Supermarket madness

Dear Mr Supermarket owner

I understand that ya duz mek nuff money when the holidays arrive cause certain people like dem duz only shop when Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas arrive but I got some advice for ya.

We your loyal customers dat duz shop week after week in ya store doan really like all the hustle an bustle come holiday time. I mean whichpart these other people duz be all year round? Dem doan cook except on special occasions? Is only KFC and Mcdonalds dem buying all year round fa true? Well nuh wonder summuch diabetes and obesity run this place nuh.

Anyways ah have two suggestions for ya. The first one is to try an have some sort of video or instructional pamphlet for these one time shoppers on using a shopping trolley. Lawd ave mercy, the place already pack but people doan know ya cant park off ya shopping trolley in de midle a people aisle an go browsing all bout the place causing all sorta aisle block.

And be familiar with the size a ya trolley. No miss lady dat trolley not going to fit in dat tight space and please watch where ya going cause muh corns cant tek anudda running over so soon after the last one. And dont be turning dem corners a de supermarket aisls like ya going to the indy 500 eidda.

The second suggestion is I feel ya need to reward the loyal customers like me that duz shop at ya week after week. So I suggest ya come up wid some sorta shopping loyalty or shopping priority fa we. Give we bigger carts or express lanes or some sorta preference to these newbies cause is we weekly business that duz keep you going from holiday to holiday ya know. If ya had to wait on Christmas, Easter and thansgiving allya goods wud be in deyso spoiling an ya wud be gine outta business quick quick.

Anyway happy Christmas everyone.

Shoot em up

Seems like every few months there is some new mass shooting in the U.S and the stories get more and more tragic.

I really haven't followed the latest Newtown shooting story as in depth as some of the other past ones. Maybe its a bit like I'm shocked but somehow not really surprised anymore because it seems like no where is safe these days anywhere.

How to lose a sale

Sorry I been away so long mi friends. Life just overwhelming at the moment. But anyways.......

Today is mi birthday. So I took the day off from work with the wife and we relaxing although I surprisingly end up doing nuff nuff wuk round the house but I still get in some relaxing.

In the early afternoon now we decide we going to the mall. Now I going readily admit I cant really shop with the wife. I duz bring she along for expertise sometimes when I shopping but I is a man dat duz shop real fast and can do the entire mall while she still in one aisle of the same store.

Anyway  we gone in a toy store and she looking for gifts. I look round twice and ready to leave and she in there tekkin she time. So I had wanted to go look for some other gifts and she tell me go ahead an we would meet back.

So I went and do my thing still ain't see she an then start roaming the mall. Now as I walk past this one cosmetic store, a young lady rush up to me and tell me smell some fragrance or the other and then she invite me in the store. I ain't got nuttin more to do so why now.

She then proceed to lay it on thick about such an such a product and how great it is and how it would be such a wonderful gift for the woman in my life. Then she hit me with the price and I was like ummm yea but the product nice an all but this is all ya duz get fa that price?

So all along she smiling up in mi face and then she try now wid she tricky self telling me she got a special deal for me an she wud lop off about 20% of the price. So I there contemplating and I tell she well looka is my birthday today you going have to give me a special extra discount.

Now the woman look pun mi an ask me how old I is. I tell she my age an hear the woman "oh you is the same age as my father."

New Math

One of the issues when you been blogging long long long like me an ya getting older wid each passing day is that ya tend to forget whether you wrote about a particular subject or not. That is why I repeat myself about all the people at TIFF the other day and ah not sure whether I repeating myself or not but we was talking about this yesterday so here goes.

Lemma see how to start this doah?

As time goes on, it sees like is more an more information to absorb an remember. Doan let me tell allya bout the what feels like 50 or so passwords I duz got to remember for computer and bank and work and almost everything under the sun. An I also doan know if wunnah notice it but the pickney these days seem smarter and more brazen than we were in the days of yesteryear. Dem born wid wii and playstation an touchscreen, duz jump out de womb wid an ipad attached to dem hand, an can operate computer better than some a we old fogies who grow up pushing old bicycle tires roun de road, pitching marbles and playing marble cricket (actually mi never play marble cricket but the old people always used to talk bout it so I mention it) and board games.

Ah mean all a dem now accustom to touch screen computer an ting an duz be shocked when things not touch screen but when we was little the only thing wud happen when ya touch the screen is ya might get a lil static shock. Ah lie?

I see my son learning things about science: recycling, types of clouds and water cycle, in first grade, that mi neva learn til musse mi was a big pickney in high school. But that is what it is now, everything fast fast fast cause is more info to absorb in de same or a shorter space a time. Wont be surprised if dem doing college level tings by thee time he reach third grade.

Tiger style

A man who was seriously injured after jumping into a tiger enclosure at New York's Bronx Zoo has been charged with criminal trespassing.

David Villalobos is being treated in hospital for bites on his arms, legs, shoulders and back, as well as a broken arm, leg and pelvis and a collapsed lung after leaping from a monorail train into the den of a 180kg tiger last week.
The 25-year-old, whose condition was described as stable, has been charged after a complaint from the zoo and admitting to police that he deliberately jumped into the enclosure – without fear - because he wanted to "be one with the tiger".

But imagine this eediot though!

TIFF

Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has been going on for the past two weeks. Now while I'm sure its a boon for the City economically and culturally, I am really happy that it finished on Saturday so I can get my sidewalks back.

I mean I have had to navigate the King St sidewalks near the Bell Lighthouse, the headquarters of TIFF, on my way to the subway station on evenings and let me tell you it hasn't been easy.

Bolt again

Big up Usain on another sprint double.

Today I faced a bit of a dilemna. No flash or whatever on mi work computer so I couldnt watch the 200m finals at my desk. Luckily in roaming I found the Olympic tvs in Metro hall and came up with a plan. So see mi at 330 leaving the office to rush over to Metro Hall to get a good seat to watch Usain. Work pun pause!

Twits

Ok will make this short (or try to).

The Olympics are on. Interestingly enough for those who have been following this blog since its inception you would have known that it was the 2004 Olympics which first got me into the Blogsphere but thats not what I wish to speak on.

No, I want to speak on this Gabby Douglas controversy. Who is Gabby Douglas you may be asking? Well she is the African American young lady who just won the All round gymnastics individual gold medal. Congrats to her!

Summer of the Gun part deux

Knew I'd have posted about Toronto's crazy gun violence a few years ago. Just found it here.

Well 7 years later it appears that we are experiencing another summer of the gun. Last Monday, 19 or more people got shot here in Scarborough at a blocko on Danzig street including a 2 year old kid. A 14 year old girl and 23 year old man were both killed. Both innocent bystanders it appears.


Of course as is typical somehow the Mayor and the Conservative government found a way to blame it on immigrants and started this whole silly discourse on exiling or deporting gangsters when mind you no one has actually claimed or been able to prove that the shooters were immigrants.

But this seems to be the typical play worldwide so why be surprised. Seems like no one is willing to step up and deal with the facts to be honest. All we get is a lot of rhetoric on how safe the city is which may be somewhat true but in light of events like this one and the shooting at the Eaton Centre about two months ago and the execution style murder on College street last month one really has to take into consideration how safe the actual denizens of this city feel.Which at this moment is not so much.

Its funny though some of the same things I said 7 years ago still apply today. I just feel like we've really done nothing in the interim to deal with gun crimes and the gangstas are getting more brazen and prolific in their shootings and a lot less accurate at hitting their real targets. Its enough to make one want to stay home or buy a bullet proof vest.

Fruity

I probably shouldn't be listening in to people's conversations but sometimes they are so funny.

Like yesterday while browsing in a store, I heard this customer and one of the staff chatting about their dislike of fruit. Apparently both of them have a hard time adding fruit to their diet. Which fruit? Any fruit apparently.

They both preferred fruit juice to fruit.
So instead of extolling the benefits of fruit they were just going on about apples and mangoes like they were some sort of unnatural alien concoctions.   Or like medicine that they had to force themselves to ingest at some point during the day cause I got the impression that on some level they still knew that fruit were good for you.

The conversation which I was listening to while trying not to turn around laughing was pretty funny What got me though was when one made the comment: "Yea I just cant get into fruit. Something about the juiciness just weirds me out." 

Help

So a brother takes a little hiatus from Blogger and comes back to find they throw out baby with bath water and he cant find his way around the new updated Blogger console which from my first glimpse looks dreadfully spartan and uninviting.

Help!

Hmm maybe I should take this time to transfer over to WordPress instead of having to deal with maco google asking me for phone number and connecting my blog to google etc etc. When did everything get to be so intrusive? Cant a brother just have a little privacy on his public blog? (catch the irony there did we?)

GroundHog day

I absolutely love the movie Groundhog day but ya know I never understand this foolishness about the groundhog seeing his shadow or not and that determining whether winter lasting long or short.

Firss ting, so lemma get this straight if he see he shadow that mean is more winter in we tail but if he doan see he shadow then we good for early spring? Wha dat doan mek nuh sorta sense to me! Who decide on that order a tings and not the odda way around cause I wudda figure if I see my shadow um overcast so chance a rain so rain mean spring so spring coming but dey have it de odda way.

Skin sweet

Mosquitoes love me!

I mean mosquitoes love me more than everybody else in my household which can be literally a real pain when you're in Barbados being eaten alive by dem tings.

