In Music.

Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion in ‘Time to Say Goodbye’. Andrea is a great vocalist actually GREAT. He sings those kinds of songs you hear in music theaters by great composers like Handel and unfortunately too, in Mexican soaps. (That is by far the only thing I love about the Mexican soaps; the soundtracks).

Can you believe the guy is blind? Of cause that is not surprising considering we do not sing using our eyes but credit to him. Celine Dion on the other hand, I gather, is also a great vocalist who sings blues. I do not do blues but I know the artistes. More of a general knowledge thing. I know the likes of Whitney Houston. In primary school, we dubbed some guy Whitney because of his love for Whitney Houston (It’s been long is she still alive?). A high school friend of mine used to know Celine Dion’s songs by heart. I know she has a song titled ‘The Power of Love’. I doubt whether I have listened to it though. Plus another friend had this Celine song as his Skiza Tune. Weird! Very weird of a guy but you never know. They say such are love stoned. It breaks all rules for a man to listen to Celine, Whitney, Back street boys, Westlife. I mean why listen to such yet the choices are endless

My love for music starts in high school. In lower classes I was not the guy to find singing. In fact I used to hate the music guys in school then. They used to have this attitude of being the ‘elite’ few since they used to sing during parade, attend the festivals and all that crap. They possessed this unique ‘swagg’. Then I used to hate a lot of things and people. I used to hate poetry. It never made sense to me and the older guys misused it to woo girls. I guess I did not fit in the surrounding of kids. But that was to change. Having chosen music as a subject of study in high school and subsequent forced induction into the school choir plus the school band there the love blossomed. We just fell in love. The classical music just blended in. Strange enough, I also did rock. People say the two do not go along. With that music, I have gone places. State House at one point in time because close to a hanging joint. If you asked me then where you could get me during my weekends, ‘Hanging out with Obako (the old man @ State House’) would have been my response. I still want to go places with music.
The person I am today is shaped by the music. Sometimes I think I would have been a completely different person had music not found me. ‘Oh! Music without you I was lost.’ Without you my heart would have stopped beating.
I love Alicia Key’s music. Not so much because of the content, but because she can make me close my eyes when I listen her. She has this ability to transport and transpose me to this virtual world and I love that. Think ‘Unthinkable’. Such a song! What I could do to watch Alicia perform! I mean she has the vocals and the quality of her music! God! Not mentioning the beauty. Alicia Keys sings and sings and sings and I sail away! Andrea sings with his rich vocals and I am lost in my fantasy world.More of some place unexplored. If you have never closed your eyes while listening to music, then I think you are lost. You either do not have taste for music or you listen to the wrong music. (Read Soulja Boy and company). At least my pal would close his eyes and enjoy moments with Celine though again it is wrong to do Celine. Or try ‘The Script’ but whichever the music, I believe if you are into it, you can sail with it.
I had an opportunity to listen to SSQ the other day during the Safaricom Classical Fusion.

Those guys are awesome. Damn! They stole the show from all the other performers save for the great soprano Rhoda Ondeng'. Even the kawa Wainaina with his ‘Daima Kenya’ could not compete. I wonder why Wainaina is so hyped anyway. Then of cause there was the dancing. Music and dance is incompatible. Though I am sure my definition of dance will somewhat differ with yours or be same. Complica0ted body moves do not necessarily make my simple moves nothing. On the contrary, I think I enjoy the music better when I do not concentrate much on the precise steps. That is why Daudi Kabaka’s Twists still rock. I hear my grandmother used to twist like no man’s business. That old lady. Huh! Then she got skills. I think age and labour has stolen the energy from her. Imagine at close to 80 years she still hits the shamba. How hardworking!
I can sing. I am quite good. My tenor was good those days I used to sing in my school choir. I was among the best till my pride drove me away. Actually got me sent away. I was like Lucifer! Good enough to think you are indispensable till another guy showed me otherwise. But anyway they lost massively without my company which makes me great. Not many believe I can sing but try me. I got taste and quality. My desk mate was a usual complainer of my singing. He used to say I was obsessed. Maybe I am.
Music takes people places. Music heals. Music bonds. Music joins two to one. Music turns and changes things. Music makes me fall for it (not anyone, anything or everyone can). Music makes bad people become legends. Think M.J. I still love his music though he turned white and psycho. Music woos. Show me any guy who sings and does not have girls flying all over him. It is all in music.
So choose your taste wisely. Enjoy your music. If you can close your eyes and savor that moment with the artiste, ‘then you will be a man my son’ (or something to that effect). 


