TITAN-VIC, a film envisioned by mentor Don McKellor and brought to life by the 9 screenwriters during the 2008 Maisha Film Makers' Lab...Savour the quotes below during the refreshing cruise on Lake Victoria:
PATRICIA: “So this is the ship they say is unsinkable?”
DAVID: “We are going to America.”
PITHON: “I’m the King of the World…”
VINCHO: “Pithon, this is where we first met.”
JUDITH: “Iceberg, right ahead!”
EDWARD: “GOD Almighty, half the people on this ship are gonna die.”
ANGELA: “And GOD shall wipe away all the tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death.”
The film will go on and on ... MARK and RACHEAL were the production assistants.
Monday
The Voyage to Kasese
My pioneer voyage to Kasese ignited around 16:44 PM and ended midnight. I had travelled to Mukono during the morning of Monday 20th October 2008 to scan my Arua Boys Comic and send it to two individuals besides picking up the two copies of ‘The Standard’ newspaper I had missed but didn’t know what the day was going to bring. I managed to post the 5 pages to Talleah but while sending to Kristof, Martha Chemutai (my UCU Old Girl) phoned me around 10:30 AM to replace some dude called Jackson Gray Makkeni (who had a test paper on Tuesday at MUK) in covering a certain function. He had also replaced Martha in documenting a ‘Trading for Peace’ Forum for ‘International Alert’ in Kasese, Western Uganda between Monday 20th and Friday 24th October 2008.
I had talked quite freely that morning in the Standard Newsroom with Prever Mukasa (Lifestyle Editor) and Enoch Kassenyi (Sports Editor). John Semakula (Campus Life Editor) hadn’t come but my Managing Editor Brian Semujju was around to make me feel more comfortable. I honestly felt the spirit of that morning, it was calm and I wasn’t worried. Production Manager Wanyama Wangah had gone to teach and when he returned, Samuel Apedel came around looking for him. On seeing me, he asked Wanyama if I did not have the potential to become a good illustrator, “Wanyama is always a hard man to please; that’s why you should find out what he thinks.” Wanyama responded by saying that he had recommended me to David Mukholi, Sunday Vision Editor but the girl who was told to call me played science. Apedel added, “Today or yesterday, we had a meeting about this cartooning issue and concluded that it is like the work of a goalkeeper. However good you may be, you can still be benched. When Ras was given the job, he used to draw his own things...”
I waited till 11 AM for my comic art files to load the second time but they didn’t. So I just set off for Jumbo Plaza which I reached at exactly noon. Martha briefed me about the work and terms and by half past noon, I was setting off for home in Kyebando. The taxi delayed in the park but 1:04 PM found me opening the door. I packed clothes in Tina’s ‘Timberland’ bag and my own ‘Adventure’ Business bag before rushing to the Kyebando Taxi stage but there was only one woman waiting with me. It was now 2 PM, the time I had planned to set off to Kasese since Martha told me that it would take 5 hours to get there. I jumped on a boda and rode till Bukoto Market on the newly tarmacked link road (thanks to Government or Sudhir). Then I boarded a taxi to Kampala Road. While asking if it was going to the Old or New Park, the beautiful chick sitted on my right side suggested that I could hop on a different one from St. Andrews Stage. Unfortunately, I had no time to do that. Instead we jazzed until she dismounted around KPC. She told me she was doing Procurement at MUBS Nakawa after being sold by MUK. I also filled her in on the fact that I was usually at MTAC Campus Nakawa which they wanted to take over. She was visibly amused and I liked it ‘coz it’s a good feeling to see a beautiful woman chuckle under the weight of your cracks, talk of hilarious pick up lines though these weren’t pick up lines. I was too late for my voyage to a destination I had never visited before and had no time for womanizing. She was heading to her workplace at UTODA Martin Road (Deadline was 2.30 PM but she felt she couldn’t make it). I dismounted from Half London and walked till Kalita Buses. The 3 O’clock coach was leaving and the booking officer shifted to selling only Fort Portal tickets. I heard some guy also asking for a Kasese ticket and when all hope seemed lost, I asked him what we could do. He said we could catch one of the Link Buses.
