Coffee for Kofi

Letter from Nairobi (1)

Every so often a single event reminds me of why I like this city so much. Negotiating the 5pm traffic 'jahm' on Kenyatta Ave in downtown Nairobi I saw, out of the corner of my eye a wretched man, hobbling between the cars on one wooden stick and a half a metal crutch. His body was twisted and his face had the look of havng been on the edge forever. Most the lane darters have things to sell, huge plastic maps of the world, bunches of cell chargers, crazy cloth dolls and multitools. This guy just thrust his hand into my face and locked his eyes on me. "Sorry, I have no coins", I said in a knee jerk response. He tilted his head, half smiled, half grimaced and said, "Karibu! (welcome)....tomorrow is another day....". Then off he shuffled.
By the next intersection I had caught up with him and found 30 shillings. He half smiled, half grimaced and said, "Thank you, brother."

I have spent a load of energy chirping about the crimelessness of Nairobi. Well, it is changing. It's not going to give SA a run for its money in a hurry but talk these days is of whether the Kenyan military should cruise into neighbouring Somalia and moer the local hard core Islamic Youth militia, fondly known as Al-Shahaab. This motley but volatile crew of Ishmaelites are the radical resurgance of the defeated Islamic Courts Union who came off second best against Ethiopean helicopters from late 2006 onwards. Now that the Ethiopeans and the odd US special forces boytjie have apparently gone home for the summer vacs the tablecloth boys are having a field day and the 'good' guys, the TFG (Transitional Federal Gov.) are now in control of a piece of Mogadishu about the size of Pinetown or lower Putney.

Every columnist in Sunday's Nation raged on about the pros and cons, the ifs and buts and capabilities of the local army boys in KE. The checkcloth lads replied that they will use suicide attacks to blow up the 'tall glass buildings in Nairobi'. Now this is hectic as my girlfriend's new office is in the tallest glass building in town and I am yet to see someone stick his head under our car when we park downstairs.
My fave quote is from columnist Mutua Mathiu: "When the village madman stands on your fence and insults your wife you can do 2 things. One, you can quite resonably explain to everyone what they already know, that he is mad. Or you can wait for him at the village path in the dark with your rungu and take out his kneecap. You will be surprized at how in future, his madness will exclude disrespect to your lady wife.

Gitau Warigi ('Sunday View' Column) has another plan, possibly a little more sensible. He clearly has read all about Vietnam and Afghanistan and suggests that we should rather turn off the financial taps to the bad okes and hope that they all simply get bored and hungry and go home. Personally I ain't betting on either plan. What is clear (from the rest of Sunday's news) is that Aks are flooding into Kenya and being used to pay for petrol and koshering out whoever happens to be filling up at the same time...and if the cops aren't getting shot at they're shooting at each other...all very confusing.

As if this isn't enough, Kofi Annan, got up this morning and decided he had had enough of the Kenyan leaders humming and harring about how to set up their own Criminal Tribunal to try the post election violence baddies. He's had this large envelope full of names next to his bed for a year now and as I write it is being opened by, no doubt, some keen prosecutors in the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

I am sure that there will be a lot of sleepless politicians tonight, but judging from the letters to the paper, far more happy citizens.....quote from letters page, Nation 2nd July 09:

"I am one of the millions of kenyans suffering due to immence curruption in all dpartments in kenya. Mr Kofi, please help us turn the page by scraping impunity and making it LAW for all from president to goat thief.please,please,please."

In October 2006, soon after arriving in Kenya I wrote a blog about the disappearing Flamingoes of Lake Nakuru (see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5405468.stm).
Well, it seems that the normal has happened....nothing. So I thought I would say no more but just give you lot a glimpse of how things looked at Lake Naivasha last week. According to current predictions my trip to Naivasha in 20 year's time will be like a week without without underpants and beer - crusty and dry. Lake Kamnarok, once home to the second biggest population of crocs in Africa is now dry...fully dry and going nowhere. The Baringo townspeople, who have been resisting all efforts to quell their decimation of the forests for charcoal, now have no water for the their moo cows.

Now, all this ultimately doesn't affect me as there are lots of other lakes on the planet and I don't have cows....and anyway I have discovered the coffee bars of downtown Nairobi. These are ultra cool especially in the blue after 5 cocktail evenings. Close your eyes and draw in the fresh Dormans roast and you are in some exotic laid back Euro city ... or maybe Guatamala, but with the taste of Ethiopean heaven.....

Whatever happened to the 3 Monkeys Coffee bar in Durban? Maybe 50 or so years after democracy we will see the rise of the SA coffee culture spurred on by the threat of Khoisan sucide bombers from Leshoto.

On the arts scene, alive and verrrry well, as usual here in buzzing Nairobes, we are building up to the opening of the Internews Male Circumcision photo exhibition at the French Cultural Centre next month. To get a taste of the mood we hit the current photo exi - Eat your heart out Durban! Nairobi rocks!

Click to see short video


That's it...and remember, anything can happen and it usually does.




Next time...Indian Town and Crushed Sugar Cane Juice!

Under siege....

I often use this space to comment on the high level of crime in South Africa and indeed a few days ago I mentioned a taxi hijacking in Nairobi which made the newspaper and where the incumbents were merely relieved of their cell phones. I then said that no doubt in my home suburb in Durban, there would have been at least one highjacking and several muggings, robberies and a rape or 5. Well, the reality is even worse!
Quoted from the local crime report...this is just one street!

From: Tim Brauteseth <dsa@saol.com>
Date: Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 1:37 PM
Subject: Re: Incidents in Dale Road last week
To: Lesley Jessop <Lesley@wayneselectrical.co.za

>, Peter Rutsch <rutschp@gmail.com>, Graham McCallum <glmccallum@vodamail.co.za>

Hi Lesley, Peter,

I have just returned from a meeting with Sup. Van Zyl and can give you the following info. Can you please forward this your areas?

The incident occurred early this morning when Michael's father went outside to open his gate which leads onto a walkway beteen Archer & Dale. He was letting his dog out for a walk.

As he opened the gate, the two black males were outside and used this opportunity to attack. He was stabbed in the neck and then dragged into the house.

It was at this point that Michael confronted them and was attacked and stabbed several times. The house was ransacked and then the attackers fled. The only item missing was a cellphone.

Michael's father managed to raise the alarm at 63 Archer Crescent and the SAPS and Ambulance were called.

Sup Van Zyl also attended the scene shortly thereafter and has advised that the forensic, crime intelligence and housebreaking units are already involved in the matter.

It was clear in my visit to the SAPS that the police members are angry about this incident and are doing everything in their power to apprehend the perpetrators.

Sup Van Zyl was close to tears when he described Michael and his career. He was proud that Michael had recently completed his LLB degree and was in the second year of his LLM.

The two attackers are described as being between 17 - 25, of slender build. Due to quick work and sharing of resources, one of them has already been identified. He is 18 - 19 but appears to be only 16 years old - he has a very young face. The identified attacker is known to the police and he is currently the target of a manhunt.

There is also a strong suspicion that the same men are the ones involved in a spate of recent attacks in the area.

Residents are warned to be extra vigilant when leaving and entering their properties. The SAPS believe that when the gate opened the men saw an old, frail man and took their opportunity. It is vital to protect against this.

Sup Van Zyl has undertaken to increase patrols in the area and get his reservists patrolling the area on foot.

Regards,

Tim

----- Original Message -----

From: Lesley Jessop

To: Peter Rutsch ; Jackie Psannis ; Nadine Foord

Cc: GL Mccallum ; Johann van den Berg ; Tim Brauteseth

Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 10:23 AM

Subject: FW: Incidents in Dale Road last week

Hi Peter

I have passed this onto my community but please could you advice why we are not receiving any security correspondence from your area. It is vitally important that the entire community is informed of anything that happens.

Thanks

Lesley

From: Lesley Jessop
Sent: 17 June 2009 10:20 AM
Subject: Incidents in Dale Road last week

Dear Residents

Please see below regarding incidents last week in Dale Road.

