Highly creative, yet another platform where real artists share really artistic art. Like Christopher Okigbo once opined, Art is an essoteric gratification which only appeals to madmen and specialists. Laymen will never understand real art.
“I later learnt that Murua, like many people across the world with blogs and websites, is not a journalist.”…
I have only one thing (out of many) to say… JOURNALISTS IN KENYA HAVE DONE NOTHING FOR US EXCEPT WRITE US BAD HEADLINES, SENSATIONAL STORIES, MISREPRESENTED THE WANAINCHI… etc etc…
Otieno, instead of having the time to criticize someone initiative; please set up your own WELL WRITTEN, GRAMATICALLY CORRECT AND EXTREMELY INTERESTING website and let us learn from you.
I am a blogger and I won’t apologise for writing what I write. I am also an avid reader of NairobiLiving and I think he is doing a great job. Now that you have a blog… educate us with your Journalistic writings…
Shame on you. You think that writing is the preserve of journalists and professional writers?
You obviously do not know what blogging is all about. There are no rules one just writes their thoughts or whatever they fancy. i am yet to meet someone who’s thoughts keep up with m=being grammatically correct.
Please take your snobbish, stuck-up, uptight, judgemental grammatically correct and boring self to the hell-hole you came from! Yep I said it is that too ungrammatical and unproffesional for you. Welcome to the world baby, leave James and people like him alone. He has the freedom to write what he wants and you have the right to not read what he writes and the rest of us have a right ku-enjoy his writing.
Ushindwe!
‘When web designers and school children and lunatics begin to beam their thoughts and pictures for the world to see, you feel the need for good writers, editors and photographers.’
Err, what happened to freedom of expression. Ati you feel the need for good writers! Bloody hell! Not all of us want that. and from reading your material your ‘good writing’ ain’t all that.
Live and let live. Writing, photography etc are not the preserve of your snobbish calibre of people.
His pants hang low, that’s where his ignorance lingers
This line is sheer POETRY, indeed the best verse of scripture published by a Kenyan this side of 2006. Oh, that the muse that inspired that force you (like Ovid’s muse did) to bring some more of that. A more sublime line u will rarely find!
Eish boss! Who died and made you the king of all things literal and grammatically correct?
Your arguments on The Bandit’s work (or lack thereof from your persepective) hold as much water as trawling net would. I will echo the sentiments of the previous comments in that if this blog doesnt meet your rather high-horsed standards, then perhaps
- go elsewhere and search for some other “literal piece” that does
- put up a super blog that meets and surpasses these so-called good blog criterion.
What’s wrong with Otieno Amisi, or anyone else for that matter, trying to do things right, trying to right the many wrongs we make in our writing? Why is everyone so busy defending bad English in the name of free speech? Go Amisi, go! Tell em, Tell em!
Jully I am not defending bad English in the name of free speech. What is being argued here is that whether or not non-writers should be able to have a platform to showcase their work. Blogging is one such platform, and you don’t here us begrudging Amisi on all the media that is available to take up his literary work. Speaking of which it is “Tell them, Tell them!” not “Tell em, Tell em” if we must be grammatically correct.
What is happening here is akin to what happened to auto workers in the midwest in the US and more recently to some IT workers in the US (sorry I live in the US so I can only use examples that quickly spring to mind).
For years, these workers had a comfortable middle-class life until the asian tigers arose.These companies were slow to adapt and you know the rest of the story with what is happening to Ford and GM.
If you were in the IT industry in the US in the early to mid 90’s, you may remember how good it was, until outsourcing created the perfect storm and it was sink or swim.
Otieno Amisi is very scared that he has invested all his time to become a journalist (a profession that comes across to me as being filled with a lot of hubris in Kenya, don’t know why) and is suddenly drowning in all this creative material being unleashed via the internet.
Suddenly the playing field is level and he cannot take it.
Bloggers were treated with scorn and mistrust in the US a few years ago until they started breaking news way ahead of the major corporate media here and what did they (corporate media) do? They embraced them and created partnerships. You cannot watch a newscast in the US that will not refer to a blog as a reference.
I would like to take this opportunity to personally welcome Otieno Amisi to the internet space. Mr.Otieno there is nothing inappropriate with your actions,after all sir,you felt an urge bestowed on you, by your gift as a writer to comment.About bad english, not all of us are comfortable with harsh vocabs and phrases to project eloquence,for me simple applies..Did someone talk about “Real Art”? I ooze ART, as not conventional!
Once you present yourself as a public figure.. scrutiny and bashes alike are enough to make you wish,you were an ostrich,bury your head in the underground only in this case,when you lift your head up..you are more than willing and able to go all the way out…
I always heard my Luo friends brag about their brain prowess ( i am sure you no doubt know what i am saying): How come all these bright people have not been able to come up with solutions that assist their people? How come there is too much blame being pushed (rightly sometimes) to others for the problems experienced in nyanza?
I am not trying to be tribal in my thinking, but given the nature of kenyan society, no Kikuyu or kalenjin millionaire will be interested in the problems of the area. The Luo gentlemen needs to own up to these problems and tackle them
Always wondered: how do the local people benefit? I hear people say that there are nwo oranges to be found in siaya town, but, are they free? Is that all? We all know, that with the use of agro-chemicals, pesticides, etc for crops, the environment is being affected. Is whatever the people are getting in return worth the risk their lives are being subjected to? And with their limited incomes, how ready are they to deal with the health problems that bound to arise?
I wish you could be answering/troubleshooting based on such items( of course be careful for your own life, since pple can go to any lengths to maintain their wealth)
[...] For more info on this topic, check out: The Nation, “Obama’s Ruined Homeland” Pambazuka News, “Community rights and foreign direct investment” Creative Ventures Blog – Storm in Yala Swamp [...]
Dear Modie,
I bet you never heard of New Age or Joliso, or Dhana, or East Africa Journal, or your brief on East African literature is rather shallow. This piece appeared some time in 1993 in the Sunday Nation. And by the way, 2 of Amisi’s essays appear in Prof Bernth Lindfors’ Black African Literature in English.
[...] For more info on this topic, check out: The Nation, “Obama’s Ruined Homeland” Pambazuka News, “Community rights and foreign direct investment” Creative Ventures Blog – Storm in Yala Swamp [...]
The Yala swamp project is stinking and the community members are suffering because they are being forced out of there ancestral land.Also there is high level of corruption,leaders are being bribed and here leaders include,church leaders,politicians and even provincial adminstration.
Next time you are invited fore such a workshop read between the lines and konw the intentions of the organisers that is why bring all the journalist for free?are you sure the organiser were not trying to get free publicity through the back door?
Fore your information the role of a journalist is to try and unearth fact which the public cant get to know while they need to know. while public relation is the cheaper and less risky career and involves sugar coating facts to hide the truth of bad thing that the organisation might be involved in.If all companies were doing bussiness according to the books why would they need a PR firm?
For your information a good journalist does not always translate into a good PR practitioner period!
Foods for thought.
What could you have done if after celtel sponsoring the event you went and found out that they were exploting their consumers?
Good jod your blog is intersting
to imagine that all that vitriol is coming from a person who said in a recent interview that entertainment is nowadays becoming a business, or something to that effect. Entertainment has always been a business. if he is so good, how come he ended up being a simple columnist after being a whole CEO. should have been something like syndicated columnist, like journalists of his calibre in all those countries he wants to mention. if he is so good, how come he could not hold his own at standard? mshindi is history, struggling to stay relevant, but everytime he speaks, it just shows he is irrelevant, and his words point directly to a political career — he can make a very good councillor, then he can speak for the sake of speaking
Absolutely hilarious….!!!rib cracking! but so very true. just wondering, haven’t you noticed what this greatness campaign has done…and sucessfully.. mark you. Note just how great people ‘feel’ or act when they have drank that dark barley.The last few years have caused the past generation mild heart attacks but they have accepted it. In 10 years time, the sex education that’s in schools will have evolved to practicals…just to get the point perfectly through….like chemistry and biology practicals. The recent sex surveys have opened parents eyes and they can now see just how important it is to talk about sex. We cannot ignore the comet that’s coming(albeit late compared to other states)….we will talk about sex; in the office,in church,in the matatu…everywhere. You better take that!
I thoroughly enjoy Murua’s Nairobi Living, typos and a few unsavory remarks notwithstanding. It is a courageous effort that keeps me updated on goings on among my peers and former college mates in Nai’ and around the world.
