Monday 29th

Dem a loot dem a shoot dem a wail
a shanty town

007 (Shanty Town) - Desmond Dekker

So today was an interesting day. Woke up this morning and grabbed the newspaper only to be totally surprised by reports of a transit strike occurring today. Well that was completely out of the blue. Turned on the television and they were saying no buses, trains or streetcars were running. So how's a brother supposed to get to work downtown when this city's only got one decent way into the core (The DVP) and that's usually crowded even when transit is running.

Oh well. From the news it didn't seem like this problem was going to be solved soon as the transit workers were striking over maintenance schedules and perceived disses by management regarding driver safety. Cant blame those folks but they could have given us more notice.

Anyway long story short I ended up working from home as the buses never got running till around 3 or 4 this afternoon. Turned out to be a great day here too. Hot just the way I like it. Yea yeah yeah I know everyone will complain about the humidity and the heat being too much but I refuse to complain on any day its hot. I love the heat and any day I can sweat just walking up the road is a good day in my opinion.

So worked from home until late afternoon, stopping every now and then to get some errands done and hang with diddy jr (3 and a half months and counting) and then walked to the nearby cinema to catch X-Men III. Yea forget Superman and Da Vinci Code and all the rest , this is probably the only summer blockbuster I was interested in seeing ...besides Pirates of the Caribbean.

What can I say about X-III? It was just ok in my opinion. Yea it raked in over 120 Mil this long weekend in the US but it was definitely not as good as X-Men II in my opinion. Sure it was fast a fast paced action movie with decent action scenes but the pace seemed a little frenetic for the entire movie and even the big battle scene near the end just seemed kind of confusing. Not confusing as in who was fighting who but just in terms of the way the scenes were shot it just seemed too jarring.

Then there was some stuff there that just didn't seem to fit the characters of certain heroes and villains. Magneto for example seemed a bit out of character in his dealings with Mystique and Jean/Phoenix in my opinion was just a little too much out of control. Yes she is the Dark Phoenix who was completely different from Jean Girl but still I just didn't feel that the movie wasn't stretching things a bit. They kind of brushed Rogue to the side and a couple of other main characters from the earlier movies just never really got involved. I think there was just too much going on and the newer characters never got developed properly and seemed rushed into action while the older characters just seemed to be going through the motions. On the plus side they finally gave Storm a bit more screentime and we got to see Colussus and the Beast but other than that I thought that this movie was lacking.

After the movie I ended up doing some shopping. Hit a West Indian grocery store on the way home and had the interesting experience of watching the youth ahead of me in line buy a cutlass. Was a little disturbing actually. You ever stand in line at a supermarket and realize that the fella ahead of you have a cutlass in his hand? Wha I thought the place was getting rob at first to tell ya the truth cause the yout did look a certain bad boy, igrant, not too much common sense sort a way so I was a bit worried. I was tempted to turn back and start dodging about the aisles looking for the back door in case he was looking to chop up someone but it turned out he was just buying the item at hand. He aint look like no farmer or gardener to me though so I wonder what he want a cutlass for. Hmmmm .

Windies won again this weekend winning the series against India which is incredible. Congrats to them. Still wont jump on the bandwagon yet. Still a test series to be played. In NBA news , the Pistons are battling Miami as we speak so I'm off to watch the 4th quarter.

Oh the Desmond Dekker quote above has nothing to do with this post except I just wanted to say rest in peace as he died last Thursday.

Moving day

I have way too many started but unfinished blogs lying around, will have to do something about that one day.

Anyway today was moving day. Nope I didn't actually move again but I helped a really good friend move this morning. As moves go it was one of the most smooth we've been involved with and let me tell you both myself and my friend have been involved in a lot of moves. Whole heap actually we've virtual moving experts against our wishes. At one stage it got to a point where we were like if this school stuff doesn't work out we should seriously consider getting into the moving business. Yep we've made some serious moves back in the day. In fact about 8 years ago we even moved three apartments in a single day. Now that was crazy!

That was during our days in school when life was more transient.

Ah the transient lifestyle. Actually today's move got me all pensive.

Moving is something I dislike. I've grown accustomed to it though which is also strange because for the first more than half of my life spent in Barbados I lived in exactly the same place from birth through the end of high school till I left home.

Then I came to Canada and my life as a nomad started. Live on campus during school, move out in May, move somewhere else in September and the beat goes on.

Even after finishing school its still been a rather transient life I've lived; moving continents, countries, cities and apartments to the extent that since I first left home I haven't lived in one spot for more than the just under four years I spent at my last apartment.

Its a whole itinerant thing which hasn't really helped me with my feelings of homelessness that I've experienced ever since I came to Canada. Its also a homelessness amplified by the fact that I know that my old home, my childhood home, is no longer really my home anymore either. You can never go back as the old saying goes.

Still moving makes me reflect a bit on some of the differences between Caribbean life and North American life. For instance in the Caribbean, well Barbados I should say instead of generalizing, a lot of folk I know don't do much moving. You grow up in the same house or maybe move once or twice but nothing more and then as an adult you try to save money to build your own house as opposed to buying and that's where you usually intend to stay until you are old and gray. (that's just how it goes unless you are renting but even then folks that I knew who rented in Barbados never seemed to move as much as the ones here.)

Here, you buy a condo or a starter house. Then if the value goes up and you can make a profit you sell that house or if you get kids and you outgrow that starter house you move to a bigger house. Then when the kids leave home you may move down a house or as you get old decide you cant deal with shovelling the sidewalk and mowing the lawn and move into a condo. Its like a whole cycle of life. Apartment, starter house or condo, bigger house back to condo. I'm still trying to get used to that.

Cause with moving usually comes the packing, the unpacking, the buying of new stuff, dumping of old stuff, the new phone number after having just memorized the last one, the new keys, the new neighbors and just a whole bunch of adjustments that take a bit of getting used to. And yes it can be a good sometimes great thing like when you get a new spot that is finally your own or if you are moving out of a place with rodent or insect issues (been there done that) but somehow I've just moved way too much in the past decade and it just doesn't fit my personality somehow.
I guess its all a part of what stage of life you're at though. Like now that I'm married and all I wouldn't expect to make as many moves but still I must say the uprooting and the whole drama involved when I move house just doesn't help my mindstate it just makes me long for the good old days where I lived in the same spot for 18+ years.

Etcetera

Well a couple a people, including this wun hayso in my house, say my last post was too long. hmmmmp! Fine then be that way! :-)

So what to talk about today? Well I could chat about Rihanna and Jay-Z or rather Rihanna, Beyonce and Jay Z like the rumor mills. Ooh la la! I don't think I believe that Rihanna trying to horn Beyonce though and that's not cause she's bajan or anything but just because of her (Rihanna's) image right now although I do think she is becoming a tad bit too Beyonce-ish in the videos. Which reminds me there is an excellent video floating around out there with Rihanna being punk'd by Mr Demi Moore aka Ashton Kushner. I guess you know you've hit the big times when you get punk'd.

Could also chat about how two politicians in the Czech Republic got into a tussle at a dental conference. Seriously I saw the video on tv yesterday and the health minister just walked up to the other guy sitting at the table and whapax! Nearly slap off the man head. I haven't seen anyone get slapped in the back of their head so viciously since high school. I could only image that happening in a Bajan setting. Big rocks would fly!

Could also talk about basketball. NBA playoffs! The Pistons finally pulled it together and beat the Cavs but I think they will lose to the Heat. The big difference with the Pistons of last year and this year is that Flip Saunders seems at a loss during the playoffs. His record in Minnesota attests to that. If Larry Brown hadn't been such a punk and gone off to New York where he is unliked and unwanted the Pistons would have a fighting chance of getting past the Heat but now... So my prediction is Heat, Mavs in the final with the Mavs losing in 6.

Oh and the Raptors won the NBA draft lottery last night. Finally! Of course they would do in the year with one of the weakest draft classes. Also doesn't help that the consensus top three picks are all forwards and the Raptors are loaded at that position. So in my position as defacto, incommunicado, excommunicated wannabe Raptors GM I propose they do one of the following. Draft LaMarcus Aldridge as your new defensive minded centre, ignore all talk of drafting the next Dirk Nowitzki. Or trade down the draft like we did that year we traded Jonathan Bender to the Pacers and pick up a veteran centre, someone who can rebound and stand there and take charges and draft Rudy Gay or Marcus Williams or someone who can play guard lower down the draft. And if I hear the words Adam Morrison coming out of the mouth of any Raptors official I think its my duty to administer a beatdown.

Oh and the West Indies beat India yesterday again in one day cricket. Unbelievable! Kami ya think we turn a corner? :-)

Hands in my pocket

Ever see the credit card ads where people are doing normal everyday stuff with someone's hand in their pocket and in the background someone is singing a catchy phrase "hands in my pocket, hands in my pocket, hands in my pocket"?

From the time one reaches young adulthood, and gains some sort of independence, it seems as if there are people lined up to put their hands into your pockets.

At every stage in life someone comes along with some offer which is supposedly for your benefit but which always involves an outlay of cash on your part because hey we all know better than to think that anything in life is free. So not only do we have to deal with a society that says you need to have this, that and the third in order to be hip and where its cool to be material and spend money but we also have to deal with hipsters trying to reach deeper into our pockets to make us spend even more than we wanted to spend in the first place.

For me I saw it start in University, from Frosh (Freshman) week even where the banks set up their little credit card booths offering those fresh out of high school university students logo ridden free pens, cheap hats and frisbees in exchange for signing up to get their card which is somehow always the right card for your needs as a student. Always reminded me of Esau selling off his birthright to Jacob for a "mess of pottage" actually.

Credit cards, cant live without them they say, build up your credit rating for when you need to buy a house or car in the future, its all good and we have a special introductory interest rate so its no worries man, everything irie, don't sweat the fine print. What they didn't tell you is that significant amounts of students end up heavily in credit card debt because they end up relying heavily on the cards to get them by and pay off only the monthly minimum leading to more debt, besides student loans, before they even get into the job market.

Then you graduate, leave school and get a job. Even before your first paychecks arrives suddenly you get folks trying to set you up for the future by getting you to invest in retirement plans and arguing, quite rightly actually, that the best time to start is as early as possible. You get the calls, the profiles and portfolios with the charts and you're overwhelmed by projections on pretty laser printed color pages of how you can have millions of dollars at your disposal on retirement, almost tax free, if you just start investing right now at that very instant that the pen is trust into your hand. Invest $25 a month right now at age 22 without delay and that's better than investing 5 times that amount when you're 32 the pitch goes. To not invest means you're obviously clueless, you haven't understood their sales pitch.

Help us to help you they say cause if you don't then we're wasting our time and you're obviously slow in the head. But you've got to wonder why so many strangers are suddenly so interested in your welfare and wellbeing don't you? I know I am but then I've always been a skeptic. (Its called commissions based salaries if you didn't know the answer.)

Oh and you need insurance too because God forbid your hand is chopped off by a random low flying piece of galvanised aluminum in a flash windstorm on the way to work tomorrow. But nobody don't use galavanized aluminum in Toronto you argue. That's not the point it fly in on BWIA or something man stay with the program. The galvanize chop off ya hand and ya look like a one arm bandit wha ya gine do? Insurance all for a low premium of $9.95 a month cause ish can happen. Do you want us to put that on your credit card, sir?

Then one gets married. Not sure how they find out but it seems as if the vultures swoop in for a kill then. Congrats on jumping the broom! So you're a DINK (double income no kids) now good for you. We wish you all the success in the world. Well boy do we have a deal for you! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!

More insurance offers, no medical exam necessary of course. What do I need more insurance for you wonder? Well God forbid you suddenly had a heart attack from eating all that souse on Saturdays and those pig tails on Sunday and died tomorrow wouldn't you feel so ashamed if your spouse couldn't handle the expenses when you were gone. Hmmm let me think. Well actually when I'm dead I'm not sure I'd still be feeling emotions like shame but ummm yea right sure. Here sign on the dotted line. What do you mean you don't want more insurance? You've already got insurance? But their plan isn't as good as ours meaning rather you haven't given us a piece of your money yet so be fair and sign up with us. What are you some sort of moron. Do I have to explain this to you again? $100,000 on death payable to your spouse all for $9.95 a month and the first three months premiums are on us, you cant beat that. We'll even cover health and hospital costs in case of a nail juk or pencil cut that doesn't lead to death. We got your back son, we'll hook you up.

No diggidy! (does anyone still use that phrase?) You still don't want it well what if I explain it this way? Still No? Damn you're definitely a moron and you'll regret this cause you know you can never have enough insurance but have a nice day anyway sir.

Oh and of course there are the time share people. Come on you need a vacation every year at one of our luxurious time share locations, just throw down $5,000 upfront for a special package where you can probably get the place of your choice for 2 days in the rainiest part of the rainy season if you're lucky or $10,000 for the premium, super deluxe, biggie sized, extra crispy with fries package.

This is a once in a lifetime offer. You cant beat it man! But ummm I'm trying to save for a deposit on a house. House smouse! Whatever guy, you don't need a house, 10Gs is neither here nor there for you and a house. Trust me my yout you don't need a house. I've got a house (from all the money I've fleeced from people like you) and let me tell you they are just expensive as all hell to maintain. Naa man, forget the house business. Everything is everything. What you really need to do is hook up one of our time shares in Florida or Mexico or Guantanamo ummm I mean Guatemala or someplace like that. Surely you can spare 5Gs if you're not a cheapskate? Come on man do you want your wife to think you're a cheapskate? Imagine lounging at the pool at one of our luxurious locations soaking in the sun, recuperating from all that hard work. You know you deserve to treat yourself to something good after all that overtime you been putting in.

Here's a brochure but we need you to sign up within the hour cause at 730 another batch of gullible "you've won a free prize" suckers are coming in and we'd like to have fleeced you of your money by then so we can move on to them. What you don't want a time share? Well forget you then. Give us back our damn salad plate and hor d'oeuvres!Moron!

(Note to anyone ever trying to sell me anything. Never ever under any circumstances try to feed me, it just sets off way too many red flags in my head.)

Then you buy a house. (well you can always buy the house before the marriage thing its your choice but it works just the same just switch the paragraphs around) Well of course you need house insurance that goes without saying but did you know that you also need a plan. What plan? Well a maintenance plan to save money on water and heat and plumbing and electricity just in case you have an emergency. You've got to be prepared you know. All for only $19.95 a month that's pennies a sec if you think about it. It cant get any cheaper than that for our services in case your bathroom explodes while your furnace dies and your water heater floods your basement while your electrical wires shock you and the dust in your ducts chokes you at exactly the same point in time.

We can check your pipes for rust and your ducts for dust and your furnace and your whatsnot and your this and that. Hey and your lawn needs a professional service because why should you do the work yourself when you can be lazy and pay us some of that oodles of spare cash you have just lying around after you just gave the bank most of your life's earnings. And of course you're going to need a energy plan with the cost of heat rising these days and the driveway needs to be redone even though it was only redone last year and a new roof is definitely a necessity because well even though they claim they last a good 15-20 years you really should replace them like every 2 just for fun.

Oh and while we're at it lets replace the windows and the doors and install a security system and new faucets and come to think of it we'll give you a discount if you let us raze the the entire structure to the ground and we'll hook you up with a completely new abode. How does that sound? Come on man , you just bought a house I'm sure you've just loaded with cash to throw at these home improvement jobs. Don't you watch the Home improvement channel? You need to redo your kitchen, pimp your living room, pimp your garden, pimp your roof. You gots to keep up with the Jones son. You're making a big mistake by not taking us up on our once in a lifetime offer. Oh well your lost moron!

Then you have a baby. I aint sure if the hospital does give them your name or there is a baby version of an ambulance chaser who stations him/herself at the maternity ward but somehow they get your name and phone number. You need professional baby pictures, diaper delivery, we got the hook up on formula, damn we even have bootleg extra lactating breasts for sale. Here we'll send you free samples.

Oh wait you need to start a university fund, you need to set up a trust fund for the baby and of course you need more insurance cause now ya got a child and God forbid ya get lik down by a runaway mini-moke up on the 401 on the way to work what the poor chile and he mudda gine do. Cuhdear!

What do you mean you don't want our products? What kind of parent are you? Do you really love your child? Well what if we explain it this way? Its a once in a lifetime offer! Still no? Ok then that's your choice. Moron! Have a pleasant day sir!

Top Model

My how a week flies? Seems like I just posted two days ago.

Its season finale time in tv land these days which makes for quite the interesting watching. Cliffhangers and edge of your seat excitement abounds as shows attempt to pull in those ratings and maintain those fans for next season. Add to that the NBA playoffs where my Pistons and Spurs both sit on the precipice of total defeat and there is a lot of must see TV for me these days.

Well Wednesday was the finale for Tyra Bank's America's Top model. Yea what can I say a brother still watches that show although I'm not blogging on it like I did a couple of seasons ago. Why not watch it though? Its all good clean fun and by fun I mean hot model type women on the tele every week competing and taking themselves with the most seriousness as they compete for a modeling contract while being nice on the eyes and providing hilarity with their antics. What's not to like? Wunnah expect me to watch a bunch a serious ugly people all the time? No star it nuh go so.

Anyway in the finale on Wednesday to my utter surprise homegirl Danielle from Little Rock Arkansas won. The final three were Danielle, Jade and Joanie and after Jade, the self-proclaimed "undiscovered supermodel" a girl who complained everyone mistook her confidence for arrogance (maybe because it was) was knocked off to leave the final two I was sure that Joanie was going to walk away with it.

Why? Well before I get to that let me say that this season's ANTM was actually pretty fun watching. From watching Nnenna struggle with her clingy boyfriend to the clueless Gina and the Fabulous Furonda it was quite the cast of characters. Add Tyra who justified choosing a few girls who definitely weren't the best looking by proclaiming them "unique beauties" to the mix and while not must see TV ANTM sure was interesting. Unique beauty hmmm I'll have to add that to my vocabulary as a synonym for ugly or not quite good looking in future. See what can I say the show was educational.

