A Terrific Tuesday™

Hello. Today was Tuesday. What I did first today was get up. Then I organised to have a lesson with Adotey at 12.00. At 1.30 he came and I had a lesson for 30 minutes before he had to go somewhere and do something and would call me when he was free in maybe about half an hour. So, while I was waiting, I did some transcribing, practising and general catching up on the lessons I've been having lately. I also ended up having a nap. Penelope played The Sims on her portable computer. At 5.00, having still not heard anything from Adotey, Penelope and I went and had PIZZA.

Tuesdays are 'Terrific Tuesdays' at the pizza shop which is not too far away. So we went there and got TWO PIZZAS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! We got one vegetarian one and one pepperoni. They were nice. We had a bottle of Fanta each – Penelope had orange and I had blackcurrant. That was also nice.

Then we went home.

The end.
By Jacob

Jacob is back from the BEACH

Hello there. I am back from the BEACH.

Oh. The title already said that. Oh well.

I couldn't post from the BEACH because apparently 3G networking is not everywhere throughout all of Deepest Darkest Africa. As such, I am posting now, when I got back. Or maybe that should be 'when I get back'? Or maybe, 'when I've gotten more backer than I was before'?

Whatever. I'm posting. Now.

It was a nice weekend. We had nice food. I had a hamburger and some pasta and some chips and some bacon and eggs and some milo and some bread and pork chops and lobster and some more eggs. That was nice. I didn't have it all at once. I had it over the course of several separate meals.

I went into the ocean for a while one day. It was wet and there were lots of waves. I haven't been in the ocean for a long time. About 7 years or something. Isn't that amazing? I also got sand on me.

That's about it, really. I'm back in Nungua now and wondering what to get for dinner. Probably fried rice and chicken – just for some variety. I will be having lessons and learning and playing and working hard again tomorrow. Hopefully I will also be blogging.

Thanks for reading. I hope your weekend was as delicious as mine.

By the way, I realised today (Monday) that I have this week, then most of next week and then I come home. That is not very long. I'd better get busier.

Ok bye.
From Jacob

Jacob is going to the BEACH

Hello all. It's been quiet here lately, hasn't it? That's partly because I haven't had much internet access and mainly because I just haven't posted anything.

Sorry about that.

The last couple of weeks have been pretty good, but not much has changed. I have been having a bunch of lessons with Adotey and Afotey, learning some things, practicing some things and learning how to play five drums at once. What a good boy am I.

Also, my passport is still at immigration waiting to be picked up. I will hopefully get that today on my way to THE BEACH.

Penelope and I are going to Kokrobite. Now. Until Monday. I will probably do a post from there on my portable telephonic device and will upload some pictures to fatgoldchain.com if everything goes as planned.

Speaking of Fat Gold Chain (yes, we were, weren't we?), we used to ROCK the Triple J Unearthed charts (like, last week) but took a DIVE and are sad. Please feel free to check us out and tell us that you like us. Or just me. Tell me that you like me. But not Kanchana.

Ok, tell Kanchana that you like him.

I hope everything is well with you. I will be back soon.

Bye.
From Jacob

PS. I have a beard. I hope to get it shaved off soon, but that is difficult and I am lazy.

Sunday

Hello.
It's Sunday today. Yesterday was new year's day. Today is the day after new year's day.

On new year's day (yesterday, Saturday) I didn't really do much. Rita made a lot of food, so I gave her some money and ate a lot. I had really nice fufu with chicken soup for lunch and some rice with tomato and chicken stew for dinner. That was pretty much my day.

Today I was slightly more productive, I spent about three hours just doing some playing – I am trying to get as much practice in the next month (my last. Here, that is, not ever) as I can. At the moment Kusun are rehearsing outside – I think they have some sort of gig tonight. I sat and watched them rehearse for a while, then got bored and came here. I'm not sure I'll go with them to the gig.

Hopefully after training I'll be able to have a lesson with Adotey.

That's about it from me. I hope all is well and exciting for you.
Cheers.
Jacob

It's finally HERE!

Merry New Year from Ghana. That is a tent in the yard. Also, the big black thing at the bottom is a projector screen. Tom and Jerry cartoons are being shown on it. 

Party.

I hope you too had an exciting New Year's Eve.

Thanks for reading.

Love from Jacob

Waiting for the NEW YEAR

Hello.

Merry New Year. Soon. Well, depending on where you are. Soon if you are here. You're probably not, but anyway. Same thing.