So we walked to the Link Park yet that was the exact place where I had just ignored guys asking me if I was looking for a bus. We met a lady who took us to the Kasese-bound bus. She told the ticket master that the man beside me was a doctor she knew. On Saturday, I actually returned to Kampala with the same ticket master. The doctor gave me his ticket and I paid the 15,000 UgX. A fat woman sat next to me buying things like she was in a supermarket. She kept speaking to me in her language yet she could articulate English. Maybe she thought I also drink too much Ankole milk. So I pretended that I do since I got the gist of most of her utterances but didn’t utter many words in reply. There was traffic jam on Namirembe Road as we left the park and when Makkeni called, I told him that we hadn’t left the City of Impalas. We went up to Kampala Road traffic lights and he called again to assure me that he was going to leave some things (Documents) for me at the reception and had booked for me a room. We headed to Masaka Road and stopped to refuel at a petrol station where I noticed one of the managers I used to see at Shell Muyenga while painting Arshad’s Posh Pets Murals. Setting off from Gapco in the 5 O’Clock hour, we crossed the equator at exactly 6:20 PM. Guys behind me who had been talking about the richest musician in Uganda and other things turned to making fun of a place in Masaka where the main crime is sodomy and rape. We stopped somewhere to pee before driving full speed.
There were no problems on the way except maybe in Lyantonde when a trailer ahead of us failed to move forward in the muddy slope. We were blocked for several minutes but finally found a way. That’s the time I started communicating with Robinah Kajwenge (a Documentation Officer for ‘International Alert’ I was told to talk to). Passengers kept disembarking and by the time we reached Kasese, we were a handful. Martha had called me when we stopped in Mbarara, a wonderful place with picturesque architecture even if I viewed them in the dark. Rain started falling again when we reached Bushenyi and I told her I was close to my destination Kasese. I saw two hippos walking on the left side of the road, probably at a national park in Bushenyi. Julius called to confirm if I had finally arrived and I disappointed him again by saying ‘No’ but I finally smelt copper in the air and was glad to read KCCL on a gate. That stands for Kasese Cobalt Company Limited which meant that we had finally arrived. Thank GOD Kasese is well lighted and a bodaman helped me find Kasese Executive Inn Limited (Restaurant, Accommodation and Conference Hall) where a woman named Beatrice in her night gown gave me the key to Room 7, self contained with a TV in the corner. Unfortunately, I could mainly watch Sky News and occasionally G Prime, G Africa or G Sports. DStv could not be activated and the free channels like EATV and UBC had no signal. Kasese is actually hotter than I had imagined. Some nights I would throw away the heavy bed cover.
I had talked quite freely that morning in the Standard Newsroom with Prever Mukasa (Lifestyle Editor) and Enoch Kassenyi (Sports Editor). John Semakula (Campus Life Editor) hadn’t come but my Managing Editor Brian Semujju was around to make me feel more comfortable. I honestly felt the spirit of that morning, it was calm and I wasn’t worried. Production Manager Wanyama Wangah had gone to teach and when he returned, Samuel Apedel came around looking for him. On seeing me, he asked Wanyama if I did not have the potential to become a good illustrator, “Wanyama is always a hard man to please; that’s why you should find out what he thinks.” Wanyama responded by saying that he had recommended me to David Mukholi, Sunday Vision Editor but the girl who was told to call me played science. Apedel added, “Today or yesterday, we had a meeting about this cartooning issue and concluded that it is like the work of a goalkeeper. However good you may be, you can still be benched. When Ras was given the job, he used to draw his own things...”
I waited till 11 AM for my comic art files to load the second time but they didn’t. So I just set off for Jumbo Plaza which I reached at exactly noon. Martha briefed me about the work and terms and by half past noon, I was setting off for home in Kyebando. The taxi delayed in the park but 1:04 PM found me opening the door. I packed clothes in Tina’s ‘Timberland’ bag and my own ‘Adventure’ Business bag before rushing to the Kyebando Taxi stage but there was only one woman waiting with me. It was now 2 PM, the time I had planned to set off to Kasese since Martha told me that it would take 5 hours to get there. I jumped on a boda and rode till Bukoto Market on the newly tarmacked link road (thanks to Government or Sudhir). Then I boarded a taxi to Kampala Road. While asking if it was going to the Old or New Park, the beautiful chick sitted on my right side suggested that I could hop on a different one from St. Andrews Stage. Unfortunately, I had no time to do that. Instead we jazzed until she dismounted around KPC. She told me she was doing Procurement at MUBS Nakawa after being sold by MUK. I also filled her in on the fact that I was usually at MTAC Campus Nakawa which they wanted to take over. She was visibly amused and I liked it ‘coz it’s a good feeling to see a beautiful woman chuckle under the weight of your cracks, talk of hilarious pick up lines though these weren’t pick up lines. I was too late for my voyage to a destination I had never visited before and had no time for womanizing. She was heading to her workplace at UTODA Martin Road (Deadline was 2.30 PM but she felt she couldn’t make it). I dismounted from Half London and walked till Kalita Buses. The 3 O’clock coach was leaving and the booking officer shifted to selling only Fort Portal tickets. I heard some guy also asking for a Kasese ticket and when all hope seemed lost, I asked him what we could do. He said we could catch one of the Link Buses.
