T H E O Theo’s Groovy Eighties Extravaganza January ‘THEO’S DISCO PARTY,’ the words, set against a 3D backdop, which has a photo of the biggest boom box ever. There is no telling that this party would be filled with serious jamming and fun. And at this time the lights haven’t even come up, but when they do, oh magical! The whole place is suddenly transformed into an eighties disco hall, with bright blue lights, and the boom box becomes an array of dazzling purple and gold lights, flashing intermittently. Now the DJ begins to rehearse spinning to try out his machine, with Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration” going on in the background. Yahoo! This is your celebration Celebrate good times, come on Let’s celebrate! And like a honey bee which has just smelt out nectar, birthday boy, Theodore Kwaku Kwaa Asampong, begins to gravitate towards the dance floor. Ei! Mr. DJ, who asked you to start the music? Birthday boy, bobbing his head so that the big afro wig on his head is going poof, poof, somehow slides onto the dance floor. With his big afro wig, and gold jacket with brown flared trousers, he looks like a modern-day version of the Cool & The Gang members. Now, he is on the dance floor, flapping his wings like a butterfly, bending at the knees and getting up, and swaying from left to right. This dance floor hasn’t seen anything yet. As the guests begin to arrive, ladies in beautiful shimmery outfits, gentlemen in casual disco wear, Theo and Mono make time to greet and welcome each guest. As ever the life of the party, Theo is everywhere; slapping old friends on the back and bursting into laughter, reminiscing old times with friends, treating elderly guests with reverence, and catching younger shyer guests and coercing them to the dance floor to dance with them. At the back of the building is a swimming pool, lit all around with bright lights. As soon as the birthday boy gets there, he is flanked by Samba dancers, dressed in carnival-style outfits. By now the whole place is jam-packed with guests, and the atmosphere is super bubbly; old friends are catching up on old times, A group of men friends are seated in the cigar lounge, smoking away and fraternizing, there is a lot of laughter and banter everywhere. “Ladies and gentlemen!” “Ladies and gentlemen,” the M.C. for the day yells out, hitting a spoon against a wine glass to get some order as he begins the ceremony and proposes a toast. As the toast is proposed, funny but nice details of Theo’s life begin to emerge from The Birthday Journal. From how he was almost named “Theophilus’ instead of ‘Theodore,’ because of the carelessness of a prying nurse, to when he started school, and refused to sit with peers, opting rather to sit in his elder brother’s class, which he did for a week, and then to the time he sold local fabrics for his aunt at Koforidua market, how he would befriend the market women, and by doing so, ended up selling more fabrics than his aunt. As well as, how well he adjusted when he joined his parents and siblings in the UK at the age of sixteen, in spite of it being a radically new experience for him. Actually, he attended a very good school, 6 The Birthday Journal
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