Here's what I did today:
I got up at about 11.30 after a pretty crappy sleep, having been woken up by the power going on and off during the night and noisy Ghanaians. I had a shower. I talked to some people who are back in Australia via my mobile telephone and Skype. Apparently there was some sort of party going on there. Not sure why. Then I rang Adotey to see if he was free to have a lesson. He wasn't and said he would be free at about 4.00 and that he'd ring me. I was meant to have a lesson with Afotey with 4.00 so I had to ring him to organise to change my lesson to 2.30 to make way for Adotey's availability. He said that was fine. This meant that I had a lesson with Afotey at 2.30 and a lesson with Adotey at 4.00 (you can tell who is who by the second letter of their names).

So I went to AFotey's at 2.30.

I waited at Afotey's until 3.30 without him showing up or answering his phone. He showed up at about 3.35 and tried to tell me that he'd been just sitting around the corner (like, 5 metres away) and that he was wondering where I was. I explained that I'd been there for an hour and had been practising, wondering aloud why he hadn't heard me. He look mildly sheepish. In the end, I told him that I had to leave because I had a lesson at 4.00 with Adotey. So I left.

It's 6.15 now and I haven't heard from Adotey.

Productive day so far.

Merry next year.
Love from Jacob.

A post

Ha ha ha.

Hello.

I am in Ghana still. Just keeping you up to date with that.

Sam left on Tuesday night – his flight was at about 5.40 am so we got a ride with Tettey to the airport at about midnight – Tettey was also dropping off some other people who were staying at the house. What I didn't realise was that this meant that, after dropping Sam off (I couldn't wait with him – people not travelling are not allowed to go into the terminal), I ended up waiting in the car park with Tettey for about 5 hours because he was doing some 'thing' with the other people. 

I got home at 6am. That was pretty awesome.

Yesterday I had about three hours of lessons with Adotey and then another hour with Afotey. That was good. Today I went into immigration to pick up my passport and visa extension. Unfortunately the guy wasn't there so I have to go back another time. Again. 

Oh well. 

Thus, today hasn't been particularly productive. I am going to organise to have a lesson with Adotey.... now.

Thanks for reading. Merry time of year to you.

Bye.

Love from Jacob

Back in Nungua

Hi. I'm back in Nungua now. Got back yesterday.

Here's a photo of me at a castle:

Hope you had a MERRY Christmas and have a HAPPY new year.

I'll be back soon. Like, tomorrow or something.

Thanks for reading.

Love from Jacob

Photos at fatgoldchain.com

Hello.

Merry Christmas. Spent Christmas in Cape Coast. It's too clunky to post to this blog from my phone so I have been posting photos to our blog at fatgoldchain.com. Please feel free to have a look. I am taking a lot of photos with my camera but can only post photos taken on my phone, hence their low quality (my phone's camera's lens is scratched a bit). Hope you enjoy them. I'll let you know when I am back in nungua. My ears are still blocked but not too painful any more. Thanks for asking.

Love from Jacob.

On a bus

Hello. I am on a bus with sam on our way to cape coast. The trip should take about 5 hours. I have 3G working on my phone which is SICK.

Also, just to give her a plug, my sister has started writing a blog. She's not trapped in Africa but has a brain condition and is trying to write about her experience. Have a look if you're interested.

http://meandacc.blogspot.com/


Ok. That's it for now. Sorry for the odd formatting, posting from my phone is clunky.
Thanks for reading

A message for Stephen

Despite what you may have heard and hoped, I am still sick. I went to the doctor yesterday and got many tablets. I took them. Last night I got worse. I have a very sore ear. Both of them are infected but the right one is especially sore. The pain I am feeling is a lot. A lot of pain. When I burp it hurts a lot so I am trying not to burp.

Whine whine whine whine whine. Whine.

Just what you wanted?

Ok. That's enough of that. I had to cancel my lessons today but am still planning to travel to Cape Coast tomorrow. We'll see. I had beans and plantain for lunch today, very helpfully fetched by my worker-bee associate, Sam.

Also, whoever did that comment on that other post (you know who you are, I hope), reveal yourself. If you want. It was funny, that's all. Very funny. I enjoyed it.

Ok bye.
Thanks for reading.

OUCH! My EAR!

Here's a photo

Not of me, sorry. I found it on the internet. Or it found me. Whatever. I thought it was funny.

This morning one of the boys in the house allegedly stabbed another of the boys in the house (his brother) in the leg with a screwdriver. Not sure what that was all about but thought it warranted mentioning – that's the sort of sick thing that you want to hear, isn't it? I think they're both ok now.

In other important news, I am still sickly – my 'tonsilitis' has now moved around into my ear and seems like it is about to become an ear infection. I am going to the doctor today to get some antibiotics. That will be fun. I am hoping to claim it on insurance. That will also be fun. To make me feel better, you could download the latest episode of the Fat Gold Chain podcast or check us out on Triple J Unearthed. Somehow we're ranked in the electronic charts. Maybe my Mum has been voting for us? Please feel free to join her.