I appreciate the angle at which you have perceived this topic from…and I respect your opinions. However, I choose to look at it this way:
- Kenya has been and still is a sexually myopic state and culture. People have sex. A lot. Every day. Every hour. It is part of our nature and hiding in shadows of denial or turning a blind eye is the very reason people are reluctant or ashamed to talk about sex to their children or their peers. People are dying of AIDS like flies in a Doom factory, yet we will still be sneaky and ashamed when buying a pack of condoms at Uchumi. The church, schools and other institutions still cringe at the word sex being mentioned at any point in time. I think that the media is playing a crucial role in opening us up (noo pun intended!) sexually – not to become sexual miscreants and deviants, but to be more aware of our sexuality, of our sexual nature, of the consequences of our sexual actions and be able to unashamedly voice & discuss related topics.
- Advertising is about making the product or service being sold seem as attractive as possible to a potential consumer to the point at which they will be convinced to actually pay for the product or service. If you have a problem with how sex is used to beef up adverts e.g. of cars – then I challenge you to come up with equally attractive but assexual adverts. And see if you will make even 10% of what these ads are bringing back in terms of sales.
At the end of the day, we are sexual creatures and yes, at the end of the day, sex will always sell. I think you just have to deal with that and move on.
Those who don’t mind lewd advertising are a shame to society and a danger to morality. Don’t you think advertisers have a duty to keep vulnerable people and kids off the dangers of their lewd messages? What precaution are they taking to protect the ’shy’ or ‘innocent’ people who find sexy ads offensive?
What redress is there for people whose peace is interrupted by suggestive advertising. What is so acceptable about getting money by luring people’s sexual urges just to sell more? Is money everything?
Agatha Muraya,
Nairobi.
New comment on your post #62 “Shame! Sex Sells”
Author : (IP: 199.40.206.3 , 199.40.206.3)
E-mail :
Dude,
I appreciate the angle at which you have perceived this topic
from…and I respect your opinions. However, I choose to look at it this way:
- Kenya has been and still is a sexually myopic state and culture.
People have sex. A lot. Every day. Every hour. It is part of our nature and
hiding in shadows of denial or turning a blind eye is the very reason
people are reluctant or ashamed to talk about sex to their children or
their peers. People are dying of AIDS like flies in a Doom factory, yet
we will still be sneaky and ashamed when buying a pack of condoms at
Uchumi. The church, schools and other institutions still cringe at the
word sex being mentioned at any point in time. I think that the media is
playing a crucial role in opening us up (noo pun intended!) sexually -
not to become sexual miscreants and deviants, but to be more aware of
our sexuality, of our sexual nature, of the consequences of our sexual
actions and be able to unashamedly voice & discuss related topics.
- Advertising is about making the product or service being sold seem as
attractive as possible to a potential consumer to the point at which
they will be convinced to actually pay for the product or service. If
you have a problem with how sex is used to beef up adverts e.g. of cars -
then I challenge you to come up with equally attractive but assexual
adverts. And see if you will make even 10% of what these ads are
bringing back in terms of sales.
At the end of the day, we are sexual creatures and yes, at the end of
the day, sex will always sell. I think you just have to deal with that
and move on.
This piece was forwarded to me by Rasnah Warah. I find it amazing, ironic, and hypocritical that you continue to cover the arts, when you have never responded to my inquiries about my work appearing under your byline (apparently shamelessly plagiarized in its entirety) in the Kenya Times. In case it’s slipped your memory, here’s an excerpt from a piece that will appear in the media packet at Story Moja’s Media Breakfast this Thursday.
Don’t you think, that at the very least, a public acknowledgment, and long-overdue apology, are called for?
“In May 2006, I discovered that an article I wrote for Pambazuka News, “Hungry For Live Poetry” about Nairobi’s First Poetry Slam, had been plagiarized in its entirety and run in the Kenya Times under the byline of journalist Otieno Amisi. Neither the Kenya Times editors, nor Amisi responded to my emails.
I wasn’t sure whether to be flattered, outraged, amused – or just sad. The deepest irony of the theft lay in my closing words of the stolen piece – words that clearly did not register with Amisi when he stole the piece and ran it as his own:
“What can poetry do, right now, in Kenya? […] Inspire us to trust our own intelligence and passion, our hunger for art that is real and hard and truthful; messy and complex and bloody. Above all, art that is ours. Trust that our own voices are the thick grain, the juicy greens, we have been hungry for.”
Copyright Shailja Patel, 2006, 2007. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Dear Shailja,
You indeed have a reason to be furious, but neither myself nor my then superior at Kenya Times received your complaint. In fact I only saw your protest when I googled my name on the net. It has been there for a long, long time.
I am a seasoned editor and writer, and I view your public condemnation of my writing as an attempt to cast a dark shadow on my brilliant career, to which I have devoted so much of my time and humble resources. It is therefore my request that you to delete those complaints from public domain.
You will appreciate that I wrote the story after at least two interviews with you (one at Club Sound and another at our Kenya Times offices, and after I read your own notes, sent to me by slamsister about your Nairobi performance. Being a writer and poet myself, I am also a keen fan of your activities, and my writings are based on the notes from you and similar encounters.
Thank you.
I have always valued grace, as an idea of operation – to try to expect the best from people….I am wondering, Shaljia, whether you should make time to talk, face to face to Amisi and establish what happened first. This sounds very unlike somebody whose work I have known and respected for a while. I am also aware that Amisi ahs recently been unwell.
Hello World,
This is me, Otieno Amisi. I am Kenyan, black, 5 ft 6. Thirty something. Welcome to my blog. It’s a bit muddled up, but I am cleaning it up. Click onto any of the links and read stuff about my books, theatre reviews, legal news, poetry, and many more.
I love literature, music and theatre. I am a writer, journalist, poet or generally a creative person.
I think matters like the arts, Aids, globalisation and language are important, and I research on them voluntarily all the time.
I am widely published. If you want to prove it, just google my name and see for yourself. To put food on my table, I edit at Oakland Media Services, Nairobi. About my family life? Well, that’s for another day. You can call me on 0720 913 981, or email me at otienoamisi@yahoo.com. Other blogs are http://www.poemsfromkenya.blogspot.com and http://www.writethatstory.wordpress.com
I can not agree more with you.On those same lines I recently finished reading KWANI03 and i ve got to say it was a certainly good read:what with all the poetry,real life stories and Kamleshs Pleas.I think KWANI TRUST is doing alot of good with its vision,view on things and its CAUSE!
I am deeply sorry to have learnt that Tom Arocho passed away last week. I first met Tom, a merry classmate at SOJ in 2000 and we have been tight. We once worked on a production for his now famous ‘Mending the Ribbon’ TV programme on KTN.
May God rest his soul in peace.
Ombija, you need to come for your CD book, write that Story Call me up urgently so we make an appointment.
Creative Ventures also provides literary agency services. At the moment, we are running, with Prof Chris Wanjala of the University of Nairobi, a weekly programme on books and media.The ptogramme is boradcast on KBC Sunday afternoons from 1.30pm. Listen in and call 251218.
After another reading of Kwani, especially the Luo Kikuyu dialogues, am apprehensive about the freedom here. What do you think? Does the Luo-Kikuyu sentiment veer off from creativity to incitement. Rwanda!
I have just finished reading Kwani? 04 and I must say it was such an interesting read. However I couldnt help asking what the craze was with blogs. I am not saying that blogs shouldnt be included in a literary magazine ( who am I to dictate standards?) but then why should I buy a magazine series only to find stuff that I have already read on the internet?
Otherwise, Kwani? isnt a bad idea after all…but you could do with less defensive attitude…Binyavanga are you there? Just relax and take criticism in your stride. kudos!!!!!
In our Linguistics and Literature classes at Kikuyu Campus (1992 – 1996), those of us who liked chilling by the big water tank will remember Tom Arocho as the dude who always made us laugh.
The end result of his tendency to weave literary terms into every day language use (and misuse) was always hilarious.
After we graduated I met Tom again in 2000 at SoJ and dude was as hilarious as ever, a pleasure to talk to; never one to miss an opportunity to make a witty comment.
But really and truly once Tom started working for KTN I, and I would guess most of my classmates at Kikuyu Campus, saw a serious side of Tom that we did not know existed.
In this theatre of life, Tom knew his lines and played his role to our acclamation and applause. For me, Tom’s efforts at using his journalistic skills to raise AIDS/HIV awareness is the act I will remember most now that the curtain has come down.
I have been deeply touched by the demise of Tom Arocho. I may not have met him in person, but his artstic expression and the task he took up demistifying HIV/ADS through Mending The Ribbon must be appreciated by all.
It takes the initiative of one brilliant mind to get through to society as he did, and for that, say, man, you walked your journey well.
[...] It discusses the psychological impact of work and examines some stress coping mechanisms at both the personal and office levels. This video fills in that gap with local examples that people can easily identify with at work, at home or at community levels. Most workers in the study, conducted by a counseling and management training firm, placed lack of proper and adequate communication at forty five percent, while those who wanted improvement on training reported twenty five percent. Nancy says though many employees and managers go through psychological problems both at home and in the office, they are too immersed in work to address these problems, often until it is too late. read more… [...]
