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FELA KUTI

2010-12-23T21:45:00.001+01:00

REMINDS ME OF THE GOOD OLD DAYS.He was Polygamist, revolutionary and founder of Afrobeat: Fela Kuti was a protest singer like no other. On the eve of a steries of UK commemorations of the Nigerian star's life, Peter Culshaw recalls his memorable encounters with the Black President who had a liking for Handel.t's almost impossible to overstate the impact and importance of Fela Anikulapo (Ransome) Kuti (or just Fela as he's more commonly known) to the global musical village: producer, arranger, musician, political radical, outlaw. He was all that, as well as showman par excellence, inventor of Afro-beat, an unredeemable sexist, and a moody megalomaniac. His death on August 3, 1997 of complications from AIDS deeply affected musicians and fans internationally, as a musical and sociopolitical voice on a par with Bob Marley was silenced. A press release from the United Democratic Front of Nigeria on the occasion of Fela's death noted: "Those who knew you well were insistent that you could never compromise with the evil you had fought all your life. Even though made weak by time and fate, you remained strong in will and never abandoned your goal of a free, democratic, socialist Africa." This is as succinct a summation of Fela's political agenda as one is likely to find.Born in Abeokuta, Nigeria, north of Lagos in 1938, Fela's family was firmly middle class as well as politically active. His father was a pastor (and talented pianist), his mother active in the anti-colonial, anti-military, Nigerian home rule movement. So at an early age, Fela experienced politics and music in a seamless combination. His parents, however, were less interested in his becoming a musician and more interested in his becoming a doctor, so they packed him off to London in 1958 for what they assumed would be a medical education; instead, Fela registered at Trinity College's school of music. Tired of studying European composers, Fela formed his first band, Koola Lobitos, in 1961, and quickly became a fixture on the London club scene. He returned to Nigeria in 1963 and started another version of Koola Lobitos that was more influenced by the James Brown-style singing of Geraldo Pina from Sierra Leone. Combining this with elements of traditional high life and jazz, Fela dubbed this intensely rhythmic hybrid "Afro-beat," partly as critique of African performers whom he felt had turned their backs on their African musical roots in order to emulate current American pop music trends.In 1969, Fela brought Koola Lobitos to Los Angeles to tour and record. They toured America for about eight months using Los Angeles as a home base. It was while in L.A. that Fela hooked up with a friend, Sandra Isidore, who introduced him to the writings and politics of Malcolm X, Eldridge Cleaver (and by extension the Black Panthers), and other proponents of Black nationalism and Afrocentrism. Impressed at what he read, Fela was politically revivified and decided that some changes were in order: first, the name of the band, as Koola Lobitos became Nigeria 70; second, the music would become more politically explicit and critical of the oppression of the powerless worldwide. After a disagreement with an unscrupulous promoter who turned them in to the Immigration and Naturalization Services, Fela and band were charged with working without work permits. Realizing that time was short before they were sent back to Nigeria, they were able to scrape together some money to record some new songs in L.A. What came to be known as the '69 Los Angeles Sessions were remarkable, an indication of a maturing sound and of the raucous, propulsive music that was to mark Fela's career. Afrobeat's combination of blaring horn sections, antiphonal vocals, Fela's quasi-rapping pidgin English, and percolating guitars, all wrapped up in a smoldering groove (in the early days driven by the band's brilliant drummer Tony Allen) that could last nearly an hour, was an intoxicating sound. Once hooked, it was impossible to get enough.Upon returning to Nigeria, Fela founded a communal compound-cum-recording studio and rehearsal space he called the Kalakuta Republic, and a nightclub, the Shrine. It was during this time that he dropped his given middle name of "Ransome" which he said was a slave name, and took the name "Anikulapo" (meaning "he who carries death in his pouch") . Playing constantly and recording at a ferocious pace, Fela and band (who were now called Africa 70) became huge stars in West Africa. His biggest fan base, however, was Nigeria's poor. Because his music addressed issues important to the Nigerian underclass (specifically a military government that profited from political exploitation and disenfranchisement), Fela was more than a simply a pop star; like Bob Marley in Jamaica, he was the voice of Nigeria's have-nots, a cultural rebel. This was something Nigeria's military junta tried to nip in the bud, and from almost the moment he came back to Nigeria up until his death, Fela was hounded, jailed, harassed, and nearly killed by a government determined to silence him. In one of the most egregious acts of violence committed against him, 1,000 Nigerian soldiers attacked his Kalakuta compound in 1977 (the second government-sanctioned attack). Fela suffered a fractured skull as well as other broken bones; his 82-year old mother was thrown from an upstairs window, inflicting injuries that would later prove fatal. The soldiers set fire to the compound and prevented fire fighters from reaching the area. Fela's recording studio, all his master tapes and musical instruments were destroyed.After the Kalakuta tragedy, Fela briefly lived in exile in Ghana, returning to Nigeria in 1978. In 1979 he formed his own political party, MOP (Movement of the People), and at the start of the new decade renamed his band Egypt 80. From 1980-1983, Nigeria was under civilian rule, and it was a relatively peaceful period for Fela, who recorded and toured non-stop. Military rule returned in 1983, and in 1984 Fela was sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of currency smuggling. With help from Amnesty International, he was freed in 1985.As the '80s ended, Fela recorded blistering attacks against Nigeria's corrupt military government, as well as broadsides aimed at Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan (most abrasively on the album Beasts of No Nation). Never what you would call progressive when it came to relationships with women or patriarchy in general (the fact was that he was sexist in the extreme, which is ironic when you consider that his mother was one of Nigeria's early feminists), he was coming around to the struggles faced by African women, but only just barely. Stylistically speaking, Fela's music didn't change much during this time, and much of what he recorded, while good, was not as blistering as some of the amazing music he made in the '70s. Still, when a Fela record appeared, it was always worth a listen. He was unusually quiet in the '90s, which may have had something to do with how ill he was; very little new music appeared, but in as great a series of reissues as the planet has ever seen, the London-based Stern's Africa label re-released some of his long unavailable records (including The '69 Los Angeles Sessions), and the seminal works of this remarkable musician were again filling up CD bins. He never broke big in the U.S. market, and it's hard to imagine him having the same kind of posthumous profile that Marley does, but Fela's 50-something releases offer up plenty of remarkable music, and a musical legacy that lives on in the person of his talented son Femi. Around the turn of the millennium, Universal began remastering and reissuing a goodly portion of Fela's many recordings, finally making some of his most important work widely available to American listeners. ~ John Dougan, All Music Guide PaulMcCartney found himself in Lagos in August 1972. The plan had been to record a new record - the record that became Band on the Run - at somewhere other than Abbey Road and EMI had offered one of its studios in Rio de Janeiro or Peking. Instead, the former Beatle insisted on the Nigerian capital, picturing himself 'lying on the beach all day doing nothing and recording at night'.As he drily noted later, 'it didn't turn out quite like that', what with being held up at knife point, the lepers in the streets, the omnipresent military, the corruption and the lack of security. Still, Lagos had its attractions. Chief among these was the chance to check out Fela Ransome-Kuti's band - 'the best band I've ever seen live...When Fela and his band eventually began to play, after a long, crazy build-up, I just couldn't stop weeping with joy. It was a very moving experience.'Thrilled by his experience, McCartney thought of recording with some of the musicians working with the extraordinary 33-year-old firebrand. When Fela caught wind of the plan he denounced McCartney from the stage of his club and then arrived unannounced at the studio to berate him for 'stealing black man's music'.As McCartney said at the time: 'We were gonna use African musicians, but when we were told we were about to pinch the music we thought, "Well, up to you, we'll do it ourselves." Fela thought we were stealing black African music, the Lagos sound. So I had to say, "Do us a favour, Fela, we do OK. We're all right as it is. We sell a couple of records here and there."'I thought my visit would, if anything, help them, because it would draw attention to Lagos and people would say, "Oh, by the way, what's the music down there like?" and I'd say it was unbelievable. It is unbelievable...it's incredible music down there. I think it will come to the fore.'The incident caused a brief storm in Lagos, and illustrates Fela's fearlessness, his love of controversy and an unerring ability to piss on his own parade. When Motown wanted to set up an African label in the early 1980s, it offered Fela a million-dollar deal. This despite his insistence at the time of recording radio-hostile 60-minute songs, and never playing old material, so that live audiences would never hear his hits.Rikki Stein, one of his then managers, was hugely excited and flew to Lagos to discuss the deal. Stein says that Fela's response was to contact the spirits via his personal magician, Professor Hindu. The spirits refused to let him sign for another two years and Fela further insisted on only leasing his back catalogue. 