Saturday, November 29, 2008

Save the Poor Turkey


Dubya smiles on Thanksgiving Day in 2006.

Who needs a turkey to celebrate the Thanksgiving Day?
Please, must you always slaughter millions of turkeys to give thanks to God?
Give the poor harmless and innocent turkeys a break.

No turkey likes the National Turkey Federation. No live turkey would love to be saved while two others would be dressed for dinner for the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation.
Hello!
No live turkey needs to be pardoned to please or tease President George H. W. Bush or any other President of the United States of America.

May I ask you to Save A Turkey and be a better, healthier and happier person today!

Save that cash for your turkey sandwich and give it to those who cannot even afford a turkey for the Thanksgiving Day.

Cheers and God bless you as you save your turkey.


Thursday, November 27, 2008

Yesterday in Shomolu

"Why have you not returned my novel?" I asked when I called her yesterday.
"If you do not come to see me at home, I will not return the novel," she replied.
"Okay, I will come," I said.
She has not been to work since last Monday, because she has been seeing the dentist.
Her younger sister told me that the left part of her narrow jaw was swollen and she had been in pains. I have already called her to wish her well.
I kept my word and saw her at home last night.

The black beauty was sweating in the house of poverty.
She even had the strength to cook for her family.


Presently Between Lagos and Nantes

The Publisher of Supple is in far away Nantes in France, representing Supple magazine at the 30th Festival of 3 Continents. I have to direct the management of his office while he is away.

The heat in Lagos is not good for me.

I am working on the publication of three of my unpublished books and composing new poems for the next collection of my poems.


Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Let Freedom Sing: The Music of the Civil Rights Movement


Let Freedom Sing: The Music of the Civil Rights Movement 3 CD box set. (PRNewsFoto/Time Life) FAIRFAX, VA UNITED STATES 11/14/2008

14 Nov 2008 17:17 Africa/Lagos


Remembering the Past While Celebrating the Present

Let Freedom Sing: The Music of the Civil Rights Movement

FAIRFAX, Va., Nov. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- It is one of the most inspiring stories in American history. Within a generation, Americans of African descent overturned several hundred years of slavery and brutally enforced segregation to win their Civil Rights. Civil Rights wasn't the first movement in American history to generate memorable songs, but it was the first in which music not only reflected the movement but drove it. The songs of the Civil Rights movement are the subject of a stunning new 3-CD set from Time Life Music that will be released during Black History Month 2009.


(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081114/SF46277)


Let Freedom Sing--The Music of the Civil Rights Movement traces a seventy-year journey with songs that reflect the thoughts and feelings of those at the forefront affected by the movement as well as those simply trying to make sense of a troubled period in our history. Some of the songs are well-known (Respect, Change Is Gonna Come, Blowin' in the Wind, We Shall Overcome, Say It Loud I'm Black and I'm Proud, People Get Ready, Get up--Stand up, and many more) but the set also includes extremely rare recordings such as Brother Will Hairston's account of the Montgomery bus boycott, The Alabama Bus, and Nat King Cole's unreleased protest song from that era, We Are Americans Too.


The story begins with Go Down Moses ("let my people go"), one of many spirituals that led African Americans on their quest for Civil Rights. It continues with a bitter indictment of the lynchings that plagued the South after the Civil War (Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit) and an equally bitter indictment of the treatment of African Americans in the armed forces during World War II (Josh White's Uncle Sam Says). No Restricted Signs and Black, Brown and White protested the segregation that greeted returning servicemen. The call for change became more clamorous during the 1950s with the bus boycotts, the lynching of Emmett Till, the enforced integration of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the lunch counter sit-ins. All were etched memorably in song.


The escalating bitterness of the 1960s is captured in songs like Nina Simone's Mississippi Goddam, Phil Ochs' Too Many Martyrs, and John Lee Hooker's The Motor City Is Burning. The riots following Dr. King's assassination are echoed in George Perkins' Cryin' in the Streets. And the Black Power era is reflected in Sly & the Family Stone's Stand, Curtis Mayfield's We the People Who Are Darker than Blue, Lee Dorsey's Yes We Can (adapted as a campaign slogan by President-Elect Barack Obama), and Gil Scott Heron's 1971 classic The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (cited by many as the first rap record). The story continues to the present day with artists such as Chuck D., who also wrote the introduction to the set.