So we walked to the Link Park yet that was the exact place where I had just ignored guys asking me if I was looking for a bus. We met a lady who took us to the Kasese-bound bus. She told the ticket master that the man beside me was a doctor she knew. On Saturday, I actually returned to Kampala with the same ticket master. The doctor gave me his ticket and I paid the 15,000 UgX. A fat woman sat next to me buying things like she was in a supermarket. She kept speaking to me in her language yet she could articulate English. Maybe she thought I also drink too much Ankole milk. So I pretended that I do since I got the gist of most of her utterances but didn’t utter many words in reply. There was traffic jam on Namirembe Road as we left the park and when Makkeni called, I told him that we hadn’t left the City of Impalas. We went up to Kampala Road traffic lights and he called again to assure me that he was going to leave some things (Documents) for me at the reception and had booked for me a room. We headed to Masaka Road and stopped to refuel at a petrol station where I noticed one of the managers I used to see at Shell Muyenga while painting Arshad’s Posh Pets Murals. Setting off from Gapco in the 5 O’Clock hour, we crossed the equator at exactly 6:20 PM. Guys behind me who had been talking about the richest musician in Uganda and other things turned to making fun of a place in Masaka where the main crime is sodomy and rape. We stopped somewhere to pee before driving full speed.
There were no problems on the way except maybe in Lyantonde when a trailer ahead of us failed to move forward in the muddy slope. We were blocked for several minutes but finally found a way. That’s the time I started communicating with Robinah Kajwenge (a Documentation Officer for ‘International Alert’ I was told to talk to). Passengers kept disembarking and by the time we reached Kasese, we were a handful. Martha had called me when we stopped in Mbarara, a wonderful place with picturesque architecture even if I viewed them in the dark. Rain started falling again when we reached Bushenyi and I told her I was close to my destination Kasese. I saw two hippos walking on the left side of the road, probably at a national park in Bushenyi. Julius called to confirm if I had finally arrived and I disappointed him again by saying ‘No’ but I finally smelt copper in the air and was glad to read KCCL on a gate. That stands for Kasese Cobalt Company Limited which meant that we had finally arrived. Thank GOD Kasese is well lighted and a bodaman helped me find Kasese Executive Inn Limited (Restaurant, Accommodation and Conference Hall) where a woman named Beatrice in her night gown gave me the key to Room 7, self contained with a TV in the corner. Unfortunately, I could mainly watch Sky News and occasionally G Prime, G Africa or G Sports. DStv could not be activated and the free channels like EATV and UBC had no signal. Kasese is actually hotter than I had imagined. Some nights I would throw away the heavy bed cover.
LORD have Mercy...
The Holy QURAN is just like the Old Testament and Forbidden Scriptures of the Bible rolled into one poetic Book. I strongly believe if people read it with an unbiased mind, they will discover amazing answers to some questions bothering them, I did too...
Tobacco can be useful and unuseful...
On Thursday 2nd October 2008, I got amused by a story from India that “People caught smoking tobacco will be fined 200 Indian Rupees.” Banning smoking, tobacco selling and cigarette manufacture can reduce health risks but that means lesser profits for farmers and lesser taxes for world governments. I have seen people earn millions just by selling those demonized leaves. West Nile alone produces over 50 percent of Uganda’s tobacco. Banning the cash crop in Uganda may not be the solution. Switching the use of tobacco could just be the answer since the plant has enormous potential for medicine, cosmetics and energy. Some researchers believe tobacco can replace petroleum in cosmetics and has quality human food proteins for pharmaceutical therapy like the superior kind you find in milk and soybeans. The only problem is that tobacco is inedible but as the world finds healthier uses of the plant, smoking as a habit may one day become history.
In India, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica and Australia, it is illegal to sell tobacco. Hong Kong banned smoking on 1st January 2007 in the workplace and public spaces. New rules for smoking in India were passed on 2nd October 2008. The website www.india.com estimated that 40 % of India’s health problems stemmed from tobacco use. In 2007, Chandigarh became the first city in India to become ‘smoke-free’. The only country to have banned the sale and smoking of tobacco is Bhutan. The hospitality industry and restaurants that ban cigarette smoking haven’t suffered according to a report published in the online issue of Contemporary Economic Policy. The report, “Smoke-Free Laws and Employee Turnover,” is an indication of the link between advertising and increased tobacco use among India’s youth. India is the third largest tobacco producer (550 million kg annually) as well as the consumer in the world and earns several Rupees annually. Kanchipuram District already has a total ban on tobacco use. The use of tobacco among young girls in India has risen against 3.1 percent of adult women, a WHO report warns. Seventy four countries still allow smoking in health care institutions.
One more thing, smoking tobacco grown in hell drives away the Holy Spirit...
