Have yourself a merry little Christmas

I just love this. I think she sings so beautifully.

On the flip side, 'Ludacrismas' is also a personal fave...

Fast Girls

I was lucky enough to attend an advanced screening for the new Noel Clarke film, Fast Girls. Described as the feel good film of the summer, Fast Girls most definitely stands out as an exciting and entertaining option at the cinema.

Lenora Critchlow plays the lead role as Shania Andrews, a troubled athlete, trying to balance problems at home with a potentially promising athletics career. Fans of EastEnders will notice that her sister is played by Tiana Benjamin, formally Chelsea in EastEnders. #Rihanna

Will Shania compete in the World Championships? Is she good enough? Watch the film to find out!

Eating to Death

Africa’s obesity crisis continues to grow...

For years the obesity rate in Africa has been slowly simmering towards a catastrophic boiling point. The obesity crisis has gradually spread over the past twenty five years, creeping into the depths of poverty stricken countries like Africa where eating disorders had never previously existed. John Girling, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) vice president for consumer healthcare, has admitted with regards to South Africa, that it is a nation “eating itself slowly to death”.

Recent figures published in May of this year from the World Health Organisation (WHO) showed that obesity levels are continuing to rise. The WHO’s report showed that the world’s obesity levels have almost doubled from 1980 to 2008. In Africa the WHO estimate that more than 40% - and in some regions close to 50% - of adults suffer from high blood pressure; a disease closely associated with obesity. The report sheds light on the current health crisis in Africa, however it fails to offer an examination into the reasons behind these rising figures.

It could be argued that obesity is rising because of an increased number of middle class Africans who can afford to eat unhealthy imported foods. Historically, before increased urbanisation, Africans lived in rural areas, eating what they grew. Nowadays, however, lifestyles have shifted from rural to urban, and the availability of unhealthy food has increased. Additionally, from a cultural perspective, many Africans tend to associate increased success and wealth with an increased waistline. An overweight body is viewed more positively, symbolising happiness, affluence and an alleged sign of not having HIV/Aids. A slimmer figure, on the other hand, is associated with poverty and ill health.

Studies into perceptions of body size in South Africa, show that many people who are overweight do not consider themselves in that light. A national health study on behalf of GSK by marketing consultancy Added Value, showed that 78% obese South Africans considered themselves to be healthy and 52% morbidly obese people regarded themselves as healthy. Most interestingly, a study by Caradas et al in 2001 identified a racial difference in body image perception in adolescent South African schoolgirls, noting that white students desired a slimmer figure more than black students.

The hardest task becomes changing these deep set attitudes. Many Africans still believe that obesity is not a genuine health risk and that an unhealthy lifestyle is not damaging to one’s health and propensity to develop deadly diseases. Education seems to be the key to changing attitudes and the South African Government has tapped into this, launching what is known as National Obesity Week, between 15th and 19th October this year. The Government says the week is commemorated to “increase awareness about the impact of obesity in the lives of South Africans”. This is surely a positive step in the right direction towards combating the obesity epidemic and shows that politicians have noticed a serious problem.

Will the whole of Africa follow suit by noticing the potential disaster obesity carries? It could be argued that obesity is the least of Africa’s problems, especially with the continuing spread of HIV/Aids, poverty and a lack of education for children. However, all problems have a starting point and all the major problems which face Africa today were at some point smaller issues before.

Will.i.am carries the Olympic torch, and BlackBerry!

LOL at Will.i.am for doing this. #multitasking #madfresh

Marina and The Diamonds 'Primadonna'

Marina and The Diamonds are back with some serious tuneage.
Love the club anthem vibe!

Estelle 'Thank You'

I don't usually post lyric videos, but this is too good to ignore. The font is gorgeous, and the black and white film scenes really compliment the song. Penned by 'Mr Smack That' himself, Akon has managed to create a song which poignantly touches on the frustrations involved in an actual relationship, as opposed to one off encounters with strippers.

I almost wanted to post 'International (Serious)' but I love this song too much! Big up to Estelle!!

Also, listen carefully to hear Akon in the chorus!

L.O.V.E Vintage Adidas!!!!

I'm loving this vintage Adidas sweater, sooo swag.

TV Review: The Apprentice, Episode 1

Okay, so who watched The Apprentice last night? What an ‘interesting’ bunch of contestants (watch how I carefully choose my words here!) It’s all there really? I must say, at this stage in the game, I’m completely unacquainted with any of the contestant’s names, but I’m sure I’ll know them within the coming weeks. So for now I shall refer to them simply through description.

