In recent years I have been bewildered by the route Ethiopian music has taken. There have been a few bright lights here and there but those are the exception to the rule. The rule has been to market over produced and over synthesized music. And then, I came across Tommy T’s (Thomas Temesgen Gobena) CD called “The Prester John Sessions.”

It has to be said that the CD, anEasy Star Records release, is not entirely Ethiopian but also encompasses genres of funk, reggae and dub. The CD, which is on sale on iTunes right now, will be released Tuesday, November 10^th. Tommy T, the bassist for the Gypsy-punk group Gogol Bordello is also the younger brother of bass extraordinaire, Henock Temesgen, who also collaborated with Tommy T. Although this is Tommy T’s first solo album, he is definitely not new to the music scene. Before joining Gogol Bordello, Tommy had been a well sought after studio and tour bassist in the Ethiopian music scene. In the past he has managed musicians such as Admas, Gigi and Wayna. In addition he ran his own label called C-Side Entertainment.

The Brothers
The Brothers

The Prester John Sessions consists of 11 tracks. Backed by the Abyssinia Roots Collective, Tommy T plays the bass guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards and bouzouki (a stringed instrument from Greece).

The Collective also includes Mikias Abebayehu on drums and percussion; Zakki Jawad on guitar; Beniam Bedru on keyboards; Andrea Fabbri on tenor and alto saxophones and David Sislen on alto, tenor and baritone saxophones. Additional musicians include Henock Temesgen on bass; Jorga Mesfin on tenor saxophone and ewi; Setegne Atenaw on massinko; DeAndre Shaifer on trumpet and flugelhorn; Pedro Erazo on percussion; Adu on African congas and talking drums; Derek Wille on keyboards; Gigi, Abdi Nuressa, Eugene Hutz and Pedro Erazo on vocals.

From L to R: Zakki Jawad, Andrea Fabbri, Tommy T, David Sislen, Mikias Abebayehu and Beniam Bedru

From the first song to the last song the CD takes you on a tour of Ethiopia via various music genres. The first song, “Brothers” was co-written with old brother Henock. Beniam on organ does a beautiful job—simple but to the point. And then Setegne with his massinko takes the song to another level. I swear the gods of the massinko must have breathed on him. The “Call” is straight up reggae, where Tommy tells his beloved that he has come to her.

The “Response” is where his lady (Gigi) declares her love for him. “The Eighth Wonder” and “Beyond Fasiladas” are Tommy’s ode to Lalibela and Gondar. Lailbela (a town in Wello) is known as the Eighth Wonder of the world for its hand-carved churches and Gondar is known for the castle built by King Fasiladas. “Tribute to A King” is a wonderful tribute to the late great Tilahun Gessesse (although the song was conceptualized and recorded before his death on April 19, 2009) and The Imperial Bodyguard Band. Here Tommy adapts the horns from “Aykedashem Libe” (My heart will not betray you). “September Blues” is adapted from “Minew Teleyshegn” (Why did you leave me?) a song sung by Girma Negash.

The Response Tommy T feat Gigi
The Response feat Gigi

The piece starts with the sound from an LP as the needle makes contact. Jorga plays the intro to the song repeatedly throughout the song while Andrea goes on a rampage. Gigi wrote and performed “Eden” right there in the studio. The vocals intertwining with the flugelhorn is breathtaking. “Oromo Dub (Cushitic Dub)” incorporates two famous songs in Oromiffa. The same song is re-mixed to give life to “Lifers” where his band mates from Gogol: Eugene and Pedro lend their vocals in English and Spanish.

This was an indeed a labor of love for Tommy and it shows.

From the opening track to the closing track you can see the passion and hard work he and his fellow musicians put in. Encourage him to do something even more extraordinary by buying his CD and for those who are in the DC area by attending his CD premier concert on Friday, November 27, 2009 at Station 9 in Washington DC. Yes, contemporary Ethiopian music is in trouble but with the likes of Tommy T and friends it might make a turn for the better.

More information about Tommy T and his music can be found at the following sites:
Tommy T website
Tommy T on Myspace
Tommy T on Facebook

If you know me, you know I love food. Yes I cook, but sometimes when you have a craving, it’s just that craving.

The Manhattan from BooyeMonger, a delicious sandwich filled with cooked spinach, bacon and hot Roast beef with a house dressing; the crust from a wood oven baked pizza at Pizza Paradiso; the noodles in Bangkok Joes; and Tibs at madget.

I love Thai food, and it’s the first thing that pops to mind whenever the sun sets and I am hungry. When I first moved to the current dwelling, I went for Sushi nearby and ended up with an almost perfect Chicken Drunken Noodle.

The place called Yamazatoes, it’s really a Japanese spot with a fourth Thai dishes. I am not a big fan of ‘lets get two different types of cuisine in one location’ so that we can compete in two markets idea, so I was hesitant at first.

Anyways the dish was great for 11 big ones. Thus I started picking it up on my way home; at least once every two weeks and in some cases once a week.

One day I called to pick it up, and by the time It was time to pick it up, I was invited to a dinner gathering and so I skipped. Two weeks or so later when I called to make my order, the lady on the other side said hold on and brought the owner to the phone. He complained that I called and didn’t pick up.

‘Sorry it won’t happen again.’ And everything was back to normal, except the person who would pick up the phone would get some kind of approval before they accepted my order.

I always thought it was rude; so what! if I missed to pick up one order, I am a loyal customer and you should treat me as such.

If I had a choice I would have been a goner; unlike the Korean dry cleaner that was conveniently located next to my grocery store. I dropped of my corduroy sports jacket with the other usual stuff. Everything came back fine except they forgot to clean the jacket or something, because a particular large stain remained untouched.

I dropped it back the next time I went; the owner wasn’t there and I insisted they clean it for free, second time around. They left her a note asserting my claim.

