is the next song I write. As I am leaving soon, I have to start it shortly so voting time is limited.

So hurry, vote now!

On a further front, my travel agent is having trouble with my return flights - my current situation involves me spending 3 days in Kuala Lumpur. This is not particularly good as I have no money and would have to spend 3 days in Kuala Lumpur. Ah well, we'll see.

QUICK! UP THERE! VOTE!

Bye.

Talkin' 'bout last night.

Good morning.

Last night was good, so I thought I'd tell you about it. Briefly.

It was the birthday of one of the two Swedish ladies who are currently here learning dance, so there was a do of sorts. This was busy - there were a lot of people hanging around (not as many as my birthday though). The nice part involves Baby Kusun performing and me joining in. This was good - we did a long version of the Fume Fume with lots of impromptu dance solos. Also, Theofo turned up half way and took over the drum solos which was rad. After that I stuffed around on talking drum and Tettey, Theofo and I had a delicious sort of 'jam' thing. That was nice.

Merriment was around and I got free Coke (a Cola). That was nice.

Yesterday was really hot though. Just thought you should know.

At the moment, I'm just waiting for Theofo to turn up and teach me stuff. Grouse.

Ok bye.

I'll be home soon. Here's a song.

So, not really all that long to go now. Pity, really - I like it here.

I haven't been up to much. I've been having a heap of lessons with Theofo and practising. Also, I've been trying to learn PHP and how to set up and run an online store. More about that later.

The song is in the player on the right and is called Jackie Goes to Ghana. It's a cover. Yes, it's a cover of that song. I've been wanting to do it for a while and now I have. It's more of a proof of concept than a particularly well-thought-out cover, but you'll love it anyway.

What's up with you? How's the new year?

Ok Bye.

It's Official

NDC won. For real now. Every other time that they've 'won', there has been some sort of shifty business where the old party (NPP) has managed to delay or alter the results somewhat. Now, however, it's official. Professor John Evans Atta Mills is president and the NDC are back in power after eight years of NPP rule.

So, change... Still looking for it.

Regardless as to whether this new government will be as good as everyone hopes, it's good (well, something, anyway) for Ghana as an African country that has had a fairly peaceful, 'democratic' election resulting in a change of power. That's pretty interesting really and doesn't seem to happen a lot on this continent.

Here's me with Professor Mills on my shirt:



Ok. Enough of that.

Bye.

Happy New Year!

(Some After photos are here)

A turkey was here.

There's a turkey hanging around our yard.

We are going to eat it.

So, here are some Before photos. After is coming later.

Delicious.

Bye.

Day number [enter number of day here]

Today I had a good day for some unknown reason. Nothing particularly good happened, I was just bouncy. Like a ball.

A big, white, bouncy ball.

So that's nice for all of you. You can all feel warm inside now.

Not much news still - I'm still taking it easy on the drumming front. I did a little bit today and am currently working on talking drum stuff. There you go. Information.

I also 'finished' off a new song the other day, it's about the Pom Pom Eskimo and it's in the player on the right. It's a song I've been wanting to write since Year 9 drama class (long, stupid story... can't be bothered) but haven't known how (and still aren't convinced that I do). Listen. Be nice.

On the election front - the re-election for the President happened and the NDC (National Democratic Congress) won. This seems to be good and has made lots of Ghanaians happy. CHANGE is coming!.

I'm still looking for it though. Has anyone seen the change yet?

Hello?

Umm. An ATM stole 200 cedis from me today - I have to try and get it back, which is poo (well, getting it back's not poo, but having to run around hoops is).

That's about it.

Sorry for using the word 'poo', it was childish and crude and I apologise from the heart of my bottom.

Chow.

A nice little ditty

B'day (French mixed with Australian [Bon-Day], fool, not birthday. Fool again.).

Here's a nice little African song and video to see you into the new year. It's not by me unfortunately, but you'll deal.



It's called Alhaji by Dj Ramatoulaye.