In India, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica and Australia, it is illegal to sell tobacco. Hong Kong banned smoking on 1st January 2007 in the workplace and public spaces. New rules for smoking in India were passed on 2nd October 2008. The website www.india.com estimated that 40 % of India’s health problems stemmed from tobacco use. In 2007, Chandigarh became the first city in India to become ‘smoke-free’. The only country to have banned the sale and smoking of tobacco is Bhutan. The hospitality industry and restaurants that ban cigarette smoking haven’t suffered according to a report published in the online issue of Contemporary Economic Policy. The report, “Smoke-Free Laws and Employee Turnover,” is an indication of the link between advertising and increased tobacco use among India’s youth. India is the third largest tobacco producer (550 million kg annually) as well as the consumer in the world and earns several Rupees annually. Kanchipuram District already has a total ban on tobacco use. The use of tobacco among young girls in India has risen against 3.1 percent of adult women, a WHO report warns. Seventy four countries still allow smoking in health care institutions.
One more thing, smoking tobacco grown in hell drives away the Holy Spirit...
Crazy Things We Do for Love: Sudhir, Yes Sudhir…
Sudhir (then in his late teens) and his cousin named Atul were riding on a red bus in London, number 83 from Golder’s Green when they spotted a pretty babe. Atul revealed that he knew her: they worked together at the Macfisheries store in London. She was a cashier at the till. Sudhir kept his cool long enough to act out the part of an innocent-customer-who-happened-to find a pretty-cashier-at-counter. Looking the pretty woman in the eye, the lovestruck youth whipped out a twenty pound note and paid for a Milky Way chocolate bar. Looking Sudhir in the eye, Jyotsna Nagrecha called the manager in to make the decision. Sudhir was too happy to stand by her till making eye contact and throwing a few calculated words at her because he had bought himself extra time waiting for his 19 pound 90 pence change. On 5th February 1977, at 21 years of age Sudhir Ruparelia got hitched to the younger and very good looking Jyotsna Nagrecha. By 2002, they had kids such as Sheena (of the Mercedes Benz S-Class birthday-gift-fame), Rajiv and Meera. (Excerpts borrowed from Sunday Vision around 2001)
Alex Lindsay's 'Digital Film Revolution' Workshop
On 24th May 2007, Alex Lindsay held a workshop organized by Maisha Filmlab from 9 AM to 5 PM at the National Theatre. His work involves designing Databases, editing Films, Graphics, Burning Movies, Website Design, Home Videos, Storyboards, Screenplays…
Creative Comments (Some Rights Reserved)…You can copy it and give to your friends but you can’t change it…Adverts in the film remain. (Mindset of the market: How do you grab their attention: Move like you are going to catch a horse, walk slowly and it will not see you…It always looks ahead)
“There is strength in numbers…” Mac vs. PC
Alex started programming at age 10 on a TRS AB computer, got into CAD work and worked in radio as a show host and music director, Prime Fox Network now Sky Sports…Studied Philosophy “Let’s get everybody making films…” 1992 Real Time Games Art Director, was at Lucas Film working for pre visualization of the first ‘Star Wars’ movie, made after 5 years. Industrial Light Magic did some shots for ‘Star Wars’ (It is a Rebel Mac Unit) “It takes a lot of people to get a piece done. In Zimbabwe, we have about 30 people on one piece.”
35,000 US Dollars for 7 seconds, Spent first 15 years of his career working for somebody else (Another person’s fingers) Apple has the most advantage because of the content they add to the media…Sony’s Playstation 3 is capable of High Definition TV. Microsoft has the X-Box [There is Joost, before that was Kazar, created Skype, GooTube, Podtech, Pod-dengo (Platform for posting videos), Dig, video on Demand (Subscribe for an extra charge)]…Airlines such as Virgin Atlantic allow you to select videos you wanna watch, 3 to 8 minute shows…
‘Pixel Corp’ is a guild for content creators. As craftsmen, we call ourselves artists. It is easer to build objects than paint on a canvas. We are on the way to 2,000 members. 150 hours of free video training, fantastic shooting of green screen videos and reduced purchase prices for very powerful software. “I’m kind of a frontpage of a bigger workshop.” Equipment, Resources from all over the world, Members trade work back and forth, Google Earth (Building 3D models of different cities. It doesn’t matter who gets it done. Create a big culture in which everybody gets the idea that it doesn’t matter where stuff gets done…” Quick Time, Flash, H264 has a better image in a smaller file, (HT60) recommended. Didex is popular among the pirates. iTunes is the biggest name when it comes to distributing music….Blue Ray Drive is 40 GB “We are not a news organization…” Online Distribution, Promotion, Put in time and work together, Motion sits on XML, Final Cut Pro Automator, Final Cut Smooth (removes bumpy shots) and Server (meant for news agencies), Invigorator Pro, Animator Pro, Motion 3 (80% of my work is done in motion”)
In games, you can use two cards for example trees instead of having a lot of data by shooting all the sides. You still have to go to AfterEffects for more edits. Conduit Editor takes a green screen, edits and puts it on a card, a frame. “Allow yourself to think about what’s possible…”
The Best Part of the New Final Cut
Weird Frame Blending can be edited with Optical Flow (watches how frames move, adds frames that make sense)… It does instant analysation, Sleek little tool, DI Screen (Digital Inter-Media fine tunes all the colour [Colour grading is done for all films/ Final Touch bought by Apple Full blown system: Basic Colour Correction, you can grab onto specific parts of the image…Every major feature film is colour graded. A DI pass costs around 600,000 US Dollars…Enormous amount of control, Adjust hues.