'Even then, Motown went along with it. But after two years, in April 1985, the very month that Fela was about to sign, the Motown guy got sacked and the deal was off,' says Stein. 'Maybe the spirits knew something.'Certainly, Fela Kuti was the ultimate rebel, a spiritualist , pan-African revolutionary and a prodigious dope smoker and polygamist. Harassed, beaten and tortured by the authorities, he was a dancer, a saxophonist and a composer. He called himself 'Abami Edo', the strange one, the weird one. He dropped the Ransome part of his name - asking 'Do I look like an Englishman?' - and changed his surname to Anikulapo ('one who carries death in the pouch'). He also billed himself as the Black President, the Chief of the Shrine. Seven years after his death, the mysteries surrounding him continue to unravel, and a season of events at the Barbican in London this autumn will celebrate his complex legacy as a new generation of musicians discovers his work.In the 1970s, McCartney wasn't the only superstar to recognise Fela's musical innovations, the way in which he fused high-life and jazz with the rhythms of funk to create 'Afrobeat'. When James Brown toured Nigeria in 1970, bassist William 'Bootsy' Collins recalls, '[Fela] had a club in Lagos, and we came to the club and they were treating us like kings. We were telling them they're the funkiest cats we ever heard in our life. I mean, this is the James Brown band , but we were totally wiped out! That was one trip I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.'Tony Allen, Fela's drummer and a key architect of Afrobeat, claims that Brown sent his arranger, David Mathews, to check him out. 'He watches the movement of my legs and the movement of my hands, and he starts writing down... They picked a lot from Fela when they came to Nigeria. It's like both of them sort of influenced each other. Fela got influenced in America, James Brown got the influence in Africa.'Fela's influence spread in all kinds of directions. Gilberto Gil, now the Minister of Culture in Brazil, says that meeting Fela in Lagos changed his life ('I felt like I was a tree replanted and able to flourish'). Brian Eno once told me that he owned more albums by Fela than by any other artist and that he listened to him 'over and over again'. Indeed, his one musical regret was that he never managed to produce a Fela record he had been known to lie awake at night dreaming of what such a record would sound like. It was another musician, Viv Albertine of the Slits, who first turned me on to Fela in the early Eighties and I too became obsessed with the man, puzzled as to why he wasn't one of the biggest stars in the world.BORN ON 15 OCTOBER, 1938, OLUFELA Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti was the fourth of five children in a middle-class family. His father, the Reverend Israel Ransome-Kuti, was the first president of the Nigerian Union Of Teachers his mother, Funmilayo, was a political activist and feminist, also known as the first woman in Nigeria to drive a car and as the recipient of a Lenin Peace Prize who travelled to Russia and China and met Chairman Mao. His grandfather, an Anglican pastor, who encouraged Fela from an early age, had been one of the first West Africans to have his music commercially recorded, including a series of hymns in Yoruba for EMI's Zonophone label made on a trip to London in 1925.In 1958 Fela himself was sent to London - possibly to study medicine, though he enrolled at Trinity College of Music instead. For the next four years, he studied piano, composition and theory, and made a name on the R&B club scene with his jazz and highlife band, Koola Lobitos. In 1961, he married his first wife Remi, with whom he had a son, Femi. According to JK Braimah, a friend at the time, '[He] was a nice guy, a really beautiful guy. But as square as they come. He didn't smoke cigarettes, let alone grass. He was afraid to fuck! We had to take his prick by hand, hold it and put it in for him, I swear!'In January 1984, when I first met Fela, at the Russell Hotel in Bloomsbury, central London, I asked him which musician he most respected. The answer was unexpected. 'Handel. George Frederick Handel.' I told him my father was a Handel freak and we discussed, amid the dope smoke, Dixit Dominus and the Concerto Grossi.Thinking about it, I decided a comparison wasn't improbable. In Fela's music there is the same mix of solidity and transcendence, and I thought I could detect echoes of the composer in Fela's organ lines. He told me he thought he was writing 'African classical music'.'Western music is Bach, Handel and Schubert - it's good music, cleverly done - as a musician I can see that. Classical music gives musicians a kick. But African music gives everyone a kick. Once you get music with a beat, that is African music.'Jazz was the beginning of rhythm music, which developed into rock and roll. But what the jazz musicians lost because they were so far from their homeland was the intricate rhythms of African music.'Can Europeans play African music, I asked? 'I tell you something. When I was in London 20 years ago the white boys couldn't dance, now they dance quite well.'RETURNING TO LAGOS, FELA WORKED AS A trainee radio producer with Nigerian Broadcasting, and re-formed Koola Lobitos. But it was the band's first trip to the USA in 1969 that saw the sound really change, while Fela began a personal evolution, talking the language of revolution for the first time. Broke, depressed and working as an illegal immigrant now his visa had expired, he met Sandra Smith at one of the band's gigs at New York's Ambassador Hotel. She was a member of the Black Panther Party, the pair became lovers and she turned him on to Eldridge Cleaver and Malcolm X, persuading him to write 'conscious' lyrics.Fela's band, now called Africa 70, came into its own back in Lagos - the hits started coming, Fela coined the term 'Afrobeat' and set up a kind of hippie commune in a large house. Upwards of 100 people lived there - the band, roadies and anyone involved with the nightclub Fela set up, originally called the Afro-Spot and then the Shrine. And Fela became a hero of the underclass. A typical swipe at the ruling elite was found on the song 'Gentleman', on which he ridiculed those who wore western fashions in Africa:'Him put him socks him put him shoes, him put him pants him put him singlet, him put him trouser him put him shirt, him put him tie, him put him coat, him cover over all with him hat him go sweat all over, him go faint right down, him go smell like shit. 'The authorities responded by sending the army to arrest Fela, razing his home almost to the ground. Fela promptly recorded a track titled after the Lagos prison ('Alagbon Close'), spoofing the authorities.When I walked into Fela's hotel room on that cold January afternoon, the self-styled Black President, The One Who Emanates Greatness, Carries Death In His Quiver and Cannot Be Killed By Human Entity was wearing just a pair of red underpants, smoking a cigar-sized spliff and watching a B-movie. The 22-year old Femi was there too along with three wives and Professor Hindu (aka a Ghanaian called Kwaku Addaie).At a show at London's Town and Country Club that week, the Professor, to the bafflement of a sceptical audience, had cut his own tongue, magicked watches and clothes from nowhere and asked for a volunteer from the audience whose throat he seemed to cut before burying him outside the venue in a grave he had dug earlier. Two days later 200 people witnessed the volunteer's disinterment he explained that being buried makes people extremely horny and propositioned the music journalist Vivien Goldman, pleading: 'I have money. Plenty money' and waving a hotel key.'Everything was going against me,' Fela said of Hindu. 'Since I met him four years ago, I've seen so much spiritual light.' Fela said Hindu knows the past and the future, and he used him to talk to his dead mother each night.I had come to know Fela through records such as 'Algabon Close' and 'Zombie'. You could make a case for 1976's most revolutionary record being not 'Anarchy In The UK' but this second, perfectly conceived slice of pop subversion, with its killer groove sounding like no one else, thunderous brass with wonderful trumpet from Lester Bowie and lyrics in pidgin English attacking the mindlessness of the Nigerian military ('Zombie no go turn unless you tell am to turn/Zombie no go think unless you tell to think...').Fela's robotic stage moves had been copied by protesters in riots against the government he was banned from Ghana for being 'liable to cause a breach of the peace' and this song provoked an attack on his new commune, named by Fela the Kalakuta ('Rascal') Republic. Indeed, Fela had declared independence from the repressive Nigerian state. On 18 February 1977, more than 1,000 armed soldiers surrounded the compound, set fire to the generator, and brutalised the occupants. Fela alleged he was dragged by his genitals from the main house, beaten, and only escaped death following the intervention of a commanding officer. Many women were raped and the 78-year-old Funmilayo was thrown through a window. She subsequently died.Fela kept up the polemic, delivering his mother's coffin to the army barracks and writing the song 'Coffin for Head of State' . One of his masterpieces, 'Unknown Soldier', followed an official inquiry that claimed the commune was destroyed by 'an exasperated and unknown soldier'.According to John Collins, who knew Fela in the 1970s and is the author of Fela: Africa's Musical Warrior , published next month: 'In his songs [Fela] went much further than the usual round-up of protest singers such as Bob Dylan, James Brown or Bob Marley. Fela's songs not only protested against various forms of injustice but often fiercely attacked specific agencies and members of the Nigerian government.' His targets even included the US multinational International Telephones and TeleCommunications, on 'International Thief Thief (ITT)'.In 1978, Fela had set up an organisation called Movement For The People and said he wanted to run for president but the authorities kept him off the ballot by various legal stratagems. I asked him, when we met, if he thought he could ever be president of Nigeria. 