Happiest country in the World...

According to researchers, Denmark is the happiest country and Burundi is "saddest". The research was conducted based on health provision, wealth and education. CNN.com has more.

N'SYNC member comes out!!

Like we ever had a doubt about it, Lance Bass of boyband N'SYNC finally steps out of the closet. No, really!! In a recent interview, he acknowledges the incessant pressure to disclose his sexuality over the years but he was fully aware of repercussions if he ever did while still part of the band. He knew he would be playing with the careers of the other boys.
He is currently in a "stable" relationship with Amazing race's Reichen Lehmkuhl. You go boys!!

News from Africa

-Congo is expected to hold her first ever democratic elections on July 30 to elect a president and parliament. A move that has been a luxury for every other nation in the region but the rich nation of Congo. More to come.

-"Dubya" is expected to meet with Darfur rebel leader Minni Minnawi in Washington who also happens to head the one rebel faction to have signed a peace deal. The other two refused citing "inadequate" terms.

-In entertainment news, MTV has launched an "African" branch of it. The same way there's MTV Europe, Canada, Australia and so on. But critics are sceptical as to what good that is going to do for the poverty, famine and war torn continent since about 70% of video clips played are mostly american hip hop.
African music and artists from the continent make up only about 30% of the output. BBC online has more.

It hurts...It hurts so badly...

It was a rainy late saturday afternoon at the end of march in 1998 when I met him. It was on March 21st to be precise. I had never seen such radiance in anyone before. You know, the type that's actually contagious. He stepped into the SUV we were driving (my cousin and I) as we were headed out of town for a picnic organized by some friends. So we picked him up on our way to the countryside.
I didn't know him but my cousin did. I didn't know we were picking anyone up, so I kinda dozzed off a bit and was awaken by the door slaming shut. I opened my eyes and there he was. Fine as hell. He said hi and we introduced ourselves. Turns out we had the same first name. At the same time my cousin stepped back into the car and we drove off. As we picked more people up on our way, we had to kinda squeeze in and some had to seat on other people's laps. Yeah this is back home so the police really didn't care about such a security breach. Just use your imagination to guess who was seating on whose lap.
Anyways, as the day went on and darkness started to befall some "rubbing" occured of course. Which was to be expected given the circumstances and a few drinks that were being had during the 5 hour trip. Ahem...We finally reached our destination and started installing up our tents and our sound system. This is like around midnight. I think I had had one too many drink and I was still young, 19 to be exact. So I started vomiting. Moments later I hear someone holding me and helping me to get it all out. You know, with little taps on the back and shoulders. A very affectionate and sweet gesture indeed. So I finished up and got cleaned and went to one of the cars to just relax and listen to music.
He joined me just a few minutes later. We started talking and somewhere along the conversation he mentioned his girlfriend. Oh crap, I thought! He took my hand and started asking me if I had a girlfriend. Which I didn't but I lied to him. One thing led to another and the next thing you know we were kissing. To make a long story short, we were inseparable that week end and the days to follow. We'd talk on the phone for hours and my mom would barge in on me and yell at me since she was the one paying the bill. I actually believe she knew as she once smiled and shook her head after I asked her for money to get some medication for him as he had come down with a cold. She did give me the money. At that time I was getting ready to move to Canada and I had never felt helpless and desperate at the same time. So the day eventually came, June 28 of 1998. I almost missed my plane saying my tearfull adios to him on the phone. I don't think I would have handled seeing him in person. So off I went and that was the beginning of the end of a fairy tale. I knew then that there was nothing wrong with me since that love for me felt pure and natural. Nothing toxic about it, it seemed. We stayed in touch via letters and e-mails but the distance eventually got the best of a beautiful thing. He stopped writing and I kept writing and I guess he eventually heard of my coming out and simply switched gears. He would send a "hi" via one of my sisters, as they were in regular contact but never directly to me. He eventually came to Canada as well and went to live with his friends out west. Then the strangest thing happened.
As if I hadn't suffered enough, fate had me move as well to that part of the country, where I'm residing right now. I never would have thought that I would be feeling this way since I was 178% sure I was over him, done and begone. But no, seeing him last night brought back everything I had burried long ago. The same amazing smile, the same affectionate look that he gives you as if you mean the world to him, the same sweet scent that has been locked in my brains all these years. I was mad, angry and terrified. I always thought I was less vulnerable than that. I know, that was my ego doing its job.There was a time when I would have given up everything just to be with him and I prayed time and again for a chance to be with him again. And now I believe more than ever in the words of India Arie when she said "...watch what you ask for, coz you might receive..." . Taken from Ready for love.

