World AIDS Day

Happy Halloween!

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate,
The first one said,
"Oh my, it's getting late."
The second one said,
"But we don't care."
The third one said,
"I see witches in the air."
The fourth one said,
"Let's run, and run, and run."
The fifth one said,
"Get ready for some fun."
Then whoosh went the wind,
and out went the lights,
And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

HAVE A SPOOOOOKEEEEEEEY HALLOWEEN BLOGVILLE!

Musicology

Can you believe it, it is already September 20th! The goddamn month is almost over before it has even started! Back to university tomorrow, oh well in two days actually because I am skipping tomorrow. That is always the best solution when you hate the first days just as much as I do, just skip them. Anyway, the last few weeks I have been helping my cousin move into her new house. The previous owner never ever cleaned the place in those two years he has lived there so you can imagine how dirty it was inside. Let me give you an idea, I assume you all know the movie The Adams Family, right? Well you can compare it to their house, sprider webs everywhere! It was just gross! When I got home, I jumped in the hot bath tub and stayed there for more than one hour, washing my hair six times and still feeling the spiders run over me (of course that was all in the head, but still that is how it felt). While cleaning and carrying boxes, I had enough of time to listen to my iPod and some new Cd's I’ve downloaded the past few months.

The Blueprint 3 by Jay- Z

This is the third album of the Blueprint series and I must say, it’s my least favorite one too. After his strong comeback CD Kingdom Come, I would have expected more from this one. It is also remarkable how many features there are on this album; 12 out of 15 tracks contain a feature (with names as Alicia Keys, Drake, Pharrell, Kanye West and Rihanna).

About the album itself, some may have already noticed that it does not sound like the previous two Blueprint albums. The word "blueprint" also does not refer to a "back to basics" approach this time. Jay-Z wanted to explore himself with this album, and just as other MC’s of this time, innovation does not stand for creating a whole new sound, it just taking the music as how it sounds now to a different level with some new flows or new samples, but never really new and unique things. The Blueprint 3 belongs to this category too: it has some new rhymes and a somewhat futuristic sound, but it is still Jay-Z rapping about how great he is. Nothing new there right? That is basically what he has been doing for the last 13 years, and I must admit, he is good at it.

Overall this album is solid, but when you are Jay-Z, standards are higher and this album can because fairly boring after a few listens. My favorite track is Empire State of Mind.

Personal rating 3.5 stars

Danger by P-Square

P-Square is back with their 4th album, Danger. It has been announced as “highly anticipated” and bringing a new vibe into the music industry. Based on their deal of 40 million Naira, you could expect this album to be even better than the previous best selling album Game Over. Being a major P-Square fan myself, I was eagerly waiting on this album, but it was a major blow. It wasn’t even nearly as good as their previous albums Last Nite, Get Squared and Game Over.

When they released the title track of the album, Danger, they’ve quickly released the video of the song too, most likely due to the bad response on the song. This is tone of the whole album. Danger is an album with some heights, but mostly it is just average with very few lows. It all becomes so plain and jacked up basically (never thought I would say this about them, because I am not really objective though because they are just too good looking and then you digest horrible things a bit better). This album is everything but renewing and original, samples seem to become the standard for this record. With each song, you get the “haven’t I heard this beat before?”-feeling. To my feeling, it is just not at powerful and high quality as their last album, but I guess that is the problem. We have been spoiled the last time, offering an album you like to listen to without skipping a track or without getting bored, so you expect more from them, the standards are higher than for other artists.

The one single that really caught my attention was Bye Bye. When you look at the title, you wouldn’t expect it to be a love song. But this song has a very strong chorus, maybe one of their strongest ballads in general. It’s subjective, but I think Paul’s voice is at his best while singing powerful ballads like say Your Love or Miss U Die. Those guys are lucky they have a solid fan base and good looks, because if this was their debut album, I am afraid their career was over before it even took off. Just my two cents.

Personal rating: 2.5 stars

Loso's Way

One of my favorite artists Fabolous is back with his latest album called Loso’s Way. Is Loso’s Way the right way? Fabolous has always been too raw to be metro, but now that he has signed to Def Jam, you could hear he has become a bit more mainstream. His latest album, From Nothing To Something, fairly disappointed me because it was a bunch of radio ready tracks and not the raw Fabolous who used to spell his name and worked with beats from unknown producers and turned them into fire. But one thing you have to admit, Loso is one of the artists who redefines itself album after album, for better or worse.

The thing that makes Fabolous a great emcee is his charismatic flow, and that charisma that can get him away with mocking nursery rhyme raps. If this was any other rapper, he would be slayed for it, but not Loso. This is also his major strength: ignoring the critics and perfecting a style of New York gangster narrative that's 25% braggadocious, 20% swagger, 15% clever punchlines and 15% his "da-da-da-da-DAMN" vocal style. When you listen to his previous albums, except for From Something To Nothing, you notice that only a limited amount of songs are radio-ready. This is where lies the smartness: he adds just enough tracks to get played on stations and make the mainstream public know his name, but he mainly keeps it raw so he would not loose his oldest fans.

But the thing that made Fabolous a stayer was his beats. Even the throwaway tracks on most of his previous albums had beats that could be lead singles on most other rappers’ albums. But, yes a serious but the beats on this album are not what they used to be. He is leaving his original Breathe beat behind him by doing three tracks with Jermaine Dupree who is a wack producer, unless you want a small radio hit. The best beat is the one on My Time by the Runners but this get overshadowed by those of Throw It In The Bag, which has only a piano and drums as beats – even a little kid could make one like this.

Personal rating: 3 stars

BLACKsummers'night by Maxwell

Eight years after his previous album Now, Maxwell is back with a new album BLACKsummers'night. His first albums were all very good, occasionally brilliant, R&B projects that flirted with neo-soul, straight-up soul and something more… futuristic, all tied together by Maxwell’s otherworldly gorgeous voice. Also, most R&B kind of sucks these days, what with halfway talented singers using autotune to warble clichés over throwaway hip hop beats. This combined made people were excited about Maxwell’s return. Fortunately BLACKsummers'night is indeed pretty good, though it’s definitely not any kind of revolutionary step forward.

Maxwell himself is still Maxwell. His voice is still impossibly smooth, his timing impeccable, his lyrics generally pretty good. And that melancholy permeates BLACKsummers'night. Maxwell is still the king of baby-making music, but this time the undeniable sensuality of the vocals and arrangements are often at odds with the darkness of the lyrics. This gives the album a refreshing twist, and at just under 40 minutes long, the novelty is never lost.

As the first part of a planned trilogy, BLACKsummers'night may simply be the reintroduction of a phenomenally talented vocalist to the public. The next two albums, blackSUMMER'snight and blacksummer'sNIGHT may hold more surprises or take more radical steps forward. It’s hard to complain, though. While this album isn’t the game-changer some were expecting after such a long wait, it still signals the return of one of soul music’s best voices.

Personal rating: 4 stars

It's no use crying over spilt milk

A few day ago Belgian farmers, and later this same week also farmers from other European countries, poured away milk onto fields as a protest against the European Union milk quota and low milk prices. The total milk drain was estimated 6 million liters, twice as much as the originally planned 3 million liters. I totally understand the frustration of those farmers, but this is nutrition they are spilling.

The farmers are obligated to produce a daily quota of milk by the EU, and this causes a surplus of milk. Due to this surplus, the prices of milk stay low (economic equilibrium of price and quantity is where supply and demand meet). In a competitive market, the farmers would produce less milk, the supply would get less and the prices would go up, but due to the obligated quota, prices stay low and the farmers barely survive. So is this quota a bad thing? Yes and no, depending how you look at it. From the consumer point of view, the quota is a good thing because the milk is cheap and that is how a basic nutrition ingredient should be. As seen from the world market, it is a bad thing. For example, European milk is exported to Africa. The local milk is much more expensive than the European milk. This results into the fact that the local farmers will lose their market and end up with unsold milk. This can have dramatic consequences for the already poor farmers.

As from a human point of view, this milk drain is unacceptable. All over the world people are dying of malnutrition, starving of hunger and here they just pour away that essential white liquid.

Acts of douchebachery, signed Kanye West

The annual MTV VMA’s, the place to be if you mean anything in the “pop” music industry. The red carpet was stunning. It seems like the dress code was “short” this year. Beyoncé Knowles’ short red dress with dazzling décolleté was just so fierce! Loved it from head to toe. Then there was Jennifer Lopez her eccentric dress. It was a strange combination, from the black leopard shoes to the beige dress and black accessories. It looked hard, the black on the nude tones, but I kind of loved the fierceness. And then there was Lady GaGa… The least we could say is that she is unique, but I think she’s just too much and too eccentric. Just my two cents.

The show had some great performances, especially the one of Beyoncé. Pink wasn’t too bad neither and GaGa was, well she was GaGa. Over the top eccentric… Janet Jackson looked and sounded fierce when she performed the song “Scream” as an ode to her brother. The main award, best music video was won by Beyoncé for her video of Single Ladies. But I think no one will remember this due to Kanye West and his ego.

Mister West succeeded to pull the attention to himself, and only himself. It is not the first time he misbehaved. It happened before at the Grammy Awards and also at the American Music Awards. Hopefully this is the last time he is invited to these kinds of events. For those who did not yet see the video of his “performance”, a short recap. The lovely and innocent 19 y.o. Country singer Taylor Swift just accepted the award for best female video and was ready to start her acceptance speech. At that moment, Kanye West run up on stage took the microphone out of her hands and expressed his own preference for Beyoncé’s video. Then he left the poor girl, standing there while he took away her moment of glory.

Kanye West, what is wrong with this guy? A few years ago he has caused a whole scene backstage at an award show because he found he deserved to win, yet he did not get the award. And now this debacle… Is it really his big ego? Can he not handle the fact that he is not always the centre of attention? That the world does not always surround around him? When you read his blog, he sounds like he thinks he is the best musician ever. That he is reincarnation of God on earth. He is so full of himself and obviously he has never heard of modesty. Running up on that stage shows how ignorant and arrogant he really is. What happened to him? Did he not get enough attention and hugs when he was little? Is he really one of those persons that cannot stand it when other people get the confirmation that they mean something in the industry while he, the self-proclaimed musical genius, doesn’t succeed to win any award?

Well I think that by doing this, a lot of people (including fans) have lost respect for him, and I cannot blame them. This douche simply doesn’t deserve it anymore after all he has said and done. And the apology (damage control by his PR management), not sincere at all! Only a few moments after the event occurred (welcome to the world of modern communications) people were already Tweeting about what happened. In less than 12 hours, Kanye has been called the N-word way over 2 million times, by both black and white people. Still, some were way out of line. It seems that this act has brought out deep racial issues in people. I don’t justify this at all, but sometimes I feel like there are two standards for using this word. When a black person uses this word, it seems to be accepted because it would be some sign of brotherhood. When a white person uses the word, it is considered racism. I understand where the meaning and usage comes from, and I wish I could change the past, but I do not see any difference when it is used. I feel it has the same meaning, no matter the race and should never be used.

But back to the issue, stop buying his music. A plain and simple boycott!

N.B. That "apology" on Leno? Over the top played! You would make a crappy actor 'Nye! It lacks credibility.

The unthinkable: Nazi adoration

For the past few days, I’ve been watching the 7 o’clock news with disgust. It all started a few days ago when there was an announcement for a show in between programs. The subject was about nostalgia of World War II and this village in Germany where you could relive the whole atmosphere, from the whole way of life until the cars they drove. I was in pure disbelieve when I heard about it. How can you think back about something awful and actually miss it? Millions of people were killed back then!

Some days later, I totally had the you-gots-to-be-kidding-me feeling. I was watching the news when they introduced the upcoming reportage. It was about a Belgian baby sitter who had a clear preference for the Nazi-empire and its fürer, Adolf Hitler. She had pictures of him on the wall and also the swastika symbol. Also the words she spoke creeped me out. She compared Islam to the Jews, who where the cause of WWII (actually this is wrong, it was Hitler’s sick mind that started the war) and stated that “they took everything from us, we are caught”. She also called Hitler an intelligent man with fantastic ideas and a clear vision (the only intelligent thing he has ever done was kill himself).

I am going to put my emotions aside (which is very hard, yet I will try) and explain with rational elements why he is not intelligent at all. First of all, yes Hitler listened to the youth and yes he created jobs when he, for example created roads or other infrastructure. This said, let us take a look about how this employment was arranged and why I am proponent of the liberal economy, even though that one has its shortcomings too. Hitler’s strong leadership can be compared to that of the late USSR, North-Korea, Cuba and maybe even China. The government strives to have people employed, but this is forced employment. I remember a guest lecturer back in my first year of university and he was surprised that children of less fortunate families could enroll. He came from the strict USSR Empire where the government decided what you could study and where you would study. This resulted that only the children of fortunate families could enroll in university. This reminds me of the past 4 or 5 centuries, the aristocracy and the French Revolution. Yes, there is employment, but at what cost? Is this worth giving up the freedom to choose what and who you want to become in the future?

Beef with Hip Hop

Hip Hop. Everyone knows the term, but what does it really mean? What does it really stand for? Most people will think about the music gerne with obscene language and a lot of bling. But just those things make me dislike Hip Hop more and more. This is the story about my beef with Hip Hop. Hip Hop isn’t about dissing each other, neither is it about the Hip Hop candy shaking their ass in some music video. But then what is HIP HOP?

Hip Hop is a movement, it is a way of life. It is saying “I AM HERE”. Ever since I can remember, Hip Hop is a way to express yourself. It was a way to address the injustice. It was a way to express yourself. Freedom of speech. A way to speak up against the political oppression. But most of all, it was peaceful. This all changed over the years. Hip Hop became a commercial product. It has gotten a negative connotation. Hip Hop became the symbol of drive by shootings, gangs and other criminal activities. When it once was used to address these forms of crime, it now turned into an instrument of crime. Saggy jeans, do-rags, guns and knifes became a part of this so called new Hip Hop culture. Instead of speaking up against it, violence became accepted and “smacking up my bitch” or “shooting a bullet through his brain” became the standard. Hip Hop has become something completely different and I, I am left behind, confused how it has gotten this far. Confused how it could have made this 360 degrees turn. And even more confused about the fact that so many people like the new direction Hip Hop has taken. It became more popular than ever.

What does this say about our society? How can a people support something that went from sending a positive message to something that supports rage and anger? As for me, I don’t support it and I miss the old days. I think I have written about this subject earlier when the Ice Cube versus Soulja Boy things happened, but I still don’t agree with the path Hip Hop has choosen. Violence seems to be the standard in our society and the music reflects this. Young children see the videos, they hear the lyrics and they grow up with the idea that there is nothing wrong with it. Even more, they see adults living the lifestyle they hear about in the songs… This way they get a double confirmation. It seems to be more cool and respected to be a hustler or a pimp that to get a university degree, and heck, it often brings in more cash too!

So dear Hip Hop, will you ever come back? Will you ever become the way you was before? Will you ever be the thing that I adored?

Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

In a world where image and looks matter...

It’s been the IAAF World Championships and of course Usain Bolt won both the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4x100 meters and he also improved his own World Records he ran last at year’s summer Olympics in Beijing.

But the thing that has caught my attention was the women’s 800 meters. The winner was Caster Semenya, yet this caused a whole lot of controversy and gossip. This time it isn’t about illegal substances, but more about the rather masculine look, voice and movements of this 18-year old athlete. This caught a lot of people’s attention and questions/gossip started to arise, saying that she was actually a man. She was forced to undergo tests to establish her sex.

These allegations need some specifying though. It is not an issue of female versus male, but of “entirely female”. It is very much possible that she is suffering from hermaphroditism, which means she has both male and female reproductive organs. This may cause her to possess secondary male characteristics. If this is indeed the case, she can be disqualified since the IAAF says only “entirely female” or “entirely male” contesters can participate. Is this fair? Yes and no. Allow me to explain myself.
It would be fair to disqualify her because if she has indeed a Y-chromosome, this means she is naturally favoured compared to the “entirely” female athletes because she would have male hormones. Face it or not, and as a girl I hate to admit it, but men got naturally more power, more muscles and run faster than woman. The stats prove this: Usain Bolt 9,58 versus Delorez Florence Griffith-Joyner 10,49.
On the other hand, it isn’t fair to disqualify her because this is what she loves doing, this is what she has trained for. And then who are we to tell her she can’t run any longer because of a medical condition she did not choose for. How inhuman would that be… Neither would it be fair to let her run the men’s 800m because then she would always end last.

But all this aside, the way this has been handled by the IAAF is just too outrages for words. This woman has the right on privacy and, if the IAAF found gender tests necessary, they should have done this quietly and privately and not, I repeat not, in the very open. This girl has her dignity, pride and human rights and no one should have the right to humiliate her when the whole world is watching!

All I can say is; you go girl! Keeping your head up while the whole world is on a witch-hunt. Going out there and run your race while the public is not cheering after your victory. No standing ovation like Usain Bolt gets just because you don’t meet up to the stereotype image of a woman…

It’s been a long time, I shouldn’t have left you

Without a strong rhyme to step to

Think of how many weak shows you slept through

Times up, I’m sorry I kept you

Thinking of this, you keep repeating you miss

The rhymes from the microphone soloist.

Kudos to the one who can tell me the name of the song and the author(s). Hint: these guys are my favorite MC’s of all time.

But I know I’ve been gone for a very long while. The fact is that I just did not know anything to write about. It’s not that there has nothing happened to write about, it’s more about not knowing how to share it. Isn’t this what they would call a writer’s block? Anyway, I think I have found a subject to write about and I’ll see where it takes me. It can become a long post or a short one, I don’t know because I am not the type of writer who has written everything inside her head and only needs to note it down. I am writing down what my feelings tell me at this very moment.

Here it goes. It was last Saturday and I was on my way home from a day in town. Because there was a fire at my home station a few days earlier, there was only a train every hour, and of course I missed it so I had to wait for the next one. While I was sitting there, it was around 6pm, a bunch of guys who were celebrating a bachelors party arrived my gate. Some of them were already drunk, some were sober but one of the guys started a conversation with me, and soon the whole group joined the conversation.

Since it was a bachelor’s party, the subject turned to relationships of course. They were all surprised I was still single because –and now I am using his words- “I was a foxy lady”. I mean, really? Am I a foxy lady? Maybe the magazines are right and the super skinny girls are becoming out of fashion, but I’ve never heard that my type of girl –I am more like the Jennifer Hudson type- can be described as foxy… Most men prefer to call that “fat”. Anyway, I love my curves.

But one thing the guy said kept lingering in my mind - “luckily you are not wearing asocial earphones because that screams: stay away from me, I am not available for any kind of social interaction”. I must say, he might be right. When you are stuck somewhere and you switch on your iPod, you are shutting yourself off from everyone around you and then other people who, at first, thought you looked interesting, might not be interested anymore once they see the earphones. That is indeed what I have noticed in the past 3 years. You get on the train each day and you often see the same faces, but you never ever spoken to them, because we are all locked up in our little world.

Body image decides for a large part whether people notice you on the street or not. That and a banging body of course. But since that banging Angelina Jolie body is a utopia, I will have to work it with my persona and style. You cannot be too diva-like because that seems to scare of the people from actually walking up to you and starting a conversation. The main problem here is that I am addicted to my silk scarves and Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses… The other mistake is the girl-next-door-look. She might be a beautiful girl, but you never notice her because she can easily be overlooked because she just does not stand out, matter of fact, she just blends in the crowd. Yet again, this is/was I, even though I try to stand out –maybe a cute accessory, a piece of clothing that shows my slim waistline with curvy bottom or something else that pulls the attention- but sometimes I cannot help to notice I look dull and even boring. I mean, I would never start a conversation with myself on those days because I would not even notice I was there. So then what does do the trick? Well when I was waiting for my train in the morning, a girl with a very short skirt was also waiting on her train and when a group of guys passed her, they asked for her phone number. Fine, I admit, I wouldn’t want to get asked for my phone number because I was wearing a skirt that barely covered my ass, but still the fact remains that she was asked for her phone number. Now what does this mean: most guys don’t care about conversations, all they want is a girl that wears a short skirt and has a banging body. Solution: I’m single and that’s how I will remain until the day that men stop being so superficial!

PS: The song’s title was I Know You Got Soul by Eric B. & Rakim.

Michael Jackson memorial service

The Michael Jackson Memorial will go into history books as one of the most watched tv-broadcasts ever. It was most likely even bigger than the Lady Di funeral or any other event. Maybe because this was the final tribute to one of the greatest entertainers of them (maybe even the greatest entertainer) all and the undisputed King of Pop. This will be one of these events of whom people will ask “where were you at that time?”, just like with tragic events as 9/11.

I was at home, locked before the plasma screen television, with mixed feelings because at one side I was devastated this is really the end of an era, and at the other side I was proud that I had the privilege to live in an era with this great performer. This show was a celebration of the person inside him. About what he cared and stood for, the total opposite of what the media made of him. It showed the human and vulnerable side not many people knew existed...

The show was one filled with Goosebumps and tearjerkers. It started with the Gospel Choir opens the Memorial with a song that contained the lyrics "Hallelujah we are going to see the king". At that time, the Jackson brothers carried in the coffin covered with red roses. Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Randy all carried the glitter glove, one of the trademarks of MJ.

The first ode came from Pastor Lucious W. Smith. “We come together and we remember the time. As long as we remember him, he will always be there to comfort us.” This set the tone of the service. It wasn’t going to be one filled with dance, but it was going to be subdued and really back to the essence and the deepest feelings of this human being. After this kick off, Mariah Carey and her producer Trey Lorenz took the stage for the performance of I’ll Be There (a hit of the Jackson Five, Third Album, 1970).

Queen Latifah said Michael Jackson showed her that you can travel the world as an African-American and that there is a world outside America. She finalized her remembrance with a wonderfully written poem by Maya Angelou:

Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing, now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips like a puff of summer wind.

Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace. Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon.

In the instant that Michael is gone, we know nothing. No clocks can tell time. No oceans can rush our tides with the abrupt absence of our treasure.

Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone.

Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us and we did have him.

He came to us from the creator, trailing creativity in abundance.

Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love, family love, and survived and did more than that.

He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style. We had him whether we know who he was or did not know, he was ours and we were his.

We had him, beautiful, delighting our eyes.

His hat, aslant over his brow, and took a pose on his toes for all of us.

And we laughed and stomped our feet for him.

We were enchanted with his passion because he held nothing. He gave us all he had been given.

Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana's Black Star Square.

In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England

We are missing Michael.

But we do know we had him, and we are the world.

After this wonderful poem, Lionel Richie took the stage with Jesus Is Love. Berry Gordy, one of the founders of Motown Records (the record label that has signed the Jackson Five back in the late 60s) told about the young Jackson family who used to play baseball with the Gordy family. It was a long, but also a witty and emotional speech that made you smile through the tears. It showed Michael as a normal young kid that we can all relate to.

"Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer" was the song Stevie Wonder performed. Kobe Bryant remembered us that Jackson was also very concerned about the world and that he is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the performer who donated the most money to charity. Magic Johnson shared a story with the audience about a day he went to Neverland to discuss about a video shoot. He told about them eating Kentucky Fried Chicken together just like normal people like you and I.

A pregnant Jennifer Hudson performed a gospel version of “You Will Be There”. The end took my breath away. It included the voice of Michael Jackson spreading the word of peace and helping each other. It was a very powerful message about something that Michael cared about: helping other people. Reverend Al Sharpton reminded us were Michael Jackson came from. They were just a regular working family and had nothing but a dream. No one thought their dream would ever succeed, yet Michael never gave in and kept fighting and did not accept boundaries. He brought people of all over the world together and made us sing “Heal The World”. Then he directed himself to the children of Michael Jackson and told them there was nothing strange about their dad, it was the world that treated their daddy strangely. It was a powerful statement and he did have a point. From a very young age, the press has haunted down MJ and never they stopped talking about him. The trials were all over the newspapers; every move he made was portrayed on the front pages of every newspaper worldwide… What was left seemed to be an estranged person who was not from this world.

John Mayer played "Human Nature" on his guitar. This was one of the tracks Michael Jackson always performed with a lot of emotions. Brooke Shields, who knows what it is like to be famous at a very young age told about the time they have spend together and how they could leave the adult world behind them when they were together. She compared Michael to The Little Prince.

One of the highlights and one of the most emotional moments was when Jermaine Jackson sung Michael’s favorite song “Smile” by Charley Chaplin. It is unbelievable how someone can keep himself this strong to dedicate a song for his brother who passed away. I really had tears in my eyes… Very beautiful… Martin Luther King III referred to the words of his father: “My father once said ‘In life, one must discover what his calling is. When they do, they must do their jobs so well that the living, the dead and the unborn could do no better.’ He constantly challenged us to become our best by stating ‘If you cannot be a pine on a top of a hill, why, just be a shrub in the valley. But be the best shrub. Be a bush on the side of the road, if you cannot be a tree. If you cannot be the highway, just be a trail. It’s not by size that you win or you fail. You’ve got to be the best of what you are.”

Member of parliament Scheila Jackson Lee told the story of the Parable of the Good Samaritan and also reminded us that everybody is innocent until proven guilty, referring to the many accusations newspapers made about his trials. A very emotional Usher performed the song “Gone Too Soon” and broke down when he hit the last words of the song, standing next to MJ’s golden coffin.

Smokey Robinson, of whom the Jackson Five recorded a track, still remembered the first meeting with the 10-year-old Michael. He had never ever seen such a young person that could understand the serious lyrics about hurt and pain like he could. “My brother is in a place now where he is most certainly going to live forever. But he's going to live forever twice, because he's going to live forever right here - the world will never, ever forget Michael Jackson”. Shaheen Jafargholi, the 12 year old kid from Britain’s Got Talent performed a version of "Who's Lovin' You", reminded us about the young MJ.

“We Are the World” and “Heal the World” closed down the show. Children, artists and family gathered on stage and sung together. This is what Michael Jackson stood for, bringing people together and make them happy through music.

The most emotional moment was when Michael Jackson’s 11-year-old daughter Paris spoke to the audience and spoke the words "ever since I was born, daddy has been the best daddy ever, and I just want to say I love him so much". At this moment I broke down in tears too.

The most lasting impression and empty feeling was when the coffin was carried out on the tones “Man In the Mirror” and all that is left is en empty microphone in a blue spotlight…

Round up of the past month.

Heat wave, heat wave, heat wave! Did anyone say HEAT WAVE (whipping the sweat of my forehead)! It has been over 30°C the whole week, it was even 38°C in the bare sun this afternoon. See I am not complaining about the heat, but even at night the temperature did not drop under 28°C inside my bedroom and if there is one thing I hate, then it must be waking up soaking in my own sweat! Apart from that, I love this weather. The sun is a serious boost for my energy and also my mood. I just cannot be unhappy when the sun is shining!

I have been begging for my exams to be over for weeks now, and now that they are over, I am kind of bored as hell… The first few days after my exams were fun because I didn’t do anything else then sleeping, shopping and enjoying BBQs. Every year, there is this “braderij” in town. It’s a couple of days a year, just before the summer’s reduction period, when all the shop owners take their goods out on the streets. Everyone comes out with friends to enjoy the festivities and to have a drink on in of the many outdoor bars. Of course I went too! I have spent the whole Saturday in town, from the afternoon till way past midnight. Strolling down the busy streets and enjoying a refreshing glass of Sangria during the evening while watching the fireworks. Apart from that, it was mad boring though. It is too hot to go to the stables, wouldn’t want the horses to drop death, it is too hot to do something useful like finally cleaning up all my schoolbooks that I had strategically hidden under my bed.

So to kill the boredom I’ve been digging into my DVD-box and watched many movies of whom I never imagined having. First off was Training Day. Denzel Washington is just line fine wine, he gets better with age. The first movie I saw him in was Cry Freedom, he was in his early 30s I think, but now when he is in his 50s, he has this sex appeal over him that really turns a woman on. Is it the wisdom? Well I don’t know what it is, but he is very handsome and is surely on my list of hottest men alive. Next up was Amistad. This movie is one of my favorites of all time. Why did Djimon Hounsou get the role of Cinque? Acting skills? Well he’s put down a nice and solid performance, but the main reason is that he looks damn good without clothes on! But it is just a picture perfect with him. A body to die for, but also a very beautiful facial structure and skin tone. Oh man, I really love his black-as-the-night skin. But back to the movie, it is a very strong and powerful film that makes a clear statement. Really my kind of movie. I am not into those smooth love movies or happy endings; I like them real and powerful. Then there was Bad Boys I and II, pure amusement and fun. Can’t help it but I adore Martin Laurence’s jokes!

Now that we are talking about handsome men, let us continue with one of my other favorites, Peter Okoye (of P-Square). I can’t help but to drool over this guy whenever I play one of their videos. Some say he looks like Usher, and indeed he does, but Usher grew up to become less cute than he used to be, but at 29, Peter looks cuter than ever.