So back to the results. Well yea I was backing Danielle and the fabulous Furonda from day one but there was no way I thought Danielle was going to win it all. Just absolutely no way!

don't get me wrong. Yes she deserved to win because we watched her improve from week to week, yes she took excellent photos, yes she had presence, yes she was fine on the eyes, yes she let them fix her one big flaw in terms of looks in the modeling world that being the gap in her front teeth, yes she fought through illness, falls and other adversity to compete week after week, yes she was nice on the catwalk BUT week after week the judges in particular Tyra kept harping on her southern accent.

What's a lil southern drawl got to do with this show? Well according to the judges from what I can gather of their deliberations every week this drawl was a Grand Canyon sized flaw which negated every positive about Danielle. No way could she be a top model sounding like Forrest Gump, how was she going to sell Cover girl and a range of other products with that accent?

To be honest it got a bit annoying to me to hear the judges especially Tyra go on about the southern accent. It almost felt like they were pulling down homegirl unnecessarily. I mean its actually a bit classist in my opinion because why can thick European accents be used to sell all sorts of products but a southern drawl couldn't? Its not like Twiggy with her working class British accent was that much more decipherable than Danielle at times so why constantly pick on a sister week after week. Ok we get it she sounds like she's from the south which she is. Its not going to change overnight so accept it and move on.

It came off almost like bullying in a sense. Top Model as a case study for classism in the US. You may be as good looking, as smart as hard working as the others but sorry you're from south of the Mason-Dixon line and don't sound like some of the others so lets pick on you. (Cant wait for Canadian's version of Top model to see if anyone with a Newfie accent gets picked on. p.s I probably wont watch that show and damn sure wont be blogging on it even if I do.)

The accent argument while probably a bit valid was harped on way too much because how silly was it all as when you think of it can you actually remember what most models sound like? Nope its basically all about the looks and presence and in those departments Danielle more than held her own.

Luckily in the end it seems like the judges realized that. Congrats Danielle.

Everything is Everything

Seems like I have truly forgotten how to write or maybe I am lacking in the motivation. Anyway I'll try to see what I struggle through and do today.

Read an interesting article in the Toronto Star the other day. Well interesting to me anyway. Its about a new book where the author is theorizing that the Mik'maq Indians on Cape Breton on Canada's east coast were in contact with the Chinese back in the day, before Columbus and the other Europeans reached the new world.

Pretty cool stuff in my opinion as he looks at Mik'maq clothing styles, structures, myths etc that just don't fit in with what the other native cultures were doing and exhibit a non-European outside influence.

Anyway this author isn't the first to theorize that the Chinese reached the new world prior to Columbus. Gavin Menzies in his book 1421: the Year the Chinese discovered the world gives a lot of evidence and tries to trace a story about how the Chinese sent out massive fleets which circumnavigated the world. You can check Menzies site for yourself or check out some of his critics who say his whole story is a fabrication. What you believe is up to you.

Still Menzies book (which half read a few years back) is good reading as he presents a tonne of research to show the correlation between the Chinese and other cultures. Who knows he may be right or he may be wrong.

Of course others have claimed that Africans reached the so-called new world before Columbus as well. Prof Ivan Van Sertima in his seminal work They came before Columbus made claims of several African civilizations reaching out to the new world way before Columbus. (Wunnah know he is West Indian right? Guyanese if ya please!) He claimed that the Mali Empire amongst others sent huge fleets across the Atlantic using the trade winds and points out the Negroid features of certain extremely old statues in South America as proof of Africans reaching South America.

So why I blogging about all this today? No reason just trying to get in the swing of writing again. Naa there is sort of a point to this somewhere. If any or all of these stories of other civilizations reaching the Americas are true then really and truly this just goes to show that old theorem that history is written by the winners is true.

Columbus gets all the credit for the discovery of the new world but really what did he discover? What really is Columbus' legacy? (Oh on another note some say Columbus had an African navigator and some say he had Chinese maps.) He discovered someplace that was already discovered. I guess we can say he opened up the way for Europe to colonize the Americas, indirectly paving the way for genocide, small pox and other diseases to destroy the natives of the Americas and you could blame him for the slave trade too so maybe he actually did achieve something. Quite a bit good or bad for a dude who got lost right cause I mean the man was searching for China and find Santo Domingo. I don't know tummuch geography but them places fairly far apart. I mean that aint like say a man was looking for a Chinese restaurant in Toronto and mistakenly run up in the West Indian store next door or to say a fella in a boat was searching for Trinidad and butt up on Tobago or anything so. This is China and Santa Domingo and on any map two of those places far far far far far from each other.

Anyway I done with that for now. Everything is everything.

Happy Mothers day

Thank you mama for the nine months you carried me through
All those pain and sufferin
No one knows the pressure you bear a just only you

sizzla - thank you mama

Happy mothers day to my mother and my wife and to all the mothers out there in blogland.

Second Coming

Well its been a while since I actually sat and blogged. Well what can I say, a brother's been tired. Work, a new baby at home and more work it seems as if well a brother just cant find the time to actually sit at the computer to get his writing on which is quite a shame.

Anyway like I said been tired, well tired and not sleeping well either although that's not baby related as you would think since he usually only wakes up like once a night and I tend to sleep through that. Why should I wake up? I cant feed he! Wha I gine do, all I can tell he is sorry son my breast milk aint come in yet and it don't seem like it will either so ya buss luck wid me. Check wid ya odda parent.

This time of year though its one of my favorite times of the year, NBA playoff time, and I've been trying to watch the games. Trying being the operative word as it seems like I fall asleep in front of the tv every time. But you know I got to put my money behind the Pistons again this year.

Yea they lost to Lebron and the Cavs today but I still think they have what it takes to take it all the way.

But anyways today was the first game I got a chance to really watch more than one quarter and let me say it is pretty disgusting how much the commentators are on Lebron's jock.

Now I guess I should start by saying I'm not that big a Lebron fan. I'm sorry but everytime I see Lebron I think of over age little league pitcher Danny Almonte. Why? Cause I'm still trying hard to believe that Lebron is 21 or whatever age they claim he is? I want to see birth certificates. Dude looks older than me and he definitely doesn't have the body of a 21 year old. I guess freak of nature and man-child are the words that could be used to describe him but yo, check that cat for roids, human growth serum, mutant X genes something man, I'm telling you 21 year olds do not look like him. He's 21 going on 40.

Just kidding but seriously though I was really hoping that the Wizards would knock the Cavs out in the first round so I wouldn't have to deal with the Lebron-mania for another round but alas it was not to be.

Yes he is a good player, some may even say great but all the comparisons to Jordan. Oh brother give me a break! They are two completely different players in my opinion. Jordan was finesse, Lebron is just a big bodied bully. I'm not saying Bron aint good, I'm just saying he's not Jordan. He's all herky jerky, Jordan was smooth even when he was powering to the hole. They are not the same.

Plus yes I know the NBA has to have a superstar to market but it gets a little stale when they foist these next great one labels on these youngsters even if Lebron might be deserving of it.

I'm just saying although Lebron looks like he has it all in terms of skills, will, knowledge and drive lets just wait and see him accomplish something more before crowning him, oh wait he's already King James. So commentators scale down on the hyperbole and lets see the dude play and let the viewers judge for themselves how good he is. Otherwise your groupie behavior is just tiring.

Anyways I'm going back to sleep in front of the Spurs game. Dallas is giving them a run for their money.

Brand New Second Hand

Ok havent had alot of time or motivation to post lately so I decided to do what the news people duz do when they dont have anything to say....fabricate a story. No man not fabricate, go back into time and pull out an old article from the archives and reprint it.

Actually I got the idea because I realize that almost every week I get a new snarky post or email from someone cussing me about my white girls post almost a year later.

Anyway to keep you entertained for a day or so I reprint the following from back when I had like 5 readers in December 2004. Respect to anyone who's been reading this blog from back then and remembers when I posted the original.

Thursday December 9th 2004

Fraud Email

Got this yesterday at work via email. I usually read the first couple of lines because sometimes they are actually pretty funny. Anything to not do work right. LOL. Sorry the blog is so long. Hope you find it funny.

From kim yo yong. kim_wang@movemail.com
Dear Friend,
Please read this email before you conclude on my intention.
First I am Kim Yong Wo from Hong Kong Republic I am 17 yrs old and
I am in a private hospital here in Asia. I am SUFFERING FROM OSTEOPOROSIS (Osteoporosis is not just about broken bones- Osteoporosis actually causes my skull to shrink as well AND
THE PAIN IS UNBEARABLE IT IS CALLED THE GRADUAL KILLER) I May not live unto the next three months from what my doctor told me I lost my father last Year after a brief ill Health my father was a farmer who has interest that one day he will Start a cattle farm here in Hong Kong, but his dream never came Through till his death He was killed through poison by his Mistress. And because I am the only child of my Father this lady wants me dead so that she will inherited my fathers property, In as much as she is in control of my fathers business she still wants the fixed deposit that my father left in Europe just for her selfishness Last Month the finance company where my father deposited this fund contacted me through my fathers Lawyer to advice them on what to do with his fund since I am still a minor and very sick demanding if they could leave the fund in a trust fund or should I seek other wise.

