Happy Independence

To Barbados. 40 years of Independence today!

Speechless

Sick, disturbing, horrendous, cruel, dreadful, evil. I for once am at a loss of words to adequately describe the story in the news that a woman willingly microwaved her 1 month old who later died.

I hope and pray it was one of those she has mental issues or she didn't realize how microwaves work and she was just trying to keep the child warm things so that I could somehow excuse her. But ya know what? I don't think its anything like that. I think it was deliberate and to be honest its times like this that I wish we had a more eye for an eye tooth for a tooth type punishment system cause she deserves the same pain she inflicted on her innocent child.

Life happens

So much for every day in the entire month of November. I made it almost three weeks but then life happened. Oh well I tried.

KKKkramer

I wanted to blog about that Kramer thing again today. Saw a recording of the 'apology' and I'm still trying to find a word that adequately describes it. It was one of the lamest apologies I've ever seen. I mean if I was dude I'd have claimed I was having a Mariah moment and checked myself into a hospital or something.

And what's with issuing the apology on Letterman? Letterman is lame, I mean come on man if you're going to do it on a late night show and not saying you should then by all means hit up Jay Leno.

Naa but seriously if you're going to apologize apologize in a serious forum not on late night tv after 1130 when decent people gone in ther beds.

Still after having watched the video of his tirade I dont know if one can really apologize for that behaviour. As one comedian said, a line was crossed. Yea we all have our moments when we just go off and we might say some stuff thats not our true feeling and we might go too far but sometimes alot of what is said is what you really feel deep down just finally surfacing so one has to wonder about Richards comments.

Anyways I'm not in a blogging mood tonight so I'll leave the thought half finished.

This and that

- Saw a lady on the RT tonight reading Buzz Marketing with Blogs for Dummies tonight. Made me wonder if there was a Blogging for Dummies and sure enough there is. Mind you it begs the question if you are actually a dummy should you be blogging in the first place?

- No I aint telling wunnah what I saw at the supermarket but yes I did see something. Abeni ya too malicious :-)

- Was going to blog this yesterday, saw it Sunday night on CNN but couldn't find a link online. Its about Michael Richards aka Kramer going off on some black folks who heckled him during his standup routine using all sorts of racist language. Actually here you can get an idea of what he said. Personally I think they should have kicked his ass.
I used to like this guy but hmmm no wonder there were no black folks on Seinfeld. Shame on him. No soup for you! Mind you now Jerry Seinfeld is trying to defend him, guess it all comes down to whether this tirade ruins Seinfeld's legacy and how will it affect their DVD sales. Oh well in 3 months all will be forgotten. Booooo!

- Heroes is the best new show of the season. Nuff said! Only way they can ruin it now is to put tights, leotards and capes on them. Aye Caramba!

- Was it just me that got a kick out of yesterday's Simpson send up of a upper society literary function? When Jonathan Franzen and Michael Chabon started fighting it was hilarious!

- If you want to check out some cool stuff check my homie, the international man of mystery with his collection of videos from his globetrotting. I think I know who to go to when I'm ready to drop my hot new hip hop dancehall video. :-)

Casino Royale

I wasn't completely convinced when I first heard that Daniel Craig was going to be the new James Bond. Well actually first I had to go google him to find out who he was but after finding out he was the dude from Tomb Raider I really didn't see him as being a good fit with the Bond franchise.

I mean it was bad enough he was a new Bond replacing a fan favorite in Pierce Brosnan who was just a natural fit with the suave, debonair charm but then Craig just didn't look the part of a Bond. Maybe they should have gone with a Jude Law even a Ewan Mcgregor hell even a Mike Myers might be better than Daniel Craig. Yeaaahhh Baby!

It wasn't just the blond hair and blue eyes but he just didn't have the style of the others. He came off as this rough cat, ready to rumble not the oh so cool, unflappable under pressure Bond of a Connery, or Moore or Brosnan. Were they sure they got it right?

Well the 40 Million that the movie made this weekend and the critics reviews say that they did get it right. And I agree.

I saw the movie on Friday and its actually pretty good and a great fit for Craig as the new Bond.

The movie plays to Craig's talents. Sure in the beginning his presence seemed a bit unsettling to me especially when they focus on those steely blue eyes but as time wears on he looks more and more Bond. This is a whole new Bond though, not as charming, not as unflappable, a more realistic super agent.

Craig's Bond is in some ways the antithesis of Brosnan's Bond. I mean Die Another Day starts with Brosnan's Bond imprisoned and tortured for years and that Bond while wrinkled and shabby still manages to emerge looking rather cool and unrattled. Craig on the other hand is "bruised, battered and scarred but hard" from the movie's fast paced start to the end. Constantly bloodied, bullied and tortured but yet still showing the renowned Bond resolve to solve the puzzle and get his man ...or woman.

He fights roughly, he killed roughly. This Bond is not smooth, he's ready to die like Biggie, he's a thug. He fights frantically like his life is on the line and in most cases it is. He doesn't have time for the sophisticated stuff and the gadgets, or the pretense that everything will be ok. He's a brawler and you feel the raw intensity of his fights.

And in the ladies department? Everyone knows the Bond who charms the pantalones off the ladies. The player Bond! Well this Bond is less of a player than his predecessors. He's less smooth. Moreso seeming to annoy the ladies than overwhelm them with his charm as illustrated by one of my favorite exchanges in the movie between him and Bond girl Vesper Lynd played by Eva Green.

