January 2008

walking along to class bright and early this morning and what do i see but a soldier in full uniform going the oposite way and pray do tell what was it about this soldier that made him stick out from the crowd well not much apart from he having a case a really bad case of the cross eyes wow now when did you ever see a cross eyed soldier the kinda cross where his right eye be looking at his left shoulder and his left eye be checking out his right shoulder i am not making fun of the man you see i got nothing aganist people with wonky eyes my girlfriend you see has got a mild case of the cross eyes used to be bad but the specs sorted that not that by being with someone who is cross eyed even a bit i am as if absolving myself of responsibility for saying nasty things about cross eyed people its just that you see i had like a daydream where i was the president and this cross eyed jammah was the sharp shooter who had a bead on the american terrorist who was gonna blow my shit up for refusing

Lisa F. Jackson's documentary The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo won Sundance Film Festival's Special Jury Prize. Watch a clip from the movie and it is not hard to see why. In the documentary, Lisa Jackson (herself a survivor of gang rape) interviews several women and girls who have been raped in the eastern Congo. Some of the women are elderly grandmothers; the girls are quite young as well. Although rape cases have been reported in the media, these stories have never before been told in such a personal way. Disturbing though it is, it is necessary to watch the interviews that Jackson conducts with the rapists. The men are Congolese soldiers and seem to have no sense of wrong-doing whatsoever. They arrogantly confess their crimes to her, offering justifications that illuminate the disturbing reality of gender relations in the Congo.

GraduatingIs a dream come truefor both graduates and parentsIt is one of those precious momentsThat tears of joy streamFor fulfilling the dream

I was going home and thought it weird (even in a drunken kinda way), I kept bumping into her each time I got home from the pub She would pretend not to be staring at me, then amble silently behind me, closer each time… spooky yeah?

Ugandan Insomniac gets a fresh look

Afrigadget gets a new look Afrigadget is sporting a fresh look and a new online store. The blog's editors are looking contributors from all over Africa.

Sticky First Date.... If you didn't see this on the Tonight show, I hope you're sitting downwhen you read it. This is probably the funniest date story ever, firstdate or not!!! We have all had bad dates but this takes the cake. Jay Leno went into the audience to find the most embarrassing first datethat a woman ever had. The winner described her worst first date experience. There was

If you have never been to Kampala let me spare you the suspense; it is a poorly planned city and there is little to see in the way of architecture. The good news though is that there is a blogger who is trying to do something about this. Kampala.ver is a blog by a Ugandan architect living and working in the capital. He has been blogging about the city since November of last year and could be one of the most important bloggers in Uganda in 2008 if he can stay the course.

I cannot use his real name… Kampala is too small a town and the world seems to be converging towards one centre… like a black hole of sorts- it must be the shrinking poles… think drowning polar bears and mating penguins… north and south poles…any other thought qualifies for a not so happy one month in this new year! So I shall pick Claude.

KAMPALA - I had hoped to complete the three-part series on walking down memory lane but the rude interruptions of the "festive season" followed by the violence across the border means we cannot fiddle while Rome burns.It might have taken a stolen election to spark off violence in Kenya but the tribal and ethnic fissures have been there for generations. The Kenyans might refer to them with the politically-correct title of 'communities' but the Kikuyu dominance, both in politics and the economy over the last several decades, have left lingering resentment and anger amongst other tribes, especially the Luo.

lissssssst of things to do this year... #15 have a tarrot card reading and in this context and general spirit (spirit haha!!) I figure I may as well check out my chinese horoscope. I was born in the year of the snake; I am a fire snake- ssssssssso far ssssssso good; I read on... Snakes are very creative and extremely diligent. nicsssssssse! Very true!!

So 2008 finally begun and as if I didn’t have aspirations, I didn’t post anything. As if I didn’t miss 2007, I refused to let my fingers work the keyboard. But I was simply lying to myself, because last year was something and this year seems to have even more potential.What can I say about 2007 except that it was such a challenging year? There’s no year I been on the edge like that.

Many blogs go through growing pains. Take The Kampalan for instance. The concept behind this blog is very appealing: "Everything you need to know to have fun in Kampala, put together by people who know how to have fun." Sadly though, the blog has not had much to offer in some time. Now there is a poll on whether the blog should be kept as it, overhauled, or shut down. Here's to the hope that it stay around and evolve into something the city can be really proud of.

Happy New Year to you all. Any new years resolutions? I have a couple, ranging from the outrightly stupid to a few sensible ones. One of my resolutions is to shed off those old relationships that weren't going any where. Make a fresh start. Towards that end, am conviniently loosing phone numbers and email adresses. Oops

hi, I’m Lissing and I am uuuuh…. I seem to have gone through the whole of my life in one way…. You want it, get it, gorge it, dump it and move on! I will eat the same kind of food at all my meals for a week or two… and then, I am so over that! Coffee is not a food, I keep mine in my medicine cabinet. I tend to do that with people… but a few have remained constant- but we still alike… we go on the dry and binge period when it comes to communicating… it works- let’s not fuck a good thing!

Google ads may seem like an easy way to make a little money off your blog or your site, but those webcrawlers cannot always put two and two together. This is a shot of the Monitor website today. Given what is going on in Kenya at the moment, now may not be the best time to advertise a study abroad program in that country. Keep that in mind.

There are three main roles that facilitate the delivery of a website: the designer, the content provider and the developer. The three roles are tightly interwoven in to the website production process and it is often the case that each is performed by a single individual. As such there is confusion about what each role encompasses. The tasks in each, however, are quite distinct. The challenge for a lot of African website publishers is the lack of discussion and awareness of these roles. We have shown aptitude with oral and written media like radio, television, newspapers and books but there is an apparent unfamiliarity that we have with the Internet. We have critically acclaimed and articulate writers, TV and radio personalities but where are our designers and developers? Who do we look to as an example of immaculate African design or ingenious African technical prowess?

Don't believe everything you see on CNN Jay Smooth lays into CNN, and reminds us all that questioning media is not just healthy, it is essential.