I remember growing up I stopped wearing any sort of short pants at home at some stage of life because of the threat of being eaten alive. It got to the point that unless you see me at the beach you would never see my legs at all. People start say I have skinny legs and that's why I don't show them or that I have robot legs. They dont understand how if I even show pieca ankle the mosquitoes duz mek mi miserable.

And now everytime I go back home for a visit as soon as I hit the door the mosquitoes does greet me with bites galore. It don't even matter how much flitting or spraying we do they duz come back looking for me. My mudda say is cause my skin sweet. I ain't know if that true but I do know the mosquitoes like to pick pun me bad bad bad.

And now they don't let no long pants stop them ya know, they move onto my arms, my neck, my ears man one even bite me on mi head top. Lawd you know what mosquito bite feel like on ya scalp? Is not easy ya know. 
Boy, it get so bad I considering putting on a burka and hijab to deal with these things.

Anyway I let them get they little couple of weeks of biting cause the more I protest it just seem like the more they annoy me.

CBC Barbados

“Wha kinda Chinee foolishness this is CBC showing tonight? Ya cann even undastan wha duh saying. Chupse!”

This has been bugging me for a while.

Having been away from living in Barbados for so long, for me it’s always difficult to judge various bajan institutions without the added bias of my years living abroad somehow working its way into my analysis.

I can sometimes find myself criticizing stuff because its not like what I have grown accustomed to, living in a so-called first world country, which really isn’t fair to Barbados. So given that I know that I have a bias I usually keep most of my thoughts to myself and grit and bear it through terrible customer service or try not to comment on some of the convoluted bureaucratic situations I have found myself in in Barbados and just chalk it up to well this is how it is in Barbados.

However coming home at least once or so every year or two over the past 20 years (and recently I think I’ve made about 7 trips in 3 ½ years now) and watching a certain institution deteriorate I believe in all honesty and without bias I can say that the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) TV 8 station is absolutely terrible.

Money

Well this will probably be my last random post of 2011 which as you guys can tell wasn't really a prolific writing year. But all the best to you all for the new year and thanks for sticking around and reading this blog for another year.


So anyway, (this one going be short) I've been noticing on the web some/alot of photos with randomly ghetto looking people posing off with money. (this pose along with the self portraits with one holding a camera phone in the bathroom seen to be perennial favorites.) This led me to ponder whats the deal with posing with money? Is this an attempt to make you look rich or richer than you are, to let people know you get/stay paid as the vernacular goes? Whats the point?

I also pondered well if I had money would I take pictures with it? And is it safe to take photos with yourself showing off lots and lots of money. Like isn't it a tad bit stupid.

I mean you don't see Warren Buffet or Donald Trump posing in a room full of cash and those dudes are loaded so why do poorer folks do that type of stuff?

For my one part I'm thinking if I had money like that and assuming I hadn't gotten to the bank to deposit it, I'd be tucking it into mi underwear and running down the street like I on fire trying to find a bank to deposit it in. But I guess there are certain businesses and careers where it pays to show off some but still random photos of you spreading out wads of cash in your hand just seem so pathetic and begging for attention.

Anyways I dun. Happy new year to all

Roy Ayers

Just had to share.

I met Roy Ayers last night!!! No kidding y'all. Apparently he's in town for a show tonight.

I hope allya or at least some a ya know who Roy Ayers is cause it dont seem none of my friends do except for Single Serving Diva. So see me after meeting the man and texting and emailing all my people and they responding is who is dis Roy Ayers fella? chupse! way to bring me down folks, way to bring me down.

positive never negative

Just a quick one I wanted to get out there.

I dont know if its a Toronto thing or just new age styles but I've noticed that kids are no longer allowed to be criticized. I kind of knew this before but its was reinforced when I got my son's report card yesterday. I mean I'm not saying he's a little devil or anything even close but reading the gobblydegook on his report page it would appear he had nothing to improve on and was if not perfect probably mere percentage points off.....which lemma tell ya he is so not!

Even last year in the parent teachers meetings I got the impression that the teachers werent allowed to say anything about your kid that was negative. Believe me I aint going to get upset with you if you tell me the chile duz talk tummuch in class or playing the tail every once in a while.

Complete opposite to where and when I grew up. If ya was behaving bad, they let you know and you got punished. We used negative reinforcement. Dont do that crap again or liks in ya tail or no tv or write lines and of course mothers were famous for the ever useful "dont let me got to tell your father" line which was the ultimate defense and almost sure to get even the most hardears child to rethink what he was doing.

But back to the teachers and the daycares and the like in Toronto. It would be nice if you clued us in on where our kids were failing so we could know (although most of us do have at least an inkling bout some of it) rather than the new age speak that just makes our kids sound like perfect angels.

Rush rush

Wow, its been over a month since I posted. My apologies, been crazy busy its like work never stops. Miss you guys.

Anyway, I've been working at a new location for the last few months, one that's closer to the downtown core which means a longer commute for me. I'm now almost in the heart of the business district in Toronto and the one thing I notice about that area is how rushed everyone is. Its like that old adage time is money has been giving physical life by the denizens of this area.

Streetcar Strangers

Streetcars come in bunches.

No matter how hard they try to space out the scheduling, short turning cars here and there, or giving them their own right of way so that they don't have to combat the intense downtown traffic, there just seems to be something about streetcars more so than buses that leans itself to bunching. I think there is a scientific queuing theory on this but I forget now.

TIFF

I wukkin down near de heart of TIFF these days. By TIFF I mean de Toronto International Film Festival and by the Heart of TIFF I mean downtown near King St W and de Bell lightbox where alot of the TIFF activities duz happen.

9/11

Not to be overly dramatic but the world changed on September 11th 2001.

As per usual I'm not sure if we really grasped the significance of the occasion as it occurred but by the time the smoke cleared (weeks later) we sort of had an inkling that things would never be the same again.

Food studies

Let me start off first by just saying that of all the major fast food chains I pass through in Toronto Popeyes is by far the worse in terms of service. Is not that I duz eat alot of fast food these days like when I was in school but on the occasion that I do eat it yes Popeyes is a cut below the rest in terms of service. Wendy's McDonalds, KFC, Burger King all dem odda fast food bwoy ya duz get a certain quality a professional service cause dem a keep dem staff in check. Not Popeyes. Surley service by dontcarish staff who look untidy untidy and long long waits for simple items on the menu. They wont evn say amm that not available yet, dem duz tek ya order an den say no ya have to wait 5 minutes for this which is fast food terminology for a 15 minute wait but ya money dun pay so ya cant walk out an say faget it.

And not to diss my people but ya would almost think is West Indian people running dem Popeye resturant ..........but it aint we. Today one a de girls that was serving me had she hands fling off all behind the people counter like she drying she nails or frighten she going break one or she scornful for the food and the people. I couldnt understand what was happeing at all. And doan talk bout all dem untidy looking uniform. lawd! And mi not talking bout at one location cause of the several Popeyes I've been to something has always been lacking in service. Mi tink I might have to permanently done wid dem,

Anyways that rant out the way let me share this one wid ya.

Aliens

So I started watching this show on the history channel called one Ancient Aliens. All about why we had visitors to earth from the stars way back in the dinosaur days and how such and such a finding supports that theory. Its a bit out there.

Now I ain't saying I believe in aliens and like with everything, I watch this show with a discerning eye but I do find it interesting some of their theories and hypotheses and how they try to tie things together.

What I find even more fascinating than the theories are the very real places on earth that they use to illustrate their alien claims. For instance I didn't know about the underground "man made" or as they would theorize alien made caverns in the Cappadoca region. Caverns that are well ventilated and that could hold about 20,000 people and are surmised to be 100s if not 1000 of years old.

Anyway what I wanted to say is I find that these expert fellas duz try and stretch everything to fit their theory though. Like if they find a big head statue they duz say boy that is a statue of an alien wid bugly eyes and abig head. Or see how the ancient people draw dat stick figure wid three fingers well that was a three fingered alien that they encounter. Or boy we find a coin wid a dog head on it an it proves that back in the day this particular civilization was ruled by a race of big breed dogs.

And they always find these ancient sites and say well no way the ancient man could have built that by himself so clearly it was alien tractor beams and space ships and ion beams that build this pyramid or underground castle or whatever.

Anyway I rambling and just wanted to say this to them fellas. First allya aint know what dem ancient fellas was like, Suppose dem did know more dan we, who tell you we so damn intelligent compared to them or that they needed extra-terrestrial help to build what they build.

Secondly allya never hear about abstract art? Just cause wunnah find a painting wid a man wid a elephant head doan mean dat it is wha somebody really see. Are you saying that the ancient people aint had no imagination? Dat an ancient artist couldn't have said let me do a lil abstract thing or draw a cow head on a cockroach body.

If a fella millions of years from now discover one of we abstract art pieces I hope he aint suh foolish to conclude some a de tings dese fellas duz conclude.

Huh?

I had to read it twice cause um din mek nuh sorta sense to muh



Last night I was filling out some standard insurance type medical forms. Big setta yes and no intrusive questions to answer: do you have hypertension, diabetes, aids, cancer, a nail juk, ya back brek, ya toe chop off, fingernails brek, teeth falling out, one foot longer dan de next, ya duz drink, anybody ever refer to ya in passing as a crack baby, every snort coke, ya on medication, ya on alternative medication, ya walk pass a pharmacy last week, been bitten by a vampire, believe in Obeah, see a steel donkey pun ya roof, been kidnapped by aliens.