Lynd " So will I have any more trouble from you Mr Bond?"
Bond: "No you're not my type."
Lynd: "What smart?"
Bond: "No single"

The supporting cast in this movie is quite good as well. Green makes a great Bond girl actually rising above the average. Judi Densch gives her usual commanding performance and my boy Jeffrey Wright (aka Peoples Hernandez for all you Shaft fans) gets a nice little role too although he's under-utilized.

And what is Bond without a good villain? I've always liked the fact that Bonds villains are always villainous looking. You can never mistake them for the good guy because there is always some disturbing physical trait they carry that immediate stamps them as somehow evil. Casino Royale's Le Chiffre is no different and Mads Mikkesen does an excellent job with that portrayal.

Still the movie comes down to Craig's Bond. Craig's Bond shows a vulnerability that the other Bonds didn't. He's hesitant, he makes mistakes, he gets played, he's more human than the others. This isn't your usual Bond but it works because of Craig and the script as this movie is more about a young double-0 on his first real mission. Question is will it work as the series moves on and we see a Bond with more experience under his belt.

Untold story

Wait I tell wunnah I get flash at the supermarket today? I aint tell wunnah? Good cause I aint telling nun a wunnah this story!

Lawd ave mercy! Yes is true, it happen! How I know? How I know? How you mean how I know? I was there man, I see it big and bold....like a 27 inch zenith. Believe it.

Now before some busy body come an start telling me is my fault and I is a married man an I shouldn't be looking at them things so let me tell wunnah straight I married but I aint blind. Is not like them duz juck out ya eyeball when ya put on a wedding ring ya know? chupse!

Plus! Plus is not like I was in the strip club or somewhere looking fa woman or something so I was in the supermarket. Nothing so aint supposed ta happen in the supermarket. I wasn't even in one of them sexy, erotic type aisles (at least that's how its portrayed on TV) like with the fruit and melons and bananas and grapes and them natural aphrodisiac type a business. No man I tell ya I was nowhere near them things when it happen. I was pun the other side a de supermarket wid all sort of square tins and unsexy boxes of detergent and thing so. No boy I wasn't looking for nothing so at all.

An let me tell ya it happen out of the blue too. Like I said I wasn't looking for it to happen, I wasn't waiting for it to happen, I didn't expect it to happen and then all a sudden ....BRAM! Right there in front my two eyeballs it happen. What I was supposed to do? Look away? How wunnah mean look away? Look away where? My eyes had right to be there. My eyes was there first before the flashing occur. Is she intrude my eyeball space not me intrude she space!

Close my eyes? Why should I have closed my eyes uh? Wunnah mekkin sport. Look it happen, I see it, there was no turning back and there was no closing of the eyes. That is how it went down. That is my story and I sticking to it.

But let me tell ya boy I don't even think the young girl realize dat she flash me. Oh gosh boy! Serious thing that!

Tell she something? How ya mean tell she sumting? Tell she something like wha? Ya mad or what? Next thing I try to tell she dat she exposing sheself and she looking at me like I is a big pervert when as I point out already my eyeballs was there first is she dat intrude my space not me intrude hers. No bosie I din saying a word to see bout nothing today. Not me, couldn't happen, uh uh din not see a thing, lips sealed if she ask me!

But I don't understand why these young girls duz like to wear these things that duz expose them privates in public? I don't need to see wha you got on or aint got on underneath what I can see ya got on. You understand me?

Cause then incidents duz accidentally happen and I duz be seeing what I aint suppose ta see and next thing I know people duz be saying "wha he was lookin at that? Wha he aint a married man? Dem aint supposed to be looking at that sorta things. he mek muh shame. He shoulda close he eyes. He musse went to the supermarket knowing dat was gine happen."

So ya see dat is why I aint telling wunnah this story.

Border Tax aka Big Hurt

So yesterday's morning's newspaper told me that the Toronto Blue Jays are going to be signing 38 year old slugger Frank Thomas to be their designated hitter next year.

Not a bad move I thought.....Until I saw the price tag. $18 - $20 Million dollars!! What! I mean in his prime yea Thomas aka the Big Hurt was the man in Chi-Town but at 39 years old you're telling me that he's worth 10 million a year. Come on now!

I guess Toronto continues its trend as the place where old sports stars can feather their nest egg just before retiring. I'm not happy about this one.

Why because we are overpaying to get him in Toronto and this is a trend that had been going on in every sport aside from Hockey in this town. I call it a border tax. Whenever we go after basketball or baseball players to come play in Canada these days we are always overpaying them. Its like we're begging or bribing them to come play here in our city of igloos and Eskimos which is the perception most Americans seen to have of us. Toronto is becoming the place for players to come make some big bucks and produce not a damn thing in terms of team improvement.

Well I have a question. If Toronto is such a world class city like our elected representatives keep claiming then why do we have to overpay these spoilt big kids to play here? They should be lining up to play in our city. Shouldn't they?

We do a big song and dance about over the hill or mediocre players coming here to collect a fat cheque only to see the teams they represent fail miserably year after year. Is it worth it?