I should wrap this up because I have a “date” tomorrow. I have promised this old friend that I would show him around in town, but he insisted that I should call it a date. Since it will still be smoking hot tomorrow, I will show him the lovely city beach! It is this place on Linkeroever, next to the Schelde, that has become a cozy beach. I hope I don’t annoy him with all my boring nagging! This seems the first guy in a very long time that doesn’t seem to be in it for the wrong reasons…

To be continued…

Final goodbye to a Legend - R.I.P Michael Jackson

Just a moment ago, the music of our youth has died, and with that, we have died a little bit too. Who doesn’t remember the epic video for Thriller that looked more like a movie than a music video? Who hasn’t secretly been practicing the moonwalk in front of the mirror and who cannot sing Billy Jean along when the radio stations play it? With Michael Jackson’s passing, we have lost a true icon that has meant a lot to the music industry and someone who has influenced many artists, but also a great humanitarian. Projects like “Heal the World Foundation” and “USA for Africa” showed that he was not only an eccentric person, but also had a heart for the less fortunate. Some people need to die to become a worldwide phenomenon, but this man was already a living legend when he was alive and his works will always be remembered, even many more decades after his unexpected and sudden death. People always refer to Elvis Presley, but Michael Jackson surely can be named with him or may even leave a greater musical history behind for us to enjoy and cherish.

Black or white, you still made HIStory. Your dance moves left blood on the dancefloor. I remember the time, you rocked my world like a smooth criminal, now you're gone too soon. What more can you give, you tried to heal the world, but they called you bad... 25th June 2009, you left the world talking about your death like a classic thriller..... That's why you remain the King of POP.

Jupiler Pro League - 7 out of 10 players are against homosexuals in the first division

After my last post on discrimination – based on race – I have found yet another remarkable form of discrimination that is so shocking that it deserves some attention. Last Wednesday, SportVoetbalmagazine released the results of a questionnaire they have done among the 303 soccer players of the Belgian first division. On the question if gay players belong in the first division, 67,8 % answered negative. I have read discussions about this remarkable –or not so remarkable- result and I have my own thoughts about some explanations given for this result.

The first explanation that was given was one that a lot of the players come from outside Europe – mostly Africa and South America where homosexuality is not accepted. Is this a possible explanation? Maybe it is possible, maybe it isn’t. If it is possible, then the only thing I have to say is shame on you! They are the first ones to scream racism when a referee rules against them, but –if the statement/explanation is true- they don’t see any problems in discriminating another person. The pot calling the kettle black? I am against discrimination based on race, so those who are indeed discriminated have the right to stand up, but it does not give you the right to start discriminating yourself. You want to be respected, so does the homosexual person.

On the other hand, this statement can be false because I don’t believe that almost 70% of the 300 plus players are from none-European origin. In Southern Europe, homosexuality seems to be even less accepted than in the more Northern part. This can be caused by the second possible explanation: religion. It is commonly known that the Southern regions are more religious than the North. All three major religions condemn homosexuality because of various reasons written in a book. Yes that is right, a book. People think they can justify their discrimination against homosexuals based on what is written in a book, a book just like any other book that was ever written en can be found on a shelf in the library. Isn’t religion about peacefully living together? About respecting each other? Not discriminating one other? So then what gives you the right to discriminate homosexuals? The sentence “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads (Leviticus 20:12-14, NIV)”? One sentence, written by a person thousands of years ago? So this sentence cannot be put in perspective, but the statement that sex can only be performed when married and only for reproduction only – never for joy, can be ignored whenever you want to get laid? I thought so… Hypocrisy to the fullest.

Related to religion, it can be claimed to be unnatural. Yet this can easily be refuted by facts and figures. Over 1.500 species have already showed homosexual behavior – going from lions to penguins. More so, 1 out of 5 couples of the King Penguin are homosexual and 94% of all sexual activities between giraffes is homosexual contact. Can things get even more natural and untamed as an animal?

Explanation four is the mutual showers – yet then I wonder if they would mind having 10 naked ladies next to them… Plus if you follow this explanation, then you also assume that every gay man would want to molest you under the shower. Isn’t that a bit too stereotyping to believe? It is not because a straight football player bangs everything that has a skirt and two legs, that homosexual players would do the same with everything that wears pants…

Fifth and last explanation that is worth commenting on is the one that football is for machos. This one actually brought a smile on my face. I was thinking about players like David Beckham, Christiano Ronaldo,… and other “metrosexual” men that look more queer than most homosexual men with their mèchen, “man”bags and creams…

StandupSpeakup

It’s been a long time since I decided to put up a new blog entry. I haven’t forgotten about the word of Blogville, I simply didn’t feel the need to post anything. The main reason is because I always saw blogging as an effective psychologist that allowed me to arrange all the chaotic thoughts that went on my little head. The past few weeks I did not need this anymore because things have fallen into place and I feel liberated. I can breathe again. No more possessive and abusive guy around, no more lying and manipulative so-called friend – it feels great. From now on I will put myself first and I will let no guy tell me who my friends can be and who can’t. If he cannot accept the fact that I have male friends and that I am not going to give them up just because they are guys, then I don’t want to bother anymore. This is the last thing I ever said about it because it doesn’t deserve any more words. I am liberated it I will stay this way.

The reason why I have turned to this blog is not to yap some more about feeling liberated and all of that or to state of stupid I was to ignore the abusive signs of the relationship I was in, but I want to point out a very serious issue, an issue I have spoken about many times before and that is racism. The past weeks this subject was omnipresent, both in my private life as in the media. I would like to share four events of the past weeks that show my dissatisfaction concerning this serious threat.

The first two ran-ins with racism were some that happened not too long ago. The first one was directed towards myself. When I was checking the mails I received on a social network site, I received a very insulting message about one of my photos, a photo that pictured a friend, a Belgian-Congolese music artist and myself backstage at his showcase of last December. This is the message I received: “You are the worst low class whore i've ever seen shame on you!!! You should show these pictures to your father and see what he thinks?? Go back to fucking monkeys and apes thats what you deserve you piece of crap”. The second confrontation came not so long afterwards; it was only a matter of some hours. The father of his ex-girlfriend told him that black and white should be separated from each other.
See I know I should not let this bother me because it shows more about their intelligence and spoiled thoughts, but yet it makes me so mad. How can people even think like that? Having heard some arguments that do not make sense, I am starting to believe it is just a lack of intelligence, competence and social conscience. Things like this should be taken seriously, and not minimized by saying it is only a small part of the population that thinks this way because that is unfortunately not true. There is a growing part of the population that thinks this way and this all over the world. A good example is the third ran-in.

This one has surfaced today. There are elections for the European Parliament this week and the Netherlands has leaked the first results this morning. The outcome is that the PVV of Wilders has wan the elections with a strong outcome of 17%. I don’t know if any of my readers are aware of the political stances of this party, but it can be compared to those of Belgians Vlaams Belang. They both stand for a nation that is free from Muslims, free from immigrants and claim to be a party for the man in the street, but if you look more closely at their program, it will only make the wealthy more wealthier and the poor even more poor.
As a future lawyer, I understand the importance of freedom of speech and the democratic representation, but there also has an importance assessment to be made. Is this kind of freedom of speech still appropriate in a Western world with its many nationalities and plurality of human beings? Does freedom of speech give people the right to discriminate other human beings based on race? No it does not and it will only raise more hate between human beings. I think that both governments have given some signs that it is not acceptable, but not strong enough in my opinion. They condemned preamble of Vlaams Belang, the Vlaams Blok party for racism, but their successor is basically doing the same thing. Other Belgian parties have set up a Cordon Sanitaire, but this has become a fact that the party likes to use to address as the “non-democratic” government that prevents from all voices to be heard. The Netherlands have condemned Wilders’ release of the movie Fitna, a movie that called the Koran fascistic book that incites violence.
I am wondering how Europe’s stance will be when they are confronted with this and if the European Court of Human Rights will rule when they have to rule about articles 10 (freedom of expression) and article 14 (discrimination). I hope and I think they would rule in favor of discrimination or this would be a very bad sign for the equality between human beings. Because in the end that is what this is all about, people can not be simplified and put and/or ruled by a race label, because that would be a lack of respect and dignity to the human race.

About the last ran-in, I would like to state I am neutral. It happened during the game for the championship between RSC Anderlecht and Standard de Liège. According to the player of Standard, the American with Nigerian roots Onyewu, the player of the component, Anderlecht’s Van Damme, called him a dirty monkey. Did this really happen, I have no idea because I did not watch the game and there are so called no witnesses or if there were, they preferred to ignore it. But apart from all this did he or did he not, it should not be allowed, especially in a game like this. I can understand that when the tension gets high, things can be said, but calling each other like that… Not acceptable. Almost the whole world is crazy about football and it sets an example for many people, especially young children that join their fathers to the games of their preferred club. It is good that Italian side Juventus has been ruled to pay for the racist choirs of their supporters. I truly believe that many players, mostly those of African origin, are still discriminated and the victim of racism and maybe that is why it is good that someone with a head on his shoulder stands up for those who do not have the courage to do so, I just hope that, in this case, the things that are claimed to be said are really said if it really goes to court because innocent people don’t have to pay for those that are guilty.

I will rest my case about this for now but I hope that people will unite against discrimination and racism. It is just wrong!

Ten commandments - Relationship standards

There is a point in every woman’s life where she realizes that enough is enough. I have reached that point too – or maybe I have even crossed another line, a line that makes me feel indifferent about things. Indifference because it has happened few times too often. From now on I will not lower my standards any longer – for no one.

Dear unknown – future boyfriend/husband,

I have serious doubts that there is something as a mister right on the planet earth. I seriously doubt that there is something like a serious man. If you think you are that one mister right, then I am afraid you will have to suffer and pay the deuces for all the lame boys that came before you and made me into a bitter woman. I have compromised too often, and this won’t happen again.

This is my bible; these are my “ten commandments”.

Thou shall love me for who I am – If you are only interested in physical appearance, you can better move on straight away. Few years ago I would be depressed when someone would dump me because I was too fat or too ugly, but I grew up. If a person does not want to be seen with me because of how I look, then that person is superficial and not worth the time. I am intelligent and have a bright future ahead of me; I am witty and funny, carrying and loving; if those things do not prevail physics, then I do not want to frequent you or even know you.

Thou shall never (ab)use me – Claiming to love someone just to get laid is not only the lowest thing you can come up with, it also shows your morals and respect. I’ve had people using me for their own pleasure but none of them had the balls to admit it. If you think you can be a big boy and have the right to use someone, then also have the guts to admit your actions and intentions. This also stands for abuse, whether this be emotional or physical abuse. Bringing someone down because of your own personal weakness is not tolerated; go get professional help.

Thou shall not stand in the way of my goals and future – I understand the importance of a degree and education, if you cannot accept the fact I have no time to spare during exam time or deadlines, then move on because I have no time to waste. I am not going to fail an exam or miss a deadline just to spend time with you because you cannot wait for one day to see me.

Thou shall have a degree or career – This commandment is related to the previous one. People who consider working in a factory stocking goods in trucks from 9 to 5, getting home and expecting food to be on the table and after finishing dinner, go “chill with the homies” while the wife cleans up, as a career, then I am sure we are not on the same level and that we will never have a successful relationship. I want a man that is career driven (degree or self-made man) and that is passionate about his career (career going from business to sports – as long as you understand that nothing comes for free and everything requires efforts and sacrifices.).

Thou shall respect me and see me as your equal – I am not the type of woman that obeys her man. Relationships are between equals and that is how I want to be treated. In relationships the principle of co-decision is applicable. This means that no one will ever tell me what I can or cannot do. I am not an obeying/submissive type of person and will never be one. If you are stuck in the old days when women used to stay home and be a slave to their man, you choose the wrong woman. Kindly move on.

Singstar

Patience, a word that is just not in my dictionary. Yesterday mom and I drove my grandparents car to the yearly motor vehicle inspection for cars older than three year. So we were standing in line for ten minutes or so and I already started to get all bored and stuff… Luckily I found this duster in the cupboard of the car so I could give it a clean out to pass time. I wonder how many years it has been since the inside of the car last saw a vacuum cleaner. I would roughly guess a year of three, maybe four… Anyway, when we were already in half, we neared the sign that calculates the waiting time and it said forty-two minutes. I think I the courage was in my shoes at that time. I praised myself lucky the weather wasn’t as warm as few days ago because the car doesn’t have air conditioning, nor does it have a radio! And off course, the one time I leave my handbag with laptop and iPod at home is when I needed it most. So what do we do when there is no radio around? Yes, correct guess, we start humming ourselves! The play list contained songs like Not The Girl by Dare, Invisible by Jennifer Hudson, Roll It Gal by Alison Hinds, Rehab by Amy Winehouse and just when I wanted to start Umbrella by Rihanna, it was finally our turn! I survived the waiting, yet I doubt the cars around me survived my singing skills… The car passed the inspection with easy by the way!

There are two things that can make or break a day, one is love and the other one is the weather. The first is right on track! I’ve never felt so good as I am feeling right now and it seems to affect my whole attitude. I’ve never been skinny and never pulled that much attention as some of my other female friends. But ever since I know Auguste, everyone says my self-confidence grew by the second and I am just shining so hard that it is impossible not to notice me… I think they are just playing me though because I am still low-key and haven’t changed my way of walking nor dressing… Okay, besides the large sunglasses then maybe… Anyway, for the first time in my life I feel 100% comfortable in my own skin, yet I feel just plain fat compared to his “chicken chest”. I think I will start an intensive course of Zumba real soon to get rid of all the baby fat and to regain some muscles I lost when I had to put horseback riding on hold or otherwise I don’t think anything will happen with the lights on if you know what I mean… Other subject, the weather! It has been such a lovely weather the past weeks, even a bit too lovely for the time of the year, but now it has changed the past few days. It’s cold and raining all the time. It just makes me depressed! I love waking up with the sun in my eyes, birds singing… but rain? Yuck! It has one advantage though; it allows me to catch up some sleep I lost while enjoying the sun. Whenever the sun is shining, I tend to cut back sleep drastically. On a “normal” day, I often sleep between seven to ten hours a day and during weekends even more, but once the sun is there again, it is barely five or six hours. So today I woke up around six in the morning, logged on to see if my sweetie was online, went back to bed until ten, logged on again, and yet again I went to bed. I woke up around twelve-thirty, had a quick lunch, fell asleep behind my laptop until my lazy bones was texted awake… After a wonderful conversation I made dinner and now I am going to take a nap until sweetie wakes me up again! What else can you do on a rainy day besides catching up sleep? Nothing!

The play-offs have begun again and I am putting all my hopes on the Miami Heat. After the disastrous 2007-2008 seasons where they ended last of the whole league, a new start would be surely welcome! From 2006 Champions to the worst team… But hey, beating the Atlanta Hawks must be possible so fingers crossed! It’s been 6 years ago that one of the best players ever, Michael Jordan retired for good. He was just amazing and I still remember some of his best dunks or alley-oops! Seeing him play was a true pleasure to the eye!