When I came back to pick it up, she basically fought back and said I must have wore it again, because it was a while ago. I got animated and said you think I want to cheat you 7$, you didn’t clean it the first time around. And eventually I said I won’t be back. My average monthly dry cleaning expense will be spent elsewhere for ever.

Drunken Noodle was on my mind when I called to order but right after I hanged up I got a call from a girl, inviting me to dinner. I called right back and canceled the order, 2 minutes or so in between.

Next time I called, the owner got on the phone and said he is not taking orders from me. I explained the situation and he finally took the order.

A few weeks later I went to pick up…but this time I didn’t order ahead, I just arrived and ordered and he was at the front desk and told me that he is not taking orders over the phone from me.

Just come here and pay first,” in his thick far eastern accent with a dismissive tone. I told him, you know I average 26 orders a year, 2 years and counting. Do you know how much money that is?

He said he knows, how much I order from them. I reiterated that the cost of me messing up twice or even 6 times in a year is minute. If you want me to pay for the missed and canceled order I will pay. But you have to realize that there is such a thing about business costs.

And he said ok! If I mess up again just add it up as a business cost.  But I was thinking ya, don’t let your black people prejudice affect your business; nevertheless didn’t say it out loud since I don’t want him to spit on my drunken noodle.

This post is dedicated to my big sister, who is the biggest foodie I know.

Ahem Ahem…

the latest bernos

Inspired by the music Grand Kalle et l’African Jazz, we are proud to bring you the bernos Afro Jazz, featuring African Jazz musician playing the Sax with African motif. Presenting bernos Afro Jazz concept in Silver American Apparel Shirt only $23.95.

As seen on K’naan’s : T.I.A video, this shirt is back by popular demand. Make sure that you get it before we sell out. Presenting the bernos Made in Africa II, now available in Navy Blue American Apparel Shirt only $22.95.

Bringing back our most controversial shirt and ironically, the people’s choice. A common thread amongst bernos lovers, bloggers & supporters is that most of us hail from Africa. Bernos believes and stands for Africa. This is a way for us to pay homage to Africa. The Bernos Afrocode is now available in Olive Green American Apparel Shirt only $22.95.

We also wanted to thank everyone who was part of making our fall collection come to life:

- Our models: Seward, Adiam, Janic, and Hayat. Thank you for coming out on that rainy Saturday and for your patience throughout the process.
- Make up artist Lori: We recommend her for any events you may have.
-Marvins: for letting us use your facilities and accommodating our needs.
-Nana Boutique: Thank you for loaning us your fabulous jackets and other accessories.

Now…let’s do some shopping!

She called; I was in a building where reception was terrible. I picked up, as she had tried to contact me in other means regarding the juicy happenings of the weekend.

I could barely hear her; I told her I would call her in 2 minutes from downstairs. Two minutes later, she is not picking up. I went down the elevator, searched for a private location with better reception, all in 2 minutes and called her.

Annoyed! I let it go, as she is my friend but she really need to get some training in consideration.

There are those people that pick up the phone all the time, I love those guys! But it should also be understood that every phone call is not suppose to be picked up. Hence, the thing called voice mail.

And give me time to check the voice mail, and if necessary I will return the phone call. My mom calls me and leaves a message, and calls again and again till I pick up. I always tell her that I was peeing; and she jokes with me, ‘that’s a long pee!’

I had a girl friend once, who was always annoyed that I didn’t pick up the phone, I was always surprised that she would complain the few times I didn’t pick up the phone, because she never picked up her phone calls from others in front off me.

I would ask her why she didn’t pick it up, and she would reply with ‘bakeh I will get to them another time.’ Eventually I found out that a lot of people get annoyed with her because she only gets to them at her convenience. The hypocrisy was that she expected different from those she wanted to her from regardless of their convenience.

I have a few people on my must talk list, they are on my favorites and even if I am running to a meeting, I pick it up and tell them that I would call them at a certain time. There was a time where I would end up talking on the phone for about 2 hours a day, replying to people that only call me when they need something.

Now I moved to an hour between 6 & 7 on weekdays, I use that time to reply to all those voice mails that I get daily; including those that need something from me.  Of course there are exceptions to the rule.

By far the most annoying thing is people that always have to check their phones at all times. Please keep that cell phone in the purse when you are at a dinner. If you want to text and talk on the phone while at dinner please do it at the next table.

At a New York tribute for the late great Miriam Makeba, I was lucky enough to be sitting in close proximity to my personal old man crush, Mr. Harry Belafonte (he may be old but he’s still hot) when this new artist hit the stage and performed one of my favorite Makeba hits, “Soweto Blues” and for some reason I wanted to see the reaction on Mr. Belafonte’s face as he heard this young beautiful woman’s tribute to Makeba’s Soweto Blues.

Would he be offended and feel like she didn’t do it justice? Or would he see in her what he saw in Miriam when he first heard her sing in London? Would he hear that rawness and beauty in her African voice?

Who knows, as unfortunately, I didn’t overhear him say anything but if the gleaming smile on his face were any indication, I would have to say that he was proud and enamored as he intently listened to Loide bellow out “Soweto Blues”. Her voice was breathtaking, and that we could all agree on!

So who is Loide (pronounced “Loy-deh”)? She is a 04’ Miss Africa International pageant runner up of Bissau/Mozambiqueian linage with a voice that is captivating and raw. Though born in France and raised in California it’s clear to see that she has a deep-rooted connection with Mama Africa both the legend and the continent. As her debut LP “LOIDE, Live at Bohemian Caverns”, which will be available on October 25,2009 is a clear reflection of her Lusophone ancestry.

“LOIDE, Live at the Bohemian Caverns” is a 12 track LP that takes you on a musical and cultural journey that can be enjoyed by everyone, it’s jazzy, it’s raw, and she reflects this new era of the “Afropolitian” representing for those of us that embrace the complexities of our cultures.  Loide finds a way to intertwine the contemporary jazz ranges of Nancy Wilson with the soul of Cesaria Evora, as she eases back and forth from English to her native tongue, Portuguese offering with each track a unique sound and perspective.