We did the same overpaying thing with Raptors point guard T J Ford the other day. He is an ok point guard but he aint worth the money they gave him. Walking around giving interviews about he is an Allen Iverson type of player. Please! Brother how you going to be an Allen Iverson type of player and cant shoot the ball? You're vying for president of the brick layers association you aint no Allen Iverson. Yea you got speed but one of my favorite college players Jacques Vaughan has/had speed too and in the NBA he never became anything but a backup and journeyman.

Actually on the whole topic of the Raptors its still early in the season but I have some thoughts on the team.

(1) I think until I see Bargnani turn into the next Dirk that we wasted our number 1 draft pick. Vincenzo Esposito anyone?

(2) Colangelo make a mistake by trading Charlie V. I believe Colangelo was interested in cleaning house of all of his predecessors mistakes, starting with a clean slate and the like but Charlie V was not one of them. Trading Charlie V for Ford was a mistake. First thing they teach you in GM school is you don't trade big for small. It was a rookie mistake. I say we should have kept Charlie V, turned the point guard duties over to Calderone, traded the number 1 pick for two later picks and grabbed Marcus Williams and Rudy Gay and we would be set for the playoffs next year assuming we did point number 4. Charlie V and Bosh playing together again for a second year would have given us a consistent big man tandem and we would be contenders for a playoff spot.

(3) Demoting Mo Pete was stupid. Fred Jones aint that good. But I figure like in point 2 Mo Pete was an old regime player so he soon out the door too.

(4) We need a big bad veteran or two on the team and no Derrick Martin looking all coach like in his suit on the sidelines doesn't count. Neither does Mo Pete. Mo Pete is like the veteran on the squad now and he's not either big or bad plus he's only been around 6 years. No we need a big bad forward. Remember those two years way way way back (well if you follow a BET timeline where old school means a year and a half ago) when we made playoffs? What do you think the reason was for that? Stop right there if you want to put up your hand and say Vince Carter. No the reason we made playoffs those couple of years was veterans like Charles Oakley, Antonio Davis, Kevin Willis and to some extent a declining, sorry way over the hill, Hakeem Olajuwon. Guys with playoff experience, leadership skills and a willingness to do the dirty work and play defense. These young cats don't want to play defense and don't know how to play it either. All they want to do is make the sportscentre highlight reel.

So you see there are my early season reasons for why the Raptors will remain a crap team this year.

Crazy people

So today at around 10 o clock I happen to be passing Bay and Dundas when I saw a big long lineup. The line up seemed to be all the way over by the door for the Canadian Tire hardware store so my first thought was I never see nobody line up for tools yet so they must be having a giant sale or selling off some titanium hammers or platinumized saws or something so.

Then my next thought was oh they releasing another Star Wars movie and nobody aint tell me nothing. Cause usually when I think of people lines up like that outside I think those people with no lives that line up days in advance for movie premiers.

Anyway I should mention that today was a pretty gloomy day with forecasts of nuff nuff rain. Mind you these folks seemed to be well prepared with portable chairs and big pieces of tarp to cover themselves from the rain but still ya see me I wasn't lining up in the rain outside for nothing.

Then it finally dawned on me. Oh yea the Best Buy electronic store in the same complex as the previously mentioned hardware store releasing that video game console tomorrow, the ps6 wii gamestation playcube nintendo somebody or the other. Look don't ask me to be more specific because I'm not a gamer meaning I have no game as the wife likes to mention occasionally or game console. No all I know is they meaning some big corporation releasing some new cutting edge state of the art gaming console costing a good piece a change.

So apparently the console is releasing at midnight tonight, numbers limited and customers and die hard gamers lining up from early foreday morning waiting for this thing. I bet ya none a dum don't be so enthusiastic at them job getting in early for their shift though. Assuming they have jobs.

Anyway I hope the rain aint wash way nobody or they don't work where I work cause last thing I need is some idiot that stand up in the rain for 15 hrs, for the stupid console, to come at my workplace sick like a dog and pass on their cold to me.

Is tired I well tired

Any of you ever been so tired that ya head start hurting ya fa lack of sleep? Well that is me right now. In fact if I didn't take this challenge to blog every day for November (and I reach half way thank ya please) I would be in my bed all like now snoring down the place with not a care in the world.

But no if you can relate to being as tired as me tell me. I been tired all day from waking up since 330 this morning. By the time I reach work I was saying to myself I need coffee but I aint really a coffee man and to drink coffee in the state I was in would only make me jittery and have me walking bout like I bazodee.

So I just decide early on in the day before all rationality left me that I would only work on certain things that didn't require too much brain power cause when I walk in and see what was on my desk I did starting to get a lil vex so I say let me leff dat there till tomorrow when I feeling refreshed before I start cussing somebody.

Anyways let me ramble for a bit. This remind me of when I was in University. I wasn't one of them regular all nighter fellas. I would study till around 1:30 -2:00 am and then I gone in my bed and make sure I get at least 6 hours of sleep. None of this cram and drink coffee and coke and energy drink and staying up till foreday morning business. That never work for me well at least not when it come to studying. Now if it was fete we feting that is a different story but I digress.

So this one time in third year we had a big project due this Monday marnin and a whole bunch of we get an pull an all nighter the Sunday night. It was rough already cause we had spent till like 3 the Saturday night working on the same thing so brains was already fried.

Still we locked ourselves in a library and were working feverishly to finish up this thing. Now at 3 in the morning we were still fairly coherent and making good progress but by the time 6 am come panic had set in, sense had long deserted man and gone sleep and new sense had taken his place and we were struggling to put the finishing touches on the project.

If I had been able to detach myself from the scene it would have been funny too cause at 6 am things that seemed silly at 3 duz start making a whole heap a sense. Not that they any different is just like I said when sense gone sleep a fella will make some decisions that will make you wonder.

Anyway we finish up around 7, had breakfast and then handed in the project just before it was due at 9.

So ya think that is it right? Well no, I was so tired I couldn't sleep. You ever been there? I will tell you how to reach. First ya duz drive past tired, ignore fatigued like a bus driver flying past a fella at a bus stop when de bus full and continue going and hit de gas when ya see exhausted and just keep going. That is how ya duz get there.

Once there you don't know what to do with yourself cause clearly rationality gone long time and you can only hope that sooner or later sleep catch up with ya.

Well that was me the day after that all nighter and to top it off I had a quiz at like midday that day. Imagine that! Boy that quiz was one of the worse quizzes I ever do in my life. The teacher say at the start try and keep it tidy so I working long real real good and suddenly halfway through decide my page wasn't tidy enough and rub out every single thing I had done and start over. See what I mean tiredness duz mek ya mad. Next thing I know quiz duz I aint finish and my page rub out like 3 times and aint as tidy as I was expecting.

Anyway I thought there was a point to this blog but clearly there isn't. I gine sleep.

Value of Money

Let me tell wunnah a little story.

So this evening I'm running an errand on my way home and I ran into a street person. I know you thinking somebody that live on the street, aint bathe in three months that sort of thing but no that aint what it was cause well my definition of street people varies a little from the established. The Jdid definition of street people is not just the people who live on the street but the people who duz harass ya on the street.

I mean don't get me wrong I aint have no issues wid a homeless fella on the sidewalk, even if he begging fa a dollar or so or just trying to keep himself warm. No them sorta street people I feel a certain pity for and wonder how things get to that stage.

No the street people I talking about as I said are the ones that harass you on the street.

So canvassers and salespeople trying to get me to sign up to give money to a charity dem is street people. Dem black fellas downtown that always trying to sell me some, and I will say it and don't care who vex wid me, stupid pieca black history month paper that cost 20 cents to photocopy at Kinkos and trying to prey on my color and use guilt to extort me for cash an I still don't know what cause um is they collecting for, dem is street people and young kids selling chocolate and candy to raise funds for some school or extra curricular school business dem is street people. Anybody basically that confuse me while I trying to walk the streets and mind my own business is street people.

Actually now that memory kick in I remember blogging about some of these street people two years ago in one of my first blogging attempts.

Anyway I was telling a story sorry to digress.

So I'm walking along Bloor street, just came out a store and this yout accosts me with candy in hand asking me to buy some for whatever cause. Well I only have like 10 dollars in my wallet today so I tell the yout I would like to help ya out but I don't have no lotta money on me. Actually no what I said exactly was "I would like to help but I don't have much money on me today."

Which to me is a self explanatory phrase right? I'm just saying it don't take no advanced degree to understand that right?

Hear the yout 'Its not that expensive"
So I ask how much it was thinking I may be able to dig in my loose change and pull out a two dollar or so and still help out.

Hear the yout. "You can get three bars for 10 dollars or 6 for $20"

six wha fa 20 dollars?

"Ummm but buddy you aint just hear me say I aint got no lotta money and you coming at me wid 10 and 20 dollar options. Chupse! You head cud only be bad. Dem doan teach wunnah maths in school nuh more?"

"I mean you hear a man say money tight and the first thing you gine bruk out is 10 and 20 dollar options. Wha I look like a bank machine to you?"

Before they send these kids out on the street they really need to teach them the value of money.

Mist

You will now consider me the apocalyptic one
After this rhyme, henceforth, there is none
NO more will exist, when I emerge
From the mist in whence I was born into, scorned
Most of you can't even comprehend what I am saying
to you even in my human form the message I'm relaying

Stress - Pharoah (I'm no slave to the rhythm) Monch


Tonight was/is one of those nights like you see in Horror movies. A serious, serious fog like you see in those movies with Jack the Ripper stalking his victims and the like. All that was missing was somebody screaming out in the middle of the dark.

Yes a British isle type fog, one that one of those Victorian writers like Dickens would bust out and describe with some flowery language when all they needed to say was it was misty and I could see a thing.

Still as I got off the bus this evening, and I was creeping through the fog like Snoop, I could barely see ten meters ahead of me but I was thinking about all the descriptions I could use for the fog. Hey what can I say I like those descriptive British cats who say things like the atmosphere had descended or a damp pall held sway over the countryside or an oppressive fog held the land in its grips. Or one could barely see one's nose in the thick stew that surrounded everything.

Yea I could see a fella in a top hat and some fancy frills with a quill and a ink jar writing something so. Cant you?

An intense midst arose suddenly and trapped nay engulfed them in its folds!

See that is lyrics! Sorry tonight's blog I'm just playing with words. So many ways to say the same thing aren't they?

X files factor

Illuminati wants my mind soul and my body,
secret society tryin' to keep their eye on me
Prodigy - I shot ya remix

I've noticed that since the success of the X-files in the 90s many TV shows in this decade have reverted to a formula where every mystery has to be somehow deeper, some part of a greater conspiracy complete with some shadowy Illuminati type group running the whole show. Of course this occurs all unbeknownst to the protagonists of the show at least when the show starts and then its all slowly revealed.

