Last week I went to watch The Taking of Pelhan 123. From the preview it looked like an OK movie, something one could watch at the theater, and of course it had Denzel Washington, so hit has to be a decent movie. An actor of the caliber of Denzel is at the least a guarantee that the movie would be decent, right?

The movie actually turned out better than I thought and kept me entertained from the begining to the end. The movie had a nice mixture of action, a decent and a lot of humour, despite the seriousness of the situation. Both John Travolta and Denzel Washington delivered a good performance and played their characters well. Washington played the role of Walter Garber, a NYC subway dispatcher which was recently demoted do to allegations of corruption. Travolta assumed the character of Ryder, a bad ass, wise cracking, train hijacker with a mission and some serious personality issues. The movie also had a good cast of supporting actors which included James Galdolfini of the Sopranos. The only issue I have with the movie is how it ended, it left me a bit disappointed as I was looking for something more that what it delivered. Of course I won't tell you much about the movie, you need to go watch it!

Overall, The Taking of Pelhan 123 was a great movie, and I would recommend it, I give it a Stunner rating of 4 out of 5.

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Michael Jackson Dead!!!

Taken from CNN (cnn.com)

Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, has died at the age of fifty years of age. The Los Angles Times and CNN have reported that the famous artiste died in the UCLA medical centre after suffering from a cardiac arrest on Thursday June 25, 2009. This has certainly shocked the world and broken the hearts of many Michael Jackson fans as the King of Pop has been scheduled to have several concerts starting in the second week of July.

Michael made his debut on the music scene at the tender age of eleven as a member of the Jackson Five and gained great popularity as a part of the group. He however, launched his very successful solo career in 1971, which saw the release of some of the worlds best-selling albums: Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and HIStory (1995). Michael has also been credited with revolutionizing the whole music video scene with his well choreographed and story line music videos. The one that really stands out in my mind and the mind of most people is the video for Thriller, which was the first of its kind. Micheal Jackson has also stamped his personal touch with his own unique dance moves, including the famous Moonwalk, most of which has had a profound impact on the dance moves of more recent times.

But as with most great artistes he has had his fair share of scandals and highly publicized personal life. These events range from sexual abuse of minors allegations, his controversial marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, his financial troubles to his baby dangling incident, and his most dramatic of changing from a black man to white, just to name a few. His escapades has even resulting in him being given the nickname Wacko Jacko. Despite all these negative attention, Michael still manged to maintain high favour in the eyes of his fans.

Do doubt the death of this great, legendary artiste will prove to be a great loss to his fans and the music fraternity. Michael Jackson has certainly made his stamp on the world of music and millions of fans all over the world. Another great icon of our generation has passed.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/25/michael.jackson/index.html, http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-michael-jackson-dead26-2009jun26,0,2152435.story, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson,

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My Expensive Hobby

For a few years now I have embraced photography as my hobby. It is something I truly enjoy, being behind the camera, framing a shot and capturing the world on the other side of the lens, immortalizing that moment in time. I am still very much an amateur, as a matter of fact I haven't even began to walk yet in the world of photography, just an infant trying to learn how to creep. But I have com a long way, both in my skill level and also in the photography equipment I use to get that shot.

I started out with on of those Olympus point and shoot film cameras a few years ago, I can't quite remember the model, but that was my first camera. I wasn't that snap happy back then though, because as you know, film was very expensive and processing was even more expensive. So I took a few photos, mostly at events such as trips, weddings, etc. Then I entered the digital world with my first digital camera, a KODAK CX7330 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA, which was about a little under US$200. It wasn't much, but at the time it was the best thing since sliced bread. I could take as much pictures as I wanted, I could review the photo, I could discard what I didn't want an shoot again, it was great. And so began my affair with photography.

However, after about a year or so, my camera suffered an untimely accident which rendered it useless. This paved the way for me to purchase my next camera. It was an improvement over the first camera, even though it was still a point and shoot. I bought myself the KODAK Z650 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA, which cost me a little over US$300 at the time. With this new camera, my skills improved and my love for photography grew exponentially. Withing a few years I found that I had outgrew my point and shoot and was ;looking for more flexibility to experiment. And so I discovered the Digital Single Reflex Lens (DSLR) cameras. A DSLR was what I needed to take my photography to another level and so I bought my first DSLR, the NIKON D60.

Since the D60, I have been able to experiment more, learn more, improve my skills, my love for photography has grown and of course so have my photography expenses! Since I have bought that Nikon D60 kit which only came with the camera body and a 18-55mm lens, I have found the need for several other accessories. Hmm, let me see how far back financially I have set myself back:

Lowepro Camera Bag
4G Ultra SDHC memory card
UV lens filter
Lens cleaning pen
55-200mm lens
Nikon Spare battery
Tamrac camera bag
SB-600 Speed light

That's the list of things I have acquired since I bought the D60 kit. Totalling all the accessories plus the D60 Kit, I have gone over US$1000, which works out to be about JM$90000. The worse thing is that I still need quite a few more equipment to grow in this hobby. One thing is for sure this is one expensive hobby to take up. But as they say, love makes you do strange things, and that is so true, because I must love photography to be forking out so much money! But I have enjoyed using my photography equipment and I enjoy photography, so it's worth the money. What's the point of life if you can't at least enjoy even a few things? My acquisition of photography equipment has come to a halt for now as I am now tightening my belt, in light of the recent developments. Nonetheless, I will continue to use what I have so far to improve in my photography skills and to continue capturing the people and the world around me. Hopefully one day I will be able to bring in some money from this hobby, then it would be complete. Yes doing something i love and making money from it. Ahhh, some day...

As usual, you can see my photos at: My World My Lens and http://www.flickr.com/photos/stunnerj/

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Winds of Change Fueling Redunancies

It seems all we hear these days is people getting loosing the jobs due to downsizing. This is nothing new to me, as since i joined the company I work for there has been constant redundancy exercises. These last three years however has seen an increase in such redundancy exercises, as almost all departments seem to be shedding people left right and centre. For a long while my immediate section has been spared the wrath of the redundancy axe, but this is no no more.

The redundancy activity has been catalysed by the fact that the company had decided to merge into one regional company across the Caribbean, instead of several separate business units. This means that certain common functions will be centralized, which naturally will result in a staff cut. The current economic situation facing the entire world and the already ailing company has also added fuel to the redundancy fire. All this mixed in with the fact that the "bigger heads" have come up with a "bright idea", that they figure will save them money and increase efficiency has resulted in many people loosing their place in the company. But those remaining can't count themselves lucky at all, as this now means that they will have to now do their work plus take on the workload of those who have been given their walking papers. More work, more responsibilities, more stress and no increase in compensation.

My department has lost it's fair share of employees to redundancy over the fast few years, but my section has been relatively stable. However, on Thursday of last week they "bigger heads", also known as senior management, dropped a bomb shell when they announced that all five technicians in my section will be leavening the company at the end of this month. This means that all the technicians I now supervise will no longer work for the company as the company continues the restructuring exercise. At this point, even though I am still with the company... for now... I have no clue what I will be doing. It is quite obvious that my job function will change by month end, but they still have not revealed what it will be going forward. One thing is sure, that the jobs of the technicians will still have to be done and some of the work I am currently doing is still required.

I wish all those who will be leaving all the best in these uncertain times. Interesting days lay ahead What will I be doing? How long will I be doing it for? I guess only time will tell, but life goes on. There will always be changes, whether we like it or not. All one can do is brace for it and handle it when it comes.

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Just Cool... I'm on Twitter!

Ahhhh, it seems God has heard my cries and lamenting and has had compassion upon me! Yes, after enduring several days of mind numbing heat, it has cooled down! It all began with partially overcast conditions, which later blossomed into fully overcast days with blessings of showers to quench and cool the thirsty, sun-baked land.

For the first in many days, I was able to actually sit down without turning on my fan! Last night I even slept in merino (A-shirts) again and actually covered up to my neck under the sheets! Can you believe it? At one point I was going to pinch myself, but I didn't... not just because it would be painful, but because if being so cool in my apartment was just a dream, I wouldn't want to wake up!

I know it will not last for long, as the summer is still not here in all it's roasting glory. But for now I will enjoy the cool and damp outdoors for as long as it will last. Aaahhh, just cool...

After resisting this new fad, this new activity that has swept the entire globe, I have succumbed and have now joined the large throng infected with this new phenomenon... no not swine flu! I have finally joined Twitter and now I'm twittering away! I really didn't have any interest in this Twitter thing, even though I have heard so much about it from many of the bloggers than others. But I finally decided to join Twitter at the constant urging of two of what I think are their marketing agents, the ladies from And Still I Rise and Blah Bloh Blog! Hmm, I have also noticed that Ruthibelle had joined in the "Get Stunner on Twitter Crew"... is this a conspiracy I smell?

I am not too sure what to make of this Twitter thing, as I have only joined today, so I'm a newbie. I guess my fellow "marketing agents" will help me along in this new wonderful world of Twitter. Also I noticed that all the people I have met in Blogland is on Twitter, was I the only one not on Twitter? So just in case you don't hear from me here, I might be busy twittering, and you'll all know who to blame! LOL! Anyway, I gone... gone Twitter!

PS: My Twitter name is StunnerJ... Thanks Blahblohblog!

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Million Dollar Mattress!

Yes you read the title of this post correct! The owner of the mattress didn't fork out one million dollars to buy it, but at the time it certainly valued one million dollars! As the saying goes, "The fool and his money are soon parted". According to the report, an Israeli woman decided to treat her mother to a new mattress, seeing that her mother has been sleeping on the same old tattered mattress for years. So in a bid to surprise her mother with this new gift, she bought a brand new mattress and threw out the old mattress. Little did she know that her mother had been hording her life savings in her old shabby mattress, approximately one million dollars in savings! Surprise! By the time all this was revealed, the mattress was no where to be found as it seems the garbage disposal truck had already done its rounds.

Now when I heard this news I couldn't help laughing! Something in the far back of my mind was saying I should be sorry for this old lady, but I find it hard to be. In this day and age, this lady is still storing money in her mattress! What, hasn't she heard about a bank, or or other investment options? I understand she is old, but come one, one person can be so daft to have not ten thousand, not one hundred thousand, not two hundred thousand, but one million ratid dollars in her mattress! I know banks and investments are somewhat unstable these days, but having money in your mattress is not better off. If a fire broke out in that house all the money would be up in smoke! If there was an earthquake all of that would be covered in the roubles! And if the mattress got thrown out... wait, yeah, see the mattress got thrown out with all that hard earned life savings!

The family, with the aid of the authorities have launched a massive search for the missing cash at the city dumps. However, they are not alone, as a large throng of concerned... yes concerned for themselves... citizens have joined in to find the million dollar mattress to increase their own wealth. According to the report the family is yet to find the missing mattress and I am sure by now some lucky bastard is a million dollar richer.

Moral of the story: Invest your money wisely and don't keep your money in, or under your mattress... especially one million dollars!

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/10/israel.mattress.money/index.html

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Mi Hot Nuh R...!!!

If someone said it was hot here in Jamaica, they would be lying! Merely saying it is hot is an understatement! It r... &%@$@*! hot!

Now whenever the temperature gets hot, my apartment amplifies the temperature at least ten folds (that is 10 times r... &%@$@*! hot!). That place is like a freaking oven! I swear that at times if I crack an egg on any surface in the place it would fry, if I made the batter for a cake and left it on the counter it would bake! It's as if the former days of me sleeping under the cover sheets in my nightly attire of merino and boxers/boxer-briefs was nothing but merely a figment of my twisted imagination. Now I have lost the sheet, the merino, thinking about loosing the boxers/boxer-briefs, and if I could take off my skin I would do that too! The fan is now on the second speed and I'm thinking of bucking it, but even that is to no avail as it only pushes hot air on my already overheated body.

I am seriously thinking about asking my landlady once again to install an AC unit. I know this will mean a serious increase in my electricity bill and more likely an increase in my rent. But seriously, I am willing to fork out the extra doe for a good nights sleep. I will pay to feel comfortable in my place, to not feel like I have entered another hostile atmosphere of super heated air every time I open the door and step inside that furnace! I dread though, that when I ask her she will give the the excuse of not having any money to do that installation, especially since she forked out some money a few days ago to replace the entire back grill. Oh yeah, I didn't tell you, the back grill was replaced with a much sturdier structure to thwart the efforts of those disgusting creatures called thieves! Yay!

But alas, that new grill has interfered with my plans to get in an AC before the full brunt of the summer kicks in. It's just June 8, not yet officially summer an it hot suh! Yuh can imagine when summer peak? Mi just dead! I can just picture me suffering from dehydration in my own apartment, the fan blowing nothing but super heated air maintaining the head with the conduction, my skin slowly cooking to a tender Stunner Roast, seasoned in my own body salt! By then I might as well just walk around naked with a tomato in my mouth until I collapse in the heat, by then I'll be well-done!

I need some relief, even being at work seems appealing now because of the constant AC. Maybe I should walk with a pillow and a sheet and just sleep on the lounge chair in the pantry... hmm, that could work... right? I know I'm not making much sense right now, it's the heat, the unbearable, torturous, incessant heat!!! Aaahhhh!!!

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Star Trek Review and Photos Galore!

So on Tuesday evening I decided to head back to Carib 5, but this time to check out the next movie on my summer blockbuster list, Star Trek. I didn't to see the customary previews or even the very beginning of the movie due to unforeseen circumstances, but I didn't miss much, just about 2 minutes the most.