[...] Radio every Sunday afternoon. His unmistakable voice on radio was only but a facade of the daunting odds that must have weighed heavily on him in his last days. Amisi, given to a cheerful disposition, [...]
I am deeply saddened to “discover” Otieno Amisi only to find out he is dead. Thank you for your contribution to literature, Kenya and the world. I would have liked to know you.
Hi Otieno,
Please check your contribution fot grammatical errors. You’d think a journalist your ’stature’ would be sure to ensure there are no spelling errors.
Advertising sells. But sexy advertising sells even more. So advertisers put a sex appeal to every commercial. Makes sense and money doesn’t it. And money makes the world go round. Or so said Plutus, the Greek god of wealth.
But there are other priceless virtues. Like selflessness, integrity and dignity. And chastity and charity and virginity. And hard work. Whoever created advertising must have had a warped mind. Advertising is at best, amusement, at worst a nuisance. It is mostly the latter.
Whether it is sect members drumming and screaming themselves hoarse in the middle of what should be a peaceful night, or a huge billboard cutting your view of the spectacular landscape, advertising, like money, makes the word go round. It all depends on which side of life you are on.If you can Raua Mkopo, then these things were designed just for you. So you can walk into a showroom and drive out in a Peugeot just because you have been impressed by those mating birds.
I have no qualms with a flawless feminine upper arm advertising some lotion. But when advertisements want old people to undress, it baffles me. What does a bare-chested pot-bellied father have to do with opening a bank account? OK. We all know banks are so desperate they are vending their loans and services on the street. Unlike a few years ago when they stayed behind steel doors, now they have been made to believe something like the economy is so good everyone has money to keep with them.
So they have made giving out money their core business. But in their desperation, they have thrown decency out of the window. Honestly, parading a man’s multi coloured mitumba underwear on Jogoo road isn’t the better way to get money. And when nude stranger suggests that you meet ‘baadaye,’ I am pissed off.
Greatness is nowadays equated with drinking Guinness. I have never met a great drunk, only several peeing, blabbering, noisy or blacked out ones. And if you drink a certain brand of milk, your teeth would stand up to Conjestina Achieng’s knocks.Women are the worst victims of warped advertising. A new car commercial is not complete until some girl bends seductively near the bonnet, as if to compare her curves and gleam to the machine’s . One brave advertiser even named a car model “Atoti.”
Remember the comely maiden in a flowing red skirt with the mother of all slits? She is sitting opposite a man in an impeccable white suit by a tranquil beach. They were trying to sell some cigarette. Pugh! Journalists know a thing or two about the role of the media, and the virtues I enumerated at the beginning of this essay. But in the newsroom, ideals and ethics are thrown aside at the altar of making money.While newspaper and television journalists know a thing or two about morality and sensibilities, they do exactly the opposite. Every fleeting TV picture is of a couple kissing, every radio debate is about sex positions, and every glossy magazine page is a blinding close up of a naked thigh.
I love reading. So Eve Magazine is a refreshing return to sense after the maddening politics of the dailies and the nauseating nudity of the magazines. It is a welcome break from the numbing obsession with European football. Eve is a celebration of womanhood, of beauty, of greatness, of intelligence and wholesomeness of the woman. It is beauty, maturity, enrichment and knowledge and inspiration all rolled into one.
It is a celebration of a life as lived successfully and happily by women. No whining, battered poverty ridden village scar faced women. Or gossip about those Koinange Street ageless witches.It is about better child rearing, better cooking, how to age gracefully, improving relationships at home, living single and happy after a break up and doing business successfully.
The average reader of Eve wants to confirm that middle-aged women – our peers, our workmates, these mothers and leaders – have outgrown the cravings of the flesh and are no longer obsessed with sensual pleasure alone. It is easy to see sexuality in rich, famous women. It gives them power and a sense of belonging. But when every page of a magazine is about foreplay, orgasm, lingerie and lesbianism, it begins to look like it’s done for delinquent adolescents. Jut flip through best selling titles like True Love, African Woman or Cosmopolitan.
Someone at the National Aids Control Council should have gone mad by now. We furiously condemn the so-called gutter press, with their sleazy stories in which millionaires and political aspirants allegedly sleep with whoever. But we devour with glee huge billboards and images of stark nakedness. Even in the land of Red Pepper, Bukedde, Bliss and Seen, these publications are not thrust on your face like it happens on the streets of Nairobi.
Before you call me mshamba or dinosaur, I will ask you a question. In a world where everyone dreads (or is supposed to fear) a sexual encounter, why would some investors gleefully place sensual images all over the landscape, especially when such images have absolutely no relation to the products on sale?
True, money makes the world go round. But sometimes money turns the world upside down. There are priceless virtues, like selflessness, integrity and dignity. And chastity and charity and virginity. And we seem to have forgotten these. Practically all our waking hours are filled with visual and verbal images of sex. Sex is glamour, showy it is all we need is the message everywhere you look. Is this fair? If it is, perhaps it is time we made sex a compulsory subject in all schools. We could even create a sex department in the ministry of culture and have David Maillu, the father of pornographic literature, to head it. There are more than enough teaching aids going around already.
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This entry was posted on May 11, 2007 at 8:29 am and is filed under Watching the Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
7 Responses to “Shame! Sex Sells”
Eudiah Kamonjo Says:
May 11, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Absolutely hilarious….!!!rib cracking! but so very true. just wondering, haven’t you noticed what this greatness campaign has done…and sucessfully.. mark you. Note just how great people ‘feel’ or act when they have drank that dark barley.The last few years have caused the past generation mild heart attacks but they have accepted it. In 10 years time, the sex education that’s in schools will have evolved to practicals…just to get the point perfectly through….like chemistry and biology practicals. The recent sex surveys have opened parents eyes and they can now see just how important it is to talk about sex. We cannot ignore the comet that’s coming(albeit late compared to other states)….we will talk about sex; in the office,in church,in the matatu…everywhere. You better take that!
Githioro Wa Ngurae Says:
July 31, 2007 at 6:50 am
Dude
I appreciate the angle at which you have perceived this topic from…and I respect your opinions. However, I choose to look at it this way:
- Kenya has been and still is a sexually myopic state and culture. People have sex. A lot. Every day. Every hour. It is part of our nature and hiding in shadows of denial or turning a blind eye is the very reason people are reluctant or ashamed to talk about sex to their children or their peers. People are dying of AIDS like flies in a Doom factory, yet we will still be sneaky and ashamed when buying a pack of condoms at Uchumi. The church, schools and other institutions still cringe at the word sex being mentioned at any point in time. I think that the media is playing a crucial role in opening us up (noo pun intended!) sexually – not to become sexual miscreants and deviants, but to be more aware of our sexuality, of our sexual nature, of the consequences of our sexual actions and be able to unashamedly voice & discuss related topics.
- Advertising is about making the product or service being sold seem as attractive as possible to a potential consumer to the point at which they will be convinced to actually pay for the product or service. If you have a problem with how sex is used to beef up adverts e.g. of cars – then I challenge you to come up with equally attractive but assexual adverts. And see if you will make even 10% of what these ads are bringing back in terms of sales.
At the end of the day, we are sexual creatures and yes, at the end of the day, sex will always sell. I think you just have to deal with that and move on.
Agatha Muraya Says:
July 31, 2007 at 7:04 am
Those who don’t mind lewd advertising are a shame to society and a danger to morality. Don’t you think advertisers have a duty to keep vulnerable people and kids off the dangers of their lewd messages? What precaution are they taking to protect the ’shy’ or ‘innocent’ people who find sexy ads offensive?
What redress is there for people whose peace is interrupted by suggestive advertising. What is so acceptable about getting money by luring people’s sexual urges just to sell more? Is money everything?
Agatha Muraya,
Nairobi.
otienoamisi Says:
August 1, 2007 at 1:45 pm
New comment on your post #62 “Shame! Sex Sells”
Author : (IP: 199.40.206.3 , 199.40.206.3)
E-mail :
Dude,
I appreciate the angle at which you have perceived this topic
from…and I respect your opinions. However, I choose to look at it this way:
- Kenya has been and still is a sexually myopic state and culture.
People have sex. A lot. Every day. Every hour. It is part of our nature and
hiding in shadows of denial or turning a blind eye is the very reason
people are reluctant or ashamed to talk about sex to their children or
their peers. People are dying of AIDS like flies in a Doom factory, yet
we will still be sneaky and ashamed when buying a pack of condoms at
Uchumi. The church, schools and other institutions still cringe at the
word sex being mentioned at any point in time. I think that the media is
playing a crucial role in opening us up (noo pun intended!) sexually -
not to become sexual miscreants and deviants, but to be more aware of
our sexuality, of our sexual nature, of the consequences of our sexual
actions and be able to unashamedly voice & discuss related topics.