Brown skinned hotties.

Distinguished hotties.

Mid-week hotties.

Early Britain had an "apartheid-ized" society.

It's a well-known fact that modern day Britain has a predominantly germanic gene pool and that fact is well reflected in the language.The English language being a West Germanic language heavily influenced, in comparison with other Germanic languages, by French and Latin.
According to experts, migrants from Denmark, Holland and Germany would have settled there with a much higher economic power than native Britons and might have changed the local gene pool by out-breeding the natives.
More details available here

A lot happening from around the Globe.

I have been away for the past week or so and since I have so much going on in my life right now, I barely have time to post. I stumbled upon this case online about six teenagers killed and then burned in Nakuru, north-west of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, on charges of rape and theft. The full story is available here.

Also in other news, still in Africa, or more precisely in the city of Cape Town, South Africa, a controversial ringtone has become a public topic of gossip since the ringtone was launched. The said ringtone is a racist song with lyrics that treat black people as "kafir", a derogatory term used since apartheid to degrade black people and goes further in saying how they should be tied and dragged behind the back of a racing truck.
Dr Lionel Louw, chief of staff for the office of the Premier in that part of the country and also a rep of the Moral Regeneration Movement says that the form of behaviour reflected in that ringtone is criminal and punishable by law.
Although he recognizes that it's quite difficult to trace the originator since the file is distributed via wireless technology.

Taking some time off...

I love Toronto but every now and then I just feel like getting the heck outta here...So I'm doing it...I'm going to Edmonton (pictured here) to spend the summer with friends and family...I will be posting less often but will try my best to have the site running as usual.Cheers and see you in September!

World Cup fever...Thierry Henry's bulges.

I have a new found obsession. Thierry Henry's bulges...Although I'm not particularly crazy over him,something about his lower body just gets into me. I can't wait to see the sexiest pair of legs hitting some ball against Italy this sunday for the World Cup finale.

Africa gets her own biblical version.

For a long time, the Bible has been considered by Christians of all creeds to be the one book if ever, that God has inspired humankind with. There has been controversies after controversies and conspiracies after conspiracies as to who really wrote the Bible and what adjustments if any, have been made over the centuries by authorities. The latter have always been adamant that the scriptures are the closest they can get to the original books the Bible was flocked from.

And now Africa, the continent that has been, time and again until modern day, been subjugated by tyrants and invaders of all sorts in the name of all that is holly, gets her own version. How ironic.
It's not the actual Bible written in some african language. God knows there are enough of those. It's just a "sellection" of commentaries made by some "experts". I grew up reading the Bible in my native language so I know there are at least hundreds of other bibles from all corners of the continent. It's actually called The Africa Bible Commentary and its purpose is to explain the Bible from an "African point of view" or "African perspective", whatever that might be. It uses African folklore, proverbs, songs and illustrations since it was put together by some 70 theologians from 25 countries and 250 different cultural groups.

The editor Tokunboh Adeyemo says that since Paul's writings were inspired by local hebraic customs and similarly should african customs be taken into account when teaching the scriptures to the locals. He says that it's "a weaving of word of the Bible and the word of Africa."

What is actually interesting is that most african nations still hold onto their old animistic beliefs and still fuse them with whatever Abrahamic religion they've adopted. I've seen it first hand in my paternal grandma's house when I was growing up. And as much as it didn't mean much to me because I was still young, I saw how much fervour and passion they put into it.
Although I am an atheist now, I understand the need for them to have those spiritual rites.
I have my own personal beef with Abrahamic belief's impact on African societies but that's a whole different show.

Egypt's parliament wants movie about homosexuality banned!

The Yacoubian Building is a movie about contemporary Cairo, Egypt. It deals with issues such as corrupted Imams, sexuality and poverty through the lives of residents in a downtown building called The Yacoubian. The movie is molded from the best selling novel by the same title.

Marwan and Wahid Hamed are Egypt's most celebrated father and son screenwriters. They have written well over 40 screenplays and in the father's own words he says "...I think the movie will be like a document of the time we live in..." and that "...the movie says in public what many citizens are thinking in private."

A hundred and twelve MPs have demanded censorship of the homosexual scenes saying that they are "defamatory and spread debauchery and obscenity" and that the movie goes against Egyptian values. One MP Mustapha Bakri said:"...as a citizen I felt hurt when I watched it. I respect freedom of expression and creativity, but this is neither."

The movie deals with the intertwined daily lives of residents of that building and according to Mr Bakri, the MPs did not actually call for a complete ban on the movie. Just asked that the "profane" scenes be deleted. He went on to say that "...novels and movies are not made to promote tourism, but to deal with real issues of life..." and asked "...it's a pity. How can a movie defame a great country like Egypt?Why aren't Italy, France or the US defamed by movies dealing with homosexuality?".

