Archive for November, 2008

Nov
29
Filed Under (General) by Rob on 29-11-2008

…A motorbike carrying TWO fridges on the back!

Yes, this was far from an uncommon sight in Benin or Togo. In fact, I once saw THREE fridges on the back of a motorcycle – the driver’s legs were splayed and he was advancing at little more than walking pace. Still, I guess he couldn’t have carried them…

Five people on a motorbike was occasionally seen too! Lots more crazy shots of this kind in this blog post. Thanks for reading!



Nov
24
Filed Under (General, Trivia Question of the Week) by Rob on 24-11-2008

Q: The British TV series “Doctor Who” was first televised on 23rd November in which year?

Answer to last week’s question: Guy Fawkes came from the city of York. And the winner was Paul Morriss.



Nov
18
Filed Under (General) by Rob on 18-11-2008

Here are three ways you can listen to music in remote locations which have no electricity:

The first is a wind-up cassette player, known as the “Messenger II” hand crank cassette player. It has been used by missions over the past few years. A great invention, but it still needs winding all the time to make it work and you have to have the tapes made in the first place. Find out more here.

The second (held gently in my mouth!) is the solar-powered “Megavoice” MP3 player: a portable player which can hold at least 60 hours of audio material (be it spoken word or music). It can only be listened to by around 5 people at once, but the solar panels on the back allows it to be charged up in the sunshine (now you know why you’ve not seen any in the UK!) The main drawback is that you cannot (to date) put your own recordings directly onto the Megavoice, this has to be done at their headquarters. Find out more here.

And finally, hot of the press from Australia, is the spanking brand new SABER MP3 player. Here it is, alongside the Megavoice:

As you can see, it’s much bigger. It is also sturdy, easy to use and can be heard by around 100 people at once. It has an internal memory of 1GB and a slot for a further 1GB of memory via an SD card. It is charged by turning the black handle and claims to play for 10 hours solid on a full charge. Wow! What a resource! Very useful in my line of work. In fact, I took 3 of these gizmos back to Togo with me last month and gave them to some colleagues who will be trying them out ‘on the field’. Find out more about the amazing SABER here.

That’s all for now – happy listening!



Nov
17
Filed Under (General, Trivia Question of the Week) by Rob on 17-11-2008

Q: From which UK city did Guy Fawkes come?

Answer to last week’s question: The largest country in Africa is Sudan, with a surface area of 967,490 square miles.



Nov
10
Filed Under (Trivia Question of the Week) by Rob on 10-11-2008

Q: Which is the largest country in Africa in terms of surface area?

Answer to last week’s question: A Nebuchadnezzar of champagne holds a staggering 15 litres and weighs 38 kilos when full (don’t drink it all at once now!)
For the full list of champagne bottle sizes click here.



Nov
08
Filed Under (General) by Rob on 08-11-2008

This is one of the poignant quotes used to introduce the exciting new World worship songbook ‘In Every Corner Sing’, available now. Here’s what it looks like:

Another great Christmas pressy for your pastor, music group leader or any relative who enjoys singing or travelling! The book is edited by Geoff Weaver, who has travelled extensively in the context of music and mission. He says that if we move out of our comfort zone musically, then “our horizons will expand and we shall be changed in the process”.

Click here to find out more about the book (including its impressive range of 99 songs) and here to buy your copy. It costs £35 this year, but will be £50 from January 2009. So, don’t delay! Order your copy today and beat the Christmas rush!



Nov
06
Filed Under (General) by Rob on 06-11-2008

The first is a recently unveiled concept car, based on the Citroën 2CV (Rob’s favourite car). It was designed by David Portella and could be the future face of the Deux Chevaux, who knows? I’m still trying to decide whether I like it or not; it feels a bit like a cross between a Delorian and a cement mixer! More info here (in English) and here in (French).

However, here’s an Auto Express article which has an entirely different prototype which, I think, is a whole lot less appealing than the first. It looks like this:

Reminds me of the old Saab 95 more than a 2CV. Yeuch! Whichever new model (if any) comes out in the future, I still think I’d rather stick with the good old-fashioned version with its economical and ingeniously simple engine, its revolutionary (at the time) suspension and its free ventilation!

Don’t forget this blog has a 2CV Album, where you can see lots of these Ugly Ducklings, which made their way from Belgium to Benin.

Thanks for reading.



Nov
03
Filed Under (Trivia Question of the Week) by Rob on 03-11-2008

Q:How many litres does a nebuchadnezzar of champagne hold?

Answer to last week’s question: The Belgian guitarist who played with two fingers was Django Reinhart