tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-153546342024-03-14T10:05:50.116+02:00Sinclair & CostaSurviving in Zimbabwe & Southern AfricaAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.comBlogger183125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-51903090956767457012016-12-22T12:09:00.000+02:002016-12-22T12:09:27.022+02:00Den vådliga vådan av jul och alkoholSkriver inte ofta på svenska men detta irriterar mig. Läser just nu jag vet inte hur många ledare i svenska media om hur hemskt det är med julfirande och alkohol, hur våldet minsann genast kryper in på nåt sätt.
Så funkar det inte, i min erfarenhet. Julen innebär för många en paus då mycket kommer till ytan i relationer och samtidigt ett sorts tryck av traditioner. Jag tänker inte förneka Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-8039273819047978802016-06-04T09:36:00.000+02:002016-06-04T09:36:13.827+02:00Sidetrack 2It seems to be the year of dying. But as a writer of obituaries pointed out: a lot of famous people are actually old so expect more of it.
In any case, it might surprise some of my friends that over the years I have become a fan of boxing. This as I, at least I hope, is known for my stance of non-violence. And whatever you say of boxing, non-violent it is not.
You can argue forever (and believeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-3951254514099852542016-05-29T16:19:00.000+02:002016-05-29T16:19:16.439+02:00Sidetrack no 1I am becoming more and more convinced that it is the sidetracks in life that are really important. It is not all those plans you make (it is good to make them to give a direction but they never really work out) but it is the sidetracks. The unexpected. The funny or shocking. Those are the ones you will remember.
So here is a slight sidetrack. For whatever reason our youngest son has taken an Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-89598358741590364762016-05-17T11:00:00.001+02:002016-05-17T11:07:37.440+02:00Internet life is sometimes strange and take you placesSince internet really started taking off with first email (I remember when I had an account and in the area of like 5 people to email to), mailing lists, then blogs and now "social" networks you occasionally get some really strange "path crossings". Just like in that thing we on internet call "IRL" (in real life, case you did not know).
I have since around 1998 been a member of a somewhat Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-72034715320823218522016-04-19T21:54:00.000+02:002016-04-19T22:20:33.419+02:00The many joys of travellingI can safely tell you that it is not fun to sit for over 1 hour at Harare airport and wait for what is clearly a delayed flight to Beira and then on to Maputo in Mozambique.
But I can tell you that following that delay sitting in Beira transit for over an hour and waiting for a connecting flight is even more boring. OK, you talk to people (at least if you are me) but there is nothing to eat or Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-79396114516395520272016-03-30T17:27:00.000+02:002016-03-30T17:27:22.226+02:00The birdsIt is kind of strange to feel sorry for a bird. But on our grounds we have plenty, everything from hummingbirds (they make our cat produce some really weird noises when she spots them in the palmtree outside the window) to the very common african, a woodpecker and at least one owl.
And this pair that have lived here "forever". Have no idea what they are called. Large, colourful with a plume and Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-88762568743742542662016-01-13T16:30:00.001+02:002016-02-08T15:32:33.920+02:00The Starman has left us"There's a Starman waiting in the sky, he'd like to come and meet us but he thinks he'd blow our minds"
Yes David Bowie, you truly blew our minds.
I well remember hearing your music for the first time and that was Ziggy Stardust. Sitting in a classmate's bedroom, playing vinyl on whatever equipment a kid of 13 had in 1973-4. Somehow I scraped together money to buy Diamond Dogs when itAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-25433426951168319352014-11-01T18:09:00.002+02:002014-11-13T07:41:23.879+02:00Traveling WilburyThis is a story written for those who think that travelling and working is awesome.
A week ago I woke up at 4.45 to take a quick shower, make some coffee and shake my wife out of bed. Then it was off to the airport for a long day of mainly sitting at airports.