Thanks

Lesley

Hi Lesley,

As you seem to be keeping track of incidents: I am not sure if you are aware of the two that occurred in Dale Road last week. Sharon, a friend of mine had a young black male enter her kitchen one morning, with a knife in hand and threatened her daughter to keep quiet. He stole her bag from the kitchen. Then a few days later they had a smash and grab during the night. Two males threw a brick through the kitchen window and stole her laptop. They suspect the same guy.

This madness has to stop!

Brisbane in style

Well, as it happened, the real world and the virtual collided. Simply not enough time to take a gentle 200kt flight over the Pacific. So I hung around till I got a cheap ticket on Quantas and flew in a vintage 747-200 to Brisbane. Now, I have an Aunt and Uncle in this equatorial Aussie town, so I will catch up with them for a day or two and then regroup for the 300 odd Nm flight up the Gold Coast to the Great Barrier Reef and Rockhampton.
Looking at the classic Jumbo Jet shape as a passenger gives little idea of how much has changed with this most classic of big iron aircraft in the 30 odd years they have been around. What was a dense array of analogue instruments is now a neat and colouful digital display that somehow removes us from actually how complex aircraft systems really are. Both are well represented in the flight sim world but for me, there is no substitute for the old steam driven stuff. The RFP 747-200 is easily the finest example of a pc based sim getting as real as can be. Whilst it is not possible to create a total immersion with just your laptop this product certainly has a suspension of disbelief rate higher than most others.
Back to the blurry world of simreality.....took off from New Caledonia at 20h30 and after a well deserved 2 and a half hour sleep we touched down at Brisbane International.
Well, it was not all sleep as I had an hour long chat to a girl in the seat next to me. A Chinese-Australian, she told me how Australia is fast becoming the place of choice for many people from the Far East to settle.


Travel gives one a novel perspective and I cannot help wondering how this compares to the Chinese 'invasion' of Africa that we are experiencing in our part of the world. Such is chance, that as a result of who I sat next to on the plane I will be seeing Brisbane with entirely different eyes.....and will eat out tomorrow night at the best Eastern restaurant in the city! That's if I can find the hurredly scribbled mobile number for Wan Lee.

Will all passengers for Rockhampton....

First....WISDOM from the KITCHEN!

Says Gran with a rather deadly looking kitchen knife in her hand....
"The Indians are killing each other wholesale - as soon as they get cross with their lovers they kill them. Then they commit hurry curry. I far prefer the plain dried peaches for my stewed fruit. The apricots are very sour. (Well, say I, just take the apricots out). No, that's not necessary. I cook it all and the sour taste goes away."

The image above comes from a magnificent and inspiring web adventure site...a must for all aviators and/or anyone with itchy feet!

See www.smilingflier.com

I came across this site whilst researching the route for the virtual flying adventure I conceived of in my previous blog. It is indeed exciting to have stumbled upon like minded fellow travelling wilberries and I am hoping they are happy for me to use some of their images to promote their and my (virtual cousin!) adventures!


Well, route planning is now complete and all systems are set to go.
Before I leave, I shall once again explore the reasons for such an apparently time consuming exercise. The entire route is approx. 3400Nm. That equals 6500 km. At an average flying speed of 200kts it will take 17 hours in the air. That is 17 hours of my time, my laptop time and my broadband time. What on earth can justify this?
Well, unless I turn into Superman or that Peter Speed lookalike who owns Virgin Air, I am unlikely to ever visit places like Rockhampton, Australia or Kudang in Indos. But....at my fingertips I have the greatest information resource in the history of mankind, the Internet, and I realized long ago that, combined with a definite mission, this enables me to have a very close experience of things that otherwise are out of physical reach.