And you know what. That plot is getting tired and played out.

I wont argue that television writing at least in drama/thriller type series is pretty amazing compared to 10 years ago but what happened to the simpler times when a bad guy was just a bad guy, his motives were simple and he didn't think he was working for the good guys and he wasn't looking for some link to a mythical fountain of youth, or the holy grail, or in this week's case with my new show Vanished, the Apocalypse. What happened to simple greed and money as a motive .... as opposed now to complicated greed I guess.

Its like in making TV smarter they have also made it dumber because they always revert to these Da Vinci code, Tomb Raider style references to solve complicated plotlines. They always fall back on some storyline where some ancient designer or engineer or civilization who it was rumored discovered the fountain of youth or came down from the stars or developed a device to do something truly wondrous or dangerous is the reason for whatever plot concept they think up. And of course there is always some secret group of fanatics trying to find this device or scroll or potion that the ancients developed to use it for dubious cause.

And yes the ancient designer or civilization is/was obviously way ahead of his/their time even way ahead of our time and somehow whatever they developed or discovered got lost, buried, stolen, submerged or thrown down a medieval well. The scriptwriters then throw in some dialogue which is supposed to awe you talking about secret scrolls or mind altering earth shattering devices and relating them back to the Aztecs or Plato or Leonardo Da Vinci or some biblical or historical figure and you're supposed to sit there with your mouth open in awe saying "whoa thats deep!" as they use this to explain away some of the implausible crap when they've written themselves into a box.

Its like me writing a book, having the protagonist shot and stabbed to death and then bringing in aliens to whisk him away and save his life.

Please!

I mean ok to be honest the script writers are just preying on a society that is now more skeptical and jdid than probably any other previous societies. We've lost faith in our leaders and we've heard rumors of back room cabals running governments and we keep hearing or reading of secret deals and backroom secret plots etc. We've been subjected to CIA rumors, 9/11 conspiracies, conspiracy theories over why Iraq was really invaded and of course the James Carter (Chris Tucker in Rush Hour 2) theory of criminal investigation; "Behind every big crime there's a rich white man waiting for his cut". With the amount of conspiracy theories floating around in real life no wonder the Hollywood script writers take liberties with this line in their dramas.

Still that plot concept is getting played. I'm not saying that secret societies or backroom cabals don't exist or may not be the reason for certain world changing events I'm just saying you can ruin some really good dramas with those plot twists that tend to be mythical and absurd. Every drama doesn't need Illuminati behind the scenes controlling the bad guys. Cut that out.

Lest we forget

Did you remember that today was/is Rememberence day?

Yes some wars are/were frivilous and some were without real cause but there were occasions like the World Wars where soldiers fought and died for real freedoms.

Lets not forget them.

Friday

I just wrote what I thought was a pretty cool blog but I wont post it today cause no one's going to read this stuff over the weekend anyways.

So where does that leave me. Let me just do some random spots.

- I saw the Lil Wayne Baby video of Stunning like my daddy tonight for the first time. I have no idea what stunnin like my daddy means mind you but I was just kind of amazed by lil'wayne's upper body. No not his physique just the fact that there doesn't seem to be an inch of his skin not covered by a tattoo. Can you get ink poisoning from tattoos.

- They just doubled departure tax in Barbados. Just as the Christmas season starting and World Cup coming up. Oh well I guess somebody got to pay for that revamping of Kensington Oval.

- I publicly declare Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor a classic. Now coming from me this is not a frivolous declaration. I mark hard like ol school teachers without a bell curve. On first listen I thought the album was crap considering what I heard on his mix tapes and the only reason I listened a second time was to prove to myself that Jay Z had ghostwriting "just might be ok" for him BUT that second listen threw me for a loop. The album is outstanding. Daydreamin, Kick Push Pt 2, The Cool, Instrumental, He Say she say are amazing songs. I heard he sucks in interviews but his music is tight. I'll give him that.

- Heard Ralph Klein's Belinda Stronach joke. Ouch! Yea the more I hear of these politicians the more I think our country is truly being run by 12 year old boys.

-Democrats won the Senate and the House. So!! Do they have an exit strategy for Iraq that makes it look like America hasn't lost? Alright then.

The dark

Its Fall again. Almost winter when you look at it actually. Leaves are coming off the trees, its rainy and the daylight hours are getting shorter and shorter. Especially now that the clock has been rolled back. I can actually now leave for work in the dark and return home in the dark. If it wasn't for the few windows in my office building and a walk at lunch the only daylight I would be experiencing on weekdays for the next four or five months is the ten seconds or so as the subway goes over the Viaduct in the morning.

Yep its dark and getting darker. Soon that lack of Vitamin D from the sun will kick in and a brother may even start copping an attitude or getting depressed as he struggles through the cold of January and February. Something to look forward to I guess.

But that's Fall for ya. No getting past it so you just accept it and move on.

However I've realized from observation that there is another part of the dark that pops up in the fall.

Its the dress habits of people.

From my cursory breakdown I'd say 85% of all Fall and Winter jackets are black with another 14.99 percent being some combination of brown, dark brown or dark blue. Only occasionally does one see a tan jacket or a bit of red here and there. I never really paid much attention to it before but now that I've noticed its depressing.

