Things that make me hard...

I had Tunji Oyelana on the 'Pod as I jogged off an exquisitely indolent weekend this morn (Mourn/Mon/ insert any other pun). There is something so delightful about the musical inflexions in the apogee of trippy Lagos pop from the 70's that literally take your breath away- particularity whilst exerting lungs over Lekki bridge.

The production qualities on parts of "Okete o ma yiban s'oloko" for instance were at some points laughably shambolic in comparison to the slick work that even the dumbest "Yori Yori" derivative-of-a-dumbed-down-derivative can create in the flick of a wrist for N5k these days, but yet.... the melodies just sear the ears with their sweetness and musicality. Tunji strains his nothing voice pitch-perfectly when he sings "o di waju ooo" and you just wanna cry... I had to sing along, dismissing my "save your breath" rule of The Runner's Road. The lyrics were of course witty to a Jive Black Yank level.

The Oyelana mp3's had been (apparently) lying dormant in my 3 year old 'pod since I rescued it from near cultural dormancy (as far as my immediate circle is concerned) in mid-2008. A tweak of the I-tunes (manage your playlist manually dummy!) and a reaffirmed a love that I had forgotten that I had reaffirmed. It inspired me... Energized my lethargic middle-aged bod...lifted me... Gave me a Natural High. I jogged past my (usually challenging) U-turn post with brisk ease...jogged past my house and went for exercise elevenses... jogged past startled fellow-members of the Early-morn Frat with more obvious competitiveness than usually displayed or (this being Lekki after all) is "nice".

I know it's gonna be a good day because of a simple song- wierd innit?

Few other works fuel elan in my cynical-but-content-'cause-I-really-can't-be-bothered mind. Here are a few of 'em in no particular order:

1. 'Round Midnight
2. Breakfast at Tiff's
3. FC Barca in full flow
4. Songs in The Key of Life (Stevie Wonder died, went to heaven, brought us pop's BEST).
5. Jennifer Knapp's...?? (What?? She thinks she's gay?? Sheege!)
6. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (could have used a female lead though)
7. The Chronic
8. Doctor Zhivago
9. Nok culture
10. Achebe's Ezeulu (a.k.a. Arrow Of God)

I think I'll write about these one-by-one... The only thing physically that makes me more than these nuggets of delight would be mind-blowing sex, and that only occurs like what? once every 2-3 years?... These can be revisited and empirically guaranty repeated joy... :)