Category: happy hour

Danes, blogquestions and pork: April UBHH

I showed up a little late to last night’s Uganda Bloggers Happy Hour, but I didn’t have much trouble finding our table — the four Danish girls with the video camera were a pretty good giveaway. It was great to meet Kirstine, Maria, Sara and Annette, and I hope they keep blogging when they get back to Copenhagen — I want to know what happens with the documentary.

Dante and I had an intriguing conversation about blogging, anonymity and the effect that UBHH is having on the Ugandan blogger community. He theorized earlier that posting drops off after the happy hours because we’ve talked about everything and don’t have anything left to write about (I maintain that my slacking last month was parasite-related). This brought up a discussion about the plethora of blog types — personal, political, social commentary, topical, photography, design — and how people choose to reveal a certain level of information about themselves on their blogs, keeping different audiences in mind.

I’d be interested to know what other bloggers think about UBHH and what it’s done to blogging in Uganda. Was the online community that existed before UBHH enough, or do you like meeting up in person? Do you hang out with people you’ve met at happy hour outside of UBHH? Do you blog differently — more, less, or about different things — now that you’ve seen some of the people who read what you write? For those of you who don’t come (I’m specifically thinking of Iwaya and Minty), was your decision based solely on a desire for anonymity, or were there other factors? For those of you who blog under your real names (Baz, Pernille and Dennis come to mind), do you ever worry about the effect blogging may have on your personal life?

For those of you who like UBHH, good news: Ugandan bloggers are getting together twice this weekend, once for a trip to Jinja for whitewater rafting and bungee jumping (Carlo and Ivan are planning this and should have details) and once for pork.

Yeah, pork. A certain blogger who prefers to remain anonymous would like to invite you all to fraternize over roast pig this Sunday between 4:00 and 8:00 PM at Joglo’s, a restaurant in Naalya, which is just past Ntinda. (S)he asks that you RSVP to 0752737377 and assures you that chicken and fish will be available for the non-pork-friendly.

I came home with twenty blogs on my list, but I counted around 25 people. Are the blogren picking up groupies?

Baz
Baz2
Carlo
Chantal
Country Boyi
Dante No More
Dead Meat
Dee
Dennis Matanda
Dying Communist
I am Dante
Ivan
I’ve Left copenhagen for Uganda
Jackfruity
Kelly
Lysandra
Pagan Gods
Saving a Generation
Uganda Blogumentary
Valentine

april UBHH this week

Don’t miss this month’s Uganda Bloggers Happy Hour. It’s this week — Thursday at 6:30 PM at Mateo’s in downtown Kampala. I’m counting on Carlo to bring the sign, the 27th Comrade to remind me to pick up the list of people who come, and heretofore-in-hiding blogger Nathan to bring his neighbor Hannah so we can properly initiate them into the blogren. Oh, and Dennis to buy me a drink, as promised. Are the Danes still in town? I hope so — I missed their whole thing when I was dead (see? the malaria excuse still totally works — though as of now I’m officially passing it over to Ivan, who needs it more than I do).

Can’t wait to see you all!

return from the undead

Hi, everyone. I’ve been dead had malaria.

I’m back now.

Huge thanks to Ivan, who announced the fourth Uganda Bloggers’ Happy Hour in my absence: April 26th, 6:30 PM, Mateo’s, downtown Kampala.

Josh told me I had to be exceptionally witty in this, my first post post-absence. At this point it still takes considerable effort to get out of bed, so I’m going to pull out the excuse I’ve been using on everyone, for everything, since I got sick two weeks ago:

Sorry, I can’t. I HAVE MALARIA.

I expect that to be good at least through the end of the month.

March UBHH: Awards & More

Last week’s Uganda Bloggers Happy Hour was, on my part, a bit of a failure. I forgot to print out a sign, I advertised too little and too late, and when I left early (had crack-of-dawn bus ride the next day), I neglected to collect the sign-in sheet with everyone’s blog address on it.

Whoops.

Luckily, the geeky-chic members of the Ugandan blogosphere were all on their game. Carlo showed up with a full-color laminated poster, Colin and Dennis spread the word to Makerere, and some kindly as-yet-to-be-named blogger undoubtedly will have the 27th Comrade snagged the guest list and be is holding it in his or her possession, waiting for me to retrieve it (feel free to let me know who you are…).

Aside from all that, though, this was our best UBHH yet. More than 20 people came, including the heretofore elusive Baz.

Perhaps most importantly, we announced the winners of the 2006 Uganda Best of Blog Awards:

Uganda Blog of the Year: I Have Left Copenhagen for Uganda

Best Writing: Dear Mr. Mccourt (now Once Upon Ish)

Best Design: Living Zack’s Utopia

Best Photography: Locus Amoenus: Gulu, Northern Uganda

Best Post: mataachi inc.: Kim +10

The goal of the 2006 Uganda Best of Blog Awards was to recognize the incredible writing and art in this community, and all of our nominees are certainly emblematic of the talent that exists in the Ugandan blogosphere. Congratulations to the winners! I look forward to seeing everyone continue to express themselves through word, art, design and photography over the next year.

NOTE: If anyone has suggestions on categories or method for the 2007 awards, feel free to e-mail me or to leave them in the comments. Thanks!

in which i say an alternate word for “rooster” 27 times on the radio


Last Tuesday Dennis Muhumuza invited me to guest star on his weekly radio show Writers’ Club on Makerere University’s student-run station, Campus FM 107. We talked about tonight’s Uganda Best of Blogs awards, Uganda Blogger Happy Hour, and the importance of blogging in Uganda. He also convinced me to read a couple of pieces on the air.

I admire Dennis for working to support and publicize the efforts of Ugandan writers, both in and out of the blogosphere. His blog Country Boyi features a series called Blogging a Blogger, and on Writers’ Club he conducts interviews with journalists, students, poets, professors and other literarily-minded people. If you’re in the Kampala area, get your hands on a radio and check it out, every Tuesday, from 7-9 PM.