Since I know that I do not have much time left and when I die this Lady could get a hold on this fund through legal means and I am so Scared about this So, I now decided to divide part of this wealth, By contributing to the wellbeing of less privileged people and Handicapped in the society of Asian which is in my place America Europe and African Countries It was in the process of going through my fathers file looking for any clue that I saw an old his diary with your email circled.

What came into my mind is that he has the intention of doing business with you before his death Hence I am sending this email to you to be the executioner to this fund
I selected you for this Purpose and prayed over it. At first, I did not know how to put up this request for assistance because like I told you above my father were receiving emails from Africa
Soliciting his help in accommodating huge sums of dollars for them
He was receiving an average of 5 letters everyday. He suspected them to be scam from Africa. I feel I can trust you and I am willing to donate the sum of $11,300,000.00 Million US Dollars to you for the development of the well being of handicapped in the society and also as aids for the less privileged around your country, and I have mapped out $1,300,000.00 for your own personal use to help me for this work. Please note that, this fund is currently deposited with Finance
Organization My Fathers Attorney will file an immediate application for the
Transfer of the money in your name. Please, do not reply me if you have the intention of using this fund for personal use, than enhancement of the comfort of the handicapped.
Lastly, I want you/your home to be praying for me as regards my Entire life and my health because I have come to find out since my spiritual birth lately that wealth acquisition with out God, One’s life is vanity upon vanity
I await your urgent reply if you did accept to help me to show my
Sincerity I will send to you photocopies of my International passport
Copy and my school id card to assure you that I am of Good intention.
Remain blessed!
Kim


I was going to respond to her straight bajan something like this. (apologies to those who cant follow the dialect)

Dear Kim
Wait girl I real sorry ta hear dat ya fadda dead fa true! Dat is why men shud not be cavorting wid wicked wumen, ya duz got ta pray ta God ta send de right wuman cause dum got nuff wicked evil wumen bout de place. True true. Cause looka how she gone an poisin de man an he aint do she nuttin atall. cuhdear, dat is why my mudda always tell me I shun eat from any an evabody ya hear!.

But wait who is you fadda an how he did know me? wait wha you say he did name agin? Whichpart he get my email address cause I aint know nuhbody name nuh Yong Wo ya kno. At least not if my memory serve me correct. Not dat the memory like how it was a few years back but still I mean if a fella name Yong Wo I feel I shud rememba dat name cause it aint like he name Brathwaite or Brown or sumting commonplace dat I wudda got ta ask which Brathwaite or which Brown he is. A name like dat shud stick out.

Wait! Unless he went by a nickname cause one time I did know a fella name Matchsticks but dat din he real name. We used ta call he so cause one time, many years ago, he was by de corner troubling a young girl an she say "wha i aint want nuh man like you wid he two feets look like matchsticks" ha ha ha. wuhloss! Man you shoulda hear how the whole gap cackle out when dem hear dat. And dat name stick pun he. Come ta think of it I doan think I did ever know wha Matchsticks real name was. But dat is besides de point. So anyways wha dem used ta call you fadda?

But wait I aint tryin ta be malicious nor nuttin so but whichpart he get all dat money from bosie? He play lotto or he growing a lil sumting up in the hills cause I aint kno nuh farmers dat got summuch muney. A mean between you an me I used ta kno sum rasta fellas out by me dat used ta grow lil sumting in the bush one time! dem used ta walk roun lookin musty an half foolishy but dem used ta mek good muney, ya see dem dey, selling a lil a wha dem did growing. Wait you fadda was one a dem rasta fellas? Cause I know dem fellas duz got sum funny names ya kno. Wait he was the tall bony wun dat I used ta see down by Browne's beach punna marnin? cause ya kno come ta think bout it I neva catch he name so i aint know if he did a Yong Wo or not ta tell ya de truth. And come ta think bout it I aint see he in a good few years now. Anyways send muh a picture lemma see if um is he fa true.

But girl how you end up wid dis Osteoporosis disease doah? you fadda wudda had ta be a vegetable farmer fa true cause you like you neva get nuh cow's milk growing up ya. Lemma tell ya, when I was a lil boy my mudda used ta buy milk from a wuman up St George dat had three cows. She used ta bring um punna Tuesday night ina lil three jills bottle but if the rain fall she wun get down by we till Wednesday marnin. We use'd ta tek dat milk, boil um, tek off the skin an drink um. You know bout dem sorta days or you too young fa dat dey?

Man um did sweet fa days not like this pasturized foolishness dem got knocking bout dese days. Girl if you fadda wudda gi ya lil cow's milk when ya did growing up ya wun got nuh Osteoporisis all like now but I aint suprised he faget bout dat cause dem rastas like sumtimes dem heads duz be bad ya kno. cuhdear an poor you aint even see a star pitch yet. lil milk and ya wun got nuh problem.

But ya kno I still straining my head ta figure out whapart you fadda kno me from cause now I aint suh certain he did the rastaman? An wha business it was he did plannin ta conduct wid me cause i aint eitha buying nor selling dese days. Anyhow I din kno he but I still sorry ta hear he gone before I get ta talk ta he an find out wha business we was gine conduct cause wid de kinda coppers you talkin bout I feel I woulda mek a good pieca change.

cuhdear! but see how things duz turn out? Now looka how I miss out pun dat business opportunity wid ya fadda but now you offering me munies ta distribute odda muneys. Is true true wha de good book say ya know; when one door closed anudda wun duz open. But wait dat is de good book or Bob Marley I duz never can remember too good ya kno cause the memory aint as good as it used ta be. When ya get as ol as me chile ya wud understan. But I remember doah dat as a chile we had a saying dat if the door closed ya might still find a window open ta crawl through. ha ha. I tell ya!

How ya mean doan reply if I aint gine use the funds ta help dem handicapped underprivileged people? You mekkin sport!

But tell muh sumting doah. you sure, sure, sure ya wanta gi way all dis muney ta dem people so cause from where I standing I doan think dem wud kno wha ta do wid all dis big lotta muney you giving dem ya kno. Ta me I feel bout 5 ta 8 milion is suffice fa dem. Yes I kno dat dem got alot a dem sorta people bout the place but not as much as you thinkin cause peoples like politicians an de Aid agencies an de likes duz like ta exaggerate bout dem sorta people ta tug at ya heartstrings cause they know dat if you really kno hummuch a dem people bout the place ya wun really feel dat bad an ya wun be suh willing ta pull ya pocketbook ta gi dem muney. So yea dem duz exaggerate nuff nuff. Trust me girl, you still young but I been around de block a few times an I kno dese things. To me, I feel 5 ta 8 million is enuff fa dem...but ya can still send de full 11 million an I wud sort dat out fa ya. Nuh need you worrying bout dat pun ya deathbed.

An dont you worry cause from de time i get this letter I was already praying fa ya cause ya is a real good kindhearted chile ...not like ya ol wicked stepmudda. Ya fadda , God rest the dead wud be too proud a ya.

Anyways try an mek certain dat ya send long the documents ta muh before ya drop down dead. Not dat i wishing ya ill but ya kno I hear this Osteoporosis is a silent killer. It duz work pun ya an ya wun even know when ya gone. An as de bible say time waits fa no man or wuman so let we sort dis out in the early.

Anyways girl looka try an remember ta lemma know who ya fadda was, an try an send muh de documents an de muney so I cud put the muney ta good use. Tek care a yaself an mek ya self right wid de maker. I gine pray fa ya doah.

Yours sincerely
Jdid.

Searching

"Some of us are looking searching for something to die for out there"



Haven't had one of these (dreams) for a long time. (And before anyone says it. No I wasnt drinking, smoking or eating food that upset my stomach, eating too late or anything like that)

There were children. Three of them, two boys and a girl to be exact. All under the age of 6, with the boys being darker than the girl. They looked familiar but I don't know whose kids they were, and none of them felt like my own.

They were on the floor in what appeared to be a relatively small West Indian style living room with big windows through which a generous amount of sun streamed. They were playing around when the girl stuck a disk into an object under the television which appeared to be a DVD player. Music streamed out, not sure what it was, but I was present and removed the disc saying it wasn't appropriate for kids.

Then I went searching for an appropriate cd and ended up opening the front door outside onto a veranda looking down at some car parked in front of the house. I got off the veranda somehow and it must have been my car cause I ended up in it digging into every crevice for a particular disc but I don't think I ever found it.

The dream shifted and I was back on the veranda with two elderly, very dignified looking, black persons with prominent cheek bones and their hair in various shades of gray. One person's hair was a lot more gray than the others but I cant remember if it was the man or the woman. All I remember is that it was more salt than pepper and it was a thick short afro. No names were given but I also knew that I knew them somehow.

They looked happy.

The dream blurs from there although I recognize that I spent much time hanging out on the veranda with these people but who were they? I still don't have a clue.

Fast forward and I'm leaving the same house in quite a rush. The veranda is empty and I'm fiddling with an iPod, at least I assume it was an iPod since I had white earphones, as I hit the street at a fast pace.

