Interstellar

When two geniuses combine, you get something of the likes of Interstellar. Yes, I am talking about the movie. I am a big Christopher Nolan and Hans Zimmer buff and when the two combine, it’s beyond magic. I always like to look for the inspiration behind a movie, and how it came to be. It’s not just the pictures and the sound, but the story behind the making, the story behind it.

So, as I was googling and going on about the inspiration – Jonathan, Christopher’s younger brother thought about this idea of space exploration based on a scientist’s musings and decided to share this idea with Chris. The way they work is they both go and brainstorm on the idea and its complexities before writing a script. The same was done for Inception and the Batman Trilogy as well. Jonathan does confess however that Chris’ thought process is a lot deeper and scarier – if you’ve watched The Prestige, you should know. Anyway, Interstellar was born from the genius of these two brothers.

But that’s not all.

For Interstellar, Chris approached Hans Zimmer with a basic idea and told him to come up with a soundtrack for Interstellar without any preconceived notions of what the movie is about. In fact, he just hinted that the movie is about the relationship between a father and a son…which if you’ve watched is about a father and a daughter. None the less, Hans sits down and comes up with these amazing compositions.

Honestly, watching the movie and listening to the soundtrack, it does feel like you are experiencing something other worldly. It’s genius. I hesitated to watch the movie when it was released mostly because of the new cast. If you know Chris, the cast rarely changes and the actors pretty much are the same movie in, movie out. And when I finally sat down for close to three hours, my mind was blown.

I was dumb founded at how someone could put to screen such an idea. Let’s not even go into the physics of the movie, the time aspect and relationships between the time space continuum.

Anyway, just check out this link…

Mind. Blown.

Darkness; The Night

I once was afraid of the night
With it came crawling monsters
Monsters my mind made up
And up my mind they crawled
Tickling me with fear
Until I shut my eyes wishing them away

I once was afraid of the night
With it came nothingness
Nothingness that twirled my mind
And it twirled me with nothingness
Twisting me with fear
Until I shut my eyes wishing my mind blank

I am afraid of the night
With it comes the abyss
An abyss that stifles my mind
And it stifles me within an abyss
An emptiness unfulfilled
Until I shut my eyes wishing my mind alight
*

I stood by the gate that night, puffing away at the cigarette wondering how I had come to this. I thought I had quit the habit! Why was I puffing well knowing I’d be coughing the rest of the morning away? I stared at the clear deep blue sky, stars shining, musing, whose brightness I was just seeing. Stars that had faded light years away, no longer existing but whose light I was just only seeing. In me invoked a sadness, a sadness that arose from how incapable I was, how minute we were. And I continued to stare into the abyss of the deep blue sky counting the stars, the physics behind the light, the metaphysics of human life and I puffed again, well knowing I was just as insignificant but believing mine was a role I had to play in this destiny we call life.

East or West

Home is best.

On my way home from Soroti, chasing the sunset in the west, I couldn’t help but feel sombre. A two day road trip had left me feeling like I had been on a vacation for a whole week. We kept on musing on the drive back at how this trip had been an amazing one, and when you have a group of friends like I do, then every moment is zen. It was one of those drives that get you thinking, that take you deep into thought, gazing at the red lights in front wishing you’d be headed back. We laughed, we danced, we celebrated, and we made it back home.

But where is home? Uganda, right. I am from somewhere deep within the western regions, from a not so tiny village! I also have a little place I rent, deep within Kisaasi. So where is home?

Last week Monday, a friend and I were discussing how we can be from this lovely country and still not have visited most parts of it. She had invited me over to her village, to see how amazing their pork was. So yes, this trip was mostly about going to eat pork from the Eastern region. We had planned out our trip on the premise of going for a kwanjula. Her cousin was going to pick his wife from their family home. Seeing as everyone was going and it would be a fun packed place to be, we decided to leave, setting off at 4:00am on a rainy Saturday morning heading east. As we approached Jinja, the specks of light streaming through the sky, we stopped over for what they claimed were the best chicken samosas in Uganda at a petrol station I now forget, right after the dam to your right. We then continued on our way, chasing the sunrise to Iganga before we stopped over for breakfast in Mbale.

I dare say, with heavy contentment that the chapatti I ate in Mbale was wonderous as my uncle usually exclaims. Thick, and heavy is an understatement. Mbale on a warm sunny Saturday is quite the architectural marvel. The grid and ordering system are just beautiful. The onset of the Mountain Elgon is just the icing on the top. After breakfast, we continued east towards Kumi, and then Soroti where Television – the last town preceding the entry into Soroti, welcomed us with a selfie moment.

Soroti looks amazing. Didn’t feel like I was away from home in the west. The village lifestyle is one I now aspire to. The calmness and ease with which people move is peace of mind evoking. 

When you go to Soroti, stay at a place called Strikers. Trust me, it is worth your while! The service is great. Do take time and go to the pork joint called Pamba and ask for malwa, and don’t forget to say ‘Eyalama’ because that’s how courteous these people are. If you want a night out on the town, Trendz is the place to be, and a little further down, Strikers bar is also another place you can check out. Go with friends too, it will be worth your while.

My journey back was pensive. It felt like I was on a vacation yet I had only been there a day. And as I write this, I can’t wait to go back.

Faith, Meditation and Prayer…

Uhm, this might get boring so, feel free to close the page, or type Amen and Like. Yes, this is one of those posts.

I remember at the beginning of the year emphasizing how I had started a spiritual journey. I was born into a staunch catholic family, and have been wearing my beads – rosary strong for some time now. I remember once when I was 16 I had a nightmare, the ones that seem to manifest in 3D, the ones so real you fail to sleep. It was quite a strange night. I had come to the dorm room at around 10:15pm, and had immediately slept off, and when I awoke from the nightmare, it was just 11:00pm. Lights had been turned off and my heart was pulsating at speeds faster than light. 

I couldn’t sleep that night, not with what I had just imagined or rather dreamt. I prayed that night, I got my beads and prayed, and prayed everyday after that before I went to bed. I came across prayers that resonated well, and put me in a good place before I went to bed. I also started to sleep with my rosary, shower with it, eat with it, wear it like any other dress cloth. I think for me that’s when my faith started to manifest and grow.

Being in a catholic school means mass twice a week and prayers every other day and in as much as it was boring, it set the foundation for me. 

Anyway, I did lose the belief when I joined campus, and didn’t pray as much or even go to church at all, but my beads stayed with me, and before I slept I prayed. Fast forward to this year, my faith renewed, I quite like where I am right now. I am not straight an arrrow but God got me so I am gonna be alright. I mean, I sometimes fall, a lot, but I keep on believing and that’s all you need, to believe. 

Team Jesus 💪🏾