'Spiritually speaking, every human being has a destiny and a duty to perform,' he said. 'No African has ever seen anything like me - they see me sticking to my guns through all the violence.'In the last military regime I was the only one to speak out against the government and the army. Anything could happen in Nigeria. If they get to the point that everyone trying to rule the place isn't making any headway they might drop their guard and ask, "Fela, do you want to rule us today?"'So what sort of regime would he run?'It would be a cultural and spiritual revolution. Every individual would feel like a president - nothing would obstruct people getting what is due to them.'THE FUMES IN THE ROOM WERE GETTING thick. I was trying not to look at his wives, nor seem that I was deliberately not looking at them. Also in 1978, to mark the anniversary of the pillage of Kalakuta, he married 27 of his dancers simultaneously. Fela claimed this was a traditional Yoruba ceremony, although some priests disputed this, pointing out that no bride prices were paid, and there is a suggestion that some sort of immigration scam was also involved. It was certainly a fabulous publicity stunt, although as DJ Rita Ray, who now runs a Fela-inspired club called Shrine in London, points out, 'Dancers weren't held in high esteem, so his argument was that he was making them respectable. He was wild, but very progressive.'In our meeting, I asked him about the importance of sex. 'Sex is one of the most important things in life, man. It's Christianity and Islam that have made sex immoral. People should be proud to say, "I had a fantastic fuck last night." When a minister in Britain has an affair he loses his job. If a minister in Africa fucks 400 women no one will even notice him, you know.'In songs such as 'Lady' and 'Mattress' the impression he gave was that women were inferior. 'I'm not saying that women should not be political leaders,' he said. 'Women can do what they want - but once she's married in Africa she can't do anything against her husband's will. If a woman doesn't like a man she should find another - that's why polygamy is so fantastic... An African man should not do anything called housework or cooking...' But, Fela, cooking can be fun, I persisted. 'I can cook, I had to as a student in London. But if I have a party and do cooking, people call me a 'Less Man'. I don't see why I should go against the cultural values of my people.'So what is the gay scene like in Lagos? 'I've seen a few boys behave like sissies, you know. I found they had gone to England and been corrupted. If you are gay in Africa no one must know about it - they will stone you to death, man.'Fela claimed Aids was a 'white man's disease', but he caught the virus and died from complications on 2 August, 1997, at the age of 58. At the time we met, 12 of his 27 wives remained - he told me he employed a rota system to keep them satisfied - but following a 27-month jail sentence that began later that year (on a trumped up charge of currency smuggling) he divorced them all. 'Marriage brings jealousy and selfishnessness,' he was quoted as saying. His manager, Rikki Stein, maintains 'sex was where his inspiration came from, and considering the number of great albums he made... In the Eighties, on tour, I witnessed fur-wrapped beauties queuing up for their turn...'.Fela's last song had been called 'C.S.A.S (Condom Scallywag and Scatter )', which described the use of condoms as 'un- African'. To the end, Fela refused to be tested to determine the cause of his weight loss and skin lesions. After much discussion among the family after his death, his brother, Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti, publicly disclosed the cause, paradoxically enabling, as one commentator put it, 'Aids awareness in Nigeria to leave the dark ages'. In that sense, Fela's death helped save a lot of lives, although it's impossible to know how many women he himself put in mortal danger by his wilful denial of his disease. Stein says 'one or two women in Fela's entourage became ill, though I don't know whether it had anything to do with Fela. All the rest are still going strong, as I understand it. They say it was Aids. I say that he died of one beating too many. He was a giant of a man, but a man nevertheless.' It might otherwise be observed that it was a wilful contrariness - the same impulse that always animated Fela - that ultimately killed him.More than a million mourners filled the streets of Lagos. Towards the end of his life, as his energy waned, Fela was less involved with political crusades. Nonetheless, according to Femi Kuti: 'For two days, people didn't do any work in Lagos! This is the first time in the history of Lagos they have not had a complaint of robbery, rape or anything. Because all the robbers, the bad boys, they loved him, you know? Everybody was busy at the funeral.'One irony is that Fela, if anything, is more popular world-wide than when he was alive - his music is sampled by producers like Timbaland (on Missy Elliott's 'Watcha Gonna Do'), while Damon Albarn voted 'Zombie' the 'sexiest ever track' in a recent poll. In fact, the Blur singer is now working in Lagos on a project with Tony Allen.And Femi Kuti carries the family torch with his own band, Positive Force, while another son, Seun - a recent graduate of the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, the 'fame academy' endowed by Paul McCartney - fronts a version of Fela's old group Egypt 80.I spoke to Seun on the day he was supposed to be at his graduation ceremony, where he would have met Sir Paul. Instead, Seun - who's anti-marriage, and pro-dope, rebellion and black consciousness - leapt on a plane to Lagos. He said he had better things to do.Fela Kuti's biographer Michael Veal worried that 'Fela's message of African empowerment became increasingly intertwined with dominant racist stereotypes of the African as vulgar, intoxicated, primitive, hypersexualised and indigenous mystic.'For the 20-year old Seun, his father 'was a gift, an inspiration to Africa there will never be another like him. But things in Nigeria are even worse now, and however hard it is to live up to his legacy, we have to carry on the fight for liberation and consciousness'. Both Positive Force and Egypt 80 will be appearing at the Barbican's Fela Kuti season.Did Fela ever fail himself? It is not likely that he ever felt that way, he told me he was a fatalist. 'Even death doesn't worry me, man. When my mother died it was because she finished her time on earth. I know that when I die I'll see her again, so how can I fear death?''So what is this motherfucking world about? I believe there is a plan.... What I am experiencing today completely vindicates the African religions.... I will do my part... then I'll just go, man. Just go!''Black President', a season of events celebrating the music, art and legacy of Fela Kuti, is at the Barbican Centre, London EC2, 9 September until 24 October. Featured artists include Baaba Maal, Damon Albarn and Femi Kuti with his band Positive Force.For more information on this event, visit www.barbican.org.uk/ felakutiFor the chance to win one of four box-sets, 'The Best of Fela Kuti - Music Is The Weapon', courtesy of Wrasse Records, please visit www.observermusicmonthly.co.uk or send your name, address and contact telephone number on a postcard to OMM/Fela Kuti, Freepost MID20916, Birmingham B26 3QQ**Fela: A life of struggle**1938 Born 15 October in Abeokuta, Nigeria to politically active and middle class family.1958 Sent to London to train as a doctor, but instead enrolled in the Trinity College of Music. Formed Koola Lobitos in 1961.1969 Took Koola Lobitos to Los Angeles. His political zeal was fired when he befriended radical black activists including Angela Davis.1971 Kuti renames his band Afrika 70 (and later Eygpt 80), and, newly politicised, he determines to give voice to Nigeria's underclass.1974 After he enraged the Nigerian establishment, the army almost destroyed Kuti's home while trying to arrest him.1977 In a second government-sanctioned attack, 1,000 soldiers descended on Kuti's compound. He suffered a fractured skull, arm and leg in the onslaught and his 82-year old mother was thrown from an upstairs window. He left for voluntary exile in Ghana.1978 Ghanian authorities deported Kuti back to Lagos. On his arrival he married 27 women simultaneously. Divorcing them in 1986, he said: ' no man has the right to own a women's vagina'.1979 Founded his own political party MOP (Movement of the People)1984 Jailed in Nigeria for five years on what was regarded as sham currency smuggling charges, and released in 1986 after a change of government.1996 Arrested and released on an alleged drug charge.1997 Died of complications from Aids aged 59.