And basically if ya ever answer yes to any one a dem questions lawd help ya cause is a whole heap a extra info and 20 other forms ya have to fill out after that.

So anyways what got me was that huddled in the midst of the yes or no questions was one that said have you  visited a physician in the past 5 years.

But wait?? Wha kinda yes or no question that is? Wha most people including muhself will have to truthfully answer yes to that which then necessitates filling out a braiffle a extra forms all because I went to a doctor in the last five years. Wha dat aint mek nuh sorta sense at all.

To be honest dem shud be glad I gine an get myself chek up. Now if I go an answer I aint been to no doctor in the last five years now there I think I would be a problem possibly a liability cause I aint gine got nuh clue whether I got the hypertension, diabetes, aids, cancer, back brek, toe chop off, one foot longer dan de next, been bitten by a vampire or kidnapped by aliens. Well I guess I would know if I get kidnap by aliens but still

So poor me now gotta answer another 20 pages a forms all cause I went to a doctor in the last 5 years. Wha kinda madness is that. 

Still striving

Wow! It just occurred to me that today is August 14th and its my blogversary!! 7 years! (cue confetti, fireworks and bring out cake).

Not a lot to say though, been a year of few posts so hopefully the next year if I get that far will have more although who knows maybe I should just quit and go peacefully into the night. Oh well!

Anyway as always thanks to all my fans and readers new and old and to my fellow bloggers big up and nuff respect.

What a Kadooment!

Well the finale of Barbados' crop over festival occurred this past Monday with the big annual Kadooment day parade. This year Bajan singer Rihanna took part in the parade and since she is an international superstar of course the international press followed her every move on Kadooment day.


Foreign press is what wrong wid wunnah doah? Chupse!

Judging from the general ignorance I have read on some of the international news sites (mind you most of them arent exactly paragons of excellence) it is clear to me that they either (1) just want to pick on Rihanna or (2) just do not understand a caribbean carnival celebration. I think it may actually be a bit of both.

All about me

Neighborhoods are now hoods cause nobody's neighbors
Just animals surviving with that animal behavior
Stakes is High - De la Soul

We had a little discussion on the bus this morning, mi a a bredren. Reflecting on how in this society patience is a bad word and every lil thing people duz be ready to fly up in somebody face like how fowl cock duz puff up dem neck feathers when dey ready to fight. A society on edge.

"Is a all about me society we live in" he say. An me was agreeing cause it seem like everybody these days vex or ready to be vex at the drop of a hat. Maybe is the advances in technology we got that get we so an got we so own way and me me me first. Ya think is coincidence that summuch a we best selling technology name i this an i dat: I-pod and i-pad and i-touch and I everything or ya did thought Steve Jobs was a rasta? I-man say no dread.

Everything on hand now quick quick quick so we patience is a very thin layer that worn thin wid de slightest touch. You bump, I cuss, I scrape, you cuss. Forgiveness non-existent.

And is only gettin worse-er. As each generation gets possibly more tolerant of differences and about old biases towards others they somehow become more intolerant more me-centered in their interactions with others.

Murdoch

Allya see the hearings today in London about the News of the world scandal and the phone hacking? Boy that is some serious serious ting that going down dey wid de media and the police and all sorta everybody involve nuh.

Well I only see lil bit this morning before work. De people did like inquisition in their questioning so I say this thing like it real real serious fi truth. But I aint had nuh time to watch too much.  Anyways the big story was the stupid man that decide he gine throw shaving cream at Rupert Murdoch. Ah doan know why he do it or if dere was a point but he get in there good and close and near lash the man wid de shaving cream pie.

But how a man duz get in a busy session like that wid all dem cameras around an be able to build a shaving cream pie or sneak one in and then run up pun a man on the stand so and try to hit he like that. Wha kinda security dem fellas running, is very lax an ting ya.

But allya see Murdoch young wife reaction? De woman near jump ova anudda woman back to cuff the pie thrower in he face.

I had to say well well who say recession not hitting dem big multi-millionaire/billionaire fellas an dem aint tightening dem belt like de small man? Who say dat lie man, dem lie! Even a media mogul, rich rich fella like Murdoch cut back and now he wife doubling as bodyguard. See that is how the rich duz stay rich, 'im have the woman multitasking.

But serious though ya know the wife see the man coming at she hubby and thought oh gosh boy doan let he interfere wid mi meal ticket, must protect at all costs.

Motivation

The posts have been sparse of recently. I aint sure why eidda. I duz have lots of things to say but for whatever reason eidda I duz think a dum when I aint close to the computer or I duz think to muhself well somebody else musse say this aready so why bother wasting me time to rehash something sumbody already say.

Plus I finally was beating de facebook addiction when duh finally talk me into this twitter and google plus business. Yes lawd ave mercy in case it wasnt already abundantly clear I am now officially a twit! @jdidthoughts if ya please! I like to think a meself as the pied piper of blogland so ah dare any a wunnah to follow me cause I not sure allya gine be happy where ya end up. lol

Singsperation

We all know that things on tv is nothing like real life but sometimes the differences are too funny.

Take for instance today, mi on the subway coming work and a nice looking young girl sit in one of the seats opposite with her ipod on. Suddenly she starts humming melodically but loudly to the song she's listening to. And then she breaks into song...............

Only 16

She was only sixteen, only sixteen
I loved her so
But she was too young to fall in love
And I was too young to know
Only 16 - Sam Cooke

“Lost” actor Doug Hutchison, who played Dharma Initiative leader Horace Goodspeed, wed an aspiring country singer 35 years his junior in Las Vegas in May. And we do mean junior. Courtney Alexis Stodden is 16, an also-ran for Miss Teen Washington USA last year. For those of you a little hazy on the math, Hutchison is 51. 

But wuhloss imagine that! a 51 one year old married to a 16 year old. Who he think he name, Hugh Heffner?

He aint have no shame? Big hard back man 51 and he marrying a child could be he grand daughter. And dont gi me that crap about love aint got no age limits and all that. This is pure lawlessness!

But what got me is to marry the girl mother had to give consent. What kind of mother, in western society, allows their 16 year old to marry a 51 year old? Might as well sell her off into white slavery or something. What a ting! 

Chocolate wonder

He's five now and thinks he knows everything. Yea right kid!

Two of his friends were over today, I was half asleep and caught the tail end of this conversation. Not sure where it started but I zoned back in sometime about one of them talking about curly hair. Clearly it had some racial implications even if they were oblivious. One friend said "and you're chocolate" to which my son replied "Chocolate! I'm not chocolate!" His voice charged with some sort of disdain.

The other chile says "Yes you are chocolate and I'm caramel! (latter we decided he was closer to butterscotch but that's another story)

My son always one for the final word goes "No I'm not chocolate, I'm Kit Kat!"

And I just started laughing.

Guhway jamaicans!!

Just keep sending us your dancehall music but try an and keep wunnah bajanman-stealing women outta we country alright. - signed the bajan public


I'm sure some of you have heard about the claims by a Jamaican national last week who said she was "finger raped" by immigration officers while attempting to enter Barbados. 

Lawd ave mercy!

Name that War

Back to this quest to oust Ghadafi and get our hands on his oil. I was wondering who duz name these wars and military operations for the US and NATO and them big fellas so? Cause I realize this little anti-Ghadafi thing that happening now name one Operation Odyssey Dawn which sounds all noble an ting like they pull it off a C.S Lewis book (Dawn Treader anyone) and I remember they had one in Afghanistan name Everlasting freedom or Enduring freedom or something so (which sound like a fella should stan up an salute) and we all remember the big one ...... Operation Desert Storm back in 1991. 

Saa dam!! Gaddafi

We will be here forever, Do you understand? FOREVER
Forever and ever And ever and ever
We will be here forever
Do you understand that? Get what I'm saying?
FOREVER!

Krs-one - Krs-one attacks

Now I don't think I've ever been a Gaddafi fan but does the west know what they are doing in Libya?

I think my first comment on hearing about the protests in Libya a few weeks ago was do you really think Gaddafi will go silently into the night just like that? Naa star, dude's been running things with an iron fist for decades. He's had beef with US presidents all the way back to like Reagan and he's still standing. If there was a last despot standing reality tv show it'd be him, Kim Jong Il and the cats in Iran as the final cut. You think some ragtag band with two kalashinoffs and some molotov cocktails going to move him (ironically I think the Emperor said something similar in Star Wars but whatever)? Chupse, think again.

Rocks thrown

Yesterday in one of their rare recent good performances the West Indies cricket team beat home team Bangladesh at the Cricket World Cup and then

Angry Bangladesh fans, whose team was bowled out for 58, the lowest total by a Full Member at a World Cup, threw stones at both team buses, cracking two of the West Indian team buses windows. None of the players were injured. 

Now I don't intend to make a mountain out of a molehill here but I wasn't pleased with these comments by International Cricket Council (ICC) chief Haroon Lorgat:

Lorgat played down the incident, calling it "minor," and explained why it was not as serious as had been originally reported. "It was a few individuals who threw pebbles at the bus, and they were pebbles." 