The first task is always a rival between the men and the women. The lady's team was rather interestingly named ‘Sterling’; apparently the name came to one of the contestants in a dream, like some foreknown supernaturally-inspired eventuality…Anyway the guys named their team ‘Phoenix’ – strength, rising from the ashes, stuff like that... I'm just waiting for the day when one team announces they want to be called 'Bieber's Babes' or the 'Swagger Muffins'. Erm? can't see that happening anytime soon!

Right, back to the task. All the groups had to do was buy some cheap un-labelled stuff, glam it up, and then sell it at a ridiculously high price to make a profit. Simple one would think? But not really… remember, this is The Apprentice; too many cooks, ever so often tend to spoil the broth.

The team leader for the girls is possibly one of my favourite contestant ever! She’s an architect and as Sir Alan Sugar said, she certainly has a ‘pleasant’ personality about her. Her creative flair shown through and her team had much better designs than the men’s team. Actually no, that’s an understatement; her designs where a million, billion, trillion miles better than the boys. BUT (and that’s a big but because) the boys won the task by making the most profit; making the classic move of focusing on profit more than the quality of the actual product.

In the board room, the team leader for the girls held her own, and some other lady, whose name evades me, left the show. It’s a lonely taxi ride but someone has to take it.

Imma Bawss!

 

Got so many shades they thought I had a lazy eye #RickRossGrunt

Dance fo Mommy, Shake fo Daddy!



Totally loving this Afro beats song from May7ven 'Ten Ten'.

"Sardine Sandwiches!"

Poppy the cat from Playdays

Hurry along Pippin!

Pippin and Auntie Mabel

Every so often, in an attempt to try and bring back pleasant childhood memories, I like to take trips down memory lane. Usually the best way of doing this is remembering the TV shows I used to watch. Very recently, I was reminded of an educational kids show called ‘Come Outside’. The star of the show was a dog called Pippin, who was really clever and did some amazing things – none of which I can clearly recall, but nevertheless still clever. The best part of the show was the multi coloured aeroplane which Auntie Mabel (Pippin’s owner) flew around to get to various locations where she’d embark on educational adventures. I learnt so much about how things work, for example how streetlights work, what happens to waste when it’s flushed down the toilet and how bread is made. Deep.

“Now I’m mad, real mad #JoeJackson”

Words cannot describe the extreme anger and frustration exhibited on Joe Jackson’s face. The stress, the anguish, the intensity, the pain.

Are mobile phones losing their character?

Samsung Galaxy (Left) and iPhone 4 (Right)

Walk into a mobile phone store these days and you’ll notice that most of the phones look the same; black in colour, huge screens and possibly one small button at the bottom. It’s almost impossible to tell the difference between two phones anymore.

The main reason behind the new look smartphone is the desire for more content. The very function of a mobile ‘phone’ is no longer about sending texts, or calling a mate, it’s now about browsing the web, gps, video recording and taking photos. All these activities require a larger screen which makes the most of every millimetre of the phone’s size. Gone are the days when mere buttons and a black and white screen were enough to communicate effectively; it’s all about the touch screen now.

A touch screen is a bit like marmite; you either love it or hate it. The traditionalist will always opt for a mobile with buttons, it’s familiar and provides the user with something they can actually feel and touch. Unlike a touch screen, which is often quite difficult to get to grips with, buttons provide the user with feedback after pressing each button - when you’ve pressed a button, you know you’ve pressed it.

Anyway, enough about buttons. The main difference is the lack of character and personality in modern mobile phones. Essentially, it’s just a screen. Where’s the design and individuality? Nowadays, the only way to inject some taste and style into a smartphone is adding an accessory – like a phone cover or sock.



Old skool - Nokia 3200  (Left) and Nokia 3310 (Right)

Not surprisingly, when more than one product looks and feels similar, a legal dispute is almost always inevitability. In April 2011, Apple sued Samsung for an alleged infringement of their design patent, claiming Samsung had “savishly” copied its product design. At the moment, the legal battle between Apple and Samsung lies mainly with patents for operating software. Samsung are currently attempting to counter sue Apple concerning an alleged patent infringement for operating systems within both phones. The case is to be heard in Australia next month.

------------------*------------------

I came acrosss this funny advert while searching for images of old phones.