Of the 11 tracks, there is a song for everyone but for me there are three (3) favorites “Thank Heaven for You”, as a newlywed who is constantly thankful that I found an African man who adores me, as much as I adore him.  This spiritual love song speaks directly to my soul and my relationship.

Then there is “Don’t Forget” a tribute to Loide’s deceased father about their love and the wisdoms he passed on to his baby girl, forward to another track “Fallin” where she speaks to the hearts of “fast lovers”, singing “my heart fell in love on a Sunday, daydreaming on Monday, by Tuesday cant for wait for the next day”…

Falling

Her vocals are backed by some of the greatest African musicians, such as Mongezi Ntaka, the original guitarist of the late South African Reggae vocalist, Lucky Dube.

Ntaka who also co-wrote this project with Loide gives her interpretation of Dube’s  “Daddy Remember Me” an air of authenticity.  Other notable mentions are her interpretations of Sade’s “Love is Stronger than Pride” and “Sodade” which is sung entirely in Portuguese-Creole.

This album and her music serves as my ammunition for my next musical debate with my father who is constantly challenging me find music that is comparable to the music of his era. So the next time he asks “what are you listening too?” I will say to him Loide, this is my music.
Article by: Nana Eyeson-Akiwowo
Daddy Remember Me

Every year around this time we, at bernos, begin losing our minds, in a good way.

We start brainstorming on new shirts, Nolawi starts designing and the feedback process is never ending. We have to choose the color scheme, how much inventory we have to get, how many designs we should do for our fall collection… I could go on and on with the details but I won’t bore you to death. We love it, we never complain.

But all of this leads to our open house; For those who had the chance to visit our open houses know that it’s a ritual.

We started doing them  so that we can meet our customers. We rarely get to connect with our customers, except via email when purchases are made, or when we get requests online through Facebook, twitter or our blog. So yes, this is an opportunity for us to meet you and you to meet us. In addition, we get to introduce our latest Fall Collection.

For the last three months, Bernos tees have been available at our DC store DEKKA. DEKKA is a Fashion, Art, and Music Showroom & Retail Store in the heart of DC’s most exciting area, the U Street corridor. We’re going to showcase our fall collection at DEKKA. We’re doing a BLOCK PARTY, the bernos way.

So we are inviting all of you in the area to join us for some music, refreshments, and NEW SHIRTS. I can give you a hint, we’re bringing back some classics and some new shirts! You’ll get a chance to meet some of your fave models, connect with people and hang with us on U st. Mark your calendars!!

Bernos BLOCK PARTY:
Presenting our Fall Collection | New Tees & Classic Comebacks

Saturday Oct 24th at 3:00pm til 8pm

DEKKA :1338 U st NW 2nd flr , DC

RSVP here

I was on a real date once upon a time in a certain city. We had a bottle of wine among the other things, at a nice cozy place that was more crowded than a train during rush hour.

The tables so close together that it’s impossible to avoid eavesdropping at your neighbors.

Krazy Larry and his bud were next to us. Every once in a while he would intervene in our conversation; and yarn to us in the most abstrusely coarse voice you can imagine.

We laughed and laughed, although I didn’t understand half the things he was saying, the wine helped. Let’s just say everyone was over the limit so cackles came easily.

Krazy Larry is a pant maker in New York City. I think he gave my date a card, and told her that she would look great in his pants.

Fax me honey!”

Is email ok? No No, no emails! Fax me your address and I shall mail you a Krazy Larry pants.

Indeed she faxed him her pant size and got a call!

he called me at work – same hoarse smoker’s voice with lots of humor…”

So once she got her pants, I wanted to Google him to see if what I remember that night was real. Well…I found this post; what another person thought of him.

Krazy Larry is a character living the cool life of fashion designer in NYC. He is eccentric and vivacious and has a twisted view of life in the fast lane.

I don’t watch day-time TV, although I flip through channels. A while back I saw a Nicole Kidman interview on one of those shows with a bunch of ladies.

She walked in a size 2 dress and no cheeks on her face, just cheek bones. I suppose super skinny is sexy, but it just doesn’t fit on a 40 plus year old woman. The collar bones were sticking out and she looked like a mannequin from Saks Fifth Avenue.

And that is the first thing the interviewer asked her; what is your secret?

‘She said she doesn’t eat!’

A friend who I just met recently told me, that she lives on Mangos, & that is her secret of looking good in her early 30’s; living on fruits.

Beshou doesn’t eat dinner; no dinner at all because if she eats at night, she won’t be able to sleep. This is just one way she keeps a figure slim, I guess.

I went to a friend’s house in the evening and he offered me cereal. He said he eats cereal for dinner in order to keep from gaining weight.  I was like no thanks, I rather not eat.

Beqa, the many secrets, barely eat anything and you will get used to it and then you can slim down.

A baby born in the west before the 1900’s was expected to live to about age 45. In 2009 life expectancy at birth is about 80 and climbing each year.

What is different is not the fact people in the west eat healthy, in fact there is evidence that suggest people eat more unhealthy stuff than compared to 100 years prior; rather it is medicine.

Medicine saves lives! The most important factor was medical innovation according to the scientific research which I don’t care to quote right now. But you can’t possibly begin to refute the common knowledge.

For my own medical needs I was researching the effects of Vitamin A on the body. As I was researching I read a little paragraph that said the ‘Vitamin A deficiency’ causes blindness.

Approximately 250,000 to 500,000 malnourished children in the developing world go blind each year from a deficiency of vitamin A, approximately half of which die within a year of becoming blind.

Basically an over the counter drug that sells for about 10$ here in the US, can save half a million people from losing their eye sight and possibly save their lives every year.

