2face Idibia might just have to swallow the words of his beloved slogan: “nothing dey happen!” Cos events of the past few weeks show that much has happened in his life. I’m sure you know by now that he was attacked by armed robbers on the 12th of January. For those who don’t know him 2face Idibia is Nigeria’s foremost R&B singer at the moment. Formerly of the group: The Plantashun Boiz, you are guaranteed to hear a 2face track playing in one house out of ten in any city you go to in Nigeria. “Proud to be African” a track he recorded along with Wyclef Jean, Faze and Sound Sultan can be heard on Wyclef’s new CD: “Welcome to Haiti. Creole 101”. He sure did tear up that track with his refrain. Infact the boy is talent personified. So you can guess how bad we all felt when we heard he’s been hospitalized as a result of the attack. Those robbers sure did mess up, they should have have gone for the money and left him unhurt. They couldn’t even respect his celebrity status! Anyway thank God he’s been discharged from the hospital and is steadily recovering. Naija na wah! We all gotta watch our back…me and my tripping over 2face sef!

Sha more happenings, also a robbery attack…according to the Police anyway. And unfortunately claiming the life of Youssoufou ‘Campos’ Samiou. The Benin’s Under 20 soccer team’s first choice keeper at the on going African Youth Championship. Police reports have it that he was killed by some men after he refused to handover his handset to them. He had sneaked away to the Beach to keep an appointment with a girl, in the evening of the same day he let in three goals as the Junior Squirrels of Benin Republic were spanked by Nigeria’s Flying Eagles. Earlier reports had it that he was killed by angry fans for his team’s poor performance. Similar to what happened to Columbia’s Andres Escobar in 1994. Talk about the devil…angry fans, thieves and tempting women…damn. R.I.P. man and good luck to our boys who are through to the final of the competition. Even though for sure most of our players are over 20. Age cheating and Africa! That’s another kettle of fish sha.

Yet another sad happening. Unilag (the University of Lagos) has been closed down. And do you know the reason why? I’ll tell you. Its cos some dumb students went on rampage and burnt down the Vice Chancellor and Dean of student’s affairs’ lodge among other school properties in the guise of a protest over their hostel fee increase, incessant power outage and the death of their Student Union President. I’m not too surprised though as it’s typical of Nigerian undergraduates (having been one myself…maybe I’m still one…how sad). It’s a case of cutting the nose to spite the face. Who looses? Everybody including the same students. If we all could think real hard and logically we would avoid most of life’s big mistakes. Well I guess to err is human/and Unilag students deserve to be flogged by Harry Truman/. Haha just tryna rhyme (winks).

Finally the last happening which luckily doesn’t leave me sadden. I was at my villa (slang for village) last week. I went with my folks to visit family members and run some things. And from my visit I sure was schooled about life in the village. It’s all about subsistence survival/farming there man; village life is just all ceremonies. People come home on the regular to bury their dead, marry, attend festivals and take titles. And the villagers hop from one place to another, getting free food and socializing in the process. And life goes on. Anyway just so that you’ll know, I’m from Anambra…yeah yeah the Obasanjo, Ngige, Chris Uba and Ogbeh shit. Makes you wanna kill them fools. Sha the state ain’t too bad despite the bad roads, and in my village the limited electricity, weak GSM connectivity (apologies to my voicemail victims) and water problems.

2face at the hospital after his attack.

If you have a passion for keeping up to date with changes in the technology world, love surfing the web and visit dozens of sites daily like me, you surely must have come across Mozilla Firefox. Well if you haven’t then no probs, I’ll fill you in. after all it’s my job as a blogger (winks). Now time to get knowledgeable.

Mozilla Firefox is a browser (not an operating system) which is fast gaining the nods and approvals of tech heads as substitute for Microsoft Internet Explorer. I myself I haven’t used it (cos the café’s I browse in all use Microsoft Internet Explorer) but from the buzz it’s creating and the reviews of it I’ve read I’m sure giving it 9 stars out of 10. And wouldn’t mind changing to it if my personal computer at home was connected to the net. According to CNET:

Mozilla Firefox 1.0 is the dream Internet browser you’ve been looking for. Featuring a host of small technical improvements, including tabbed browsing, built-in and customizable search bars, and a built-in RSS reader, Mozilla’s Firefox browser is the one that should finally put a dent in Microsoft Internet Explorer’s unrivaled market dominance. While its lack of ActiveX support might prevent some sites from working properly, after more than three weeks of use in our tests, Firefox 1.0 remained fast and stable and displayed an impressive range of cutting-edge browsing options. We were able to view every Web site just fine, thank you. If you’re fed up with the latest Internet Explorer security patch issued from Microsoft or with the latest virus to capitalize on some flaw in IE, you should switch to Firefox–now

