this and that...

Flashback 130 - Please call me

2007-10-02T00:30:00.000+02:00

I remember receiving various of those "Please call me. Thank you." SMS or being "flashed" the last time I was back home. It appears that there are even certain "Rules of Beeping".

But beeping is not only about money. Donner's 'Rules of Beeping' suggests a social protocol for the practice.

"The richer guy pays," he writes. It is acceptable to beep someone if you are short of cash and they are flush with credit. Never beep someone poorer than you.

Never beep someone you are tapping for a favor. You don't want to risk annoying the person you are trying to win over. Never flash your girlfriend, unless you want to look cheap.

Here is a Reuters article on the topic

The "Rules of Beeping" (PDF) from Jonathan Donner

Here is the study "Africa Calling" (PDF)

A Spiegel Online article on the same topic (in German)

Bean harvest in Loitokitok - The Videos

2007-09-12T13:30:00.000+02:00

It's been a while since I did this original post on the bean harvest in my hometown of Loitokitok. Thanks to a comment left on that post recently, I remembered that I never got to posting videos of the harvesting. Well, better late than never...

(Sorry about the quality, the videos were taken with a digital camera)

What's happening over there?

2007-08-28T00:50:00.000+02:00

Taken from here

G.O.A.T. - Athletes

2007-03-28T01:25:00.000+02:00

G.O.A.T. usually stands for Greatest of All Time. Since I haven't been around forever, on my blog G.O.A.T. is an acronym for Greatest of Adrian's Time. With my first installation of what I plan to be a series of G.O.A.T. posts on various topics (tv series, songs, etc), I'm going to try and list my favourite athletes. Please feel free to disagree with me and make your own list in the comments section.

Apologies to the likes of Muhammad Ali, Maradona, Pele, et al for not making this list simply cause they excelled way before the time I was able to seriously follow sports. No offence as well to athletes from cricket, figure skating, rugby, etc since I don't follow those sports.

10. Martina Hingis
I believe that she could have ended up being the best female tennis player ever if it wasn't for the problems with her feet. From a tactical point of view and being able to read the court, she's miles ahead of her peers. She surely would have more supporters if she didn't have attitude issues. Let's see how her 2nd career goes.

9. Ronaldo
I remember regularly watching him win CNN's play of the day with brilliant solo efforts during his days with Barcelona. That was before his move to Inter and the many injuries that followed, culminating in the whole saga before the World Cup final in 1998. Despite gaining a few kilos while playing for Real Madrid, he still was able to blow by defenders with his first step. Hope he can stay injury-free with Milan.

8. Kobe Bryant
Hate him or love him, he is most definately the most talented player in the NBA right now and a real competitor. Unfortunately for him, he came after Jordan and will never have the impact MJ had worldwide - both as an athlete and as a role model. The fighting with Shaq and that trip to Colorado didn't help his case either.

7. Valentino Rossi
The guy is almost bigger than his sport. Though he didn't win the championship in 2006, he still is the king of motorcycle racing. His fast times on four wheels and permanent flirting with F1 illustrate just how much of a racer he is.

6. Zinedine Zidane
Without doubt the soccer player I most enjoyed watching (Ronaldinho is too inconsistent in my opinion). Watching him go by defenders with that trick of his (turning round with ball under one foot) was just pure magic. I guess it would have been too perfect an ending for him to go out with another World Cup win. Count me among those who fully understand his headbutt against Materazzi.

5. Michael Schumacher
Though he wasn't the cleanest of drivers, there's no denying that he dominated F1, albeit in a period with too much technical assistance and less risks than in the past. The fact that he took the most legendary of cars to such a high level of perfection is credit to his work ethic.

4. Lance Armstrong
There's one hot summer I closely followed the Tour de France, and I must say, these cyclists suffer. Though I'm convinced there's no way the doping allegations are completely false, I appreciate his talent and mental strength (considering his medical history).

3. Tiger Woods
It's just impossible to ignore someone who so regularly dominates other golfers and the courses they play on. What I find most impressive about golf, is the precision and mental toughness it requires. And Tiger just seems to have been born to do one thing - play golf like it's never been played before.

2. Roger Federer
Federer is probably the athlete who I'm going to end up watching most in my lifetime. How good is he? So good that I regularly feel let down when he misses a shot. It's been said time and time before, but it's just amazing to watch how calm he (nowadays) is on the court and how humble he is as a person.

1. Michael Jordan
With MJ, it's about more than who he was as an athlete. His six titles with the Bulls and his individual accolades speak volumes. The way he was able to adapt his game after his first retirement and dominate with a totally different style of play is just simply amazing. Add to that his cultural impact with the bald head, baggy shorts, Air Jordan shoes and his economic impact on sports marketing, and you have the G.O.A.T.

Shutdown Day

2007-03-23T11:35:00.000+01:00

This Saturday 24 March 2007 is Shutdown Day, an international global experiment to see how many people can do without their computer for 24 hours. Don't ask me how they're going to see how effective this experiment is and how they can compare it to other Saturdays. What happens if I click that I'm going to participate and then don't?

Anyway, thought I should mention it just in case any of you out there are feeling like not touching your computer this Saturday. I won't be touching mine. But not because of this experiment. I'll be up in the mountains with the boys freezing my black behind...

Honda F1 - Good PR?

2007-02-27T23:35:00.000+01:00

The Honda Racing F1 Team announced that they'll be driving without a sponsor in 2007. The car will instead "simply feature a huge image of earth". The aim of the myearthdream.com initiative is "to help raise awareness of the environmental issues facing the planet". I'm sure Wangari Maathai and Al Gore will now start watching F1.

Honda have once again managed to make some noise. Most people's first reaction will probably be something like; "WTF?! F1 and climate change?!". I can't remember the details and the source, but I read somewhere that F1 is actually quite "environment-friendly".

EDIT: Here's a link to the article about how 22 grown men driving around in circles can be "friendly" to the environment. It appears that "Grand Prix racing has been carbon neutral since 1997".

And for Honda this is pretty good PR. It's not like they really need the money from the sponsors. The positive impact this project has on their image and reputation is worth much much more. Their sales in "clean" vehicles probably won't suffer either.

Remember that cool Honda ad?

Maasai hands-free kit

2007-02-27T09:20:00.000+01:00

Funny pic I received this morning. Being a proud Maasai, I had to share. Hmmm, maybe I should have my ears done...

Words I'd rather not hear...

2006-10-14T18:12:00.000+02:00

The following is a list of phrases or words I'd rather not hear. Some of them aren't always negative, but most of the times I hear the following, I'd rather not have.

- Authorities in Lampedusa fear...
- HIV/AIDS
- I'm sorry to inform you...
- It's about your...
- Is there somewhere we can talk in private?
- It's a little bit more complicated than we expected
- There's nothing more we can do
- We tried our best but unfortunately...
- Latest reports coming from Darfur / Somalia / Iraq / ...
- Threatened + Al Qaeda / Ahmadinejad / Kim Jong-il
- We have no choice but to...
- Ultimatum + George W. Bush / Kim Jong-il / Ahmadinejad
- Poverty / hunger / child mortality / malaria / rape / ...
- There's been an accident
- The police aren't sure, but it looks like...
- Al Jazeera has new video material
- It's not looking good, not good at all...

The list doesn't stop here, feel free to add your own words in the comment section. I also hope that none of you has to hear any of the above anytime soon.

Missing Out

2006-08-21T00:02:00.000+02:00

One of the worst things about being far from home is the number of family events one misses. My mom just came back from home; she had gone for my uncle's (her brother) wedding. Till about two weeks before the wedding, I was also considering going. But then I came to the conclusion that it wasn't very wise for me to do so - mainly cause I had spent two months at home in December and January.

(Sometimes I wish I could stop thinking rationally and just do what my heart tells me to do...)

Of course I continue to have my doubts whether I made the right decision. And when I saw the pictures from the wedding, I was almost sure that I had made the wrong decision. I know the wedding is over now and there's nothing I can do about it. But that's easier said than done.

Weddings, new-borns, birthday partys, regular family reunions or visits and even funerals are all things I've missed out on for the past 15 years. Add to that the "normal life" back home and of course the possibility that some of our loved ones won't be there the next time we visit, and you're missing out on quite a lot...

The worst part of it all for me is not being able to be with my grandparents. As I've mentioned a few times before, I'm a shagz guy. I spend about 80% of my time back home at our shagz (Loitokitok). This is probably because as a small child, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. I was like the last-born in my mom's family. Till today, I call my grandparents Mama and Baba.

Sometimes I wonder whether missing out on all these things is worth it all. And even if we one day go back home, some people may no longer be there and we definitely won't be able to re-live all the moments we've missed with our loved ones.

Finally a Winner!

2006-08-06T23:42:00.000+02:00

What a great race the Hungarian GP was!

I wish it would rain in every race. And not ati full strong rain where the drivers stick with wet tyres the whole race. I want races where the weather changes and teams are forced to take risks. Schumi for example gambled and stuck with the intermediates. If he had changed to dry tyres, he probably would have finished 4th and avoided looking like a bad sport fighting off de la Rosa by taking shortcuts. And of course he wouldn't have touched Heidfeld, which cost him the race. I know, hindsight is always 20/20, but still...

On a personal level, it was a great race cause my guys from Honda finally got their win. And of course it was Jenson Button's first win!! After coming so close so often, it's great to finally see him on top. Last season was one to forget. 2004 was great, but the constant 2nd and 3rd places became frustrating with time, especially losing to Trulli in Monaco by a few secs. And who could forget the whole contract issue...

So now, let's hope for many more Honda and Jenson wins. And the championship is still wide open, which should be quite interesting for the final five races of the season. Hope it stays open till the final race in Brazil with Schumi beating out Alonso fairly. And then retiring - leaving the young guns to fight the next few years.

Bringing Kenyans Together

2006-08-05T01:48:00.000+02:00

One of the biggest disadvantages of Switzerland (from a Kenyan perspective) is the "rather small" Kenyan community. I don't know exactly how many of us there are here, but I'm sure we're not as many as in the UK or US. The main obstacle obviously being the language; the national languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian and Romansh.

In the past (so I'm told), there have been various attempts by Kenyans living here to form a community that also reaches Kenyans who one doesn't necessarily know personally. Something where Kenyans from all over the country can get together for some nyama choma and tuskers.

Unfortunately, it seems that most attempts failed. In most cases, they ended rather badly with a lot of name-calling and animosity. Most of the tension seems to have something to do with either money or tribes. I don't want to know how many of you saw that coming or are now thinking: Wakenya na pesa / ukabila!!

A few of us Kenyans around Berne recently formed a chama. Two quotes from the kick-off meeting informing people about the idea.
Quote 1: "If this guy (pointing at person) is in the chama, I'm not joining! He stole our money in the last chama."
Quote 2: "Hiyo ni chama ya Wajaluo!!" (talking about another chama that is said to exist)

We still managed to form a chama a few weeks later, with the following goals:
- Bring Kenyans living in Switzerland together
- Promote Kenyan culture in Switzerland
- Support Kenyan investments in Switzerland
- Help newcomers in their integration process in Switzerland
- Promote activites, achievements and success stories of Kenyans worldwide

Unfortunately, since the official launch of the chama, not much has happened. The aim of this post is to gather any suggestions or experiences from you fellow Kenyan bloggers or any other persons out there. Help me out, I'm the Secretary :-) If you'd rather use e-mail: aj12kenswi-at-gmx.net

What's Going On

2006-07-28T02:59:00.000+02:00

I'm not a big fan of conspiracy theories, but sometimes there are things out there that simply make you wonder. Situations where you find yourself thinking; "Yeah, it could be possible. That doesn't sound too far-fetched".

Read this article about the current Middle East crisis.

I'm not ready to believe the story just like that, but I believe there's some truth somewhere. Which makes this situation even sadder. For the involved countries, leaders, governments, forces, etc. And especially tragic for the innocent victims.

Soundtrack: Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some loving here today

Father, father
We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today

...

WC 2006 starts here...

2006-05-25T20:30:00.000+02:00

... or at least almost.

As the 2006 World Cup is fast approaching, all teams have assembled and are making their final preparations for the big tournament. Switzerland is probably the country currently entertaining the most world-class football players. If Switzerland were to somehow disappear from the face of the earth within the next week, I don't think the FIFA 2006 TM World Cup (is that correct Mr. Blatter?) would be able to take place.

Obviously, the Swiss team is around. They've already suffered an injury blow - striker Johan Vonlanthen, the youngest player to ever score a goal in the European Championship, is out with a hamstring injury.

Hosts Germany are currently residing around Geneva as they prepare to try and top their 2nd place finish from four years ago. Michael Ballack suffered a minor injury in their 12-0 win against a youth team from Servette Geneva.

Most attention has obviously gone to the defending champions Brazil who have been in canton Lucerne since Monday. The papers here have been full with these guys for the past month. The training sessions which are open to the public are all sold out - stadium capacity is 5'000, population of the town the stadium is in is 3'800...

Ivory Coast is coming in to play the Swiss squad on Saturday in Basle. CDI are the ones chosen to simulate the game against Togo. Yeah, they're Africans too...

The day the German squad leaves, the Italian team will be checking into the same hotel that very evening, before they play the Swiss squad in Geneva (simulate France). Bring out the phone-tapping devices...

Argentina, the Ukraine and Iran are also said to be spending a few days training in the country. At least for a few days, Switzerland will be safe from any nuclear threats...

New Zealand and China (simulate South Korea vs Switzerland) are also flying in, but merely as sparring partners for some of the countries actually going to Germany.

Some losses aren't that bad

2006-05-19T16:38:00.000+02:00

Though Arsenal's loss to Barcelona on Wednesday didn't exactly come as a surprise, it still hurt pretty bad - much more than I thought before the game. I don't know whether it's because they were so close to the "big" upset. Or maybe it's cause somewhere inside me I still expected them to somehow find a way to leave the pitch as champions.

Everything seemed to somehow go Arsenal's way this season; Bergkamp's late goal at Highbury vs Thun, Thun's regular goal in Berne being disallowed, Riquelme's late penalty miss, the Spurs' food poisoning and Arsenal sneaking in on the final Champions League qualifying spot (though this one could be interpreted the other way round), all those minutes without conceding a goal, them going ahead on Wednesday despite being one man down, etc.

But I guess it wasn't meant to be. But at least the week is ending on a high note for all Arsenal supporters.