I write this not because I want to shed light on this specific issue rather because I think medicine save lives.

I know a lot of people around me, friends and family members who rather not take a pill because according to them, ‘pills are dangerous.’

My dear, if it wasn’t for Advil saving me my once a week or so headache, I would be a terrible friend and family member.

Pills are good for you; pills can fix not only headaches but depression. And if you are not familiar with Magic Johnson, well he has been living with HIV for almost 20 years, and most likely will live a full life.

Get with the program & support affordable healthcare for all the poor people in the US that can’t afford health care.

I was reading a recent blog and I love reading blogs because they are opinions. One of the most famous bloggers is the author of Zen Habits named Leo Babauta of Guam.

And he is helping a lot of people and his thoughts come out so perfectly straight and opinionated. No wonder its one of the most popular blogs in the webosphere

Here is a list of the most popular articles of 2008. One of the posts about 20 things he wished he knew when he was starting out his life says that he wasted so much time watching TV.

All that time you spend watching TV is a huge, huge waste of time.”

Among the many other posts about financial responsibility and not sweating the small stuff there is a TV post. I just think TV is one the most important things in modern Zen living. I mostly watch films and art has never been anti-zen.

One of my friends in LA who lives alone and from what I know has one of the most simplest lives in world just told me that she quit TV.

It’s been a day, & so far so good!”

Rachel Maddow, who is now one of the newest lineup on MSNBC said on an interview that she and her girlfriend did not own a TV set.

I was actually sick and tired of reading about how she lives TV free and is a TV host herself. And then someone wrote:

Well today is your lucky day because the queen of MSNBC finally has one to call her own and can no longer claim to live in a TV-free household.

Thank god!

Living TV free is overrated, stop preaching it.

Years ago a friend of mine tried to date an acquaintance. She was in a state of confusion and, as I suspect, was in love with someone else but decided to still give my friend a chance or possibly use him to get attention.

I don’t know the details, but I knew they spent a lot of time together. Months go by and they are not hanging out anymore.

The girl contacted me for something unrelated and as we were talking she told me that he doesn’t talk to her anymore. Of course I asked why, but she was unable to answer.

I don’t know; he is acting childish! I will just give him time.”

I suspected he tried and was tired and wanted to get her out of his system. Plus she seemed like the selfish type.

So they never ever talked to each other. The girl runs around in the same circle as he does, more so than I do with either of them. But they don’t talk; they just ignore each other even if they are at the same dinner party.

I just think that is juvenile. I think people should curse each other out and then say hello if they run into each other; especially in circumstances where the two know each other more than anybody else.

I used to paint when I was in art school and a little bit after. Eventually, I stopped while I was concentrating on improving my design skills for my career as a designer.

Now I just like to enjoy the fine arts. I keep up with what’s going on in the art world via the internet. As far as Ethiopian art and artists are concerned I am with most in the Ethiopian fine art community that there was a period in which our art was not making significant socio political commentary.

Outside of the big names that have been present since the 70’s and just like music there haven’t been major movements. But this is another topic that should be its own topic.

Now I would like to introduce to you Ezra Wube, whose work I was first introduced to years ago in 2004. I have sporadically following his work through the last couple of years.

From the amount of work coming out on his website, it seems like he is and has been working full time.

I bought the above painting called Azenes because I like the ambiguous use of physical space in the image and the colors and the depth of field in the fabrics.

I thought they were going to Leqso in special local clothing. I was attracted to the sadness but the Azene serious of painting according to the Artist:

My current Azene paintings are based on my visit to Ethiopia in August 2008. Azene is short for Gojam Azene which is the name given to a type of new colorful fabrics. Gojam is a region in the northeast, and Azene means he is sad. When I previously visited the Gojam market in 2004, the villagers wore traditional clothes.

Traditional clothes are made from cotton; they are mainly white with a strip of colorful design along the edges, visually unifying the people, creating oneness. Traditional clothes are made from scratch by the individual’s family member.

In my visit to Goajm’s market in August 2008, these traditional clothes were being replaced by Gojam Azene. Visually separating the people, these new industrial, acrylic, synthetic fabrics seemed to be favored by the villagers. They are cheap, light to wear and offer various color choices, however, it can be seen as one of the first signs of modernism erasing tradition.

Wow, so I am very excited about these painting hanging in my living room not only because of the commentary in Ethiopian tradition but also its contemporary modernism observations.

There are a few imperfect things that annoy me about the painting but I am trying to overlook them as no work is perfect, thus I don’t want to make a comment on it. I just didn’t want to shamelessly plug my painting.

More on Ezra on Abesha; and a real Gojam Azene

My summer has been busy. Busy, as in I  have had no rest.  I like it like that.  It keeps me going, motivated about every project I get involved in. This project is special. It’s near and dear to me and I have been wanting to be a part of it for a while now.

I am talking about working with Prof. Haile Gerima on the US premiere of Teza (Morning Dew). Gash Haile (as I refer to him) has been a prominent figure in my life since the day I joined ESAi.

There used to be a group called EthioStudy, and we’d come together at Gash Haile’s Sankofa Bookstore & Video on Saturdays to discuss about current events,  history and we’d also watch independent movies.  When he had time, or was around, he’d drop by and lecture us and challenge us.  I will always treasure those Saturdays.

Some of you ask me how I got involved with Teza? It was a simple decision for me. I wanted to give back to the man who’s been somewhat influential during my college years.  Given the fact that I have the skills to market the movie was an added bonus.  I have not seen Teza. I’ve only seen a few scenes. I must tell you that from what I saw, it left me wanting for more. There are characters we all can relate, scenarios that might be familiar to some us and a history lesson to others.

For those of you in the DC Area, Teza’s Premieres for the first in the US @ the Avalon Theater on Thursday 9/17/09 at 8pm. Tickets are $30. Included in the price of the ticket is a wrap-up party at Liv Nightclub on Friday 9/18/09 where there will be live entertainment, Prof. Haile Gerima & the Cast will present, as well some light H’ors D’Oeuvres. Tickets can be purchased  here .

If you cannot make the premiere on Thursday but wish to see the movie, Teza’s general run debuts on Friday 9/18/09 at the Avalon Theater. Please make sure to tell your friends, family and communities.

For those of you outside the DMV area wishing to see it but cannot make it to town, the movie will run all through  most of  September into October and beyond, with the support of people like you.

Hope to see you all this weekend.

Tens of thousands of Chinese couples rushed to tie the knot across the nation Wednesday, or 09/09/09, hoping that the ‘triple 9 day’ will bring them good luck and eternal love.

Few years ago when I was in graduate school, the graduate student association held speed dating event twice a years.When the next speed dating event was announced, my friends and I talked about participating.

We thought it would be fun to go and meet new guys since we were all new in school/town. I wasn’t dating anybody at that time so why not give it a shot?I have never been to speed dating event. I wanted to go and see what’s like to meet a stranger and converse for 5 minute.

Would anyone be interested in me after 5 minutes of conversation? Those where the types of the questions that I wasn’t able to answer for myself. At the last minute, I chickened out and decided not to attend. I guess fear of rejection got the best out of me.

Two of my brave friends attended this speed dating event for graduate students, who do not have that much chance to meet people outside of school. After wards, I have heard everything about the speed dating and about all the cute guys that showed up. Some of them were easy to talk to and some of them asked strange questions. In 5 minute, it must be difficult to evaluate if you have any connection or chemistry. You have to work with your gut feeling here. Some guys/gals do no make good first impression.

After the results came, one of my friends had no match, and the other one had two guys interested in her. Fortunately, she was also interested in one of the guys that picked her. They set a date to go out to dinner and I remember helping her pick an outfit for her first date. Things were really going well between them and as long as I remember she was dating the same guy throughout grad school. I have graduated and didn’t keep in touch with my friend. We both moved to our separate ways.

Fast forward to 5 yrs later

After long day of work, I am sitting home watching TV and surfing Facebook online. I was reading status updates and checking out pictures here and there.I just like to turn off my brain and do something that doesn’t require much thinking. I saw pictures posted from the same girl that met her man at speed dating. It was wedding pictures. My friend and the guy tied the knot recently. I love Facebook updates.

You never know where you are going to find your love or your life long partner. Keep your eyes, your mind, and your heart open.

I saw a story recently on a TV about a high powered business man who bought a condo in New York City but was to busy to actually move in.

He hardly had any furniture in the apartment except a corner tables with lamps; no chairs, just one stool by the kitchen, apparently he doesn’t have time to sit.

The cement floors appear cold and empty glistening from the light the many windows shine and the fixtures and architecture looks like a dark futuristic contemporary with dark hard and flat surfaces.

By the time he was ready to go buy some furniture and fill the condo with junk, he didn’t want any. Now it has been years and the condo was recently featured on Architectural Digest and has been the envy of ‘ultra modern contemporary wannabes,’ like Sara here.

I recently told a girl that I put all furniture’s in the corners as I was describing my bedroom via phone conversation. Essentially all my life I have never put my bed in the middle of the room, it has to touch two walls so I can get what I call “the big empty space” in the middle of the room.

My living room also has the quoted space. Omitting a coffee table will ensure the availability of space both literally and emotionally. I generally do not put anything on the walls; I don’t want pictures want mirrors everywhere.

I want my living space to be empty and sterile. The mentioned article on the digest in which someone with high credibility on the topic said that my taste in interior design is essentially ‘fantastic’ is not only my vindication but also my validation.

I have had many arguments with my brother who I live with about throwing stuff out. Sports paraphernalia and old photos in frames have never been something I wanted to keep in plain site. Family photos in frames! hmm I really love you guys but I don’t want you to stare at me every time I take a bite on my Tuna sandwich.

I want to see my white empty wall all day. It relaxes me, gives me a free atmosphere.

Reemphasizing my taste as a cut above are the new industrial furniture designers as well as bathroom fixture designers. I am also seeing a big push from packaging designers to minimize styling’s on their products presentation.

If you don’t beleive me, just search here; its definetely in.

A herbivore is an animal that has adapted to eat everything else but meat. A vegetarian is the same way. For what ever reason they made up a ‘rule’ that says that they are not suppose to consume meat.

I don’t like to exclude something as a ‘rule;’ although I have preferences. And preferences are better than rules.

For a long time one/two people in my family said that they do not eat seafood as a rule. I always thought what a waste it must be, to have such a palate that can distinguish between millions of tastes, and omit the whole ocean.

I mentioned it, and I asked ‘but you eat canned tuna.’ And he made a comment that tuna is different; chicken of the sea à la Jessica Simpson.

There are more extreme versions of vegetarians; thankfully I don’t know too many of these types of people but they call themselves Vegans.

Veganism is not just a dietary rule but also a lifestyle choice. The best thing about vegans is the fact they are not hypocrites like Vegetarians. Otherwise they have made some choices that supposedly won’t ensure optimal health by limiting your ability to ensure you eat a balanced diet.

Vegetarians are walking hypocrites; they claim they don’t want to put slaughtered animals in their mouth for ethical reasons.

Rahel is a vegetarian; she will not eat my meatballs when she comes to my dinner party. Thus when I invite her I have to make other arrangements— like telling her to eat before she comes. And she comes with her carry out but she is wearing a Bruno Magli leather shoes.

Rahelye, sorry I didn’t make special food for you?

Don’t worry about it Noli! I brought falafel & hummus!  And at least ‘nothing had to die for my dinner’

Oh sharrup! you fuken hypocrite!

This is a question I have frequently encountered growing up as an Ethiopian kid in the middle of nowhere, Texas. Actually, the question was more of “what are you?”