Happy Easter!

Someone should punish me for not blogging daily, as I should be supposed to… But anyhow, happy Easter everybody! I know it sounds silly, but when I woke up today I took a quick peak at the garden, just to check no one left any hidden eggs for me. Ha! Really, it used to be a tradition here. Mom and dad always hid chocolate eggs in the garden for me to look on Easter. The good old days…

Talking about that “the good old days”-feeling, mom convinced me to join her and some friends from down the street to the village fair yesterday evening, probably because they needed a responsible non-alcohol drinking persona in case they ended up drunk! But anyhow, it brought back flashbacks! When I used to be little, mom and I used to spend every Wednesday and Saturday at the yearly village fair! I always wanted to go fishing or horseback riding! Hours we’ve spend at the fishing stand or waiting for the highest horse to get available. Bringing back old memories for sure! The fishing got out of my blood once I grew up, but the horseback riding didn’t! I think that even after all those years I still adore horses and, even though I was forced to quit due to a busy university schedule, I am sure that if I would get on a horse right now, I would be sold again and will start riding again frequently.

Mom starts to understand that her little girl is growing up and isn’t so little anymore and I think it sometimes hurts, so I got to take it easy on her. Or the short pain? Haha, I am evil, but not that evil… Or am I? Back to the village fair, I haven’t noticed it at all, but mom got grumpy when she noticed that a guy has been staring at me for a long while. I honestly did not even pay attention to it because I was in deep thoughts.

And I have been enjoying my new sunglasses and handbag to the fullest the past few days! It has been amazing weather (yesterday it was even around 25°C) with a lot of sun! So I have been rocking town with my hair in a tight ponytail so I could show of my new loose tunic with very special neckline that is low cut on the back. This I combined with a dark straight cut jeans, my pointy shoes and to top it off, my bracelet, handbag and sunglasses! Yes, I brought the Hollywood glamour to Belgium! No, I am not a fashion victim, I am a Diva! I am fashion-conscious but this without blindly following the latest fashion trends. I still keep my own style and won’t wear anything I don’t like, even though it is fashionable at that time.

Good news from my lip though! After a week of itching and barely being able to eat, drink and talk, it seems to be healing quite well. I still can’t move my lip like I am used to, but at least I can do most movements without pain or bleeding. But the ankle isn’t healed yet. It has been hurting for over a month now and I think I really need to X-ray it to check what is wrong. It is the same ankle I sprained like 5 years ago. It had every possible color of the rainbow back then and swollen for almost two weeks, but it healed and I never even went to see a doctor. It doesn’t look swollen now, nor does it look blue or anything, it is just these heavy pain ticks when I put pressure on the tips of my toes or stretch them…

Did anyone see those images of the earthquakes in Central Italy of the past week? Over 200 people died and the youngest one was only few months old. An estimated 1 out of 7 people that lived in the area died. I don’t want to think about that happening in my town. It is really such an awful thing… One brave woman of over 90 years old testified that she was knitting while she was waiting to be rescued! I don’t think I would have been able to keep myself that relaxed as her if I was covered under furniture and the remaining of a house. I would most likely have started to hyperventilate…

This year it has been 15 years ago the Rwandan Genocide took place. I saw a documentary of Peter Verlinden on the subject. He works for the Belgian news and is known for his Great Lake-area journalistic work. Certain things are never questioned about this tragic event. Paul Kagame has always been seen as the savior and the one that ended the tragic event, but some say that he is just as bad as the Interahamwe because his final goal was gaining political powers.

History of a Genocide, Kagame's FPR marches on, "The Killing Fields", Why the Belgians had to die and Apologies to a criminal as Kagame are misplaced. All documentaries are taken from the redactie.be news site and are either in Dutch or French with few English.

I'm spoiled!

I fell with my butt in the butter the past few weeks. Last Friday I got this amazing new Guess handbag because my old one was totally wore out. Yesterday I also got new D&G sunglasses. Thank you mom for both, you are the best! I just hope that next season the sunglasses won’t go from huge to small, otherwise I am screwed. I would really hate it if I can only wear them one season. Mehn, he’s right, I am a fashion victim. I so hate it when he is right and I’m wrong.

I want to go to NYC so badly. You would think that after nagging about it for some days, my parents would get tired of it and let me go, right? I really hope this is the case because my whole heart, body, mind and soul is aching and longing to go… Keep your fingers crossed for me please!

Last night I was able to, through the help of a friend, lay my hands on the new Dare Art Alade album, un.DAREY.ted. He is one of my favorite Nigerian R&B artists, after P-Square of course. What caught my attention is that, just like on his previous album, he chooses the normal English language as the main language on the CD, just like he did on his first album, From Me 2 U. Only few tracks contained the Nigerian Pidgin English, one of them being the club banger, Carry Dey Go. But Dare got such a warm yet powerful voice. The best example is Not The Girl. This song is not really what you would expect from an R&B song, it has more this opera feeling to me, but after few listening, I did get to appreciate it, mainly because of the powerful voice and lyrics. Not his best slow song, which is Brown Eyed Angel from his precious album, but most definitely the best vocal performance.

I had this small accident while brushing my teeth a couple of days ago. While I was eagerly scrubbing my teeth, I had to sneeze (yes, the flu struck again) and did not remove my toothbrush… So the brush hit the small membrane that is situated between the lip and the under middle two teeth. Now that membrane teared a little bit! Eating, drinking, laughing, speaking,… it is all a torture. It kind of hurts a lot and doesn’t seem to get better at all.

Remembrance

In Remembrance of those who lost their lives or loved ones during the horrible 1994 Rwandan Genocide. May history never repeat itself.

Summertime

Not only the hour switched to summer time, but also the weather! Today it was really the best day of the year so far. It was 28°C in the sun, what is really warm for the time of the year. So what did this little lady do after class… Of course she hit the shopping streets! What is more fun than walking through the cozy yet busy Antwerp shopping streets? Hmm, hitting those shopping streets, hand in hand with that one special person maybe? Yes well, soon, very soon. Mr. Y wouldn’t mind the sun neither since he loves showing off his muscles… Haha, I did not just say that, now did I?

Whilst shopping I ran into an old friend from back in high school. She said I still looked as snobbish as I used to look back in high school. I think I was shocked. I am not a snob, I just like nice clothes and sometimes they are expensive, other times they are fairly cheap. I think she just bumped into me on a wrong day… Even though I didn’t wear extremely expensive things… Chantelle bra: 75 euro, Scapa top: 75 euro, Street One jeans: 69 euro, Silver leather Bikkembergs sneakers: 170 euro, Guess watch 160 euro, stainless steal bracelet: 100 euro, Gucci sunglasses: 390 euro and black leather handbag from Guess: 165 euro. That makes a total of 1.204 euro. It is not that horrible, right? I mean, the sneakers are 6 years old, the bracelet is 7 years old, the watch is 3 years old and the sunglasses used to belong to my mother but her eyes got bad so she can’t see through it any longer. So that makes that only the jeans, top, bra and handbag are from this or past season…

About fashion, I still keep smiling about this one quote from Mr. Y that goes like this: “If it wouldn’t hurt my business, I would be dressing like a thug”. Thank you lord for the business then! Haha! But what is so fashionable about the thug style? Jeans that are sagging on the knees, T-shirts that are four sizes too large,… I would constantly pull up his pants or even buy him suspenders for his birthday as a clear hint I don’t like the jeans. But I guess that he can wear whatever he wants because I hate it too when people tell me what I should or should not wear.

