Action...!                              Camera...                              Lights...

At last, the heat is on at D's Music Dome!  For those who do not know, that is my second (music) blog.  Find time to pop in there.  You would always find a song you like there because it is a music mishmash.  However, always remember to pop in back here for the non-musical miscellanies.

I'll see you when you get there!

Cheers!

Ok folks, I finally have to declare D's Music 'Potpourri' Dome open!  Due to glitches on the server I wouldn't be launching The Music Dome the way I had envisaged.  However, I couldn't continue to keep y'all waiting for much longer.  More so, I've been advised to strive to moderate my perfectionist tendencies, so I'm willing to accept my imperfections and the fact that all things can never be equal (ceteris non paribus  ... lol)

Anyways, I'm finally there, we're finally there, and as much as possible I want to make the presence and existence of my music blog a unique one and avoid a situation whereby I'm just reblogging (if you know what I mean).  I'm a true music lover who enjoys virtually every musical genre provided the piece is put together considerably well.

I might appear to lean towards Hip-Hop as my favourite, but I rather play different kinds of music at different occasions and moods, which is why I also decided to make The Music Dome blog characteristically a kind of music hotchpotch that would appeal to much audience as possible.  I'll, however, still give more preference to Hip-Hop and R&B here, as I predict most of my blog visitors would prefer those, unless statistics show otherwise.

Hence, my posts will most likely follow the pattern below, bearing in mind that I'm not under any obligation to post everyday.  I can only hope to post every other day.

·        Monday = Hip-Hop and R&B

·        Tuesday = Hip-Hop and R&B

·        Wednesday = Naija Groove (Strictly Nigerian)

·        Thursday – Hip-Hop and R&B

·        Friday = Hip-Hop and R&B

·        Saturday = Other Genres

·        Sunday = Gospel (of all forms)

At the present, all requests must be made using the 'Contact Me' form, else it would not be honoured.  I expect y'all to enjoy your continuous visits to my blog as I'll hopefully start hitting you with groovy tunes later today.  Just sit back and experience the comfort of the hatt, smokin', blazin' D's Music Dome.  I know y'all gon' be lovin it... cos that's the only reason I'm here.  Cheers y'all!

Peace!A

Generally, many folks in Nigeria would not often bother about taking care of the way they store the notes.  However, there are other situations where the naira is known to be readily abused, which include during religious worship, particularly during the offertory(-ies) at churches and at the markets and shops.  At churches, most folks would crease the naira, hiding it in their palm with a tight fist as they go to drop it into the offertory box.  Oft I would wonder if it's because of the biblical injunction that the left hand should not know what the right hand was doing.  At the markets, the traders scrunch up and stuff the naira into their pouches.  Even worse, an eye sore, is the practice by some women traders, old and young alike, of stuffing the naira into their brassieres!  Oh My Goodness!!!  Fact is, the average used currency notes harbour over 200 species of bacteria.

At first, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) bitterly bemoaned the way the naira was being abused especially at social gatherings.  Then, it commenced an enlightenment crusade against the abuse of the naira, in which the naira became personified in both television and radio advertorials customised for the campaign.  This also didn't seem to yield the desired results the CBN and the Federal Government sought, thus sparking off the recent reaction from the Government which is the drafting of the new bill that was sent to the National Assembly.  When this bill becomes law, the abuse of the naira, including showering it at social events, becomes a punishable offence, attracting a jail term of at least six months or a fine of N50, 000, or both.  This, according to the CBN, is because the abuse of the notes rapidly defaces and degenerates the currency, and that is true, nay, a truism.  The issue now is, how effectively would the law be implemented?

Many Nigerians have already kicked against the bill, saying that it robs them of one of their cultural values.  Yes! Nigerians spray money anywhere they gather for social ceremonies, be it in the UK or in the US, and they even spray Dollars and Pounds!  However, a voice from the other camp noted that the spraying of notes at public functions encourages stealing; another truism.

Hence, even as I may want to agree with those who are against the planned legislation (though not on the grounds of cultural values), I still would not support the spraying of currency notes at gatherings.  Sometimes, it even sparks off some unhealthy rivalries and envy.  Sometimes, people even spray more than they budgeted to spend in order to save their face at the 'spraying spree', and sometime, some (mostly the poor) would do all sorts of things to be able to 'spray' at some occasions someday.  However, rather than legislate against this, the Government should rather step up its efforts in its sensitisation campaign to appeal more to the people's senses and conscience.  After all, there are so many redundant laws in the country and the Government wouldn't be planning on adding more.  Whatever happened to the law banning smoking at public places?

Just my two cents.