“The man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. The motions of his spirit are dull as night, and his affections dark as Erebus. Let no such man be trusted.”
~Shakespeare~

Randomised

Can we pretend that airplanes In the night sky Are like shooting stars
I could really use a wish right now (wish right now, wish right now)……
I have at times sat listened to this song over and over again. I am that type of person whose taste in music never expires. Which is why I still enjoy tracks by Luther Vandross, Andrei Bocelli, Alicia Keys and my now favorite, The Script. I simply love music, I love singing but that is not what I am about to talk about.
Over the recent past I have had several wishes, some of which, due to circumstances have been achieved yet some still remain, Wishes! I have ever wished I was older. Like above 25 because then I believed being old was the thing. The best thing that could happen to anyone. I mean the freedom that one has and the choice to do what one wishes just made me wish I was an older person. I had the brains but not the age.
Sometimes I have wished I could take opportunities the way they come without a lot of questioning. You see, I am a very curious person and like knowing details to the finest. I do ask a lot of questions which sometimes leads to my opportunities to just go away. I wish I could have questioned less and take the chances.
I wish I could write a love poem. Yes a love poem! It’s something everyone else can do. You do not need poetic skills to write down a love poem. Love poetry was my first stage in writing of poems. I did countless love poems here and there. Unfortunately, at one time I decided to change my taste and with that, I burnt my entire close to 60 love poems. So you ask why I would want to do that again. I am a slave of myself. There are some things I cannot do. I do not know why but love poetry is something I wish I could do but I cannot. I try a few lines, crumble the papers and throw them into the bin. I think it has to do with being too much of a ‘seriously? Me? Love poems?’ I am working on that wish maybe one day I will drop a hot one. Watch this space!

PHOBIA

Phobia
I have a phobia for business. A field I have always wished women were the sole people involved. If you have been conned or tricked into buying something that was of no benefit to you later, then you know what I am talking about. Women are people I believe have a heart and rarely involve themselves in dishonest practices but the exception proves the rule. Women are better placed people in the society. Sometimes I wish women controlled and were involved in daily running of businesses. Women are good people. They do not pee by the road side, do not get drunk and sleep on the trenches, do not con people, do not impregnate and deny, do not run in the streets rioting every time.
Nairobi is a weird city. Businesses are run everywhere. Businesses in the stalls are my greatest phobia. There is always the ‘Njeri’ girl in that stall selling Chinese cell phone models. The girl who has a killer smile and makes you hang around the stalls checking out Chinese phones though you have no interest in china phones. And next comes this guy with a classic phone who wants to sell it to you at a throw away price. Sooner or later you discover he sold you mud in the name of a phone. I have witnessed such. Sorry to the victims. This is Nairobi. In the next stall is Kariuki, the guy who will charge you exorbitantly for repairing a broken wire in your phone and trick you that the IC or the cable was spilt so he had to fix his. I have a phobia for businessmen. Can a woman stand up and take charge. Can we see the proper representation in these fields?
The other weekend I was in kikuyu making my third appearance in four years. This is one place I like avoiding like any other place in Central Kenya. I have nothing against Central but with all the Kariukis and Kamaus around, I always feel insecure around. I mean you do not know the guy who will turn up next and what money-minded idea he will come along with. Even with bus fare, I usually find myself conned. The guy packing the bus asks for twice the fare which you end up paying only to realize your seatmate is paying half the amount. You cannot ask for the balance because you boarded the bus on an agreement with the guy packing. The vice versa is also true where you are charged twice the bus fare instead of the amount you agreed with the guy packing. I wonder why the guy packing the bus is not the tout. Is this another strategy to squeeze more from my pocket? I have a phobia for traveling towards Central Kenya. But of cause the girls in central dilute the overall effect. The girls in Central are beautiful. Exception proves the rule.
Kikuyu is a good town on its own. The air is fresh, the climate is cool the weather is okay. I think just like my place back in Kisii, it is a good town. The only problem I had is language barrier. Everyone around was talking in kikuyu. I thought it is a town. Kiswahili would do but how wrong could I be. When I just thought Kenya was heading somewhere.
Anyway I was in kikuyu on business and at least that saved me the trouble with dealing with people assuming I am kikuyu. Do I even look kikuyu? C’mon guys!
I was in the company of many parents and students. A lot of love was in the air. People were hugging and kissing, of cause mothers and daughters. Such are unheard of in male company. It was a good sight should I say. Inspiration talks here and there. If you do not yet know, the season of exams is with us. For a moment I pitied those kids. The Kenyan system of education is hell! A four year course compressed in two hours or so. Not easy and will never be but at least I gather they have general science for those who have a phobia for sciences and alternatives for mathematics for those with nerves of steel and those without. I think sometimes this world is so unfair. Why should these things come after I left? Just like maziwa ya Nyayo disappeared when I joined primary school. I think if Kibaki would have brought back milk to schools inclusive of secondary schools, he would have left a better legacy. Leave the politics of the new constitution legacy. That does not benefit me as an individual. A woman should step up for presidency and bring back milk to schools. But if she is from central Kenya, then she will have to go through Uhuru Kenyatta.
Success to all candidates. Mtapita!