I would rightly claim my Ethiopian identity each time it was asked but as I got older and moved to a part of the country where there were more of us, part of me questioned whether I had a right to that title.

Our community is excellent at exclusion and marginalization. In many instances if you do not eat the right food, wear your hair the right way, or speak a perfect accent less Amarigna then you are “not one of us.” I have a friend whose family endearingly calls each other “yene ferenj” each time one of them does something considered not “normally” Ethiopian. Even as a term of endearment it still at times works to distance.

My story begins in Ethiopia. At age 4 my family was forced to flee and we ended up in the Netherlands. There I was able to hold on to my Amarigna but I also quickly picked up Dutch – the first language I learned to read and write. At age 9 my family relocated again, this time to Texas. This was an easier transition as my family already was proficient in English. The Dutch was quickly forgotten and I immersed myself into 1990s American culture with its scrunched socks, brightly colored clothes, and side ponytails.

Still, a part of me felt unsettled and unattended to. For the first 7 years we lived in areas with no other Ethiopians so I did not have that connection. Fast forward another 3 years to my sophomore year in college and my first Ethiopian friend. The connection was undeniable. We just “got” each other and she remains my oldest friend to this day.

She allowed me to include my Ethiopian identity into my day to day life. We would sneak out of our small college town to the nearest large city for some Injera and Ethiopian fellowship — even if it was from afar as we both were a bit intimidated to jump into the community with both feet.

The fear for me was being judged and rejected. Being rejected by Americans stung but felt less powerful since I didn’t want to be one of them anyway. However, to be rejected by my own people, the community I claimed even with my broken Amarigna, would have been devastating. At this time I thought you had to do things exactly as they did it to truly be Ethiopian and to truly be accepted.

Fast forward another 11 years and here I am older and wiser yet with the same deep love for my community. After finishing graduate school and having the validation and security of a grown up professional life I thought I had the courage, intelligence, and wisdom to invest more fully into the community.

The hope was that they would have room for me and my mixed up self. I am at a point where I am ready to settle down and marry and though I had loved an American and another Immigrant in the past I wanted to build a home with an Ethiopian.

Through exposure to the many different Ethiopians I realized to my delight that we do not have to be the same to stay connected to the essence that makes us a community. This heart from East Africa will continue to beat through us and we get to choose how we portray it to the rest of the world. With this realization I fell in love with the wide expressions of life by the young Ethiopian community. Over time people have managed to meld their world experiences and create a lifestyle that fits each of them.

Based on this concept of united despite our differences my sister and I have started a project to capture the diversity of the expressions of lifestyles by the young Habesha Diaspora. I use the term Habesha, for lack of a better term, to include both Ethiopian and Eritrean young people who have spent most if not all their life outside their parents’ country of origin. We are working on finding a more inclusive term to replace “Habesha” so please be patient with us on that piece. As I was saying, with help, we sisters are working on a book whose goal is to capture the diversity of Habesha identity in this group of young people through a collection of photography, artwork and written works.

If you are a young Ethiopia and/or Eritrean writer, poet, artist, or photographer and have work that illustrates this identity, we want to publish your work. Go to http://habeshadiaspora.wordpress.com for information on how to submit your work. The best of these submissions will be compiled in a book and published.

The website says there is a September 30th 2009 deadline but if you have a viable peace email us (habeshadiaspora@ gmail.com) and we might be able to work with you. It’s time to show the world who we are and we hope to include your voice!

I am constantly looking through old photos. I really like how a photo changes the way I think about something. Its very powerful.

I once read about Kevin Carter who killed himself after winning the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 1994 for this picture taken in Sudan a year earlier.

Including those that changed the way I think or have had a lot of influence in the world.

In no particular order here are my top 3 choices; seen above, Mandela walks free after 27 years in prison.  The image of Mandela fighting aparthied and Winnie being there fighting with him to me is betam empowering. Kinda like ‘ A change is gonna come.’

From what I read about the period, and the Black Power Movement; this picture of Tommie Smith and John Carlos is one of the most powerful I have ever seen.

On the biggest stage at the time during a live broadcast of the 1958 Olymipc Games, they took their shoes off and wore black socks to show Black Poverty and raised their arms in the Black Power Salute, while The Star-Spangled Banner played.

The movements impact not only African American identity but also on Black Socio Political influence to me is conveyed in this picture.

This picture below came before the the major droughts of the early 1980’s.

The publishers of this pictures decided not to publish this photo for a long time. But decided to enter it into competition and the photo won the
World Press Photo of the Year: 1980.

This was the start of the media blitz to cover drought in Africa and that changed the image of Africa forever.

One of the things we fight about here in bernos is how to wear the bernos tees or even any tee. Dawit likes to keep his shirts so clean looking that he washes the tees inside out.

He says it keeps it from fading and it keeps the colors of the tee not wear out. He even dries it on low heat.

One thing we agree on is American Apparel. They make the best t-shirts in the world and we like how the tees feel when we wear them. In fact our customers even compliment us on the quality of our tees.

K’naan apparently while hanging out with Beshou and Dawit said that he likes our tees because they get a lot of compliments.

Old tees

I have tweeted about how my tees never get old, because I have too many of them. Not only do I have multiple copies of each of the bernos tees, but also lots of other tees I have accumulated over the years.

I have thrown away most of the crappy free t-shirts I got from different events when bernos started. I do have a few that I have spent money on as there are companies similar to bernos I support because I love their tees. Of course the first thing I check before buying a tee is if it’s made on American Apparel, nothing compares to it.

Now after much research, I have figured out a way to make t-shirt be old overnight. So I will be picking three bernos tees; the d’afrique, Argyle Rasta, and the Made in Africa tee… & antiquing them.

Of course the risk involved in this process is not as large as you would expect because I own multiple copies of the tees.