Manipulate the viewer to watch the story you want to tell/ Speed Grade (or Grad) 5 or 10,000 Dollars is another option/ Soundtrack Pro allows you to do multi-take work much better…
Resolution: Standard Definition, 720p (Most Panasonic Cameras, Minimum size on internet), 1080p (Big Screen)
“If you are shooting for the web, there is no reason to use Interlace, maybe just for TV…” 444 (For every pixel of black and white info, there is a colour pixel, DV Camera takes colour info, shoves it in one side, simply stretches it over the whole image); 411 (Jagged edges usually occur during green screens when you use it against the colour…)
Colour Difference Key takes different colour channels and separates them…
Infamous Green Spill (a little bit of the green screen comes around the image sometimes through parts of the image in context. Use Unspill to adjust it. Videoscopes help you do the colour maths. DG Mac Pro developed by themselves. With the HDV, you get more resolution in your images. Use the grey card to lock the white and blacks of two images…One in the front and the other clip at the back. Why use green? Is it a more easily manipulated photographic colour?
[IMDb: “Where does Superman pee?”
Rachel: “In the air, actually before he changes, sometimes he does before he leaves his office.”]
Alex speaks for Apple at their Worldwide Development Conference MacBreak
LCD Screens allow more creativity than placing viewfinders on the eye…
Watch Maria (A Speech from Zimbabwe) on YouTube. [Alex showed it during the workshop and personally, I felt this was a masterful performance by the guy reciting the poem.] Alex encouraged the audience, “All this stuff is doable, it’s just a matter of starting to play with it…”
Cinema 4D, Number One piece of software for broadcast work…
‘Scratch’ is a free programming tool that allows anyone to create their own animated stories, interactive artworks and video games…
Creative Comments (Some Rights Reserved)…You can copy it and give to your friends but you can’t change it…Adverts in the film remain. (Mindset of the market: How do you grab their attention: Move like you are going to catch a horse, walk slowly and it will not see you…It always looks ahead)
“There is strength in numbers…” Mac vs. PC
Alex started programming at age 10 on a TRS AB computer, got into CAD work and worked in radio as a show host and music director, Prime Fox Network now Sky Sports…Studied Philosophy “Let’s get everybody making films…” 1992 Real Time Games Art Director, was at Lucas Film working for pre visualization of the first ‘Star Wars’ movie, made after 5 years. Industrial Light Magic did some shots for ‘Star Wars’ (It is a Rebel Mac Unit) “It takes a lot of people to get a piece done. In Zimbabwe, we have about 30 people on one piece.”
35,000 US Dollars for 7 seconds, Spent first 15 years of his career working for somebody else (Another person’s fingers) Apple has the most advantage because of the content they add to the media…Sony’s Playstation 3 is capable of High Definition TV. Microsoft has the X-Box [There is Joost, before that was Kazar, created Skype, GooTube, Podtech, Pod-dengo (Platform for posting videos), Dig, video on Demand (Subscribe for an extra charge)]…Airlines such as Virgin Atlantic allow you to select videos you wanna watch, 3 to 8 minute shows…
‘Pixel Corp’ is a guild for content creators. As craftsmen, we call ourselves artists. It is easer to build objects than paint on a canvas. We are on the way to 2,000 members. 150 hours of free video training, fantastic shooting of green screen videos and reduced purchase prices for very powerful software. “I’m kind of a frontpage of a bigger workshop.” Equipment, Resources from all over the world, Members trade work back and forth, Google Earth (Building 3D models of different cities. It doesn’t matter who gets it done. Create a big culture in which everybody gets the idea that it doesn’t matter where stuff gets done…” Quick Time, Flash, H264 has a better image in a smaller file, (HT60) recommended. Didex is popular among the pirates. iTunes is the biggest name when it comes to distributing music….Blue Ray Drive is 40 GB “We are not a news organization…” Online Distribution, Promotion, Put in time and work together, Motion sits on XML, Final Cut Pro Automator, Final Cut Smooth (removes bumpy shots) and Server (meant for news agencies), Invigorator Pro, Animator Pro, Motion 3 (80% of my work is done in motion”)
In games, you can use two cards for example trees instead of having a lot of data by shooting all the sides. You still have to go to AfterEffects for more edits. Conduit Editor takes a green screen, edits and puts it on a card, a frame. “Allow yourself to think about what’s possible…”
The Best Part of the New Final Cut
Weird Frame Blending can be edited with Optical Flow (watches how frames move, adds frames that make sense)… It does instant analysation, Sleek little tool, DI Screen (Digital Inter-Media fine tunes all the colour [Colour grading is done for all films/ Final Touch bought by Apple Full blown system: Basic Colour Correction, you can grab onto specific parts of the image…Every major feature film is colour graded. A DI pass costs around 600,000 US Dollars…Enormous amount of control, Adjust hues.