"No larger than a cordless phone" "Fits in your briefcase"

              

Ice Prince ft. Brymo 'Oleku'

<3 Afrobeat 

Happy Pancake Day!...or should I say 'Shrove Tuesday'?

Flippin' pancakes!

Let’s face it, pancakes don’t really need their own day or the PR - everyone loves pancakes. So why does a whole day need to be devoted towards making and eating pancakes?

The answer lies with the Catholic season of Lent. Pancake Day, also known as Shrove Tuesday, is the day preceding Ash Wednesday. Shrove Tuesday is the last day before Lent, when Catholics observe forty days of prayer and fasting while remembering when Jesus spent forty days and forty nights in the desert before embarking on His public ministry. For many Catholics, this means giving up something precious or a luxury which they enjoy eating, usually something like chocolate, chips, sweets or meat.

Okay, so how does Pancake Day fit into all this? Well, the day before Lent started, it was customary for most people to use up all the ‘luxury’ items in their house (eggs, milk, flour and sugar). It just so happened that pancakes was what they cooked, hence Pancake Day.

Ouch!

A brawl erupted between British boxers Dereck Chisora and David Haye over the weekend

Sting 'Englishman In New York'

Really digging this song right now. Got it on repeat.

St Valentine Special: Michael Jackson's first date

Here's a video of Michael Jackson, aged 14 on the TV show 'The Dating Game'. This video is so funny! Michael looks uncomfortable at times and the three girls he has to pick from (Latany, Venus and Demetra) are only 10 years old. Considering their age, these girls are too excited - I mean talking about going to a 'hotel' after a date is a bit much… LOL, look out for Michael's facial reactions to the girl's answers, it's jokes.

In the end Michael picks a girl. The prize is quite good, they get to go to a restaurant, watch the Jackson 5 perform in concert and stay at the Marriot Hotel in New York city. Rest assured, the two were accompanied by a 'Dating Game' chaperon.

Hash tag rapping #TheFuture

#RickyBobby

Hash tag rapping uses a word or name to act as a metaphor for what is being described in the song. Its invention can be traced to Kanye Wests’ ‘Barry Bonds’ (2007) where the successful Baseball League career of Barry Bonds is likened to Wests’ ability to create musical hits.

“And here’s another hit #BarryBonds”

West does it quite often, a personal favourite would be his verse on Drake’s ‘Over’ where he uses the language learning software ‘Rosetta Stone’,
“I could teach you how to speak my language #RosettaStone”

Young Money artist Lil Wayne features on ‘Barry Bonds’ and together with the rest of the YMCMB crew, they’ve taken hash tag rap to the next level. Here are a few samples of their work.

“Swimmin’ in the money come find me #Nemo” Drake ‘Forever’
Drake is referring to the popular Disney Pixar film ‘Finding Nemo’

“I race for your love, shake and bake #RickyBobby” Drake ‘Bedrock’
Okay, this one’s a little tricky to explain… The character Ricky Bobby is a car racer in the film ‘Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby’ and he uses the phrase ‘shake n’ bake’ to put down his competitors when he races i.e. “It’s shake n’ bake time”. Shake n’ Bake is a reference to the popular Kraft Foods breadcrumb flavoured coating, usually sprinkled on chicken or pork. So Drake is putting down other competitors in a race to win the love of a particular lady.

I’m a star #SheriffBadge – Nicki Minaj ‘Make Me Proud’
Sheriff badges are star shaped so she’s comparing the two.

Some other favourites:

“I am the future #DelorianDoors” will.i.am 'T.H.E (The Hardest Ever)'
Love this one.

“She make me wanna leave the one I’m with #UsherRaymond” Kevin McCall ‘Deuces’
A classic reference to Usher’s old skool hit ‘You Make Me Wanna’ and a brilliant use of hash tag rap.

“Now I’m flier than the birds #RichardBranson” Dappy ‘No Regrets’

Sherlock back for Third Season

Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock (Left) and Martin Freeman as Dr Watson (Right)

Yep, that’s right! Sherlock will be back on our screens for another season!! #excited.

Critics love Sherlock, and viewing figures confirm that audiences do as well, with average ratings as high as 7.9 million.

Season two finished two weeks ago but left viewers unsure as to whether Sherlock would return for a third season. It seemed as if Sherlock had died, but later he reappeared at the very last moment. So, if Sherlock isn’t dead, but everyone thinks he is, how exactly is he going to reveal himself? Answer: I don’t know.