The Process

Once you know which tee you are going to antiquate. Decide how antique you want it to look. I am going for the ‘vintage look’…extreme. But for you it might just be the natural worn in look. Preppy people like Dawit and Beshou do not like that appearance so they can go with the clean cut new tee look.

One way to fade the color of the shirt is to make it wet and then dry it in the sun for two days.

For the extreme vintage look I am going to buy ‘sodium carbonate washing soda’ & salt.

The salt is abrasive making the shirts look older. And the alkaline in the washing soda breaks down the coating that is built in the cotton threads; which is what keeps the shirts stiff and crisp.

Then you start your washing machine on hot water. The heat will help weaken the cotton fibers. Once the water level is full, dump the Soda/Salt mixture and detergent.

Then dry it. If the design is still too crisp, use sand paper to fade it out and repeat the wash. Then you have your own bernos vintage tee. You will be more stylish than I am.

I have been reading bernos since the beginning, and while I love it, some of the content seems like it’s too much bellyaching about Ethiopian women and men. I have some advice for both sexes, or at the very least bellyaching of my own.

For the men; it seems to me many Ethiopians aren’t as confident and or as manly as other races. Manly men are confident men; women are attracted to men who project confidence.

Sadly, many men these days lack any confidence at all. Some walk around with their head down, wallowing in self pity. Others confuse manly confidence with cockiness. These men have confused confidence with being a douche bag.

Confidence is quiet; it’s unpretentious! When a man walks into a room who has acquired this confidence, people can feel it.

Take pride in your appearance, it doesn’t mean you have to be Ryan Seacrest or metro-sexual. Shave, shower and comb your hair everyday! Dress nicely, don’t wear old slacks or old jeans with an old button down that looks like your grandpa’s wardrobe.

Set goals and meet them, one goal at a time! Exercise, learn new skills, and Do something, anything! Remember your past successes, and don’t be borcham.

For the women; I feel Ethiopian women are being more and more Americanized. What happened to the nurturing Ethiopian woman in the traditional sense? Why are you so stuck up now?

What happened to the natural hair, now it is weaves, perms and extensions? Have you had sex with a woman with a weave?…there are rules involved, no pulling or touching, its seems unnatural.

Ethiopian women need to go back to your roots, act more sensibly, have natural hair and stop trying to be a gold digging American girl. Respect our strong Ethiopian men for who they are and not what they have.

Selam Hiz’boche, salutations from Wondu and the marvel that is Wondinet Haile.

Two years prior to last I had been in Moscow after years on Wall Street and my only connection to Ethiopia was bernos.

I bought the entire bernos tee collection and connected with Nolawi and his tales, who I admire for his ability to bond with people like me all over the world. I even shared a few accounts, after some encouragement

After moving to DC I asked him for meet up over drinks; he declined by saying that if he was to meet random people that he knew online ‘he wouldn’t have time for his personal life.’ I know blunt, but I respected the honesty!

I offered him his favorite bottle of 18 years aged Chivas and a steak dinner. Over Wednesday evening we exchanged stories of Ethiopian women.

You see, after a major breakup years ago, I hadn’t found someone else. In Moscow, I say was a sugar daddy to 22 year old ‘eastern European model look-alike.’

I didn’t know the inner working of dating Ethiopian ladies outside of my ex-fiancée who I dated for 3 years long ago.

I am not the best looking guy and I am aging fast but I make it up by hitting the gym 3 times a week, making as much money as I can so I can wear my Armani suits and Salvatore Ferragamo shoes and being as funny as an Ethiopian Bernie Mac.

I met a few attractive Ethiopian ladies, and I took them out and entertained them. One seemed like she was interested but hesitated when it came to physical contact. She would call me again and again to hang out and a few months fly but she said she was not ready to take it to the next step.

I didn’t mind having the other, somewhat younger and possibly viewed as a trophy; on my arms even though she was not as cultured as I would have liked. Half a dozen dates later, she started spending the nights.

It seemed like she liked downtown condo more than she liked me. And I asked her what she wanted; she maintained that she is not exclusive with me. She would commit with me only if the other guy doesn’t commit.  She insisted sleeping with both of us, but she was keeping her options open then she kept it open and I took back my spare keys.

These were the types of things, I talked to Nolawi about. And I am writing this as a thank you note for the best advice that was given to me in a long time.

I am rephrasing here but something to this extent:

‘Ethiopian women have more  options than the male counterpart and thus reinforcing their options by being available how they want it confuses them, because women in general are unsure about what to go for when it comes to what they want vs. what they should want.

You think you are being nice, understanding and patient but the fact is women pretty much know if they are interested in you or not in the beginning.

If she is not available emotionally and physically after a short period of time; run away. If she wants you, she will respect you for being a man and standing up for your self and your feelings.

If doesn’t want you and you are just entertainment or support then she was not worth your time in the first place and you are safer.

As far as keeping her options open and dating others, let them the more you resist the more she will be inclined too.’

I met another girl, who seemed like not interested in looking at me. I told her about theater tickets and as soon as we got there she told me she had a boy friend and just wanted to be friends. After the evening was over I told her that I had no interest what so ever in friendship and to call me if and when she was interested in more.

I ran into her again one at a wedding and we had drinks after and then she took me to her home. We didn’t bring up her boyfriend.

Every so often she calls me for an occasional rendezvous and some love making after. She asked if I minded her seeing two people at the same time. And although I didn’t respect the fact that she is keeping her options open I expressed that I didn’t care.

Recently, I she told me that she left the other guy and wanted more from me.

I am not the type to want to play games or hold back feelings of interest but it seemed like even the late twenty something’s who I date are prone to this kind holding back. Now I thank my advisor and enjoy the new state of mind.

My little brother and I were entering grocery store after a stop at the local Thai restaurant.

We were straddling along by the door as two hick-like white boys were passing by when we heard one say ‘they spit a lot!’ after seeing bro spit on the ground outside.

‘Who is they?’ he asked loudly while seemly appearing shell-shocked.

