Olowe of Ise

I used to wonder what our older folks were up to like 200 years ago – most often I come up with nothing apart from OduduwaLamurudu stories which obviously are folklore. Not that Oduduwa didn’t exist, I just don’t believe he fell out of the sky. Granted, there were some stories of Benin and their wondrous artifacts which the British stole.

Surely my Pales weren’t living in caves – and it wasn’t all about Ijapa and Yannibo.

But there was some dude, Olowe of Ise. He’s probably one of, if not, the greatest African sculptors who ever lived. He carved some magical doors and lintels; one is still at the British Museum till date. He was from Ise-Ekiti but worked far and wide. I’m not sure if I got my name from his but then, who would mind? You can read more about some of Olowe of Ise Biography on Wikipedia and see some of his doors here.

The only amazing, or do I say sad thing, about him is that the average lad on the street of Lagos, or Ise for that matter, doesn’t even know him. We all know about Lawrence of Arabia, King Arthur, bla bla, yet we don’t know such a great gem of history.

Van Damme Epic Split on Volvo is Inspiring!

I’m generally a positive person. Or so I think. Some of my friends don’t think so but who cares about them anyway?

How has this got to do with this post?

Ok, some random friend shared Volvo’s advert with me. The Jean Claude Van Damme (JCVD) advert is currently trending nicely on the internet but the most important thing for me is the deep message – you can be what you want to be irrespective of time. JCVD has gone through a fair share time of ups and down but at over 50, he’s got an incredible body. If I did that split, I would be paralyzed for life.
By now you would have known that I have the mentality of geezer but a never say die one.


Jean Claude Van Damme doing the famous Epic Split for Volvo
Go one JCVD, inspire us not to give up!