On arrival in Maputo I checked in at the hotel to immediately fall asleep and try to catch up with sleep. Once I woke up I went to a Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-13775272453381007672014-09-19T17:30:00.001+02:002014-09-19T17:30:58.991+02:00What is "progressive" music??After having read that Peter Gabriel had been awarded a "Prog music God" award a discussion I had a few years ago with a (much) younger man came to my mind.We were in Zimbabwe National Park Mana Pools and somehow started discussing music. We got into talking about Keith Moon of The Who, probably one of the best drummers that ever lived. Just listen to anything they did while he was in the band, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-33531111301219732402014-09-16T13:52:00.001+02:002014-09-16T13:52:59.849+02:00Sverige-och -världenvännerDet är inte ofta jag skriver på svenska på bloggen - det är inte så ofta jag skriver alls numera faktiskt men normalt använder jag då engelska. Men mina funderingar denna gång är ett resultat av många många tidningsartiklar och kommentarer på sociala media och bloggar efter valet 14 september i Sverige.Personligen ser jag på valresultatet med mycket blandade känslor. Att ett parti vars ledare i Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-66422761484285552592013-07-27T16:12:00.002+02:002013-07-27T16:12:47.768+02:00The not so social side of FacebookI have in several blogposts and other online media commented about what I consider the "antisocial" effect of the growing addiction to online social networks.
This, sadly true, story is however about another most unwanted sideeffect of being active and a bit naive on social networks, in this case Facebook.
Recently I was asked to assist a young lady who had found that one of her photos on Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-87725885387896396232013-05-06T08:34:00.002+02:002013-05-06T08:34:50.876+02:00The Earth is shrinking?There are many who claim that "the world is shrinking". Of course it is not, it is the still the same size and shape (not totally round actually) it has been for millenia. What it is and increasingly becoming is connected. Your friends on the other side of Earth is now no farther away then reaching for your mobile phone. Almost anywhere you go there is mobile phone cover and 3G internet included.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-14939484559293354602013-03-18T10:20:00.000+02:002013-03-18T10:20:12.606+02:00The legacy of a good lifeWhat constitutes a good life? We can not all be Richard Branson or Nelson Mandela but we can all do our level best in the circumstances we find ourselves. And very few manage that, in my opinion.
Picture a small church in a somewhat rundown suburb of Harare on a hot Friday morning. It is a catholic church but with few decorations, a very far cry from the surroundings where a new Pope was Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-83028348911953557722013-03-16T17:05:00.002+02:002013-03-16T17:05:58.752+02:00The Next DayThe Chameleon of Rock strikes again.
Some time last year I wrote to friends over the, for me, sad fact that rock icon David Bowie clearly had retired himself. Aged 65 with nothing recorded except for some few charity or "support new bands" live acts since 2004 "Reality Tour".
I, at the time, acknowledged that he had contributed immensely to the world of music and well deserved to live a quiet Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-73395357093747572372013-01-12T15:19:00.001+02:002013-01-12T15:19:09.932+02:00A world in shockNo, this is not about war, crimes or politics. It is about music. And to be specific, rock music.And to really nail it down, about David Bowie. 66 years old on 8 January and a music icon. After an enormously successful career he suffered a heart problem while performing in 2004.
This, according to "sources", prompted him to reevaluate life and concluding that almost 30 years in the music Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-24229536618264121542012-06-01T08:50:00.000+02:002012-06-01T09:02:29.963+02:00The connected world and its inhabitantsThis is something I have been thinking about for some time and discussed with several persons, both online and "in real life".
From my somewhat "outback" point of view I often wonder if people living where mobile communication in the form of 3G mobile networks and free wireless internet access are not becoming more than a little bit addicted?
In Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries (Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-46227742752356015962012-01-23T15:55:00.001+02:002012-01-23T15:55:44.991+02:00The year that passedTime to sort of start 2012 from a blog point of view. So I will try to sum up what 2011 was from my very personal point of view.
