Pilachi_Sketch [ BLOG ]

So much, has happened, is happening and continues to “be” happening that I have not had an opportunity to write on the blog.

So to recap: The glorious one… Zahra [blara] was born 15 days ago. I flew to Brussels 12 days ago. Went to Germany 10 Days ago. Met the Presidents of the African Union and the European Union 8 days ago. Flew back to Ghana 6 Days ago. Filmed an impromptu concert with Ghana’s #1 musician –King Ayisoba– 4 days ago. And two days ago, I had food poisoning.

16,000 photographs and 15 hours of video later… phew.

Today, I would say I just feel a bit like calling Bono on his cel phone. Which begs the usual question… does anyone have Bono’s cel phone number?

It has been incredible.

Best of all… Zahra-blara is incredibly beautiful, healthy and happy.

Having bitten the bullet and finally purchased a Nikon D-200 camera, to accompany my Nikon D70, and the D80 I use for UNICEF… it was an adjustment.

I must admit, I got a bit lazy using all the fancy shmancy features on the almost entirely automated D80 and its forebear, the now legendary D70.

I must say though… the D70 can make even a bad photographer look good. The D200 unfortunately, is not that forgiving.

The only way to learn… and to relearn the basic tenets of good un-lazy photography, is baptism by fire… so here it is… an experiment, with the D200. My subject, Shake Bongo… the phenomenal artist from King Ayisoba’s performance ensemble (the man flying in the air in some other pictures on this blog). He indulged me with a few billowing clouds of smoke.

I dont know where all of this is coming from… but it is spewing out of me with such passionate intensity that i cannot hold it back. We are a misunderstood people.

Dancehall culture is a performance art. It is about marking significant moments in time with oral narrative and distinctive messaging about culturally specific topics. Gosh, that sounds so cryptic.

When I think about Stonelove, when i think about Silverhawk, when I think about so many individual dub plates that have risen to mythical proportions. Selectas like Skyjuice, Rory, Dr. Dre.

My hat is off to these people for conveying with a lucidity that surpasses improvisation and borders on genius. Yes. I said it. Genius. And yes, for the record, i also say that my former arch rival and dancehall nemesis… Andre Saunders… he is the single greatest uptown DJ I have ever had the pleasure of listening to perform.

The man has a gift that has been overshadowed by the renaissance phenomenon, the iconic face of renaissance — Delano — and the vitriolic saturation of dancehall culture with product placement and brand proliferation.

Strip it all away and the truth remains… Andre Saunders and Rory are the best selectas in Jamaicas historic and fickle dancehall culture. And dancehall above all else, is a theatrical performance that now competes with cable television.

Risto Benji to ras-tafari.

Since listening to the super cat clash, i started to look into the clashes with Ninja man and everybody.

Ninjaman, in terms of music and influence, is a bit nitrogenous. He is very skillful at crafting lyrics on the spot and getting the crowd into a frenzy, but in my estimation, he represents the bottom feeders of the dancehall ecology. his success can only be derived from the derision of others. It is unfortunate, but this has become the state of affairs in bi-partisan politics and dancehall clash culture.

But Risto Benji… wow. I rememeber this so well. Shabba brought out about ten people to clash with ninjaman and he killed them all… but to what end.

Where are they now. Bounty, Beenie, everyman and his horse is clashing and has been clashing… and in a sense… in a very real sense, the music has suffered.

This might appear to be a contradiction to the last message… about supercat as the greatest… but it is how I feel. We should bolster each other in our successes and focuson the issues,varies though our respective topical issues may be. Why tear each other down to ensure our own success?

All things, sooner or later, go the way of all things… and are ultimately forgotten.

What is my point… it started quite differently, and lost its way on the way… but wow.

these are vivid memories.

All I have to say is “thank god for youtube.”

SuperCat… arguably Jamaica’s wickedest dancehall star… a hero to the fledgling pseudo-courageous teenager finding his way in a world filled with bullies in the traditional all boys schools.

SuperCat was my hero. When you hear SuperCat sling lyrics… you feel like a big time gangster-girlsman. He is just too smooth. Seriously… a hero for the ages. Read more

As is the case with most things, the outcome is usually determined by the perspective and expectations of the input.

For instance, a race car on an uneven partially paved road, is as effective as a rally car on tarmac. The key is careful mediation. How adaptable are we really?

I get very frustrated because things do not work according to my expectations… so I just try to align my expectations with that which is perceived.

Otherwise… if you don’t slow the racecar down to carefully navigate the potholes, you may find that you blow out your suspension / [mental] support system.
Culture…it is a very serious thing to try to understand.  Banking in Ghana… priceless.

On the 9th of May 2007, a number of things should have happened: Our daughter Zahra was due to enter the world, The Unification of Europe was celebrated, and a project with similar function was slated to be delivered also. Neither delivery happened. Instead, another series of strange events co-mingled in what one would otherwise deem illegible banter. Not mine silly.

On May 9th 2007, the-Hilarious-one wrote an article in the vein of their forebear. I don’t read any of the articles, as I understand neither do most people I know. For the simple reason that they are too difficult to understand, they try too hard, and they have no meaningful–nor relevant–connection with anyone or anything; moreover, it is hard to get a clear discernible message from the layers of undertones and overture.

As my scathing reviews often emphasize: “Writing with Hilarity,” is in keeping with its author. That is simply IMHO. You decide for yourself.

What I did understand from the article, was that combining discussions of the eponymous Rastafari queen… oh I get it… queen… crown… empress… Miss Jamaica–Zahra Redwood–with the expected due date of our daughter Zahra was no coincidence… to what end, I am not completely clued into. Maybe she was trying to do something good. If so, “there’s a [gnostic] mystic blowing through the air… if you listen carefully now, you will hear.” - Bob Marley

I will not venture to say that there is a connection with the role that men need to play in the world, lest my fragile emasculated persona be shattered by the subtle styling of the Empress… HRH.

In the spirit of the article, with equally questionable propriety: Haile [Berry] Bless!

Time and tide only serve to wash the shore; removing debris and the scars of a blood torn memory of empires lost and won.

Time and tide wait for no man; nor shall memory withstand the collective history of sand.

It is funny to see the change in tide and time and the passage from aspirational mediocrity into a stratospheric understanding of place.

It is time to recognize the importance of influence and the prevalence of nurturing presence.

My mother, who I now speak about ad nauseum and probably more than I spoke to her in times when we silently needed each other most… is one of those nurturing influences that I speak of. Another… I think of only now… as the result of a very good friend telling me of her relocation from London to Sierra Leone: a journey taken by my aunt, my mother’s very close friend and pseudo-sister some thirty years earlier… Margaret McCaulay.

This story, started about her husband… Uncle Berthan, who like my mother, also died last year.

As a very small child, my fondest memories and deepest feelings of shame, came from my visits to uncle Berthan and Aunt Margaret’s house in Red Hills in Jamaica. It felt as though we were there every weekend… and it felt really great to feel at home in the presence of such a kind family. Peering out the pane glass picture window of the glistening lights of the city, was “volu-mental.”

In case you are just joining us, I make the words that describe the feeling best. Carry on. Read more

In the first quarter of 2007, Samiva Limited approached Pilachi to prepare a press ad for their emerging commercial entity.

As a newly registered company, Samiva had neither brand, nor recognition. As such, Pilachi encouraged the owners to undergo a branding exercise; rather than merely place an individual ad.

Samiva, in addition to other mechanical and electrical fittings, sells industrial strength generators. These generators, the size of large barns, are essential for uninterrupted power supply in Ghana; especially with the indicators of a looming energy crisis. Read more