Whether he would have stayed on if they had won, that we will never know for sure...

Coolest Gents Experience

2006-05-15T00:15:00.000+02:00

A few years back when visiting Cologne with some friends, I for the first time heard the sentence "Hey guys, you MUST go and see what's in the Gents!!!". The friend then went on and told us about the small goals in the urinals.

Well, this Saturday it happened again. We were in a club where there was a special party taking place - the kind of music being played was very different to what is usually played there. I guess the owners of the club thought they somehow still had to cater for their regular guests.

So there I am on my way to the Gents. There is a huge group of people standing around the door and looking in, I realise that it isn't very different inside. But still people are entering and leaving, both female and male. So I enter to the familiar beats of Snoop's "Drop It Like It's Hot". And to my suprise, the Gents is full with ladies (and gents) really dropping it like it's hot. The place looks as if there's a party going on in there.

YES! You guessed right. They actually had a DJ install his equipment in the Gents (turntable, speakers, etc) and they were having a HipHop party!

I did my business and rejoined my friends with the line "Hey guys, you MUST go and see what's in the Gents!!!".

2006 - Good Year for Sports

2006-05-08T00:55:00.000+02:00

10 reasons why the year 2006 is a good year for a sports fan - in no particular order.

1. 2006 NBA playoffs
These playoffs have been absolutely fabolous! LeBron is finally playing in May, the usually awful Clippers are doing well and could end up in the Western finals, Nowitzki has been almost unstoppable, the Lakers - Suns series which even had me rooting for Kobe, my Nets are still in there, etc. I would give sooo much to be in the US right now and be able to watch all the games on TV.

2. F1 Season
I've mentioned the new and improved qualifying session before. After Schumi's 2nd consecutive win, the championship is looking to be a very close battle between him and Alonso. This could end up going on till the final race in Brazil - which would be at 7 pm in central Europe (pay-rise for the calendar planner?). Pity my BAR Honda guys are only showing up for qualifying but not for the race.

3. Roger Federer
The dude is once again having a good season and could win all four grand slams. I know a lot of people believe he'll never win the French Open - I'm not one of them. Nadal and his ugly trousers won't go without losing on sand forever.

4. Martina Hingis
Staying with tennis, it's just so nice to see an athlete coming back after problems and showing they can still play. Whether it's Capriati, Seles or now Hingis. Now if only Serena could do the same.

5. Africa Cup
Good tournament with many good games and of course that never-ending penalty shootout between Ivory Coast and Cameroon. What I like most about the Africa Cup is the atmosphere in the stadiums. Just from watching on TV, one can feel that "African joy" in the crowd.

6. The Winter Olympics
I especially loved the figure skating. Just kidding...

6. Commonwealth Games
Didn't watch a minute of the games, but still happy about the successful Kenyan delegation. Can't really say much more.

7. Champions League
My favourite team? Arsenal
My favourite team in Spain? Barcelona
My favourite player? Thierry Henry
Best player alive? Ronaldinho
May 17th? Barcelona vs Arsenal
'Nuff said!

8. Joga Bonito
Absolutely loving the latest ads from Nike! I've never been this excited about an ad-campaign since the Nike Freestyle one a few years back - especially the basketball ones. And Cantona is the perfect guy for those ads.

9. World Cup
Didn't really watch a lot of games from the last WC cause of the time difference. This year that problem doesn't exist and I have a lot of time. I'm sure I would enjoy the tournament more if I manage to resist the temptation of betting on games or even better, bet successfully.

10. ???
I'm sure there'll be a lot of other things to add to this list by the time this year is over. Tiger Woods? Michelle Wie? Tour de France?

Pics from Loitokitok

2006-03-30T03:07:00.000+02:00

Exactly two months ago, my two-month holiday at home came to an end. Below are some pictures from my hometown of Loitokitok.

Snowboarding in Arosa

2006-03-21T00:15:00.000+01:00

I hope that by the time you're reading this, my body is in less pain. Was up in the mountains with some friends for a weekend of fun and pain - fun coming from hanging around with the boys, pain from falling several times while "snowboarding".

Sunday was MW's birthday and he had invited us to celebrate with him in Arosa. So his b-day was kind of an excuse for eight guys to get together in a city where they don't know many people and have a good time from Friday till Sunday - just boys being boys.

I had been to the mountains with the same group of guys over new year in 2004/05 and had started snowboarding then. So on Saturday I was surprised at how quickly I was able to get back into the groove of things. After a good morning session with MD, I was able to leave the beginner's area and go up to the "big boys".

The worst thing about having to go up, are the various variations of "lifts" one has to take. You need to know that I'm "fairly scared" of heights. The ski-lifts where one is seated are ok for me, I just try not to think of all the negative things that could happen (unless we stop in mid-air like on Sunday). What I hated most are the other "lifts" where you have to "hook" the "lift" between your legs and let it pull you up the slope. MD says that if you want to see someone who's really tense/uptight, you need look no further than watching me go up with one of these "lifts". I only dropped out once and luckily for me, it was at a safe spot.

The coolest thing about the whole weekend, was the descent on Saturday evening. I was really worried how I would fair and especially concerned about being in the way of the faster people who weren't aware of my "limited snowboarding skills". But everything went surprisingly smooth and I was so happy that I actually wanted to immediately go back up and do it again.

Sunday it was CH giving me lessons. Either MD was lucky the previous day or CH was unlucky on this day, cause I absolutely SUCKED! All the progress from the previous day was gone! I think within the first hour, I fell more times than the whole of Saturday.

Poor CH, had "chosen" the wrong day to teach me. And to make matters worse, I ended up breaking his board on one of the last few corners of the descent - a few minutes before we left. I broke it on what was probably my worst fall of the weekend - I knocked my head so hard that I had a slight headache and my neck is still hurting. All in all, Sunday sucked and the descent didn't go as well as the previous day. It seems the few beers we had before the Saturday descent helped a lot, kind of made me less afraid of the speed and more relaxed.

But it was a great weekend with a great group of guys! It was fairly expensive, but it would have been worse if I hadn't gotten my entire equipment from the guys and if they hadn't taken the time to teach me. Thanks guys and till next time...

Photos from Arosa Tourism

Start your engines!

2006-03-10T18:47:00.000+01:00

Prepare your ears for the sound of powerful engines "nneeeeyoowww!". Yeeep, it's that time of the year again - the 2006 Formula One season kicks off this weekend in Bahrain. That's the first positive thing about this season - the timing. It's the first time in ages that the season won't be starting in Australia or some other country where I have to wake up at 6 am - on a Sunday! The race starts at 12:30 CET.

Here are 10 questions on my mind before this season:

1. How will the new qualifying session work out?

I'm actually quite excited about this. I'm especially looking forward to the final minutes of every session. I like it that the fastest ten cars have to decide early what their fuel-load is going to be. I hope the slower guys can profit from this during the race.

2. What about the other rule changes?

I'm glad the teams are allowed to change tyres again. It just adds a little bit more action to the whole race - and of course leaves room for error (like Ferrari forgetting a tyre a few years back). And that way, we probably won't have to go through another scandal like Indy 2005 when only the Bridgestone cars were able to race cause the Michelin tyres couldn't last the distance.

As for the new engines; it looks like the teams will still be able to do equally fast laps with the new V8 engines, compared to last year's V10s. Honda driver Davidson just recently broke the lap record in Valencia.

3. Can Michael Schumacher strike back?

The big problem for Ferrari is as usual the tyre issue. Their Bridgestone tyres still look slower than Michelin. And though there are more teams running Bridgestone this year, the other main contenders (Renault, McLaren and Honda) still run the faster Michelin.

4. How will Felipe Massa fare against the old man?

Personally I'm very curious to see how Massa will perform against Schumi. Everyone knows he has the speed - I would say he's faster than both Barrichello and Irvine. But faster doesn't necessarily mean better. Though he showed some improvement last year, he has the tendency to make mistakes. I think (or is it more hope) he will give the old man a run for his money.

5. Will Jenson Button finally get his first win?

The first race of the season will be Button's 101st - without a win. After solving his contract issues and deciding to stay with Honda, he can now fully concentrate on racing. It's time to prove the critics wrong - stop all the talk of him being the Beckham of F1. Having Rubens "I believe I can be champion this year" Barrichello as a teammate is supposed to put some pressure on him.

6. How will the Japanese teams perform?

It looks like F1 is going to end up being a one-on-one battle between Honda and Toyota. According to some sources, these two lead the money-spending with Toyota coming in first with USD 455 million - closely followed by Honda's USD 420 million.

The only sure thing about the Japanese teams is that Super Aguri is going to be the last one in the group.

7. What to expect from BMW Sauber?

By taking over the Swiss team, BMW have also acquired the typical Swiss understatement - "don't expect any wins from us this year". They probably are right, but they should be making some noise. BMW has had a very good engine in the past. And considering the small budget, Sauber has always produced good results - mainly cause of a good aerodynamic package.

8. Is this Jacques Villeneuve's last season?

I'm afraid so. I've always liked him - even before he joined my guys at BAR Honda. I'm just not sure whether he can perform at a top-level and compete with the likes of Kimi, Alonso and Massa. I'd be surprised if he was able to keep Heidfeld in check - I consider Heidfeld to be among the most under-rated drivers in F1.

9. Which team will win the constructors' title?

My money is on McLaren Mercedes. They came awfully close last year and I think they learned from their mistakes and should be more consistent this year. I also think that they have the most balanced driver pairing in the field.

10. Who will win the drivers' title?

I think Schumi will once again come through - and then retire. Somehow Ferrari and Bridgestone will find a way to put the old man on top. The other drivers will be stealing points from each other, while Schumi can be assured to collect maximum points when Ferrari is in a good position.

Press Freedom: Letter to Kibaki

2006-03-02T14:40:00.000+01:00

Dear President Kibaki,

On March 2, 2006 armed police raided the headquarters and printing plant of the East African Standard Group. In addition to destroying equipment including the printing presses and burning newspapers, they shut down the Kenyan Television Network television station.

This latest attack follows the jailing of three journalists from the East African Standard newspaper, attacks on the Citizen Weekly, and ongoing harassment of journalists by government-sponsored forces.

I urge you to:

Condemn these attacks in the strongest terms possible.
Dismiss any member of your government who played a role in the attacks.
Live up to your promise to support freedom of the press.

Please copy and paste a copy of this letter on your blog. You may alter the wording to suit your needs.

Campaign started by Keguro, wording copied from Mental.

Make me happy!

2006-02-23T23:25:00.000+01:00

This is just a brief post to tell everyone out there what they could do for me, if they wanted to be really nice to me. And by really nice, I mean "REALLY REALLY NICE". It's not a car, a plane, a football team or anything crazy. It's something that we all use everyday and have plenty of at home.

There's an auction on eBay - and it's for a good cause!
90% of the final sale price* will support Habitat for Humanity International.

"This auction package includes unworn Air Jordan basketball shoes I through XXI. From the 1985 Air Jordan I that was banned by the league to the revolutionary new 2006 Air Jordan XXI, every pair is autographed by Michael Jordan himself."

Here's a slideshow of how the little present you would be getting for me would look.

Three reasons why you should do this:
1. The more you give, the more you receive.
2. It's for a good cause.
3. When have I ever asked you for something?

-----

On a sadder note, Memoire has stopped blogging. Since something tells me that chances of someone actually getting me the item above are quite slim, I would be happy enough if someone could convince Memoire otherwise...

*Starting bid is USD 425'000.-

Safari Walk

2006-02-20T22:35:00.000+01:00

Here in Switzerland (and in Europe in general I would think), the first things that come to people's minds when I tell them I'm from Kenya are: long distance running, "hakuna matata" and "safari".

My answers then are:
- No, I don't run
- Yes, it means "no problems / worries"
- No, I've never been on a Safari

After my last holidays back home (Dec/Jan), I can now at least say I've been on something like a safari - a mini-safari. Enter the Safari Walk! Nothing spectacular since:
- It's "just" in Nairobi
- The animals are behind glass / fences
- It's a WALK! :-)

My uncle who works at KWS, was surprised (ok, he was shocked!) to hear that I've never really seen the beautiful wildlife our lovely country has to offer. Having seen giraffes, zebras and elephants on the way to Loitokitok didn't really count.

So I was taken on the safari walk. Below are some of the pictures I took. I apologise for not explaining in detail (at all) which animals are on the pics and what their natural habitat, etc is - I don't know. And I'm lazy...

EDIT - Maybe I need to clarify that the last picture features albino zebras.

Bean harvest in Loitokitok

2006-02-08T19:54:00.000+01:00

Most of the people in my hometown of Loitokitok are farmers - mainly beans and maize. This includes my grandmother and my uncle - my uncle also grows some coffee and my grandfather has his cows and goats. Due to the hot and dry weather, the beans were ready to be harvested earlier than usual. And since I was staying home well into January (for the first time since I can remember, since when I was younger I would already be back in school), I was around for the beans harvest. That's how beans look before they land on your plate or in the can in the supermarket. In the background is the maize crop, which is still on the farm. The same farm a few days later: After being picked, the beans are put together in a heap and beaten using sticks - to get the beans out of their pods. The people go round in circles, beating the heap till it's flat.
Instead of the manual beating of the beans, some people prefer to drive over them with a tractor. In this case, the beans are laid out on a big canvas and the tractor drives around in circles and back & forth.
For it to be efficient, the beating of the beans using a tractor needs you to pick more beans than the manual beating. My uncle prefers the tractor method and works with 80+ people picking the beans. 80+ people require a lot of supervision - something some people are not able / prepared to deal with. My grandmother prefers the manual beating and works with about 15 - 20 people per day.Don't worry, I just didn't go to the farm to take pictures of people working. I also did some work - though I admit not as much as the others. I was helping my grandmother with the driving. I would first do one trip to take the greens home - for the dairy cows (they don't go out to graze). I would then go back to the farm and pick up the beans that were harvested - packed in bags. I also sometimes helped out with the unloading of the car / tractor. My duty as a driver didn't include the driving of the tractor. But one day my uncle asked me whether I wanted to try and park the tractor and trailer into their shed - I happily obliged. That is when I sweated the most!! Backing-up a trailer into a parking slot isn't easy...The harvesting of the beans is now done. What's left on the farms now is the maize. If all goes well, the maize should be ready for harvesting some time in March/April. Unfortunately, that'a a pretty big IF. Obviously the rains are a worry. In Loitokitok farmers are fighting to protect their farms from monkeys, warthogs and elephants. It's not very clear, but above is a footprint of an elephant which had invaded my grandmother's farm just before I left.