Source:Guardian Uk

My Choice for 2011 Hairstyles

2010-12-23T21:11:00.001+01:00

The black women hairstyles of today are slowly getting merged into the mainstream. This does not mean that overnight, all those tight braids, beans and pearls have vanished and all are in favor of the long tresses. We still have the crazy braids and the broomsticks among them, but as technology grows faster than the hair that it is developed for, and the availability of that technology and the sophisticated machinery for treating different and difficult hair, much of the thick, springy, original hair are making themselves submissive, and get straightened from the root level outwards.Just get a new fresh black hairstyle.

Source:hairstylesimages.com,totalhair.net

THE TRUTH ABOUT CHRISTMAS

2010-12-23T19:49:00.000+01:00

Christmas is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. December 25–Christmas Day–has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.An Ancient HolidayThe middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world. Centuries before the arrival of the man called Jesus, early Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter. Many peoples rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the worst of the winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight.In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated Yule from December 21, the winter solstice, through January. In recognition of the return of the sun, fathers and sons would bring home large logs, which they would set on fire. The people would feast until the log burned out, which could take as many as 12 days. The Norse believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year.The end of December was a perfect time for celebration in most areas of Europe. At that time of year, most cattle were slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter. For many, it was the only time of year when they had a supply of fresh meat. In addition, most wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking.In Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden during the mid-winter holiday. Germans were terrified of Oden, as they believed he made nocturnal flights through the sky to observe his people, and then decide who would prosper or perish. Because of his presence, many people chose to stay inside.SaturnaliaIn Rome, where winters were not as harsh as those in the far north, Saturnalia—a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture—was celebrated. Beginning in the week leading up to the winter solstice and continuing for a full month, Saturnalia was a hedonistic time, when food and drink were plentiful and the normal Roman social order was turned upside down. For a month, slaves would become masters. Peasants were in command of the city. Business and schools were closed so that everyone could join in the fun.Also around the time of the winter solstice, Romans observed Juvenalia, a feast honoring the children of Rome. In addition, members of the upper classes often celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun, on December 25. It was believed that Mithra, an infant god, was born of a rock. For some Romans, Mithra's birthday was the most sacred day of the year.In the early years of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention date for his birth (a fact Puritans later pointed out in order to deny the legitimacy of the celebration). Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. By the end of the eighth century, the celebration of Christmas had spread all the way to Scandinavia. Today, in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals, church leaders increased the chances that Christmas would be popularly embraced, but gave up the ability to dictate how it was celebrated. By the Middle Ages, Christianity had, for the most part, replaced pagan religion. On Christmas, believers attended church, then celebrated raucously in a drunken, carnival-like atmosphere similar to today's Mardi Gras. Each year, a beggar or student would be crowned the "lord of misrule" and eager celebrants played the part of his subjects. The poor would go to the houses of the rich and demand their best food and drink. If owners failed to comply, their visitors would most likely terrorize them with mischief. Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined "debt" to society by entertaining less fortunate citizens.An Outlaw ChristmasIn the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, cancelled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday.The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. In fact, Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America's new constitution. Christmas wasn't declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.Irving Reinvents ChristmasIt wasn't until the 19th century that Americans began to embrace Christmas. Americans re-invented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia. But what about the 1800s peaked American interest in the holiday?The early 19th century was a period of class conflict and turmoil. During this time, unemployment was high and gang rioting by the disenchanted classes often occurred during the Christmas season. In 1828, the New York city council instituted the city's first police force in response to a Christmas riot. This catalyzed certain members of the upper classes to begin to change the way Christmas was celebrated in America.In 1819, best-selling author Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, gent., a series of stories about the celebration of Christmas in an English manor house. The sketches feature a squire who invited the peasants into his home for the holiday. In contrast to the problems faced in American society, the two groups mingled effortlessly. In Irving's mind, Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday bringing groups together across lines of wealth or social status. Irving's fictitious celebrants enjoyed "ancient customs," including the crowning of a Lord of Misrule. Irving's book, however, was not based on any holiday celebration he had attended – in fact, many historians say that Irving's account actually "invented" tradition by implying that it described the true customs of the season.A Christmas CarolAlso around this time, English author Charles Dickens created the classic holiday tale, A Christmas Carol. The story's message-the importance of charity and good will towards all humankind-struck a powerful chord in the United States and England and showed members of Victorian society the benefits of celebrating the holiday.The family was also becoming less disciplined and more sensitive to the emotional needs of children during the early 1800s. Christmas provided families with a day when they could lavish attention-and gifts-on their children without appearing to "spoil" them.As Americans began to embrace Christmas as a perfect family holiday, old customs were unearthed. People looked toward recent immigrants and Catholic and Episcopalian churches to see how the day should be celebrated. In the next 100 years, Americans built a Christmas tradition all their own that included pieces of many other customs, including decorating trees, sending holiday cards, and gift-giving.Although most families quickly bought into the idea that they were celebrating Christmas how it had been done for centuries, Americans had really re-invented a holiday to fill the cultural needs of a growing nation.Christmas FactsEach year, 30-35 million real Christmas trees are sold in the United States alone. There are 21,000 Christmas tree growers in the United States, and trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold.Today, in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.In the Middle Ages, Christmas celebrations were rowdy and raucous—a lot like today's Mardi Gras parties.From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Boston, and law-breakers were fined five shillings.Christmas wasn't a holiday in early America—in fact Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the country's first Christmas under the new constitution.Christmas was declared a federal holiday in the United States on June 26, 1870.The first eggnog made in the United States was consumed in Captain John Smith's 1607 Jamestown settlement.Poinsettia plants are named after Joel R. Poinsett, an American minister to Mexico, who brought the red-and-green plant from Mexico to America in 1828.The Salvation Army has been sending Santa Claus-clad donation collectors into the streets since the 1890s.Rudolph, "the most famous reindeer of all," was the product of Robert L. May's imagination in 1939. The copywriter wrote a poem about the reindeer to help lure customers into the Montgomery Ward department store.Construction workers started the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition in 1931.

Toyin Adekale

2010-12-01T18:33:00.000+01:00

Toyin Adekale began her singing career at the tender age of 15, taking the reggae scene by storm as a writer, producer and performer. Her first single “Lets Make Love” with the Instigators, went straight to No 1 for several weeks. On the back of that success, she gained momentum with the release of her first solo single “Touch A Four Leaf Clover”. Again it took the No. 1 spot in 1983. There was no stopping the then dubbed “African Songstress” as the skies had no limits.

