Gaza Two Mouth?

Picture: OutaRoad.com

By now everyone in Jamaica and Dancehall fans everywhere should have heard about Lisa Hype and her infamous oral sex photograph. This photo received quite a few comments from the Jamaican public as well as fellow Dancehall artistes. One artiste in particular, female DJ Stacious capitalized on this revelation with a song she penned that featured lyrics pertaining to Lisa Hype's oral tendency. however, it seems Lisa Hype's fallout from her oral sex photo did not just stop at the public opinion or the damning words of other Dancehall artistes!

Lisa Hype has been "blown" off,, yes expelled from the Portmore Empire by the their leader Vybez Kartel. According to The Jamaica Star, Vybez has issued a statement saying, "the members of the Empire have unanimously agreed to end our professional relationship especially in light of certain 'developments' that have come to our attention regarding her overall conduct. Conduct that is not consistent with the decorum expected of a member of the Portmore Empire." No doubt this "certain developments regarding Lisa Hype's conduct is in reference to her photo graph and proud admittance of performing oral sex. However, I find this statement and action by Vybez Kartel and his Portmore Empire to be very hypocritical! This is coming from a man who in one of his biggest and most well known song was in full support of a woman performing oral sex! In case you forget, let me drop a quote from his song "Tek Buddy Gyal",

... Tek rod fi di goods from seprod
Plus di ceramic tiles and di gold plate door knob
That a guh cause yuh a blow job...

... Mines sing and DJ like Lady G
A who pay yuh visa fee?
Grab me cocky and sing pan it like Alicia Key...

If it is fact that the reason Vybez is dismissing Lisa Hype is because of the fact that she was caught performing oral sex, then he is a big hypocrite! She is just, as I see it, living up to the expectation of her mentor, the Gaza king, Vybez Kartel. I even suspect that it was probably Kartel's "mic" she was "deejaying" on, if I read deeply into certain images. Granted I am not coming to the defense of Lisa Hype. I'm not sorry for her, as it's her responsibility to ensure her private acts remain private. However, I just find our Dancehall artistes to be too hypocritical on many topics and the subject of oral sex is one in the forefront. If they hit out against it in their songs and statements, then they shouldn't be practicing it at all (either doing or having it done to them) under the quiet. These DJs need to be true to their words and stop to two mouth, two tongue thing!

Source: http://www.jamaica-star.com/thestar/20091230/ent/ent1.html

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Remains of AA flight 331 Under Threat!

By now everyone should have heard about the American Airlines flight 331, which crashed at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston Jamaica earlier this week. Thank God there were no fatalities in this accident and most of the passengers only received a few bumps and bruises. The Gleaner reports that after investigations are completed and the recoverable equipment are removed, the plan is likely to find its way into Jamaica's thriving scrap metal business. That would have been sooner than later if it was not for the security forces guarding the site thus preventing the plane to suffer the fate of the ship wreck only a few meters down the beach from the plane. But the wanton thirst of the scrap metal people is not the only thing investigators and the security forces have to worry about! What else would threaten the remains of this ill-fated plane?

L.A. LEWIS of course!!!

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Ninja Assassin

Last night I braved the cold of the New York winter, the snow and ice, the bone chilling winds to make my way to the Cinema to watch Ninja Assassin. The trek in the inhospitable weather was certainly worth it as the action in the movie certainly warmed up my chilled blood! If you are into almost non-stop action, fast pace martial arts, weapon wielding and blood splattering with dismembered limbs, then this is the movie for you!

The movie spits action from the very beginning, there was almost no slowing down in this movie. Even the flashbacks that develop the story light was somewhat intriguing as it set the pace and the storyline for the movie. The movie stars, Korean entertainer/actor Rain (Jeong Ji-hoon) who plays Raizo, who is a Ninja Assassin who was trained from childhood by a secret Ninja clan and is being pursued by his clan for turning his back on them. The movie co-stars Naomie Harris, an English actress of Jamaican descent, who plays Mika an Europol investigator who becomes marked for death due to her investigations into the secret assassin organization. But I will say no more, you need to watch the movie.

Overall the movie was decent, the action was almost none-stop fast paced fighting and slicing. I recommend this one for the action and weapon based martial arts fans out there! I give it a Stunner Rating of 4 out of 5 as I basically got what I went there to see! Now I need to go give Avatar a watch to see how good it is and what the hype is all about.

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The Bruce Who Stole Christmas

Usually on a Friday I like to post something on a light note, or even post a picture of some hot, sexy female scantily clad. And don't be fooled by the picture above, I am not even reviewing a movie! However this is not an ordinary Friday, it is the real Black Friday, not the one where you get to buy your desire at half the price, but one where you will want to hold on to your money for dear life! What is so bad about this Friday, and it's not Friday 13th?