Today I'm also just about to have a couple of hours of lesson with Adotey and later I'll be going to (hopefully) pick up my passport from immigration (with extended visa) and take Sam, my tolerated-person-who-is-around-sometimes associate, to the Arts Centre market. That will be fun. Like a screwdriver in the leg.

Anyhow, I hope to get much better fairly soon and to still be able to travel to Cape Coast in a couple of days. Oh, that's my plan by the way. Did I mention it earlier?

Thanks for reading. I hope all is well.
Love from Jacob

Oh, by the way

I shaved my head. About two weeks ago. I forgot to tell you.

Also, I am still sickly. Like a wounded dog. My throat is not too sore any more but I'm all stuffed up, sneezy, snotty and miserable. I have spent the last few days inside feeling sorry for myself.

Ok bye.

Thanks for reading.

What is up.

Greetings.

Here is a run-down of my thoughts and experiences in the past few... time.

I have been doing a frustratingly small amount of playing. Basically, all my teachers are being hard to contact, in my bad books or away. This is frustrating for me. Frustrating.

So, I am spending a fair bit of time doing music 'production' things, trying to make my non-drumming time as productive and practice-y as possible. Also, Sam is here which means I tend to spend some time with him each day sitting on the balcony discussing deep philosophical issues. We could fix the world if we just had the power.

Speaking of which, the power has been off a lot – last night/this morning it was off for over 12 hours. Great.

Also, I have what my resident medical expert and tolerated business associate Sam believes is Tonsil-itis. That is not good. So, I went to visit my friend Robert at the chemist to get some lozenges and Ibuprofen. Good day so far.

So, to keep you up to date, I am getting very frustrated, am trying to still get something done and am sick.

I mentioned in my last post that Ayiku was running a Hip Hop night (I don't know what that means either) called Swagger. I went to it for a little bit, just to see what was going on. Here are some photos:

Also, the new episode of the podcast is out which includes my track I produced here in Ghana for 'Lord', some Hip Hop (again, no idea what that means) guy. He asked me to do an album with him. I am thinking about it, not too hard though.

Also also, if anyone wants copies of our music, please feel free to email us for a CD or go to our website and click on 'music' to stream or download our tracks.

Thanks, once again, for reading.
I'll be back soon.

Another Post all out by its ownself.

Hello.

I am posting here just now.

Here's a brief run down of what I've done in the last little while here in Africa where I am:

Penelope and I have been hanging out. It has not been a drug-fuelled sex binge – drugs are bad. We went to see Harry Potter at the cinema, had two-for-one pizza on Tuesday night, went to see some Hip Hop performances at Alliance Francaise, went to the Arts Centre and Makola markets, had some drum lessons, did some rehearsing with Afotey's band, ate some rice and slept a lot. A couple of days ago, my acquaintance, Sam, arrived from Uganda. He has a very busily-posted-at and somewhat-derivative blog as well. So now Sam, Penelope and I are all here in Ghana, for a couple of days before Penelope travels to the UK.

So that's that.

Here's what's up at the moment.
Tettey (the man who I'm staying with) with a bunch of local big men is starting an NGO, aiming to fix up and clean up Nungua (the town in which I'm staying). Today is the inauguration ceremony, which we'll be going to. Yesterday, Tettey brought some guy to my door saying that 'he' needed to use my 'studio'. This meant that he wanted me to record and produce a song to use for some thing today. While I probably should have said no, I was intrigued and didn't know how difficult and frustrating it was going to be. Turned out it was quite difficult and frustrating – I still have to finish recording some vocals today and woke up at 7.30 or so with the 'singer' knocking on my door. I told him I was sleeping and to go away. He did.

Anyhow, the song is what will be in the Fat Gold Chain Podcast this week. Look forward to that. I dare you.

Also tonight Ayiku (a friend of mine here who makes T-shirts that you will able to buy one day if I get my act together and manage to get an online store set up for him – I'll keep you posted) has organised a 'Hip Hop Pool Party' called Swagger. I will be going to see what that is all about. I think it may be interesting. I may take photos.

Not doing much playing at the moment outside of the rehearsals and lessons with Afotey – I am meant to be having some lessons with Adotey (one letter difference – different person) but his sister died and he had a funeral and has been busy so there.

Sorry for the inconsistency in my posting times. If you have been checking this site for regularly and have been frustrated and saddened by my lack of posting, you can subscribe to my RSS feed, which means that whenever I post you will be notified. Alternatively, if you put your email address into the box on the right, my posts will get emailed to you when they happen.

Wonderful, yes?

Alright, that's about it.

All is well, thank you for reading.
Love from Jacob

I'm alive. Relax. Now tighten. Aaaand relax again. Feel better?

Ok. It's been a while.