I think it started when I saw someone wearing a tan jacket on the subway last week and noticed how much they stood out in that environment. "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things is not the same". It must feel like you're a Zebra surrounded by a pack of hungry lions. Its scary.

I've got one jacket that's not in the 99.99% of blacks, browns, and dark blues and when I wear it I feel like a sore thumb cause I can let my eyes wonder down a packed evening subway car and maybe of the 80 to 100 persons on the car only see one other person not wearing dark colors.

Oh man. Ok so I realize that dark colors assist the storage of body heat which is necessary in this season and I realize that this is Canada not the Caribbean so you don't even see that many vibrant colors in the warm periods, and I realize that dark colors hide the smudges and dust from all the dirt and grime and dirty snow and all that stuff we eventually get in these seasons but still is a little color variation too much to ask?

I aint asking nuhbody to wear green ad orange fluorescent polka dots or nuttin so. All I'm saying is that the dark and lack of warmth is amplified by the dark colored jackets with the sullen faces popping out at their top. It starts to get a bit too much as Winter wears on.

Daze in a weak

Just going to be brief tonight.

-Today was a tough day. Nope work wasn't particularly difficult its just I'm feeling super drained today. Woke up at 4am and it wasn't even baby related and I just couldn't get back to sleep. By lunchtime I was drained. Everything was a blur after that but somehow I found enough energy to put in about 45 minutes on the squash court.

-The good thing about blogs is the spontaneity and the bad thing is the spontaneity. What I mean there is that almost every blog I write sometime after I post it I realize that I should have added something or changed the way I wrote some phrase or paragraph. Today is no exception as I realized I should have used the word intelligent to describe the guy in yesterday's blog. Oh well!

- Another subway experience got me thinking tonight. (Hey I only spend two hours on it every day and its full of stories so why not use them.) Why is it that we initially think that people who talk a lot are intelligent? I found myself falling into that trap tonight as I listened to this little child prattle on and on to his grandmother. My first thought was oh he must be an intelligent child and not to detract from him cause he probably is although he was clearly showing off but then I thought well why is it that one never initially thinks the quiet one is the intelligent one.

-The Raptors got me out of my seat a few minutes ago. I've watched every game they played so far and been less than impressed. How is it supposed to be a fast break running offense if you forget to run for two periods every night? Anyway tonight Chris Bosh hit a fluke three to basically win the game. I shouted I jumped out of the couch. NBA basketball its fantastic!

That's all for today lets call it an early night.

The Cool

I seen him on the subway on my way to .... Downtown. I have no idea what his name is but I know him by seeing him around. I've chatted with him before if chat is what you do with someone like him because undoubtedly this is the coolest character I've ever met. Remember when Ra said "Cool I don't get upset" well I think he was referring to this character.

First saw/met him a few years ago selling some pretty creative style jewelry in the market with his kin. Then I saw them other places peddling their wares and since my wife likes their stuff (and its cheap but well made) occasionally I'll stop and grab some small gift.

Something about them intrigued me too. I thought they were Bobo dreads at first just by the way they were dressed but they don't have locks do they and one of the females cut her hair off at one point which is usually a no no for rasta isn't it? Naa I have no idea what tribe or religion they represent all I know is that they are the most laid back people I've known.

My boy thinks its a weed thing. He thinks they are always just so damn high that they have achieved some sort of zen like state or rather a state where as they themselves would say 'everything is everything'. Not a care in the world.

Its cold out today but on our subway journey homeboy is still dressed like its the summer. Well dressed like he is always dressed I should say, regardless of weather, with the long flowing robe and his head covered. He looks like a cross between some sort of Biblical Galilean and an Arab Bedouin. He'd be right at home in those biblical stories actually ....Well except for the sweater he has over his robes. I guess one does have to make some amendments or adjustment for Toronto weather.

Still I'm sort of thrown off by the fact that he's wearing sandals on a day like today. True its not as cold as it could be but sandals on this wet, rainy and somewhat cold day? I don't know about that.

My wife who has actually had mini conversations with him and his kin as she's perused their wares at various locations, hyped me to the fact that they all have like the most flawless skin ever. She notices details I usually don't but today I take a close look and yea she's right. I wonder what their secret is?

We sit opposite each other and my workmate is probably alarmed that I'm communicating with this strange character who most would rather ignore but like I said something intrigues me about the guy plus like I said we've "chatted" before.

He recognizes me and smiles a rather disarming smile. Its the smile he gives everyone but it contains a warmth that is almost like we're friends yet we're definitely not.

I say how are you, he nods a greeting. "Haven't seen you in the market lately" I say. He smiles seems to think of what to say for a minute and its almost like I can see his brain turning trying to minimize the words used in the conversation. But not in a rude way just his normal way with words.

"too cold" he says finally.

Well there it is in a nutshell. I nod in agreement, he smiles, I cant hold his gaze for too long for some reason. Its the disarming thing again.

He's looking at me and I'm thinking there is just something deep about this guy , not just because of his garb but because of his eyes and that smile.

He closes his eyes as the train continues and this is how we spend most of the rest of our journey with him giving me the occasional smile. I felt like he was trying to communicate in his own way but I just wasn't getting it. Maybe his aura of cool came from him having perfected a new non-verbal communication mode that I as a mere mortal just wasn't able to decipher. Or maybe as my friend said he was just high.

Nope I ruled that out on close inspection. His eyes looked fine, no red no glazed over look nothing to signal drug use. I noticed his hair getting some grey. Hmm hadn't noticed that before.