Love it.
Bye.

I'm here

Hello.

Not much news. Christmas was ok - I went to Theofo's mother's house in Labadi. It was pretty relaxed and fine. Since then, I have largely just been in my room - inadvertently staying up stupidly late and sleeping in. Not much drumming at the moment - I'm staying low until after New Year, that's my plan.

So, yeah. How was christmas? Same ol'?

Tomorrow is the re-election for the president here between the candidates from the NDC and NPP parties. How exciting for you all.

I'll write something here later after something really interesting happens.

Ok bye.

Uh oh...

So, today Baby Kusun are hanging around the centre playing bells, singing and doing other artistical thingery. My sense of danger was piqued when I noticed this sign outside the front gate:



Druming & Dancin
Today is going to be an all Star Show at KUSUN Centre, therefore we are inviting all dancers to join us to celebrate the Christmas.
Time: 9:00 PM TILL DAY BREAK
Venue: KUSUN
All friends and sympatizers are cordially invited
DON'T MISS IT
[sic]

I have a feeling this means that I will not be sleeping very much tonight (but how will Santa come!?).

I'll keep you updated.

Best wishes for The Christmas from Baby Kusun:



Bye.

I'm really popping them out.

[UPDATE: A slightly different version of the song is now up. By Jacob]

Hello. I did another song. I just kinda stumbled on this one accidentally when I was trying to do something else. It's like an old video game song. Rockin. It's called Mega Drive and is in the player over on the right.

On the African front, I did little bit of wandering around Nungua today, running some errands. I also played with Baby Kusun again, which was great - it's the first time for a while where I actually felt tired and physically challenged while playing. Good stuff. Gets my chops up. Sort of.

For the foolish out there who don't know nothing, Baby Kusun is a group of young guys (like 18 - 20 or so) who use Kusun's drums and space to rehearse. So they're Baby Kusun. It's good playing with them because the young guys tend to play things too fast and loud, which is good for me wanting to work on my chops and stamina. Also, their level is only about 15 years ahead of me, instead of the usual 5000. So I don't feel like too much of a douche. Just a fair bit.

Ok. Enough for now. I'm going to write you MORE songs.

Chow.

A Whole Nother Song. About Fauns.

Yo Whatup Dog Wiggidy Wiggidy.

I done a new song. It's called Shards of Light and is very pretty. Perhaps too pretty, but bear with it.

Basically, I was playing around with a vocoder and merged said playing around with a poem that I wrote for a writing subject at uni once when I was younger way back when. It's a real piece of art. The song is over there in the player on the right. A pdf of my wonderful poem is here. Please note that I was being creative with/taking the piss out of the assignment I was set (I think it was something to do with writing a poem that had lots of heavy, poetic-type description). Ok?

Just had to say that.

This song is the next in the 'Jacob is learning to use Ableton Live' series.



Africa? Huh?

Oh yeah, I'm still here. Just... doin' stuff. I didn't done much over this last weekend but - I was feeling sick and hidey. I went into town today and got a nice African top that swirls out when I spin. Lovely.

I had Banku and fish for dinner. Also lovely.

Bye. Listen to my song.

Bye.

A blog post.

Hello.

Just quickly, yesterday (Friday) I was all sick and depressed and came up with lots of deep, dark snippets of pseudo-intellectualism to discuss on this blog. However, I don't feel like writing about that right now. Bad luck.

Also, I don't have any money until Monday due to my bank fiasco on Thursday so am having to be very careful. Like, walking to save 40 pesewas (about 50 cents) on a taxi. I had flied lice for dinner - 50 pesewas.

Today was a little better. I was feeling better and didn't really have to do anything all day. It was really freaking hot. I walked and got plantain and beans for lunch. Later I sat in on a Baby Kusun rehearsal. This was good - it was the first drumming I have done for a while that was actually hard and tired me out. So, yeah.

Then I wrote this.

Still alive.

Bye.