- Advertising is about making the product or service being sold seem as
attractive as possible to a potential consumer to the point at which
they will be convinced to actually pay for the product or service. If
you have a problem with how sex is used to beef up adverts e.g. of cars -
then I challenge you to come up with equally attractive but assexual
adverts. And see if you will make even 10% of what these ads are
bringing back in terms of sales.
At the end of the day, we are sexual creatures and yes, at the end of
the day, sex will always sell. I think you just have to deal with that
and move on.
guguskuax Says:
September 20, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Que hermosas tetas, como me gustaria chuparlas y acabarte todita, escribime mamita.
joe lucky Says:
September 30, 2007 at 1:55 pm
081328825127 that what have a nice 4 your weekend………..
boss Says:
February 18, 2008 at 11:12 am
hay
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With two young childeren of my own it scares me when I think about sending them out to school in an enviroment that is becoming less safe every day. As parents I feel we need to visit their schools as much as possiable to get a feeling of any saftey hazards and address them with the school.
Just received a newsletter from Books First. Apparently you can now buy books from Books First online on their ecommerce website http://www.booksfirst.co.ke from anywhere in Kenya and they will deliver. Actually the books are cheaper than in the stores which are mostly in nairobi anyway. I found “Dreams From My Father” “unbowed” and lots of management books on the website with payment methods being mpesa, cash, bank deposit and cheques even. Maybe soon they may consider accepting credit cards too.
On a second thought; I am writing a paper on the role of the cyberspace in the 2007/8 post election crisis in Kenya and the blogosphere is just unignorable (any such word?). It wasnt such a bad idea afterall!!!
at last i’ve found what i longed
please can you give me details of purchasing the following books
1.my dear bottle
2.after 4.30
3.kommon man
i read the above books so many years ago
my physical address
christopher peter mbwana
nssf-mwanza
box 1440
mwanza
tanzania
I am shocked to learn the death of my teacher cum mentor while studying at Homa Bay High School in 1994. Mr Amisi inspired me into journalism and I was a very good fun of his works there after.
When left Homa-Bay in 1997, Mr Amisi was already a news correspondent of a national broadcasting corperation covering events in the then Homa-Bay District. I used to hear him speak on radio eloquently.
I come from Nyagowa, Kasipul Kabondo but live and study in the United Kingdom at the moment .
I didn’t know about the death of Mr Amisi until I read through bloggs. Mr Amisi’s literary works have inspired many of my friends too. May God take care of his Soul.
This case of Yala swamp need to be out of this net onto Televisions and on the Radios a round the world, Kenya is not a poor country its being made poor by greedy basturds. I was born there in kadenge raised and educated up to university eating well balanced diet from the firm when my parents had the right to firm it with simple tools. Not tructures, Today it has been turned into a death Zone, by the so called Dominion project, better life for the people of Kenya, when in the fact they mean turning the land into damping yard for chemicals or bilogical weapons of mass destruction. Believe me, if the government is afraid to say that they highered An American Company to slay his people to help reduce population in Keny becuase malaria and other diseases are not doing the job quick enough for the rich in Kenya. Let me say this in tears. Dominion walked into Yala swamp with A MASSETTI (aPANGA), hE HAS SLAIN MY PEOPLE I WANT HIM OUT. This company has only come to our one purpose, biological warfare, on the Kenyan people. The company need to shut down and need to leave the country with immediate, effect, no negotions of any kind. They have no interest in peoples lives they are there to kill and grab what they can. Believe me now the villages are ready, if they dont leave peacable, we will have to roast them alive, yes we will. we dont care who is on thier side, we dont care who they bribe. we are going to walk in as men and weman we going to reclaim our property our land from these people by force. The villagers have made negotions, spoken, pationed and have been ignored, pushed aside treated as though they were dead. Men we are not afraid of death anymoren, our children have perished from hunger, and chemical posoining, our people are dying everyday. We are going to roast them alive,and get rid of these muderers. They have to leave, we dont want them there at all. They have done nothing for the country since they came except destroy the properties, people and our poverish our country Kenya. Dominion must leave, please tell them. we are going to roast them alive, set everything they have on fire if they cant leave our land peacably.
I feel you and your pain and I am sorry that it took you this long to know that our major media houses are have ethnic and political touch. I came to know this when I was in college about 10 years ago. Those days the Daily Nation used to be very critical of Kanu’s rule (we all were anyway). The Standard used to shout less and it me a while to like KTN, Standard, Lonrho group and Kanu. The interesting story is that when NARC come into power, the previously soft Standard and group became very critical of the system. The Nation on the other side became maembe and no longer critical of the government but of the opposition. Of course you don’t need a tutorial about the ownership and leadership if the nation. As me I normally read a story and interpret it my own way. If it is too negative, I check the author’s name and adjust for ethnicity!
October 18, 2006 at 5:09 pm
Highly creative, yet another platform where real artists share really artistic art. Like Christopher Okigbo once opined, Art is an essoteric gratification which only appeals to madmen and specialists. Laymen will never understand real art.
October 27, 2006 at 3:12 pm
The words patronizing and uptight come to mind after reading what you wrote.
You do understand you have the freedom to not click on every page you deem below your standards.
Shame
October 27, 2006 at 6:46 pm
“I later learnt that Murua, like many people across the world with blogs and websites, is not a journalist.”…
I have only one thing (out of many) to say… JOURNALISTS IN KENYA HAVE DONE NOTHING FOR US EXCEPT WRITE US BAD HEADLINES, SENSATIONAL STORIES, MISREPRESENTED THE WANAINCHI… etc etc…
Otieno, instead of having the time to criticize someone initiative; please set up your own WELL WRITTEN, GRAMATICALLY CORRECT AND EXTREMELY INTERESTING website and let us learn from you.
I am a blogger and I won’t apologise for writing what I write. I am also an avid reader of NairobiLiving and I think he is doing a great job. Now that you have a blog… educate us with your Journalistic writings…
Thank you
October 29, 2006 at 7:04 am
Shame on you. You think that writing is the preserve of journalists and professional writers?
You obviously do not know what blogging is all about. There are no rules one just writes their thoughts or whatever they fancy. i am yet to meet someone who’s thoughts keep up with m=being grammatically correct.
Please take your snobbish, stuck-up, uptight, judgemental grammatically correct and boring self to the hell-hole you came from! Yep I said it is that too ungrammatical and unproffesional for you. Welcome to the world baby, leave James and people like him alone. He has the freedom to write what he wants and you have the right to not read what he writes and the rest of us have a right ku-enjoy his writing.
Ushindwe!
October 29, 2006 at 7:10 am
‘When web designers and school children and lunatics begin to beam their thoughts and pictures for the world to see, you feel the need for good writers, editors and photographers.’
Err, what happened to freedom of expression. Ati you feel the need for good writers! Bloody hell! Not all of us want that. and from reading your material your ‘good writing’ ain’t all that.
Live and let live. Writing, photography etc are not the preserve of your snobbish calibre of people.
Ditto mantle, Ushindwe.
October 31, 2006 at 4:41 pm
His pants hang low, that’s where his ignorance lingers
This line is sheer POETRY, indeed the best verse of scripture published by a Kenyan this side of 2006. Oh, that the muse that inspired that force you (like Ovid’s muse did) to bring some more of that. A more sublime line u will rarely find!
November 3, 2006 at 12:39 pm
Eish boss! Who died and made you the king of all things literal and grammatically correct?
Your arguments on The Bandit’s work (or lack thereof from your persepective) hold as much water as trawling net would. I will echo the sentiments of the previous comments in that if this blog doesnt meet your rather high-horsed standards, then perhaps
- go elsewhere and search for some other “literal piece” that does
- put up a super blog that meets and surpasses these so-called good blog criterion.
Spec in the eye, dude…spec in the eye…
November 10, 2006 at 10:13 am
What’s wrong with Otieno Amisi, or anyone else for that matter, trying to do things right, trying to right the many wrongs we make in our writing? Why is everyone so busy defending bad English in the name of free speech? Go Amisi, go! Tell em, Tell em!
November 10, 2006 at 10:53 am
Jully I am not defending bad English in the name of free speech. What is being argued here is that whether or not non-writers should be able to have a platform to showcase their work. Blogging is one such platform, and you don’t here us begrudging Amisi on all the media that is available to take up his literary work. Speaking of which it is “Tell them, Tell them!” not “Tell em, Tell em” if we must be grammatically correct.
November 10, 2006 at 10:22 pm
What is happening here is akin to what happened to auto workers in the midwest in the US and more recently to some IT workers in the US (sorry I live in the US so I can only use examples that quickly spring to mind).