Her skills were not only realised by her adoring fans, because after the success of her third No 1 single “Here I Go Again”, she signed to EMI in 1985. It seemed No.1 was Toyin’s special number as “Gee Baby” followed in suit and a generation was brought to life as they swayed in the dances, demanding her first album, “Love N Leather".

, she gained momentum with the release of her first solo single “Touch A Four Leaf Clover”. Again it took the No. 1 spot in 1983. There was no stopping the then dubbed “African Songstress” as the skies had no limits.

Her skills were not only realised by her adoring fans, because after the success of her third No 1 single “Here I Go Again”, she signed to EMI in 1985. It seemed No.1 was Toyin’s special number as “Gee Baby” followed in suit and a generation was brought to life as they swayed in the dances, demanding her first album, “Love N Leather".

"When" was the first single released on the new Talitha Voices label, followed by "If You Love Me". This self penned song came in 3 styles, the original being an RnB ballad, with the famous Tamlins "Baltimore" re-mix and the rarely heard garage mix all compiled on this CD. This reflects Toyin's rise to all music genres.

Toyin Adekale’s classy interpretation of Lovers Rock and her vocal sound of sultriness has not been matched. Her memorable story-like, fluid lyric style has been a signature in understanding what Lovers Rock is all about. This is typified in her second album “From Me To You”, which she recorded in Jamaica with the famous Steely and Clevie. Singing the truth about life is the essence of what drives Toyin Adekale, and is unmistakable. What you see is what you get with no illusions.

This African Songstress is unstoppable as her current single and DVD “If You Love Me”, taken from her new album “I’ll Be Moving On” has emerged as an eagle in flight, the wings of which will touch all who have a heart.

Sade Aboderin

2010-12-01T18:19:00.003+01:00

BIOGRAPHY
Singer-songwriter Shady Blue is one of the hottest new talents to emerge from the London music scene. Her unique vocal style blends the best of Soul/R&B/Jazz and Afro (her native African sound) forming music that will truly inspire generations. She teams up with various producers and songwriters to create a new unique sound – Soulful Afrocentic Jazz. Shady Blue has been compared to a diverse range of artists, from Anita Baker to Sade Adu, From Jill Scott to Eryka Badu, from Norah Jones to Dido, from Alicia Keys to Rhian Benson to Viviene Green. Shady was born and raised in Nigeria, West Africa to a Nigerian – Yoruba father and bi-racial mother (half Ghanaian and half English) and moved to London as a teenager. During her early years, she was influenced by her father’s music - a renowned Jazz musician/producer in Nigeria & Atlanta. At the tender age of six (6) Shady started singing at her local church, when 8, became lead singer of the church choir. She delivered exceptional three part-harmonies and captured audiences with her soothing voice and wide vocal range (Alto, soprano and tenor). Shady Blue is not only a talented vocalist, but also writes; co-produces and arranges her music with instrumentation alongside producers. With her sultry looks, unique style, infectious charm and dedication, she is destined to become one of the biggest stars emerging from the UK music scene. This talented lady has always been very passionate about music from a very tender age. Her family home was a place of music and has always had a desire to become a great singer and musician. Shady Blue is inspired by artists and bands such as Michael Jackson, Incognito, (Earth, Wind & Fire), Rhian Benson, Fela Kuti, Alicia Keys, Anita Baker, Jill Scott, Eryka Badu, George Benson, Prince, Maxwell, Lisa Lisa, Whitney Houston, Ella Fitzgerald, , Sade Adu, Boyz II Men, Madonna and many more. Shady Blue performs regularly with her 4-piece band. For updates please log on to www.shadyblue.com . Think of Maxwell, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott fused with some Sexiness, Soul, R&B, Jazz, Funk & Afro-Beat – Definition of Shady Blue. Singer-songwriter Shady Blue is one of the hottest new talents to emerge from the London music scene. Her unique vocal style blends the best of Soul/R&B/Jazz and Afro (her native African sound) forming music that will truly inspire a generation. She teams up with various producers and songwriters to create a new unique sound – Afro-centric Soulful Jazz. Shady Blue has been compared to a diverse range of artists, from Anita Baker to Sade Adu, From Jill Scott to Eryka Badu, from Norah Jones to Dido, from Alicia Keys to Rhian Benson to Viviene Green. Shady Blue was nominated for 4 music awards in 2009 & won 3 of them stated below: - The WIEE (Women in Entertainment and Arts Awards) UK 2009: Best Female Singer – Took place in London on the 27th February 2009. - The NYAA (Nigerian Young Achievers Awards)UK 2009: Best Female Music Act – Took place in London on the 20th August 2009 - The BEFFTA (Black Entertainment, Film, Fashion, Television and Arts Awards) UK 2009: Best Female Act (UK-Africa) – Took place in London on the 17th October 2009 - Shady Blue was also Nominated for the AMAs (African Music Awards) UK 2009 in the ‘New UK Artist’ category. hady Blue is not only a talented vocalist, but also writes, co-produces and arranges her music with instrumentation alongside producer Kayo. With her sultry looks, unique style, infectious charm and hard work, she is destined to become one of the biggest stars emerging from the UK music scene. ccomplishments: Shady regularly performs to large audiences, local clubs, musical piers and appears regularly on National TV. Shady Blue exudes confidence and style. • Church Choir at age 6 • Was a member of a 10-piece modern gospel group called Citizen K • Was also a member of an Afro Hip-Hop Group called JJC & 419 Squad • Was the lead singer of her girl group called Quali-tee which she founded • Was a session backing singer for many years and appeared with well known artists on CDUK, Top of the Pops, The Parkinson’s Show… • Performed at the MOBO Awards with Citizen K • Performed at the Nigerian Carnival 2007 (30,000 people) • Performed at well known venues such as the The Royal Albert Hall, The Royal Opera House, The Alexandra Palace, Oceans The Afro Hair & Beauty Show, Afro Hollywood Awards, Various Jazz Bars in London, Various Beauty Pageants, Sound Bar & Café, Support act to well-known artists… Shady also performs with her dancers Deyna aka Bubblez, Shakira aka Shakz.

Self – Awareness

2009-09-19T16:50:00.001+01:00

Self improvement can be seen in clearer terms as connecting to an inner voice or inner self. This means the need to understand the self – and by doing so, gain awareness on all levels – Spiritual, Mental, Emotional and Physical.

This also involves becoming more aware of one’s self and giving of yourself a more clearly defined identity.

Developing increased self awareness means that you are able to see yourself as you really are and this includes the dark side to yourself. By allowing yourself to honestly consider all aspects of yourself, you are able to gain self acceptance which allows for greater growth and further self development.

You function as cause, decide and create for yourself; when as effect, you react, you are not separate from the creator, you reflect the infinite intelligence.

In the book of Genesis, it is written “And God proceeded to create the man in His image, in God’s image he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1: 27).

Though the passage speaks of the male transcendent qualities, indeed the very nature, the ONE, those that are beyond form.

You must look within to understand yourself; you reflect in every detail the characteristics of Omniscience, Omnipotence, and Omnipresence that epitomize the ONE.

Everything that manifests in your outer life is created by the assumptions and beliefs of your inner self.

In most cases, as an individual caught in the loop in which you believe external events and circumstances control your life. You accept the premise mandated by other circumstances and extent of existence. This action forms a seemingly endless cycle until broken by a more powerful belief. You must be in unity with the Universe within.

The stability you seek within yourself is achieved only when you understand the state of consciousness that stimulates inner unity and cooperation, then strive to live within this state.

This is the goal of self-discovery, a state that many claim to have achieved, but few actually have this essential ingredient that propels self to the level of master of love.

Love is here and now – with you. It is the glue that unites and supports all that happens in the world and in the lives of everything being, in that it defines the singularity of purpose and ways of life.

