The World Togolese Foundation (WTF) will hold its first conference on Sept 12 in Atlanta, Georgia (USA). I find this particularly interesting because on our last trip to Togo we had many discussions with folks in our village Yikpa about how to rally the diaspora to help the development of the village. Apparently one Emmanuel […]
Today was a nice, mellow late summer Sunday and I ran the Al Buehler trail around the Washington Duke golf course barefoot in 30 Minutes. It felt great. No sore spots. I focused on technique – high cadence, light tread, straight strides … I had a little trouble toward the end on downhills … started […]
I had a couple more interesting runs. Sunday morning I ran 3.5 miles (5.3 KM) in the neighborhood. I picked one road because its old blacktop has been completely destroyed by log trucks and that rough, cracked surface is really interesting to run on. I think that one of the adventures of barefoot running is […]
As I slowly emerge from a draining summer of work-stress, my exercise routine is starting to take shape again. Besides martial arts I have also recently discovered running. Previously, I enjoyed an occasional run in the woods, but generally I preferred my bike. Yesterday however, I ran for the first time barefoot – just a […]
President Obama today visited the former Nazi death camp Buchenwald near Weimar, Germany. From what I’ve read he was the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit since Eisenhower, who was the commander of the Allied Forces when Buchenwald was liberated. Obama’s great uncle was one of the soldiers who helped liberate Buchenwald. I think Obama should […]
Last Saturday I participated in the second edition of the Doughman – but not in the competition this time around. Instead I helped document the World’s premier Quadrathlon as one of four volunteer videographers. Due to our trip to Togo I was a bit late with the registration, and by the time I got serous […]
Mark Mardell is the BBC’s Europe Editor and he wrote in his Euroblog about Freiburg, Germany – the town where I was born, and where I went to college. Mardell seems very impressed by how green and clean Freiburg is. It’s possibly my imagination, but the air here seems to taste cleaner. This pretty city […]
Maybe Obama will check out the Accra Mall while he is in Ghana. I am bummed we missed that when we were in Accra. We came through Tatteh Quashie Circle several times, but never saw any signs. The Accra Mall is the largest mall in West Africa, and it is remarkable because many of the […]
The BBC reports: US President Barack Obama is to make a week-long foreign tour in July that will include Russia, Italy and Ghana, the White House says. … In Ghana, the White House said Mr Obama and his wife looked forward “to strengthening the US relationship with one of our most trusted partners in sub-Saharan […]
The German upstart car maker Loremo did a first test of its EV prototype on public roads. Eventually, this vehicle is supposed to be available in three flavors: gasoline (petrol), diesel or electric. The YT video below shows the electric version. Sadly – no sound, just ambient music bubbling along …
While we were in Togo two weeks ago, apparently Kpatcha Gnassingbé, a half brother of the president tried to overthrow the current regime and was arrested a few days after the attempted coup. Today, the official Togolese government news website announced more arrests in relation to this attempted coup. On Easter Sunday, April 12, troops […]
Coming back from West Africa, I found some excellent truck crash footage, which I proceeded to post to my YouTube channel. Turns out that one of the trucks had some furniture on it that belongs to a guy who writes for Gizmodo and he posted the crash video on said website. Since the post appeared, […]
Today Togo celebrated 49 years of independence from its former colonial power France. According to the government news site RepublicofTogo.com, this was the first time there was a substantial celebratory event at the national government level. For many years under Gnassingbe Eyadema’s rule it was forbidden to celebrate this day. Only the 13 January was […]
We’re back at home. After 3 weeks in Ghana and Togo, we undertook the last leg of our trip on Friday – from Accra via New York back home to Durham. The guy who’d rented us his Bimmer came to pick us up at 6 AM and took us to Kotoka Int’l Airport. Like so […]
For almost two weeks Laura and I and the kids have been back to Yikpa – the village in Togo where Laura and I met all these years ago. Our visit is going very well. Our reception was just amazing! We had almost two days of celebration, including a formal welcome with a sacrifice of […]
We made it! We arrived in Accra, Ghana, yesterday at 8AM. Uncle E.K. picked us up and drove us to the house we’re staying in while we’re in Accra. It’s HOT – no rains yet (that’s a problem for the farmers!) but the house does have A/C. We use the cooling sparingly because we need to […]
Yovo is going back to the village! In a week from now, we will be on our most exciting, most anticipated family trip yet, back to Yikpa – the village where Laura and I met all these years ago. Next weekend, we’ll fly directly from New York to Accra. In Accra we’ll be staying at […]
Jacob and I have been working hard on our karate training, and today we passed the test for the orange belt, the 9th Kyu, in Shito-ryu Karate-do at the Carolina Martial Arts Center under Sensei Kevin Gurganus. Laura came along a shot some video and photos of the test with my new Canon video camera. […]
“Oh boy!” – I thought when around luchtime today a reporter and cameraman from a local TV news station knocked at my office and asked me if they could do an interview about the truck crashes I had captured on video. But they asked nicely, and so I agreed to do it. I sent Jacob […]
Tying my shoes is one of those things I don’t remember learning. I did it all my life without really ever worrying about it. However, there is this pair of shoes I really like, but the ties of these stupid shoes keep coming untied. Several times a day I have to stop to re-tie those […]