Funny Kenyans

2006-01-31T00:29:00.000+01:00

My holidays in Kenya once again proved to me that Kenyans are just too funny. Despite all the problems facing the wananchi, people are still able to walk around in a good mood and smile. Even a lady I met in shagz on her way to collect relief food, was able to make a joke about how I had forgotten who her son was (I still believe I don't know him).

I especially found matatu touts and the workers on the farm to be funny. Below are some comments which made me laugh - maybe it's just me / maybe you had to be there / maybe you don't get the joke (I'm not going to translate them - pls also excuse my "not too sanifu" kiswahili).

In a mat from Loitokitok to Nairobi, a boy is told by the tout to stand up.
Me: Si ni mama yake amemwekea mfuko huo akalie.
Tout: Kama mama yake angempenda hivyo, angemkatia kiti.

Someone to a tout complaining about having to get luggage from the roof of a mat while it was raining: "Kwa nini ulikaata kusoma?!"

A matatu driver complaining about the driver ahead of him.
Driver: Kama barabara ni yako, si uikunje na uende nayo nyumbani!!

A person waiting to get into a matatu: Iko kiti?
Tout: Kiti iko, lakini imekaliwa.

A farm worker joking about why he finds himself having to do that kind of work: "Ni umande ulifanya nikatae kwenda shule."
Another one: Mimi nilesoma mpaka nikakuta ubao umeandikwa "No school ahead."

There were many other comments I found to be extremely funny, but most of them really depended on the situation or one would need to know what was being joked about - for example farm workers talking about working for my uncle / grandmother or them imitating my grandfather when he's mad at someone.

Happy New Year

2005-12-30T17:35:00.000+01:00

A belated Merry Christmas to all of you out there! At least I'm just in time to wish you all a happy and prosperous 2006!!

FYI: This whole thing with the y and z being the other waz around isn't on purpose, it's the kezboards here that have these kezs the other waz round. And I don't really feel like correcting myself everztime...

After almost three weeks of shagz, I'm back in the green city in the sun (I know that slogan can't really be used any more, I just felt like using it for old times' sake). Today in four weeks time I will be preparing myself to fly back to that Swityerland. That means I'm halfway through mz stay at home. I'm not complaining, just mentioning it. OK fine, it sucks that I'm halfway through my holidays. But I guess with 8 weeks, I really shouldn't be complaining...

Shagz still is the place for me! I don't know whether I would feel differentlz on this shagz/towo thing if Nairobi was "more to my liking". I just have the feeling that I wouldn't enjoz mzself in Nai as much as I would back home. But I guess it's a different story when you're thinking about living there as a zoung person. But since I'm talking about the time when I'm about 50 or sth, it's shagz...

Christmas at home means two things: a lot of people and a lot of nyam chom! My mom has 3 brothers and 1 sister - and that means quite a number of people coming together at my grandparents' place. After the three weeks with all my cousins, I must admit that I'm looking forward to the time I'll spend there alone in January as the only grandchild. Nothing against mz cousins, but zou know, kids can sometimes be a bit loud...

As far as the nyam chom part is concerned, I feel sorry for all the goats and cows that are slaughtered every year during the festive season. Everytime I'm shagz watching the goat being slaughtered, I ask mzself whether these goats see it coming. Do thez know that once everz zear we celebrate the birth of Christ and in some areas this comes with roasted meat having to be on the table? Or any other occasion, do thez sense their time's up? Just asking... Warm nyam chom with kachumbari is obviously tops! But cold nyam chom a few days after being roasted also isn't bad...

Happy New Year!!

Learning to be patient

2005-12-09T17:21:00.000+01:00

All y are meant to be z, and vice versa.

One thing that zou require when in Kenza is PATIENCE. This business of expecting things to be readz when thez were supposed to be readz or when zou expected them to be readz - not here! Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I'm just sazing that it requires adjustment. Especiallz coming from a place like Swityerland where everzthing is so efficient.

Going into town from wherever - whether it's public transport or private - it takes time. There's going to be a traffic jam when zou don't expect one. The matatu zou are in is going to wait for one final passenger, even though thez're onlz earning 20 bob at that time.

Surfing in a czber cafe - the connection is probablz slower than zou are used to. I heard from someone that ADSL is being offered now - at KShs 15'000.- per month. But zou know what, it's ok, I don't reallz mind, all it requires is adjustment on mz part.

Going into a bank for a transaction. Since I'm stazing for two months, I thought it was a good idea not to onlz carrz cash with me and took some travellers cheques with me. First bank after some queueing: "We're currentlz not cashing travellers cheques, go to our other branch. There customer service sends zou to an unattended window. But with time and more queueing, I ended up at the correct place.

The cabinet of course required some patience till it was finallz announced. Well, since manz of the ministers are sazing "thanks, but no thanks" to the president, I guess it will still take time. But enough politics...

But some things are verz well in order and work perfectlz. Meals in restaurants are served without delaz and there's alwazs someone around to get zou anzthing else zou maz need. Same case with drinks - and the Tuskers are nice and cold :-) The pubs and restaurants seem to have too manz people working. In Swityerland, one sometimes has to wait quite a while - especiallz during busz hours. Waz to go Kenza!

Unfortunatelz, other things happen just too fast. Zes, I'm talking about how quicklz monez is spent here. Whether it's just getting some fuel, quicklz doing some shopping or using the phone. I'm spending quite some time scratching cards and tzping in codes to get more monez. I continue to be amayed at how Kenyans manage to survive. It reallz makes one proud and happz to see people still jovial and smiling despite the problems thez face dailz.

That's all for the moment, tomorrow I'm off for shagz...

Home sweet home

2005-12-06T17:13:00.000+01:00

Nyuuuumbaaani nyumbaaaani!!

Yes, I arrived home. Well, at least Nairobi. And compared to that cold place I've left behind, even Nairobi is home. Unfortunately I didn't arrive till 7.30 pm so I had to wait till today to really take in the city.

Those were quite a number of letter ys over there. This kezboard has the y and z the other waz round. And in general, just ignore any typos for the next two months.

Coming into town, everything seemed more or less the same as I when I was here last - January 2004. Except the matatus with the yellow lines, touts in uniform and the seatbelts. My first ride in a mat I was sitting in front and didn't really know what to do. To be on the safe side, I just pulled the safety belt down and held it. Don't want to land in jail...

Currently, people are talking about some tension as the president is expected to announce his cabinet later on this evening. Some people are even saying that the army and police have been ordered onto the streeets. I didn't notice anything on my way into the city centre. But on the other hand, haven't really been around. All I've done is: had my hair cut, bought some credit for my mobile and changed money. So I can't really say I've been around...

That's it for the moment. Posts probably won't be coming as regularly for the next two months, especially when I go shagz...

The Constant Gardener

2005-11-28T16:38:00.000+01:00

So the movie "The Constant Gardener" finally opened in Switzerland last Thursday. I'd like to think it takes so long for movies to open here cause of the time they need to do the subtitles in German and French (and Italian). Whatever the reasons, I went to watch it on opening night with some Kenyan and Swiss friends.

Plot
Most of the movie was shot in Kenya and revolves around the big pharma companies and their practices. The main issue is how the drug companies handle the test results for planned substances (apparently, by covering up the negative ones). There's also a love story in there.
I'm no movie critic, so if you want a better plot outline, check out IMDB or other sites...

It was nice to see a movie set at home. I liked the real-life shots from Kibera - I know, it's sad, but that's the "real" Kenya with the "ordinary" wananchi. My favourite scene was probably when the small boys block the road and ask for money (and other scenes where one can hear Swahili in the background).

I don't know how much of the movie I should believe. I'm sure there's some truth to the story, but I'm just not sure whether the whole issue of negative test persons dying away unidentified can be believed. I haven't read the book yet, so maybe I'll get more insight when I do that. Some pharma firms are bound to have practices which go against morals / ethics, but I'd like to think it's not as bad as shown in the movie. Or maybe I'm just that naive...

If you ask me, the losers from the movie are the British and the Kenyan governments. The pharma industry, they more or less remain where they were for me. They may do a lot of good, but they certainly could do more - especially in Africa (slightly biased here). The bottom line is that for them it's a business. It's not like I went into the movie expecting the drug firms to be the good guys at the end of the day.

The involvement of British officials and her majesty's service in the whole scam were probably the most disappointing for me. Majority of the British officials (in the movie) came across as, sorry to say this, a**holes. Whether it was their active roles or just how they were willing to ignore the facts (main actor included). And that's without even bringing in the whole issue of Kenya being a former British colony and them continuing to run things and mistreat the Kenyan people despite independance.

The Kenyan government and police in the movie are corrupt. So what's new there?! But it's sad to see lives lost while fellow citizens either get richer or just look on. What makes it worse, is that the corrupt Kenyans don't realise that they are being instrumentalised by the West against their own people.

Disclaimer: The author is aware that the post above contains several general statements. Even worse, the statements are based on a movie. But hey, that's what the author felt after watching the movie.

Thun - Arsenal, Berne

2005-11-23T01:31:00.000+01:00

Flags were flying high at the beginning

First and foremost, thanks to EGS for the ticket to the game! The original plan was to go to the game together - he organised the tickets, but it was to be everyone paying for himself. Until I found my ticket and a birthday card in my letterbox on my birthday. Merci EGS!

Unfortunately, Henry didn't take any corners from here

So Thierry Henry and friends rolled into town. After Arsenal qualified for the next stage, I was afraid Wenger would rest Henry. But we were "lucky" enough to get 70 mins of the man! Our seats were in the fourth row around the D. Unfortunately though, Arsenal were attacking in the other direction in the first half. In the 2nd half when Henry would only have been a few metres away from us, he didn't play that long and also didn't often come out to our side.

Henry in action (trust me, it's him)

The game itself wasn't anything to write home about. Thun played really well and showed they can hang with the big boys (much like in their first champions league game in London). And Arsenal played like a team that had already qualified for the next round. They're obviously capable of playing much better, they simply lacked a certain urgency.

The linesman called this penalty...

Despite Thun playing with 10 men from the 35th minute, Arsenal needed a penalty in the 87th to score the only goal of the game. One could say that they were just as lucky as in the first game when Bergkamp scored the 2:1 in the 93rd minute. No matter how you look at it, they got the job done.

The Thun fans weren't amused

Germany 2006

2005-11-17T00:58:00.000+01:00

To most, it's probably not necessary to point out that Kenya didn't qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Though the coming tournament gives us one of the more surprsing African groups, Kenya still didn't manage to sneak through. "Surprises" Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo and Ghana will be the ones representing our continent. They will be joined by not so surprising Tunisia. The regulars Cameroon, Nigeria and Egypt all failed to qualify.

Other than all the African teams, Switzerland come closest to taking Kenya's place in the field for me. The Swiss team played really well through out the whole qualification period and were unbeaten since losing to France in their final game of the group stage of the Euro 2004. They had managed to lead their qualification group for most of the time and draw with teams such as France and Ireland. Unfortunately they weren't able to score the "big points" and ended up having to go into the playoffs (France qualified directly).

In the playoffs they were pitted against Turkey. No easy task; Turkey were after all silver medalists at the last World Cup. The home game on Saturday was one of the best I can remember from the Swiss team. They won 2:0, which is quite a safe result for the return leg.

Well, that's unless you are going to be playing in Istanbul with over 50'000 fans against you. When the Swiss team arrived in Istanbul on Monday, they were harassed and had to wait for 2.5 hours till they had passed passport control and received their luggage (the Turks had to wait no more than 20 minutes on their arrival in Geneva). In addition to that, the reception by the fans at the airport and on the way to the airport wasn't exactly warm. To be fair; some stupid fans were booing during the Turkish national anthem on Saturday.

The game started with a bang when the Swiss were awarded and converted a penalty in just the 2nd minute of play. That meant Turkey needed to score four goals to qualify. They went on to score the next three goals to lead 3:1 shortly after half-time. At that point, I was almost giving up. That was until the Swiss got one back in the 84th. That's cool, they're through now, I thought. Not so fast! Turkey scored their fourth of the game. But luckily no more after that, meaning that the Swiss were through.

The funniest part of the game happened after the game was over; all Swiss players quickly ran back into the locker room without even celebrating. And they were followed by the players from Turkey. Obviously, both teams were afraid of being attacked by the fans. The Swiss may also have been afraid of their opponents. Early unconfirmed reports say that some Turkish players attacked and even injured some members of the Swiss delegation.

For me it's now back to the Champions League. On Tuesday I'm going to watch Thun play their final home game against Arsenal. I really hope Thierry Henry is going to play, at least for about 60 minutes. I know they're already qualified and he needs rest, but still...

LOST - Season 1

2005-11-09T22:30:00.000+01:00

What an exciting 25 episodes! I'm usually not the type to follow series, especially not drama. The only shows I watch regulary are sitcoms like Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, King Of Queens, Scrubs, etc. Just stuff where I can sit down for half an hour and laugh at a few good jokes. And though I've watched all Fresh Prince episodes several times, the jokes still crack me up. I like shows where each episode kind of stands on its own. Where if you miss five episodes, you can still enjoy the next one cause there's not a big part of the story you missed.

Well, that was until LOST! Almost every new show that comes to Europe with a lot of hype from the States, I try to watch at least the first episode. Nip/Tuck, Numbe3s, CSI, Six Feet Under, even Desperate Housewives. From all these shows, I only found Six Feet Under to be interesting (dodging the stones from all the CSI fans out there). And even that took some time. And then I missed a few episodes and stopped completely. All the others I barely got through the first episode.

But not LOST! They "had me at hello". Since episode 1, I have made it a point not to make plans on Monday evenings cause of Lost. You may be wondering who makes plans on a Monday evening anyway?! In Switzerland, Monday is the cheap night at the movies. But that's beside the point. I went so far as to not even pick up the phone starting from 30 minutes before the show.

I just always wanted to find out what's going to happen next. And with Lost, there's also the aspect of finding out about the characters' past. So you are kind of following two stories in the same programme - where the guys came from, and where they're heading. Given the choice, obviously the story on the island would be first priority. But I'm for example still quite curious to find out about Kate's past.

Kate is among my favourite characters from the cast. And no, not only cause of her looks (I for example don't like Sharon). Hurley/Hugo is just too funny. Every time he starts saying something ("dude...") I just prepare myself to laugh. He was killing me in the whole "Exodus" thing at the end, just too funny. And Locke is just too interesting, not to like. All the talk of the island testing them, being on a mission and what not makes him my favourite character. Those three and possibly Sawyer, though at the beginning I didn't really like him. Jack is ok, nice to have, the leader and all that, but he's almost too perfect for my liking (at least on the island).

*Possible spoilers coming up, nothing major though.

But of course the main questions after season 1 are how things go with the guys on the raft, what the guys left on the island find under the hatch, who dies next, when Jack and Kate finally get busy (if at all), etc. And of course there's Michelle Rodriguez to look forward to in season 2!

Unfortunately, season 2 isn't being shown here till autumn 2006! I know, that sucks big-time!

He's Got His Ticket

2005-11-04T15:27:00.000+01:00

"Inspired" by Tracy Chapman's "She's Got Her Ticket"

He's got his ticket
I know he gonna use it
I know he going to fly away
No one should try and stop him
Persuade him with their power
He says that his mind is made
Up

...

And he'll fly, fly, fly...

*Image taken from swiss.com

Time to say goodbye...

2005-10-26T23:00:00.000+02:00

In just my second post on this blog, I wrote the following:
"You probably won't find deep stuff about my feelings and fears here. You don't really expect me to get all sentimental and pour out my heart to the whole wide world?"

I think I broke that promise with the very next post about returning home or most definately with the follow-up about fitting in when we do return home. Well, I hope that's the closest I'll ever come to behaving like a politician.

But as far as "pouring my heart out" is concerned, I think my last post took it to a whole different level (for my blog that is). This cannot only be seen by reading the comments (thanks to all of you out there), but also by the reactions from the few people I know personally who know about my blog. To most, the post came across as a combination of depressed, distress call, cry for help, homesick, confused, losing it, etc.

I can assure you that I wasn't anywhere close to jumping off the Petronas towers, lighting myself on fire, locking myself up in a tiny room with a jiko ya makaa* or some other form of suicide. But it's possible that at that point of time, I could have said "No!" if Hugh Hefner had invited me to a party at the playboy mansion.

Indeed 2005 wasn't what I would consider one of the best years of my life. I wasn't really happy with how things were going at work. I work with a small PR agency and one could say that "we haven't been making a lot of noise lately". There's also a certain limit as to "how far up" one can go in a small firm. I definately haven't reached the top, but judging by how things were going, "my upside" was limited.

In October 2004 I went back to school and started studying economics. I chose economics because I believed (and still do) that it is among the directions which offer the most possibilities at a later stage, it's more general than most things and thus leaves many doors open. After focussing on communications for three years including my certificate in PR, I believed I needed to do something a little bit less "specialised".

Though I know all this stuff is important, there were some subjects I just wasn't feeling. Most of all Financial Accounting. Unfortunately, FA happened to be one of the major subjects in first year (together with Maths). I knew I'm week in FA and from the beginning planned on failing those papers. Which I successfully did (if you try to fail and succeed, which have you done?).

But then other subjects started boring me too and I basically stopped going to those classes (the fact that they were either in the morning from 8 - 10 or on Saturday morning also didn't help their case). By the beginning of the second semester, I had pretty much realised that economics wasn't doing it for me and that I feel very comfortable doing the "communications stuff". Needless to say, I didn't do too well in the exams in August. And I for sure wasn't repeating any of that stuff!

To be able to study, I had reduced my workload from 100 to 60%. So there I was in September, no longer a student and with two weekdays to spare. Since there wasn't much to do at work, there was no possibility of me working more. The first two weeks were okay, but then it started becoming too much. The wear and tear on my Xbox, TV, eyes and thumbs was also increasing at an alarming rate. I'm also sure my liver wasn't too pleased that my weekends started on Wednesdays (on the other hand, the beer industry surely didn't mind).

So yesterday I did something that I never imagined I would do without having a few millions sitting in my account - I QUIT MY JOB! Changing jobs is a normal process, so what's the big deal? Well, the thing is, I haven't found something new yet. Yeep, I decided to quit my job knowing very well that I don't have income starting from January 2006.

Obviously my head was against it. As were most of my friends and family. But my heart was all for it. The timing just seemed right. Even though I still get along well with my colleagues and my boss, have a lot of "freedom" and a fairly good salary, I just had the feeling it was time to search for greener pastures (that's the Maasai in me thinking of his cows).

So my boss came back from his holidays and I told him "the news". He couldn't have been more supporting and understanding. He understood why I would want to start afresh and he also understood that there wasn't much the agency could do to convince me to stay. He also agreed that after four years in a small place, it's not a bad idea to look for something bigger. So he was really nice - as he has been during my four years there. And no, my boss doesn't read my blog, so don't think I'm trying to brown nose.

With the two months' notice I have, the free days I have left and my working full-time for the majority of November (colleague is on holiday), I should be finished by early December. I'm currently looking around for something starting from February. In the mean time, I will be going home for Christmas. I haven't booked yet, but I'm planning on being away from six to eight weeks. Though it would be good to have found something by the time I leave for home, I'm not planning on letting my job worries become a distraction while there.

So to get back to the reason for this post; yes, I wasn't really happy with how things went this year. But now I'm happy that I know I want to focus on marketing and communications (both work and study) and most of all that I'll be going home for a longer period.

*For those who don't speak Swahili: Same effect as locking yourself up in a tiny garage and starting the engine of the car, possibly with a pipe running from the exhaust into the car.

East or West, Home is Best!

2005-10-18T10:50:00.000+02:00

Everyone who is not in their place of birth or the place they call "home", sometimes has those moments when you REALLY miss home. Those moments when you consider leaving your current life behind and returning home - just to be at home. Until common sense kicks in sooner or later and you realise that for the moment, you are better off where you are.

These feelings can be brought up by the weirdest things. This Sunday I was on the phone with my grandmother (in Loitokitok) when I heard a dog barking in the background. Those who know me will confirm that I'm not very fond of dogs (to be honest, I'm scared of them). But just the sound of the dog barking made me want to go home. Thinking of the relaxed atmosphere of shagz, no stress, no heavy traffic, nature all around, the dust, the watchdogs strolling around, etc. just made me want to be there.

Obviously there are also far more serious things that make one want to go home. That feeling of missing out on so much; weddings, cousins being born, spending time with your ageing grandparents, etc. Though I know I'm better off here for now, I also know that I'll never be able to recover what I'm missing out on. And even if I somehow end up experiencing all these things at a later stage, I still won't be able to recover what I've missed while away (in my case, 14 years and counting...)

And of course sometimes it's life out here that makes us want to go back home. It can be the fact that winter is around the corner, seeing how much you've paid for taxes that year (don't convert to Kenya money!) or not being happy with school or work. When going through difficult times these sides, we often find ourselves asking whether it's worth all the trouble. And if it's worth it, for how long?

Jay-Z, Henry and me?

2005-10-12T12:05:00.000+02:00

Currently hearing and reading about the talk of Jay-Z wanting to buy a stake of Arsenal FC. Apparently, Jay-Z initially wanted to invest in Ch€£$ki but got turned down by that rich guy from Russia (lucky me, wouldn't want Jay-Z to be one of them).

Never having grown up in an area where we had a big team in any sports, I support various teams. In Spain I prefer Barcelona, in Germany it's Bayern Munich and in Switzerland it's tiny FC Aarau.

The thing with me is that I usually identify more with individual players. For example, my liking for Barca is from the Kluivert days (glad Ronaldinho is there today). With Aarau it's different, with them it's just that they are the closest thing I have to a "home team". So, thanks to my main man Thierry Henry, I've over the years become an Arsenal fan - despite their failures in the champions league...

I'm also a huge basketball fan and wish I was in the States so that I could catch games on tv all the time. Before Jordan left the Bulls a final time after the 97-98 season, they played against a young New Jersey Nets team in the first round of the playoffs. I immediately liked that team and they have been my favourite NBA team since.

Guess who is a minority investor in the Nets? Yeep, Mr. Shawn Carter! So we have probably my favourite rapper, as part-owner of my favourite basketball team, considering investing in one of my favourite football teams? Sounds good to me!

Jay-Z is said to find Henry "really cool". I don't know what Henry thinks of Jay-Z, but maybe this would help in convincing him to extend his contract.

In case there's a job opening for a Jay-Z, Thierry Henry, Arsenal and NJ Nets fan, leave me a comment below. Preferably in the communications department.

London City

2005-10-03T23:51:00.000+02:00

I usually try not to post too much personal stuff - personal as in stuff that actually happened to me. But since I (stupidly) found the UBP idea good and did a post on it, I guess I have to do a post on our trip to London. Our delegation from Zurich was MD, RW and myself. CH is currently in a language school in Oxford, so he was already there. Now that's a good number - unlike other people who send close to 100...

Departure from Zurich was at 7.15 pm on Thursday. Since BA were having "issues" with their catering firm, there was no food on the plane. We got vouchers worth 15 Swiss francs to be used anywhere in the airport. That was enough for a healthy big mac menu and a sundae at Ronald's place. One of us three is a really really slow eater (yes, it's me - someone told me that it's because I was the only child for a long time and thus had no siblings to compete with for another piece of meat).

So MD & RW finished much earlier and sat there watching me eat, while trying not to let me see them taking impatient glances at their watches. I gave in and only finished the menu - I had my drink and my sundae as we hurried through the airport and took the shuttle to the farthest terminal. We made it on the plane five minutes before the gate closed.

By the time we were arriving at our hotel at King's Cross, it was something like 10 pm. Since CH was going to be our guide anyway, we decided not to do much that evening. We grabbed a few beers at some Arabic place not to far away where they apparently have belly dancing Thursday evenings. We were quite happy when 11 pm and later on even midnight passed by and they didn't seem to be closing any time soon. I think they eventually closed at 1 pm or something. We then went to the hotel bar and had a few more drinks...

Friday morning MD & RW went for breakfast - without yours truly (wasn't really up to getting up before 9 am). After that we went to see a little bit of London - Big Ben, Westminister, some church I can't remember, some park I can't remember (no, not Hyde park) and of course the changing of the guards at Buckingham palace. The guys were fine with all the walking around and stuff, but me... We all do sports, just with the slight difference that MD & RW (CH as well) need a shower afterwards. I love sports too, but my sports always involve the telly - it's either watching sports or playing sports on my Xbox.

Friday afternoon we did some shopping and were later joined by CH. His ride from Oxford wasn't very pleasant - he lost his wallet on the Oxford tube. Excellent timing - the weekend we come out to visit him, the weekend where we didn't want to think about how much money we are spending. Luckily by the time we were going out for dinner, CH was in a party mood (I'm sure the few beers we had at the hotel didn't hurt).

Friday evening we went for dinner in an Indian restaurant. Can't remember the name of the place. At least it was a proper meal, not like McD's at the airport or our lunch a few hours earlier - burgers at burgershack. The burgers were really good - though for me it was breakfast. After dinner we went clubbing - a place called NYT. The bouncer asked us where we were from and what we were doing in London - and then gave each of us chips with "12" written on them. 12 as in 12£ entrance. Behind him, he had chips with lower numbers. We wondered to ourselves whether we had gotten a lower number had we said we were students from another country... The music was good, HipHop and R&B.

Saturday involved more shopping during the day. Thanks to RW & CH, we found our way around pretty well. To be honest, I don't think I could find my way around London. When I'm in a foreign city for work it's fairly easy - I just take a cab.

We went to the apple store and I finally got a close look at the iPod nano - that thing is just deadly! Other than that, the usual shops: footlocker, niketown, virgin megastore, hmv, etc. Bought a few dvds and a pair of sneakers. Not that things are any cheaper in London. In fact, most things are more expensive than in Switzerland - except when they're on sale.

Saturday evening we went for dinner in a Chinese restaurant. The food tasted good - and of course I can't remember the name of the place. But once again, it was a proper meal compared to our 1 pm breakfast at Burger King. Saturday clubbing was at a place called Cirque, at the London Hippodrome. Entrance was 15£ - that's almost double what one pays in the top places in Zurich.

We didn't find the music to be quite as good as the night before. They had a couple of DJs so some songs were repeated - "whisper song", "drop it like it's hot" and "don't cha" about four times each. And they also had some funny guys perform on stage - I think they had planned for more but they saw that the crowd wasn't feeling those guys and stopped after one song... Another negative were the fights. There seemed to be a new fight breaking out like every 20 minutes.

On Sunday we were woken up by CH's mobile shortly before 10 am - a lady from the bus company calling to tell him that his wallet had been found. Everything was still there; credit card, bank cards, ID and even the cash he had on himself. I don't think I'm the only one who wasn't expecting that... Sunday being our final day, we went to a pub for breakfast - fish and chips at 12.30 pm while watching soccer.

CH left for Oxford, we did some more walking around while getting rid of our last pounds before going to the airport for our 6.50 pm flight. The voucher for food at Heathrow was 5£ - just enough for a sandwich, coke and a small cake at pret à manger... Our flight was 50 mins late but we somehow managed to arrive in Zurich on time, go figure...

The wait for our luggage in Zurich was probably the worst part of the weekend - my luggage came out just in time for me to run through the whole airport and catch my last train at 10.43 pm. Since I live quite a distance from the airport, I wasn't home till 12.30 am - and didn't walk into the office today till after 10...

All in all it was a really enjoyable trip and it was nice to be in a city with about the same population as the entire country of Switzerland (yeep, Switzerland has just slightly over 7 million). Of course London is also nice because it somehow reminds me of Nairobi (I remember another Kenyan blogger mentioning this as well). Next on the line could be Barcelona, Berlin or Paris. I personally prefer Berlin or Paris since I like being places where I speak the language. But MD says Barcelona is really cool. We'll see - next up for me is home over Christmas!

Thanks Mshairi and Guessaurus for your suggestions. Unfortunately we weren't able to check either of them out. Maybe next time...

Sorry about the long post, I just kept writing and writing...

Urgent Business Proposal

2005-09-26T23:25:00.000+02:00

Dear Mr. Murungaru,

It has come to my attention that you have been having some problems with the British authorities. It appears that you are currently a persona non grata in their territory. Word has it that you and your friends have been misbehaving and not keeping your promises.

Well, I have a business proposal which may be of interest to you. As a law-abiding Kenyan citizen and resident of Switzerland (yes, that small country where you and your friends may keep some loose change), I am on fairly good terms with most nations. As far as I am informed, no airline has received a note saying that I am "not, repeat not, acceptable for travel to or through (enter country) and should not be carried there".

I have succeeded in acquiring a visa for the United Kingdom and thus will be travelling to London this Thursday. Rumour has it that you enjoy shopping in this city. Since you are currently not in a position to travel there, maybe I could help you. You may give me your shopping list and I would try and get you the items you need. I understand that you may possibly have basic needs which cannot be fulfilled in Kenya.

For my services, I would request you to talk to some of your friends and have the road from Emali to Loitokitok tarmacked (maybe Mr. Odinga?). Please note that this matter is strictly confidential - so you need not fear any authorities. You can contact me through my family lawyer or by leaving a comment below.

Thanks and kind regards,
Me, myself and I

On a more serious note; anyone with any suggestions of clubs or pubs four guys going to London for some partying from Thursday to Sunday shouldn't miss, please leave a comment below. Thanks!

Killing time

2005-09-19T23:49:00.000+02:00

A few links to help kill time.

Test your reaction time here.
Serve and volley here.
Shoot some rubbish hoops here.
Try your luck with blackjack here.

Going bananas...

2005-09-06T12:18:00.000+02:00

Kenyan citizens will soon get to vote on the new constitution. Yes, the one which in December 2002 was said to be coming within 100 days. The referendum will be held on 21 November 2005. Well, I guess it's a case of "better late than never"...

The ballots will ask: ""Are you for or against the ratification of the proposed new constitution?" The symbol for a "yes" will be a banana, for a "no" it will be an orange.

How did they come up with these symbols?
The banana could have gone something like this:
yes - ndio* - ndizi*
The orange doesn't seem that easy. Maybe whoever was coming up with these symbols was thinking of the president when he came up with orange. Considering that the new constitution gives him more power, a "no" vote would hurt.
no - pain - uchungu* - machungwa*

*Swahili words: ndio = yes; ndizi = banana; uchungu = pain; machungwa = orange.

Picture taken from gettyimages. Photographer: Jack Hollingsworth

Will the real Maasais ...

2005-08-29T23:58:00.000+02:00

Being a Maasai, I'm lucky that most of the people in Europe have heard of us. So when someone asks me about my "roots", the name Maasai usually rings a bell.

In Switzerland there's this lady known as "the white Maasai". Her story is that of a Swiss lady who went to Kenya, fell in love with a Maasai and left her comfortable life in Switerland behind. She wrote a book about her story. She's been back in Switzerland for quite some time now and recently released another book about a visit to her "Maasai roots". And currently there's a movie based on her story showing in theatres (not necessarily near you).

And I have just read this Standard article on a British millionare who is preparing to leave his posh lifestyle behind after being made a Maasai elder. This guy is probably more Maasai than me! I've never solved any inter-tribal clashes that led to my being named Siparo (the brave one). I also have to admit that I've never worn the traditional Maasai attire (and don't call me a fake Maasai :-). And I definitely haven't been chosen a Maasai elder.

I guess I've got some catching up to do...

Bring 'em on!!!

2005-08-25T03:09:00.000+02:00

Here we are three weeks away from the start of another champions league season. For me the football season started about a month ago with the beginning of the Swiss championship and more importantly the Bundesliga shortly thereafter. But the champions league is the serious stuff. And not only cause of the money involved. It's the chance to see the top European clubs with the best football players in the world go against each other.

Compared to the various national championships, the CL is fairly easy to follow. The teams and players involved are in most cases fairly famous. The attention given to the games by the media is very high (obviously due to the great interest by fans). And almost all the games start at 20:45 CET on Tuesday or Wednesday - prime time! After a hard day's work, watching Zidane and Ronaldinho with a few pals and beers is just the right thing.

And once in a while there is a surprise waiting. Whether it's a final between Monaco and Porto (!!) like two years ago or Liverpool's comeback from three goals down last year, it's always enjoyable. From the Swiss perspective, the surprise has already happened. FC Thun on Tuesday qualified for the group stage of the CL with a convincing 3:0 win against Malmö.

So now Thun gets ready to take on the elite - the likes of Real Madrid, AC Milan or ManU. Thun is a small town with 41'000 inhabitants. Theoretically, the big clubs could hold the entire population of Thun in their stadiums. Another big difference is the budget. In Thun, there's no Abramowitsch. Thun has a budget of about 4 million USD. This means the guaranteed money for participation in the CL is going to more than double their budget.

With FC Basel having failed to qualify against Werder Bremen, all eyes in Switzerland are on FC Thun. Everyone is looking forward to at least six games among the best. Thun and it's fans don't really care who they play. The bigger the club, the happier they'll probably be. Bring 'em on!!!

Of national importance...

2005-08-17T00:57:00.000+02:00

I don't really know what to make of the government's admittance that they favoured the home areas of President Kibaki and ministers Raila Odinga and Kiraitu Murungi in the allocation of money for roads. Should they be applauded for coming out straight on this matter? Or should they be criticised for allowing these kind of things to happen despite their promises before coming into power?

In March I did a post on where I prefer spending my time back home, shagz or towo? In that post I talked about the ride from Nairobi to Loitokitok (my shagz) when schools closed. The thing is, the road from Emali to Loitokitok doesn't have tarmac. We've been promised tarmac since 1991 (if not even earlier, my memory only goes that far on this issue). Things were said to be looking really good when NARC came into power. But not because it was a new government. No, the reason was the exact same favourism mentioned in the news article above.

The late Geoffery Parpai was the MP for Kajiado South. Immediately he became cabinet minister, people started talking about how soon we would be getting tarmac (I remember cause I was home at that time). Unfortunately, Mr. Parpai came to pass away a few months later. I don't really know whether we would today have tarmac if he hadn't died. But even today, there still is talk about tarmac coming soon...

Part of me wants the road to stay as dusty, muddy and rough as I remember it from my childhood. But that's coming from someone who uses that road a maximum of two times per year. For the people who have to make that journey more often than I do, I hope that we will soon have smoother rides home.

Kenyan athletics

2005-08-08T22:37:00.000+02:00

With the athletics world championships taking place in Helsinki this week, this is a time when we Kenyans can expect some positive mention of our country. Positive achievements by our fellow citizens to make us proud. Far away from the visa problems of ministers, corruption or the daily fighting in Kenyan politics.

Today, after day three of the championships, we are joint 15th in the medal standings with two bronze medals. Since quite a few medals have been awarded in technical disciplines like the heptathlon or high jump or in the 100m dash, our standings are not to worry. These are disciplines where we usually don't excel.

Our events are usally the long distance races like the 10'000m or "our" steeplechase. But even here, things are not as good as they used to be. Our main opposition traditionally comes from Ethiopia. The Ethiopians swept the women's 10'000m and took the gold and silver in the men's event, ahead of a Kenyan. Our other bronze medal came from the women's 3'000m steeple. The men's steeple has in the past been the only event where one could without a doubt predict the winner to come from Kenya. Let's hope it stays that way.

Our competition for medals is in future not going to only come from Ethiopia. Expect Gulf State countries like Qatar and Kuwait to challenge for medals in years to come. Unfortunately for us Kenyans, most of these athletes were born Kenyan and have only recently defected (and continue to) for money. This is probably one of the few times I agree with our president in his call on the athletes to put patriotism above all considerations, and resist the temptation to change citizenship for financial gain.

I believe that these athletes have a right to do what's right for them and their families. And I partly blame our government for not rewarding our athletes fairly, which makes it easier for them to be lured away by richer nations. Even though at the end of the day we couldn't keep up with the money these countries are throwing at our athletes, our government needs to do more.

At the same time, I'm also convinced that it's possible for these athletes to make "enough" money for them and their families to lead a fairly good life without necessarily having to change nationality. The money they can earn with good results during the normal athletics season and even at the big events like in Helsinki or in the olympics is still very good compared to the average Kenyan back home. But I guess it's safer to go with the Gulf states since with them the money comes even if the results are not the best. I can imagine it being very difficult to say no to a monthly wage of $5'000 and an additional $250'000 in the case of a world or olympic gold medal.

I hope that we can find a way of keeping our athletes happy so that they may continue to represent us the way the likes of Kipchoge Keino, John Ngugi or Moses Kiptanui did. But obviously, those were other times. Times when it was more about pure sports and there was less money involved.

Switzerland

2005-08-01T13:12:00.000+02:00

1. August is the Swiss national holiday. They celebrate that it's on this day in 1291 that the three cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden signed a charter to form the Swiss Confederation. This date and an e-mail I received last week are the reason for this post. A fellow Kenyan wrote to me asking whether I would recommend this country for her graduate studies.

Disclaimer: This post contains the innocent views of the author. The author is aware that situations may vary from one person to another. The author also apologises for any misinformation about legal issues - the author didn't feel like cross-checking his statements :-)

In general, I can't complain about life here. I told this fellow Kenyan that she should be careful with my words since I have been here since I was 12 and have gone through the normal school system, fluently speak one of the four national languages (German) and am now working. The situation is bound to be "more difficult" for someone coming in their 20s and having to stand on your own feet from the beginning.

Negatives
- Language barrier. Either German, French or Italian are necessary. Most universities are either in the German or the French speaking part of the country.
- Permit issues. It's very hard to get a job with "only" a student's visa. And in general, part time jobs are hard to get.
- Cost of living. Yeep, Switzerland is an expensive country. Rent, food, public transport, general shopping, etc. (At the same time, salaries are higher than in neigbouring countries).
- Racism. It's almost everywhere, isn't it? A lot of "negative publicity" for all foreigners due to criminal activity by some people from Ex-Yugoslavia and some African countries. Africans especially active in the drug business. A black guy is "expected" to be doing drugs and a black woman is very easily considered a prostitute or at least "easy to get".
- Cold winters. I wouldn't say the winters are much colder than in your average European country. (I've heard that the winters in Canada are worse).
- Kenyan community. Much smaller than in the UK, States or Canada.
- Travelling. Since Switzerland isn't in the EU and not yet a Schengen state (referendum in September), Kenyan citizens require a visa to go to any European country. The whole process is tiring and pretty much cancels out last minute trips.

Positives
- Public transport. Excellent system with good connections to almost every part of the country. (Fairly expensive though).
- Swiss people. I have found the average Swiss to be very friendly. This goes especially for those with higher education or in the cities.
- Clean and quiet country. (Though sometimes almost too regulated and "too perfect").
- High level of security and good health system. (Though very expensive, especially dentists).
- Standard of living is fairly high with good living and working conditions.

I would highly recommend Switzerland. Just make sure you at least speak German or French. And though this may be a diffcult task, try and have the right papers so that you don't have to live in constant fear of being deported.

Happy Birthday Madiba

2005-07-19T14:45:00.000+02:00

On Monday July 18 Nelson Mandela turned 87. Looking at Mr Mandela's life and his personality, I can't help wishing we had more leaders like him, not only in Kenya but also in the rest of Africa. When I look at all the looting and mismanagement of affairs being carried out by the current Kenyan government, it hurts even more to think of Mr Mandela's accomplishments. When I see how Mugabe is handling the land issue in Zimbabwe, it hurts even more to think of how graciously Mr Mandela handled the sensitive issue of race in South Africa.

Mr Mandela would have had every reason to feel bitter and harm those who had put him behind bars for 18 years. He would have had every reason to try and make as much personal profit from his fame and term as president of SA. He would have had every reason to keep a firm grasp on power and seek a second presidential term. He could have, but he didn't.

This is not to say that Mr Mandela hasn't personally profited from his position. I'm sure he's leading a good life. But unlike most of our African leaders, Mr Mandela has given back much more to the people of his country. I don't have any figures on the number of schools, orphans, hospitals or townships that have in one way or another received assistance from or through him. But what I see is his effort. Especially in the fight against HIV/Aids, Mr Mandela has helped enormously. The awareness he has brought to this epidemic and other African problems can hardly be quantified.

Let us hope that Mr Mandela continues to represent our continent for many more years to come. At the same time, let us hope that very soon we will have other African leaders with a similar track record.

As I write this, Kenyan police are fighting protesters outside parliament in Nairobi. The protests are against the latest draft constitution and the amount of power that will remain with the president. We are three years into the NARC government and we are still waiting for a new constitution - one which president Kibaki had promised within 100 days. My thoughts are with our fellow citizens in Nairobi.

BBC slideshow on Nelson Mandela.
BBC profile on Nelson Mandela.

Mad skills videos

2005-07-09T16:40:00.000+02:00

Check out this video of LeBron James catching fire from very very far during a practice session. Since I never got the chance to watch Jordan live, I hope that at least one day I can catch LeBron.

Also check out this video with moves from Zidane and Ronaldinho. Zidane's career is almost over, but thanks to Ronaldinho (and many others) soccer still has a lot to offer.

Both videos are from Koreus.com

Federer Express

2005-07-03T23:49:00.000+02:00

Living in Switzerland, it's kind of hard to get away from all the talk on Roger Federer. Obviously all of his big matches are televised live. And in tennis it doesn't get any bigger than the Wimbledon's finals. You know a tournament is huge when it's officially called "The Championships". Even one of those aliens Tom Cruise is sure are among us, will realise the importance of Wimbledon when he/she/it reads those two words.

After watching Federer win his third consecutive Wimbledon title today, I can't help but feel sorry for his opponent Andy Roddick. Most of it is probably because Roddick comes across as someone who would be cool to hang out with. Watching him giving his all and having Federer simply return everything he was throwing at him made me feel sorry for him. If Federer was dominating Hewitt that way, I would have absolutely enjoyed that much. I had a blast watching Federer demolish Hewitt 6-0, 7-6, 6-0 at last year's US Open final.

Though I clearly wanted Federer to win, I was sometimes rooting for Roddick. I didn't want him to win the match, but at least be able to compete. But since Federer decided to bring his best tennis, Roddick had little chance. In the first set, Federer was just in the zone. He simply could do no wrong. In the second set Roddick at least pushed him into a tie-break. By the third set, I think most of Roddick had given up. He once again had to say to himself that Federer was almost unbeatable.

Roddick and other current good tour players are in the unfortunate situation of playing tennis at the wrong time. Kind of like NBA players during the Jordan era or Tour de France participants during the last six years (though I do have my doubts with Lance and cycling in general).