I walk quickly past a mature lady planting corn and say good morning. She was wearing a long colorful but not new skirt, something with a white background and tiny splotches of color possibly flowers. She had a hoe in hand and was digging intently into some very dark soil but as I walked further the soil changed to a browner color and I saw rows of holes in the soil at specific intervals which really didn't correspond with her digging. Plus I'm not sure how I knew she was planting corn but I knew even though I'm not sure that would be the way one would go about planting corn.

She said something to me as I sped past and continued speaking. I might have heard what she said but I think the music from the iPod made it difficult to catch all the words.

So I turned back and removed the headphones.

She spoke to me, exactly what was said is again a blur but she was either pointing or speaking about the veranda and so I looked back.

There I again saw the dignified old couple but I knew they were dead. They were sitting in nicely carved wooden furniture, which possibly had always been there on the veranda. It was the type of furniture with the woven bottoms that you used to be able to get from the blind workshop in Barbados. The couple was all skin and bones now and at points they were skeletons sort of like they do in Pirates of the Caribbean. (On another note do I need Disney's permission to have characters similar to the skeletons in Pirates of the Caribbean in my dream? I don't want to be accused of plagarizing my dream. I don't want them to shut down my dreams like they nullify that "Opal Mehta" girl's writing contract the other day. Next thing ya see a Disney slap a lil logo on me dream or a Disney Lawyer come into dreamland and close muh down. Cuhdear!)

The couple was not alone as various persons including myself appeared to sway in and out of the picture on the porch. Imagine my thoughts as dream me watched other dream me. The couples' bodies shifted between skin and bones and part skeleton at various irregular intervals but the other persons seemed alive. Everyone started dancing, a slow rhythmic swaying type of dance to some music which floated in like the notes of a flute. Then they were all singing. I couldn't actually connect the voices I heard to actual bodies but their mouths moved and words were heard. The song or rather the line they sang over and over was:

"Some of us are looking, searching for something to die for out there"

Jdids first theorem

As a child I used to postulate on everything under the sun. What made the world turn? Why were certain phenomena as they were and not different, and why me mudda wud slap me cross me head and call me idiot all the time. Sigh! Those were the days.

Well I'm older now but I haven't quite given up on the scientific inquiry just yet and so today I hand you, after much research, and with much fanfare, Jdid's First theorem. A sure hit in the world of science!

Where to start? Well lets begin with another study which was released recently.

Researchers from the University of Georgia and the University of Colorado released a paper, Ugly Criminals a while back looking at the impact of beauty on participation in crime and showing results that suggest that ugly people seem to be more likely to have a life of crime than good looking people.

The Washington Post quoted them as saying "We find that unattractive individuals commit more crime in comparison to average-looking ones, and very attractive individuals commit less crime in comparison to those who are average-looking,"

Lawd ave Mercy!

Not only a fella got to worry about environmental, racial and socio-economic factors affecting a proclivity for crime but now he has to take a look in the mirror and decide whether his features have a criminal disposition.

Criminals now have a new excuse. I can just see a guy in front of the judge pleading for leniency in sentencing arguing that he was destined for a life of crime from the time he born an ugly chile.

"Ammm your honor sir, I would like ta beg de court ta go easy on me. I admit dat I murder them 25 people for no apparent reason but sir I din have much of a choice in the matter. It was bound to happen sooner or later cause I was born ugly and the odds was against me from the start sir. Not only has society let me down but my parents really unfair me by borning me suh ugly."

Its destiny!

But wait a second! Does this mean that if I see someone particularly ugly I should grip my bag a little tighter for fear of robbery or if a ugly fella bounce up on me I should check my pockets to make sure he aint pickpocket me? Hmmmm.

When I was growing up I used to hear people in Barbados using the phrase "Man you look like a real criminal" to mean that a fellow did looking a certain sort of ugly. Well I guess they were ahead of the time and knew something that these researchers just found out.

Cuhdear!

Anyway so back to Jdid's theorem. That report on the ugly/crime correlation got a fellow thinking. I put on a dingy lab coat, pull out two Bunsen burners and some H2O combined with some NaCl, C5H6O8 etc etc (ok I lie it was actually ethanol we use) and took out a beat up lab book to start postulating on some deep deep scientific thoughts.

Pacing up and down in my lab all sorts of random questions popped into my head. Does this mean that if I am good looking I can get away with murder since no one will suspect I'm a criminal? How ugly is ugly to determine if you're likely to be a criminal? Who determines if ya ugly or not? Is there some special Council for the determination of ugly? How is ugly rated? Is it on an exponential scale? Does the ugly hypothesis factor for alcohol influence? How does one rehabilitate someone if they turned to crime because they were ugly and felt they had no other option? What if the person was ugly but they got some cosmetic surgery? Would they still be likely to remain as a criminal or would they shape up and fly right? Could cosmetic surgery be used in the rehabilitation process? And what if the person was ugly and decided to become a criminal to get the money for the cosmetic surgery so they wouldn't have to be a criminal anymore? Its a catch 22, what is cause and what is effect? And most importantly of all why did I need a Bunsen burner in order to think these thoughts?

It was growing late into the evening and these and other thoughts percolated in my cerebal cortex when suddenly.

EUREKA!

As I'm told scientific types are apparently prone to shouting.

Here was a theorem that was going to shake the scientific community off its very foundation and bring society to a halt.

And so I present to you, in all its simplicity JDid's first theorem. (ps: A brother needs more funds to continue this study using the proper apparatus and scientific methods so any University with money to burn out there can kindly hook a brother up with some funds to carry out the research more thoroughly.)

Follow the statements here closely.

IF criminals are more likely to be UGLY
AND
we (meaning me) have already proven that WOMEN seem to be more attracted to gangsta, bad boy, criminal types.

THEN

WOMEN are more likely to be attracted to UGLY men.

Jdid's first theorem

That is a simple yet elegant but undoubtedly brilliant mathematics proof theorem isn't it? You cant argue with the logic or the math. Women like ugly men fullstop.

Discuss amongst yourselves and feel free to give me my props for bringing to light what was always so obvious. I'll be expecting my Nobel Prize in the mail thank you.

Next up in my continuing quest for scientific knowledge: A study into what influences crazy people like Jdid into coming up with simple, elegant yet absolutely outlandish theorems. Send funding in cash or alcohol (since alcohol clearly will have to be checked as a causal factor).

da code

"A very wise British priest noted recently in the press, ‘Christian theology has survived the writings of Galileo and the writings of Darwin; surely, it will survive the writings of some novelist from New Hampshire.’"

Novelist Dan Brown author of The Da Vinci Code

I'm still trying to understand all the hoopla over the The Da Vinci Code.

Dan Brown's book is an international best seller, probably one of the only books in this fast paced era, where less and less reading is done (upcoming blog topic), to make a big profit, and it is about to make its debut in movie form any day now and its still as controversial now as it was when it was first released three plus years ago.

But why?

To be honest I hadnt intended to read it at first. From its debut, it just seemed like it was getting way too much hype and for me hype is usually equivalent to a disappointing output so I said naa I'll wait till the movie comes out.

But then I just couldnt escape the hype and the controversy. At work, at church, in social gatherings, on the subway, everywhere I went I was either privy to conversations on the book or saw somebody reading it. Bookstores had giant displays, Amazon.ca was selling it at discount prices, and folks were asking me left, right and centre whether I had read it.

And as much as I wanted to be in the know and wax poetically on its contents I resisted though. Yep just thought it was going to be watered down and I would be bored somewhat and figure it out in 20 minutes as I do most mysteries. Then I heard a comment that changed my perception.

Someone I knew said that the book had made them question their faith.

Whoa! Hold up son? What was that? I think I misheard you. Question your faith?

Ok now, my curiousity was piqued. Lead me to the nearest bookstore. I gots to read this ish.

And so I did.

I'll be honest in that it was better than I thought it would be. The storyline is fast paced and rather exciting even if the writing itself isnt the best prose. My thoughts on finishing it were 'That would make a great movie' just because of the pace with which it moves and the twists that are introduced throughout the book. Mind you the end seems somewhat like many of my blogs ie; the author ran out of steam.

But even though the book is based on a twisting of religious details to make them seem realistic never once did this book come close to making me question my faith.

Why? Because I recognized that the book is FICTION. Its a good yarn but still its fiction and if I dont believe that Star Trek is real or Ghost Busters is real why should I believe that the Da Vinci Code is?

Thats why when I go to church and hear the preacher in my small mission go on about the Da Vinci Code I wonder to myself, did these guys read the book and dont these guys realize that this is all fiction. I mean if someone comes out with a well written book twisting facts to say that Jesus was an alien will we suddenly believe he was an alien too?

Come on man. Fiction, fact its that simple. Dont get it twisted. Just like everything you see on tv isnt real, everything you read isnt. I mean I dont know where my personal faith stacks up to others but still I think the average Christian shouldnt be worried about this book's affect on their faith if they do hold some faith.

Is Dan Brown the first guy to write fiction based on the church? Probably not. So why all the hoopla with the Da Vinci Code. Doesnt the church know that their comments are just helping Dan Brown get more publicity and sell more books. Do they not understand how publicity goes? There is no bad publicity.

Do we believe everything in print now even if it clearly labelled fiction or are we saying that well there must be some truth because he cant possibly be that talented to make this book all up?

He's a writer, a fiction writer. Its his job to come up with stories and make them realistic people.

(And just like Dan Brown's Da Vinci code I ran out of steam and cant think of a good ending for my blog. Unlike Dan Brown though only 10 -20 people will read this post.)

World Cup 2007

Cricket glorious cricket!

Yep, next year is the Cricket World Cup, the big battle for one-day supremacy and bragging rights by all of the world's top cricket playing nations. Alas that I should even risk a thought that my favorite West Indies squad had a chance at winning but then again miracles do happen.

Anyway the World Cup, like all sporting world cups it appears, is cycled among the nations that play the sport and 2007 just happens to be the year when its being hosted by the Caribbean. World cup cricket in the islands man, it gets no better than that if you are a cricket fan like I am.

Its great since it may give me a chance to go down and get to watch an actual World Cup match live in one of our famous cricket grounds. That's probably a once in a lifetime thing as far as I'm concerned cause most of the big cricket playing nations are on the other side of the world and I man would need some serious big money to even get across to India or Pakistan or New Zealand plus look for tickets and accommodations and the like so there goes jr's college fund before it even get started.....and that just doesn't work for me.

Not that going to the world cup in my own backyard will be cheap but hey I figure at least a man can beg a lodging from one of me bredren.

Still as the Caribbean nations furiously prepare for the World Cup, attempting to beat deadlines by upgrading infrastructure and retrofitting stadiums to bring them into the new millennium some worrying thoughts cross my mind.

Nope not the thoughts that the Windies team is still terrible and its going to be a shame to watch us handed our butts at home by all and sundry. No I'm thinking about the costs of this World Cup endeavor and apparently so are some others.

Can the Caribbean afford to host this World Cup? I mean yea the politicians and the spokesmen for the parties involved in the planning of the event have all put very positive spins on the return in investment from the expenditure outlayed but anyone who has followed big sporting events knows that, even in the case of developed countries, large sporting events have left host countries with big budget overruns, large monetary deficits and white elephant structures (think Olympic stadium in Montreal).

Can poor third world countries like Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, St Vincent and the like afford to invest money into this event and then take losses?

Ok yea don't get me wrong, its quite the privilege to host the event, and one should put one's best foot forward no question about that, but at the end of the day you cant really eat the prestige and good will you garner can you? Aren't there better ways to spend those funds earmarked for the world cup preparation? Wouldn't the millions of dollars going into World Cup preparation be better spent on other projects in the Caribbean countries? Education, Health care, projects to help the poor, those sorts of things. Its a question I often ponder.

The islands are operating under the umbrella of this logic that the press coverage garnered from the World Cup is priceless and will bring new short and long term benefits to our nations. Apparently amongst other things the publicity that is gained from this event will result in a fresh tsunami like deluge of new tourists to the Caribbean after the actual event is finished. I find that logic to be somewhat faulty.

Why? Ok let me explain my counter logic. I don't dispute that with the World Cup of cricket you will get millions of viewers all over the world tuning in to the event. That's a fact. The specifics are though that although you will have large numbers, the viewership will be highly localized in a few countries: Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the entire subcontinent, North America, the Caribbean and a sprinkling of viewers possibly from a few European, African and Middle Eastern countries. Its a far cry from the really widespread coverage of the soccer world cup where basically people on every continent, in almost every country in the world, actually watch the games because well its indisputable that soccer is a more widely played game than cricket around the world and there is more interest in the outcomes of those games.

Ok so we have high viewership for the cricket World Cup but localized. Now not only is the viewership localized but if you plot those countries on the globe you realize that most of them are in the Eastern hemisphere while the Caribbean is in the west. In fact only North America, England and the Caribbean of the countries I've listed are in the west.

Not only in terms of countries listed is the viewership skewered to the east but also in terms of population as I'm sure most of the viewership will originate in the subcontinent which has millions if not billions of people, most die hard cricket fanatics.

What does that tell me? Well it tells me that we are targeting for tourism purposes countries in the west, in North America and England, where our islands are already well known, already have decent press coverage and we probably wont see a really significant upswing in visitors from those places. Then we are also targeting countries in the east where we are likely to get diddly squat in terms of tourist output.

You really think that we will see significant tourist numbers coming from the east? You think people going to leave New Delhi, Lahore or Colombo to fly thousands of miles to the Caribbean to hold a sea bath? You think the same thing will happen with people from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa?

Realistically first off its too expensive to fly that far to the Caribbean for the average vacationer and secondly those guys have sea and sun options closer to home. Why waste a whole day or more flying to Jamaica from New Zealand to spend a week and end up with jetlag that will take 5 days to disappear when you could more easily go to Borneo, Indonesia, Malaysia or someplace close by with the same sea and sun we promoting?

Come on now!

So yea millions might watch but I believe very few will jump on a plane and say they are coming down to Barbados because they just really must savor some flying fish and cou-cou or see the Animal Flower Cave. Its not going to happen.

Maybe during the world cup we'll get a significant increase in numbers from those countries as fans come over to support their teams but after the games are over and the hoopla has died down I don't believe there will be significant impact on tourist numbers.

So then the question is does the expenditure justify the return in investment from a few extra tourists during the world cup event? And while we're at it is tourism such a great industry to invest in with the state of the airline industry and the security issues facing those flying these days?

We are borrowing money to invest in this world cup putting local Caribbean citizens in more debt for some pie in the sky expected long term gains mainly based on increased tourism. I mean even countries that only received warm up games spending big money renovation and refurbishing stadiums that will only get used twice or three times a year.

How much debt are Caribbean countries putting ourselves in for these games and who will be the persons to actually feel that debt burden?

Ok yea the high rollers will say you got to bet big to win big but at the same time I think the odds don't justify the big bet. In fact I feel that I would put money on the West Indies team to win the World Cup before I bet that the Caribbean islands will make a profit or see significant returns from this world cup and the money they spending.

Spring again

Its spring again
everybody knows its spring again
To the girls and boys and people above
This is the time to fall in love

Spring again - Biz Markie


Happy Easter to all.

Well its spring again here in the t-dot and I figured I'd share with you some of the items that let me know that spring has arrived here:

(1) Its raining now instead of snowing although this winter was so up and down that we did actually have a fair bit of rain.

(2) Folks have discarded their winter clothing and some have already adapted shorts. Ok memo to the shorts wearing community: Just because its not snowing doesn't mean its shorts weather just yet.

(3) The temperatures have risen. Toronto doesn't seem to have those four discernible seasons like the textbooks talk about. Spring kind of rushes straight into the warmer weather that we call summer within a matter of weeks. None of that three month, June 21st solstice jive, spring lasts from late March to about mid May when all the trees have their leaves.

(4) The crazy people are back on the streets. I'm not sure what its all about but the first signs of spring for me are the fact that I see more and more of those with serious mental issues on the streets. Its like the city locks them up for their own protection during winter and then just lets them all go at the beginning of spring.

(5) The dandelions are back. Raking the lawn last week (apparently I had to aerate it or some such nonsense after winter) I saw a few dandelions. Sigh! The saga continues.

Ode to 24

tick tick tick tick
previously on 24.........

Any of you guys watch this show?

I've been watching since the first episode of the show debuted back in 2001 and must say that in my opinion this is far and above one of the better shows on TV at the moment. Yes its occasionally really, really unrealistic, that's to be expected with any Hollywood output, but at the same time no show brings the intensity week in and week out that 24 does.

The show grabbed me from even before its debut when I read the format: 24 episodes each representing an hour in the day with each minute of real show time representing an actual minutes worth of action so basically you watch the proceedings evolve in "real time". Pretty nice concept considering that Hollywood seems to be short on ideas that don't involve reality TV these days.

And the shows premise of Jack Bauer (played by Keifer Sutherland) fighting all sorts of bad guys to keep America safe, although its been done to death previously, somehow still comes off pretty fresh because of the intensity of the show and the fact that they aren't afraid to have casualties from the various terrorist plots, bombs, gases and assassinations that they face. Actually the show was probably a little too realistic from the get go as episode one hot on the heels of 9/11 showed a plane getting blown up in the sky (filmed before the actual 9/11 I think they actually cut some of it because of that event.)

Jack as a secret agent part CIA, part special forces, all patriotic soldier working for CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) is the new quintessential American hero. A hero made necessary and ushered in by this new age where the ends justify the means, where we calmly talk about pre-emptive strikes and racial profiling, and heroes openly operate not in an arena where good and bad are obvious but in conditions where grey and cloudy are sometimes the best forecast one can hope for.

In other words Jack is a hero of the post 9/11 event. He kills, he maims innocents occasionally, he tortures on the regular, he lies, he operates outside the law but all to get to the source of the problem. We accept this more easily here in the post 9/11 world where the Guantanamo Bay detention centre exists. Who cares if a few innocents are tortured as long as the bad guys are caught right? The ends justify the means is Jack's motto and anyone is expendable in the cause as long as the final results are correct.