Love is an expression of unity. Most people believe love is an emotion, a feeling. In many ways, this identifies characteristics of this property of the infinite intelligence. But beyond what you experience as love from human state of consciousness, love is a force, an energy field, a vibration, different from the emotion that human consciousness attributes to it. You are the source of love and can tap its enormous power, the power of the Universe, only when your conscious vibration by choice of thoughts, is to love. Love is a pure force, energy directed equally into all thoughts, positive and negative.

Since you are able to gain awareness, you are able to give yourself more choices and also a greater level of control over actions and behaviour. This prevents you from making decision based on automatic reactive behaviour and you are then more able to make specific choices.

Once you have established “choice behaviour”, greater growth can be experienced and a happy, balanced life can be achieved. This gives you a more centered feeling and you are able to feel connected. This can empower you in different ways, connecting to your “inner” self can be achieved through various techniques.

As you do more things and see more things happen, you are inclined to believe more in building a dynamic purpose in your personal success; you must recognize this key. To succeed in life you build a dynamic purpose. Purpose is ideal that you seek.

GOALSETTING

Learn to set goals, they are your life. Take the time to consider your lifetime goals, particularly the six aspects of your life. Write them down, develop an inner image of your goal in each area. You must think seriously about what you want and to accept responsibility for what you get. Do not let previous patterns, of so called failure stop you from trying again what you may have as failure was probably the creator’s way of saying you need more information. So go get it.

These six aspects to focus are:

Spiritual: Set this goal in the form of things you are going to actually read or practice. For example, how many times you intend to read the Bible or Holy book and meditate on the teachings written? How often do you need to pray daily? Remember to reconcile all other goals with your spiritual goals.

Physical: Reconcile your goals by relating them to your commitment to serve the infinite intelligence in its work. These goals can be physical exercises, weight targets, whatever you choose it to be. For instance, you can seek to remain healthy to serve the maker of all life better.

Personal: Do not forget yourself and that you need to achieve personal fulfillment. Does writing, preaching, singing, painting, acting, gardening, dancing, and the like fulfill an inner need for expression? If so, see yourself doing it and taking action. Every time an idea comes to you, relate it to your spiritual aim.

Professional: School, training; you name it, then do it. If you can not take big steps in this or any other direction at least take small steps. Determine how it relates to your spiritual goals.

Financial: What are you trying to achieve? What do you need to live as you would like? Do not be afraid to ask for what you want. Write a clear concise amount of money you tend to acquire, name the time limit for the money for its acquisition, and state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it. Read your written statement aloud three times daily. Once after rising in the morning, once during mid-day and lastly before retiring at night.

women Fashion designers

2008-03-24T18:04:00.000+01:00

LOla Faturoti

According to Liz Welch a writer with New york maga zine Lola Faturoti Hijack Ralph Lauren's audience after his show.Showing her own collection on the street outside Ralph Lauren's showin 2000,which would be a great stunt for any struggling designer determined to get her share of Fashion Week attention. But for Faturoti (pictured), dressed appropriately for her guerrilla action in camouflage and a black hooded sweatshirt, it was also an act of desperation.
In April 2000, the 34-year-old Nigerian designer's dreams came true. After a small show that earned raves in the press, one of her dresses landed in a Barneys window and then in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute. Vogue soothsayer André Leon Talley visited Faturoti's grimy West 29th Street studio and introduced her to advertising guru Peter Arnell. The Arnell Group gave Faturoti $10,000 for her next show in September and also arranged the location -- Nobu -- and the invitations. Swarovski Crystal co-sponsored the show, giving Faturoti $25,000 as well as $10,000 worth of material.
When Faturoti went to Arnell's office to look at the invitation, she recalls, "I asked why Peter Arnell's name wasn't on it. The art designer said, 'Mr. Arnell doesn't lend his name to all of the small projects he sponsors.' " But after the invitations went out, Faturoti says, "André phoned to say I was in trouble. I felt awful. But the only mistake I made was not calling Peter Arnell to say, 'Are you sure you don't want your name on this?' " Faturoti thought the faux pas wasn't fatal -- until she came out after her show to take her bows. "I saw that André and Peter weren't there," she says, "and I burst into tears." Though Faturoti is certain their absence was due to the invitation oversight, Arnell laughs at the notion, explaining, "I don't generally go to fashion shows. I was probably very busy that day." As for Talley, Arnell jests, "I imagine André was just sleeping late." (Talley couldn't be reached for comment, but his assistant insists that "André loves Lola.") The invitation gaffe, Arnell says, "was a miscommunication between her and the art director." He adds, "I'm very happy André and I were able to kick off things for her. She deserves it."
Sure that Arnell was angry, Faturoti counted on Swarovski to fund her next show. "But then there was all this hoopla with Alexander McQueen and Randolph Duke," she sighs. Swarovski co-sponsored or gave materials to all three designers last fall, but Faturoti was the only one who credited the company. Swarovski decided to put its sponsorship program on hold. "We love Lola," says communications manager Nadja Swarovski, "but we certainly didn't commit to her for a second show."
Faturoti heard the news in early January 2000. With three weeks and no money to prepare for her next collection, she decided to take to the streets. "I thought, everyone is coming to Ralph Lauren's show. The least he could do -- without knowing he's doing it -- is let me be a parasite on his back." She raised $4,000, bought material instead of paying rent, and created the thirteen "Medieval princess" dresses her models wore on West Broadway. And she was right about Ralph Lauren. According to his press representative, "Mr. Lauren was not aware of Ms. Faturoti's show and so is unable to comment on it." He'd done enough for her already.