Oops! It took me about six days to stumble on the news that Adidas, the German sportswear and equipment maker had announced its plans to launch an internet site, www.mercizidane.fr, on Saturday 15^th July, 2006 to say MERCI to the French football playmaker, Zinadine Zidane who retired from professional football after this year's World Cup finals at Germany, thus confirming its firm support for the French enchanteur, despite being sent off disgracefully during the final game of his professional career.  Hence, Emmanuelle Gaye, director of external relations for Adidas France, noted that "In no case does it change our relations with Zinedine Zidane, with whom we have been associated since 1996 and until 2017," referring to Zidane's last red card.

Right now, the site is up and running, but tant pis for those qui ne parlent pas français!  The site, as far as I'm aware, is all in the Frenchman's tongue.  I guess, like Gaye said, the site was designed "to invite the French to thank this master of French football for all that he has done."  Dommage...

Eh bien, allez y les français!  Fans can now go and send their text and video messages for the retired former Les Bleus captain.  One of the owners of the two best videos will be walking away with the Adidas jersey Zidane wore during the final game against Italy.

Oh well, at least I now have his golden boots, which I downloaded from the site, sitting gloriously on my PC's desktop.  This is a man I would always adore and respect any day, red card or no red card, headbutt or no headbutt!  Out of my first eight posts on this blog, this is the third with him as the subject matter.  I couldn't help but let slip the devotion.  That is why I wrote on www.mercizidane.fr, "Je t'adore beaucoup, Zizou, maintenant et toujours dans les siècles!"

Merci bien Zidane!

Danke shön Adidas!

In 2003, a study of more than 65 countries published in the UK's New Scientist magazine suggested that Nigeria had the highest percentage of happy people.  More recently, the same Nigeria has been touted as the most religious nation.  How factual these findings are, I cannot be certain, but one thing I'm certain of is that religion has actually become the opiate of many, may be, most Nigerians, with myriads of churches wantonly proliferated here and there.  The other thing I can be sure of is that if Nigeria really had the greatest proportion of the earth's happy folk, it thus still lays credence to the belief that money doesn't really buy happiness, as Nigeria is no where among the richest nations, judging from the income per capita.  In fact, in some part of the country, it is advised that money not be respected, as respect for money is often only reciprocated by disrespect from the same money.  Incredible, isn't it?  You even hear the poor say that when they make money, they would "rubbish" it (in the sense of, abuse) and even use it as tissue paper after 'long visits' at the loo.  Whether they ever eventually make it or not is an issue for another day.

In point of fact, Nigerians actually do abuse money (the currency notes).  This has recently prompted the Nigerian Government to begin a campaign geared towards discouraging people, particularly her citizens, from the widespread appalling rough-handling of the notes of the country's currency, the naira (N).  Unfortunately, even paradoxically, most Nigerians appear to have the inclination to abuse the naira, while they, on the other hand, seem to have a great regard, if not adoration, for the currency notes of other countries, most especially the British Pound Sterling, the US Dollar, the German Deutschmark and the most recent entrant, the European Union's Euro notes.  As a matter of fact, a single One Dollar ($1) bill could turn out to be an object of dissension in some Nigerian families as had been portrayed in an exhilarating Nigerian sitcom, One Dollar.  This is not surprising considering the constant depreciation of the naira value in the foreign exchange markets, leading to sky-rocket inflation in the country.

The naira, whose copper coins have ultimately become keepsakes, as they are even very difficult to come by (due to devaluation), has eight (8) of its denominations in notes.  They are N5, N10, N20, N50, N100, N200, N500 and N1, 000.  Sadly, even the newly introduced suave N1, 000 note is already being rumpled and ruffled, in contrast to the VIP treatment given to Dollar notes, etc, which are painstakingly kept in such a manner and at such a place that they can hardly lose their straight and crisp nature.  What manner of Nigerians!  Whatever the poor naira has done to us?

Talking about Nigeria's happy folks and the abuse of the naira, one of the occasions where this exuberant happiness is flamboyantly exhibited is at social gatherings and ceremonies (wedding, birthday parties, seasonal parties, religious festivities and of course, naming ceremonies etc).  Interestingly, but disappointingly again, one of the most frequent modes of expressing this happiness is through the abuse of the naira.  Wads of naira notes (and yes, Dollars and Pounds sometimes) are sprayed willy-nilly by the haves on celebrants at such occasions to show how happy they are with the celebrants and how happy they are to be part of the occasion.  Performers, especially musicians who entertain the guests are often not left out of the 'naira rain'.  They know how to appeal to the philanthropic faculties of the wealthy fraction of their audiences, mostly by singing their praises and recounting their heroic and philanthropic deeds.  This strategy would almost always elicit more wanton naira spraying on the singer and his/her band.  The issue here is not just that the notes are sprayed on the air, but also the fact the both the 'sprayers' and the 'sprayees' continue dancing while trampling on the notes littered on the floor.  Those assigned with the responsibility of picking up the crumpled and grimy notes would still do so even with bare hands.  Pity.

...To be continued.