But despite all this props going to Firefox, statistics from my blog’s hit counter shows that Microsoft Internet Explorer is still the shit most people are fucking with 90% of the time. It goes to show that old habits die hard. A little diversion here: another discovery from my blog’s hit counter is that the screen resolution of 800 x 600 is equally as popular as that of 1024 x 768. Both are the norms man, with the later being most popular with laptops (that’s a guess. It should be right anyway). Here’s a site I found amusing: www.antifirefox.com. Bill Gates sure would support this site’s owner.

It’s Firefox versus Internet Explorer. Make your choice.

We all have ideas in our mind on what being a DJ (Disk jockey) entails. Well on the 31st of December 2004 I stopped dreaming and thinking and actually assumed the position. The occasion was my bro and his friends’ end of the year party. And trying to beat down the cost as it was a house party we…I had to take care of the music ourselves…myself. And man it sure was fun and quite an experience.

DJing no be beans (it ain’t as easy as eating beans…smiles). There are certain qualifications you just must have first (…I’m getting too technical hey?). Like you must really like music, party music: Hip hop for that matter. It ain’t simply turning on you radio once in a while, Music has gotta be your life! You must also be able to differentiate between party…buck wild danceable jamz, slow jamz and jamz you can mildly rock to for different moods and periods in a party. And most importantly you must have partied much and seen different DJs in action to know what it actually is like DJing. In other words you must have had lots of party experience from a DJs’ angle.

And luckily my humble self: TRAE is a perfect example of a person qualified to spin the hits at a party. It’s like I got the whole science of DJing in my brain. Music has been my life big time since 1999. My ear is like a song magnet. Once I hear a song and I like it, it takes a permanent space in my brain. So it came to be that on December 31st my bro copped the ride, we loaded our deck into the boot and we set off for Asokoro with our peeps.

To get things started we cleared the parlour/living room to make dance floor space and then I set up my stuff. This was basically two decks. Hey it’s a hose party remember, this ain’t no Lil Jon bash. I also sorted out my CD’s, picking out the disks with danceable jamz and labeling em with cello tape as a quick reminder mechanism. Ain’t no fumbling permitted, remember? Also I had my party jamz tape in hand. Being the DJ doesn’t mean I ain’t gonna dance. After a while I’ll slot in my tape and go get my party on. Gotta kill two birds with one stone (smiles).

So it came to be, the bash started behind schedule (You know the trying to ship in the girls shit…pick em up) but the music didn’t…smiles. I was all busy blasting my jamz and keeping the party mood going. I had to keep the songs fresh, rarely repeating except for some present blazing hits. And once in a while hitting em with A+ party tracks which automatically get all peeps on their feet. Such as Crazy Culture’s Jupa Jupa, Eedris’ Oko omoge, Lagbaja’s Konko below, 2face’s Keep on rocking, Fat Joe’s lean back etc. also occasionally slowing the tempo with songs like Sean Paul’s I’m still in love with you. Such times were smooching and boy getting to know girl times.

There were some scary moments sha. Like a time the music went of. I had to quickly switch on and change decks. And a time peeps weren’t dancing much. Partly cos they just finished munching into their edibles which they were served. And partly cos my guys were shy to ask girls to dance. Some folks were just bugging me: DJ you fuck up, DJ play better jamz, DJ play current jamz, DJ play this, DJ play that. Even when I was playing all kinds of jamz. Ask em the sorta current jamz they wanna hear and they’ll be lost for words. Some guys were simply fucked up, they be bugging me instead of inviting girls to the dance floor. And some girls were just straight bitching, asking me to play shit instead of shaking their ass to the dumb beats. Well it all goes with the trade. I’m glad I represented to the fullest and didn’t fuck up. The bash rocked all in all, everyone had fun and by 9 peeps started getting their ass home to beat their different curfews.

Their were some behind the scene incidents. Like my friends Pops tripping on the phone over his ride and his sons whereabouts and some fuck ups from our dates. Well I can’t talk much on em cos I’m supposed to be spitting basically on DJing in this post.

DJing is real cool. I know my performance surpassed a whole lot of DJ’s: amateur and fake ass-professionals I’ve encountered at different bonfires, house and campus parties. So I wouldn’t mind having a go at it again.