 Well I guess it must have been a whole truckload of pebbles to be cracking the glass on these buses which I assume would have been reinforced in some way.

Dog bite it....

.....off


A diabetic Oregon man with no feeling in his feet woke up to find his dog had eaten part of his right foot, including three toes.

Cuhdear den! Sad sad thing in truth.Imagine you wake up and the dog eat way half you foot cuhdear.

Not an easy road

It's not an easy road
Many see the glamour and the glitter
And think it's a bed of rose
Who feels it knows
Lord help me sustain these blows


Not an Easy road - Buju Banton

I'll admit it. I really didnt follow this Buju case as closely as I should have but now that he's been found guilty I still feel I should say a likkle something.

First off, I'll admit I'm biased when it comes to Buju. I love most of his music. Been a fan since he came on the scene in the late 80s early 90s before he was rasta. My favorite Buju tunes are Til I'm laid to rest, Deportees , Close one yesterday and How it a go go which pretty much span the range of his entire career and I think Til Shiloh is the best album to ever come out of Jamaica by anyone not named Bob.

Halle Berry

Is it just my thinking or does Halle Berry really stink at choosing men?

I mean don't get me wrong, she is one of the most beautiful women in the world great at her proven craft of acting but.......

Spies like us

link

Canadian spies are being warned not to wear their loyalty on their sleeve — or their wrist or lapel.
The hush-hush reminder to employees of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service advises keeping polo shirts, watches and pins emblazoned with the distinctive CSIS crest away from curious eyes.
The items are sold in a secret shop tucked away on the lower level of CSIS headquarters in Ottawa, and made available to employees posted elsewhere through the agency’s online memorabilia catalogue.

 For real? I mean I was hoping April Fools come early but alas the story seems true. So no wonder Americans make jokes of Canadians.

A thought

Is funny sometimes how thoughts duz get into ya head aint it. And for me my thoughts duz go off on some serious tangents sometimes. Like today on the way back from lunch I see a young lady with half of her head dyed in a shockingly pink colour.

And not only that but the hair did match the hot pink with purple at the bottom jacket which match the pink pants she was wearing which match the pink and white handbag she had in her hands. Only thing wasnt matching was the knapsack on her back which was an interesting multi-coloured florescent collage centering around a flamboyant green.

Which got me thinking....

Frowzy

link

Josh Le donned the same pair of skin-tight jeans for 15 months without washing them. The idea was to break in the raw denim so the fabric would hug the contours of his body, leaving distinct wear lines and creases.

The fella wear the same pair of jeans almost every day for 15 months straight without washing dem. Can you say stinky and frowsy?

What got me is the picture of the fella in the news article all happy an smiling. What he smiling bout? If I did wearing de same jeans for 15 months straight widout washing dem I wun be so excited. in fact I aint know bout wunnah but I wud be shame to let anybody at all see my face.

And I have to ask this. He aint have no girlfriend or woman? I assuming not cause what respectable young lady wud go out wid a fella wid dat sorta hygene?

An dat is anudda thing wid de smiling thing. Who going want to go out wid him now after reading that and seeing his big smiling photo? Oh wait you is the fella wid de frowzy pants? Uh uh I busy fa the rest a de year amm life doan call me back thank you.

I tellin ya even if he cyber dating de man destined to be a bachelor for life.

Oh well. I guess he happy with his discovery and all but I guess society where he from not like society where I from cause if dat was me not only me wud be shame but my family wud disown me one time. Dem wud feel I mental or something. I could see my mudda sayin "an sumting juss went wrong wid de boy head, like somebody gi he sumting to mek he stupidity stupidity, walkin roun wearing dem frowzy pants all the time. Last time he pass by I wun let he in de house an I had a mind to throw some jaysfluid pun he".

And of course I would be forever nicknamed frowzy pants.

And people would see mi family and whisper "hey ya see he, yes he, he family to the frowzy pants ya kno" and all mi family shame shame shame.

Travel woes

Happy new year all!

Now listen very carefully I will only say this once.

Ya see me? I aint neva travelling to Barbados by no cheap plane again ya hear. Who me? No boy I cant do dat no more. Not again! Ya might save a few coppers but this cheap plane ting will kill ya stone dead.

So just before Christmas I decide I gine home to Barbados for the holidays. Now usually I duz be more organized an try an leave early an come back before New years cause ya can get some affordable flights if ya plan properly but this time I aint had no choice but to go home a few days before Christmas and the affordable pickings was slim to none cause ya know all these airlines duz double and triple dem prices once dem see December reach an Christmas on the horizon.

So anyway somebody send muh an email saying such an such a charter gine to Bim an de price did look a bit reasonable well better than the resta flights so I say to myself, self boy like ya gine gotta do a ting wid dis charter ting. So although I was a bit apprehensive I book the flight an start getting ready to go home.

Now ya see me, I really not one a dem regular West Indian travellers dat ya duz see in the airport travelling wid 6 suitcases full up a ham, turkey and more meat dan ya cud pick up during Supercentre's Run For your money when dem gine home or dat duz come back up hayso laden down wid yam, breadfruit, dasheen an every ground provision dem cud lay dem hands on an try to sneak dem through secuity even though they know dem things cant import so. No bosie dat aint me at all. I duz usually travel light light light an carry only wha I suppose to carry. Mi aint tekkin a chance wid a fella at all at all.

But wid de baggage weight restriction I seeing on the ticket from this charter I did a little worried cause I figure once I put two underwear an a bath trunk in de bag my allowance dun reach.

But anyways I do muh best, weigh de bag at home an come in under the allowed weight. Get to the airport early early early an wha greet muh but a big long dutty lawless line stretch out at the departure desk cause all the people that like dem gine to the Caribbean that day like dem leffin the same time as me. All I cud do is stan up, wait an sing long two lil hymns to pass de time. Which remind me, if ya singing in de people airport doan sing Swing lo sweet Chariot, cause dem duz get worried and start asking ya all sorta questions and fa ID an ting so.

So an hour later when I get up to the front desk to check in I put my baggage on the scale an de igrant plane woman start giving me all sorta hassle bout the bag under the allowance but the weight of my carry on count towards the 2lbs dem giving ya as baggage allowance an dat put me ova. Lawd god fadda! I tell she the ticket aint say nuttin so an me an she did gettin ready to argue loud an long when she decide to lemma guh long cause I aint know wha kinda lawlessness dem gettin on wid bout carry on weight count towards luggage allowance when we aint custom to dat foolishness.

But still de Fadda was looking out fa muh so dat get straighten an I went through immigration wid less hassle dan usual. Cause wunnah know most times dese days dem duz want ya tek off ya belt, ya shoes, ya jewelleries, eva single iota when ya passing immigration. One time a immigration woman even mek me unbutton my pants button. Good ting I duz always leff home in clean bividees cause I had to ask she if is really weapon she searchin for or is sumting else she lookin fa.

But anyways all dat drama out de way an I get pun the plane now.

First ting now de people plane ram off, not a seat vacant an dem juss happen to put me in a seat dat faulty. I feel is the same igrant woman dat did wanta quarrel bout de baggage dat had it in fa muh an gi me the worse-est seat on de plane she cud find cause everytime I put the seat in the upright position an lean back the seat sliding backwards gradually. Nuh big issue but then on takeoff one hardface stewardess come to quarrel wid me bout why I aint got my seat in the upright position? I had to let she know plainly and loudly that the seat dun brek an um wun stan upright an ask wha exacty she want me to do bout that cause um was brek before i sit down in um. chupse! See dese igrant people, when dem get a lil position wid some power duz always wanta try an mek ya look small if dem can, like ya aint got nuh sense, dat is why ya duz gotta carry dem on juss as scruffy as them trying to carry you on.

Oh and then we aint leff til an hour later than we was supposed to leff. chupse!

But anyways what really took the cake for the flight was my seating companion and I cudda write a whole blog bout she.

So I sitting down deyso in my seat on the end and a ol lady on the odda end and in walks this nice looking twenty something young girl all pretty up an ting to occupy the seat between we. So at first I look at she an say to myself is how come when I was single I couldnt get a seat next to nuhbody dat was under 300lbs or sweating like dem juss run a marathon but now I well and truly married dem wait to put pretty young girls next to me. dat aint fair at all den. chupse!

But I shoulda known ya cant judge a book by its cover. From the time the young girl sit down next to me on the plane is one whole heap a sneezing and sniffling she start up wid an she head all in she hands bow down like she ketchin bad feels. So I sitting down dey thinking boy ya in some trouble cause we already know the air circulation on dem planes doan be the best and here you is sitting next to Typhoid Mary so ya gine gotta try ya best not to ketch wha she got.

So I feeling a way and praying that I doan get sick from all dem sniffles.

Well I had hope that I cud get way and come out the end a de flight widout ketchin dis girl flu cause thinking positively I was hoping she din too bad off wid de cold. Maybe dem was juss travel sniffles and coughing.

Well people wunnah wud know that that thought flee my head one time and I had to raise the white flag soon soon after that when the young girl reach in she purse an pull out a big able jar a Vicks and start to rub down sheself from head to toe! From then I knew I was a goner cause if a put together young girl like she, ona dem types dat looking posh an ting so gine reach fa Vicks and rub down ya dun know she got to got SARs or at least H1N1 to be resorting to dem sorta measures.