Lola Faturoti is a familiar name in the USA and European fashionindustries but not among Africans or Africa's Fashion Industry. In 2000, Lola created a buzz when she upstaged Ralph Lauren's fashionshow, at New York Fashion Week, with a show of her own right acrossthe street from his show. Her move got her noticed and profiled innumerous top fashion publications including American Vogue, WWD andthe New York Times. Lola's buzz and quality work also helped get one of her designs to be a permanent fixture at New York's MetropolitanMuseum's Costume Institute. Nevertheless, despite all of herpopularity, Lola experienced difficulties typical of an emerging designer such as no financial backing and an inability to fulfil orders. She took a break from running her fashion business, moved to Italy, and designed, for three years, for other reputable designers.In 2005, Lola returned to the States armed with business skills and improved creativity.2007, Lola debuted her new collection. This year, she prepares to show her collection during the upcoming New York Fashion Week. In an interview, Lola talked to LADYBRILLE.com about some of her experiences in the industry and more importantly, she offers her views on what it takes for African designers to gain recognition in the very competitive USA/European fashion industries... started designing in 1993, studied fashion design in London born in London, moved to Nigeria, to Ondo town in Ondo state ,Southern part of Nigeria and returned to London when 17. She moved to New York in the early '90s after studying in London and in New York, she started working at a store called Charivari, one of the biggest stores.Actually then, bigger than Barneys and from there that started basically designing just forherself. Customers where coming and asking what she was wearing.Customers like Diana Ross. Just mention it,and every celebrity came into that place so that was her big exposure.She met Marco. Marco was the manager at Charivari. They became really good friends. Prior to working for Joseph in London. She was worked there before moving the USA and so she had a very good experience. Working for Joseph in London is a huge thing. Moved to The Usa and Marco got me the job and startedworking at Charivari. She was very fashionable, very stylish very trendy.She would design and wear her things and the customers would ask were they could buy what she was wearing. One day vice- president,Barbara Weiser of the store asked if she would like to start designing her own line and display her first collection and see how it goes. She did that and it was May of 1993.Overnight it became a different story from there. Every magazine . New York times, her first article was New York Times and then allthe other magazines came after. Then She did her first show October of that year and that was how she started.In the past she had lots of fashion shows. Since 1993, was basically showing till 1996. In 1997, got tired of fashion,because if do not have an investor in fashion, it is impossible to keep going because money put goes very fast in fashion.She got tired of basically working and not really making any money and always looking for money.Went into doing bridal work. Since 1999, was the end of the millennium, got inspired to do something and from there ,designed very strong couture, 9-11 looks, and exhibited it at theMilk studio in New York. That is one of the city's very popular studios and basically, all the important people came. From there,New York Times did a big story in which they chose 18 of the best designers from the whole world and they asked her if she would like to be a part of it. Theywere nine designers from America and nine from the rest of the world.The nine designers from America were Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, DonnaKaran, basically all the big designers, eight of them .In Europe, thedesigners chosen where Comme Des Garcon, Gaultier, AlexanderMcQueen--nine of the best designers. After all of these and a four page in New York Times where she was opposite Ralph Lauren, her design exhibited in Barney's for two weeks and now it is at the Costume Institutes for one of the best fashions during the millennium. The season after, received sponsorship from Swarovski Crystal for her show. Peter Arnell ,advertising guru and Vogue's Andre Leon Tally were ,instrumental in helping produceher show at Nobu ,Tribeca restaurant in NewYork. She got a good write up from Cathy Horn of New York Times. Then,took a shortbreak and in January/February of 2000 she decided wanted to show again, did not have any clothes, did not have any money,called a friend in Austria and he lent her some money and basically did a very strong look of another strong look and this was inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci. The story was of an African woman who fell in love with a painting by Leonardo Da Vinci and he created the look. The exhibition started with Alek Wek unveiling the pieces which are basically the models and this was the show that she did on the streets in front of Ralph Lauren that everyone was writing about. After the show,moved to Italy. She lived in Italy for three years working for other designers and did some shows in Italy and made lots of contacts. Moved back to the States in 2005 and started designing again last year, inspired by some of them. Also can see the way they were putting the Western fashion and incorporating it into their way of designing and thinkst it is very interesting but she thinks they are just concentrating on Nigeria. If they are, that is very good. If they are concentrating on the Western world and expanding, they have to look for a way of doing that. Some of them are doing it already by incorporating theWestern fabric with the African fabric,thinks it is also the silhouette. The shape. What she really like is the trims. The way they trim the costumes/clothing Nigeria, especially the Ankaras. She finds it inspiring the way they cut into the Ankaras and put the trims. She likes that a lot. But, thinks one thing they need to brush up on are Western shapes.According to Lola,publicity is very important. They need to put their name out there, especially coming from Africa. People need to see what they are doing and it is from there that they could start getting out there. It also depends on who they are trying to target. If they are trying to target the world, for example, then they need to move out of the African/Nigerian thing and move more into the world, basically involving outsiders to help them.If they stay only within the Nigerian or African PR/Sales or whatever,they wil always get to be in that market. But, if they for examplesay, "Okay, I am going to America to find a showroom that will take uson, you know then they have a chance of getting to the outside world."America is kind of like different,Lola opinioned , especially NewYork. If you go to a showroom and they see talent, they will take youon,if they see something different but wearable, they will take them on.I think what African designers in Africa are doing, Africans in the Western world would really like tohave some of those things. For example, my sister lives inWashington DC. She is very fashionable, she is a very smart womanand she wears a lot of Nigerian clothing. She has to send people toNigeria or ask my mom to send her some of these beautiful things. But,if a designer comes here that they know of, I am sure she would rather prefer to buy it over here than having my mom send things to her.Her current upcoming Fall designs has Ankara designs on silk fabrics,also had other African inspireddeisgns. One of the shoots WWD did for a write up on her also has an Ankara top her created but in a Western way. She wants to be anambassador for fashion from Nigeria in the Western World. I have to create not only for my people. I have to think of everyone in thewhole world and how theycan see my work and say, "I could wearthis." My biggest clients for the prints last season were in Japan and Los Angeles. They went for it even though the tops were boubou shaped but in a Western way so they went for it because they can relate.I want the whole world to wear my collection. Mydream right now is to be financially successful.Lola has never showed in Nigeria or anywhere in Africa. I will show in the next five years.I would like to show kids in Nigeria and around the world that if you have a dream and you put a bit of energy. Actually, not a bit of energy.There will be a lotof times that you will be like, "That's it. I am not doing it anymore!" But, if you really believe in yourself and you keep going,you will make it one day. That is what I really want all kids to know.They can be anything they want to be.That isimportant because the universe has given a lot to me in my life andthat is something I would like to do, to give back.

Weinberg on Writing: Useful Resources for Writers 1.

2008-03-20T20:28:00.000+01:00

Weinberg on Writing: Useful Resources for Writers 1.

Weinberg on Writing: Why I Am Now Writing Fiction - 1

2008-03-20T20:14:00.000+01:00

Weinberg on Writing: Why I Am Now Writing Fiction - 1

Poetry

2008-03-11T16:00:00.000+01:00

LIFE
By Dorothy Okpa
I flow in the Ocean of Mercy
I slope from the Ordeal of Mess
Flow and slope i go to and fro
Ocean Got no enemy nor friend
Life is like the flow of the Ocean
Yes,the waters reach all
Life tosses left and right,back and forth.
I live in the World of pain and tribulations
People expect much with no understanding
Wanting a Perfect Being
But the reality is that SOUL is eternal
It goes back HOME to its CREATOR
That is the giver of Life whether We like it or not

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Untitled
by
Dorothy Okpa

Humanity finds it hard to be detached about life
The mind makes attachment to materiality
Love given is thrown back in the face
Haba! how can this mentality be apprehended
I wonder and ponder about it all.
Man-made beauty brings pain
And man has to preen himself in the game of life
What is there to do to keep the sanity
Man`s struggle ends in vanity.
The world is not ours you see
WE are in the beingness of nothingness
SO i wonder why we keep flowing in sea of nothingness
Nothing,absolutely nothing.

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EGUNJE
by
Dorothy Okpa

Chop-i-Chop na you biko!

corruption everywhere

dignity gone with the winds

why can`t Man realize that now

We need to make the best of

KI Ni ode eyin people

Chop-i-chop should not be the order of the day.

This moment we should build a world without tears

a world of respect for others whatever your colour

We need to make that change there is no superman out there

it s you that can make a difference

I say now brother ,sister fight the good fight

Abasi de see Us all o!

You are a mirror to a child

children are replictions of our actions

what legacy do we leave behind?

How do we resolve the issue of Egunje?

It has become as culture as the Ikpe masqurade

Egunje no de pay o!

