R.I.P Chinua Achebe

I have not read a lot of his work. I however consider 'Things Fall Apart' as my favorite book. The very first copy of the book I read was dirty, had no covers and had lost a few of the initial pages until about half way through the introduction. The rest of the book was intact but had that old book smell. I found it about two months after JSS, when I went for a military-style church camp meeting for teenage boys at the Abuakwa State College in the Eastern Region. It was lying amongst several other books and clothes scattered on the dorm floor to which my group was allocated. One could easily guess the mess had been created by SSS 3 students who had completed writing their final examinations a few weeks ago.

I started reading the book at the camp but the schedule for the camp was hectic and so had to take the book along and finish reading it at home. The story held my young mind captive from the very first paragraph. Very few things could hold my attention like that then. I fell in love with the book and I've lost count of how many times I have had to reread it to get away from this noisy world since then.

The simplicity in his writing just beat my mind. How can a man with such knowledge of the English language always use the simplest of words and expressions? Even my friends in SSS used all sorts of big words to make them look more 'shark' than us mere mortals who were struggling to stay in those war zones they called classrooms in Accra Academy. It was in Accra Aca where I met my favorite teacher, Mrs. Bankas. You guessed right, she taught us English. What did she preach? Write simple English, don't confuse yourself. Something I had already noticed in the late professor's work. Need I say more? 

R.I.P Sir.

As We Prepare for #BlogCamp13

Chaley, Ghana's all sorts of messed up right now. Politicians are letting us down on daily bases. In the midst of all this mayhem, you and I know that we cannot live a life of whining and complaining about politicians; most of whom we know do not give a hoot about the well being of the very people whose votes got them to their various positions. Yea, I get and agree with the ''we-pay-tax-so-we-need-to-hold-them-accountable'' argument but @paakoti recently tweeted: ''I don't know why society everywhere keep chasing an utopia where there's even a semblance of fairness. It'll never happen anywhere!'' I agree with him.

Through all these however, there are bright spots in our lives. For many, these bright spots come in the form of events. One of such events for me and several other bloggers in Ghana now is Blog Camp. This Saturday is the second annual edition of Blog Camp an event organized by the the dope people of Blogging Ghana. I was there last year and I'll be at this year's. For some funny reason I just thought I should put up a ''How to prepare for #BlogCamp13'' post. So here we go...

1. (a) Please and please again iron your clothes in advance. Nobody is friends with ecg nowadays. Your load shedding schedule that says you'll have light on Saturday morning may be easily ignored. You don't want to show up in shadas that have mua. Your twitter crush might be there. I'm sure you get the point by now. Good. You may want to refer to @GanyobiNaa's blog post where she gave tips to guys about what ladies find attractive in guys..*coughs!*

1. (b) I don't know how earth we could talk about ironing clothes without talking about which clothes you should wear on the day. Please pardon me, for I'm nothing close to a fashionista but please read my lips: it is going to be a loooong day. Blog Camp comes with a lot of moving around too so you might want to be in clothes you feel the most comfortable in. Ladies ladies ladies, please if you wear anything with resemblance to a high heel it will be your own palava ooo. I don't even think I qualify to tell our ladies what to wear, they can figure it out. Guys, no dirty jeans please in fact refer to @GanyobiNaa's post again for you own good.

2. Charge your camera batteries. If you're like me and are planning to take a few pictures of the event for your blog, you should remember to charge your camera batteries. Even though there will be a lot of power outlets to use, you don't want your camera to be off just when something cool is happening. 

3. Pack light. I'm sure your week at work has been hectic already and you do not plan to add more fatigue on Saturday. Please don't carry all your gadgets o, take only the ones you'll really need. A heavy backpack won't allow you to keep a smile on your face after a long day, I know that. For instance, I'm bringing only my phone and camera. Finish.

4. Bring your open mind, creative self and talkative mouth. I can assure you; there will be so many interesting discussions. These three things will really come in handy.

5. Eat breakfast. The food last year was good and I know it will be this year too but you don't want to get too hungry before lunch arrives. I remember a few tweets about people being hungry. Don't come and sit by me and be squeezing your face in all kinds of manner because of hunger pangs. I'll give you a knock and tweet about your hungry face..lol

Thank me later but please feel free to add anything you think I forgot in the comments.

Ball Span

Sneaker lacin', bodies warmin'
Rock dribblin'
Sweat drippin'
Shots brickin', buckets swishin'
Lose hatin', win lovin'
Emotions eruptin'
Interest dwindlin'
Chit chattin', home trippin'

Ballin' In West

I promised my self I'll put up this post before going to bed today. As you might know, I'm in Sekondi-Takoradi to cover the 9th Ghana Polytechnic Sports Association(GHAPSA) basketball for @ReboundGH. This is about my third visit to the Western region but I've not really had the opportunity to play ball on the soil of the now Oil City. The opportunity came this afternoon when a couple of the T'di Poly basketball team guys planned to take a drive down to St. John's School to watch/play pickup. I quickly accepted the offer to join the trip.

Meanwhile, I had already spotted the St. John's court because of location on the drive from Sekondi to Takoradi; it's located close to the entrance and front fence of the school. About 10minutes of driving and alas here we were. Even though we were a bit late(by standards of other places I've played), we were right in time for formation of teams for the full court game to 7 runs.

I must say I was impressed with the level of organisation in the Sekondi game and hope it's the same throughout the region.
The rules were simple;
• Full court, game to 7(2's and 3's counted) or team with higher points at the end of 5 minutes stayed.
• Winner stays so far as they keep winning.
• Team fouls are kept and teams get to take free throws after opposing teams had accumulated 5 team fouls.(this obviously kept the fouling and aggression level of the game quite decent, I must confess)

The St. John's court is what is often described as the typical pickup basketball court scene. Almost all the needed characters were present;
• The senior citizen who has once had game but has been slowed down by age was present doing more talking than playing.
• That guy who has the horrible shooting form but is the most prolific 3 point shooter on the court was present jacking up shots at will.
• The unanimous best player was present and this kid was legit, can actually handle the ball to save his life and dish out the assist right when you needed it( I know because I was in his team ), kid has a decent stroke too.
• The macho man who is all muscle and looks like he has the strength of Hercules but misses the simplest, easiest and closest of shots too often was there too.
• The kid with the fancy NBA gear but not the game to back it was there, he actually came late! He was rocking a Miami Heat jersey and Adizero 1,5's I think(in red patent leather)

There's no denial I had fun playing here apart from the fact that I got tired a bit too early. That aside, I'll definitely go by any time I'm in town... 
I finally balled in the West! 

PS: All photos taken with an iPhone