In case you were wondering:
a) Tom Cruise and I "are currently not on speaking terms". I never thought I could hate someone who starred in two of my all-time favourite movies (Jerry Maguire and A Few Good Men) this much. I can deal with his scientology stuff (I just don't pay attention). But his relationship with Katie Holmes is too much for me to handle. I used to consider her to be the nicest and among the most beautiful actresses. But now she's engaged to someone who's posters used to hang on her wall as a teenager and has begun talking about scientology too. Free Katie!

b) I can't stand Lleyton Hewitt! I have nothing against playing with emotions and once in a while letting yourself go. But this guy is too much! Sometimes I find myself shouting at him on tv after one of those "shout c'mon / do a fist pump / stare at opponent, crowd or friends" things of his. No wonder other players hate him so much.

Power failure

2005-06-22T23:55:00.000+02:00

Hailing from Kenya, power cuts are nothing new to me. But since I came to Switzerland in 1991, I can't remember a single power failure. The only time one doesn't have power here is when there is some maintenance to be done. Then every household receives a letter about three weeks before the date, informing you of the reason for the power interruption and the exact timing. This work is usually done between 9 and 11 in the morning or 2 to 4 in the afternoon so as not to interrrupt with breakfast, lunch or the evening. I know what some of you are thinking, but I am honestly not making this up!

Well, today there was a power failure in the whole of Switzerland. Nobody's perfect one could say. Well, it wasn't a power failure in households or offices. It happened to the Swiss railway system. The Swiss railway (SBB) is considered to be among the best in the world. Being Swiss, they are obviously very punctual. Well, not today.

At about 18:00 local time, the entire Swiss railway network collapsed due to a power failure. Obviously rush hour is the worst time for something like this to happen. An estimated 100'000 people were stranded for three hours or more. Unfortunately for me, I was one of the 100'000. It was the most serious breakdown in Swiss railway history.

I was on my way home from work, only about ten minutes from my station. Today those ten minutes turned out to be 150 minutes. Yeep, I was stranded for 2.5 hours. To make matters worse, the air conditioning obviously wasn't working. Personally I didn't really mind the waiting, it was the heat. Today we had temperatures of about 30 degrees celsius. You can imagine how hot it got in there before people were allowed to get off the train.

Those who were stranded at the big stations like Zurich, Geneva or Berne were "luckier" than us on the trains. Not only because they weren't stuck in hot trains, confined to a seat. As soon as the SBB guys realised how serious the problem was, they organised buses to transport the passengers and water for those who had to wait. Those like us who were caught in the middle of our journey had no water and had to watch packed buses pass by (or going to a different destination) while trying to get a lift (which is how I got home).

But you know what, I don't really think I can complain. Such things can happen anytime and I should be glad that I was "only" on my way home and didn't have a flight to catch or something. And the Swiss system really is usually very reliable and takes you to almost any part of the country. The prices may be relatively high, but I guess quality has its price.

Every year, SBB transports about 253 million passengers and 58 million tonnes of freight. SBB trains account for 87% of all passenger-km and 90% of tonne-km.

Canada GP, June 05

2005-06-12T23:35:00.000+02:00

Though I know Button and Schumi have little fuel, I'm still excited that they are in the front line.

Someone tell Bernie Ecclestone that I really love team radio. Great idea! Well, except when Button is talking to the team about problems with the first gear during the warm-up lap.

Excellent start by the two Renaults, from 3rd and 4th straight to 1st and 2nd. Button's start not too good, from 1st to 3rd. Schumi is even worse, from 2nd down to 6th, both McLarens got past him.

68/70 - Villeneuve pits for the first time, new nose for the crowd favourite.

60/70 - Alonso team radio: "I could go much faster." Translated: Tell the boss to tell Fisichella (teammate) to let me pass.

58/70 - Schumi pits. After 12 laps?! That light and still couldn't manage pole?! Hard times for Ferrari...

57/70 - Heidfeld and young Schumi fighting for the title of best German driver. Hard times for Schumi...

55/70 - Button pits. Hey, at least he stayed out longer than Schumi.

48/70 - Klien holding up Alonso. As usual, Alonso shows his Spanish temper when he finally gets by. Unfortunately, it was only the fist (and not the middle finger)

47/70 - Ooh ooh! Sato is parking his car. Only Button left to pick up the first points of the season for BAR (not counting the Imola issue that is :-)

46/70 - This is when the good cars are pitting. Renaults and McLarens come in.

42/70 - Team radio Fisichella: "Alonso is right behind you and going about 1.5 secs per lap faster. You need to push mate." Translated: Move your ass or we're going to "ask" you to let Alonso pass (despite team-order being disallowed).

40/70 - I'm loving this team radio stuff!! Alonso: "I'm much faster! What more do I have to do?!" Team: "Overtake him!"

38/70 - Alonso finally gets by Fisichella. So does Montoya. Same for Button. Ooops, Fisichella has to park his car. Poor guy, so much bad luck since his win to open the season in Melbourne.

36/70 - Button and Schumi in for their 2nd stops. Ooouch, 3-stop strategy. Nooo, that's not desperate.

32/70 - Both Montoya and Raikkonen get past Alonso. As with teammate Fisichella, he has to quit as well.

30/70 - With both Renaults out, things are looking good for a podium finish for Button. Though he does have Schumi chasing him.

27/70 - Heidfeld's engine blows-up while Peter Sauber is live on Swiss TV. His reaction: "Ooh ooh, we don't like it when BMW engines develop problems". (Sauber expected to announce by the end of this month that they'll be using BMW engines from 2006 and possibly even that they're being taken over by BMW)

24/70 - Sato rejoins the race! Way to go dude, you're only 24 laps behind.

23/70 - Well, at least Button is on his way to the podium. Not so fast! Button crashes into the wall, race over. Safety car coming out.

Safety car is a little bit confusing today. The usual hectic with everyone going to the pits now. But also; Is Montoya allowed to rejoin the field anywhere? Shouldn't young Schumi be allowed to get past the SC since he's a lap behind?

19/70 - Safety car leaves the track.

18/70 - Race control: "Black flag for Car 10 for exiting pit lane during red light." Race over for Montoya.

5/70 - Sato definitely out of the race now. Still no points for BAR! Not bad for the team that was 2nd in the championship last season.

Final - Raikkonen wins ahead of Schumi, Barrichello and Sauber driver Massa (Villeneuve finishes 9th). Wow, both Ferraris on the podium. Especially Barrichello after starting 20th (last).

Movie tag

2005-06-01T22:47:00.000+02:00

Akiey tagged me with this movie tag. I'm not really into this kind of stuff and even worse, I don't like having to pass it on - so my apologies to the five bloggers at the end of this post.

It was easier doing this when I told myself it was a kind of follow-up of my favourite movie quotes post :-)

1. Total number of films I own on DVD/video: I own about 25 DVDs. I also have a few videos, but those are mainly old basketball tapes.

2. The last film I bought: Enemy of the State - it was one of those leftovers they put a "Special Editon" sticker on so that it looks like a good buy for the reduced price.

3. The last film I watched:
- On TV: "Bones" with Snoop Dogg and Pam Grier. Nothing I would advise anyone to watch.
- At the theatre: "She Hate Me" from Spike Lee.
- On my computer: "Hotel Rwanda" - 'nuff said!

4. Five films I watch a lot or mean a lot to me:
- "Bad Boys" - Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in a really good "buddy" movie with quite a few nice jokes. Those days I wanted to be them. Come to think of it, I still wouldn't mind being Mike Loowwreey.

- "Remember the Titans" - Denzel teaching young black and white men how they can be successful together. I know the story in movies that are "based on a true story" in the end has nothing to do with the original story, but there still is some truth somewhere.

- "Jerry Maguire" - I'm a huge sports fan and have the feeling the life of a sports agent isn't too bad.
"Shooow meeee theee moooneey!!"

- "A Few Good Men" - I have no explanation for this one. Whenever it's re-run on TV, I just have to watch it. Maybe it's the star-power. Or maybe it's simply Demi Moore in uniform ;-)

- "Tin Cup" - As I said before, I love sports. One of the things I love most about sports are "characters". Guys who have issues but still manage to excel - at least when they get their mind right. In the NBA it's Allen Iverson and Rasheed Wallace, in F1 it's Jacques Villeneuve, etc. In movies it's "Tin Cup".

5. Tag five people and have them put this in their journal. As I said, sorry guys, but I don't want to be the one who ruined it: Memoire, au lait, Prousette, KymmBr and Afromusing.

Milan - Liverpool, Istanbul

2005-05-26T00:45:00.000+02:00

The expert on the Swiss TV channel tonight is Ottmar Hitzfeld. He must be one of the nicest guys in the game. I don't think I could root against him.

Milan playing in white and Liverpool in red. Both teams have never lost a final in their respective colours - well, one streak is going to end today.

1st min: goal for Milan! What a start to such an important game! Not only is this goal good for the game, it's also Maldini who scored. Is there anybody out there who doesn't like the guy?

7th min: The Reds aren't yet quite ready to defend standards...

14th min: Save by Luis Garcia on the line. Yeep, you guessed right, another standard - corner from Seedorf.

26th min: Jaap Stam is one scary dude.

With two excellent passes, Kaka helps Milan get two more goals. I'm really looking forward to the Confederations Cup next month - Kaka and Ronaldinho!

48th min: as if being 3:0 behind isn't enough, Dudek has started with those lapses of his.

50th min: I've decided not to do a post on this game.

60th min: I'm back and the score is now 3:3. The last six minutes have been incredible! With the game not going as I wished, I decided to call my uncle in Loitokitok (he had written me an SMS after the 1:0 telling me he was listening to the game on the radio). If it wasn't for the commentary I was giving him - I don't think I would have believed what I was seeing.

72nd min: I have something against Seedorf. I like him about as much as I like Makelele. Maybe it's from their Real Madrid days. With Seedorf it could also be from those days when he was pouting and messing up things for the Dutch national side.

85th min: Djibril Cissé coming in - even if he doesn't do much in the game, his hair and beard are worth it. Seedorf at the same time going out and being replaced by Serginho - probably orders from Berlusconi himself, Serginho is one of his favourites.

91st min: what's up with these extra-times?! First the FA Cup final and now this. At least the first 90 mins of this one had some action. Rooney was the only guy who was worth watching on Saturday.

110th min: Gattuso is also quite scary - good thing he's out. Rui Costa comes in for him. I'm not sure whether the Portugese players have psychologically recovered from the European Championships.

117th min: after those two saves, I have the feeling Liverpool fans forgive Dudek for all his other mishaps.

120th: good free-kick opportunity and all the Reds can come up with is that?! I'm disappointed! If I'm Gerrard, I take the ball and tell everyone to get out of the way. These are the moments where one makes the step from star to LEGEND.

Anyway, at least we get to see some penalties. Pity Seedorf is out of the game, he's always a pretty good bet to miss a penalty. So is Stam.
1st Milan miss: Serginho is no longer Berlusconi's favourite.
2nd Milan miss: Liverpool fans are loving Dudek.
1st Reds miss: I thought Riise had a strong shot?!
3rd Milan miss: Is that really Dudek?! And of all the people to miss it's Shevchenko. Well, same as two years ago, at least he can say he took the deciding penalty.

Best thing about penalties: shots of fans almost freaking out.
Best thing about championships: players behaving like drunkards and screaming nonsense after their win.
Best thing about Milan's loss: Seedorf and Berlusconi lost.
Worst thing about Milan's loss: So did Maldini.

If I become UEFA or FIFA president one day, I'm not allowing any player to touch or kiss the trophy before it's officially presented to the captain.

Whoever overcomes a 3:0 first-half deficit to win a Champions League final really deserves it!

Justice made in Kenya

2005-05-17T18:20:00.000+02:00

I recently did a post on the land issue between Maasais in Kenya and the British land owners. In that post I mentioned how important it was that we find a way to solve this matter in a peaceful way.

Well, I just read the news about the murder case against a British aristocrat accused of shooting down an undercover warden on his 30'000 hectare farm probably being dropped. The warden wasn't trespassing or anything, he was doing his job - together with other wardens, he was trying to detain some of the aristocrat's employees, whom they had found skinning a dead buffalo.

I'm not saying the accused is guilty - I don't know the details of the case. What I do know is that the warden lost his life in the line of duty - a family lost someone; a son, a brother, maybe even a husband and father. I'm almost certain the warden's family saw this case as an opportunity for justice to be done. But apparently there is "insufficient evidence to proceed" with the case.
I hope that the expected inquiry into the death of the warden is carried out thoroughly.

There'll probably be a lot of people saying that the case was dropped because of the "status" of the accused - him being the grandson of Lord Delamere, one of Kenya's first white settlers. Something similar may also happen in the case of First Lady Lucy Kibaki and the charges being brought up against her by the journalist she slapped when she stormed the Nation offices.

Let's hope that a court ruling in favour of the British aristocrat - who if found guilty would have to face the death sentence - does not lead to any violence from the Maasai or Kenyans in general.

With these two cases in mind and of course not forgetting the Ouko trial, it's hard to have trust in our judicial system. One easily gets the impression that where there are people with power and money involved, all will go to their advantage.

From prison to catwalk

2005-05-10T00:33:00.000+02:00

The whole Lucy Kibaki saga and the ensuing discussion on whether her behaviour was an embarassment to Kenyan women or in fact a good thing, reminded me of an article I had seen a while back - a definite positive for our country.

As part of the government's reform programmes in Kenyan jails, the Miss Langata beauty pageant was launched - all 12 finalists being inmates in Kenya's largest women's prison, Langata.

The positive story here is not the contest itself - it's the rehabilitation programme that was introduced for the winners of the contest. Vera Beauty College were asked to support the contest as experts - they said yes and took it even a step further by offering courses to some of the inmates. The results: 12 women have graduated from the college and three of them even got jobs at the same institute.

This is a wonderful initiative - not only for women prisoners - that gives people who have made mistakes in life a second chance. Such projects do not only help in the resocialisation of the prisoners. Considering the number of Kenyan women who are not able to complete their education, for some it could end up being the opportunity of a lifetime - possibly even better than what they would have achieved had they not gone to prison.

Doesn't everyone deserve a second chance?

Not enough red on the car

2005-05-05T17:20:00.000+02:00

In my recent post on the San Marino GP I wrote how happy I was about my guys from Lucky Strike BAR Honda finally getting their first points of the season and how much I was looking forward to the Barcelona race. Well, I'll take that back!