Every decent game has a set of rules and these are mine:
1) At all times the aircraft is flown to real world safety and procedural norms.
2) Real weather conditions are to be dowloaded and used.
3) Where ATC is available on the IVAO network it must be used.
4) It is not strictly required to fly IVAO where no ATC is available as the MSFS option provides a reasonable traffic and ATC model. However all hours must be logged.
5) En route photos must be taken and archived as proof of the journey. These are to be integrated into the Google derived narrative of the journey.
6) Additional benefit and kudos are gained by having close encounters with the real world. For example, encouraging other virtual fliers to join me or making contact with real people or organizations en route.
7) As far as possible real world times are to be observed. However, if the scenery flown over is particularly impressive then it can be justified to shift time zone but retain real weather.
8) The ultimate aim of this venture is to add to my experience as a virtual/real aviator, increase my knowledge of the world and its people and push myself towards more real life travel and adventure.
9) All virtual time must be balanced out by outdoors physical experience of some sort, lest I become a laptop potato. The trouble is this leaves very little time for work.

The aircraft I am using is a Pilatus PC-12, the only single engined plane to be rated for trans-oceanic flight. I have built up this aircraft specifically to my own requirements with 2 onboard radar systems (Forward looking ground and TCAS traffic radar). Having spent some time in the right seat of a real world PC-12 I have come to respect this immensely safe and reliable plane.

Another reminder to check out http://www.smilingflyer.com/

It is a real world story of a bunch of aviator-adventurers who did what I am doing in the virtual world. Now why didn't I know about them when they were recruiting a filmmaker!! It is also the first example of how merely getting an idea and running with it attracts all sorts of exciting possibilities! Let's see where this one goes (Just got to make sure I stay alive and healthy!).


Here is the first leg:
1) Depart Ils Des Pines AP (New Caledonia) and head west over the Atlantic Ocean for the Eastern Australian city of Rockhampton.
2) I know little of Rockhampton except that its airport was voted Australia's top AP in 2007 and approx 66000 passengers pass through it annually. By the time I leave Rockhampton, I will know a lot more and maybe, even know some people there!

MAPS:
1) World Route Map.
2) Departure Location
3) Destination Location

Once I am in the air on this leg my intention is to spend some of my flying time (in between checks) reading up more about Flight Planning over long distances (esp over sea).
Wikipedia has a marvelous resource on this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_planning



Enough now....time to file a plan and head off into the sunset!



Log: 090607 - 16h45 - depart NWWE

Had to delay my departure by 15 minutes as some oke in an Embraer jet flew in (from the wrong direction), no landing lights and no communicating of his intentions. He (or she) then disappeared (maybe for a loo break) then just as I was lining up on runway 1o there he appeared at the other end of the runway, about to take off! Being a man of reason, I communicated my intention to vacate, got no reply and off he took. What a rude little person! But what the heck, there was a bright moon and half an hour into my trip I was greeted with the first glimmers of a Pacific Ocean sunrise. The reason that it is in front of me is because I diverted back to New Caledonia after a radio call came in requesting pilots to help in the Canary Islands as a new ATC guy was doing his exams. What the hell, let's suspend reality for a while and help out.
ps. note the natty little TCAS radar on the left. A nice added bit of realism is that you have to keep a watch on the traffic otherwise a midair collision is quite possible, especially when in uncontrolled airspace.

and the Latter Day Saints..

Last time I thanked Beverley for inspiring me to get off my thin ass and blog. Today, I must thank Cheryl King for her parting volley and insight that has inspired a whole new direction in my life. This mail came at the very end of a long debate about the merits of superstition V a naturalistic universe. To quote:

=======
Dear Budgie

This is far too wordy too wade through, I don’t have time at work for chain letters or people who (it appears at a first quick glance/skim through) like to think their own intellectualism compares with Einstein.

All the best as you try to convince people to line up with your great faith in whatever…..

Cheryl
==========

What a good idea! I had not thought of that! Start my own religion...
First I need a management team, some saints. Well, last night, one of the new recruits came to me in a dream. He looked remarkably like David Basckin, the well known Durban stand up comedian and coffee aficionado.

Thus spake he: "Verily I say unto you, mere sleeping intellectual charlatan. Dwell not in the fleeting illusion of the moment. For as each second comes so surely does it come to pass, leaving little or no time to ponder upon the nature of the firmament. Take instead upon your time, the graven image of an LG Wide Screen TV, for herein lies the Truth, the frontal Truth, the sideways Truth and a 3 year all risks warranty. And so it shall pass, that the time it shall take to take in all that HDTV can offer shall be no less or more than one day being 1 sixth of the time taken in the creation of All. And in as much as thou shalt dwell in the presence of this one day, be content in that which is written to be 'living in the moment.'"