For years, these workers had a comfortable middle-class life until the asian tigers arose.These companies were slow to adapt and you know the rest of the story with what is happening to Ford and GM.
If you were in the IT industry in the US in the early to mid 90’s, you may remember how good it was, until outsourcing created the perfect storm and it was sink or swim.
Otieno Amisi is very scared that he has invested all his time to become a journalist (a profession that comes across to me as being filled with a lot of hubris in Kenya, don’t know why) and is suddenly drowning in all this creative material being unleashed via the internet.
Suddenly the playing field is level and he cannot take it.
Bloggers were treated with scorn and mistrust in the US a few years ago until they started breaking news way ahead of the major corporate media here and what did they (corporate media) do? They embraced them and created partnerships. You cannot watch a newscast in the US that will not refer to a blog as a reference.
Wake up Otieno !!
November 17, 2006 at 1:41 pm
I would like to take this opportunity to personally welcome Otieno Amisi to the internet space. Mr.Otieno there is nothing inappropriate with your actions,after all sir,you felt an urge bestowed on you, by your gift as a writer to comment.About bad english, not all of us are comfortable with harsh vocabs and phrases to project eloquence,for me simple applies..Did someone talk about “Real Art”? I ooze ART, as not conventional!
November 17, 2006 at 2:31 pm
Once you present yourself as a public figure.. scrutiny and bashes alike are enough to make you wish,you were an ostrich,bury your head in the underground only in this case,when you lift your head up..you are more than willing and able to go all the way out…
November 22, 2006 at 8:39 am
quite a skeptical look into WAPI i must say – and extrapolated overtures of what the artists are, or aren’t.
December 27, 2006 at 7:31 pm
I always heard my Luo friends brag about their brain prowess ( i am sure you no doubt know what i am saying): How come all these bright people have not been able to come up with solutions that assist their people? How come there is too much blame being pushed (rightly sometimes) to others for the problems experienced in nyanza?
I am not trying to be tribal in my thinking, but given the nature of kenyan society, no Kikuyu or kalenjin millionaire will be interested in the problems of the area. The Luo gentlemen needs to own up to these problems and tackle them
December 27, 2006 at 7:37 pm
Always wondered: how do the local people benefit? I hear people say that there are nwo oranges to be found in siaya town, but, are they free? Is that all? We all know, that with the use of agro-chemicals, pesticides, etc for crops, the environment is being affected. Is whatever the people are getting in return worth the risk their lives are being subjected to? And with their limited incomes, how ready are they to deal with the health problems that bound to arise?
I wish you could be answering/troubleshooting based on such items( of course be careful for your own life, since pple can go to any lengths to maintain their wealth)
December 30, 2006 at 10:39 am
Thanks for your great post i am doing a study on thios and you really helped me out here
Thanks
Jackie
Jackie@mees.com
January 9, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Ride on!
February 21, 2007 at 8:18 pm
[...] For more info on this topic, check out: The Nation, “Obama’s Ruined Homeland” Pambazuka News, “Community rights and foreign direct investment” Creative Ventures Blog – Storm in Yala Swamp [...]
February 26, 2007 at 11:21 am
Dear Modie,
I bet you never heard of New Age or Joliso, or Dhana, or East Africa Journal, or your brief on East African literature is rather shallow. This piece appeared some time in 1993 in the Sunday Nation. And by the way, 2 of Amisi’s essays appear in Prof Bernth Lindfors’ Black African Literature in English.
March 22, 2007 at 5:46 am
[...] For more info on this topic, check out: The Nation, “Obama’s Ruined Homeland” Pambazuka News, “Community rights and foreign direct investment” Creative Ventures Blog – Storm in Yala Swamp [...]
March 22, 2007 at 10:58 am
The Yala swamp project is stinking and the community members are suffering because they are being forced out of there ancestral land.Also there is high level of corruption,leaders are being bribed and here leaders include,church leaders,politicians and even provincial adminstration.
March 28, 2007 at 11:07 am
“Journalists are corrupt,” says Tom Mshindi tut! tut! him without sin cast the fast stone.
That story on Barbs and Bouquets for Tom is incomplete!!!
March 30, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Next time you are invited fore such a workshop read between the lines and konw the intentions of the organisers that is why bring all the journalist for free?are you sure the organiser were not trying to get free publicity through the back door?
Fore your information the role of a journalist is to try and unearth fact which the public cant get to know while they need to know. while public relation is the cheaper and less risky career and involves sugar coating facts to hide the truth of bad thing that the organisation might be involved in.If all companies were doing bussiness according to the books why would they need a PR firm?
For your information a good journalist does not always translate into a good PR practitioner period!
Foods for thought.
What could you have done if after celtel sponsoring the event you went and found out that they were exploting their consumers?
Good jod your blog is intersting
April 6, 2007 at 4:03 am
Laughable.
to imagine that all that vitriol is coming from a person who said in a recent interview that entertainment is nowadays becoming a business, or something to that effect. Entertainment has always been a business. if he is so good, how come he ended up being a simple columnist after being a whole CEO. should have been something like syndicated columnist, like journalists of his calibre in all those countries he wants to mention. if he is so good, how come he could not hold his own at standard? mshindi is history, struggling to stay relevant, but everytime he speaks, it just shows he is irrelevant, and his words point directly to a political career — he can make a very good councillor, then he can speak for the sake of speaking
May 11, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Absolutely hilarious….!!!rib cracking! but so very true. just wondering, haven’t you noticed what this greatness campaign has done…and sucessfully.. mark you. Note just how great people ‘feel’ or act when they have drank that dark barley.The last few years have caused the past generation mild heart attacks but they have accepted it. In 10 years time, the sex education that’s in schools will have evolved to practicals…just to get the point perfectly through….like chemistry and biology practicals. The recent sex surveys have opened parents eyes and they can now see just how important it is to talk about sex. We cannot ignore the comet that’s coming(albeit late compared to other states)….we will talk about sex; in the office,in church,in the matatu…everywhere. You better take that!
June 27, 2007 at 11:24 pm
I thoroughly enjoy Murua’s Nairobi Living, typos and a few unsavory remarks notwithstanding. It is a courageous effort that keeps me updated on goings on among my peers and former college mates in Nai’ and around the world.
More power to you Murua.
July 9, 2007 at 11:28 am
Cool…
July 9, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Cool.
July 9, 2007 at 10:51 pm
interesting
July 10, 2007 at 4:54 am
Nice
July 10, 2007 at 9:27 am
Cool…
July 10, 2007 at 2:01 pm
Nice!
July 10, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Cool!
July 11, 2007 at 3:06 am
Interesting…
July 11, 2007 at 4:10 am
Nice
July 18, 2007 at 11:24 am
I forgot to mention he’s with Eudia Kamonjo, a journalist. Amisi has a bad arm, thanks to a doc’s blunder. story coming soon.
July 31, 2007 at 6:50 am
Dude
I appreciate the angle at which you have perceived this topic from…and I respect your opinions. However, I choose to look at it this way:
- Kenya has been and still is a sexually myopic state and culture. People have sex. A lot. Every day. Every hour. It is part of our nature and hiding in shadows of denial or turning a blind eye is the very reason people are reluctant or ashamed to talk about sex to their children or their peers. People are dying of AIDS like flies in a Doom factory, yet we will still be sneaky and ashamed when buying a pack of condoms at Uchumi. The church, schools and other institutions still cringe at the word sex being mentioned at any point in time. I think that the media is playing a crucial role in opening us up (noo pun intended!) sexually – not to become sexual miscreants and deviants, but to be more aware of our sexuality, of our sexual nature, of the consequences of our sexual actions and be able to unashamedly voice & discuss related topics.
- Advertising is about making the product or service being sold seem as attractive as possible to a potential consumer to the point at which they will be convinced to actually pay for the product or service. If you have a problem with how sex is used to beef up adverts e.g. of cars – then I challenge you to come up with equally attractive but assexual adverts. And see if you will make even 10% of what these ads are bringing back in terms of sales.
At the end of the day, we are sexual creatures and yes, at the end of the day, sex will always sell. I think you just have to deal with that and move on.
July 31, 2007 at 7:04 am
Those who don’t mind lewd advertising are a shame to society and a danger to morality. Don’t you think advertisers have a duty to keep vulnerable people and kids off the dangers of their lewd messages? What precaution are they taking to protect the ’shy’ or ‘innocent’ people who find sexy ads offensive?
What redress is there for people whose peace is interrupted by suggestive advertising. What is so acceptable about getting money by luring people’s sexual urges just to sell more? Is money everything?
Agatha Muraya,
Nairobi.
