All hail the Queen

 

Two of the many reasons why I write this blog

One cause am pretty much alone must of the time so this is an avenue for interaction though one sided.

Two I like to think that am building up on my writing skills maybe one of these days I would write a book that could earn me international recognition like Chimamanda, yeah big dreams.

Anyway I watch epic Nigerian movies from time to time to kill boredom and today I chose to acknowledge Queen Nwokoye not because I know her personally and no I have not been paid do this but I can not help but admire her acting career path.

Why? Because see she has been able to carve out a niche for herself within the Nigeria Movie Industry and is in control of her game.

Not Cool

Dear Diary,

I ain't feeling so cool today because I just found out that Sunday is my birthday and the one person that I would love to spend the day with is travelling out of the country.

This love thing can be so annoying, there are a million other things and people I could spend the day with but here I am whinning over the one thing I can not have. Anyway its a lost cause so all am thinking of now is what do I give God as a birthday gift.

You see someone once testified in church that he asked for a specific something from God for his birthday and on that day he received the divine gift. Trust me I love presents so I latched on to that testimony and every year I ask God for a birthday gift.

However I have never quite received a divine package on my bday so am thinking if I rather than ask instead gave God a gift on my birthday then perhaps on his birthday he would shock me with something beautiful. I pray for further direction from the Holy Spirit and that your week progresses successfully. Amen.


Cheers

JCO.

Who?

A piece of very exciting news I heard today

• WHO officially declares Nigeria Ebola-free

It is indeed a miracle that for the first time in ages the African giant responded commensurately to a social threat. Usually scarce actions of citizens enlightenment/ awareness and government feedback were consistently provided across the nation throughout the Ebola crises.

Not forgetting the mercies of God and the prayers of the Nigeria Christians all of which propelled the country out of the health crises.

If we are to learn anything from this experience, it is that when we as Nigerians unite and speak with one voice over an issue, victory is sure. 

Like Martin Luther King I have a dream when Nigerians will stand up to isolate and treat every element of corruption that rears its ugly head anywhere within the country.

Nkem Happy Birthday

Special shout out to the man who has managed to lock me down for the past ten years. Feels like yesterday we just started out two young kids in love. All we had were each other and our dreams for the future.

Dreams which the good Lord blessed into reality, yes I had my kids, yes I did get my masters degree and yes we moved into our own house. The tears, sacrifices, arguments and compromises continue to yield beautiful beginnings.

My point is nothing good comes easy, times might seem so difficult and it feels like a no win suitation, stay and choke from frustration or give it all up and walk away. When you quit you give up on not only your partner but God that put you both together. 

Hold on and trust that everything will work for your good, like a house built on a solid foundation stay vigilant, prayerful, committed and faithful knowing that after the rains come sunshine. Look deeper cause there's a rainbow peeping between those clouds.

Dealing with a teenage son

First of all let me just set the record straight that non of my kids are teenagers yet. However recently my younger brother moved in with me and these past few days, what a ride!!!!!! I am at least twenty (20) years older, married quite early, left my family in Port-Harcourt and moved to Lagos when he was about sevenish (7) so we never really developed a deep brother/sister relationship.

So come the 16th of October am staring at this young man whose basic character composition am still trying to figure out giving me an attitude simply because I asked him to do the dishes. Lets get it straight, at my house I don't have house maids catering to my every whims, so I expect everyone to chip in and do their bit of house chores but this guy thinks that just because he wears pants, that exempts him from chores bordered within the kitchen walls. You can bet your girl made it clear to him that ain't happening so get it together dude.

BAFTA Awards

These are my favorites from the recently concluded Bafta awards starting with my two favorite couples of the night.

Power couples: Brad Pitt & Angelina(above) Jolie and Chiwetel Ejifor & Sari Mercer (below)

The special ladies of the night.


Lupita Nyong'o dazzled in a striking emerald green silk fishtail-hem gown. The dress pattern I like but the fabric seems to crease badly.

Inhumanity against a child

The mother and stepfather of Daniel Pelka have been jailed for a minimum of 30 years each for the murder and "incomprehensible cruelty" leading to the four-year-old's death in March last year.

Daniel, who had also been starved by Magdelena Luczak and Mariusz Krezolek, weighed just over a stone and a half when he died.

Evidence demonstrates that systematic cruelty probably began when Daniel started school in September 2011, your complicity in his ill treatment was first evidenced by the displaced fracture to his arm, sustained 14 months before his death.

Fighting corruption in Malawi

The Malawian budget director was shot and severely wounded on Friday in an attack that appears to be related to his efforts to fight official corruption.