Manipulate the viewer to watch the story you want to tell/ Speed Grade (or Grad) 5 or 10,000 Dollars is another option/ Soundtrack Pro allows you to do multi-take work much better…
Resolution: Standard Definition, 720p (Most Panasonic Cameras, Minimum size on internet), 1080p (Big Screen)
“If you are shooting for the web, there is no reason to use Interlace, maybe just for TV…” 444 (For every pixel of black and white info, there is a colour pixel, DV Camera takes colour info, shoves it in one side, simply stretches it over the whole image); 411 (Jagged edges usually occur during green screens when you use it against the colour…)
Colour Difference Key takes different colour channels and separates them…
Infamous Green Spill (a little bit of the green screen comes around the image sometimes through parts of the image in context. Use Unspill to adjust it. Videoscopes help you do the colour maths. DG Mac Pro developed by themselves. With the HDV, you get more resolution in your images. Use the grey card to lock the white and blacks of two images…One in the front and the other clip at the back. Why use green? Is it a more easily manipulated photographic colour?
[IMDb: “Where does Superman pee?”
Rachel: “In the air, actually before he changes, sometimes he does before he leaves his office.”]
Alex speaks for Apple at their Worldwide Development Conference MacBreak
LCD Screens allow more creativity than placing viewfinders on the eye…
Watch Maria (A Speech from Zimbabwe) on YouTube. [Alex showed it during the workshop and personally, I felt this was a masterful performance by the guy reciting the poem.] Alex encouraged the audience, “All this stuff is doable, it’s just a matter of starting to play with it…”
Cinema 4D, Number One piece of software for broadcast work…
‘Scratch’ is a free programming tool that allows anyone to create their own animated stories, interactive artworks and video games…
“…Unless you are Born Again.”
Tuesday 2nd December 1997: I did not think that this day would be one of the Most Important Days in my life. Although I was not surprised by what happened on this day, my heart was changed and I gave it to Jesus. Literally I was born again. From this day, I started throwing away my old self. But I once professed that I was a Christian. Now why should I depart from my old ways? Well, while watching LTV, Carman’s song “Serve the Lord” (1993 Absolute Best album) touched my soul greatly. I felt the presence of GOD’s spirit probably for my first time while I sat on the floor with the lights in the sitting room off. At that time, I was living in my father’s bungalow in Kyebando Kisalosalo. I realized that I had become filthy and rotten because of my sins and needed to seek forgiveness from GOD. The next day I prayed with Pat Robertson, one of the presenters on ‘The 700 Club’ and decided to live a renewed life. Actually, I had become sin-sick. I saw myself as the cheeky spark ignition for many disagreements. The quarelling made me irritable and I harbored a spirit that made my stomach burn with anger. People could see the emotion on my face and sometimes I got murderous thoughts.
After the rebirth, I learnt that by keeping silent when somebody disagrees with you about something you truly know is correct helps, so most of the time I avoided arguments. Changing from bad to good is very difficult. In fact it is impossible when somebody tries on one’s own but with GOD it is possible. His grace is abundant and helpful. It can change the most evil man into a holy son of GOD. I won’t deny the fact that I commit sin everyday because if I did I would be lying to myself. Some people think they are okay because they go to Church regularly but they might not know that the Devil is deceiving them. That is what I was going through and I tried to run way from my devilish existence. The year 1996 alone was a crazy time; As Kalinabiri Head-boy I made enemies by default not knowing what my actions and words were sparking off. A reliable friend from a different stream once informed me that his classmates hated me because I was proud. Maybe they were jealous of my academic prowess; I came from Jinja in the middle of the previous year and took over the school. Trying to befriend one of these guys I was warned about proved to me how much hate can destroy souls. I saw it in his eyes and I hated him back so when his father died, I wasn’t sorry for him. I felt he deserved it. That is the kind of evil I’m talking about that made me invite Christ to my heart. My Lugbara tribe calls it “Ole” or witchcraft. It starts in the heart. A verse in 1 John 10 asks how you can call yourself a son of GOD yet you hate your brother. Hate was staining my soul and I could feel it eating me up. It isn’t enough to be good in order to be put right with GOD. You must confess your past evil deeds and believe that Christ died for your sins.