"Phew, St. David of the coffee machine, can I have that in simple language"
"Sure thing," he replied.

If you really want to live your life, then treat it as a series of days, each one containing everything that you wish for or strive for in Life. If you live from moment to moment, there is no time between expectation and history, but in a day there are many hours which, if well spent can allow us to live our lives one fruitful and bountious day at a time. Imagine that the day's possibilities fill the image on an LG Widescreen TV before you. Get up, get out and DON' TALK...DO! Live your life each day!

I am now going to go on a mini adventure to the Pavilion Mall to meet people, buy batteries and tapes and get some fresh air, for tomorrow it's off to the land of the Zulus!

There is however, space for my regular, Wisdom from the Kitchen!

Mum: Zuma says he's going to give electricity to everybody and now Eskom says they are putting up the price by 75%! It went up 30% last month and I am now paying R300! If they double it I will be paying R500. Pay is the name of the game at the moment.
Our South African marmalade's not bad at all.

(Ed: Zuma: new S African president. Eskom: Electricity Utility Company. Currency: $1 = R10)

On a sad and serious note:

The murder of Dr. George Tiller, one of the nation's few providers of late-term abortions despite decades of protests and attacks, brings into sharp focus the recent online debate I have engaged in over the danger of the fundamentalist religious right and the tacit support given to their lunacy by seemingly more innocuous incarnations of religiosity.

There was no immediate word of the motive Tiller's assailant. But the doctor's violent death was the latest in a string of shootings and bombings over two decades directed against abortion clinics, doctors and staff.

Long a focus of national anti-abortion groups, including a summer-long protest in 1991, Tiller was shot in the foyer of Reformation Lutheran Church, Stolz said. Tiller's attorney, Dan Monnat, said Tiller's wife, Jeanne, was in the choir at the time.

President Barack Obama said he was "shocked and outraged" by the murder. "However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence," he said.

Whilst many prolife organizations have condemned the murder, the voice of the American Taliban is loud and clear still and it is not difficult to see how this can fuel the fire of murder and mayhem.

Where the hell is New Caledonia?

What follows is a curious mix of fact and fiction, real and fantastical. The images are some mine, some others', some photoshopped, some cropped and blurred. But all represent a fleeting memory that exists somewhere in my neural pathways.....so, thanks to anyone whose original neurons have found a home here.....if you are unhappy with my particular version of creative commons then I am glad to photoshop the originals till it looks like something totally different. Now, that's ART(ful) dodging.

The link between the left and right brain of us humans is the Corpus Callosum.
This thick network of 200 million nerve fibres transmits neuron signals between the logical, analytical left and the intuitive, creative and expressive right. For a wide range of individual reasons, we each tend to have a predominant side which strongly influences the way we see and interact with the world and how, in turn, the world sees us.

Partly as a result of my close experience of my girlfriend's brothers' recent major left brain stroke (see http://musemed.blogspot.com) I have become strongly interested in this field.

Pschological tests show me that I am about 60-40% right brain dominant, which seems to concur with my conscious experience of life. Knowing this and understanding that balance in all things is beneficial, I am increasingly aware of the need to actively balance my left/right brain activities.
========
My Assessment results: You possess an interesting balance of hemispheric and sensory characteristics, with a slight right-brain dominance and a slight preference for visual processing.
Since neither of these is completely centered, you lack the indecision and second-guessing associated with other patterns. You have a distinct preference for creativity and intuition with seemingly sufficient verbal skills to be able to translate in any meaningful way to yourself and others.
You tend to see things in "wholes" without surrendering the ability to attend to details. You can give them sufficient notice to be able to utitlize and incorporate them as part of an overall pattern.
In the same way, while you are active and process information simultaneously, you demonstrate a capacity for sequencing as well as reflection which allows for some "inner dialogue."
All in all, you are likely to be quite content with yourself and your style although at times it will not necessarily be appreciated by others. You have sufficient confidence to not second-guess yourself, but rather to use your critical faculties in a way that enhances, rather than limits, your creativity.
You can learn in either mode although far more efficiently within the visual mode. It is likely that in listening to conversations or lecture materials you simultaneously translate into pictures which enhance and elaborate on the meaning.
It is most likely that you will gravitate towards those endeavors which are predominantly visual but include some logic or structuring. You may either work particularly hard at cultivating your auditory skills or risk "missing out" on being able to efficiently process what you learn. Your own intuitive skills will at times interfere with your capacity to listen to others, which is something else you may need to take into account.
========