Wunnah feel I duz mek dese tings up nuh? No man I got imagination but I couldn't mek dat wun up. Is true man, true true true.

And after that well 5 hours later wid de chair still not in the upright position, I get off the plane feeling sick muhself and when ya hear the shout I was sick in bed the first 6 days I did in Barbados. Did even sick Christmas marnin an couldnt get out to 5 o clock service or enjoy my ham and Jug Jug. Cuhdear!

So neva neva again, me an dem charters boy. Nevers!

Manners vs Weather

Yea I been MIA but I still around just busy. Hope allya my 3 or 4 devoted readers are well. :-)

Well people we here in Toronto getting lash wid de cold these past few days. I mean every since last week with just a little respite over the weekend it been cold cold cold. I mean winter aint even officially start yet and we all down in windchill of -24 Celcius which is weather usually reserved for the bitterly cold days of late January and early February.

So thank God for layers cause without layers I would dun have frostbite and freeze to death already. See me walking bout looking like the goodyear blimp but doan feel no way fashion takes a backseat to warmth in these cold days.

But I notice a thing on the way in to work the last few days. The colder or worse the weather, the more unmannerly, piggish the people on the streets commuting to work duz get. Doan matter if dem driving on the bus or subway or walking is like everybody like dem put on dem hog suit when dem get up in de marnin. Lawd ave mercy, a fella near lik muh down pushing to get to the train this morning an he aint even say sorry, beg ya pardon, my dog my cat nuttin so. Just bram push guhlong. Chupse!

Anyways since people nowadays duz get all sorta big money to study and prove all sorta stupid things that anybody wid common sense know since birth I figure I should apply for some grant money to study this hoggish phenomenon. I gine start writing up something pretty pretty wid big words like positive correlation and statistical analysis and covariance an effect and hand it in an see if dem gi muh two coppers to do my study.

I mean it sometimes seem like dem duz gi muney to people to do studies like if ya stan out in the hot sun too long ya stand a chance a ketching heatstroke and rain duz only fall from the sky not come out the ground, stupid stupid things so. So why not let me do my lil study to find conclusive proof bout this unmannerly people thing.

A mean an if I juss so happen to use some a de money for a trip to the Caribbean during winter I could always say that I comparing and contrasting the niceness factor of people in the Caribbean warmth to the unmannerly hogs up hay in the cold. Ya feel I in the caribbean pun vacation no man I juss being through wid my study. Juss cause I would be deyso sipping a pretty drink wid an umbrella sprawl out in the sun doan get vex an think I aint wukkin or that I enjoying pieca sun. No man this is hard wuk I would be doing doan grudge de I. I just being thorough in trying to prove mi hypothesis.

Oh well if only!

Synergy

Synergy, in general, may be defined as two or more agents working together to produce a result not obtainable by any of the agents independently.

Link

“It is now official Government policy to spread the entrepreneurial culture to a wider cross section of Barbadians in an effort to create wealth and employment.

“We cannot achieve this goal if the vast majority of Barbadians continue to acquire more and more free education to find a job, and forever thereafter focus on consumption rather than wealth creation.”

Ok, I might be mis-interpreting these comments by the new Bajan Prime Minister or maybe because of the way its written not getting the full story here but this is kind of a strange comment to make in my opinion.

It would suggest (to me) that advanced education and entrepreneurship somehow cannot coexist and to be successful at one we have to leave off the other and to be honest it sounds like something usually said by those prevalent anti-intellectual American types who favor brawn and pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps over brains. You know the types who favor Palin over Obama. Yea dem sorta people.

I mean in my opinion everyone cannot be an entrepreneur, neither can everyone be an academic or go to university Society needs both and there has to be some balance although quite a lot of overlap occurs too.

At the same time lets not sell the pie in the sky dream that anyone with an idea and an entrepreneurial spirit will be successful just like that. Besides hard work, many of these guys can benefit from some training or advanced classes to help them run a successful business. Its not like an idea is all you need to be a successful small business. You might be able to start up with just an idea but without a plan you aren't going to get very far. And included in that plan you have to know how to market yourself and your product, how to deal with the public, how to find staff, how to handle money etc etc. And while you can learn some of this on the job and don't need schooling its not like having a little extra class time here and there would go for naught.

Look in my opinion one of the biggest challenge to entrepreneurship taking off in Barbados is the traditional bajan mindset. Most bajan parents still stress growing up and finding a good job over growing up and starting your own business. We want letters to our names, go and learn accounting or medicine or law or something so. We're not really business orientated or hustlers at heart like some of our Caribbean comrades so to increase entrepreneurship in Barbados you really have to change how kids are taught from early.

Another challenge is start up capital. Is alright to talk about promoting entrepreneurship but help them to get access to start up capital. Its not cheap or easy to do business in Barbados.

The other thing I wonder here is if this is an attempt by government to subliminally change people's mindset to get them to not go to Cave Hill in such numbers. I understand that free education for the numbers that go to UWI must put an enormous burden on the government's coffers but I don't think the way to lessen this is to discourage higher education which is what these comments seem to be doing.

If its too much of a burden or you think some folks are abusing the system or the benefits are not worth the outlay of funds do like other countries and make people pay for the education but don't lament its freeness as a deterrent to an entrepreneurial spirit since comments like the above by our head would suggest we done away with the book learning nonsense and all go open a little beach side stall.

Sorry, that last comment was extremely facetious and knocks the valuable and vast range of services and products that entrepreneurs could produce in our society but my point is that the statements made would make it seem as if entrepreneurship is anti-university study and university study is anti-entrepreneurial. Why must the two concepts be at odds with one another?

Like I said to someone earlier today being an entrepreneur is not like on tv where a light bulb goes off in your head, you sketch a few notes or designs on a napkin, go in the bank show them the napkin and the manager comes out with a big grin on his face an a suitcase full of money for you. Then you go out and build up something and the cash comes flowing in. No in the real world besides idea, you also need a plan and I fail to see how having some additional education under your belt would harm that plan.

Yes I do understand the point that most bajan university grads are looking for ready made jobs but implying in that statement that not going on to higher education will increase entrepreneurship is silly. The change has to be made by changing the way people think while they continue to study.

If not we'll end up in the same predicament as black America with everyone wanting to hustle but no one wanting to learn and society will be still unbalanced.

There has to be a way to encourage both ideas here and acknowledge that there can be overlap without sacrificing one for the other. They aren't mutually exclusive ideals in my opinion, you just have to work to bring out their synergy.

Budget

The Barbados budget just came down and its pretty brutal. VAT going up, fees, bus fares all sorts of other taxes going up, taxes added. Lashes galore! Going to be a tight Christmas.

Well people, sadly things tight all over the world not just in Bim and with tourism our main money earner not doing that great these days, belts got to be tightened cause ya can only borrow for so long before ya got to pay back right? Unfortunately some of these belt tightening measures will disproportionally hit the most needy in our society like the poor and the pensioners but well star, I don't know what ya can really do about that besides hope that some of these measures temporary.

What I do always find interesting come budget time is how the party in opposition always finds a way to blame the current party when such belt tightening measures are necessary as indeed they do seem to be in this circumstance with the globe still deeply mired in recession. I guess that's the meaning of opposition but in particular today I find some of the comments about waste by the opposition BLP commentators to be rather disingenuous.

The numerous projects at Ilaro Court; the opening of the housing estate at Marchfield, St Philip; the three reshuffles, which necessitated change in stationery, labels and the like; the more than $10 million in summer camps between 2008 and 2009; the launch of the constituency councils; the subsidy to JetBlue and the recent female boxing championship were among the things on the list of “cardinal errors” Forde said the Government made.

Eh eh but allya really believe Bajans have short memories nuh? And maybe they do but umm we can't talk waste in Barbados without referring to the colossal waste of funds used for World Cup 2007.

And yes I tell wunnah from evasince (back when people used to read this blog) that hosting the world cup was going to hurt we financially. Ya doan believe me looka this post from 2006. And that was even before I hear that about half billion dollars spend in Barbados on world cup. And what did we benefit from that massive outlay of funds? And how much a those funds are still owed back to the people we borrowed from?

And who was running government then? Exactly!

So doan get tie up that the new government spend a few dollars for children summer camps to keep the youts off the road, occupied and out of the road this past year when the previous regime spent bigger dollars that haven't really benefited the country.

Folk get tied up in thinking that these financial predicaments that we find ourselves in usually occur rather quickly but if one really studies it, these things occur by a series of mistakes or bad fiscal moves over a longer period of time. How long the whole American mortgage drama was happening before the whole US housing market implode? Same thing here with Barbados, its not like things were great yesterday or last year and we woke up this morning struggling cause of one spending spree. Barbados was borrowing and spending for a long time beyond its means and its just now that it catching up to us.

No help

No help for Caricom countries hit by Tropical Storm Tomas without benefits to Trinidad and Tobago.

This was made clear by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday.

She said Trinidad and Tobago stands ready to assist its Caricom neighbours but she stipulated that any aid would only come after discussions with her Cabinet colleagues as well as the Opposition Leader, and must in some measure benefit the country.

Well well well.

Ok well I really aint want to put myself in Trini people business but I must say this statement sounding real callous from allya prime minister.