I had questions. Who are you, why do you dress this way, what's your religion? But nope I asked none of them. It really wasn't my business. I mean I'm curious but not that curious plus maybe if I asked he would be insulted.

He got out a few stations before me. I nodded a good bye and he said have a nice day and as he passed by my seat to reach the exit he extended his hand to give me a light pound.

that's never happened before I thought. Has our relationship as such progressed? Maybe next time I could ask him those questions although I'm sure I'd get those three and four word retorts leaving me even more perplexed than before. Still we did share a subway and a conversation or rather some sort of exchange of communication so who knows.

Oh well I'm sure I'll see him again sometime.

Election Time

Yes I know all the spotlight is on the U.S midterms and whether the Republicans will get lambaste tomorrow (Tuesday) but we also have some municipal elections going on here in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).

Yep time to vote for mayor and city councilors, school trustees and the like come next Monday.

Only problem is ...Who do I vote for?

I know it cant be just me and I wont say that democracy is failing but at the same time why is it that whenever I consider civic duty, signing my X, i.e voting I'm usually caught somewhere between a rock and a hard place?

I mean most voting cases everywhere nowadays, in my opinion at least, it seems as if you cant find a candidate you really want to vote for. It usually comes down to a lesser of two evils vote. Is that really what democracy should be about? The candidates platforms are usually so similar or you get so annoyed with them all that it just gets frustrating.

Oh well I guess Democracy is still better than the alternatives but I just wish we had choices.

Politicians have become so sad these days and I'm so j-did by the process that sometimes I feel like just saying to hell with it all.

I mean lets take the case of the mayoral race in Toronto. In my opinion the incumbent has not lived up to expectation. Yea he seems like a great guy, not particularly charismatic, but a good guy nonetheless but what has he actually accomplished in his term?

In ordinary circumstances his record would mean we'd give his butt the boot right but who are his opponents? The main lady running against him hasn't stood out as a candidate. Her ideas don't stand out and she seems more caught up in trying to disparage anything he says even if what he says has merit. Come on now, I don't need someone running a campaign like a rebellious teenager's conversation with his parents to be my mayor now do I?

And at the council level who the hell do I vote for? My councilors seems smart enough, he's a go getter it seems, a good guy. But at the same point he's also a jackass who made some comments that have truly pissed me off and on principal I just cant see myself giving him a vote. Oh I'm sure he'll win by a landslide primarily because his opposition is piss poor but still. The whole voting process just makes me sick.

Lets just put some names in a hat and draw for positions.

Good laugh

So last night I went to a show. Music if ya must know what it was. Sit down West Indian music business. Alright ya pull it out of me it was a pan show; Autumn Leaves pan soloist show. Third year running.

Anyway great music, good vibes. It was nice.

Now after all the other performers had done their thing and not to take anything away from them they were all excellent, the main performer came out. To be honest I had never really heard of the man before but he come straight from Trinidad and everybody know that when a baby born in Trinidad as soon as he/she come out the birth canal the doctor does slap two tenor sticks in dey hand, call out two chords and an arpeggio and while the nurse playing percussion the baby does have to prove that he can play before they give the family the all clear that the chile alright.

Hear the Trini doctor one time, "eh he but is how dis chile cann play Sonata in F minor? What wrong wid him? I'm bazodee or I'm bajan?"

So as I was saying the man come from Trinidad and he was the headliner. I was thinking but I never heard of him yet. He like he aint one of the big pan boys like Boogsie or Professor and dem sorta fellas. They like they short changing Toronto this year.

Anyways luckily I was wrong. The man was/is a maestro on the pan. A virtuoso. I was well entertained by this headliner and his skills well amazing.

But after all that long talk that is not the story I come to tell.

This is it now.

During the show the performer, who was also very charismatic I must say, stopped to introduce one original piece. He give we the name of the piece and say it (the name) was inspired by his wife's cooking/baking one day when he was composing. The name of the piece was sweetbread (if ya not west indian ya might not know what this is) and he say we would enjoy it. Now as a man that like me some good west indian sweetbread I was saying I hope this piece sweet fa true.

Anyway as he getting ready to start the song now and the backing band starting up from the back of the audience a woman shout out. "Don't mind he. He only telling we so cause he want he show off that he married."

The crowd had a good laugh.

Evil black people

"I don't know how black people get so evil so?"

It was like from right out of a movie. You know the scene. The one you overlook at the beginning because it seems trivial so you assume its so much window dressing, irrelevant to the main act to follow. Now if they'd used a thespian that you were familiar with someone like Bruce Willis or Winona Rider you might have paid more attention but they used some little no name johnny come lately from off the street that you had never seen before, even though he may have done two or three small time movies in the past. But that was the point you hadn't seen him before so he was insignificant to your gaze. Hence the scene was ignored.

Its only near the end of the movie when the plot is revealed and it all comes together that you realize what a pivotal scene it was and you wished you had really taken note before instead of reaching for your big buttery popcorn when that scene was on.

Well it was like that with me last Monday but not really.

Left for work a little late. On the train west I decided I was tired of going to my usual transfer spot where the crowds are thick on the platform and I've got to use my box out, and elbowing skills, developed on the basketball court in order to make it onto the southbound train.