Star Trek can be described as a good science fiction movie, mixed with a decent serving of action and comedy. The movie wasn't totally as I expected as I still wanted some more action. Nevertheless, it proved to be a good movie that kept my interest right through. It was a pleasure to see the movie on the big screen as that allowed me to fully appreciate the space scenes, which would be greatly under-represented by my 29 inch television screen. Of course, my favorite character was Spock (Zachary Quinto), but Captain Kirk played by Chris Pine, was a very likable character. And of course Zoe Saldana was looking fine as Ahura! I didn't regret spending the extra few dollars to see Star Trek at the theater, had some actions scene, a few laughs and a OK story line. I think I'll give Star Trek a Stunner rating of 4 out of 5.

I said before that Terminator Salvation was on my list, but based on the reviews I have been hearing, I am having second thoughts about this movie. Several persons have expressed disapointment in this latest Terminator movie, so I might just sit out this one and wait for the boo... the DVD. But Transformers Revenge of the Fallen is still on the list, and I can't wait for the opening date on the 24th of this month! Oh yes, a new trailer is out, maaadddd!

On another note, as mentioned in my previous post, I took quite a few photos on my first Flickr group trip and I have started to post them on My World My Lens. Hoverer, there is more, I am also posting the photos on Flickr, which allows me to post more than one photo for the same day! So you can check out my photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/stunnerj/.

Another weekend has dawned upon us... Wow that was quick! I doubt this weekend will be as fun filled and event packed as last weekend, but I still hope to have some fun or at least get in a few new photos. Anyway, as you can see time is flying by in a great hurry, so enjoy your weekend and make the best of it.

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What A Weekend!

I had a fun-filled weekend this past weekend, from New Kingston to Ochie and back to New Kingston, partying photos and fashion all crammed into one weekend. Let me Recap.

Photo: watever.com (May Daze week 2)

On Friday night after working the evening shift, I dash out of the office at a few minutes fast twelve, revved the engine and made my way up to Akbar, which was the venue for May Daze. This was the final of the series that runs throughout the month of May. Considering that i have never been to May Daze before, the great reviews i heard and that this was the last of the series, I made sure I found myself there. After driving around the block twice in search of parking... I hate when I go to venues that don't have proper parking... I finally decided to go to the payed parking which I ignored each time I passed. The parking was $200, but after some serious negotiations I managed to get it for $150. But the park for searching wasn't the only delay, as I had to join a never ending line which seemed as if it had no intentions of moving. I'm sure I stood there in the line for about twenty minutes and was quite upset to find out at the top of the line that I had to be competing with others who were not in the line! Good sense finally prevailed when the security, if I could call him that, restored a bit of order. I went in the party, met up with my friends, and after getting a drink from the bar I quickly forgot about the earlier delays and enjoyed the music mix and the vibes. May Daze was a decent party, I enjoyed myself and didn't regret the $600 entry fee I payed.

Spanish Town Iron Bridge

After spending the greater part of the day on Saturday to recover and working another evening shift it was time for the Flickr North Coast group trip! I woke up early on Sunday morning to ensure I was read to catch the bus which was scheduled to depart Kingston at 7:30 am destined to the White River Valley in St. Mary. Needless to say, the bus didn't depart until 8:00 am was still on time, Jamaican time that is, lol! The trip to White River Valley was not a none stop trip, as it comprised of several photo stops at various places of interest along the way. These "five minute" stops, which turned out to be half hour at least, allowed to to snap photos at the Spanish Town Iron Bridge, the Flat Bridge, Bog Walk damn and the White River bridge. But that can be expected as once you start taking photos, one looses track of time as you get immersed into your passion. Our group of photographers also stopped traffic in Spanish Town as people started to gather in curiosity when we were down by the bridge shooting. We stopped at a place in Walkers Wood, called Liming for lunch, somewhere I always drove past on my way to the north coast and never stopped. The trip was great, I got to meet a lot of people from the Flickr group, visited places I have never been, got some good photos and just enjoyed the company of my fellow photo enthusiasts. I will be posting some of the photos on my photoblog and on my Flickr account.

Fashion Block 2009

Still tired from my North Coast trip, I was still in the mood to do something I have never done before, and this time it was Fashion Block, a part of Style Week 2009. Fashion Block is a runway show held right in the middle of Knutsford Boulevard in New Kingston and featured the fashion of may designers locally and abroad. This fashion show is the production of the Saint International Model Agency and as such the designs were presented to the huge crown by the Saint International models. I didn't manage to get any good shots, as I still haven't received my zoom lens and the external flash I recently purchased. I however got to enjoy some guess performances from a few of our new local Dancehall artistes. Despite the obvious disappointment of not getting some good shots, it was a good experience as I have never been to one of these shows before.

That was my weekend in a nutshell, how was your weekend?

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