The President of Malawi Joyce Banda’s office confirmed in a statement Sunday that Paul Mphwiyo was the victim of ‘‘a planned and targeted attack aimed at silencing him’’ and others who are fighting corruption and fraud.

The statement said was in a critical but stable condition in a South African hospital.

Budget director Paul Mphwiyo—was receiving death threats prior to his fate.

Why?

Entrepreneurship

I just started a course on Entrepreneurship and we have been asked to write a plan on a business idea.

Do you what to start a business?

Do you believe you can start a business?

These are two different questions that challenge your present state of entrepreneurship. I have a Yes for question one but question two is a completely different matter.

Certain theories of entrepreneurship state that any business venture should reflect the passion of its owner. So how do I integrate a skillset of project management business consultancy with passions for writing, fashion design, television, music into a successful business venture.

Tried it before, it wasn't too successful and now I have stage fright.

What business idea would transition me into a successful entrepreneur?

Do I have the network to grow the idea?

How do I hope to raise the required funding?

Nestling within the answers to these questions lies either success or failure.

 Make that move..........JCGold

Personal Branding

So Dilish from Namibia won Big Brother, old news as it may be, I can not help but reference her in this article on personal brand.

We all have a personal brand which is quite obvious in the way we talk, walk, dress, eat etc. Some people are consciously aware of their brand and work hard to sustain it while others simply go with the flow. However at the end of the day your brand or perceived brand will affect how others treat you. 

"It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad to lose it". Benjamin Franklin

Friendship

Someone i recently thought of as a good friend just recently hurt me.

An item of hers worth roughly 500 pounds got missing in my bag and her reaction was spectacular.
In one breath in less than an hour after the item was observed to be missing, she stressed how expensive the phone was and quite frankly let me know how she regretted going out with me on that faithful day and how she regretted putting the particular item in my bag. I haven't felt so insulted in a long while, miserable night i must confess.

Norwich Festival

The Norwich festival is a more conservative festival, a lot more family friendly, not so much loud street music dancing or nudity.

Nice...........JC Gold

Nottinghill Festival

I was at the just concluded Nottinghill Carnival, dealing with the crowd, loud music and street partying was wild. 

I must confess that the Carribean especially the Jamaican committee was fully represented at the carnival, Jamaican rice seems to be a specialty there. 

However the sights of a lot of half dressed women brings off a sexual undertone to the carnival and i find myself having mixed feelings about the carnival. 

Is it wrong to dance around in fancy underwear all in the name of carnival? Are the individuals or the system to be blamed? If  it felt wrong, why then am i here taking pictures?...........JCGold

Milan Fashion

Did you know this about Italians and fashion


The story of Italian fashion began on 25th February 1951 when Count Giorgini staged a fashion show for an international audience in Florence.
André Suarès wrote that “fashion is the best form of farce, though nobody laughs because everyone takes part”. Dress has always been regarded as a means of self-assertion in society, an instrunment of personal confirmation and an important means of communication for individuals and peoples. It is also the language of desire: a game of flirting glances and emulation that talks about the evolution of costume, of modesty and of imagination over the centuries; erotic motivation is therefore a dominating impulse that determines one’s choice in clothing.

To sum up, the story of Italian fashion unwinds like a fairy tale for its purpose is fundamentally different from that of fashion in Paris, London or New York. For Italians, fashion is an instrument of social redemption whereby class is determined according to what one wears; elsewhere all of this is inconceivable: beyond the confines of Italy, fashion is only a tool for confirming social status.

AOL Finance Report

I just finished my report on the analysis of the financial reports of AOL for the year ended 31st December 2012. This is an extract from the essay...

 AOL has struggled to reinvent itself as a media and news group since its spin-off from Time Warner in 2009.

Its consolidated financial statements reflect a year on year revenue growth from a loss of $795.3million in 2010 to a profit of $13.5million in 2011 and a subsequent income gain of $1,041.8 million in 2012. Advertising revenue - a key measure for the company as it moves away from subscription-based dial-up services to focus on its media outlets such as the Huffington Post- has risen consistently (7.9% in 2012).

However increasing cost of revenues related to increased traffic acquisition costs and special items and the steady decline in subscription revenues leave room for concern.

Victor Anthony at Topeka Capital Markers concludes that AOL shares may “react positively off the headline revenue outperformance” and profit growth, but added that “we would have liked to see growth in domestic display (advertising) as evidence that AOL can fully compete with Google and Facebook” (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013 /02/08/aol-shows-signs-of-revival-with-gains-in-advertising/).