Forget Dirty Harry, Chuck Norris, Stallone or Terminator, Jack Bauer is the illest cat on TV right now. Yes as expected he escapes a lot of tight spots that the average guy would perish in but not without his fair share of grief. He's been tortured, shot, beat down, had a drug addiction, lost his wife, been ordered killed by the President in order to cover up a situation with the Chinese government but yet homeboy still survives (as well he has to for without Jack there is no 24).

And if Jack has had a rough time surviving the past five seasons well everyone else has had an equally tough time remaining unscathed in this show. Presidents conspire, presidents bumble in critical situations, "patriots" do evil all in the name of their country, and folk even the main characters who we grow to like as the hours progress sometimes have a hard time lasting from season to season. No one besides Jack, the driving force behind the show, seems to have been giving immunity from being knocked off at any point in a season. Nina, Michelle, Tony, Sherry, Edgar, President Palmer, even Jack's wife Terri all memorable characters, all dead.

Sigh! If only Kim Bauer would be so fortunate. Kim, who's that? Kim is Jack's daughter who somehow always in the most unlikely events gets mixed up in the day's events, getting kidnapped more times than the average civilian contractor in Iraq, being shot at and even being chased by wild animals all the while providing not so necessary eye candy to the show.

Luckily her role has been phased out somewhat in the last two seasons.

Speaking of unlikely events, like Kim's random kidnappings, does anyone take bathroom breaks or eat on that show or do they only sneak bites of sandwiches hidden under their desks during commercials? For once I'd like to see the Pizza guy deliver a large pepperoni at least once during the season.

And how loyal is that CTU staff? No one goes home. Someone's family dies, like when Edgar's mom died in the nuclear plant fallout and he still remains at work. Folks get tortured, and staff torturing conducted by Jack or other staff seems to occur at least once a season, and the tortured person is back at their desk within two hours. Hey dont knock the staff torture its necessary sometimes, at least on tv. One can never be too sure about the dude you've known for years, who you chatted with at the water cooler this morning, now can you? Could be a sleeper agent even if you know his kids and family and you car pool together to work. Could all be an elaborate plot by the bad guys. Speaking of which ever wonder how staff torture plays out at the company picnic? "Hey Phillips what's up guy? I haven't seen you since you injected me with that Sodium Pentathol and hooked me up to that electric chair the other day, ha ha ha, ah yea those where good times man, good times. So how've you been? Tortured any other innocent co-workers lately?"

Yep, CTU staff is crazy loyal. Even when they have near death experiences, because CTU is the most unsecured place in a crisis and is always being infiltrated or bombed or gassed, the staff who survive always shake it off right away and come straight back to work just in time to save the day. No one even has to call in the grief counsellors! What dedication!

Well clearly nobody at CTU aint West Indian cause family dead, bombs, gas, illness ya see me any crisis would have to wait cause I man would be on leave. If I was on the show they would have to re-name the show 24 + 3 weeks sick leave. Don't care hgow much money I was mekkin ya see me I would be heading home. And don't even mention torture at all cause if it was torture they wouldn't see me again they would just be hearing from my lawyers.

Now if Jack has been the main hero and protagonist of the show the show is not without its memorable sidekicks and co-stars (most of them dead by now) although the one beef here I would state is that besides Nina Myers all of the bad guys have been plain forgettable. I mean Drazen, Salazar, and Marwan weren't too bad and this new cat Henderson is intriguing but did they really come off as anything other than cannon fodder for Jack?

Some of the main characters we grew to love though include:

President Palmer because hey what isn't there to love about a black president especially one who brought such a strong air of leadership and dignity to the role. Plus dude was able to parlay that strong reassuring presidential role into some serious ad money as the AllState Insurance guy and now has his own series the Unit on one of the other networks. Way to go! Alas he was assassinated this season on 24 apparently on behalf of the current president.

Sherry Palmer, introduced as the president's wife in season one and went on to be his former wife as she schemed her way out of our good books but say what you want she was a bad bad lady.

Tony Almeida: Jack's CTU coworker and friend. Tony went to jail for putting his wife ahead of the national security. He also saved Jack's hide by helping him pretend to be dead when the President put a hit on his life.

and last but not least Chloe O'Brien, the obnoxious co-worker who somehow has tonnes of fans. She's the smart alec, who knows her job but has absolutely no people skills so she just says whatever comes to her mouth. The woman full a back chat, her face always screw up and she's downright rude sometimes but somehow she always gets the job done.

Ah 24 I could go on and on but I shall not.

24. No white hat good guys and black hat bad guys here everyone has character flaws and even the president can be shady and oh someone has always got to take the fall because the top guys cant. Why? Cause even if they are incompetent, corrupt or downright evil for the sake of not compromising the position they hold someone else has to take the fall while they escape the blame for the fiascos that ensue. Its the American way isn't it?

Pretty realistic on that level I'd say.

Actually I wonder how popular this show would have been if it was being shown in another era not as conducive as today's geopolitical climate? I guess this was just a case where the Fox guys struck it lucky and gave us the right show at the right time.

Take a bite out of crime

Great Scott are you a thief?
Seems like ya got a mouth full of gold teeth!
Slick Rick - Mona Lisa

I remember when I was growing up you would find the odd guy flashing a smile with a bright gold tooth. It was kind of cool I guess but I always thought of those persons as somehow shady, must be that old adage "every skin teet aint nuh laff" that I was exposed to although I'm not sure exactly how that fits in with gold teeth. It was like maybe you were using that gold tooth smile to hide some personality flaw. You know like the gold tooth back then was what flashy cars are to guys today; it was a way to compensate plus it was a girl magnet. Dudes with gold tooth were straight players, macks, even pimps.

Fast forward to the 2006 era and a single gold tooth is no longer the big mouth accessory it once was. Now it Grillz. I'm talking about those ice grillz, those ridiculous fashion statements made popular by mainly rappers over the past decade or so. Forget a single gold tooth this is all about filling one's mouth with plates of jewels and precious metals. I mean my dentist once tried to run game on me with the old saying that a good smile is worth a fortune. (It was his selling point for why I should get braces to get rid of the gap in my teeth and it didn't work.) Well in this case when one has those grillz the adage seems very true cause a smile with those grillz really does cost a fortune.

Forget rings, chains and bracelets lets put all the jewelry in our mouths.

And some of these grillz are like removable dentures so you can wear your platinum one day and your gold the next day while others are permanently bonded.

Take a bite outta crime wash it down with some juice
Das Efx - Dead Serious

Well in the case of two criminals in a US Federal detention centre they almost bit off more that they could chew by having permanently bonded grillz. Read here. A judge ruled that the grillz they had in their mouths should be seized. Hey the government has to find the money somewhere to pay for their incarceration. The authorities were about to rush them off to the dentist to remove the grillz when it came to light that they had the permanently bonded ones and that removal would be damaging to their mouths. Oh well. I guess sometimes you can take the proceeds of your criminal endeavors with you when you go to jail. So let that be a lesson to all you aspiring hoodlums. Forget the chains, the fancy cars, and the big houses. The law can take that stuff from you invest in grillz instead and you can take that everywhere you go.

But this whole grillz thing got me thinking. Some guys' mouths are completely full of these things and they cost thousands upon thousands of dollars. How does one eat with platinum, gold and jewels in one's mouth? I know I would be feeling really worried that I crunch down hard on a pieca ox tail and hear 'crack' and lost pieca tooth. I would have to switch to a straight liquid diet. No more ox-tail, chicken, even pasta cooked too "al dente"would have me worried. I might even got to cut out rice and peas cause knowing my luck two rice grains would get stuck in a tooth and dislodge something expensive or I might turn around and where I had a diamond all I would see is two black eyed peas staring back at me.

Plus I would have to constantly walk with a mirror in my pocket because I would be checking every two minutes to make sure that I aint lost something expensive. No boy it would be too much stress on me to have jewels in my mouth.

The whole grillz business also got me wondering how those things duz feel in your mouth. I mean how does it feel to have some hard shiny cold things in your mouth rubbing against your gums 24-7. I don't know but to me that don't sound too comfortable. I guess its like having braces but most people I know who have had braces cant wait to get them out as they don't find it too pleasant an experience so I cant imagine actually volunteering and paying to get people to put cold metal in my mouth.

And how safe are all these metals in your mouth? Any possibility that some platinum leach out and rush to my brain or something so? What about a diamond, suppose one slip out and get stuck in my windpipe. These things aint sounding safe at all.

Plus and this is real important for the permanently bonded ones. How does one clean them? Well I guess toothpaste is supposedly a good jewelry cleaner and all but at some point if the bling starts wearing off do you have to go get some sorta fancy jewelry cleaner and swirl around in your mouth for 15 minutes. God forbid ya eva swallow that.

No boy not me and them fancy things in my mouth. No gold, no platinum, no diamonds, no rubies at all in my mouth cause next thing ya see I fall asleep at home and wake up with the wife ova me wid a pliers trying to strike it rich. Nuh uh! No sir not me. The only grillz I want to have any dealings with is the George Foreman ones.