The final scenes from season two show Dr Watson lamenting over Sherlock’s grave, wishing that somehow – as if by magic – he was still alive. Undoubtedly, the show would not be complete without the on-going ‘bromance’ between Sherlock and Dr Watson. Both characters depend on each other, and despite the obvious tension which exists between Sherlock and pretty much every human being he meets, the duo are essential to the show’s success.
 

Louise Brealey as Molly,
best known - to me anyway - for playing
Roxy in Casualty 

If a favourite character had to be picked, it would have be Molly who works in a morgue as a laboratory technician. She’s quite a shy character, very apologetic for making the slightest of errors and usually belittled by Sherlock’s shrewd/obtuse behaviour. The best thing about Molly is her longsuffering crush for Sherlock. Her recent attempt to impress him at the Christmas party was met with the usual hostility which Sherlock exudes. It was indeed, an epic fail. Anyway, somehow without actually apologising Sherlock manages to maintain a small circle of friends, including Molly.

The best feature of the show is the actual Dr Watson blog; adding an authenticity to the show which brings the characters alive. Molly also has a blog too!

http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/

http://www.mollyhooper.co.uk/

Season three is coming… just gotta wait.

Mohombi - In Your Head ft. Ice Prince & Sway (TJM Afrobeats Mix)

Love this.

Book Review: ‘The Invisible Man’ By H.G. Wells

The Guardian describes Wells as "The godfather of science fiction'

It’s rare – in fact it’s extremely rare, that I get scared from reading a book. Films are scary, but never books. However, The Invisible Man is the first book I’ve ever read which scared the living daylights out of me. Possibly, it’s the fear of the unseen or unknown which made me feel so terrified? In any case, this book is truly amazing.

The sheer excellence of Wells’ writing is what makes the story come alive. Within the first few pages, it’s almost impossible not to get sucked into the story of a mysterious invisible man trying to pass off as normal in a remote English village. Initially Wells refers to The Invisible Man as the ‘Visitor’, and then later, simply as the ‘Voice’. The fact that his name is not discovered until the 18th chapter, only adds to the ambiguity and secretiveness of The Invisible Man’s character.

The story is simple; an albino scientist makes himself invisible and uses his new found ‘advantage’ to cause havoc in a quiet little village. Obviously, there’s a little more to it than that, but generally that’s the best way of describing the plot. In the course of the story he manages to force a tramp (Mr Marvel) – arguably the best character in the book, to help him recover his precious lost belongings from an inn he was staying in. The utter cruelty and callousness of the Invisible Man is certainly a facet of his personality that seems to have dominated his life and ultimately led to his desire to make himself invisible.

On the whole, the story is good but really scary (I’ve said that enough already!). The ending, however, is slightly anticlimactic, but still enough to round off this brilliant story. The best feature is the small chapters which break the story down and make what would be a dense piece of literature, quite digestible.

Throwback: The Nineties

To be honest, I don't remember much about the nineties, but this is what springs to mind.
 

The Tamagotchi, also doubles up as a keyring #swag



Mellisa Joan Hart - the nineties version of Miley Cyrus



Andi Peters, children's TV presenter.

Um Bongo - "they drink  it in the Congo"

Qubix - puzzle pieces that came free with Walkers Crisps.
Playground currency in the 90s. 



Sister Sister - "Go home Roger!"



The Spice Girls lunchbox,
I had one, you had one - we all had one
#girlpower



Nintendo Gameboy: possibly one of the
most iconic designs of the nineties



‘What May Happen in the Next Hundred Years’

Marty McFly rides a hover board in the film 'Back To The Future'

Hover boards from Back To The Future will exist

One sweet day, this will finally happen. If the film is anything to go by, hover boards should be in existence by 2015. This could happen…

An artist called Nils Guadagnin, has created a hover board that actually floats in mid-air. The science behind the futuristic device is beyond my understanding, however it is understood that the board floats because of magnets.

BUT, don’t get too excited yet, the board can only sustain 2kg and although it is a hovering board, it cannot be used to actually hover on. He is, however planning to make a stronger version.

Nils Guadagnin, artist, inventor and Back To The Future fan.

Libraries will close down
Paper books will be a thing of the past, with most people opting for a digital version. Libraries will have to close, because most books will be available to download online, and virtual book borrowing will exist instead.

Space travel will become more frequent and affordable
It’s almost already happening. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic project is one of the first to offer holidays to space. Currently, it’s extremely expensive, with tickets fetching up to $200,000 plus a $20,000 deposit. However, should Branson’s efforts at space tourism prove to be successful, there is no reason why it will not become more popular and cheaper.

Robots will be used to make life easier
Robots will be able to wash dishes, cook meals, vacuum and do all mundane household chores. They will also be able to drive cars.

Black and white printers will be abolished
In the future, all printers will print in colour and batches of work will be printed out instantaneously. A printer will be the size of a match box, or incorporated into a smartphone and will use lasers or something like that to print images. Printers will also be able to print moving images onto special touch sensitive paper.

Kim Kardashian will marry again
Pretty self-explanatory and utterly predictable.

Space, the final frontier



If only we could predict the future…accurately

 

A strange and quite amusing prediction of the future; taken in 1966, the large box-type thing, which resembles a Canon C5051 photocopier, is meant to be a robot in 1976

It has always been of great interest to predict the future, imagining a range of exciting new products, activities and things that will improve our quality of life. In 1900 American civil engineer John Elfreth Watkins made a number of predictions for what he thought life would be like in a 100 years’ time. In an article named ‘What May Happen in the Next Hundred Years’ he mentioned a number of things that he thought would be possible by the year 2000. Most, but not all of his predictions came true. He was right about the following things though:

• "Wireless telephone and telegraph circuits will span the world. A husband in the middle of the Atlantic will be able to converse with his wife sitting in her boudoir in Chicago. We will be able to telephone to China quite as readily as we now talk from New York to Brooklyn."

Obviously he’s trying to describe what most people would simply refer to as a ‘mobile phone’ These days it is easy to take such technologies for granted, but before mobiles it was impossible to communicate with people as easily as today.



'Mobira Talkman', one of the first 'mobile' phones, 80% of the phone is just battery...



•  "Ready-cooked meals will be bought from establishments similar to our bakeries of today."

Basically, microwavable meals.

• "Photographs will be telegraphed from any distance. If there be a battle in China a hundred years hence, snapshots of its most striking events will be published in the newspapers an hour later.... photographs will reproduce all of nature's colours."
• "Man will see around the world. Persons and things of all kinds will be brought within focus of cameras connected electrically with screens at opposite ends of circuits, thousands of miles at a span."

The Internet does this, blogging, YouTube and the rise in citizen journalism all contribute towards this happening. ‘…Photographs will reproduce all of natures’s colours’– lol


And these are some of his predictions which didn’t come true…

• "Everybody will walk 10 miles a day."

That’s a little too much to ask for, what would be the point of walking such distances if, as he predicted, there would be, “Huge forts on wheels [which] will dash across open spaces at the speed of express trains of today”?

• "Mosquitoes, house-flies and roaches will have been exterminated."

As far as I am aware mosquitoes still exist, and so does malaria. House flies and roaches are still in existence.

• "There will be no C, X or Q in our everyday alphabet. They will be abandoned because unnecessary."

Strictly speaking, this is not true, however with a rise in so called ‘text speak’ it could be argued that certain letters have become unnecessary. Txt msgs dnt hv all d lettrz tht ther supposed 2 hv.

Tomorrow I shall post my own predictions for the next 100 years.



The film I, Robot (2004) shows a more realistic idea of robots in the future

Where’s Wiki?

We all rely on Wikipedia to find out information about celebrities, public figures and generally anything. However if you tried getting onto Wikipedia today you would have seen this message:

All Wikipedia pages in English have been taken down by the company in protest against proposed anti-piracy bills in the US. The idea has been referred to as ‘The Blackout’.

The two bills that have been called into question are:

1. Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa)

2. Protect Intellectual Property Act (Pipa)

Both bills are currently being debated by Congress, however there has been considerable opposition from people who believe that both proposals have been badly drafted. Among those who oppose the proposals is Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales. Wales has commented saying “These bills are very badly written” and has therefore made the decision to blackout information on his website. The point, according to Wikipedians is to show the negative consequences of Sopa and Pipa; this being a limit on freedom of information.

Sopa and Pipa aim to prevent access to websites which host unauthorised copyright material. The proposals aim to stop websites from infringing copyright laws by granting content owners and the US government power to shut down such sites. Sopa also requires search engines to remove results for websites that contain unauthorised material. The general aim of both bills is to ensure that unauthorised content and copyright laws are not breached. However, although the proposed legislation is primarily concerned with US copyright law, it will, needless to say, have an impact on the rest of the world due to the nature of the Internet itself.