For some years I have been a devotee of computer based flight simulation. It has provided me with an intellectual and fun hobby that requires a lot of left brain focus and analytical acuity. The navigation and procedures involved in aviation are set in stone and leave little room for 'creative' divergence.
On the other hand, aviation only exists because man had a dream of 'breaking the surly bonds of earth'. The Wright brothers were both dreamers and technicians and this is as true as ever for almost all those of us who pursue the pleasure of flight in some way.

In March 2001, I set off from Johannesburg International Airport on a round the world virtual flight; across Africa, to Europe, then via Istanbul across the Caspian sea to Asia. I landed in and subsequently left Kabul the day after the US invasion began, flying by night across the Kyber Pass to what is now the no man's land between Afganistann and Pakistan. India, Nepal, Mt Everset, the Middle East and then the Holy Land were my fantasy destinations for several years and by early 2009 I had only reached Lake Malawi, en route back to S Africa.
See http://madgodcomix.netfirms.com/Bigglesworth.htm

What took so much time? Each place I visited, I googled and poured over images of the people and places nearby. I read copiously about the history of the region and on some occasions actually made friends with people who I contacted over the internet.
Sometimes, my dream world and reality coincided when I had an opportunity to visit my ethereal world in reality. It was always strange arriving in a city that I 'had already been to', knowing the sights and sounds and often the local geography well.

On a recent visit to Washington DC, I took a week off to do a cycle trip up the Potomac River, a journey I had already made many times virtually.
Sometimes I have found myself in conversation with other travellers, comparing travel tales and I talk so intimately about a remote place on the planet that they cannot believe that I have not actually been there.
As time goes by I am sure that in my own brain the divide between real and virtual will blur. What a boon for old age!!

Over the years the software for flight simming has meteorically improved and so has the virtual aviation world. This is a computer network (several actually) which allows simming enthusiasts to fly together online, co-ordinated in a hyper real simulation of modern Air Traffic Control.
Here, fear of failure is a very real emotion and it is indeed a place where many real world pilots and ATC folk keep their skills honed.

The level of simulation software is also at an extraordinary high level, with the 2 main competing packages having different strengths. Microsoft's FLight Simulator is well established in the online community with a high level of navigational integrity and scope and excellent airplane and scenery models.







X-plane, however, is the leader by far, if the actual flight accuracy and experience is judged. Created entirely by one man, an aeronautical engineer who wanted to hone his IFR (Instrument flying) skills, X-plane has the singular credibility of being rated by the FAA (Federal Aviation Authority of USA) as being accurate enough to be used to gain additional hours towards real life licences. This software is the same engine used to power many high grade commercial simulators used in commercial training environments. Tests have shown a max 10% deviation in the flying model on almost any flying craft correctly simulated.
I have decided to share some of this L-R brain world with you on my blog. So come with me as I shrink this fantastical planet called Earth....from the comfort of my laptop. Who knows maybe you will be drawn into this wonderful world of armchair adventure too. If so, mail me on budgiesmith@gmail.com and I'll get you up to speed.

Saturday 30th May 2009. Online Day in New Caledonia.
"Where the heck is New Caledonia?", I asked.
An hour later, having logged onto IVAO (International Virtual Aviation Org.), I was flying towards an island paradise called Ils Des Pines. (The Island of Pines). Situated to the East of Australia, New Caledonia is a group of tropical islands owned by France, relatively unpopulated and a popular holiday destination for those in the know. On the globe it is the sprinkling of islands sitting on top of the curly blue ridge in the ocean to the east of Aus.