Beef Hero not the sandwich

What's beef? Beef is when you need two gats to go to sleep
Beef is when your moms ain't safe up in the streets
Beef is when I see you
Guaranteed to be in ICU, one more time
What's beef? Beef is when you make your enemies start your Jeep
Beef is when you roll no less than thirty deep
Beef is when I see you
Guaranteed to be in ICU, check it

Yea I got beefs just not beefs like that but I think I can relate to that though.

My thing about beef is getting caught up in someone else's beef. A lot of us take on other people's issues because they are friends or family. The person they are beefing with hasn't even done us anything at all yet we take sides and end up ruining friendships or sometimes even getting into altercations over something that shouldn't affect us personally.

For me that's a no-no. I try to keep my own personal beefs as my own but then I've always been accustomed to rolling solo plus no-one ever takes on my beefs anyways.

But in regards to the beefs of others, unless you're like close close family or its a ridiculous story where clearly I can tell you've been obviously cheated I aint even trying to get involved. Even with close family if I think the beef is silly I'm not even trying to be part of it.

I can be friends with two parties who don't speak to each other, and got issues with each other and that applies in both personal and work relationships cause sometimes there be these little cubicle wars going on and people expect you to take sides. Why? Its work man, I come here to do my shift not get caught up in a professional Tupac vs Biggie struggle. Forget that! I aint trying to be caught up in stuff that really doesn't concern me. Work is usually already stressful enough without personal feuds. Save that drama for your mama! In both personal and work situations if you want to feud like the Montagues and Capolets go right ahead but I'm staying Switzerland neutral. If you want to catch feelings on that and then have beef with me because of my stance that's fine too cause then we have issues.

Like I always figure they are very few people I would even consider getting into crap for. Actually this leads into another thought (Which was supposed to be another blog).

Two weeks ago got into an argument about a public incident that I read about. The incident involved two random parties in close proximity first getting into an argument and then fighting in public with one getting the absolute better of the other. In other words someone's ass got kicked and no one stepped in to help.

The argument was about why people who saw the altercation didn't get involved. No one stepped to the assistance of the weaker party.

My thoughts were to be honest I myself would probably not have stepped in. Yea I know that's sad and doesn't show a lot of community spirit on my part but my thoughts are I aint getting killed for someone I don't know. Forget valor and discretion this is a pure common sense thing.

There are some situations that regardless necessitate someone stepping in or calling the police; small children in trouble comes to mind but there are other incidents like say domestic disputes where you're not fully aware of what's going on or you realize that the situation isn't as cut and dry as it may seem where you cant just step up and play hero. Plus People nowadays igrant, guns a plenty all over the place and ya cant call back bullets once they fire. So yea sorry I never had a cape, never could leap small buildings, never was bulletproof and I aint the one to play hero. Call me the coward of the county if you want but as Kenny Rogers said (yea so I listen to county music what's your problem, you want beef?) "You got to know when to hold um, know when to fold um, know when to walk away know when to run."

Random thoughts

(1) You know that someone's music coming through their headphones is too loud when you can hear their music when they sit next to you ......even though you yourself are listening to music on your own headphones.

(2) "If I was white I wouldn't be afraid of you." Part of a conversation I had yesterday with de wife about what I look like. I was also subjected to this gem "He is good looking if you like good looking guys". My take on the subject, I am ugly yet not scary ugly. Hmmm not sure if this is a good thing or not lol.

Pimping aint easy!

Been pimpin since been pimpin since been pimpin
Mike Epps as Baby Powder in How High

"Its hard out there for a pimp." I cant even blame Terrence Howard or 3-6 Mafia for this one cause that would be ludicrous or maybe rather Ludacris since he's pimping all over the world. Word to Bobby Valentino son!

The news story reads about a young man in my native Barbados who when brought before the judge on charges proudly said he was a pimp. According to the story "Bursting with excitement, Jason exclaims that he was born to be a pimp." "I grow up in this thing," he says. And so as he provides protection for working girls plying their trade he waxes eloquently on his profession. Its just always so nice to see someone having that type of enthusiasm he has for his job isn't it? Go read the story from the link above.

He's been pimpin since been pimpin since been pimpin. Maybe he's just trying to get his 50 Cents. I don't know what you heard about me ............ but I'm a bleep bleep P.I.M.P!

GGGGGGGGGG-G-U-not really a pimp or maybe he is.

Sigh!

Why cant I be a pimp?

From Iceberg Slim to Youngblood Priest to Flyguy to Dolomite to Powder to Bishop Magic Don Juan to Djay (Terrence Howard in Hustle n Flow) pimping has been on the radar for years. Pimping even made the Oscars ths year with 3-6 mafia winning best movie song. Pimping its been glorified, vilified, amplified, and now it seems like the pimps these days they even be testified. CHUUUURCH!

Pimpin aint easy (according to Big Daddy Kane) you gotta get that dirt off your shoulder homie and keep your pimp hand strong. Why? You dare to ask why? You betta back up offa me before I gotta lay down my pimp hand! I keeps my pimp hand strong! Word to big bird son! I'm saying! Actually umm just for clarification is the pimp hand the right or the left hand cause frankly I'm a bit confused here? Is there also a non-pimp hand and do we need to keep that one strong as well? Bah whatever like I was saying I keeps my pimp hand strong son! Recognize!

Of course just to indulge your question for a minute, one main reason for keeping one's pimp hand strong is rather simple. Those jeweled pimp cups are soooo heavy! What does one of those things weight 20-25 lbs minimum? Pimps be having to do bicep curls in order to lift that stuff and still look fly. Wait does anyone still use the word fly anymore?

Wait a second here's a sure fire money making idea. Stay with me stay with me. Weight training for pimps - the DVD. Just let it marinate for a few. Now tell me that aint a good idea? Pack on the muscle so you can keep the pimp hand strong. Build those traps and delts so you can wear your bling bling without O.G ing (thats over gold and is a joke from I'm going to get you sucka where homeboy died because he wore too much gold) or is O.P ing these days. Over Platinum. Featuring 20 different all new exercises you can do with the pimp cup and the cane. For $19.99 we'll even through in some fake bling so you can look like a pimp without paying pimp prices. Its a special one time offer. Yea sounds like a plan so I'm looking for investors. Anyone want to put in some money?

Chuuuurch! By the way I have no idea what that word means but on BET pimps seem to say it quite a bit so it must be important and I'm just saying it to add to my authenticity. Pimp Idea number 2: Pimping for dummies! G's up ho's down, talk like a pimp walk like a pimp, tips on how to keep you pimp hand strong and your pimp game tight.

"We be Big Pimping spending the cheese, Big pimping up in NYC!" JAy Z's a pimp, Snoop Dog's a pimp, David Banner did it Like a pimp, Pimp C well hey his name is starts with so what do you expect. Pimping rides, pimping houses , hmmm maybe we should even pimp my blog. Hey, hold on one minute, watch out now if you touch my blog without my permission I'm a have to lay down my pimp hand and maybe even a pimp foot or two.

WHAT! OK!

But on a serious note Pimping is indeed big business or as KRS-ONE would tell you rather simply we all live in a pimp and ho society. Either you are being pimped or you are the pimp. Wait I'm having another idea here, hold on its coming to me. America's Next Top Pimp. Maybe we can even tie it in with Top Model somehow. "Tyra girl you best to be having my money up in here, homie don't play dat. I know I shouldnt have left Nigel in charge. Damn." Yea I'm seeing dollar signs from that endeavour. What's wrong? If the post is about pimping I gotta keep my mind on my money and my money on my mind. Don't I?

Of course as you can probably tell by now there is no point to this blog but to say the word pimp as many times as possible. Breathe ........pimp pimp pimp pimp pimp pimp pimp. Exhale breath.......pimp pimp pimp pimp.

Hey maybe by blogging about pimping it will get my site more hits or since it is pimp related perhaps more b**** slaps. ha ha ha or should that be ho ho ho ......hold on I meant that like Santa does cause hey seriously Santa is clearly the all time reigning Pimp of the year. Don't let those pretenders fool you Santa is the man. I mean come on who else can carry a a bright red suit and a hat with a ball on it like Santa, and don't buy into that elves making gifts at the North Pole jive. You think Elves got the technical knowhow to make Nintendo and gameboy? Naa Santa pimps the elves (he's got the hottest elves in the game wearing his chain), and takes the money and buys the gifts. Santa got the North Pole on lock and his pimp hand is strong! Plus tell me the truth is flying reindeer not like the flyest ride out there. I mean hey Cadillac or flying reindeer I'm choosing reindeer everytime cause whatever reindeer eat got to be cheaper than gas these days.

Ok enough of this I need to go get me a cane, a lime green suit and matching hat, a fur, some platform shoes with fish in the soles, some bling, but not too much I don't want to O.G (Over Gold like in I'm gonna get you sucka) and a pimp cup. Oh right I'll need some girls too hmmmm. Bah I'm thinking E-bay should cover everything.

And remember vote Big daddy J-diddy (thats my new pimp id) for pimp of the year cause I keeps my pimp hand strong! What! Ok! Yeahhhhhh!