‘This is 2009!’ An older woman was shaking her head as she heard all parts of the conversation.

They walked away with fear and heads hung low, as if he would beat them up!

I was watching the news conference when Obama made the now infamous comment:

Cambridge police acted stupidly!”

Indeed, the hoopla delighted me. Police brutality & racial profiling was the topic at hand for two weeks. And then he backpedaled!

He should have stood his ground and fought the black men of America who have been profiled again and again for years.

One of the reasons I live in DC metro is because these kinds of things do not happen as often as it happens in the rest of US, including NYC and California.

Right now, I worry more about cops profiling me more so that being victimized by a civilian. Things have happened to me in the past and I hate the fact that I fear those who are supposedly hired to protect and serve us.

This is a big issue and one I think Obama should have stood ground on. Like my brother said, ‘this is 2009.’ The president is black or at least half, there should be no ‘they.’

If Obama can’t stand his ground who then can!

photo source
Ethiopian girls complain that their opposite counter parts do not keep their secrets. As in their confidence is betrayed alluding to sexual intimacy or amorous.

What do I know? I live my life very openly, and pretty much communicate most of my personal feeling to my friends. In my case, I like to think and believe that I live my life according to what I want not how I want my reputation to be.

In our community though, both males and female are somewhat enamored by making sure that the name is kept intact. Especially for females, they seem overly concerned about it that it affects how they deal with their male counterparts. Thus in turn the males are somewhat upset that they have to gain the females trust more so than if they had to deal with non-Ethiopian females.

I believe the whole phenomenon is overly exaggerated. Yes, I have male friends and they talk but I do not think they ‘kiss & tell’ per say. The talk is usually kept in the surface, yes I nailed her. We have had sex and it’s left at that.

I have never been a fan of chauvinist male bonding so I am somewhat out of the loop from men like that. Yet it happens, and it’s not especially more in our community. The fact is machismo exists in every commune.

I think living your life according to how you want your persona displayed in the community is somewhat limiting.

Who you are is not based by what people say rather by what you do? The fact is your experience play a role is who you are even if no one knows about it.

The traditional “idea” as described in the dictionary is just ‘any conception existing in the mind as a result of mental understanding, awareness, or activity.’

So an idea is nothing but ‘a thought’ that comes to your head while you are peeing; & speaking it doesn’t necessarily make it a great one. Anyone can come up with an obvious and a not so obvious thought.

But does that make you a genius? No, you just observed with your common sense pee sized of a brain and then shouted it out loud.

Most people know that a simple idea if implemented know works. Most people know that if they work out they can loose those extra pounds, but executing the idea of working out for a prolonged period of time consistently is the hard part.

I for one think I am someone with common sense, and have a brain larger than the average Joe. Yet, people I know keep coming to me with ideas that are so simple and possibly effective as if I haven’t thought about it.

They think they are smarter, or think they are helpful. The reality is though their idea of doing something is so simple that they came up with it while they were sitting on the toilet. I also thought about it, months before in a similar toilet.

The fact remains that if you don’t the hard part of persistently pushing towards your objectives in life or project; your ideas mean nothing to anyone. An idea is only good as an implementation of it.

Yesterday, I was having a conversation with a restaurant owner, who happens to be a friend. I had some thoughts which I contemplated would improve his business but I kept it to myself because the thoughts I had were too simple that the restaurateur probably knows and is possibly contemplating improving his business by it. Perhaps he even knows he could improve his business but doesn’t have the resources of time and or money to make the change at this time.

Thus I kept my opinion to myself. I think would better suit him if I could put some work behind the idea and bring it up to his attention by offering quick and cheap ways to apply the changes.

Otherwise, it’s just a suggestion that is most likely overwhelming for him to put into action.

I think we are all better served, if you kept your ideas to yourselves. Because everyone knows, that if they work out they will be in better shape; that if you improve your website your business will do better; and etc.

You are no genius with your obvious ideas. And don’t get mad because I brush off your obvious ideas because I don’t have the time or money to employ it.

The perception of bernos, although not a consensus is that we are doing well. And we are by different standards. The reality is we do a lot of work, and most of it is entertaining, creative and well so much fun.

But there is the boring side of it; I guess everything is not fun 100% of the time. Walking up early to pack stuff in the car, talking to non-customer that demands that I listen to him, paying bills, dealing with a vendor that wants to overcharge us for their service and fixing technical issues among other things.

We went to the Chicago ESFNA tournament, and while we were preparing one of the things that we had to discuss was inventory. We had to pre-ship some before we got there. Once we got there we always had to walk up early go to the field set up before things got started.

All fine and dandy but those are the things that are hard for me. The things that make the boring part of hanging out in the morning before the customers show up are the kids of the vendors.

This year I dedicate my fun to a little Josy I found in the field playing from 10:00 am till midnight for 7 days straight without getting tired. He was shy at first but full of joy and made the day pass for all the vendors.

Next to our booth were the people from Abshiro Kids, who we first met last year and invited bernos to join them in the Heritage Camp that is suppose to occur this weekend. Unfortunately, even the bernos crew outside of work have lives to live. Thus we won’t be attending Heritage Camp, see details here.

Linkup

He just moved from Gulele sefer in Addis Ababa tothe US nearly 2 months ago. He is 5 years old or there about and is wise beyond his years. He was so much fun; we played soccer, we went around took photos of the vendors. I took a few shots of him as well, seen above.

We met famous Ethiopian people, he asked what famous means. Famous means ‘YeTaweqe.’ I introduced him to Mulatu Astatke and told him to say hello.

And he goes, ‘ante famous neh?’

Needless to say, I nearly fell to the floor laughing with embarrassment.

I noticed that Ethiopian parents much like American parents over protect the kids too much to the point that their social interaction levels at a young age is very inhibited. We need to learn from the parents back home that just let the kids play in the midst of dangers.