First off y'all done know that Tomas was heading your side an is only God's grace that he mek a turn an head for Barbados and the Windward islands so instead of St Vincent and St Lucia in need of aid it could be you today if things din work out the way they did.

Second and this sort of relate to the first point. Dont get tie up cause allya lil bigger and got few more natural resources than some a we. In the eyes of the world, all we in the Caribbean is barely dots on a map. Is in we best interest to look out for one anudda as a whole. You dont have to see no visible benefit to help but if ya able help out cause helping we is the same thing as helping yaself cause the only way to get ahead is to get ahead as a region. That is like the left arm hurting but the fingers saying I aint rubbing that cause I healthy an um aint relate to me.

And that statement that ya mek Mrs PM sound real callous when ya know how Tomas catspraddle some a we. Cuhdear some a we still widout water and electricity and homeless an you gine say something so. Plus ya is a regional head not no man in the street you should never say nuttin so.

What happened to love or your fellow man and being a good samaratian. Well actually I guess you are being like the parable of the good samartian cause it was the Levite and the priest that should have been neighborly that leff the poor fella skin out for stangers to help. Same way wid you. Nuh benefit to helping so we gine got to look to strangers for.

Alright then, that is how um gine be. Well we would know how we stan in the future.

All bluster no action

And no I'm not talking about Tropical storm Tomas which hit my island Barbados on Saturday morning. Tomas in fact was quite a bit of action as many roofs were blown off, trees uprooted and structures damaged in Barbados.

Thankfully no loss of life there though and I believe minimal lost of life in St Lucia and St Vincent which Tomas pounded with an even harder fist than it did Barbados.

Anyway to God we give thanks that the damage and destruction were not worse. We still aren't 100% up and running yet in Barbados as I speak as the cleanup continues but looks like the cleanup crews are doing a great job restoring power and water services as they go.

No those guys are full of action, kudos, or to put it in my speech, big up to all the light n power and water works and other cleanup staff. respect! But no, my title refers to a lack of action we see in Barbados following disasters.

For instance, two or was it three years ago we had that Arch Cot cave in where a family lost there lives as their house collapsed. Politicians and people of all walks of life complained. How could this happen? How did they get permission to build on this unstable land? We should do something, we should make sure the building codes are followed or updated or both. Lot of bluster, no action, all is forgotten.

This year just a few months ago, tragedy struck in Tudor street when several young women were burned to death in a fire after criminals robbed a store in the city. We condemned the criminals but also said wait a minute how come this place aint had no back door? If they had a back door these women would not have perished in the fire. We should do something, we should make sure the fire codes and building codes are updated or followed if they exist. A bit of bluster, a lot of long talk but then the criminals got caught and all our fury turned to them and codes and laws were again forgotten.

Now this weekend comes Tropical Storm Tomas blowing in like a badjohn or Mr Wolf of Riding Hood fame huffing and puffing. Plenty people lost roofs as the Storm blew by and since we haven't had a storm of this magnitude probably not before I was born (which fa all ya that wanta know is a long time ago in a galaxy far far away) the comments start about why did all these roofs get taken off and whether folk are following the building code. I expect much more uproar on this as the cleanup is finished up but again it will be plenty complaints about updating and or following the building code but two months later it will all be again forgotten.

And such is life in Barbados all bluster no action then forget, wait for the next disaster and repeat cycle.

bad man forward

Bad man pull up! screech!!!!

Police Officer Feris D. Jones, 50, the hero off-duty cop who on Saturday went gun-to-gun with an accused Brooklyn beauty shop robber. Called a "battlefield promotion," her elevation and presentation of a gold shield is a rare distinction.

NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg honored Jones for her poise and marksmanship in a ceremony at City Hall's Blue Room.

Jones is a humble heroine. "Call me 'Jonesy'," the 20-year NYPD veteran told PIX 11 News. During the could-of-been deadly duel, "Jonesy" shot the gun out of the teenage suspect's hand and shot the handle off the beauty shop door, slowing his escape.


Big up to officer Jones! Oh and she is a bajan too so double big up!

To the would be robber, one teenager Winston Cox you know why this happen right? You try to rob a beauty salon. Are you crazy son?

Looka let me break it down for you this way. Now I aint no expert nor nuttin on beauty salons and them things but from what I gather from the women in my life I hear dat usually black women duz gotta wait long long long at beauty salons. I mean appointment one time an 5 hours later you still deyso. So now I can juss imagine a whole heap a black women in this place Saturday waiting cause the appointment was 930 but is 130 now and the hair still aint get wash or something so and dem deyso fuming, really to throw a lash in the next body that aggravate them.....

An in walks you, Coxy boy wid you gun talking bout you gine rob people. Oh hells no! Ya lucky is only one gunshot ya get an um wasnt serious cause if dem women did ketch ya at all, god couldnt help ya boy.

An ya know officer Jones was probably especially cruel too like girl I hayso wasting my whole mornin in this chair trying to get my hair did an now this pieca poppit trying to rob me. Chupse! Looka I aint got nuh time fa this foolishness. pow! You feel you is a man come to rob big women! pow pow ! hold this gunshot in ya so n so den!

I hope that fella learn he lesson.

Subliminally

Ok, is only two days gone and all we bajans still in mourning but I got a certain beef with the whole Bajan Prime Minister David Thompson illness dying thing. Sorry if its not in keeping with the mourning motif but just need to say it anyways.

Look, I keep hearing from the time it was said that he was sick, comments made by various people (and no it wasnt silly online comments) some who I thought were rather smart folk that seem to suggest that his focus on being prime minister led to his demise. Stuff like oh he was so keen on being PM and he work so hard to get there and then bram he dead. Now I aint saying a majority a people saying so, quite far from it, but I'm just saying I've heard those silly comments maybe one time to often and they seem to me to be ridiculously suggesting that there is a correlation, some sort of cause and effect between the two things, his aim to be PM and his death.

Its not blatant but its subliminally one of those lowered expectation things. Like see he strived for a goal and then because he reached that goal it kill he or he dead cause he was too focused on being PM. I think this is the most nonsense I have ever heard and its a bad precedent and example to be sending to the youth cause the flip side they gine read is just guhlong, play the tail or at least not strive hard for goals cause in the long run it going kill ya. Which is total absolute b.s

Is it possible that he might have missed symptoms of his illness because of work commitments? Yes. But its not like saying well if he had said I just want to be a regular dude he wouldnt have died of cancer at age 48 which is basically what these comments suggest to me.

Instead of saying look see how the man strive for a goal and was determined to reach it and to somehow put his best foot forward for his country and assist in its development and such we subliminally pushing this alternative thinking that working hard and being single minded in a goal is extremely extremely bad and will kill you so is best to just chill, drink some drinks or smoke some weed and aimlessly wander though life.

This is not the type of thing we should be trying to tell the yout dem.

I mean not to say that being single minded to the exclusion of all else is great either but I'm pretty sure thats not what Thompson was like. When its your time its your time, it doan matter if you a bum or a PM so why not strive to be the best that you can be?

At the end of the day, David Thompson could say I wrote my name on history's page. He may not have achieved all that he would have liked but he tried hard, he fought to achieve a goal and to assist his country and he has left his name and a legacy. When you look at it that way how can it be a negative to strive to be all you can be?

I hope the youth take note of his work and strive to make their mark like he did.

There I done. Back to mourning.

R.I.P

Just got the news that Barbados PM David Thompson has died this morning following a lenthly battle with cancer. My condolences to his family and the nation. Every one has their appointed hour but some go earlier than we would like.

My prayers also go out to the new PM Mr Fruendel Stuart and his cabinet as he embarks on steering Barbados' course. Is not an easy road bredren by any means especially in the present economic climate but stay the course.

Boundaries

Sorry to come off like the old curmudgeon that I am surely becoming but I was discussing two stories with some friends this week and came to the conclusion that kids nowadays don't know the meaning of the word boundaries or don't have a good idea where they should be set.

The stories were the suicide of the Rutgers student whose sexcapades had been put online by his roommate and the sexual assault of a teenager at a party in Vancouver where photos ended up on Facebook. In both cases stuff ie videos, photos etc that shouldn't have been put online somehow found their way there.

Now these are two separate stories and in both cases the persons who placed the offending articles are before the court system and rightly so as their actions have led to a lot of pain and in the case of the Rutgers student death. My argument though is that even if the acts were committed deliberately in an effort to embarrass or ridicule the victims I think that they may be cases where the culprits just didn't know the law or where moral boundaries should lie. Some will argue that the perpetrators were just callous, heartless criminals but I think there is a possibility that naivety and cluelessness played at least a small part in the acts.

Take the Vancouver case. Kids nowadays share so much information on Facebook/twitter/Youtube/text messages etc etc (too much most of the time) that I believe that the accused probably thought that he was being cute by putting up the photos that he did on Facebook. I'm assuming he didn't realize a crime (the assault) was being committed and that it was also a crime to post photos of stuff like that online.

Same thing with the roommate who posted video of his roommate's intimate moments. I don't believe he thought he was doing anything wrong. I mean he probably knew it was wrong to tape his roommates exploits but then to share them online he probably just thought whatever. Morally wrong but funny yes not criminally wrong he probably didn't know until he got charged after the murder.

