The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

When I went home to Ghana for Christmas in December 2005, I realised a new item on most shows/entertainment events - stand-up comedy. I never saw that one coming. Keysoap Concert Party had virtually disappeared from the scene, it didn't have the same appeal after Nkomode disappeared and Bishop Bob Okalla decided to play bad Roman father on unsuspecting girls in the Brong Ahafo Region. What we had was Agya Koo, but he had left the stage for the movie business and was making a name for himself. Do you know he's won a National award while Kwaku Sintim-Misa aka KSM has none. Atrocious, if you ask me. Anyway, we know KSM has been doing his full-house stand-up shows at the National Theatre for years now, but circa 2006, there were many more comedians in Ghana, and there were mostly from (guess where) Nigeria. One of my favorites has been Basket Mouth and he's the inspiration for this post. Who wants to know Basket Mouth's real name? I don't really care either but I'll...

So I never saw the Agony of the Christ. Frankly, I checked out the trailer and thought it may be like all the other 'traditional' movies that Venus/AA Productions have been trying to pull. I never really enjoyed the whole 'let's speak in English though the film is set in a Ghanaian village' type movies. But, Ghana's "Passion of the Christ" remake has picked up a number of nominations at the upcoming African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) so I have been forced to pay attention. I am going to watch this movie soon and hopefully write a review. Yeah, Esi, I got you, that is called support. The Ghanaian movie industry is on the up people. Ghallywood is arriving. Before 'Run Baby Run' won at the 2009 Pan-African Film Festival , it had picked up 4 awards at the 2008 AMAA's in Nigeria. Jackie Appiah, star of the Sparrow productions' The Perfect Picture , won the best supporting actress award in 2007. Guess for which movie, she was nominated. Yes...

Two of my favorite Ghanaian movies ever are Life and Living it and Scorned . The folks from Sparrow Productions have done it again. No, I haven't seen the movie yet. It's not even been premiered yet but I am excited. The third installment in Shirley Frimpong-Manso's forage into Ghanaian theater is called 'The Perfect Picture'. Will it outdo the first two? I sure hope it does. I called for Sparrow to feature Agya Koo, Nadia Buari, Jackie Appiah, Majid Michel or Van Vicker in one of their movies and they've done it. Ladies and Gentlemen, in the spotlight, Jackie Appiah (Agyemang), is the lady in the middle, the center of attention, in this new movie. Did I say I was excited? For the folks in Accra, you can catch the premiere at National Theatre on the 3rd of APRIL @ 5pm and 8pm and then at the Accra Mall's Silverbird Cinemas. The National Tee tix are GhC 20 (quite expensive actually) and are available at Shell shops, Koala, the Silverbird Lifestyle shop and t...

A few years back we had a discussion in the GhanaConscious community about potential new capitals for Ghana. Personally, I love Sunyani. It's in the middle of the country, if we ever had to go to war or something, it will be difficult to capture our fortress. Well, I have better reasons than this one, but I used to think this way lol. Sunyani is also very clean and planned for the most part. Why even think of a new capital? Because Nigeria built one in Abuja and it's really good. Neighbouring Ivory Coast has Yamoussoukro too which ain't bad. Here is a video of Abuja, Nigeria. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvGgMLmMvow Here is a bonus video detailing a Nigerian Ultra Modern Railway Network Project, estimated to take 25years to complete. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_QsDmtU2ms Olusegun Obasanjo did have some good ideas I see. It's not a crime to think big. At all. This Think BIG video showcases Ghanaians with big aspirations and big plans. It's a 28-minute documen...

Matches for the round of 16 for this year's UEFA Champions League came off this week. The juiciest matchup was my favorite Manchester United versus Inter Milan. The champions of Europe and England against the champions of Italy. Sir Alex versus the Special One, Jose Mourinho. Cristiano Ronaldo versus Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Man U emerged victorious over the two legs, shutting out the Inter attack and joining fellow English teams, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. For the second year in a row, the big 4 teams in England can be counted amongst the top 8 in Europe. Why are the English teams dominating? I'll try to answer this in today's blog entry. One major knock against the Premier League is the weather in England. Compared to Spain, Italy or even France, the weather in the UK makes it not such a great place to play. Cristiano Ronaldo would surely love to play in the sun and many of the top Brazilian players have not gone to the top English teams for this same reason. It is safe t...

I wrote this poem for March 6th, 2007, on the occasion of Ghana's golden jubilee. I made a slight modification for the occasion of Ghana's 52nd. It's titled "It's about time". Happy birthday Ghana and Happy Independence day to all Ghanaians! He knew himself before they knew him He moulted into the face they wanted for him But inside he wanted to remain the same He fought as he reddened He sold as he yellowed He destroyed as he greened He shined as he blackened He paced as he faced occupation He led as he fled domination It was about time Pregnant with positive action United as one at one Completely free at three Borders were not very sexy at six Divided came to a head at ten Went to pride land at twenty Happened to be thirsty at thirty Life had already began at forty Showing he is nifty at fifty About to be about that time It's kind of funny that He shaped his movement to Jacko's steps Before he knew what made Daddy move It's kind of funny that He ...

My alter ego, Maximus Ojah, has a few things to offer in the Founder's Day debate as he writes to the man at the centre of all the attention. Felicitations Osagyefo, The last time I wrote to you, your daughter, Samia, had become a Member of Parliament. Now, she is in the news again praising Ghana’s new president, Asomdwoe Hene Atta Mills for proposing a Founder’s Day to honour you. This national holiday would commemorate your 100th birthday, September 21, 2009 and would be a yearly affair just like Martin Luther King Day in the USA. I don’t know why this bit is not surprising, but the folks in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have opposed this proposal and getting this legislation to pass is going to be a battle in parliament. This opposition is being branded as a feature of the “Mate me ho” folk, which dates back as far as you emerged on the scene as Ghana’s leader. The National Democratic Congress’ majority will probably chalk another democratic victory so felicitations again, Osag...

Originally posted on GhanaConscious ...Sounds on da ground and seens on the see-ins I was at the recent Harvard African Business Conference. Why did I go? I went just because it was an African business conference and I had been attending as long as I knew it existed. I went because credit is crunching and it would be nice to pay some more attention to what I could do back home and it became absolutely necessary (to go back home). I went to network and identify partners for various undertakings in the future. I went to identify the leaders of the future as well. As you know, most of our African presidents are not the best people to write home about, especially with Barack Obama front and center in leadership chatter. A-Plus chastised a whole lot of African presidents in his 'A Letter to the West' song, likening their reigns to horror movies. One president who is turning his own horror movie story into a feel-good one is Rwanda’s Paul Kagame. In fact, this last weekend has made...