President Obama Roots and Irie......Yes I;-)

Whilst uptown in Amsterdam......

As I look at these photos seeing people wearing ice skates whilst skating on the Prinsengracht, people gliding across the ice, leaning into the bone-chilling wind and effortlessly propelling themselves across the frozen surface. I'm sitting in Jo'burg South Africa enjoying temperatures of 23/26C. So, it just seems crazy as today I was wearing a short sleeved shirt.

I'm a Londoner and I don't have skating or bikes hardwired into my DNA like most Dutch people (I didn't push a chair around a frozen lake as a child the way Dutch kids do to learn how to skate).

But despite all that, I like skating and the fact that I'm terrible at it doesn't matter.
I remember skating with my arms waving out to to get balanced......it's been years since I've done a serious skating run and I'm dreaming of what it's like taking part in a real Elfstedentocht.

I'm not sure but I think the tour is 200 kilometers (125 miles long). It would take at least 12 hours if you were to survive. In fact the ice has been meticulously scraped clean by a small army of volunteers in an effort to make it strong enough to stage a race with 16,000 competitors (Ta Rarse!!). Imagine all on that Ice - It's got to be crazy.

Skaters ride an 11 Cities Tour itinerary as they pass through the villages in the northern Netherlands, across frozen waterways for the first time in 15 years.
And as usual, the Dutch have a mini-vocabulary dedicated to iceskating. A hole in the ice is called a "wak", there is a verb — "klunen" — for clambering along the river bank in your skates.

But the Dutch are not going to let a small detail like the Elfstedentocht not being staged spoil their fun. All of the photos below have a certain kind of picture-postcard prettiness.

Copyright Victor Lacken

                             Copyright Victor Lacken

                             The Winter Berry's

                             Copyright Victor Lacken

Settling in.......

Moved into my house the other day and this was here waiting for me.

It's a Agriculture ceremonial dance mask from Mali.

This headdress has become a famous icon of African art and is a Bambara mask. They were used in ceremonies related to agriculture.

The most noble and sacred activities and tasks for the Bamana/Bambara are those related to agriculture. At the occasion of such a task, a pair/couple of men of the tyi wara association of farmers performed dances with a pair of one male and one female tyi wara headdress in the fields. 

They danced early in the morning in the field, on the rhythm of the drums, chants and hand clapping of young girls. In this way they honored the mythical farming animal tyi wara, that taught agriculture to the ancestors of the Bambara/Bamana. 

Competitions were organised for young men and only the winners were allowed to wear the tyi wara headdress for one year, during private or public performances. 

A long mythical story is associated with the tyi wara. The tyi wara wooden headdresses are always carved in a plane. Many variations exist. Most pieces rest on a quadrangular base. 

This is fixed to a small basket that is adjusted on the head of the dancer. 

Long black fibers hang from the headdress and cover the basket and the face of the dancer; these symbolize falling water as an essential ingredient for farming.

The male type shows a male, mythical, beautiful and powerful antelope with two long, curved horns that stand for the tall growth of millet, with a clearly visible tail,with a penis that symbolizes the rooting of the grain, with long ears that refer to the cultivators' listening to the songs sung by women who encourage the men while they work in the fields, with an open, zigzag pattern in the neck that symbolizes the sun's path along the horizon between the two solstices.

BDW Love and Light

In all it's splendour......As natural as it comes

Africa - It's not a Country, It's a Continent.

African Storm - Bringing the music home.

I visited a Reggae Dancehall session tonight in Jo'burg;-)
Thanks to Nick for hooking me up on the guest list at the Bassline night club in town to go and listen to a sound system called African Storm which is run by a very old friend of mine DJ Admiral & his partner former Bongo Maffin band member Jahseed.

I jumped at the chance to attend a reggae session in Africa and I realised that, reggae and ragga were alive in Johannesburg. In fact, it's thriving and has a huge following cutting across all classes and races, who on a regular basis converge on this venue to hear this music played by African Storm as they spin ragga tunes.

Often also called dance hall music, ragga is different from reggae in distinct ways. Ragga is the more popular version of reggae, particularly among the youth since it is mainly for dancing in a club (hall) as opposed to reggae, which is mainly for the listening experience for its inspirational messages of freedom, consciousness and its melodies. Dancehall or ragga is more of a DJ-ing concept, with artists spinning songs of a certain rhythm.

When I arrived at the Bassline, around 11pm I was met by Andy at the door and we went inside and chatted for a while the place was already packed and full of energy with loads of youths with Dreadlocks and performing their version of the famous "Rastaman Skank". Andy's set started about 12:00 so we went backstage and he introduced me to his crew and then got on stage to begin his set.

I stood looking out towards the crowd taking in the ambience and just generally watching the crowd dance and enjoy the music....I slowly zoned out to the hypnotic rythms being played. 

Then suddenly I heard a slightly high pitched Keyboard string resonate out and the crowd also recognised it.......they went crazy!!! 

"Singing don't worry, bout a thing" Bob Marley;-) followed by "Buffalo Soldier" as a wave of hysteria shot through the crowd and they cheered even louder!!! I was amazed and then it totally exploded as the Admiral dropped the classic "One Love" as the crowd joined together and sang the chorus and waving their arms in the air.