At SMACK (1997-2000), I spent my first year jumping up and down doing and thinking whatever I wanted. Then on 25th August 1997, the final week after Second Term examinations, I started experiencing the Most Painful and Continuous headache ever. My relief was only when I closed my eyes and slept. I imagined that this was a punishment for my evil deeds. I really suffered and my relatives - I think - became tired of taking me to different doctors (about 5). Always they said it was a malaria problem just as my chest pains were viewed even after several x-rays the following year. Luckily for my headaches, one doctor diagnosed the problem as an eye defect and tinted spectacles were bought for me (A frame cost 62,000 UgX in 1997). My eye defect changed from one extreme to the other extreme. It’s like I was going through a serious battle. The chest pains meanwhile made me worry that I had angina (a heart disease) that can cause heart failure. Somehow I believe that was the formative time for my spiritual renewal. I needed it because my teenage years would have been a waste with all these thoughts and hormones going through me. So I basically made myself docile to avoid trouble though my dad later said that he couldn’t buy that but I know it kept me in people’s good books.
After the rebirth, I learnt that by keeping silent when somebody disagrees with you about something you truly know is correct helps, so most of the time I avoided arguments. Changing from bad to good is very difficult. In fact it is impossible when somebody tries on one’s own but with GOD it is possible. His grace is abundant and helpful. It can change the most evil man into a holy son of GOD. I won’t deny the fact that I commit sin everyday because if I did I would be lying to myself. Some people think they are okay because they go to Church regularly but they might not know that the Devil is deceiving them. That is what I was going through and I tried to run way from my devilish existence. The year 1996 alone was a crazy time; As Kalinabiri Head-boy I made enemies by default not knowing what my actions and words were sparking off. A reliable friend from a different stream once informed me that his classmates hated me because I was proud. Maybe they were jealous of my academic prowess; I came from Jinja in the middle of the previous year and took over the school. Trying to befriend one of these guys I was warned about proved to me how much hate can destroy souls. I saw it in his eyes and I hated him back so when his father died, I wasn’t sorry for him. I felt he deserved it. That is the kind of evil I’m talking about that made me invite Christ to my heart. My Lugbara tribe calls it “Ole” or witchcraft. It starts in the heart. A verse in 1 John 10 asks how you can call yourself a son of GOD yet you hate your brother. Hate was staining my soul and I could feel it eating me up. It isn’t enough to be good in order to be put right with GOD. You must confess your past evil deeds and believe that Christ died for your sins.
At SMACK (1997-2000), I spent my first year jumping up and down doing and thinking whatever I wanted. Then on 25th August 1997, the final week after Second Term examinations, I started experiencing the Most Painful and Continuous headache ever. My relief was only when I closed my eyes and slept. I imagined that this was a punishment for my evil deeds. I really suffered and my relatives - I think - became tired of taking me to different doctors (about 5). Always they said it was a malaria problem just as my chest pains were viewed even after several x-rays the following year. Luckily for my headaches, one doctor diagnosed the problem as an eye defect and tinted spectacles were bought for me (A frame cost 62,000 UgX in 1997). My eye defect changed from one extreme to the other extreme. It’s like I was going through a serious battle. The chest pains meanwhile made me worry that I had angina (a heart disease) that can cause heart failure. Somehow I believe that was the formative time for my spiritual renewal. I needed it because my teenage years would have been a waste with all these thoughts and hormones going through me. So I basically made myself docile to avoid trouble though my dad later said that he couldn’t buy that but I know it kept me in people’s good books.
Coping with Bed-wetting...
This is not about female ejaculation (squirting) nor male nocturnal emissions (wet dreams) but susu-ing on bed or how to cope with bedwetting. Almost everyone goes through this during childhood but most grow out of it quickly. For those who cannot, why? One Sunday morning, I overheard a mother shout at her son, “Today, I’m going to take you to your teacher and tell her to put you in front of the class so that children can sing, ‘Shame on you!’ You are seven years old but wet your bed everyday.” Can that really solve the issue? When I was that kid’s age, I used to also wet my bed. I would see dreams where I was apprehended along with others by a teacher on duty for late coming. We would be made to pick leaves around the school and when nature called, I would ease myself behind a tree or in the grass. When I woke up, there would be urine on my bed. My father threatened to cane me if I did it again. He never really did but I continued wetting my bed even up to boarding school which I started at age 11 in Primary Six, about four years later. The matron would take my wet mattress out and hang it on the wire fence; I wondered how she found out the first time. Between P.6 and 7, I slept about three times above someone, if I can remember well, and it’s only a mat under my mattress that stopped urine from dripping to the bed below. Since this was something I could not control, I never really cared what people thought. After P.7, I went to an all-boys O-Level school but never slept above anyone for four straight years. Even in a new school in S.5, I slept on the lower deck but in S.6, I told the guy below me that sometimes I wet my bed. He understandably told me that it’s okay. Those days I had made up my mind to put a red urine-tight sheet on my mattress before the bed sheets, so the worries were minimal. The frequency had also reduced and I never took my mattress out to dry. In fact, during holidays, I rarely wetted my bed maybe because academic stress and boarding school fatigue were non-existent.