The FIA today announced that the team had been stripped of their points from Imola and also been banned from this Sunday's Spanish GP and the Monaco GP on the 22nd of May because they apparently broke the rules by using an extra fuel tank to their advantage. Personally I believed the team had nothing to fear - the worst I expected was disqualification from Imola. And although the ban is not as bad as the exclusion the FIA demanded, I still find it too heavy.

The thing is, these FIA rules sometimes leave so much room for interpretation, that one can always find a way of seeing things to one's advantage - which is probably what BAR did. One of the judges in this case admits: "It is not possible to find, on the basis of the evidence, that Lucky Strike BAR Honda deliberately committed fraud".

I openly admit that I'm being biased here... but I wondered to myself, how would the FIA have reacted if the team in question was red in colour. BAR do have red as one of their team colours, but they're not predominantly red. You know, not like - hmmm, I don't know, Ferrari?

It's no secret that the FIA and especially Bernie Ecclestone "value the presence of Ferrari in F1". Fans of Williams and McLaren will agree with me on this one. I remember the Malaysia disqualification of Ferrari in October 1999 - which was later overturned. But I guess then there were bigger chips at stake; thanks to that decision, Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine was able to go to the final race of the season leading the championship - which he eventually lost to McLaren's Mika Hakkinen.

I'm not sure whether this decision can be overturned, but maybe the two-race ban can be reduced to one. The Monaco GP is, in my opinion, one of the worst races to be excluded from. As is usually the case in such situations, the team is "currently examining its options".

A picture I took at a test session in Barcelona.
No Barcelona for us this year...

Summer

2005-05-02T23:57:00.000+02:00

No, not Summer from O.C.

I'm talking about the first proper hot weekend of the year here in Switzerland. You can't imagine how good it felt to go out of the house with shorts and a t-shirt. Especially considering the really severe winter we had.

To make matters worse, there was like one week in March that was fairly warm and had me thinking spring was here. But then April came up and things got ugly. I didn't quite have to look for my gloves again - let's save that for November - but there were a few days when I would zip-up my coat completely. Though the rest of the week won't be as hot as the 28 degrees celsius we had today, I'm sure I can put my winter jacket away.

Not having winters is one of the biggest advantages of Kenya. Yeah, I know, "there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing". Even with the warmest clothes out there, winter still sucks. And no, I don't ski or snowboard.
Yes, thank you, I know I'm in Switzerland.

In fact, I was up in the mountains with some friends for a few days over new year and I did "snowboard". Let me put it this way, this year I'm celebrating Christmas and new year in the usual way - back shagz with a slaughtered goat or cow.

And yes, I know that between winter and summer there's spring, but still...

"summer summer summertime
time to sit back and unwind"
(DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince)

San Marino GP, April 05

2005-04-24T22:58:00.000+02:00

What a race!!!
What a performance by M. Schumacher!! Seriously, from the last few laps of his first stint, all the way till he caught Alonso, it seemed like Schumi was flying. That was some serious driving from the old man!

The last few laps of his first stint were quite normal, every driver pushes when the others pit. But his second stint?! Every single lap I kept expecting the wheels to come off the car. Didn't happen! He kept topping the "fastest lap" time, lap after lap after lap. The tv commentator said something about him doing 17 consecutive laps of 1 min 22 secs, while all the others were doing 1:24s. Great racing!

Kudos to Alonso for being able to hold him off for those final 12 laps. Kind of showed how tough and ready the guy is. After the first 20 laps, his race engineer probably told him something like: "OK Fernando, go easy. Jenson is 10 secs behind you and on the same strategy, so nothing to worry about. Nothing to fear from Ferrari, Rubens is out and Michael isn't even in the top 10. This one's yours...".

After everyone had pitted for the first time: "OK Fernando, Michael's third right now and doing some really fast laps. But don't worry, you've still got Jenson between you guys, and judging from the past few races, the Ferrari won't hold up anyway...". A few laps later: "Hmm, Fernando, hmm, Michael just got past Jenson, but he's still 15 secs behind you and we've only got 20 laps to go. So, hmm, don't worry...". 8 laps later, Alonso radios his team: "Guuys?! Michael's right behind me?!! I thought you said there was nothing to worry about!! I can see his chin on my mirrors...".

Props also to my guys from Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda. Finally finished a race! Great drive from both Jenson (3rd) and Takuma (5th). Pity Jenson got passed so easily by Schumacher, but it was only a matter of time.

Also great to finally see Villeneuve have a good race! I hope all this talk of him being kicked out by Sauber now dies down. I think he showed that he still is a good racer!

Looking forward to Barcelona in two weeks time...

Where to graze?

2005-04-20T20:05:00.000+02:00

The news of Italy returning a 1'700-year old stone obelisk they had looted from Ethiopia got me thinking of a slightly similar situation facing Kenya. As a Maasai, I may be slightly biased on this one, but I had to think of the Maasais in Laikipia who were driven from their ancestral territory by British colonialists in 1904.

All parties seem to agree on the fact that there was a treaty between the British colonialists and the Maasai leaders. The point that is causing problems is the duration of the treaty. The Maasai say it was for a period of 100 years and expired in August of 2004. The Kenyan government, which inherited the treaties at independence in 1963, says the lease was for 999 years and not 100 years.

Personally, I have problems imagining the Maasai elders signing a deal giving up more than one million acres of land for 999 years. The 100 years seem more reasonable to me - anyone can more or less picture 100 years. You know, thinking in terms of the next two or three generations. But 999 years?!

Even if we forget about the whole treaty issue, isn't it clear who's ancestral land we are dealing with? Isn't it obvious whose cattle were grazing in the Rift Valley before the luxury safari lodges were built?

Looking at how things are in Zimbabwe, shouldn't all parties have an interest in solving this matter without more suffering and violence? The white farmers are safe in Kenya, they have been living with the Maasai as neighbours for years without any major problems. And the British seem to be willing to talk. In fact it is the Kenyan government that seems to be opposing the Maasai interests with more force than the British.

My hope is that the involved parties will look at the violent eviction of white settlers in Zimbabwe on one side and the peaceful exchange between Italy and Ethiopia on the other, and be able to find their own path somewhere in between.

Kenya dig it?

2005-04-13T23:57:00.000+02:00

This t-shirt can be ordered here.

Who is to blame?

2005-04-11T20:27:00.000+02:00

Following the news from home in the past few weeks and months - actually since I can remember, got me thinking a little bit; who is to blame for the state of our country? One could obviously expand this question to the whole of Africa, but I'll stick with Kenya.

Who is to blame for the poor health facilities? The high unemployment? The period of time students have to wait to enter university and the education system in general? The state of the roads? The wrangling among politicians? The number of street kids? The spread of Aids, especially considering the number of orphans who have lost both parents to the disease? This and that...

Personally, I think a lot of the problems facing Kenya can be attributed to corruption. Yeah, I know, it's always easy to say corruption is the root of the problem. A few days ago I was talking to some Swiss people about Kenya and one of them said something like: "You know, corruption is everywhere, even here in Switzerland. It's just that here the ordinary person is still able to get by".

One could say that in Europe and the States, the politcians and business men know how to "be corrupt the right way". They do their thing, but the system still manages to work. In Kenya, the corruption is done so ruthlessly that it totally cripples the country. The people with power are so greedy that they just take - never stopping to consider how the ordinary man with no power will get by. The whole issue of "it's our turn now, the old government had their share" doesn't make matters better.

An example that comes to my mind is that of King Mswati of Swaziland. He recently bought a Maybach for 500'000 US dollars, one of the ten most expensive cars in the world. Two quick facts on Swaziland: two thirds of the population live below the poverty line and the country has the world's highest HIV prevalence rate, of about 39 percent.

So, until our "leaders" stop overfeeding themselves and those close to them, Kenya and other African countries will remain poor. If the people with power don't take the time to stop and consider the not so fortunate, our countries will never move forward and catch up with the rest of the world.

Chelsea - Bayern, London

2005-04-06T23:57:00.000+02:00

In honour of Bayern Munich's Nr. 13 Michael Ballack, 13 quick thoughts on tonight's game.

01. Is Drogba really worth 50 million Euros?
02. The referee was very tall.
03. I missed Mourinho. I can't stand the guy, but at least he's someone to bitch about during such a boring first half.
04. Don't ask me why, but I've never liked Makelele.
05. Do Guerrero and Drogba have the same hair stylist?
06. Shouldn't Sepp Blatter have a veto that allows him to say things like: "Barcelona and Arsenal can't be out, they play exciting football and Adrian really likes Ronaldinho and Henry. Let's kick Chelsea and Eindhoven out of the competition". You know, for the good of the game.
07. Memo to soccer players when you knock heads: "If it's not bleeding after two minutes, it won't be bleeding five minutes later".
08. Who was scoring goals for Bayern before they bought Makaay?
09. After all the goals he's scored, do they still think they overpaid for him?
10. After this game, I can understand why Bayern management aren't giving Zé Roberto and R. Kovac new contracts.
11. I wish Mehmet Scholl's body wasn't so fragile.
12. What's better than hitting the jackpot?
Being adopted by Abramowitsch.
13. Bernie Ecclestone and Abramowitsch sitting next to each other - these two guys probably have more money than most third world countries together.

Choices we DON'T have to make

2005-04-05T16:35:00.000+02:00

01. Arsenal or Man U
02. Standard or Nation
03. BMW or Mercedes
04. Tupac or Biggie
05. Firefox or Internet Explorer
06. Halle Berry or Heidi Klum
07. Coke or Pepsi
08. Leno or Letterman
09. Blue jeans or Black jeans
10. McDonald's or Burger King
11. Sampras or Agassi
12. Christina or Britney
13. Nike or Adidas
14. Capital or Kiss
15. Pele or Maradona
16. Jay-Z or Nas
17. Microsoft or Apple
18. Serena or Venus
19. Shaq or Kobe
20. Condi or Hillary

Schweiz - Zypern, Hardturm

2005-03-30T23:58:00.000+02:00

Verantwortlich für das Blabla wenn das Spiel nicht läuft sind heute wieder mal "Zwerg" Hüppi und "Frisur" Sutter.

Vonlanthen und H. Yakin nicht in der Startaufstellung. Begründung Köbi: "fehlende Matchpraxis". Bin kein grosser Fan von Hakan, also akzeptiere ich das. Köbi hat aber vielleicht auch gedacht: "Wenn ich was verändere und Vonlanthen reinbringe und wir dann verlieren, nehmen mich die Medien auseinander".

Blick zurück auf Cabanas' sensationelles Spiel gegen Frankreich. Blabla von wegen wieder in Form nach Abstecher zu Guingamp und vertrautes Umfeld bei GC und mit Latour ein Trainer, der ihm vertraut.
Interview Ricci und Frisur: Ich könnte glaub nicht ernst bleiben wenn Frisur mir dermassen in den Arsch kriechen würde (wie auch bei Zubi nach dem Frankreich Spiel).
Interview Latour und Frisur: Hat Latour Angst um sein Leben? Der Typ schaut so nervös um sich herum und seine Augen bewegen sich fast mehr als die von Doris Leuthard.

Kommentatoren sind heute Beni und Karl-Heinz Riedle. Gutes Gespann finde ich; Beni für die guten Sprüche ("D'Grieche, die geili Sieche" an der EM immer noch Hammer) und Riedle für die Kompetenz (immer positiv wenn einer sagen kann "Als ich Weltmeister geworden bin..." oder "damals beim Champions League Gewinn war ich...").

Nationalhymnen: Sage nichts zu den Zyprioten, aus Respekt.
Ziegler und Senderos sind niemals so jung wie man sagt! Degen schon.
Spycher: nicht zu ernst Junge!
Frei: nicht so locker Junge!

Bildstörung als die Kamera auf Zloczower geht. Und das ist auch gut so! Will seine Zähne/Kinn/Hals nicht sehen.
Ton und Bild mangelhaft. Qualität am Sonntag zwischen Kamerun und Sudan war besser - und das direkt aus Kamerun.

3. Min - Deutsch mit Beni: Leute aus Zypern heissen neu Zyper und nicht Zyprioten.
5. Min - Zypersche Golie rettet. Sein Trikot ist ein bisschen eng. Und gelb - sag ihm bitte einer, dass er nicht Lance Armstrong ist.
10. Min - Beni: "Der Zypersche Torhüter ist etwas über sein ideales Kampfgewicht". Ich war halt etwas diplomatischer...
13. Min - Mein Lieblingsspieler aus der Schweiz liegt am Boden. Warum Gygax? Ist ganz einfach, spiele auf der Xbox gut mit ihm (mit dem FCZ). Vonlanthen finde ich auch noch easy.
25. Min - Hakan ist zu den Zypern übergetreten um spielen zu können. Der 10er bei den Zypern hat nicht nur die gleiche Nummer sondern auch die gleiche Frisur.
31. Min - Frei und Cabanas treffen beide den Goalie. Beni: "Zum Glück ist er gut gepolstert".
32. Min - Hakan gibt von der Bank aus Anweisungen an die Feldspieler. Also so schlecht spielen sie auch nicht bisher.
39. Min - Tooooor! Schönes Dribbling Cabanas, starker Schuss, Goalie lässt abprallen und Frei schiebt die Kugel ein. Aber Abseits! Der Standard Spruch um diese Zeit, Riedle: "Ein Tor so kurz vor der Halbzeit wäre wichtig."
41. Min - Jüngster EM-Torschützer allerzeiten kommt ins Spiel. Ziegler kackt's glaube ich an, dass er raus muss. Eine Diva wie Hakan wäre sicher direkt in die Kabine.
45. Min - Gelb für Lonfat. Glaub der einzige CH-Spieler, den ich bei einem Verhör nicht identifizieren könnte.
Halbzeit - ca. 2 Sekunden Pfiffe.

Schon wieder diese Basler Versicherung Werbung, die ich immer für eine Cliff Werbung halte. Bin ich der einzige, der diesen Spot nicht checkt?
Frisur und Zwerg haben bei Beni nicht aufgepasst, reden immer wieder von Zyprioten.
Was macht Alain Sutter eigentlich sonst so? Ich meine sonst ausser blöd aussehen und ständig Zubi und Cabanas in den Arsch kriechen.
"De Ricci, de Ricci, de Ricci... d'Zypriote, d'Zypriote... de Zubi, Zubi..."
Oh, da kommt die tolle CS Werbung mit dem Typ, der sein Essen als Fussballspiel kommentiert.
Dann die Sporttip Werbung mit dem Taxi Chauffeur, der auf Murat gewettet hat. Sollte man diese Werbung wirklich immer noch zeigen? Murat ist doch ständig verletzt und nur noch bei irgendwelchen Cervelat Prominenz Anlässen mit seiner kleinen Schwester, äh sorry, mit seiner Freundin zu sehen.