On the world stage almost too much happened, from the "Arab spring" revolutions to the Euro come crashing down on the back of debtridden countries. In the US the lawmakers and the president could basically not agree on anything but to disagree, thereby worsening an Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-4386041054331128832011-06-08T12:15:00.001+02:002011-06-08T12:15:59.955+02:00Suddenly they are so weak and in poor health...So they finally "found" Ratko Mladic, also known as "the butcher of Srebenica", after 16 years. It pleases me to see that the world increasingly offers less and less safe hideouts to warcriminals, terrorists and fallen dictators! One thing that fascinates me when these persons are either brought to court, questioned or in house arrest or whatever is - they all suddenly are very ill, frail personsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-89842592239662884732011-05-17T12:10:00.001+02:002011-05-17T12:10:55.759+02:00Zimbabwe among the top 5 countries on EarthYes - actually. And not in any "bad" way either (like when we broke the world record for inflation...) but, at least as I see it, in a positive way.According to Pingdom, a web monitoring company, who got their figures from StatCounter (as you may understand is a "hit counter system" for internet) Zimbabwe is the 4th largest linux desktop user country!? I will admit that I am more than a little Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-25875091287040051022011-05-03T12:56:00.003+02:002011-05-03T13:07:26.213+02:00The Hippo Slalom Canoe trip and our marriageOver 10 years ago I did a 4 day, 3 nights canoe trip down Zambesi river that I still remember as awesome. Last month an old friend from Sweden, Peter, and his son Victor arrived and I had again booked for this experience.
They arrived Sunday 17 April and did not really have much time to settle in as next morning we were off to Makuti turnoff up in Kariba to meet up with Natureways.
I can Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-14819579126562151482011-04-14T14:34:00.001+02:002011-04-14T14:50:08.644+02:00African airlines experiencesI have a feeling that if I go over my various emails and notes from the last 10 years I will find that I have spent altogether between 1 and 2 unplanned and unwanted weeks at airports or hotels due to the sometimes glaring incompetence of various African airlines.I mean like arriving at the airport to be told the plane has already left "we rescheduled but called everyone". No you obviously did Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-71739357255680333862011-04-05T13:20:00.001+02:002011-04-05T13:20:48.594+02:00New computer, fresh headachesAs you who read this reasonably often will know already I work with computers, computer systems and information systems.From my point of view Linux is the best choice of operating system and laptop is what I must use. Laptop because I travel a lot, a "netbook" does not quite cut the mustard, ever so smart phones do not either as the infrastructure in the countries I work does not really offer Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-79407026653958271632011-02-18T14:47:00.001+02:002011-02-18T14:47:26.605+02:00Noticias from MozambiqueMozambique as country fascinates me. It is in many ways a very challenging place and the farther you get from the capital Maputo the more challenging. OK I have not been to Pemba or Isla Mozambique, truth to be told, but otherwise that is my experience.Mozambiquans can be very friendly, jovial and helpful when not in uniform or holding any official position. When in uniform or holding some sort Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-32039217498016037812011-01-07T08:39:00.001+02:002011-01-07T08:39:12.214+02:00A Barbershop in LilongweIn Lilongwe, a short walk from the Lilongwe Hotel (now Sunbird Lilongwe) along the road down towards Old Town lies a small barbershop with 3 chairs. Inside it you always find 3 men plying their trade, 2 indians and a black. They separate the clients accordingly, the indians take care of indian and white, the black of blacks. I assume this has to do with the very different texture of hair. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15354634.post-62024840190729034652010-12-05T09:20:00.000+02:002010-12-05T09:28:05.941+02:00December thoughtsIt is December and the rains have started in Zimbabwe. This means that the temperatures cool down a bit, most welcome, and that all plants, lawns etc is flourishing. Our garden suddenly looks fantastic!Just woke up to a cool morning with a slight drizzle and decided to listen to Bach's Christmas Oratorium as we are getting into the festive season. Spent yesterday afternoon and evening in Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227151380621015212noreply@blogger.com0