"This project was conceived almost two years ago because we understood the importance of bringing the story to life and taking the time to get it right," states Michael Mitchell, Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships at Time Life Music. "For centuries, music vividly communicated injustices, especially for African-Americans in the South. This set encapsulates the struggles that eventually allowed African Americans, like me, to rise within our chosen professions, and allowed President-Elect Barack Obama to become the 44th President of the United States. Notably, in his acceptance speech, he adapted the words of Sam Cooke's "Change Is Gonna Come." The songs bring the movement alive with more immediacy than any other medium, and when we listen to LET FREEDOM SING from beginning to end, we realize what an incredible transformation has taken place during our lifetime."


Time Life's Vice President of Audio & Video Retail, Mike Jason, adds, "From the dark and ominous 'Strange Fruit' to the joyous message of 'Free At Last,' the set is filled with songs that reflect the painful, yet ultimately triumphant, Civil Rights struggle. Music nurtured the movement and the movement inspired the music. The nation's lowest point is undoubtedly its treatment of African Americans while the ability of African Americans to contribute so prodigiously to the culture in spite of that treatment is perhaps the finest example of what we can be as a nation. It's an honor for all of us at time Life to share this music and a small part of the story."


Time Life will release Let Freedom Sing: The Music of the Civil Rights Movement on January 27, 2009 and will feature liner notes as well as historical events that are relevant to the song selections.


For media inquiries, please contact Holly Cooper at (917) 597-3048 or ditinc@aol.com.


About Time Life Inc.


Time Life and the Time Life logo are registered trademarks of Time Warner Inc. and affiliated companies, used under license by Direct Holdings Americas Inc., which is not affiliated with Time Warner Inc. or Time Inc. Headquartered in Fairfax VA, Direct Holdings Americas Inc.'s history began in 1961 as Time Life a direct marketing division of Time Incorporated specializing in music and books. The business has been operated as a separate company since the mid-1970s when it relocated to Virginia, and has since grown to become one of the world's largest direct marketers of audio and video products throughout North America, Europe and Australia. The Company has set the standard in the direct response industry by pioneering direct marketing techniques and building one of the most trusted and recognized brands in commerce. The Company now also sells its products through major traditional and non-traditional retailers around the world as well as via the Internet. The Company was sold in 2003 to private investors.


Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081114/SF46277
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Time Life

CONTACT: Holly A. Cooper of Diva In Training Public Relations, for Time
Life, +1-917-597-3048, ditinc@aol.com


Web Site: http://www.timelife.com/




I Thank God for Supple Magazine!

It has been quite a challenging week for us at Supple magazine in Lagos.
The Publisher is going to represent us at the 30th Festival of 3 Continents in Nantes, France. Supple is the only Nigerian magazine with official invitation and accreditation for the coverage of the international film festival and the organisers have provided four days and four nights accommodation for our Publisher.

I am glad and grateful to the Almighty God Jehovah for the awesome things He is doing for us.


Monday, November 10, 2008

Farewell Miriam Makeba



Miriam Makeba (Johannesburg, March 4, 1932 - Castel Volturno, November 10, 2008).

Miriam Makeba, the legendary South African singer popularly known as "Mama Afrika" has passed on with her golden voice echoing in the twilight of a new day as her immortal spirit took wings in her eternal flight.

Miriam Makeba was the most accomplished female singer out of Africa and one of the most gifted singers of all time.

I believe Miriam Makeba was born singing from the womb of her mother. She would have been one of the most expected artistes to perform at the World Cup Finals in South Africa in 2010.

We are going to miss this celebrated icon of African music.


The Murder of Amy Leigh Barnes



The state of the world gets grimmer with the shocking murder of Amy Leigh Barnes, 19, the pretty model who died in hospital from stab wounds after moving to her own apartment in Farnworth, Bolton.
I do not even know what to say, because the cliché of May her soul rest in peace does not strike a chord of rhyme or reason for someone who was so brutally stabbed to death when she was just about to start enjoying the fortune of her success as a young model. How would she rest in peace after such a violent way to lose her precious life?
The police must bring who ever committed this heinous crime to justice.
May God comfort her bereaved family.


Friday, November 07, 2008

Obama Baby!




Barack Obama's name isn't only famous, it's starting to spread. A South Florida couple became among the country's first to bestow it on their newborn, and it happened before most had declared the Illinois senator the winner. (Nov. 5)


Thursday, November 06, 2008

Michael Okon is Hot and You Are Not!



Michael Okon is one hot Nigerian actor and he makes others to look ordinary!
Read the exclusive interview in the latest edition of Supple magazine.
The Nigerian movie star is going places.


How to Avoid Fashion Blunders

How to Avoid Fashion Blunders

Click on the above title to read the topic for the benefits on how best to dress to impress and to dress for success.




Photo: Veronique Pierre is a fashionable actress in Hollywood and she is a notable columnist for the Supple magazine published in Nigeria.




Monday, November 03, 2008

The Gift of Life


Life
I love the gift of life,

Dear God, with all its beauty everywhere:

Blue skies,white fluffy clouds,green trees, open meadows, beautiful flowers, all creatures great and small, rocky mountains, the restless timeless sea—But most of all.

I love dear friends,and if you will, please give to me a greater love for you—my dearest friend of all.
– Dick Innes © Copyright


URGENT PRAYER REQUEST ... If you love life ... please pray for the U.S. Presidential Election on Tuesday, November 4. Many are saying this could be the most critical U.S. election in our time. Either for better or for worse, what happens with U.S. politics affects much of life in the rest of the world. For U.S. Voters.

Please see the AFA, American Family Association, Voter Issue Guide for the 2008 Presidential Race. Be sure to vote on November 4 and know for whom you are voting and for what each candidate stands. Be sure to pray for guidance and vote according to your conscience. Click HERE. From Richard (Dick) InnesACTS International




Anya, I Cannot Say Goodbye

It was a beautiful Sunday morning.
I have just finished praying in my daily early morning worship to thank the Almighty God for the wonderful joy of being alive to see another new day.
Then I received the phone call. It was from one of my closest cousins.
“Do you know that Anya is dead?” Okotie asked.
“How would I know when nobody told me so?” I replied in shock.
“I called to let you know,” he said plaintively.
I was speechless for a while.
Anya was dead!
Anya, who relocated to South Africa in 2000, because he was bored of living in Nigeria.
Anya who was the closest to me in the 1990s and we even lived together for months in his flat.
Anya, who was the handsomest of his brothers and was the favourite of the girls and women in the neighborhood and in our hometown,
Anya, who taught me so many things, both the good and the bad facts of life on earth and made me wiser,
Anya was dead.
Another call came.
It was from my Sweetest.
She sent me a text message that I should call her.
I could not respond immediately.
I did not tell Hope, the Publisher of Supple magazine the bad news of the loss of my cousin Anya. I did not want to spoil his day. I kept it to myself until later in the evening. We drove to Okotie’s residence on Alhaji Kalejaiye Street in Shomolu, Lagos. It’s his late father’s house where Anya and I shared many things as we lived like one family. Okotie and Anya lived together in their father's house whilst two of the elder brothers lived in Canada and the UK. The one in the UK has returned to Nigeria and was not in when Hope and I visited the family to comfort the bereaved. They are the only children of my late uncle and aunt.
Some memories are forever
The memories that will linger
The memories of the good times and the bad times
The unforgettable memories of those we cannot forget
.

The memories of Anya filled my mind.
I cannot say goodbye to Anya.


Saturday, November 01, 2008

Michael Okon Is Too Hot!


Michael Okon

Michael Okon the rising star of Nollywood is the one of the hottest actors alive and he is the cover story of the latest edition of Supple magazine in Nigeria.

The exclusive interview with never seen before photographs of the handsome Nigerian actor and Nollywood sex symbol is published only in the magazine to be released on Monday November 3, 2008.

This is just my teaser before the real hot sauce on Monday.


©Supple Magazine, 2008. All rights reserved. The following photograph must not be copied, published or redistributed in any format without the permission of the copyright owner.