Although I was brought up on Reggae and Bob in general as my Mother loves him and would encourage my younger Brother, Sister and I to dance in the front room as the sound of Bob bellowed out of the speakers. I have never heard a Bob Marley tune played at a dance but, it was a real joy to see that crowd go mad for it and I felt especially proud being part Jamaican especially when I heard One love and I felt finally that the music had come home.

I think I'm home

South Africa: A place where time is merely a timeless concept.


A big, fat, huge, enormous smile on my face;-)

Sunsets like you wouldn't believe

First impressions

I’m in South Africa – Johannesburg or Jo'burg to be precise.

AFREEKA!!! The land of my Father's forefathers and Ubuntu (the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity) one of the world’s most profoundly compassionate philosophies originated in South Africa.

It is seen by many Africans as the land of milk and honey perhaps, that’s due to it having the strongest economy in Africa, don't forget that about a year ago they also hosted the first Football World Cup to be held on the African continent in 2010......That takes some serious financial committment.

Johannesburg, South Africa is located at the bottom of Africa. It is surrounded by Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho. Since I’ve been here I’ve discovered that there are 11 official languages (English, Afrikaans, Ndebele, Sepedi, Xhosa, Venda, Tswana, Southern Sotho, Zulu, Swazi and Tsonga). Of the 45 million South Africans, nearly 31 million are Black, 5 million White, 3 million Coloured (a term used for mixed African, Asian and White descent) and 1 million Indian.

My view of South Africa as an outsider is made of images from the media during the apartheid era and colored by the same stereotypes as the rest of Africa.
I genuinely believed, South Africa to be seriously poor with an unstable government, seriously violent and you were unable to walk the street for fear of being robbed and killed but, yes I still accepted the challenge.

Can't believe everything you read.

There are glorious South African sunsets for instance and the great blue African skies and the hospitality of really nice welcoming people I have met. They seem open, kind, and helpful. The rough humour, the ready smile, just the way good people make do without complaining, they just seem to carry on.

Don't get me wrong you still have to be on your toes and the Townships remain among the poorest and the least developed parts of the world and poverty in the townships is appalling, some say progress is being made but it is very slow. 
One of the things that is hyped is that when apartheid ended 27% of the population had access to clean water and now that been increased to around 80% of the population although in the rural areas access to clean water is still scarce and the process of recovering from apartheid, which lasted 45 years (Ta Rarse!!) ending in 1994 is quite slow.

And, whilst the Government maybe black, I don't quite think they are pulling the strings, to my eyes corruption seems to be prevalent along with a certain nepotism and you can see it around you.
If you visit the townships you will see tin corrugated iron houses and people living amongst sewage and rubbish but, just a few kilometres away up the road in the white middle class suburbs such as Bryanston or Sandton you will see massive building developments taking place everywhere., the rich and old money hiding behind big walls with barbed wire and electric fences.

I think that within political circles Tribalism has taken a more prevalent position, while of course Racism has not been totally rooted out and that will take a few generations before the black people feel truly equal, it's almost as if the poor will be slaves to the rich here whether they be white or black. 

So far my general consensus is that South Africa "The Rainbow nation" is a country full of contradictions. It definitely has an exotic combination of landscapes, people, history and culture, and is offering me a unique and inspiring experience of dark and mysterious Africa beyond my wildest dreams. 

Sometimes we take it for granted

We run around at a frantic and sometimes crazy pace, some called it the stress of life (although, I don’t do stress). I often forget about life and what it’s really all about.

Running around to make appointments, meet deadlines, chasing money. In the scheme of things it’s just bullsh*t. Often we just forget the Universe (I know I do) and it’s constant presence in every moment and the miracle it provides called LIFE.

It’s not always easy to understand the Universe and the role we play in the grand scheme of things. I am just starting to be aware of the Universe and the Light it brings into our lives and that this energy, this Force governs the entire world.

Because everything just seems to happen we take it for granted - but perhaps it’s better explained through “Mother nature.”

We see Father Sun rise in the morning and set in the evening, Mother Earth spins on her axis, Sister Moon lights the night, we see the tides come and go, Brother stars guide the way in the night sky. And, we forget it’s all part of a system that seems to just work constantly and on its own. 

Yes, I think in some instances we just tend to take it for granted.

And sometimes just occasionally we get a reminder and The Universe performs small miracles (Yep, he’s lost it – I hear you say).

Well, Yesterday, I had one of those reminders.

I visited an open reserve for Lions and other wild animals here in South Africa. I had the opportunity to sit with a Lion cub and look into its eyes and interact with it, no fence, no security just the cub and I. The cub even allowed me to stroke him and we just sat next to each other for about five minutes (Yes, of course I was apprehensive and scared).

But, I don’t know what it was all about, I just know that something about me put this cub at ease, yes, maybe if I come back in a year or so he would just maul and bite me and that’s why I see it as a small miracle on a number of levels. 

How lucky am I - Not too many people get this opportunity.

The cycle of LIFE itself is a miracle. Nature is simply constant miracles in action. 

Definitely, one of those days where all I can think is “Thank you”;-).