August 1, 2007 at 1:45 pm
New comment on your post #62 “Shame! Sex Sells”
Author : (IP: 199.40.206.3 , 199.40.206.3)
E-mail :
Dude,
I appreciate the angle at which you have perceived this topic
from…and I respect your opinions. However, I choose to look at it this way:
- Kenya has been and still is a sexually myopic state and culture.
People have sex. A lot. Every day. Every hour. It is part of our nature and
hiding in shadows of denial or turning a blind eye is the very reason
people are reluctant or ashamed to talk about sex to their children or
their peers. People are dying of AIDS like flies in a Doom factory, yet
we will still be sneaky and ashamed when buying a pack of condoms at
Uchumi. The church, schools and other institutions still cringe at the
word sex being mentioned at any point in time. I think that the media is
playing a crucial role in opening us up (noo pun intended!) sexually -
not to become sexual miscreants and deviants, but to be more aware of
our sexuality, of our sexual nature, of the consequences of our sexual
actions and be able to unashamedly voice & discuss related topics.
- Advertising is about making the product or service being sold seem as
attractive as possible to a potential consumer to the point at which
they will be convinced to actually pay for the product or service. If
you have a problem with how sex is used to beef up adverts e.g. of cars -
then I challenge you to come up with equally attractive but assexual
adverts. And see if you will make even 10% of what these ads are
bringing back in terms of sales.
At the end of the day, we are sexual creatures and yes, at the end of
the day, sex will always sell. I think you just have to deal with that
and move on.
August 2, 2007 at 5:43 am
Nice!
August 4, 2007 at 2:06 pm
Creative Ventures has endured the test of time and fire. Go for it Amisi! Creativity will never die! We in the creative fraternity are proud of you.
August 14, 2007 at 5:24 pm
The Scribe,kindly set up a call centre since its impossible getting U on phone.
Mwalimu am deeply impreesed,God bless.
August 16, 2007 at 7:55 pm
This is very nice and informative post. I have bookmarked your site in order to find out your post in the future.
August 17, 2007 at 5:57 am
I wish your reactions were longer and more detailed, not mechanical and dry.
August 28, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Hello Otieno,
This piece was forwarded to me by Rasnah Warah. I find it amazing, ironic, and hypocritical that you continue to cover the arts, when you have never responded to my inquiries about my work appearing under your byline (apparently shamelessly plagiarized in its entirety) in the Kenya Times. In case it’s slipped your memory, here’s an excerpt from a piece that will appear in the media packet at Story Moja’s Media Breakfast this Thursday.
Don’t you think, that at the very least, a public acknowledgment, and long-overdue apology, are called for?
“In May 2006, I discovered that an article I wrote for Pambazuka News, “Hungry For Live Poetry” about Nairobi’s First Poetry Slam, had been plagiarized in its entirety and run in the Kenya Times under the byline of journalist Otieno Amisi. Neither the Kenya Times editors, nor Amisi responded to my emails.
The original article is at:
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/32250
The Kenya Times version is at:
http://www.timesnews.co.ke/03mar06/magazine/magazine3.html
I wasn’t sure whether to be flattered, outraged, amused – or just sad. The deepest irony of the theft lay in my closing words of the stolen piece – words that clearly did not register with Amisi when he stole the piece and ran it as his own:
“What can poetry do, right now, in Kenya? […] Inspire us to trust our own intelligence and passion, our hunger for art that is real and hard and truthful; messy and complex and bloody. Above all, art that is ours. Trust that our own voices are the thick grain, the juicy greens, we have been hungry for.”
Copyright Shailja Patel, 2006, 2007. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
August 29, 2007 at 8:31 am
Dear Shailja,
You indeed have a reason to be furious, but neither myself nor my then superior at Kenya Times received your complaint. In fact I only saw your protest when I googled my name on the net. It has been there for a long, long time.
I am a seasoned editor and writer, and I view your public condemnation of my writing as an attempt to cast a dark shadow on my brilliant career, to which I have devoted so much of my time and humble resources. It is therefore my request that you to delete those complaints from public domain.
You will appreciate that I wrote the story after at least two interviews with you (one at Club Sound and another at our Kenya Times offices, and after I read your own notes, sent to me by slamsister about your Nairobi performance. Being a writer and poet myself, I am also a keen fan of your activities, and my writings are based on the notes from you and similar encounters.
Thank you.
August 31, 2007 at 9:44 am
I have always valued grace, as an idea of operation – to try to expect the best from people….I am wondering, Shaljia, whether you should make time to talk, face to face to Amisi and establish what happened first. This sounds very unlike somebody whose work I have known and respected for a while. I am also aware that Amisi ahs recently been unwell.
September 6, 2007 at 4:04 am
Cool.
September 9, 2007 at 1:35 pm
I am now back in circulation. Let’s all meet and sort this out.
September 12, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Really nice site you have here. I’ve been reading for a while but this post made me want to say 2 thumbs up. Keep up the great work
September 20, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Que hermosas tetas, como me gustaria chuparlas y acabarte todita, escribime mamita.
September 28, 2007 at 11:49 am
Hello World,
This is me, Otieno Amisi. I am Kenyan, black, 5 ft 6. Thirty something. Welcome to my blog. It’s a bit muddled up, but I am cleaning it up. Click onto any of the links and read stuff about my books, theatre reviews, legal news, poetry, and many more.
I love literature, music and theatre. I am a writer, journalist, poet or generally a creative person.
I think matters like the arts, Aids, globalisation and language are important, and I research on them voluntarily all the time.
I am widely published. If you want to prove it, just google my name and see for yourself. To put food on my table, I edit at Oakland Media Services, Nairobi. About my family life? Well, that’s for another day. You can call me on 0720 913 981, or email me at otienoamisi@yahoo.com. Other blogs are http://www.poemsfromkenya.blogspot.com and http://www.writethatstory.wordpress.com
September 30, 2007 at 1:55 pm
081328825127 that what have a nice 4 your weekend………..
October 24, 2007 at 10:27 pm
the nude women you have are fucking sexy bithches. and guys out there, you got a sexy cock, if so call me at 639-3854 soon. my pussy cant wait
October 31, 2007 at 1:23 pm
I can not agree more with you.On those same lines I recently finished reading KWANI03 and i ve got to say it was a certainly good read:what with all the poetry,real life stories and Kamleshs Pleas.I think KWANI TRUST is doing alot of good with its vision,view on things and its CAUSE!
November 1, 2007 at 12:01 pm
I am deeply sorry to have learnt that Tom Arocho passed away last week. I first met Tom, a merry classmate at SOJ in 2000 and we have been tight. We once worked on a production for his now famous ‘Mending the Ribbon’ TV programme on KTN.
May God rest his soul in peace.
Ombija, you need to come for your CD book, write that Story Call me up urgently so we make an appointment.
November 1, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Creative Ventures also provides literary agency services. At the moment, we are running, with Prof Chris Wanjala of the University of Nairobi, a weekly programme on books and media.The ptogramme is boradcast on KBC Sunday afternoons from 1.30pm. Listen in and call 251218.
November 2, 2007 at 11:38 am
After another reading of Kwani, especially the Luo Kikuyu dialogues, am apprehensive about the freedom here. What do you think? Does the Luo-Kikuyu sentiment veer off from creativity to incitement. Rwanda!
November 5, 2007 at 10:07 am
I have just finished reading Kwani? 04 and I must say it was such an interesting read. However I couldnt help asking what the craze was with blogs. I am not saying that blogs shouldnt be included in a literary magazine ( who am I to dictate standards?) but then why should I buy a magazine series only to find stuff that I have already read on the internet?
Otherwise, Kwani? isnt a bad idea after all…but you could do with less defensive attitude…Binyavanga are you there? Just relax and take criticism in your stride. kudos!!!!!
November 9, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Tom Arocho was a brilliant journalist who never lost his sense of humour even when he was down. guy will be highly missed. RIP, Ondiek mang’ang’a!
November 10, 2007 at 6:03 pm
In our Linguistics and Literature classes at Kikuyu Campus (1992 – 1996), those of us who liked chilling by the big water tank will remember Tom Arocho as the dude who always made us laugh.
The end result of his tendency to weave literary terms into every day language use (and misuse) was always hilarious.
After we graduated I met Tom again in 2000 at SoJ and dude was as hilarious as ever, a pleasure to talk to; never one to miss an opportunity to make a witty comment.
But really and truly once Tom started working for KTN I, and I would guess most of my classmates at Kikuyu Campus, saw a serious side of Tom that we did not know existed.
In this theatre of life, Tom knew his lines and played his role to our acclamation and applause. For me, Tom’s efforts at using his journalistic skills to raise AIDS/HIV awareness is the act I will remember most now that the curtain has come down.
RIP.
November 11, 2007 at 4:39 am
I have been deeply touched by the demise of Tom Arocho. I may not have met him in person, but his artstic expression and the task he took up demistifying HIV/ADS through Mending The Ribbon must be appreciated by all.