My worst bed wetting experience was between S.1 and 2 whenever I left my mattress out to dry on the high walls of our showers. Housemates bathing at the washing bay would probably unconsciously splash water on it or tip it over in the path of dirty water used to scrub the showers and toilets. Consequently, it would have to dry for more days. Meanwhile at night, I had to sleep on metal springs, only cushioned by my blanket. It was a cold period in my school career I badly wished would end. I wondered why GOD allowed this. My mother said she was praying for me but nothing changed till S.3. She advised me to always relieve myself before sleeping but I still bed wetted. During holidays, I would be told to drink the morning dew on top of the leaves of yams grown in our compound but I still bed wetted. Another remedy was to avoid drinking liquids in the evening, but even if you don’t drink but eat sweet potatoes, matooke, yams or water melon, you will still take in lots of water. Porridge and booze are other causes. In O-Level, there was a classmate who also bed wetted. From his build, you wouldn’t expect him to have the same problem as me but when we met again while looking for an A-Level school, he told me that he had been operated on and his problem overturned.
Bedwetting is an experience so inglorious that even the girl you love and want to marry may not be able to cope with it; you literally become unreliable as a partner. Schoolmates may even say that you have no right to pocket because you bed wet. Maybe it is a status symbol for success and high society. Anyway, bed wetting should be handled with care by parents. Please do not chastise your kids, it isn’t their fault! Sometimes, it could even be demonic; a spirit takes you to a latrine and you feel you are in a convenient place to ease yourself, not knowing that you are still lying in your bed only to wake up in a pool. It makes you want to curse GOD. Maybe it’s a thorn in the flesh to keep some people humble, but keep praying, you could as well sleep late after easing yourself! Parents and teachers shouldn’t intimidate children as though they are worthless; YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHOM GOD BIRTHED INTO THIS WORLD THROUGH YOU! Wake up bedwetters in the middle of every night, between 2 and 3 AM, just in case they haven’t susu-ed on bed already or set up an alarm clock for them. Sweet dreams!
My worst bed wetting experience was between S.1 and 2 whenever I left my mattress out to dry on the high walls of our showers. Housemates bathing at the washing bay would probably unconsciously splash water on it or tip it over in the path of dirty water used to scrub the showers and toilets. Consequently, it would have to dry for more days. Meanwhile at night, I had to sleep on metal springs, only cushioned by my blanket. It was a cold period in my school career I badly wished would end. I wondered why GOD allowed this. My mother said she was praying for me but nothing changed till S.3. She advised me to always relieve myself before sleeping but I still bed wetted. During holidays, I would be told to drink the morning dew on top of the leaves of yams grown in our compound but I still bed wetted. Another remedy was to avoid drinking liquids in the evening, but even if you don’t drink but eat sweet potatoes, matooke, yams or water melon, you will still take in lots of water. Porridge and booze are other causes. In O-Level, there was a classmate who also bed wetted. From his build, you wouldn’t expect him to have the same problem as me but when we met again while looking for an A-Level school, he told me that he had been operated on and his problem overturned.
Bedwetting is an experience so inglorious that even the girl you love and want to marry may not be able to cope with it; you literally become unreliable as a partner. Schoolmates may even say that you have no right to pocket because you bed wet. Maybe it is a status symbol for success and high society. Anyway, bed wetting should be handled with care by parents. Please do not chastise your kids, it isn’t their fault! Sometimes, it could even be demonic; a spirit takes you to a latrine and you feel you are in a convenient place to ease yourself, not knowing that you are still lying in your bed only to wake up in a pool. It makes you want to curse GOD. Maybe it’s a thorn in the flesh to keep some people humble, but keep praying, you could as well sleep late after easing yourself! Parents and teachers shouldn’t intimidate children as though they are worthless; YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHOM GOD BIRTHED INTO THIS WORLD THROUGH YOU! Wake up bedwetters in the middle of every night, between 2 and 3 AM, just in case they haven’t susu-ed on bed already or set up an alarm clock for them. Sweet dreams!
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