The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

Which is scarier? Playing physical football risking injuries, facing an exam, or watching a scary/horror movie? If you are me, scary/horror movie is your answer. Last Saturday, I was criticizing a fellow Ghanaian because he was fearing the physical, big-looking Nigerian opponents he was about to face on the football field. I told him to man up and not be afraid, because soccer was a physical sport. I called him Fearoo! Little did I know, I would have my own 'fearoo' moments later that night. I am not a fan of horror movies and I stay away from them . In fact, I had sworn never to watch a horror movie after I left Presec. Like they say, never say never. Last Saturday, I saw Nightmare on Elm Street, marking the first time I'd watched a horror film since high school. It would also be the last. Why do people even watch horror movies? Scientists say people watch it for the thrill, and for the excitement. I don't see how you could get excited by people sawing each other off, ...

I ended up spending most of my Memorial Day weekend in Oakland, which is about an hour away from Stanford. No, it was no weekend get-away with the Mrs. It was no convention or conference. I just wanted to get away. I hadn't traveled anywhere for 5 months, I was going crazy. Going to Oakland is not traveling, but it constitutes spending time in another area. I had heard there were some Ghanaian/African churches in Oakland and had wanted to visit them . Since I was in Oakland for the weekend, I had the opportunity to visit one - the Church of Pentecost - a Ghanaian church, which a couple of my friends also go to regularly. I loved going to the church, it was awesome. So awesome, I had to come report the good news with you all :-) I've been to a couple of Ghanaian churches in Rhode Island and the North East. They strike serious resemblances to those back home. The congregation is populated by Ghanaian-looking people, Ghanaian gospel songs are sang, the pastor says Amen just like ...

Earlier this week, I heard that hip-hop artiste Common was coming to Stanford for a concert. Earlier yesterday, my friend Eli-Jacobs Fantauzzi posted a status on Facebook saying "off to Stanford to show HomeGrown... and then build with COMMON! :)" I was more excited about HomeGrown, the Hiplife.movie (documentary) than I was about Common. I missed the chance to watch the documentary but I could see my friend Eli if I met at the Common event. He wasn't performing, he had come to give a speech in one of Stanford's auditoriums. I decided not to go hear him speak because like I told Eli, I wasn't a big fan of Common, but after seeing the Boston Celtics with no chance of winning against the Orlando Magic, I abandoned the game and headed for Memorial Auditorium. I am thoroughly glad I went to hear Common because GOOD music was in the building . I was late to the event so couldn't meet Eli to get that free ticket he had for me. I got to the venue and continued callin...

I met Kobina Aidoo at some point during my MIT days. At the time, he was a graduate student at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Kobina is a man of many interests and as a hobby, he took up making a documentary a few years ago. The result's been ' Neo-African-Americans ', a documentary about how rapid immigration from Africa and the Caribbean is transforming the "African American" narrative. I finally got the chance to watch this documentary sometime last week after missing three separate screenings organized at Stanford University. In the documentary, Kobina interviews different people about their identity. He takes a particular interest in children of African and Carribean immigrants in America as well as immigrants themselves. Most of them seem to have different views on whether they are "African-American" and seem to identify themselves in different ways. Afro-Latino-American. Ghanaian-American. African. True African-American. Haitian-Ameri...

I've blogged a bunch of times about Eyram Akofa Tawia and Leti Games, the first true African games company. Living an African success story - Eyram Akofa Tawia Leti Games unveils iWarrior (iPhone App) & Kijiji (J2Me) Leti Games - building computer games in Africa Here is a blog post about LEFA Soccerstar, the latest from the Leti Games stable. More info coming The Leti Games development team is an African team of game developers... currently, we focus on casual and mobile games - LEFA Soccerstar is one such game, but it's definitely not casual. The game puts you in the driving seat of 4 characters, we call 'em Avatars. Each avatar represents a role in soccer: Goalie, Defender, Midfielder, Striker Your task, as a player is to develop each avatar, try and get them into a team... You can play in a Street team, which is unofficial, dog eat dog and chocked full of goodies, or decide to go one step further, and go pro You can play LEFA Soccerstar on your web Browser or by pho...

The ‘8 GOALS FOR AFRICA’ song is part of an awareness and advocacy campaign developed by the United Nations System in South Africa on the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 8 Goals for Africa features Yvonne Chaka Chaka from South Africa, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angelique Kidjo from Benin, Hip Hop Pantsula , Mingas from Mozambique, Oliver Mtukudzi from Zimbabwe, Eric Wainaina from Kenya, Baaba Maal from Senegal, and the Soweto Gospel Choir from South Africa. World renowned jazz musicians Hugh Masekela and Jimmy Dludlu from South Africa are instrumentalists on the track, produced by Arthur Baker from the United States of America. Helen Clark, the chair of the UN Development Group which brings together all UN agencies working in development, today launched 8 Goals for Africa, a campaign song by eight of Africas best known musicians, calling for commitment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals - a set of eight internationally-agreed goals designed to reduce poverty, hun...

A while back I heard about From A Whisper, a Kenyan movie by Wanuri Kahui which commemorated the 10th anniversary of August 7th terrorist bombing in Kenya in 1998. The trailer was super and I've wanted to watch the movie so badly. I tell everyone I know who's visiting Kenya to get me the movie but no one has found it for me yet. Well, Wanuri Kahui is in the news again. Her short film, Pumzi, has just won the Best Short Film award at the Cannes Festival, one of the most revered film festivals in the world. The time is arriving, when African movies are challenging others around the world in terms of world-class quality. To Wanuri and her crew, I say Hongera! Pumzi website: www.pumzimovie.com . Film synopsis from Pumzi website: Sc-Fi film about futuristic Africa, 35 years after World War III --The Water War. Nature is extinct. The outside is dead. Asha lives and works as a museum curator in one of the indoor communities set up by the Maitu Council. When she receives a box in the m...

I logged on to Facebook earlier and saw that two Tanzanian celebs who I've never met before had been tagged in a Facebook video. It's called THE OFFICAL NBA PLAYOFFS ANTHEM: WINNER REMIX BY WAKAZI . Some random Chicago-based Tanzanian musician had remixed Jamie Foxx's track and had a video montage of Tanzania's current favorite sportsman, Hasheem Thabeet. Yes, the guy who was a defensive force for UCONN in last college year, went high in the NBA draft and then became infamous for being the highest draft pick to be sent to the NBA's D-Developmental league. Hey, Thabeet may be a tough NBA life but the jury's not yet out on whether he'll be a winner, winner, winner. Lebron James on the other hand, is arguably the best basketball player on the planet and faces the biggest game of his life tomorrow. After 7 ringless years in the league, how that game goes on Thursday, May 13, will go a long way to determine how much of a winner Lebron James is. I am a huge NBA fa...

Got this email today from Jojoo Imbeah of Kasahorow & Suuch Solutions about G-Ghana, a Google-organized event in Accra from June 3-4, 2010. Though am really excited about this, I wouldn't be able to attend the event. You're Invited to G-Ghana! Google is very excited to meet with software developers, technology entrepreneurs and marketing professionals in Ghana. G-Ghana will be a two day event to engage with local software developers and tech entrepeneurs and marketers. Please review the details below and register today ! We would like to thank the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE) for hosting our Google team's specialized training days in Accra. Day 1: For Software Developers June 3rd A day focused on pushing the boundaries of web applications using Google developer technologies. Google engineers and web development leaders will lead you through one full day of in-depth sessions on the latest Google technologies and hands-on codelabs. * Mu...