My soul for Prada shoes

First of April, time really passes by really fast, too fast maybe. It’s been only yesterday that the new year had begun and already the first three months are over. It has been three educative months and I learnt who was true to me and who wasn’t. I learnt that maybe next time I should listen to the people that care about me, instead of being selfish and thinking I know everything better. But what I truly admire and appreciate is a person who I once hurt so much has the heart to forgive me and even give me another chance to give love and be loved. I cannot thank him enough for that wonderful gesture.

Today it has been 25 years since the legendary Marvin Gaye was shot death by his own father after a fight, one day before his 45th birthday. I wasn’t even born when he passed on too early, but his music lives on. I can’t help humming along when I hear Sexual Healing or I Heard It Through The Grapevine. Just legendary songs from a guy with such a strong yet soft voice.

April, April 6th to be precise, it was 15 years ago that the Rwandan Genocide begun. Well the date they officially put on that tragic event, but in real the killings started years before the plane was shut down. But then the killings weren’t orchestrated as after the presidential plane was shot down.

I want to trade my soul for Prada shoes! Allow me to explain myself. This morning I told my mother I had to go to university to print my paper. Mom used her puppy eyes on me that shoe would find it very friendly of me that I would go shopping with her afterwards. She knows how how much I hate shopping with her, but I would have felt so guilty if I denied her request. So now I need to go shopping tomorrow. I’ll be feeling like a child again, fitting all those clothes I don’t like but yet I try them on because mom likes them…

What I've learnt is that there are three types of men (four if you include the homosexual men). Type one is the man that does everything to avoid staring at a girl's décolleté and even stares unnaturally the other way, so he does not get tempted to stare. Type two are those men who act like they are sleeping and place the hand before the eye, but secretly they are staring though their fingers... The last type are those who just stare, like they don't care whether the girl notices it or not! I had all three types in front of me on the train today and yet I had no clue why they were staring because nothing to see!

Happy Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

The comeback kid

I think two years ago Belgium was mourning because one of our most successful tennis players, Kim Clijsters, decided to quit the game. It was not only her tennis skills that captured the hearts of many people, but it was also her spontaneous character and devotion the less fortuned people. She played games with disabled children, signed tennis balls, visited hospitals, adopted and Australian baby kangaroo, … All those little things made her one of the most loved players in the WTA-circuit. And now she is starting a second career! Yay! Now I have a player to cheer for during the US Open! Call it chauvinistic, but we are a very small country and we should be proud of our players.

Been having few busy days! On Monday I was in the hospital the whole day and then you just can’t get things done. Been watching cartoon network to pass the time, but the paper writing didn’t get along at all. On Tuesday I had to wake up early, had to go to the store to do the groceries and afterwards I had class from 2pm to 6pm. Yesterday I normally had class from 2-4pm, but it was postponed to 5-7pm. I refused to go though! I mean, the schedule is fixed last August, and now it is the end of March already. In the 6 weeks time (from half February when classes started again) until now, that guy has given his course only once on the regular hour! Why does he have to right to put an announcement on the internet (if we are lucky) the night before or if we have bad luck, the same day at the door, that class is postponed, sometimes even postponed for 4 hours! Any working human being knows that when you have a schedule, you have to respect that and not postpone it every time because you want to do other things at the time! Try it yourself, go to your boss and say you don’t agree with the hours and want to adjust them! I am sure that boss will just laugh at you and show you the door! Then why can he?! Today was yet another busy day. Because mom can’t do anything with her arm, I had to wash her hair. I think I ended up just as wet as her hair! Afterwards we went shopping and I bought this cute tunic! The neckline is totally adorable! Can’t wait for the weather to be burning hot!

So tomorrow is my birthday. The first one that dares to wish me happy birthday will be stoned to death! I just can’t help it, but I am feeling the birthday blues already. In 9 years time I’ll be 30 years old and in 29 years time I’ll be 50… A half century… All the wrinkles and gray hair… Wish I could be forever young… Forever young, I want to be forever young…

I’m so looking forward to next week Monday, March 30! I cannot tell why, but I am really excited! I might tell you later why I was this excited, but for now my lips are sealed!

Smashing fashion

Last year I fell in love with this yellow Dolce & Gabbana dress and I have regretted not buying it all summer long. It was a so pretty and girly, yet very expensive, a bit too expensive to be honest, even for a girl like me who can spend a lot of money on quality clothing. I know there will be some stock sales one of the following months, so I really hope I will be able to find that dress. Fingers crossed!

Shoes! I also need new shoes! The last few pairs I bought were so nice and all but my feet are killing me! For real, I can’t even walk on them for 10 minutes without having open flesh wounds all over the place. Whoever said beauty is pain was right…

Jeans, hate the new flared leg trend. See the skinny leg trend didn’t look on me because I am kind of short, the high waist jeans never fit because I have large hips but a small waist so it was either too small on my hips and good in the waist or too large in the waist and perfect on the hips. But now those so-called elephant legs… please no, don’t bring ABBA back!

What I do like this summer are the very female looking tunics. I just love the pretty and girly things. Either a loose one with this large colorful floral print combined with a monotone wooden necklace (you know, the one with the small balls) or a simple plain one combined with colorful and catchy shoes! Summer is so my favorite fashion season!

I do have one summer mission though! No actually two. The first challenge is to loose one more jeans size. The second challenge is to get tanned this summer so I can finally wear white for a change!

News or no news at all, that is the question?

And the answer to that question is huge and shocking news, but it is not yet ready to be posted. Soon though, very soon. I know, showing patience is not the most pleasant thing you can wish for, but I promise you the patience will be worth it. It will be a long, very long story with a huge shock-effect attached to it. Some may already know parts of it, but even for them, there will be many other things left to unveil. I cannot set a fixed date though; it can be tomorrow or in 6 months.

I am currently outside at one of the school’s open spaces and it is lovely. The first day of spring and the sun wants to show what it is worth, or so it seems. Everything is perfect, except for the guy with the cancer stick blowing his smoke in my direction. I don’t want class anymore, it is just too lovely outside to be stuck in some dark room with no natural light.

It is official; I hate men and their behavior. This morning, I was on my way to class and because the weather was already good, I left out my scarf. Now I was wearing this long blue sweater with a soft green with design shirt underneath it that was buttoned till just above “the” area. So it looked like you could see a lot, but in fact you could not see a single thing. Now there was this guy cleaning the street and at the red light, I had to stop and wait. Now the guy came up to me and was flirting, eyes pinned on my breasts. Am I some kind of sexual object?! Don’t think so!

Under the motto “screw your fellow student”, a real life story that happened at my own university last exam period, but that has only come to ears just now. Apparently, there was a student last January that has been cheating and used his phone to receive the answers on his exam. The girl, who was sitting three lines behind him, saw this and informed the professor about this after she had finished her exam. The other student has been called and had to appear in front of a judge. Result: a re-sit of all his exams of that year, even the ones he passed already. Golden rule: if you cheat, always delete the things on your phone as soon as you left the room!

In the mean while, the whole place is totally empty around me is totally empty. The only sounds I hear is the tapping of my keyboard and the ambulance that is driving around town. Only few more minutes and I’ll have to leave for class. Oh what a wonderful world this could be…