I wish you a smooth transition into 2014. Thankful for this year and looking forward to a prosperous, productive and favorable upcoming one. Do not let procrastination rob you of opportunities or progress. Knock on new doors and expect the right ones to open. Be Awesome. It all starts with your mindset. Set it off right. Happy new year everyone.
Enjoy the Song Selections below:
Here’s a song by Ayodele & Karl Nova.. ‘Times and Seasons’ are important. {“Asiko lo l’aye (in Yoruba)}
Hope everyone is rounding up the year nicely and you enjoyed your seasonal festivities. Today is all about inspiration. Much needed for the coming year you will agree.
in·spi·ra·tion
:Divine guidance or influence exerted directly on the mind and soul of humankind; something/someone that makes someone want to do something or that gives someone an idea about what to do or create;a force or influence that inspires someone
Inspiration (from the Latin inspirare, meaning “to breathe into”) refers to an unconscious burst of creativity in a literary, musical, or other artistic endeavor; a good idea
To be inspired is one thing, to remain inspired is another. I hope the following quotes and the info-graphic of 12 tips will help to keep you maintained in that perspective; physically, mentally, and spiritually.
What/Who is your source of inspiration?
How about trying the below to help?
Above All
So keep beautifully dreaming… and positively doing…
Today’s post is an artsy selection of photos in the red just for your visual aMUSEment… 🙂 Also sharing with you, my Christmas single ‘Olugbala’ {Saviour} from the AfroSpire Demo. A free download, a gift from me to you. Have a Merry Christmas and Enjoy the holidays
Images from Pinterest and Google
Enjoy my gift to you, my Christmas Single ‘Olugbala’ (Savior) from the AFROSPiRE Demo.
Countdown! Countdown! to the season’s festivities – Christmas, coming New Year et al. I know everyone’s getting busy busy busy. A friendly reminder of the essence of the celebrations – love & kindness, peace and joy, the ultimate gift of salvation from the reason for the season – Jesus! And as we climb the stairway of life, I pray it’s upward ever, backward never.
As a Creative Arts Consultant, I get to be involved with quite a few fun and interesting projects (many people have wondered what I do professionally, apart from my artistic talent of singing/songwriting so this should clear that air, see right section for more info) and this year, a particular project was one of the highlights. A pioneering, phenomenal, history making project where I got to use practically almost all of my skills. 🙂 It was an experience. I was on board the team as a PR/Event Promotions Consultant ( My company Dreamweavers Entertainment) and as a Vocalist for the production of ‘Wedlock of the gods’, a play written by Nigeria’s first female playwright – the late Dr Zulu Sofola. The first of its kind in the US diaspora and a forerunner for more to come, an authentically African stage play, directed by New Nigeria Cinema & Nollywood’s Wale Ojo took place May/June 2013 in Atlanta. Thanks to Zulu Sofola Productions and Chi Ife Productions for making this possible.
Thanks to my friends at KokoAtDawn Productions who recorded these behind the scenes ‘mini doc’ clips of the journey of the production. Watch below.
Hello Friends, hope the weekend started off well. I’m excited to hear about SureGifts, a gift card company that launched in my motherland of Nigeria. Nigerians can now buy gift cards for loved ones with ease. Also, with me in the diaspora and family in Nigeria, it’s a great and secure way to send gifts to loved ones for the holiday season. How innovative! So this is how it works. It’s a one-stop shop. You ‘gift’ gift cards to loved ones and they redeem it directly from the merchant, e-copy or hard copy.
Sometimes, words are not enough to express just how much you celebrate, appreciate, regard or love someone. At Suregifts, they make the art of gifting simpler but richer.
So “Let’s say you’re in VI and you need a replacement phone asap and out of cash? Check your email. I just sent you a Samsung gift card”
“I’m getting married? I don’t want a thousand kettles. Buy me a generic Suregifts gift card and I can shop wherever I want”
“I am in the diaspora, it’s my mother’s birthday in Lagos. I buy her a Suregifts card online, send her the confirmation, she picks up her birthday gift from the vendor”
You can buy a 50K Mothercare gift card for someone and send it to their email or have them send a printed version. They walk into Mothercare store and shop. Simple. It’s an online gifting hub, avoid the crowds, avoid the rush, give the right gifts.
Never expires!
Still not sure how SureGifts works? Watch the promo video:
In a nutshell:
For the sender, we offer the luxury of convenience. You don’t have to struggle to figure out the most ideal gift; neither do you have to go through the hassle of picking it up, wrapping and delivery. It’s all in a click of a button. For the recipient, get ready to free your storage room of un-preferred gifts. We know it’s the thought that counts, but it won’t hurt getting that thing you’ve always wanted instead!
Gift Cards from Suregifts are sent with love. They can be personalized with special messages and delivered just in time to ignite the widest smile. You can have it delivered to the recipients’ e-mail or physical addresses, and they can redeem at your selected vendor or anywhere Suregifts Cards are accepted. What’s more? Prices are usually cheaper on Suregifts than in-store, and Suregifts Gift Cards don’t expire!