I was DJ TRAE (like this fella here) for like 5 hours on December 31st 2004.

Everybody’s talking about the best this and that of 2004 and New Year resolutions. So here’s my own best of 2004. In this case the best (seven in number) things/happenings in my life that I’m grateful for in 2004.

My Blog

Also know as a weblog, a blog for the uninitiated, is a popular and fairly personal content form on the Internet. A person’s Web log is almost like an open diary. It chronicles what a person wants to share with the world on an almost daily basis. The activity of updating a blog is “blogging” and someone who keeps a blog is a “blogger”. And starting my own (and it being enjoyed by its readers) was definitely one of my highs of 2004. Being a cyber freak since 2001 and having kept a diary since I was 10, moving over to the internet and blogging is something I can really relate to. It’s a hobby I really enjoy and it sure has built up my journalistic intellect. Big up to other bloggers out there. After all we are ABC News People of the Year for 2004.

Getting my handset and mobile line

For sure it’s the GSM age in Nigeria. And owning a GSM line is a must if one is to call oneself a correct guy/chick in Naija. Ha ha whatever. So getting my own line and handset in April sure was a wonderful moment for me. Now I can handle my own biz personally, talk less of advanced communication and pimping. I’m sure y’all love birds can relate with me on the wonders of text messages and late night calls.

Big Flexing

It’s Jay-Z who said in one of his songs that he was big pimping. Well in my case in 2004 I was big flexing. By flexing I mean I partied big and I really enjoyed myself socially. Thank you Jesus (smiles). My policy was to be happy as much as possible 24-7. So I kept positive and tried to enjoy each moment with friends. With the girls it was something else. In 2004 I had my first real relationship which lasted about two months, and I got miself some really close girlfriends. And not girlfriends as in relationships but having girls as my real tight buddies the way two guys could be best friends. And somehow I relished seeing the girls over and over again trusting me and feeling secure in my presence (ask girls, most of em will tell you they prefer close buddies of the opposite sex than the same sex. Ain’t the same with guys though). Funny huh? Some times I ask myself if I’m sick or trying to over do things to get over some inner fears. Whatever, it’s the opposite attract, the power of the P-U-S-S-Y according to Kels, Jay and Devin.

Meeting my Hip hop idols

Yep 2004 was the year I witness two of my biggest Hip hop idols perform live. DMX in January and 50Cent in December. Both events where electrifying and will live on in my memory for years to come. There’s something about finally meeting someone you really admire. After the encounter it’s like your life will never be the same again. Ask Bill Clinton; he’ll tell you about his encounter in his youth with the then US president John F. Kennedy.

My ride

There sure is nothing better than cruising/rolling down the street with your ride on a beautiful day, with your windows down and getting admiring stares from passers by. And that’s what I experienced big time in 2004. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I leant to drive in 2004; instead 2004 was the year I finally got unlimited ride access from my mum after months of battling. And man have I had good moments with my Toyota. Funny abi? Well that’s life you know, one man’s meat is another man’s garri (smiles). So am a continue riding and keep my eyes on the ultimate: the Peugeot 307. I must ride that car or die!

Quitting UNN

Quitting? Well more like graduating from UNN (University of Nigeria Nsukka. I still got shit to tidy up though, damn!). I sure am grateful to God for achieving that in 2004. After all the stress…and fun of university life, it feels good to be finally through with the system. Although for real I still miss campus life. Well I gotta suck it all up and move on. Next step is the NYSC and making my own dough. How scary can it get? I’ve always had one saying: you never know you’re a man till you feed and take care of yourself for a week with YOUR OWN SWEAT. God help us all!

My body

It ain’t as if I’m Right Said Fred singing: “I’m too sexy for my body”. But like him I was some what pleased with my body…looks in 2004. It’s like my gyming finally paid off. It’s not as if I got a 50 Cent type body, but I think I got an above average physique for a guy. Still I gotta wake my lazy ass up and keep lifting them rods. Also I changed my hair style early this year. I kept it low like Lloyd Banks. Sorry Wyclef, the Nigerian environment couldn’t allow me keep it Rasta. But I’ll definitely try it again someday.

So what of you what were your own highs of 2004? Moving over to new year resolutions I can’t say what all mine are (cos some are…too personal to…whatever) but my new year resolution sure does read it part : to start replying my emails in time. HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

We…”I” love to blog! after all we (bloggers) are ABC News’ People of the Year for 2004.