Future of silverbird tv

2008-01-29T19:25:00.000+01:00

INTERVIEW
The president of silverbird ,GUY MURRAY BRUCE ,a down-to -earth Yenegoa man bold paths in the year. with opportunity-seemingly at every turn of the entertainment industry he gives an expert opinion in an interview held in his office at the Silverbird`s studios.
LEADIAHA:Sir, how did you get started in the entertainment industry?
BRUCE:First of all, the company is 26 years old, I joined the company in 1992 January, it has gone through a phase in the entertainment industry where Silverbird used to bring in foreign Acts from the U.S. in the early eighties. Silverbird was involved in Nightclub then got involved in Beauty Pageants when I joined in the nineties , we were involved also in the beauty pageants industry but now we are in the syndication of Television shows. In 1997,we were granted a radio license which started radio staions,Rhythm93.7 Lagos and we got two more licenses in Port-Harcourt 2000 and 2001 respectively and 2003 we applied for a TV license .We have been running our beauty pageants,2001 we sent delegates to Miss World Pageant to represent this part of the world which was won by Agbani Darego. Ever since then, I think that would probably be the turning point in our business, we got the recognition, we got the support and 2004 we came up with the Cinemas “Silverbird Cinamas” Victoria Island as well as “Silverbird galleria” which is one of its Kind in the country. We have expanded ever since, then in the last five years in the business immensely. The entertainment industry for us is not all about beauty pageants or glamour it has become a sort of fun, entertainment for kids too, education for the kids, the mixture of the cinemas, the pageants recently had a “MISTER NIGERIA” successfully to face the contest for the “ MISTER WORLD “china February 2007.Basically uplifting Young people and saying Heh! We got talents in this country. We are going to take it further to the outside the world. And we are also promoting family values. Parents are shown ways to promote family values, is the only place parents go in the country for two hours and relax. In the past, parents go to social affairs while the kids stay at home to play Nintendo games, but now today they go to the movies together and which create family bond for some people and we are happy to be part of that. We obviously don`t intend to stay where we are, we are expanding, we are building more malls in Abuja and yenegoa. We are doing more TV stations and we also going into serious entertainment, we have gained the rights to various international events like ”WORLD MUSIC AWARDS” as you see right here(shows a catalogue),we already have contributed as you know to “MISS TOURISM INTERNATIONAL”,”MISS ECOWAS”. There are a whole lot we can do .What we do is promoting the country at the same time entertain people.
LEADIAHA:Don`t you think you are more into the higher and middle class your content and events are not for the ordinary man on the street?
BRUCE:What you see in showbiz, people have to idolize an icon, would you idolize an average looking person or someone who is good looking? If it was a beyonce that goes on stage people would look, stare at her, imagine it wasn`t Beyonce, imagine it was someone who does. it does not work like that. Anything goes on stage would effect self probably not? I don`t think so. the person must have a sort of appeal which people in the lower sector can look up to.
LEADIAHA:How often do you surf the web? How do you see this form of the media being utilized, which is not properly used in this part of the world, am wondering how you plan to bring young people unto the internet, get them to upload videos or whatever, to participate one way or the other in your designed programmes through cyber cafés, home and so on. Using this medium people can make good use of this platform. So how are you in your little way to bring radio and television on the internet and the mobile phone?
BRUCE:Well we have just started a deal with jumptv where we would have our local content on the internet and so our videos would be streamed in the internet, you can watch silverbird tv anywhere in the world just like we have our radio stations on jumptv that is the next level we on.
LEADIAHA:What about the mobile phone, especially with mobile social networking happening in the world?
BRUCE:We need 3G to get on board ,we can’t do much about it.
LEADIAHA:What efforts are you making with our local service providers?
BRUCE:NO! NO! the telecom companies must have the 3G band for us to work with, they don`t have it.
LEADIAHA:I thought globacom has got something close to that?
BRUCE:Oh! we would talk to them and till it happens, the infrastructure has to be in place.
LEADIAHA:Basically what is your goal ten years from now, what do you see silverbird becoming?
BRUCE:Waoh! Since the world has become a global village we can not be isolated too, we have to be in all media platforms, we have to go beyond the shores of the country and explore other places globally.
LEADIAHA:What brought about the concept of “danceathon” of Nokia Guinness records?
BRUCE:It is just an event, its just like any other event you think about.
LEADIAHA;How did you plan and organized everything?
BRUCE:It is just an event, you think about and then we had to get Guinness records people involved. We wanted to set a new record .So we wanted to set the longest world records which was 72 hours and to rest for two minutes. We spoke to them, organized it then they came here and monitored us and we set a new world record .it just shows we have a lot of talents in this country.
LEADIAHA:So what is the next plan?
BRUCE:We are going to do another “Danceathon” but this would be the longest for a single person.

LEADIAHA:A single person?
BRUCE:Yes! Not group, the last one we had was for group where we had a lot of people standing and all that.
LEADIAHA:What is the age limit?
BRUCE:There is no age limit. This is just going to be on individual basis.
LEADIAHA:Is there room for an old woman?
BRUCE:No age limit, anybody can come, for the world record is a 100 hours, we want to beat 100hours and that is where we are.
LEADIAHA:Sir, what has been the challenges you have faced operating an entertainment empire in Nigeria, what efforts have you made on your part to build the industry?
BRUCE:The biggest one s the telecommunication industry, mean the telephone lines, the traffic, if you want to have an event, you can’t move, you are in a hurry because you are stuck in traffic, those are state problems, those are the country’s problems. Another would be sponsorship, sponsorship to small companies from the big companies is limited, everybody is chasing to catch on investors which more focus on same companies such as Nigerian Breweries, wapco and so on.
LEADIAHA:Sir, what do you think are ways small business can be encouraged in the entertainment industry, especially tourism players? how do they sell our local resources to people outside Nigeria or get other Africans to come patronize us as Africans, especially tourist areas we have in Nigeria?
BRUCE:First of all, we have natural beaches, right now the coastlines which you know is untapped ,if people were investing in hotels in the shorelines of Nigeria sure make money for us ,what that means is that the guy in Europe can come to Nigeria during the winter, leave in the winter and come for the summertime and face the ocean, softly you create tourism, you are making the local taxi driver happy, the entertainer, the fisherman, you make the guy that sells food in the market happy, business going to boom, the guy that sells transport could help mobility increase, we could generate a lot of funds that way outside the country that would put Nigeria in the world for tourist attraction .Take care of the security, water, electricity and roads, put the hotels there let us start marketing this place as an haven, people should not be running to the Bahamas they should come to Lagos in this country Nigeria will start to see the shorelines doing great. Why is Ghana doing well in Tourism? Because they are planning ahead.
LEADIAHA:Sir,what do you think of Football, since is a form of entertainment?
BRUCE:Football is just an aspect of entertainment.
LEADIAHA:In this part of the world we know how crazy we are about football how can we fulfill that vault to promote team patroticism since we are into Arensnal, Manutd, Chelsea and so on. Don’t you think there is an Hunger to be met? How do we develop our soccer culture, since is an aspect of Entertainment which has not been properly utilized? What set should young people contribute to build the industry?
BRUCE:First of all, let us develop our football leagues here than screaming Arsenal, Chelsea and all that you could be fans but we should have premiership of Local clubs, Glo company have been there in terms of prompting football in the country and if we had such companies promoting local clubs in the country, then focus would be on Nigeria, and all its premiership games, if we had clubs don’t see why there can not be Nigeria’s premierships .
LEADIAHA:How can we do this without waiting on the Government, we as local people?
BRUCE:Well is for the local people to have the initiatives to take their ideas to your big sponsors say to them look I have a great idea want to form a football club is going so much money I plan to do xyz and they buy into it they sponsor it that is how you form a great club and from that you have gate tokens from the stadiums, you have endorsements, potentials from the players. Let’s say you go to yaba ,you get from yaba whatever you want to call it ,you get a celebrity player there, who is endorsed by Pepsi, Coca cola whatever that is how one of the great teams are formed.
LEADIAHA:What advice would you give a young person that wants to be like you, want to come into the industry?
BRUCE:That wants to be like me? Wants to be succeed ?You got to be persistent in whatever you do, got be very patient, good things don’t come overnight ,you take your time, is not an overnight thing, if you want quick business there is 419,of course it has a lifespan like a fly. Flies, fall, they fall around all the place and head no way, but if you want a real business it takes time, takes planning, takes strategy, good marketing and with persistence and determination, hard work you should succeed.
LEADIAHA:Sir, for an ideas person who wants to start a business,how do I convince a bank to loan me money to fund my lofty ideas?
BRUCE:Talking of banks that is a different topic entirely, I have no control , CBN has to deal with those business because is a fact that is a problem that has to be addressed but that is a CBN problem, I only go by what I know, leave the banking issue out. They would not help, banks are know to only help big people, they can only help these big people because of the large collateral they can get.
LEADIAHA:How do i go about on my own ,I can’t rely on a bank ,got no rich relative, whatever?
BRUCE:Put your idea on paper, go to a company, you say could you sponsor this event or this project for me? And take it from there, and you slowly build an empire.
LEADIAHA:So I should start small without the help of a Bank?
BRUCE:Exactly, go with those that already been to the banks,(All laugh)that is very my suggestion for now unless you have large collateral you want to give the banks.
LEADIAHA:On the last note what is the last word to the aspiring young entrepreneur out there?
BRUCE:Determination and hard work, nothing else, you believe in what you do.
LEADIAHA:THank you for granting us your Time.BRUCE:You are welcome.