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November 23, 2022– The Launch Date of Afro-Scope.com

Afro-Scope

(Beaming African Ways of Life)

A PRESENTATION TO LAUNCH THE NEW AFRO-SCOPE WEBSITE

Greetings, and welcome to Afro-Scope! You are about to watch a video of “Awa Festival” in Southeast Nigeria, in West Africa. But let’s take some time for a brief background information.

Indeed, welcome to the new Afro-Scope website. I am Harry Agina. Yeah, I know, I promised in my last but two blog that the site was to be launched over a week ago. But you know how it is; we broadcasters have a cliché that we always use as a common excuse when we goof a little. Well, you must accept the excuse because we operate with a bunch of electronic gadgets, which are known to misbehave quite often, and without warning! Umm huh, so, a dude oversleeps and gets to the studio for his TV show a few minutes late, for instance. And what does he blame it on, “Technical difficulty,” that’s what! “Welcome to the show, my favorite audiences,” he starts. “I must first apologize for starting the show a little late today. It’s due to a little technical difficulty; you know how it is with those gadgets. Sorry again.”

And I’m like; yeah, technical difficulty, my foot! Tell it to the Marines, I say. Just tell us that you overslept, or something, and stop your lying. But really, we did encounter a little “technical” difficulty in setting up the new Afro-Scope site. We conquered it all, and now we are here, launching the site a few days later than we had announced. And we are launching with a video of a festival in Igbo tribe of southeast Nigeria, in West Africa. It is said that “a picture says a thousand words.” And we are talking about motion-picture here, which comprises millions of pictures.

But seriously now; did you know that it takes 24 to 30 still photographs to make one second of motion-picture—video or film—depending on what format? So, one minute of any motion-picture (film or video) that you watch is created with 1,440 still photographs of the subject. The festival video that I am bringing your way today is 13 minutes. This means that it says 18,720 words (24x60x13). So, I should just let the video do the talking to you. Since “a picture is worth a thousand words,” I would have to say 18,720×1,000 (18,720,000) words to match the video. I sure don’t have the strength now for all those millions of words. And I am sure that you don’t want me to bore you with those many words either. So, let’s let the picture do the talking.

Yeah, I know, there is someone reading this who is saying something like, what is this dude talking about? Since I’m such a nice guy, I’ll answer you already without even asking. Some of my readers do know, of course; but there are some who want to ask me, “What’s all that talk about still photographs and frames? I see video of moving people, and you are telling me that they are still photographs!” Yes, indeed! It’s like a kind of abracadabra, an illusion, which is perpetrated by the human brain. Our brains perceive an illusion of continuous movement from a succession of still images. Stating it simply, a TV camera, a film camera, even your phone video camera, first takes millions of still photographs of the subject. It then lays the still photographs in sequence to create what you see in motion on TV, movies, and all the videos that you watch. One still photograph is called one frame in the motion-picture language. If you didn’t know, now you do! The technological process is story for another day, when necessary.

Now, before I give you the festival, please indulge me just another minute to tell you a little about “Afro-Scope.” It is an Afro-Centric Inter-Cultural Exchange Project! The name is self-explanatory—a Scope that beams on the African Continent, with a great Inter-Cultural Exchange purpose. The purpose is to contribute towards the bridging of the cultural understanding-gap between Africa and the other continents of the world. We aim to help other peoples of the world to understand the people of the African continent, their culture, and traditions. One way to do this is by sharing the African Culture with the rest of the world. And we also share other cultures of the world with the Africans. Naturally, the African Culture comprises thousands, or even millions of sub-cultures. This is to say that, as we compare the African Culture with the rest of the cultures of the world, we also compare the variations within the African Culture. This Inter-Cultural Exchange is done in our unique InfoTainment style. As you may know, InfoTainment is a fusion of two words—informing (Info) through entertainment (Tainment).

The Afro-Scope site houses a potpourri of “Afro-Centric Programming Materials.” We have several categories of materials in the forms of written narratives, pictorials, and motion pictures. Our contents are in the following categories: (1) “AfroCultural Dramas” is the category where we dramatize the traditions and other elements of the African Culture, informing you as you have fun with us—InfoTainment! (2) Our “Afro-Cultural Titbits” category is our narrative version, with more detailed facts about traditions and other elements of the African Culture. Pursuant to our Inter-Cultural Exchange objective, we consistently compare Africa with the rest of the world.

(3) Our “Afro-Cultural Entertainment” category deals strictly with various forms of Performing Arts from the African continent, including cultural dances, African masquerades, and more. (4) We have “AfroCultural Festivals” category, too, which feeds you motion-picture clips of festivals from around Africa, such as the one that we are bringing you today. Of course, we give you background information about every festival. (5) We also have “AfroCultural Documentaries,” which is self-explanatory. (6) Our “Afro-Social-Affairs & Sports” category brings you analysis of historical and current topical issues in Africa. It also covers sports that are peculiar to the African continent and peoples, such as the African traditional kind of wrestling.

I implore you to visit “About Afro-Scope” page to learn more about why you can trust us to inform you about Africa, including some key members of our team. Once again, I welcome you to the new Afro-Scope website where you will learn about Africa, the African people, and the African Culture. Importantly, please endeavor to subscribe to us, and follow us through our various social media platforms. This is Harry Agina thanking you for being a part of this experience. And now, here comes our InfoTaining “Awa Festival” to ya! Just a click on this hyperlink takes you there. Thanks a million for watching: