James Brown and Luciano Pavarotti

Who thought that Motown and the opera could go so well together? Listen to James Brown and Luciano Pavarotti sing "This is a man's world" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb-B3lsgEfA

Phil Henry Show

A better explanation of what Phil Henrie does here

http://www.laweekly.com/news/radio-provocateur-2138364

Phil Henry Show

Just listening to reruns of the Phil Henry show. It's a real hoot how he is able to create a fictional guest, caste as that guest and alternate back and forth between himself and the guest. It sounds so real and the real cracker is all the people who call into the show outraged at what is being said and thinking that the guest is a real character. Listen in here.
https://www.philhendrieshow.com/

A run at Arboretum Forest

Went running at Arboretum this evening. Had been housebound all day and rather lethargic from a late night of cigars and brandy. It was nice for clearing my head. I took an unhurried run listening to my body and responding to what it said steadily building up speed. I did a circuit round the edge of the forest and then walked back into the middle and sat on a covered bench just as a slight drizzle began. It was nice to sit and look at the rain while reading Christopher Alexander and watching people. Lots of young guys in couples and small groups. Some were taking photos, some in circles doing group activity and other walking. On the one hand, youth is naively innocent. On the other, there is an appeal in their ability to be fully in the moment, totally carefree and self unconscious. I want to be like that. As Christopher Alexander says in "The Way" about letting go of the image in my mind and allowing myself to experience life. Young people are aspirational and they have fears and hurts and pains and unmet needs but they are also accepting of their constraints and take what life is giving them at that moment. So there's a kid there with worn out clothes who'd like nicer clothes and shoes but because they where the shoes they have, they don't overthink it. They walk from the town centre to arboretum and back and get into a matatu and go home somewhere in Eastlands or Uthiru or Roysambu. But they went to Arboretum to fully enjoy themselves. I think I will be happier if I just take what each day gives and make the most of it rather than constantly trying to bend life to an image in my head.

A History Moment - the Origin of Chiromo

Chiromo Road in Nairobi runs from the Museum Hill overpass coming from Uhuru Highway to the Delta Towers/ Rhapta Road intersection in Westlands. The University of Nairobi's College of Biological and Physical Sciences is more commonly known as Chiromo Campus.
Turns out that the name "Chiromo" is a Chichewa word which means "the joining of the streams".  In this case, the village of Chiromo in Southern Malawi is at the confluence of the Shire River and the Ruo River.
When Ewert Grogan was walking from Beira to Cairo, he stopped in Chiromo where a bunch of Frenchmen were making whisky from sugarcane,  and was impressed by the wild beauty of Chiromo.  Years later, when he built a house in Nairobi, he called it "Chiromo" after the village in southern Malawi. Chiromo house is supposed to be at the confluence of the Nairobi River and the Kirichwa River though it is not apparent from the map that they even connect. According to writer Douglas Kiereini, the house now hosts the Institute of African Studies at the University of Nairobi.

Who are our customers?

Businesses survive and thrive by profitably meeting the needs of customers.

If Kenya were a business, it would make sense for it to pay a lot of attention to the people who bought its products. It would devote a reasonable percentage of resources to the care and feeding of key customers so that they would continue to buy from it. Because it is those dollars that allow business owners to stay in business, make a profit, pay their employees, and remit taxes to the KRA which in turn makes it possible for the government fat cats to drive big shiny SUVs, collect generous per diems, and issue contracts to tenderpreneurs.

It is interesting to look at Kenya’s export markets. In 2012, the 5 biggest importers of Kenyan goods were Uganda at 12.05%, Tanzania, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States at 8.17%.   Of course this list is not static but continually changing.

Note that neither India, China, Dubai nor South Africa are top 10 export markets for us. If Kenya was a kiosk on the street corner, we would look at India and China as the supermarket chain opening down the street that will put us out of business. Would the kiosk owner cozy up to the supermarket owner because he got the street paved or because he added street lights that made the neighborhood safer?  

It would be in our self-interest to pay attention to our key export markets starting with our next door neighbors. What that looks like for a country is a topic for another day. But the way we generally deepen relationships with people we value is that we seek them out, we are respectful and attentive, we are hospitable, and we continually look for ways to make things easier, not harder for them. 

Is it legal to detain someone's ID?

I have to think that it must be against the law to take and hold someone's ID. Very many office buildings in Nairobi require you to check in your ID when you come into the building. They take your ID, give you some kind of badge and the ID is that you will get your ID back when you return their badge. 
It must be OK to request ID as a prerequisite to serving someone or to allowing them access to a facility or products or services but surely, it can't be legal to hold their ID. It is probably a violation of a law or a constitution somewhere. Does anyone have any idea of the legal position? Is there someone with enough financial/ legal muscle to make a case or an argument of this? I think it would be OK to require an ID, to examine it, and even to copy it but NOT to retain it for any period.

Joe