Cobbling Gucci for angels

Abandon the orthodoxy

The way conversations develop spanning anything from the serious to the trivial whilst being downright absurd with searing truth is quite fascinating to participate in and watch.

The constant protests one does field about people saying they are not divas and they do protest much. Then, as if to take advantage of our warped perceptions, one might even say they are an angel, as if that is associated with gentility, coolness, and immediate acceptance.

Yet, nothing could be further from the truth, the sudden appearance of an other being, gleaming with light in your crowded space, startling you as you are gripped with fear. The angelic being, unperturbed then says, ‘Peace be unto you, be not afraid’ as one has read from many a biblical passage.

Diva is all you see

An entrance that grand that you are startled by star or stardom with the immediate calming demeanour to put you at ease is everything you should expect of a diva. I conclude that angels are divas and that is end of the argument.

If you cared to look at the feet, if the devil wears Prada, do angels wear Gucci? Just asking for a friend, such information might come in useful when looking for hellish or heavenly footwear.

This diva don't do encores

Don’t make me over

Dionne Warwick [1] knows the way to Amsterdam; I was out tonight to see her in concert. The supporting act was something that sounded like Tiara, a lady with a band of 3, a strong voice and a good warm up act.

The lighting must have been done by a sub-par supporting act lighting technician, I hardly saw her face, most of the time she was a silhouette, I feared, I did fear, I had to Say a little prayer.

She got to her version of the yellow brick road and left with grateful applause.

Are you there?

The concert paraphernalia was poor with a stingy store attendant who would not display his wares but only allow the viewing of just 2 items at a time. Imagine, out of the body of work the gracious lady had done, only 2 albums were on sale.

I expected to see concert material like books, lyrics and other things about Dionne Warwick and her work with Hal David [2] and Burt Bacarach [3], it was obvious we wanted to see her but the concert organizers were like bit-part amateurs oblivious of the stature of the star entertaining – That was a shame.

I wait now for Dionne as I once again make it easy on myself.

Always something there to remind me

She came on and made us all at ease, we could sing along, dance, clap and just appreciate and she ran through a repertoire of tunes – Walk on by on to Anyone who had a heart so stone cold that You’ll never get to Heaven so much so I’ll never fall in love again without first sending a Message to Michael.

This Girl’s in love with you even I wonder why that I Say a little prayer for you which was sung as a duet with the drummer who we eventually learnt through an introduction that sounded like a besotted lover's words to be her eldest son and what a beautiful voice he had. Dionne suggested she had brought that song that was dear to her heart into the 21^st Century.

Alfie was always a Heartbreaker and then we got into Brazil mood where we had the best advertisement for Brazil we had to be absolutely compelled to move something in syncopation or else we were long gone – a medley of Brazil songs you had to dance.

Trains and Boats and Planes

We all know but Do you know the way to San Jose in a salsa kind of theme after that hearing I knew I’ll never love this way again even if we know What the world needs now, it is the Christmas season and to see Dionne in the flesh we beckoned to that call O come all ye faithful to have Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

In the end, we knew That’s what friends are for, a long session, a duet with interesting banter with her son as he praised his mum by saying he learnt from the best before quipping about being from a tough household that had mum mimicking a silly child – all good fun as it all came to an end.

A standing ovation and we clapped till our hands were red and worn, hollered till we were hoarse, little did we know we were about to see mega-diva, she doesn’t do encores – her prerogative, we just assumed she would come out to do more, if she did, then she would not be a diva, I suppose.

A good night in the end, I enjoyed watching the couples, male and female, male and male, female and female all caressing each other and we the singles were left singling, inkling for all the love in the world – she did not sing this. In any event she is a class act almost beyond compare.

Sources

[1] Dionne Warwick - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[2] Hal David - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[3] Burt Bacharach - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Note

All the titles of the songs she sang in order appear in bold italics in the text of the blog apart from the three pertaining to Brazil, one of which I was familiar with as a popular Brazilian signature sound but I cannot give a name.

Nigeria: A desire for equality before the law

The knightly crusader without a horse

Having read the transcript of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s interview conducted by the Financial Times, I could not help but think that his knightly crusade to ensure Nigerians respect the rule of law was missing a horse.

It became very clear to me this morning as I whipped through the Nigerian dailies on the web to catch up on happenings at home.

Now, who would have thought we had our own home-grown Paris Hilton trying to play escapegoat whilst lamenting she is being made a scapegoat.

Nobbling the judge

News reaches us that the invisible Senator, Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello finally appeared in court and was refused bail after the lawyer failed to sway the judge by mentioning that she was a medical practitioner, a Senator and a daughter of the ex-President of Nigeria.

To anyone, it was an innocuous plea but it was laden with menace and threats to the authority of the judge – she is no medical practitioner in a general sense, she is a veterinarian and I doubt she has ever shown medical compassion to a stray dog.

Indicating she is a profession might appeal to the professional stature of the judge, but it did not work; the view that she is a Senator is just piffle, she has not been in the Senate for a month and she was not there to present the Health Bill that finally got passed last week.

Piling on the pressure by indicating she is a daughter of the ex-President was to warn the judge that he was dealing with powerful forces in Nigeria, but that did not wash with the judge.

She only gained reprieve by being sent to police custody rather than Kuje jail.

It is in police custody that we find the bolted horse that the knightly Yar’Adua is supposed to mount for his ever so important crusade.

Enter the diva

She gets to Maitama Police Station and suddenly becomes the diva, we find that she has commandeered the place and is sleeping chief officer’s office having brought in her own bed and fan, and she arranges for the air-conditioning equipment and power generator to be fixed and gets a carpenter to fix the netting on the windows to keep out mosquitoes.

One could be forgiven for thinking the accused was banged up in police custody with creature comforts that might have one renaming the location Maitama Hilton Towers.

Obviously, influence and sycophancy has prevailed on the better judgement of law enforcement as she holds court in the police station giving us the impression that she is being lawful and respectful of the rule of law.

Influence peddling again

Well, I am getting fed up of these spoilt brats that get involved in nefarious activities, influence peddling, corrupt practices and unethical conduct who when caught by the law would cry me a river and not face up to the weight of the consequences of their actions – they almost always get off lightly as people of privilege wielding their status wherever they go subverting the course of justice.

Beyond the crusade of respect for the rule of law Sir Umaru – the great knight of the rule of law crusade – has to mount the stallion that ensures equality before the law. If she should be in an executive cell, then all prisoners should have executive cells, the culture of preferential treatment at the execution of orders of the court or the law has to stop.

I do not think the judge would be too pleased to learn that his orders have been be carried out with such levity so as to undermine his authority – send her to the executive penthouse of Kuje Prison and make sure the gates are properly locked up.

Current Developments

However, despite my protestations, she has now be granted bail, but the irony of it all must not be lost on anyone, I suppose removal men had to be called in to move her creature comforts back home.