films, 4*

A friend of mine recently commented that I spend one and half hours searching for good movies. He was puzzled why I spend so much time viewing ratings by other readers before picking one to watch. But I’m glad that I do Earlier, I used to think I was up for any “good” movie. It is still true, but thanks for www.imdb.com, I have become increasingly aware of the genres I like: Sci-fi, mystrey, fantasy. Yesterday I watched four movies, ok three if I leave out The Matrix which I like watching again and again The new ones were Big Fish, Atonement, and Monster Inc. I loved all of them. Highly recommended. Specially Atonement!

Two weeks ago I have not been that lucky. I watched Hard Candy, about a teenager who ends up torturing a guy who was trying lure her into sex. She cuts his testicles off! Around the end of the movie it turned out she was faking it but that part was sufficient for me to fast forward my way out of it. I watched Juno, by the same actor which was much better and with a very good soundtrack too

And….last week I’ve been down to London again for a business meeting It was nice to fly there for a change. I was getting tired of those 8-hour-straight bus journeys. I stayed in a four star hotel. Room looked nice

I turned on the TV just to fill the room with some noise and look what I got.

Encouraged by this I started exploring. I found a cabinet where I could take out drinks from. I played with it for a while but I didn’t manage to get one out. Apparently I would have been charged if I did so… temesgen And I found a locker too.

I thought I could put my wallet in there but I’m was going to leave the next morning anway And I think it was made for things which were a little bit expensive Surprisingly I found a Bible which I read before going to sleep.

And here is an “After impact”….

Jemari

I thought I knew all the advantages of wikipedia until I started my new job. Some people I met seemed to know a lot about Etyopia. The girl I work with asked me if I liked espresso and if I can teach her how to make it. My boss said something like “…there is an old Christian thing in your country right…?”. And the funniest moment was when my line manager told me about the time when he went to an Etyopian restaurant to have injera. I was surprised he remembered the name since he had said it was three years ago! Nevertheless, I sincerely appreciated their efforts to make me feel comfortable.

Don’t you think our city should be spelled Addis Abeba instead of Addis Ababa? Apparently, Ethiopian Mapping Authority uses the former (according to wikipedia!). And shouldn’t we replace Ethiopia with Etyopia?

48. Ye’entone m

I have opted to use only the first letter of that jaded of words. 

                                                             

Four and one third months have elapsed; but any given day, one can still see /hear about   —— ketema, mesria bet or timihirt bet celebrating their m.  This, among other related factors, may have prompted the joke: if you have not yet heard it, the lingering m is going to be handed over to the Chinese. Apparently they are good at speeding up things as evidenced by the roads they have been constructing. Who knows? In their capable hands we may even be knocking on the doors of 3000 in no time ¡ It was them who came up with that “a journey of one thousand miles begins with a single step” shit in the first place.

 If any day in our household be given that dubious honor, then it has to be next Saturday a.k.a.  my brother’s wedding. The last two weeks were of chifera almost every night. One of the two nights I participated in the dance, the speakers were literally being knocked off the table; and this at midnight. Pity the neighbors!   

I hope the main event and the remaining days leading up to it are going to be inolvidable. 

I wanted to go black tie but guess I have to save that  for my own wedding. Other details about my ideal wedding: 

1. A   proposal that bypasses shimagles by 108 roses and the already prepared speech  ” Whoa woman whoa woman you are so mean. You are the meanest woman I have ever seen:you are a womean. On the real though, I love you to death and beyond. The day I met you my entire past, both the right and the wrong, was justified. Please say yes and justify my future in advance. If you say yes, I guess I have to pack my troubles away and be the happiest person in Sub- Saharan Africa( next to that guy in South Africa of course)” 

2. The hoopla ditched for a week or two  in a beautiful beach or a peaceful retreat somewhere; just us two and a lotta act of union.  

3. I have already taken into account that the girl might not acquiesce to numbers 1 & 2, instead going for a big traditional thing. And that is why I intend to keep an eye out for a girl from a big family; for instance with 10 kids and she is the 6^th. That should lessen the “urge to splurge”, at least from her family’s side. 