The Internet has always been promoted as a free and open space for people to express their views and share information. However there seems to be a conflict between how far this can be achieved and whether doing so may break laws relating to copyright and intellectual property.

It remains to be seen, whether today's effort to discourage online censorship will be effective.



Blogging website WordPress.com also participated in the Blackout putting censorship signs on the their homepage



HMV – Still the top dog for music?

HMV - His Master's Voice

With a rise in digital forms of music and websites like YouTube and Spotify, it’s not surprising that HMV has started to lose money. Being £164m in debt isn’t good news for HMV and with their Christmas takings looking lower than expected, it’s time to really ask; Is HMV still the top dog for music?



The old HMV logo. The dog in the picture is apparently called 'Nipper' and that thing which looks like a trumpet is called a 'Gramophone' -  it was used back in the day to listen to music on?!?



These days music can be listened to on radio or online. In addition, purchasing music has changed immensely in the past ten years. With iTunes you can buy music whenever you want, and whatever you want will always be there (unlike record stores where some music can be out of stock). Ten years ago most people would buy all their music from record stores, however nowadays it seems that record stores are becoming somewhat of a ghost on the high street. HMV, after all, is the only surviving record store left, as over the years the high street has said good bye to once popular stores like Virgin Mega Stores and another store which I cannot remember.

Although HMV is losing money, at least, at the moment they are doing so at a slower rate. Figures from the second quarter in 2011 show that the record store made a loss of 8.6%, which is better than figures from the first quarter which showed a 13% loss. So there is some improvement, but still a big loss for the once record store giant.

So, what’s left for HMV? Well, it would appear that the answer lies in selling stuff other than music. Recently HMV have started stocking more hi-tech electrical equipment in a bid to save their dwindling sales. HMV sell everything; iPads, funky headphones, tablets, hi-fi systems and blue-ray players. Possibly the addition of such items could be responsible for slightly ‘better’ losses. HMV boss, Simon Fox remains optimistic:

"The continuing actions to focus the business and to expand our technology offering are beginning to show through…We are seeing a combination of a slowing of the decline in music and film, and acceleration in the growth of technology.”

However he still recognises that “the consumer environment remain[s] challenging”

Undoubtedly, 2012 will be a crucial year for HMV, and it remains to be seen whether a re-focus on technology will actually pull this store out of financial problems.

Azonto

The Azonto dance is fast becoming one of the biggest dance crazes of 2012 – possibly the only craze so far. Originally from Ghana, the Azonto is a lively dance routine which has recently been popularized by Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie.

Sarkodie refers to and performs the Azonto in the music video ‘You Go Kill Me’. Look out for the mandatory Michael Jackson impersonator.

The Azonto dance usually mimics everyday activities like washing, ironing, driving, boxing or buttoning up a shirt – to name but a few.

Book Review: ‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings’ By Maya Angelou

Initially I was not too sure what to expect from this book. Having only read one poem by Angelou (Still I Rise) I was interested to discover what kind of writer she was. Would she be metaphorical and poetic? Well, I guess she was. IKWTCBS is certainly full of all those writing techniques that are learned in an English lesson; full of metaphors, imagery and other literary devices which I am not inclined to mention, nor remember.

The autobiographical account covers Angelou’s life until the age of seventeen. As expected it is crammed with amazing stories and experiences, however there are certain tragedies which occur in her life. She explores her feelings about her absent parents, the abuse she suffered from her stepfather and the cruel punishments that she and her brother were subjected to under the tyranny of her God fearing Grandmother.

Considering this book only covers the first seventeen years of her life, it could easily contain all the events that make a life-time. Maya lives with a variety of people, travels to Mexico driving her father’s car at fifteen – without having ever driven before, becomes the first black streetcar conductor in San Francisco at fifteen and manages to live in a car lot for a month with a bunch of homeless kids. Certainly an eventful seventeen years.

So, if you’re looking for a superbly well written book then look no further than IKWTCBS.

Let's do this!

Hey Everyone!

Welcome to my Newsy Blog. Possibly not the most imaginative blog title...but hey, what can you do. If you like random bits of news and info then you're in the right place! I'll be blogging all sorts, so hopefully there'll be something for everyone ;-)

Bye!!!!!