It's worth noting that Egypt is amongst the most conservative islamic countries in the World and issues like sexual behaviour are a big taboo. The most prolific example is the Queen Boat case, where 52 men were arrested on May 9th,2001 on counts of homosexual practices.
So much for a country that was once the sole superpower on the planet for an uninterrupted 4000 years!

"I am not my hair"...

When I first saw the video, no, let me get this straight! I LOVE INDIA ARIE. So when I first saw the video, about a few weeks ago, I re-fell in love with her. And then last night, a couple of friends from out town and I decided to treat ourselves to a strip club.
This stripper that one of my friends liked and that I also happen to know from the community comes up to me for a chat and somewhere in the conversation he tries to explain to me why he doesn't go out to black clubs anymore and get this. Apparently most black guys hate him because he is light skinned!I know,eh! My jaw dropped. I was like, what? He goes on to say:"...well you guys don't understand, you guys are not really black, black!"
I go: "what do you mean we are not really black?" He goes on to explain that the fact that we are not "blue black" and also like to wear our hair in either mohawks or natural curls like some of my friends, and the fact that we are of African descent, the other dudes don't really care or even want to "compete" with us because we are not from the islands, you know, west indians!!! Oh my god, I was flabbergasted!!
So this morning I wake up and tune to BET and guess what video is on? India's I Am Not My Hair. Then it hit me. It actually wasn't about other guys hating his light-skinned ass but more like his discomfort towards his kind. I have seen him around and I know that he is into either brown guys or light brown, near or middle eastern looking guys like my friend he was talking to all night.
I have heard him before referring to some of my darker skinned friends as "the african boys". But he never calls me that. Apparently I am not african enough, or damn straight not black enough.
So in 2006 black people are not only still dealing with poverty, racism, and homophobia but we're also still dealing with self-hate in the form of skin shades, hair texture and the likes.
It's all going to be alright though. We shall overcome all this nonsense!

Nigerian Anglican bishops compares US branch to "cancer" to be excised!

The US branch has for quite sometime now been estranged from the rest of the Church ever since the ordination of openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, as well as the blessing of same sex unions. The Archbishop of Canterburry, Dr Rowan Williams has written a proposal to implement some kind of associated branches to avoid full disintegration of the church; in which the Episcopal Church( the US branch) would have a lesser role.
The Nigerian church which is Africa's largest anglican church, with an estimated 17.5 million members fired back saying that his idea was as "brilliant" as "...the heartbeat of a leader who wants to preserve the unity of the Church by accommodating every shred of opinion no matter how unbiblical" and that "...A cancerous lump in the body should be excised if it has defied every known cure," they say.

"The Overwhelming" currently playing at the COTTESLOE THEATRE

This is a play about the 1994 Rwandese genocide and it's taking place at the COTTESLOE THEATRE in London,UK. It runs 2 hours 25 minutes approximately,ends 30th August 2006. Captioned performance on 27th June 2006 at 7.30pm and Audio described performance 7th July 2006 at 7.30pm as well as 8th July 2006 at 2.30pm.
I hear it's staggering but I have no way of knowing,seeing as I'm on the other side of the Atlantic.

Male models that just do it for me.

From top to bottom: Dante, Toby, Brent, Chris, Datari, Troy

More of them...

From top to bottom: Brent, Darren, Antony Gallo, Troy, Brandon.

Arkansas man wakes up...19 years later!!

Terry Wallis was barely 17 years old when he was hospitalized after a car accident back in 1984.
The car had plunged into a creek and his driver friend was unfortunately killed.
It's a well known fact that although patients in such a vegetative state can't move a finger in most cases their brains are still fully functional and they may exhibit some reactions such as cry,laugh or grimace.
In Terry's case, doctors believe his unbelievable recovery was partially due to weekend trips with family and friends which might have helped him remember certain things.
His first word was "Mom".
His 19 year old daughter was born shortly after the accident.

Witchcraft "legalized" in Zimbabwe...Ironically not same sex practices.

The Zimbabwean government has lifted a centuries-old ban on witchcraft which first appeared back in colonial times when the hunting and burning of witches was rampant in Europe.
Of course like many other indigenous peoples, Zimbabweans have always believed in the supernatural and from day one they have believed the ban to be absurd since most of them are superstitious to an extent.
This comes as no surprise though. With the most notorious homophobe as its head of state, the government has long been known for using minimal issues as scapegoats to avoid dealing with the country's declining economy and so forth.