I know growing up we were taught (sometimes at the end of a belt) that ignorance of the law is no excuse which I interpret to mean that even if it wasn't explicitly spelled out in the rules or you didn't know the rules, you still should have had some moral understanding that your actions were wrong or that you were crossing boundaries. I think that's lacking in many of today's youth.

I think some of these kids are not only completely ignorant of the law but in a society that seems to push sharing everything regardless of how personal, they really don't see anything wrong with certain morally questionable actions that previous generations would have balked at.

Interestingly enough it appears as if in the Rutgers case even the now dead roommate didn't realize that a crime was being perpetrated against him. He knew something was a bit wrong with his roommate trying to tape him doing his thing but as evidenced from some online questions that he asked he didn't realize he was at that point actually the victim of a crime.

The kids these days are ignorant of the law and lack the ability to make a moral judgment in this society.

Technology has made the ability to take and share a photo or video extremely easy. No statement is truer these days than this one from Rockwell's 1984 hit: "I always feel like somebody's watching me, and I have no privacy." Remember we used to be scared of big brother watching us? Well now there is no need to worry about big brother because little brother and sister have you in dead their sights as well and you really cant get away from the intrusions that they propagate against you in public and sometimes as in this case in private.

Whats the reason? Well first off the technology is readily available to do it.

Also probably starting from childhood we're rushing our kids to adulthood. More responsibility, involving them in big people situations from young and not setting boundaries there and not teaching them the proper morals. This carries over to the teenage years and adulthood where anything goes.

And sadly this is the norm now rather than the exception. Reality TV/blogs/live streaming show every detail of our lives and combined with our shaky moral ground stuff like these stories may happen more and more.

Monkey business

Organizers of this year's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi have had their share of problems, not the least of which are wild animals said to be infesting the stadiums and housing areas.

Athletes and other visitors may take comfort in the fact that organizers have hired a well-trained team to keep the area safe ... although they may be slightly alarmed to learn that they are being protected by a team of monkeys.

According to the UK's Daily Telegraph, a team of trained langur monkeys has been brought in to scare off wild animals, including wild dogs, snakes and other monkeys. Langur monkeys are said to be very intelligent but also aggressive and territorial, making them very effective in keeping other animals away from a given area.

Taken from The LA Times here.

Uh huh! Wunnah see dat right? Well I sure to the organizers um sound like a good idea, something cheap and inexpensive to get rid a de vermin that coming in the housing areas but to me that sound like bare truble in de making.

See how dem say the monkeys aggressive and territorial? Well wha is to stop dem said same monkeys from being territorial against humans? Didnt think of that did they?

I betcha before these games dun ya gine hear some athlete get attack by the same security monkeys. Especially if ya get on a dem igrant jock type athletes that aint kno nuttin bout monkeys or feel dem cud mek mock sport wid de monkeys. Wait deyso an see. Mark my words ya, um aint gine be pretty.

I juss hope sumbody ketch um pun video.

The Banton

Ah here waiting to see what verdict the jury will bring back in the Buju Banton case. Been waiting since all Friday when they were rumors he was found not guilty and released but that was false and now it look like they all deadlock over the fate of the dreadlock seen.

Actually breaking news is new trial set for December hmm.

Anyways Karel have a nice little article about buju and what to learn from his trials over at Outlish which worth a read but I have a lil something to say.

Now before I say what I have to say though let me start by saying mi love Buju to the max. Ask anybody he is by far and aways my favorite dancehall/reggae singer. Now I came of age in the Lovingdeer/Shabba Rankin doan bend down, peeny peeny pun you era but when Buju hit with tunes like love black woman and the like that sealed it for me. Then later on tunes like Deportees, Murderer, Easy Road, Untold Stories, Til I'm laid to rest, Tribal War etc just blew me away. Actually I will argue that Til Shiloh is undoubtedly the definite dancehall/reggae album of the last two decades but then considering that many albums of the dancehall genre arent that good that dont say that much so let me say that stacked against any album of any genre in the last two decades Til Shiloh will be in my top 5. The Banton is a lyrical champion my yout!

And so seeing as I have so much respect and admiration for the man's work and find so much of it inspirational (one day things must get better) it is hard for me to say this and nuff people wont agree but say it I shall.

Buju ya deserve jail!

Wunnah hear me good? Buju ya deserve pieca jail fa true.

An no I aint arguing bout whether ya guilty or not or whether its fair for you to be in jail I just saying ya deserve jail. Why? Well ya show a real lack of common sense by getting yaself into this situation. This is the ultimate in igrance and I would have thought a big man like you would know better.

Is not only that ya cavorting with the wrong crowd which is a no no but ya act like eddiat and see the man come round ya wid cocaine so an stand up and let the man set ya up easy so (if that is the true story). Ya was complacent and ya should know better. I mean first off ya well know that nuff people dey in America naa like you. Nuff a dem still vex bout Boom Bye Bye and complain ya homophobic and would like nothing better than to be rid of ya so ya shoulda walk easy and know ya place star. If I was you once I land in America I would be acting like a veritable choir boy. I din looking fa anytime crime related at all at all, man I din even jaywalking then. Straight and narrow my yout. Like an arrow!

It aint like ya was back a yard where the man dem might gi ya some respect. The man dem in the US naa like ya. Ya shoulda well know at some point somebody woulda try to mess ya up but yet ya went an fall fa this setup. Ya shoulda never put yaself in this situation.

Eediat you a eeediat my yout!

Look from the time the man come roun you wid cocaine talk, you shoulda shift he, driva move off doan stop atall, leff him there one time. Or tell him you not into that business. Tell him you a studio gangsta, tell him story an lie that ya used to do dat but no more, tell he whatever but dont get involve in that at all. Dont be trying no show off business, dont let them get ya in trouble so. Even if ya shady remember is you self say tief never love fi see tief wid long bag. Doan get tie up in foolishness man. Stupid stupid stupid!

An this is why I feel ya deserve jail. Cause ya really aint had no right in this situation at all. Big man like you shoulda know better by far.

But even though I say ya deserve it cuhdear I still hope ya get off though. I mean nuff odda people do worse hat you an walk so dem could gi you a ease too. Free the Banton! I hope this will show ya to be more careful in the future but ya is still an eediat.

Running Scared

Looks like barring some significant occurrence in the next few weeks Rob Ford is set to be the new mayor of Toronto. Yea I talked about him here in case anyone read it. And man are some Torontonians, including the newspapers running scared over Ford as mayor.

You see basically Ford has nothing going for himself except he has always been an anti City Hall maverick, complaining about wanton spending and using his own money to run his council office etc. Turns out that in a recession, and after the horrid last term we had from our outgoing mayor these traits are enough to give him thirty something percent of the expected vote and in a fractured mayoral race basically the win.

Oh it also doesn't hurt that Ford is running somewhere on the political right while the other 10 or so dudes fighting it out are running on the left and centre and splitting those votes. Also doesn't hurt that Fords campaign is based on cutting things that cost money and holding down property tax. Also doesn't hurt that his chief rival Smitherman is well Smitherman. Also doesn't hurt that he's pandered to the old white anti-immigrant vote in some of his speeches either. Low taxes, keep out pesky foreigners, hey its not just the U.S where that rhetoric will win you some votes.

But what does Ford stand for besides cutting things? Doesn't seem like there is much to his campaign besides that, but then again his opponents don't really stand for anything either. It has been if anything a race of the mediocre with no one candidate really capturing the excitement of the populace. Ford like some of the better more successful politicians seems to be in the right place at the right time with the right backlash against city hall to win by default here. Sad it is, but so it a go!

Unless we see some alliances and coalitions start happening just to keep Ford out of the winners circle well I guess it will be 4 years of Ford. Can only image the backroom meetings that are currently happening as the other candidates try to keep him away from the prize.

Ah doan kno

Well de news outta Barbados aint suh good these days. Prime Minister David Thompson battling pancreatic cancer. Wuhloss!

Now allwe did know he was sick and going to New York for treatment but is only last week that his physican came out and told us what was wrong with him. Poor fella, I wish he well and I saying muh prayers that he will be healed even though the medical people and the internet say that this cancer is a cruel wun that hard to shake off. But like I duz say doan count out the man yet cause he still living and where there is life there is hope.

Two things got me bout this situation though. One was that when we hear the man was sick and going for treatment leaving his deputy in charge that was all bajans knew aside from we lil speculations yet fa some reason or the other people from odda islands did know fa sure fa sure what wrong wid de man. I aint even joking bout that ya! I see people from odda islands online months ago saying with most certainty what the man had (an dem was right too) and even a trini woman dat de wife know come one day early this summer an straight off tell she hey I hear ya PM got such and such.

So I wanta know how dem dpeople from odda islands did know wid such certainty bout the man illness and we bajans din know? IS them gi he um, well I doan think that possible but still. So I eliminate the outta de question options and come up wid the certain reasoning that um cud only be espionage. Dem odda island spying pun we man! God knows what other a we secrets dem know, all like now they might even know who kill Pele (for the uninitiated that was an infamous murder unsolved murder case in Barbados when I was growing up). So bajan authorities looka wunnah better check Ilaro court fa bugs and listening devices ya. I telling wunnah dese people spying pun we business.

