So much to tell.

But I can't, yet!

Lots happening or about to happen, but at the moment I can't tell!

 

As soon as I can I will publish here.

Meanwhile you can see some of what I'm up to at www.theradioacademy.co.ke

 

 

It has been descibed at one of the top ten shark dive experiences in the world. But nothing prepares you for the thrill of diving with tiger sand sharks. This is what I did yesterday at the lue Planet Aquarium in Ellesmere Port. http://www.blueplanetaquarium.com/

 

Thank you to friends and colleague-friends and former-colleague-friends who came along. And a big thank you to Paul Webber who took some photos. ... since I wasn't allowed to take my underwater camera into the tank with me. God bless the Health and Safety Executive.

 

These incredible creature glide in over your heads as you walk along the bottom of the tank. A great experience for me was the trigger fish that somes up to you and expects you to pour sand in its mouth... and then spits it out. It hovered in front of me just asking for a mouthfull! 

 

 

 

 

Oh Following on from the Kisima Awards Sheila is up for a big award in South Africa. Two categories!!

 

"Channel O is proud to announce the nominees for the 2006 Channel O African Music Video Awards. A total of 70 artists from 10 different countries have produced this year's nominees in the 18 categories.

Now in their third year, the Channel O AMVA's are unique in that videos are voted for by viewers, giving fans complete control over who receives an award. Criteria used for short-listing were technical quality, frequency of requests for a video on the different Channel O shows and overall creativity. The videos need to have been released between January 2005 and May 2006 and should have received airplay on Channel O.

Channel O General Manager Yolisa Phahle is sure that the nominations reflect the diverse and growing music industry in the continent. 'We are seeing videos of increasingly high quality and this is a direct reflection of the industry's growth', she says. 'At Channel O we look to strike a balance between promoting the up and coming big names of tomorrow alongside established artists. This year some of the newer names are also producing outstanding music and high quality videos'.

Viewers and fans will be able to vote for their favourite artists by SMSing or voting online. Voting starts on Friday 25 August until Friday 6 October. Viewers can vote in each category by logging on to www.channelo.co.za or SMS +27 (0)83 920 8400. To vote via SMS, enter the category name, a space and then the artist's name.

2. BEST FEMALE VIDEO
Lizha James - For All Ya (Mozambique)
Nikki Ft Colo - Hii Ngoma (Kenya)
Simphiwe Dana - Ndiredi (South Africa)
Yola Araujo - Deix Estar (Angola)
Zamajobe - Ndawo Yami (South Africa)

14. BEST AFRICAN EAST
Blue 3 - Frisky (Uganda)
Didge - Saa Zingine (Kenya)
Johnny Ragga - Give Me The Key (Ethiopia)
Mr Lenny & Nameless - Juju (Kenya)
Nikki ft Colo - Hii Ngoma (Kenya)


The Awards ceremony will he held at Gallagher Estate in Johannesburg on Saturday 14 October. The event will be recorded 'live' and broadcast on Channel O on Saturday 21 October at 20:00 CAT. Channel O is available on DStv on channel 87.

I had a great weekend. As you can see from the photos below, I went back to Gigrin Farm in Mid-Wales for one of the UK's wildlife spectaculars. Over 30 Red Kites come to the feeding station, and I make my best efforts to take a photo of these magnificent birds.

 

But to top it all Sheila/Nikki won a Kisima award on Saturday Night. I guess the nearest equivalent in the UK would be a Brit Award. Absolutely fantastic. She won the award in the R&B section. Hopefully this will lead to even more great things!

Last night went to see Martyn Joseph at the MAC on Birmingham. Very enjoyable if a bit damp. The concert was outdoors and it rained, just a bit! Then went with Dave, a former colleague, for a nice curry before the drive home.

 

 

I had a fantastic week of diving in Croatia with some friends and some new friends, at the Pongo Dive Centre in Rogoznica. There were a number of new experiences for me. Here are just a couple.

 

1. My deepest dive ever. To 33.5 metres. It may not sound that much but it feels a long way down. But some fantastic deep dives there.

 

2. My first night dive. Again, what a wonderful experience. Diving into the black waters with just a torch. But night is when octopus come out to play!

 

I also got my Advanced Open Water Certification while I was out... for that you have to do some extra training and 5 adventure dives. So did my deep, navigation, wreck, fish aware, drift and one other that would count towards it. Looking forward to getting my new card!

 

 

Great news that Nikki/Sheila has more nominations. This time it's The Kisima Awards.

 

10	R & B
a	Nikki	Hii Ngoma
b	Nyota Ndogo	Nalia
c	Webi	Outside My Window
d	Wyre	Chuki

 

25	BEST FEMALE ARTIST – KENYA
a	Amani
b	Krystin Ndela
c	Nikki
d	STL