Plans and more plans! But I have not even gotten close to getting a chick let alone getting married. People buy condoms from pharmacies and me, I ask the pharmacist for a calendar. The calendar in question was an advertisement for coffee flavored sensation condoms and ….. I can not help it! I am a sucker for Hayat or the picture thereof. Anyway the guy went into the back room and gave me a wrinkled one; Embi ayibal neger ; I thanked and received. I would have photographed it and posted it because seeing it is essential for getting the gist of the subsequent paragraphs.  

Peep  the official logo of the Ethiopian m: 

                                                                                               

 From what I gather, it is supposed to stand for three things Ethiopia has contributed to the rest of Africa and the world: gallantry (the shield impression), coffee (the coffee bean impression) and early human ancestors . Now, I do not know what the third symbolism is but let’s deal with the elephant in the room- that image right there resembles a female’s genitalia. It even makes sense that way: Ethiopia gave birth to the first humans (a bunch of whom  later  migrated elsewhere sensing that there was no hope for them here). If I am right about the interpretation, I will not leave without applauding the designer’s effort to mainstream pu*$# and at a crucial moment. 

The Hayat photo ….  . Everything is brownish and she looks stunning as usual.  Roasted coffee beans are spread out to her side and given the whole flavor idea they may be warranted. But have you got the pervert eye as I do to discern the intended or not likeness? I think the marketing team has hit the jackpot, bigger than they did with bananas, when it comes to associating condoms with stuff reminiscent of the pertinent of sex. 

I must post the picture; somehow. 

And post it I do 

 

I am highly appreciative of those who take time out to visit us. The status quo is that andthree is left with 157 hits to celebrate its m. Will you help us do that by , um , like tomorrow? Please?! 

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47. No debate

You

Have got the roles reversed, I say

Have faith in me 

When I should have believed in you

Me

I am not that into roles

Only role-play

I rest my case, you say 

Roles are there to be played

Somehow

 Someway…

But uh

You

Seeing

 What is it to you?

So irrational

The ultimate romantic  

Me 

 The master of reason 

See first  

Believe last 

 You interject   

You have got the order reversed  

I proceed   

True to style 

Talk on; never listen      

How could you stay loving   

The game     

    The abysmal player     

     / The team relegated every season         

       To realms unpleasant  

Both in equal measure? 

.

.

.

  I  

Keep wallowing 

 In and out of roles and reason       

      I don’t get me          

      I don’t get you          

      I don’t get us   

But I am happy for that

 And elated to be happy 

For someone rational   

 I can also be irrational   

For a critique  

I want to be like you  

Get a tinge closer   

You  

Perfectly poised as ever  

 From the moments of ignorance      

   To those of knowledge           

      To the rush that sweeps through me                     

        To the feeling I regret having for anyone else                

          Anything else             

             To the breaking down                

                 The conceding        

          And back to the ignorance

   My number one fan 

Yesterday, now and always   

One   

Would it be blasphemous if I sign off with this? 

  

46. Tiyakewoch-kewich ena kewist

Betemihirt mehal

Teyakiw bezto

Ene ewneten new

Senfe new yalkut  

Boi am I tired of admitting to every inquirer of my laziness when asked why I was not making any significant progress towards graduation?! I answer the same to my advisor, my family members; my friends from Arat Kilo, Oprah … Too much honesty can really suck and especially when it is acknowledging how second-rate one has been. And I don’t want a medal for having a go at myself instead of the educational set up or what not. I take full responsibility: I blow! 

 What I want What I think I want is to be done with this thing pronto. School can be a refuge for people who have not yet figured out what to do with their lives. One minute I am getting frustrated that it is taking me forever; next moment  a step or two in the “right” direction is proving menacing-the future looms: then what? Will I get a job? Will I be happy with it? What exactly is happy? Will I make enough money of it? How much money is enough money? Will I make peace with the past and come up with the thing I really want to do? 

