I just found out yesterday that Wes Craven is filming the 4th installment of his teen-slasher horror film franchise Scream. I must admit I was quite a fan of the Scream films. Scream 1 poked fun at the whole teen-slasher genre but managed to be entertaining and had a brilliant twist-ending. I was pretty sure it answered all dangling questions but then came Scream 2 which sought to prolong the drama while making more money. Finally, there was Scream 3 which for me was like beating a very dead horse with a stick. So you can understand why I was perplexed to find yet ANOTHER Scream film was in the pipeline. Speaking of perplexing horror sequels, early Saturday morning, I was awoken by the deafening sounds of machines working hard on our street. What?! Roadworks again??!
If you happen to follow my blog, you will recall that in September last year, our untarred road was finally tarred. Well, not quite. It was indeed too good to be true.The road contractor managed to complete half the road leaving us with a bizarre Yin-Yang pattern:
RoadWorks Part 1: The Half-baked Yin-Yang
The road contractor mysteriously disappeared and we were left to wait with bated breath for the sequel. Finally, in January this year we were given Roadworks Part 2; the memorable sequel:
Roadworks Part 2: The Mysterious Yang-Yin Dusty Trail
Roadworks Part 2 was strange and completely unsatisfying. Alas, yet again before any questions could be asked, the road contractor had evaporated into thin air! Life went on and seasons changed. Heavy rains came and the shoddy nature of the first two installments of the Roadworks franchise were becoming apparently. Suddenly, this past Saturday, the roar of engines signalled the 3rd installment in the horror franchise:
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| Roadworks Part 3: All Yin and some zen |
Finally, after almost a year, it appears our street is finally uniform. There is zen on our street. But here's a thought; instead of half-baked shoddy work, wouldn't it be better to do a really good job the first time around? Or like horror film franchises, do we have to keep waiting for yet another installment? Sad to say, but that is why I call it "Third World Living".
10 comments:
Scream 4? Why do these Americans always have to spoil a good thing? Thats what they did with Blade, Terminator and quite recently, Predators...
Anyways, I'm glad your roads are in good shape now. You should the ones at where I live; its like wlking on a rocky mountain and I think its experienced every type of erosion from gully to sheet. And someone was contracted to do the job too.
I think your Third World Living covers the situation nicely for< I can't think of a better way to describe it.
Oh! BTW, did you get to read my post on washing new clothes before wearing? Found some interesting info you should see..
@Enyonam, thanks for stopping by!
Indeed, spoiling a good thing never seems to get old when it comes to movies. I hear that there is a Indiana Jones in the pipeline too..
*LOL* After I posted the piece I felt like such a whiner since I should be quite happy that we even got our road done at all....But I do feel that if its going to be done at all, it has to be done right.
I actually did read your piece on new clothes washing in fact the whole phenomenon (as you described it) was part of our lunchtime conversation at work a few weeks ago...Okay, off to comment on it!!
Scream 4? Oh lord.
Scream was the best of them all. Stu was too silly.
Remember after Billy stabbed Stu in the kitchen & Sidney escaped? Then Sidney gets on the phone and tells them she called the cops. Stu goes "my mom and dad are going to be so mad at me". That was funny.
Scream 4 better be good.
Someday someone should write a book on the politics of government sponsored construction in Ghana. I'm glad you're bringing it up because most people don't really understand what goes on. It's easy to blame the contractor but assuming we got a contract to build a road for 100 GHC. You go to a bank to borrow 100 GHC at 30%. The govt doesn't pay you for 2 years. In Year 1 you owe the bank approximately 130 GHC. In Year 2 you owe them about 169 GHC. Which means we have to charge the govt (the people of GH) about 200 GHC for a 100 GHC project to make a 30 GHC profit. That's how the economics breakdown. If more of our citizens were more informed and involved we'll demand that govt setup a rigorous system of checking which contractors are living up to their contracts and make sure those contractors are paid of time. Ok I'll stop dreaming now :)
@Mike I can't believe the detail with which you recall Scream! Well, I saw that film a decade plus ago. I do remember Matthew Lillard was perfectly cast as Stu and loved his excitement in the kitchen when he fills Sidney in on what had actually been going on. The funny thing is, I remember the plot of Scream really well but Scream 2 & 3 are one big blur. Hoping that Scream 4 has some surprises.
@Kodjo very poignant points you raised. Thanks for clarifying what actually goes into road construction from the road contractor's perspective. Much improvement is needed to the entire system. You must admit that the road contractor did not try at all with the yin-yang pattern though!
I loved scream! And I became a fan of Lillard but he lost me after a few movies.
Kodjo, I agree with you on most of your points. Public needs a better insight on how things work. It do Ghana a lot of good to keep our money in Ghana. This will happen when our local firms earn contracts in Ghana. If funding is the issue that disqualifies most of them, I'm open to having govt step in and help. (Our farmers have also been crying for that financial assistance).
Do the Ghanaian contractors care about the quality of their work? I don't think they do and that could be the reason they are not considered in bids. Take Abena's street for example. The contractors probably spent time and money preparing the entire street but only finished one half the first time around. 2nd time around, the prep'd area that wasnt finished would have to be prepped again. That is money down the drain.
@Mike I hear you on Lillard..I did like him in Scooby Doo though...I just saw he had an uncredited role in Scream 2 as a guy at a party...hmmm..interesting.
Again I agree with @Mike about the issue of Ghanaian contractors...Personally I think we need to have a complete overhaul of the systems that governs the awarding of contracts. In fact, we need a complete overhaul of Ghana! I honestly believe we can make this country work. We have democracy, we have hardworking people and erm..we have oil!
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