It takes the initiative of one brilliant mind to get through to society as he did, and for that, say, man, you walked your journey well.
RIP Tom.
November 22, 2007 at 1:38 pm
[...] It discusses the psychological impact of work and examines some stress coping mechanisms at both the personal and office levels. This video fills in that gap with local examples that people can easily identify with at work, at home or at community levels. Most workers in the study, conducted by a counseling and management training firm, placed lack of proper and adequate communication at forty five percent, while those who wanted improvement on training reported twenty five percent. Nancy says though many employees and managers go through psychological problems both at home and in the office, they are too immersed in work to address these problems, often until it is too late. read more… [...]
November 26, 2007 at 3:40 pm
You should check this out ..Harvey Leach offer courses in Media Training and cover exactly this kind of thing. Could be of interest?
Media Training
December 1, 2007 at 8:39 am
You have the natural advantage in counseling debt settlement , which may be appropriate for debtors with …
Great Solution
December 6, 2007 at 1:19 am
mm.. why this page opening so slow?
December 11, 2007 at 3:10 am
Dear Atieno Amisi,
contratulations to this summary of the evidence.
You find an article on Aids in Uganda with many graphs and pictures online at:
http://altheal.org/statistics/fiala.htm or a more scientific version at the British Medical Journal Letter section:
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/327/7408/184-a
Best regards
Christian Fiala, MD, PhD
Vienna, Austria
December 17, 2007 at 2:43 am
interesting review.
January 10, 2008 at 3:07 pm
i love your blog to def…am just wondering if i could post my poetry on this page…good day
February 14, 2008 at 1:45 pm
[...] Radio every Sunday afternoon. His unmistakable voice on radio was only but a facade of the daunting odds that must have weighed heavily on him in his last days. Amisi, given to a cheerful disposition, [...]
February 17, 2008 at 12:25 am
It seemed I’d an helix for composition, detail, and balance.
February 18, 2008 at 11:12 am
hay
March 5, 2008 at 12:38 am
I am deeply saddened to “discover” Otieno Amisi only to find out he is dead. Thank you for your contribution to literature, Kenya and the world. I would have liked to know you.
March 23, 2008 at 3:33 am
thank u, enjoy and happy ;assalamualaikum
March 31, 2008 at 5:58 am
Hi Otieno,
Please check your contribution fot grammatical errors. You’d think a journalist your ’stature’ would be sure to ensure there are no spelling errors.
Speck in the eye…
May 2, 2008 at 2:24 am
dfyunjiu hdfifeh soo ieiekuo ijujkj erijfkfjje pgl,mrhfkr jfuroe euuekei the rock jfumf fjjf fu sesd hjd hdmks ejd ddj ju djfkjf jdps,mdndnf ff
May 2, 2008 at 2:24 am
By Otieno Amisi
Advertising sells. But sexy advertising sells even more. So advertisers put a sex appeal to every commercial. Makes sense and money doesn’t it. And money makes the world go round. Or so said Plutus, the Greek god of wealth.
But there are other priceless virtues. Like selflessness, integrity and dignity. And chastity and charity and virginity. And hard work. Whoever created advertising must have had a warped mind. Advertising is at best, amusement, at worst a nuisance. It is mostly the latter.
Whether it is sect members drumming and screaming themselves hoarse in the middle of what should be a peaceful night, or a huge billboard cutting your view of the spectacular landscape, advertising, like money, makes the word go round. It all depends on which side of life you are on.If you can Raua Mkopo, then these things were designed just for you. So you can walk into a showroom and drive out in a Peugeot just because you have been impressed by those mating birds.
I have no qualms with a flawless feminine upper arm advertising some lotion. But when advertisements want old people to undress, it baffles me. What does a bare-chested pot-bellied father have to do with opening a bank account? OK. We all know banks are so desperate they are vending their loans and services on the street. Unlike a few years ago when they stayed behind steel doors, now they have been made to believe something like the economy is so good everyone has money to keep with them.
So they have made giving out money their core business. But in their desperation, they have thrown decency out of the window. Honestly, parading a man’s multi coloured mitumba underwear on Jogoo road isn’t the better way to get money. And when nude stranger suggests that you meet ‘baadaye,’ I am pissed off.
Greatness is nowadays equated with drinking Guinness. I have never met a great drunk, only several peeing, blabbering, noisy or blacked out ones. And if you drink a certain brand of milk, your teeth would stand up to Conjestina Achieng’s knocks.Women are the worst victims of warped advertising. A new car commercial is not complete until some girl bends seductively near the bonnet, as if to compare her curves and gleam to the machine’s . One brave advertiser even named a car model “Atoti.”
Remember the comely maiden in a flowing red skirt with the mother of all slits? She is sitting opposite a man in an impeccable white suit by a tranquil beach. They were trying to sell some cigarette. Pugh! Journalists know a thing or two about the role of the media, and the virtues I enumerated at the beginning of this essay. But in the newsroom, ideals and ethics are thrown aside at the altar of making money.While newspaper and television journalists know a thing or two about morality and sensibilities, they do exactly the opposite. Every fleeting TV picture is of a couple kissing, every radio debate is about sex positions, and every glossy magazine page is a blinding close up of a naked thigh.
I love reading. So Eve Magazine is a refreshing return to sense after the maddening politics of the dailies and the nauseating nudity of the magazines. It is a welcome break from the numbing obsession with European football. Eve is a celebration of womanhood, of beauty, of greatness, of intelligence and wholesomeness of the woman. It is beauty, maturity, enrichment and knowledge and inspiration all rolled into one.
It is a celebration of a life as lived successfully and happily by women. No whining, battered poverty ridden village scar faced women. Or gossip about those Koinange Street ageless witches.It is about better child rearing, better cooking, how to age gracefully, improving relationships at home, living single and happy after a break up and doing business successfully.
The average reader of Eve wants to confirm that middle-aged women – our peers, our workmates, these mothers and leaders – have outgrown the cravings of the flesh and are no longer obsessed with sensual pleasure alone. It is easy to see sexuality in rich, famous women. It gives them power and a sense of belonging. But when every page of a magazine is about foreplay, orgasm, lingerie and lesbianism, it begins to look like it’s done for delinquent adolescents. Jut flip through best selling titles like True Love, African Woman or Cosmopolitan.
Someone at the National Aids Control Council should have gone mad by now. We furiously condemn the so-called gutter press, with their sleazy stories in which millionaires and political aspirants allegedly sleep with whoever. But we devour with glee huge billboards and images of stark nakedness. Even in the land of Red Pepper, Bukedde, Bliss and Seen, these publications are not thrust on your face like it happens on the streets of Nairobi.
Before you call me mshamba or dinosaur, I will ask you a question. In a world where everyone dreads (or is supposed to fear) a sexual encounter, why would some investors gleefully place sensual images all over the landscape, especially when such images have absolutely no relation to the products on sale?
True, money makes the world go round. But sometimes money turns the world upside down. There are priceless virtues, like selflessness, integrity and dignity. And chastity and charity and virginity. And we seem to have forgotten these. Practically all our waking hours are filled with visual and verbal images of sex. Sex is glamour, showy it is all we need is the message everywhere you look. Is this fair? If it is, perhaps it is time we made sex a compulsory subject in all schools. We could even create a sex department in the ministry of culture and have David Maillu, the father of pornographic literature, to head it. There are more than enough teaching aids going around already.
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This entry was posted on May 11, 2007 at 8:29 am and is filed under Watching the Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
7 Responses to “Shame! Sex Sells”
Eudiah Kamonjo Says:
May 11, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Absolutely hilarious….!!!rib cracking! but so very true. just wondering, haven’t you noticed what this greatness campaign has done…and sucessfully.. mark you. Note just how great people ‘feel’ or act when they have drank that dark barley.The last few years have caused the past generation mild heart attacks but they have accepted it. In 10 years time, the sex education that’s in schools will have evolved to practicals…just to get the point perfectly through….like chemistry and biology practicals. The recent sex surveys have opened parents eyes and they can now see just how important it is to talk about sex. We cannot ignore the comet that’s coming(albeit late compared to other states)….we will talk about sex; in the office,in church,in the matatu…everywhere. You better take that!
Githioro Wa Ngurae Says:
July 31, 2007 at 6:50 am
Dude
I appreciate the angle at which you have perceived this topic from…and I respect your opinions. However, I choose to look at it this way:
- Kenya has been and still is a sexually myopic state and culture. People have sex. A lot. Every day. Every hour. It is part of our nature and hiding in shadows of denial or turning a blind eye is the very reason people are reluctant or ashamed to talk about sex to their children or their peers. People are dying of AIDS like flies in a Doom factory, yet we will still be sneaky and ashamed when buying a pack of condoms at Uchumi. The church, schools and other institutions still cringe at the word sex being mentioned at any point in time. I think that the media is playing a crucial role in opening us up (noo pun intended!) sexually – not to become sexual miscreants and deviants, but to be more aware of our sexuality, of our sexual nature, of the consequences of our sexual actions and be able to unashamedly voice & discuss related topics.
- Advertising is about making the product or service being sold seem as attractive as possible to a potential consumer to the point at which they will be convinced to actually pay for the product or service. If you have a problem with how sex is used to beef up adverts e.g. of cars – then I challenge you to come up with equally attractive but assexual adverts. And see if you will make even 10% of what these ads are bringing back in terms of sales.
At the end of the day, we are sexual creatures and yes, at the end of the day, sex will always sell. I think you just have to deal with that and move on.
Agatha Muraya Says:
July 31, 2007 at 7:04 am
Those who don’t mind lewd advertising are a shame to society and a danger to morality. Don’t you think advertisers have a duty to keep vulnerable people and kids off the dangers of their lewd messages? What precaution are they taking to protect the ’shy’ or ‘innocent’ people who find sexy ads offensive?
What redress is there for people whose peace is interrupted by suggestive advertising. What is so acceptable about getting money by luring people’s sexual urges just to sell more? Is money everything?
Agatha Muraya,
Nairobi.
otienoamisi Says:
August 1, 2007 at 1:45 pm
New comment on your post #62 “Shame! Sex Sells”
Author : (IP: 199.40.206.3 , 199.40.206.3)
E-mail :
Dude,
I appreciate the angle at which you have perceived this topic
from…and I respect your opinions. However, I choose to look at it this way:
- Kenya has been and still is a sexually myopic state and culture.
People have sex. A lot. Every day. Every hour. It is part of our nature and
hiding in shadows of denial or turning a blind eye is the very reason
people are reluctant or ashamed to talk about sex to their children or
their peers. People are dying of AIDS like flies in a Doom factory, yet
we will still be sneaky and ashamed when buying a pack of condoms at
Uchumi. The church, schools and other institutions still cringe at the
word sex being mentioned at any point in time. I think that the media is
playing a crucial role in opening us up (noo pun intended!) sexually -
not to become sexual miscreants and deviants, but to be more aware of
our sexuality, of our sexual nature, of the consequences of our sexual
actions and be able to unashamedly voice & discuss related topics.
- Advertising is about making the product or service being sold seem as
attractive as possible to a potential consumer to the point at which
they will be convinced to actually pay for the product or service. If
you have a problem with how sex is used to beef up adverts e.g. of cars -
then I challenge you to come up with equally attractive but assexual
adverts. And see if you will make even 10% of what these ads are
bringing back in terms of sales.
At the end of the day, we are sexual creatures and yes, at the end of
the day, sex will always sell. I think you just have to deal with that
and move on.
guguskuax Says:
September 20, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Que hermosas tetas, como me gustaria chuparlas y acabarte todita, escribime mamita.
joe lucky Says:
September 30, 2007 at 1:55 pm
081328825127 that what have a nice 4 your weekend………..
boss Says:
February 18, 2008 at 11:12 am
hay
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May 25, 2008 at 2:55 am
With two young childeren of my own it scares me when I think about sending them out to school in an enviroment that is becoming less safe every day. As parents I feel we need to visit their schools as much as possiable to get a feeling of any saftey hazards and address them with the school.
May 28, 2008 at 8:10 am
HOE OUD IS HET VERHAAL LWANDA MAGERE???
June 4, 2008 at 9:00 am
Just received a newsletter from Books First. Apparently you can now buy books from Books First online on their ecommerce website http://www.booksfirst.co.ke from anywhere in Kenya and they will deliver. Actually the books are cheaper than in the stores which are mostly in nairobi anyway. I found “Dreams From My Father” “unbowed” and lots of management books on the website with payment methods being mpesa, cash, bank deposit and cheques even. Maybe soon they may consider accepting credit cards too.
Definitely worth checking out for booklovers.
Tony
June 7, 2008 at 7:31 am
oh found this blog as it was generating traffic to my stream. eheh
http://www.flickr.com/shoken
June 22, 2008 at 11:10 am
REST IN PEACE OTIENO!
July 31, 2008 at 8:16 am
On a second thought; I am writing a paper on the role of the cyberspace in the 2007/8 post election crisis in Kenya and the blogosphere is just unignorable (any such word?). It wasnt such a bad idea afterall!!!
August 1, 2008 at 11:53 am
at last i’ve found what i longed
please can you give me details of purchasing the following books
1.my dear bottle
2.after 4.30
3.kommon man
i read the above books so many years ago
my physical address
christopher peter mbwana
nssf-mwanza
box 1440
mwanza
tanzania
i will be very glad to have the above BOOKS
THANKS
August 3, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Very nice!!
September 9, 2008 at 2:17 am
J happened on this site while surfing. I used to live in Kenya. What a blast of fresh air. More grease to your elbows. Ogk/Geneva
September 12, 2008 at 1:35 am
admilumi
September 23, 2008 at 9:49 am
REST IN PEACE OTIENO…REST IN PEACE
October 17, 2008 at 4:23 am
Rest in peace Otieno Amisi. You were well loved, and we all miss you dearly.
Otieno Amisi passed away on the 27th of December 2007.
January 17, 2009 at 9:42 pm
I am shocked to learn the death of my teacher cum mentor while studying at Homa Bay High School in 1994. Mr Amisi inspired me into journalism and I was a very good fun of his works there after.
When left Homa-Bay in 1997, Mr Amisi was already a news correspondent of a national broadcasting corperation covering events in the then Homa-Bay District. I used to hear him speak on radio eloquently.
I come from Nyagowa, Kasipul Kabondo but live and study in the United Kingdom at the moment .
I didn’t know about the death of Mr Amisi until I read through bloggs. Mr Amisi’s literary works have inspired many of my friends too. May God take care of his Soul.
February 6, 2009 at 2:55 pm
This case of Yala swamp need to be out of this net onto Televisions and on the Radios a round the world, Kenya is not a poor country its being made poor by greedy basturds. I was born there in kadenge raised and educated up to university eating well balanced diet from the firm when my parents had the right to firm it with simple tools. Not tructures, Today it has been turned into a death Zone, by the so called Dominion project, better life for the people of Kenya, when in the fact they mean turning the land into damping yard for chemicals or bilogical weapons of mass destruction. Believe me, if the government is afraid to say that they highered An American Company to slay his people to help reduce population in Keny becuase malaria and other diseases are not doing the job quick enough for the rich in Kenya. Let me say this in tears. Dominion walked into Yala swamp with A MASSETTI (aPANGA), hE HAS SLAIN MY PEOPLE I WANT HIM OUT. This company has only come to our one purpose, biological warfare, on the Kenyan people. The company need to shut down and need to leave the country with immediate, effect, no negotions of any kind. They have no interest in peoples lives they are there to kill and grab what they can. Believe me now the villages are ready, if they dont leave peacable, we will have to roast them alive, yes we will. we dont care who is on thier side, we dont care who they bribe. we are going to walk in as men and weman we going to reclaim our property our land from these people by force. The villagers have made negotions, spoken, pationed and have been ignored, pushed aside treated as though they were dead. Men we are not afraid of death anymoren, our children have perished from hunger, and chemical posoining, our people are dying everyday. We are going to roast them alive,and get rid of these muderers. They have to leave, we dont want them there at all. They have done nothing for the country since they came except destroy the properties, people and our poverish our country Kenya. Dominion must leave, please tell them. we are going to roast them alive, set everything they have on fire if they cant leave our land peacably.
February 14, 2009 at 10:16 pm
March 27, 2009 at 6:01 pm
I feel you and your pain and I am sorry that it took you this long to know that our major media houses are have ethnic and political touch. I came to know this when I was in college about 10 years ago. Those days the Daily Nation used to be very critical of Kanu’s rule (we all were anyway). The Standard used to shout less and it me a while to like KTN, Standard, Lonrho group and Kanu. The interesting story is that when NARC come into power, the previously soft Standard and group became very critical of the system. The Nation on the other side became maembe and no longer critical of the government but of the opposition. Of course you don’t need a tutorial about the ownership and leadership if the nation. As me I normally read a story and interpret it my own way. If it is too negative, I check the author’s name and adjust for ethnicity!
April 12, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Requirements for visiting Yala Swamp
April 15, 2009 at 11:38 am
My fellow on Facebook shared this link and I’m not dissapointed that I came here.
April 15, 2009 at 3:42 pm
I noticed that this is not the first time at all that you write about the topic. Why have you decided to write about it again?
April 15, 2009 at 6:08 pm
After reading through this article, I feel that I really need more information on the topic. Can you suggest some more resources please?