VAMPIRE DIARIES

Sometime ago, I could not publicly declare that I am a ardent follower of the series. Vampire Diaries. That was till I found some friends of mine watching the infamous Afro Sinema. Not that watching Afro sinema is wrong but come on! This are guys I did not expect to do this. Especially because the storyline and plots of such movies are so shallow and full of crap. So when I found them watching 'True Love' or is it 'Notorious Passion' whichever, I felt utterly betrayed. Betrayed because I know soon they will be watching Mexican soaps and defend their right to watching these programs. How degrading. Edwin? What have we turned ourselves into?
I have been following this series since it premiered some time last year. It is one program I can mention more than three characters without having to scratch my head. It is not so much of the vampire story that captivates me but the theme of love that draws itself clear to me every time I watch it. It is not of me to write about this but here I am. Collins you may bite me.
Let me try to elucidate on this theme. One character, Elena Gilberts is in love with Stephan Salvatore. Stephan is a vampire, a century and a half years old while Elena is a school girl maybe 17 or 18. She is aware that the guy is a vampire and the guy is aware of the risks in dating this girl but this does not deter them from making out.
It is a case where many people will say the girl is wasting herself. I mean save for the risk of Stephan ripping her jugular anytime, she also has to bear with the naked truth that if there relationship is to continue, she will age while Stephan will still be the smoking guys with the same charming looks. It a case that not many can understand. It is what myself I would call true unconditional love.
In its second season running and episodes airing every week, there is always a new twist to the love story. It is a story that sometimes leaves me thinking about people in the real world. Would we make these sacrifices just to enjoy the moments we have even if the future looks bleak? This is Kenya where Oyunga Pala and company have driven into my head that majority of women and girls are after money not the love nor the passion. Is it possible that we in these current situations would love someone regardless of their condition or situation? Is it possible that we respect other people the way they are and not try to change them? For the program, Stephan would have easily turned Elena into a Vampire and the two to live happily ever but it is not so. Their love springs from their difference in being and the full understanding of the commitment each has put to ensure their relationship works. Even with the constant bugging Damon, who always feels cheated and getting a raw deal from Stephan, the jealous Ex Katherine, Elena puts through it all. It is a story of true love, endurance, true sacrifice and unconditional love. It is true that true love is not just a feeling but a commitment. I am still researching hoping that such characters not only exist in books and movies but do walk in the streets and live amongst us.
Maybe it’s just me but for close to a year now that I have been following this series, my eyes have been opened to a wider spectrum of this world when it comes to commitment and loving someone. It is a challenge I have taken and accepted to act like I have felt from this program.
Ps: Sorry if you found this too sentimental or mushy in a way but also hope that my point is across.