Yea lets skip that routine for one day. I'll just get off on the Danforth and grab a streetcar that takes me relatively near to where I'm going. Its a longer trip but I'm not rushed like I usually am plus its always better to be above ground than below anyways.

So that decision made I hopped out the subway and went upstairs at the station to grab a streetcar.

Anyway it was on that streetcar journey that the pivotal moment happened. I saw it but like the moviegoers mentioned above I didn't realize its significance or recognize the actor.

I was just taking in random sights when I was drawn to the figure of a tall black man on one corner. He looked like a bum. He seemed to be begging for change from a guy who had just gotten out of his car at a gas station or corner store or something. My mind said 'crackhead' or some sort of drug addict just from his jerky movements and the way his hands came out into the begging stance so swiftly.

Not an altogether strange scene on the streets of Toronto but I guess what grabbed me about it was the distinctive wave of the hand the guy who got out of his car gave to the outstretched hand. It was a literal brush off. A silent, go away, don't bother me, I have absolutely nothing for you gesture. It was probably delivered with a scowl as well but from my vantage point I couldn't tell. Well somehow that scene got my attention.

Thought about it for a few more seconds after we passed but then that was it. Back to life back to reality back to thinking about work or some other thing awaiting in my future. No Bruce Willis or Brad Pitt in that scene so it wasn't important.

Fast forward to lunch time. I just need to get away from the office at lunch or I'll go crazy. I usually do a lot of walking at lunch. Well walking or using my metro pass to go make a quick visit to another area.

Anyway I'm on my way back after running some errands about 3 blocks from work and guess who I see from afar walking in the opposite direction coming towards me. Yep, well I'll be damned if its not the same beggar I saw this morning on the other side of the city. Fancy seeing him here.

He's still got the outstretched hands as he attempts to ask every passerby for change. I get closer and see his shabby clothing and his mannerisms and figure yep drug addict I was right. I'm thinking I'm not giving this guy jack to support his habit if he asks me but he probably wont anyways cause if there's one thing I've learned its that in a crowd beggars will approach anyone but the black person first. Damn imagine that ish, we're even last on the beggars list.

Still just my luck the crowd thins out by the time I get to this guy or rather he gets to me. Oh well he can ask but I aint giving. There it goes, hand outstretched, the plaintive look on his face and the "Spare any change?" question swiftly proffered.

I make eye contact, shrug my shoulders and say "sorry".

That's when he leans over and says in a low voice to me "I don't know how black people get so evil so?"

Read what you will into the statement.

I don't stop, I didn't look at him or acknowledge his comment. We both keep on walking going in our separate directions.

Strange

Or rather deliciously ironic.

As a baby they teach you to eat and eat. Well not eat to gluttony or to over-eating standards but you know what I mean. Babies eat and sleep. They wake up in the night and they eat. They eat before or to fall asleep. They eat all hours of the day and night. They cry and get on bad when food isn't ready for them when they are hungry. Yet these are all acceptable maybe even desirable traits.

Yet the older we get the more those traits become undesirable. Eat and fall asleep you are seen as somehow lazy or having the 'itis. Eat after a certain time at night and you're guaranteed to put on the pounds they say. Wake up in the middle of the night to eat? Only in TV commercials. Cry or pout when you are hungry? No that signifies no training, no broughtpsy and no discipline.

Is it just me or does anyone else see the irony here?

(and yes I made this post just before midnight)

Guess who's bizzack

Yep, the hiatus was less of a hiatus that initially thought. Thanks to some good computer advice and two hours of hard labour the machine is up to the time! and good to go! and I can still make my posts for every day in November if I try. yeaaahh!

Oh and I can now check everyone else's blog again too. Yippee!

Halloween

Nope computer still down but had to blog this.

Last night I find some new reasons to dislike Halloween. First off when I get home I figure all the trick n treating foolishness was done but no they still keep coming by the house for the candy that the wife got.

Now me I like me some chocolates and candy so I dont know why she would be giving way all the chocolates like that for.

Anyways so the wife had to go out which left me and the baby at home. Baby sleeping, I turn off the lights outside which I'm told is the universal language for no we dont have any candy so piss off and leave us alone. Did that stop the trick or treaters?. Oh hell no. And ringing the doorbell multiple times and banging the rass door like I aint had nothing better to do that play conceirge opening door for them with a fake saccharine like smile and pretending I know what they supposed to be. Chupse!

I even answering the door dressed in a hoodie over my head thinking that somebody would say boy that house got in a igrant looking black fella dont go cross deyso. Ya think they get the hint. Chupse!

And of course you know what happen with all that banging and ringing? Yep baby wake up crying now. Chupse! See why I dont deal with all this foolish halloween business.

But ya know what the funny thing about Halloween was though. Well funny in hindsight not so humourous last night. The funny thing was that is only like 5 children in my neighbourhood so how come about 60 children and them parents was banging down my door? And how come one woman was trick or treating with her kids by car? No seriously. I open the door give them candy and they went back up the driveway hop in a jeep and went away. I thought this trick or treating thing was a walk around thing. Since when is drive and stop for candy. I mean think about it the children obese enough already, walking around to get the candy is probably all the excercise their lazy asses get all week and you driving them to pick up the candy?

And why at 9 o clock these two big hardback women without kids show up trick or treating at my door? And it didnt even like they was in any sort of costume? What gives with that?

That is why see me when I win the lottery I building a moat round my house and filling it with Piranas. Chupse!