Hakan Yakin am Einlaufen. Hab das Gefühl er ist etwas über sein ideales Kampfgewicht...
2. Halbzeit geht los. CH spielt von links nach rechts. Gutes Omen für die Schweiz, auf der Xbox schiesse ich in dieser Richtung deutlich mehr Tore. Wollte ich nur so mitteilen.
51. Min - Blick auf Köbi, im Hintergrund eine Frau mit langen Haaren beim Dehnen. Hoppla, es ist Hakan. Sorry!
53. Min - Beni: "Jedes Mal wenn Gygax am Ball ist, geht der Ball verloren". Ouch!
57. Min - Schiedsrichterball. Warum kämpfen sie nie um den Ball? Müsste das nicht wie beim Eishockey laufen?
61. Min - Michael Jackson taped seine Finger. Hoppla, schon wieder Hakan. Sorry Haki, keine Absicht dahinter. Er kommt für den Typ, den ich nicht kenne.
65. Min - Hakan kommt einen Ball nicht hinterher. Beni: "Köbi Kuhn hat Yakin eingewechselt und nicht Carl Lewis". Stimmt, war wirklich zu weit.
69. Min - My main man Gygax wird im Strafraum umgehauen. Ich hätte auch keinen Elfer gegeben.
71. Min - Beni: "Hakan Yakin ist langsam. Er ist langsam".
72. Min - Beni: "Er ist einfach ein bisschen langsam. Das kann man nicht wegdiskutieren."
74. Min - Riedle: ".... Zyprianer ...". "Oh, tschuldigung, Zyprioten". Beni denkt: Warum hört hier keiner auf mich?!
76. Min - Ein gewisser Spieler verliert den Ball. Beni: "Mangelnde Spielpraxis". Nur so viel, es war nicht Vonlanthen...
84. Min - Weltklasseaktion Vonlanthen! Super Dribbling um zwei Zyp. auszutanzen aber dann zu hoch geschossen (aus meiner Sicht zu egoistisch, hätte es aber wahrscheinlich gleich gemacht).
88. Min - Stark gespielt von Magnin auf der linken Seite, super Flanke und toller Kopfball von Frei: Tooooooor! Zählt!
90. Min - Beni stellt fest, dass die Einwechslung von Magnin untergegangen ist (im Gegensatz zu der von Idiot und Vonlanthen).
92. Min - Böses Foul an Vonlanthen - vom Goalie, der gerne isst. Rote Karte!
94. Min - Sieg Schweiz!!

Zum Abschluss ein komischer Gruss zwischen Magnin und Müller - fast mein Highlight des Abends.
Wer sagt Köbi, dass sie das Spiel gewonnen haben? Verglichen mit jetzt, war er nach dem Frankreich Spiel glücklicher als ich kurz vor einem Date mit Halle Berry und Heidi Klum.

When we return home

2005-03-27T14:05:00.000+02:00

I always wonder to myself what role we can play when we return home. How we can help build our country. How we can make good use of the education and experiences we have gained in Europe/States or wherever we may be.

Obviously it all depends on where we will be in life when we finally decide to go back and exactly what we have in mind. Some people want to go back as soon as they've finished studying. They want to go and make their way in the Nairobi of today, be it as politicians, diplomats, business, this and that...

As I posted last week, I'm planning on returning to Loitokitok. I definately have no plans of going into politics! I would like to concentrate on business and farming. Unfortunately I don't yet have a business plan, in fact I have no clue what kind of business I could do. As a kid I always dreamed of building a matatu franchise - but you know, that was just a kid being influenced by the loud music, reckless driving and cool touts. The farming part is easier, follow in the tradition of the family - livestock, maize, beans and some coffee.

The question of helping build our country is even more difficult. I can only speak for myself and what I think is possible for me - help develop Loitokitok. Though this requires a lot of money, to me the most important are health and education. If we make good use of the money and especially the contacts we make out here, we can do some little things in our small communities. It can be something like building a small nursery school, organising some old computer hardware from these sides, securing finances for short-term health programmes, this and that...

While we are out here we can help our relatives by sending money home (thank God for Western Union). However small the difference is we make in our little communities, it helps in building our nation and giving back to those who haven't been as lucky as we have.

Shagz or towo?

2005-03-20T23:15:00.000+01:00

I often find myself imagining how things will be when I finally return home. I have no clue when I'll be going and I obviously can't say where I'll be in life when that day comes. The only thing I can say for sure is where I'm going.

Shagz or towo? Loitokitok or Nai? For some people this is a difficult question to answer. Not for me! I'm going home - to Loitokitok!

There's no place on earth I love more than LTK. I remember when I was a kid in primo in Nai - I spent the whole term looking forward to going shagz for hols. My grandma used to come to pick me up. Immediately we closed school, the next day I was on my way.

The whole shagz experience started with getting a bus or mat from Nyamakima. My mom would drop us at about 7 am - if we were lucky and the mat jazad quickly (which was mostly the case during hols), we would be leaving by about 8. Other funny times we could wait there mpaka lunch time.

The ride itself was another story. Well, mpaka Emali it was nothing special (except for the overspeeding Akamba, Tawfiq and Coast buses). Emali is where the fun started - no tarmac! Yani that road was/is terrible! If it was dry, guys would fika completely covered with dust. Coz of the bad road, we had useless buses with holes everywhere which let in the dust. If it had rained, then you would just keep your fingers crossed you don't get stuck, otherwise the stretch from Emali would take more than the usual 3 - 4 hrs. We've been promised tarmac since I can remember! Seriously, some powerful guys in Nai have something against us. At least they put maram on the really bad stretches - but only when there was a high-ranking official coming for some harambee.

Shagz was so much different than Nai. Till the early 90s we didn't have electricity, so there was no business of watching tv. I would spend the whole day playing with my buddies or going into the woods to kill birds or eat some funny leaves or "fruits". In the evening my great-grandmother would tell me stories. She always made a small piece of meat - nyama ya kuchemshwa. When supper was ready, I would go the main house - for more meat (mimi ni Maasai...), but this time nyama choma. My grandpa would make nyamchom every day. Obviously I hardly ever finished my food - not after eating grandma's cake and all that meat. Kuteremsha chakula I would drink milk - of course not KCC - maziwa milked fresh from the cows at about 6.30 pm.

I know things will be different when I go back. But however different things will be, Loitokitok will still be that special place for me.

Some of my favourite movie quotes

2005-03-19T18:15:00.000+01:00

BAD BOYS
*sing* "Bad boys, bad boys what ya gonna do? What ya gonna do when we come for you?"

REMEMBER THE TITANS
Coach Boone: Gary, if you want to play on this football team, you answer me when I ask you who's your Daddy. Who's your Daddy, Gary? Who's your Daddy?
Bertier: (softly) You

JERRY MAGUIRE
"SHOW! ME! THE! MONEY!"

WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP
"Oh man shut your anorexic malnutrition tapeworm-having overdose on Dick Gregory Bohemian diet-drinking ass up. Leave me alone!"

LAST BOY SCOUT
Joe Hallenbeck: Where are you going?
Jimmy Dix: To the bathroom, okay. You wanna come? The doc said I shouldn't lift anything heavy.

MALCOLM X
A man curses because he doesn't have the words to say what's on his mind.

A FEW GOOD MEN
Col. Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I think I'm entitled.
Col. Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I want the truth.
Col. Jessep: YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!

TRAINING DAY
"To protect the sheep you gotta catch the wolf, and it takes a wolf to catch a wolf."
"They build jails 'cause of me."

RUSH HOUR
"Please tell me you speak English. I'm Detective Carter. Do you speak any English? DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH?"

MEN IN BLACK
"Well, first I was gonna pop this guy hanging from the street light, and I realized, y'know, he's just working out. I mean, how would I feel if somebody come runnin' in the gym and bust me in my ass while I'm on the treadmill? Then I saw this snarling beast guy, and I noticed he had a tissue in his hand, and I'm realizing, y'know, he's not snarling, he's sneezing. Y'know, ain't no real threat there. Then I saw little Tiffany. I'm thinking, y'know, eight-year-old white girl, middle of the ghetto, bunch of monsters, this time of night with quantum physics books? She about to start some shit, Zed. She's about eight years old, those books are WAY too advanced for her. If you ask me, I'd say she's up to something. And to be honest, I'd appreciate it if you eased up off my back about it."

10 topics I'm tired of

2005-03-16T21:33:00.000+01:00

01. Michael Jackson hearing
02. Beef between rappers
03. Enron / Worldcom / Martha Stewart
04. Music industry vs. P2P
05. Shaq vs. Kobe
06. Who's the next Jordan?
07. Tiger Woods in a slump?
08. Five-second delay
09. Kamlesh Pattni
10. Balco / Steroids / Barry Bonds

10 Themen, die ich satt habe

2005-03-15T22:50:00.001+01:00

01. Hochpreisinsel Schweiz
02. Scheininvalide / Asylbetrug
03. Lohn der ehemaligen Swissair Piloten
04. Managerlöhne / Abgangsentschädigungen
05. Zürcher SVP vs. Berner SVP
06. Filippo Leutenegger vs. FDP
07. Swiss Ski / Spuckaffäre
08. Hakan Yakin / Servette / Marc Roger
09. Musicstar / Big Brother / Die Burg
10. Chris von Rohr / Thomas Borer / Uriella

Are we doing time in Shawshank?

2005-03-13T15:37:00.000+01:00

The issue of people asking me whether I can imagine returning home kind of reminds me of The Shawshank Redemption starring Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne and Morgan Freeman as "Red". In the movie, the issue of institutionalisation comes up when Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore) is released from prison after 50 years. Red tries to explain to his fellow inmates that Brooks doesn't want to leave Shawshank because he has become institutionalised; all of his friends are there, he plays an important role as the librarian - prison has become home for him. Not long after his release, it becomes clear that Brooks can't cope with life in the real world and ends up committing suicide.

Don't get me wrong on this, I'm not comparing life in the Western world to life in prison. I'm also using the term institutionalisation loosely, simply to make comparisons to the movie. In situations where people have been living in a foreign country for a long time, they eventually get used to life there. In cases where the two worlds in question are very different from each other, adjusting to one or the other isn't always easy. I guess that's why some people have doubts as to whether I will one day return home. What makes matters worse in my case is that "everyday life" is much easier in Switzerland than in Kenya (if I may say it in such simple terms). Here in Switzerland everything is so well organised; buses and trains have a strict timetable, you have to separate your garbage, in many places you can't use the bathroom at late hours, this and that... Everything has it's place and time, you almost just have to be there and the rest will take care of itself, almost like...

When Red is later released from prison, he is faced with the same doubts as Brooks before him. But Red is strong enough and is able to pull through, thanks in part to Andy who had given him hope before escaping prison.

At the end of the day, it's you who makes the choice.
Are you Brooks?
Or are you Red?

I know who I am!

Can you imagine yourself returning home?

2005-03-12T15:26:00.000+01:00

When I meet people here in Switzerland for the first time, the first three questions are usually:
- How long have you been here?
- Do you still go back to visit?
- Can you imagine yourself returning home?

Answer 1: Since 1991.
Answer 2: Yes, every year, preferably over Christmas.
Answer 3: Yes, I'm planning on returning home!!!

There are quite a number of people who don't think I'll be able to go back. They believe that I've gotten too comfortable out here and that I won't be able to deal with life back home. I won't lie that Switzerland and Kenya are worlds apart - especially in terms of tidiness, public transport, comfort level, security, technology, punctuality, this and that...

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I think it's going to be easy. I am well aware that going home once a year for a few weeks is nothing compared to returning home forever and knowing that you are there to stay. Learning to deal with the problems in Kenya on a daily basis will require me to lower some of my expectations and not compare things to the Western world.

What makes me so sure that I'm going back home? I want to go back home! Someone who didn't have to leave for a foreign country after having been born and raised in their home country probably doesn't understand "that feeling". Even if they try to imagine being somewhere else, it's not the same. "That feeling" is with me everywhere I go. No single day passes without me either imagining what my grandparents are doing back home or what I would be doing if I was home.

It won't be tomorrow, it won't be in two years, it probably won't even be in ten years. But trust me, that day is coming!

"Bondeni-hill" entering Loitokitok

2005-03-11T18:42:00.000+01:00

The "bondeni-hill" entering Loitokitok, December 2002.

Morning view of Kilimanjaro from Loitokitok

2005-03-11T18:41:00.000+01:00

Mt. Kilimanjaro photographed from Loitokitok on a beautiful December morning in 2002.

Kilimanjaro sunset from Loitokitok

2005-03-11T18:39:00.001+01:00

Mt. Kilimanjaro photographed from Loitokitok during sunset in December 2002.

Things you're bound to find here

2005-03-11T16:43:00.000+01:00

For years now I've been planning on creating my own homepage. I wanted the hp to tell the world who I am, where I come from, where I am today, what I like, this and that...

But of course, being the lazy guy I am, I never got to doing one. "this and that..." is my shortcut to leaving my mark on the www.

I'm planning on using "t&t..." to put into words whatever is going on in my head at a certain moment. You're likely to find posts about Kenya, Switzerland, basketball, politics, soccer, music, formula 1, movies, tennis, tv programmes, this and that...

The posts will vary in length, seriousness, language, posting frequency, this and that... Most of the posts will probably be in English, but you might run into posts which look like gibberish to you - don't worry, it's either German or Swahili.

Once in a while I may also throw in a photo to illustrate or complement something I am writing about. I reserve the right to post a photo for no apparent reason - it is after all "my blog".

You probably won't find deep stuff about my feelings and fears here. You don't really expect me to get all sentimental and pour out my heart to the whole wide world?

I knew you didn't!

10 reasons for this blog

2005-03-11T14:42:00.000+01:00

01. Coz I can.
02. For those times when there's nothing left to surf.
03. Coz a homepage is more work.
04. Maybe I'll post something the world is waiting to know.
05. Something in the www I can call "my own".
06. Coz I was curious enough to start one.
07. Sometimes I feel like talking to nobody in particular.
08. The many interesting blogs and forums out there.
09. Might be the best use I can make of the internet.
10. Why not?