It is a joint haunting by the past and the future. 

For five weeks or so I had stopped having lunch. The reasons were not as significant as the results. I have come to realize that dinner can be a mighty good achievement at the end of the day and breakfast a great expectation for the morning. Though my purpose was neither, I report fasting for the sake of appreciating the non –nutritive values of food (and I ain’t talking about no roughage) can be as enlightening as fasting with heaven in mind. 

 On the downside, I got into five altercations of various degrees during the specified time.  

I came across this in Arat Kilo:

                                                                                    ‘

’ sew betmihirt bicha ayinorm : bedabom chimir enji”   

Now, usually I do not do this. But let me go ahead and break you off with a little preview of my next post.          

Well, it is going to be a poem with one verse going “we have got the roles reversed “. You are going to read it and you are going to like it! 

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edinburgh race

Yes Tibe i was there. For those who don’t know, Kenenisa and Gelete Burka (from women) won the Great Edinburgh Cross Country race. Luckily, it was a sunny day. It was freezing cold though. The women’s race was first although we made it just after they finished. Then men’s started. About 30-40 Ethiopians came from all over Scotland (mostly Edinburgh and Glasgow). It was a lot of fun b/c it was my first time to watch a race like this. When kenenisa won dancun akeletnew. There were two guys among us who knew how to “chifera mood maskeset”

Immediately after that we had a gathering for Christmas (last Monday was working day for us). Ethoipian food and some more dancing. So yeah Saturday was a full day loaded with fun

45. Tilant yetetsafe zare teletefe

Akon and Rihanna are due to perform tonight on the New Year’s Eve party. And naturally the curvier one has taken all the pre-shine. Little mind is being paid to 2007’s number two best selling artist (next to Daughtry).

This is a public service announcement letting you know that Akon is an excellent pick on the part of the organizers and the one that everyone should be watching out for- hot performance wise. The singles from Rihanna’s second album, I did not feel. She may have to rely heavily on Pon de Replay and may be Umbrella to get the people grooving.

Hmmm! I like this music critique role!

Moreover, we have always been down with Senegalese people. Hailesellasie kicked it with and his foundation awarded Sengor; no other African national football team jersey, not even Walyawochu’s, has been worn by Ethiopians more than the Teranga Lions’; and now Akon is going to be upfront with our ladies and tell them how he wants to love them. Way to strengthen the cultural ties between the two countries!

I have got one itsy bitsy concern though. When the outlandish rumors about Michael Jackson possibly coming here were circulating, I was like “ parents, hide your kids!” Now that I know who is really here I am like “ Parents, hide your kids!” Ironically, nearly 3000 free tickets are earmarked, just like last time, for outstanding students. Heavens forbid should one student escape security and make it onstage. We can not have one of the better brains hurled off stage, land unceremoniously, cognitive abilities impaired, thereby drastically reducing her/his role in yeEtiopian hidase bemaregaget reged. We cannot have that! Not with all the dummies we have at our disposal.

Imagine for  a moment yeamet baal liyu zigijit like scenario . Then Akon would have had a field day/bonanza flinging people off stage.

 

Staying on the international relations theme …… Cuba. Some thirty years ago, they could just have provided us with ammunition, like is the common practice, and watch us do battle with Somalia. But instead they sent thousands of soldiers tens of whom were killed. That’s unusual; and that is why I have decided to name my chromatographic column in their honor “Ethio
- Cuba wedajinet column” Incidentally this column is located parallel to the commemorative statue that has been built next to Yeabiotu dick.

Did you know that Ethiopia forgave Cuba of 2.56 million dollars (in kind) debt as a token of appreciation for the Cuban soldiers? Well, what do you know! I guess the saying “keNazeret melkam neger yiwotal woy? KeEtiopia televisions addis neger yigegnal woy?” does not always hold true.

Voters’ registration for the upcoming yekebele and yemamuaya mircha is on its fifth day. And I am interested in that like I am interested in continuing with this post.

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