Basically, Penelope is here and the last week I've mostly been trying to get her settled here and show her around, stuff like that. I haven't really had time to post and when I have the internet hasn't been working. I'll try and start again now.

For a week I didn't really have any lessons or anything – I've started again this week. Kusun aren't training properly but I have arranged to go and train with Afotey's group and have a couple of a lessons a week with him.

All is ok.

That's all I feel like writing now.
Thanks for reading.

Bye.

It's Saturday.

Hi there. Sorry for the delay – internet problems.

Penelope's coming on Monday, so my last few days have really revolved around getting things ready for when she arrives. On Thursday I went to Nungua market with Mercy and Anastina (two girls from the house). I bought a bunch of stuff and wandered around for a while. For dinner the girls and I had banku and fish. That was about it for Thursday.

On Friday I made a trip to Accra Mall to go to the supermarket to buy some things. I can't say what because it's a surprise. I can tell you that I got baked beans, that's not the surprise. On Friday night Jane, Tettey, Rita and I went to see Tony Allen's band play at Alliance Francaise. Tony Allen was the drummer in Fela Kuti's band. There was also a Guinean hip hop band. All in all, it was good. I had a sausage.

Here's some photos:

Today I pretty much stayed in my room all day. The water wasn't running and I didn't feel like going out. I was asked for money by a couple of people and said no. I had fried rice for dinner.

That's about it. Sorry for my lack of interesting things – I didn't have any animals slaughtered in front of me this week – I'm basically getting used to being back in Ghana and dealing with the different flavour of scammy hasslement.

Thanks for reading. I'm tired now.

Nigh nighs.

It's RAINING

Hello. It's 1.40am and pissing with rain here. I am about to go to bed.

I didn't do much today, but I've been on a roll of posting daily, no matter how empty my posts are. Quantity!

Penelope is coming here on Monday which I am quite excited about. I went out today and bought a mattress for her to sleep on. I got a ride with Kenten (aka Basket) to one of the mattress shops (I did a bit of shopping around) while he was on his way to pick up Tettey's kids from school. I waited around for a ride home and he rocked up with about 8 kids (not all Tettey's – some were just getting a ride) crammed into the car. So I had a car ride with children on me. Then we stopped and got the mattress and put it on the roof, so then I had a car ride with children on me and one arm out the window holding a mattress onto the roof. That's about it.

I didn't train with Kusun today because they were being a bit half-arsed and it gave me the shits.

That's all for now.

Goodnight.
Thanks for readink.

Celebrating the 142nd Post!

WOW! 142! What a number! What a story! How exciting!

Ok.

Today I got up late. Then I hung around on the balcony. Then I had a Fan Ice (frozen yoghurt). Then I wrote some music. Then I went over some of the stuff I had learned in Gambia. Then I helped Tettey write some things for a website. Then I wrote this.

I thought I had escaped being in a Muslim country for Tobaski (the big feast that's today) and having to give too much – turns out this morning the small boys and girls in the house decided they were going to make food for the holiday and needed some money. Oh well. 

At least I get food - I think it's groundnut soup and Face-the-wall (basically cassava made into a snotty dough). I am looking forward to it. I haven't eaten anything today except my frozen yoghurt. I'm actually really hungry.

What an exciting 142nd post!

Good bye.

Love from Jacob.

First day back in Ghana

Yo hodely how.

Today was my first full day back in Ghana. I am suffering from self-induced jetlag. I didn't actually cross any time zones, but ended up not having a proper sleep for over 40 hours. This was because I stayed up until 4am last night talking to people in Australia with the first convenient, reliable internet connection I had had access to for a month. Things like that are hard for us nerds to deal with.

So I woke up today at about 1pm. I got in the shower and the water ran out while I was all shampooed and soaped up. A lovely image for you. I did some yelling and the pump was turned on and all worked out ok.

I was back.

I then sat on the balcony for a while and debriefed with Jane and had some lunch – bread that I had brought from Gambia. It was in a pretty ordinary state and a bit stale, having been travelling for a couple of days, but it was a nice thought. Then, the guys from Kusun turned up around 3 and we trained until 6 or so.

Then a bunch of guys from the group (Theofo, Shaanu, Adjetey and Bibio) and I went to get some food and pour libation to give thanks for my safe travelling. I think the food was more of a motivator for their participation than the thanks, but oh well.

Then I came back here and that's about it. I'm still tired. Tomorrow is a public holiday (I think it's for Tobaski – the big Islamic feast) which means that all the Ghanaians don't go to work. For a change. Over the next few days I think I will hold off on lessons and just go over and consolidate all the stuff I learned in Gambia. I'll be training each day with Kusun, but don't think I'll try filling my head with any more new stuff just yet. I'll also try and upload some music and photos.

I'll keep you posted. Hope all is well.

Ok bye.