Have you heard the saying “Naija no dey carry last” as in …while there is no perfect country, Nigeria has its own great highlights and talents doing the country proud and they would not ‘be last’ doing it. Let’s enjoy this choreography/dance flash mob (which is getting quite customary in pop culture these days) This will be the first flashmob at an airport terminal in Nigeria. It consists of a mix of professional dancers, cleaning company staff and the Bi-Courtney Aviation Services employees. The CEO, CEO’s wife and COO of the airport also participate at the end.Great way to close the year and keep the traveling public happy. Try to ignore the background comments of the mobile videographer (which is comic relief in itself) 😀
Enjoy!
If you’ve never been to Nigeria, here is a view of the kind of food/snacks you’ll see on a road trip.
(These pics are courtesy of Dapo Taiwo from his recent trip from Lagos-Abuja, thanks for sharing)
Suya – Meat and oh so spicy pepperMore SuyaGrilled Plantains and Fried Yams (Dodo at Dundun)
Are your taste buds activated? If you are based internationally, Do Visit Nigeria sometime.. All the entertainment celebrities have already seen the light, Mariah Carey, Wyclef Jean and J Moss just left 🙂
How is the countdown to the end of 2013 looking like? Remember to always count your blessings and always believe. Never Give Up. Little drops of water make a mighty ocean. Realign your mind for even greater things in 2014. I was excited to wake up to a tweet from Pulse Records with the good news that my new music video ‘Ile’ (Home) will be airing on National US media outlets #WorldMusic. How sweet. Pulse Records is dedicated to redefining the modern record label by providing top-tier music opportunities to Independent & Unsigned artists. It’s time to #BeHeard. It is time to be encouraged to make more real and fresh music with a real message #Inspiration
“How can they hear without proclamation”
Make music you LOVE, something that represents your mission and pride. Authenticity prevails for fan support – PulseRecords
If you have not seen the video, here it is: “Home is where the heart is”
Click image below to read the news
Thank you all for your support so far. Be inspired.
A Beautiful Wednesday to all You Beautiful People 🙂
I have always followed BHF Magazine Africa for some years now and I have been impressed with how they promote the beauty and style of any and everything Africa. I was actually a guest at one of their fashion shows in DC back in 2011 and been featured once on their ‘Yes! I am African’ project. They are currently putting out a call for you African beauties out there so I thought to help them spread the word. They are an official media sponsor of the ‘Miss Africa USA Pageant’ taking place in Washington DC in 2014. See below for more info. If you are beautiful and you know it, go for it 🙂
For more info, check out BHF Magazine FB Page and take a look at their lovely shopping catalog.
Have you heard of the Guitar Wiz Musician Keziah Jones? What?! You haven’t? Well, now you do, no dozing on a musical bicycle 🙂 The continents are loving his “Afro BluFunk” music, Europe in particular. An eccentric Afro ~ Bohemian, he is very relevant to the new wave of the Afro musical scene even though he has been around for a while. I personally love his branding, the uniqueness and incorporation of Afro elements ( especially on his latest project which depicts him as having superpowers dressed in a simple yet dramatic costume made out of African Ankara fabric) Here are a few picks from his photoshoot, so distinctly intriguing, a representation of a musical African SuperHero.. His new album ‘Captain Rugged’ is available on iTunes.
Biography
A Nigerian-born rocker heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix and Fela Kuti, Keziah Jones gained popularity in England and France with singles like “Rhythm Is Love” and “Beautiful Emile.” Jones was sent to a boarding school in London when he was eight, and he started busking in the London Underground when he was in his teens. He gigged up a storm in Covent Garden and Portobello Road, which led to his discovery by manager Phil Pickett. One bassist (Phil “Soul” Sewell), one drummer (Richie Stevens), and many gigs later, Jones found himself with his first album, Blufunk Is a Fact!, in 1992. Several more albums ensued over the next 15 years (African Space Craft, Liquid Sunshine, and Black Orpheus among them), fixing Jones as one of the more prominent blues-rock musicians on the European music scene in the late ’90s and early 2000s.
It’s a rainy day in Georgia BUT it’s been snowy for the first time in a long time in the African country of ‘Egypt’. The snow that has blanketed much of the Middle East turned Cairo white on Friday – with local news reports claiming it was Egypt’s capital’s first snowfall in 112 years. Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock, some of the holiest sites for for Jews and Muslims were covered in snow yesterday. Early snow has surprised many Israelis and Palestinians as a blustery storm, dubbed Alexa, brought gusty winds, torrential rains and heavy snowfall to parts of the Middle East. (AP (The Associated Press) .
As you and I know, the main reason why large portions of the continent are hot (tropical or desert) is because large sections fall across the equator, as well as two very large sections that fall within the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer. This means (in general) the continent has a very high exposure to sunlight, more so than countries in the northern hemisphere (e.g. Europe) so it’s either hot or dry or wet with rainfall in Africa in general. So this is some shocking NEWS that a part of Africa can not only dream of but see a white Christmas after all… let’s see what explanations environmentalists and scientists will have for this, I daresay, it could be a spiritual earth shift, maybe?.ha!
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