The second thing I got to talk bout is how people act when the PM wouldnt say conclusively what was wrong wid he. Man some a everybody was vex and arguing we got a right to know the man personal business. Well see me I din agree wid dat and to be honest wid all the talk I see now that the man tell we he affliction, I glad he din say nuttin nuh earlier. Cause now they know looka people already got the man mark off fa de grave and talking bout he successor and ting so. Dat is disrespectful man! Ya shun treat nuhbody that sick so. Suppose you did sick you wanta hear you spouse talking bout who she next man/woman gine be? No man, dat wud hurt ya cruel cruel and wun help ya recovery process at all. Same way here so ease off the successor talk while the man alive.

Man allya should be shame a yaselves doah. I mean I understand having contingencies but cheese on bread the man still alive and got he full mental capacities wha wunnah trying to rush he to the grave and replace he before he dead already.

Like I say I hope he recover and when he do I hope all wunnah feel real bad fa all this successor talk business. I dun.

Smartphones

So Premier Mcguinty wants the school boards to allow cellphones in class arguing that teachers can show students how to use smart phones to access information on the internet.

To this I simply ask is which cellphone company you promoting Mr Premier? Rogers, Bell, Telus and the rest duz already mek tummuch money off all we. Smartphones don't grow on trees ya kno! And besides phone duz need contract, and de stupid smartphone specially duz need smarter and more expensive data plan pun top a contract to do anything smart-ish which duz leff ya pockets smarting and ya duz cann even afford two Smarties when the day dun.

Ya want we now to have to buy cellphones for the children now on top a books, on top a computers, on top of every lil fund raising thing every two minutes at the school? cuhdear man. Dem cell companies aint mekkin enuff profit off we. Play you smart deyso den.

Recession

So they, the powers that be, keep saying that the recession is getting better, that things are looking up. But me, I beg to differ cause even though I don't have no figures and no all compassing idea of what is happening all around the nation common sense tell me that this recession still going full bore.

Every time I walk by certain streets I see more and more businesses closed. A few weeks back three days in a row I close different lunch spots in different areas only to get there and see the store fronts closed. Yes blame me I is a blight on restaurants (and tv shows too but that is another story.)

Then there are the amount of people I know who telling me they cant find jobs, specially recent grads in certain fields. People who say we been looking for almost a year and things brown like grass when the heat wave hit we this past summer. I mean how um duz feel when you go an wuk ya behind off at university, borrowing dollars and spending money to further education so that you could have a better life an then you finish school and skkkrrrrzzz jobs scarce scarce like seeing black people in de winter.

So what really going on. The official story is the worse dun pass but at ground level um aint really looking so ya kno.

An ya know I juss had to laff although um aint funny cause I now realize I post something similar so just last year too. So things like dem aint getting nuh better. hmmmm

Tragic

SIX PEOPLE perished last night in a blaze that could go down as one of Barbados’ worst human tragedies.

A fire believed to have started by two men who robbed the Campus Trendz store in Tudor Street, The City, engulfed the two-storey building along the busy shopping street, trapping the hapless victims within the inferno...........

According to police, the two robbers, in view of shocked customers, threw an incendiary device into Campus Trendz just before 7 p.m., after taking an undisclosed amount of cash.

I spent parts of the last two days thinking about what I could say in response to this tragic event and to be honest I was coming up totally blank.

The shock of six young lives cut short, the absolute devastation that the families of the deceased must feel and the grief shared by bajans at home and abroad means to me that nothing that I really have to say, to me seemed significant enough to actually share. I'm not sure the feelings I have can be put into words truthfully.

Six young females all between the ages of 18 and 24 snuffed out suddenly in such a senseless manner. May they rest in peace.

What can be said though, what thoughts do I have. Its all a jumble in my head.

For one I wonder what is going through the black hearts of the criminals who did this? It was not enough to rob the business but they had to firebomb it as well. It wasn't as if the workers refused to hand over the money either, they had what they came for why attempt to burn down the business and take lives as well?

I truly hope the correct culprits are found and made to pay for this crime.

For another, I think if only we followed a fire code back home and businesses had to have alternate exits the 6 who died would have been rattled somewhat over the incident but still alive at this moment. Its time that the Barbados government do something about this. There are potentially tens if not hundreds of businesses who are in this same predicament and I hope that this tragedy, while we cant bring back the lives lost, will serve as a catalyst to spur our authorities into action to make sure that businesses are brought up to some fire code or standard where this can never ever happen again.

Third, I've seen comments online and in the local bajan press alluding to the possibility that the murderers were not bajan or that even if they were it is foreign influences that have caused us to become like this. When something like this happens the shock of the situation usually leads us to believe that outside forces are the reason for such an event happening in our community. We'd like to believe that everyone in our community is an upstanding citizen with pure intentions. Alas this is never so. I dont know if the perpetrators are local or foreign or what influenced this act but all I do know is that we have recently seen some senseless violence perpetrated in various Caribbean countries; beheadings in St Vincent, murders and outrageous violent crimes against small children in Trinidad etc. The time has come to realize and accept that our small islands aren't what they were 20-30 years ago. Like Biggie says "Things dun changed". Accept that and then maybe we can move in the right direction to fixing what is wrong. Its not likely that things will return to what they were but there are things we can do to fix these things.

One of my friends says we only have ourselves to blame because we have sat back and allowed our morals and our rules and regulations to be infringed upon while we sit back and just watch and did nothing. I agree with this to some extent but at the same time I believe that most of us realize that things aren't the same as they were and there is some fear in confronting the crime and criminals, hell there is even some fear in confronting small children who you could have once corrected for wrongdoing further less big adults committing wrongdoings.

I don't have a simple solution, I'm not sure anyone does. Maybe it starts with the children, maybe it involves education, maybe it involves finding useful outlets and employment for idle hands, maybe it involves full enforcement of the law and respect for our lawmakers, maybe it involves instilling a renewed sense of community in our youth, maybe it involves the church, maybe it involves communication across age and gender divides and political and social status affiliations.......... maybe it involves all of those things or none and maybe that's all too grandiose and Utopian and its really much simpler. Like I said I don't know.

The fact is though, lives were lost in a senseless incident, lives that didn't need to be lost. One of the most tragic events in the history of Barbados has taken place and I would be remiss, actually we all would be if we didn't stop and take stock of where our nation is, the direction its heading in and what we can do to make things better.

Terror

Two people were arrested Wednesday afternoon and a third terrorism suspect– one who moonwalked across a Montreal stage during an audition for Canadian Idol – was detained early Thursday, the Star has learned.

There's a video of his horrid or should I say rather terr(or)-ible audition. lol

Poor guy, did the rejection of Canadian Idol send him off the deep end? If I cant be the bomb I'm going to have to plant a bomb? Cuhdear! poor fella

Or maybe the Canadian idol was part of his cover. How ingenious! Like who's going to suspect a moonwalker of conspiracy to commit terror acts? Conspiracy to pop and lock or drop it like its hot perhaps but building bombs naaa.

If only he had gone one step further with his cover and gone on reality tv. Now that would be the ideal cover. Yes Jersey Shore people I got my eyes on wunnah so especially dat short wun Snooki. I feel she an all wunnah up to sumting cause nuhbody atall can be really really that stupid.

Oh well but back to the moonwalking singing terrorist (which by the way might make a great musical somewhere) who duz pick the names of these operations for the RCMP? Project Samosa? I mean seriously, thats the name of this operation to find the terrorists. Really! Wha dat soun like a plan to guh an buy some food cross by ya local Indian restaurant.

Damn, not only is it a dumb name but isnt it also somewhat racist? yuck! Anyways looka I better keep mi mout shut doah fa all I know Operation "fish cakes n bakes" got me in dem sights. I gone!

Local Politricks

Can I just say I love Canadian poli-tricks! Well the poli-trick-sions anyways. I dont know why the general public so apathetic towards politricks here I mean at the very least its always good for some comedy and lil drama like how Harper and the Tories almost get catspraddle by a census of all things. In de States politricksions duz get tek out by sex scandals hay men duz get tek out by statistics lol. If dat doan prove that Canada different to America nuttin does (and I doan mean different like Chris Bosh say we smell different eitha cause I aint know wha he mean by dat, he betta watch he frowsy self ya. lol)

Anyways just when I thought that all the poppits was out of the Toronto mayoral race and some of you might remember early this year I post bout how the fella Giambrone get clean bowl wid a sex scandal in comes Rob Ford who apparently is leading the race to be the new Mayor of Toronto. Wuhloss!

Now Ford apparently got a whole history of putting he foot in he mout and every few days some comment or the odda he mek duz rile up everyone and got the other candidates attacking he cruel, cruel, cruel. The last thing was he mek some stupid comment at a debate bout refugees and he aint want nuh more in Toronto or someting so.

Now the malicious media gone yesterday an dig up some old news that de same Ford fella apparently had been arrested in 1999 in Florida for drug possession cause dey find a lil joint in he back pocket. Hear Mr Ford now as to why he din disclose this to the public: apparently he had forgotten that he had been arrested for de weed cause that same time the police did also arrest he for refusing to take a breathalizer test.

So in essence the man whole argument is looka people stop confusing me wunna aint realize I did too drunk that night to remember that I get arrest for weed. This has got to be in the top 10 of best excuses ever!

And these is the sorts a people I supposed to vote for to lead my city nuh? Lawd come fa ya wirl nuh!