I landed at Aeroporte Ils Des Pines and took the long forest drive to the main town on the east coast.
The Ils Des Pines is nicknamed 'The Closest Island to Paradise' and is especially famous for diving.











En route I stopped at some local attractions, the most magical of which was the Grotto de la Reine Horthense, which engulfed me like a glossy postcard.













The main drag from the airport cut through the tropical forestland like a scythe, taking me into the main town.













The first thing that struck me was how similar it is to the town of my birth, Durban. Palms and Flamboyant trees abound and like Natal in the 60s, the roads are wide and unbusy.











It seems that the locals are quite overwhelmed by all the splendour around them and have, over the years, built quite a number of quaint eglises (churches), that are both reminiscent of a time long gone and also well attended on Sundays.











Not being a religious man, however, my road took me to another place of worship, the lagoon or Bale St Josephs.
Suddenly I was back in Madagascar... or was it Zanzibar or Mombasa...I sat for for some time gazing at the irridescent blue ocean wondering whether this was a dream.....or real...








Next blogtime: I fly from New Caledonia towards Indos and the famed Jade Lake in the hidden crater of Mt Rinjani, revered as the home of the gods and by us less religious, as the world's 4th best tourist destination.






If you want to join me on this journey, join my Twitter group.

Where's Willy & all that Jazz..

OK Beverley! I plead guily. I'm a lazy good for nothing diverted attention follower of sideways inconsequences of note who has neglected his blog and his 3 faithful readers.

Actually, it only dawned on me today the real meaning of the announcement of the findings of the first stage of the work on the 'new' German fossil, fondly called 'Ida'.
(my girlfriend is delighted!)

The carefully timed nu & traditional media hype around Ida is, I believe, a positive development. The Scientific front (for the Liberation of the Human Mind) is at last understanding that to compete for the hearts and minds of orrinerry folk we need to think like Hollywood and Obama. The risk is that the allure of fame and money will obscure their commitment to due scientific peer review and the possibility of not catching the ball they have so adeptly thrown.

My take on Ida is:

If this is indeed what it certainly seems to be...then this week has heralded one of the greatest scientific discoveries ever. It is also a secure nail in the creationist (anti-evolutionist) coffin. However, in true form, these pathetic apologists are still flaying around in their strait jackets digging up lame arguments about the irrelevance of Ida. Once again, a little common sense and a good reading of their arguments reveals how weak they are.
As people passionate about the method of modern Science, we are, as always, totally subject to the ongoing march of new evidence and retain uitmost respect for the gradual but inevitable process that hones our understanding of where the Truth lies.
Once again, I reaffirm my dismay and active opposition to the dogma of the devotees of 2000 year old mysticism.


That said, allow me to give some opera notes for this meg-edition of dontalkdo.

1) A brief history of my recent trip to Nairobi, our impressive guests and my early return to SA where I am readjusting to a crime and violence ridden society.
2) Why I am in love with Nairobi.
3) Why I am not in love with God(s), including the complete history of our recent Science V The Fundamentalists email debate.
4) Why Music and Art are keys to unlocking our natural abundance, including the Angel's exhibition.
5) Introducing my new online introduction to Evolution and all that follows...

(1) I am in love!

They asked me, "Where is your home?" and I replied, "South Africa, my heart, my head and home!.....but, I have met and fallen in love with a beautiful woman called, Kenya."







So it was that I returned to the land of rumbling roads and red Masai, where the mountains rise cool from the torrid rift valley.












Downtown Nairobi gripped me again in her chaotic camaraderie with the evening escapes to old Indian town for crushed sugar juice and Jelabee.











One visitor melted into the next and we left the buildings for the jazz of the deep south and another creatively transcultural experience.



























































Visitor went and visitor came and hand in hand we made music and sang together on the crest of the Ngong Hills. Here, every child shepherd has a ring of bright bracelets strung and a smile for patient strangers. The Nairobi walking club kidnapped us for a photo session, amazed to hear that our friend, Steve has a house at the very southern tip of the Rift, in Ubumbo, South Africa.




All of which brings me to part (2)
Why I am in love with Nairobi.















































Meanwhile, back in South Africa...