Well, it's what was announced Thursday, that made this Friday so dark and gloomy. The Prime Minister and his henchman Audley Shaw announced yet another new set of taxes to the nation in Gordon House on Thursday afternoon! This is not just another ordinary tax package, but the mother of all tax packages that has been announced in the past, yes this one supersedes all the previous tax woes on the nation of Jamaica! Instead of being merry and enjoying the upcoming season, Jamaicans have been plunged into a solemn mood, by a picture painted with more hardship for the poor and the struggling working class of this island. But really, can one pronouncement be so bad?

Well remember a few months ago the government introduced new taxes on the poor Jamaican people who were already suffering from high prices and low pay. This is now compounded by this heavy and burdensome increase in existing taxes and the inclusion of basically all goods and services that was not previously taxed! It's as if the government unleashed the tax floodgates on the already burdened tax payers! Now let me depress you with the details:

• The standard rate for GCT will be going up from 16.5% to 17.5%
• Motorists will again be hit with an increase in the fuel tax which will increase to 15%.
• GCT will now be applied to electricity, residential customers using more than 200 kilowatt hour each month.
• Fresh fruit and vegetables, ground provisions, meat, poultry, fish, corned beef and pickled mackerel which were previously tax exempt will now attract GCT.
  
• Other basic food items such as canned sardines, mackerel, bread, buns and bullas are also included on the list of taxable items.
• Persons who require medical and surgical prostheses, orthopedics appliances will now have to pay GCT for these items.
• The Special Consumption Tax on cigarettes will be increased from $8,500 per 1,000 sticks to $10,500 per 1,000 sticks to raise $1.41 billion.
  
• TVJ Prime Time News has noted that even sanitary napkins will be taxed!

Yes my friends, it will now cost more money to even purchase the basic necessities. If the average Jamaican is now finding it hard to make ends meet, what are we going to do come January 2010? The government is hoping that these new overly burdensome taxes will correct the shortfall in the budget and impress the big bad IMF (International Monetary Fund), who they have been trying to woo for several months now. But this new tax measure will definitely put a serious dent into the personal budgets of the ordinary Jamaicans! I know this news has for a certain dampened the somewhat festive mood of this merry season. But you can still eat, drink and be merry this month, for as of January we shall starve!

Sources: http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=15347, http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=15346

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Michael Pryce Has Died

Journalist Michael Pryce has succumbed with his battle against the dreaded cancer when he died on Monday December 13 at the age of forty eight. He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma cancer in January 2006. Pryce is hailed by the Cancer Society Jamaica as a strong advocate for the fight against this disease that has claimed so many lives. He was hospitalised earlier this year at the University Hospital of the West Indies and subsequently travelled to the UK where he has citizenship.

He was born in Birmingham, England, but attended Kingston College and Vere Technical High School. He later returned to England, where he pursued university studies as well as serving a short time in the British army. Pryce's media career took spans several national and international media houses, including: BBC World Service and Choice FM radio in London, Television Jamaica, Radio Jamaica, and then finally joined CVM TV and HOT 102 in Jamaica.He worked as a broadcast journalist with CVM TV, covering and sports, anchoring news and sportscasts, as well as hosting current-affairs programmes.

This great journalist who was easily identified by his British accent on local TV and radio, will be missed by the media fraternity and the entire Jamaican audience.

Source: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20091215/lead/lead7.html, http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/cancer-society-on-pryce

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Driva A Stopped!!!

Driver, don't stop at all, drop this Arizona round a Alba Mall
Driver, don't even hitch, collect dat likkle food deh yah and come back quick
Driver, just rememba di damn speed limit
Cau if yuh, run in di Feds my friend dat is it

-Driver A by Buju Banton

Well it seems when Buju penned those words to the song Driver A, he wasn't expecting to be in the hands of the Feds! Well none of his fans, as a matter of fact none of us expected to hear news that one of Jamaica's most well known artiste would be locked up by the American police for dealing in drugs! I bet the entire Jamaica was shocked when they saw the news that Reggae/Dancehall artiste Buju Banton (Mark Anthony Myrie) has been arrested in Miami for cocaine! Buju as well as two other men have been held in a sting operation by undercover DEA agents and it is alleged that they were in the process of purchasing five kilograms of cocaine.

I was shocked to hear the news that he was arrested for drugs, but even more shocked to hear that it was cocaine! I mean if he was being arrested for drugs, the first thought is that it would have been for weed (marijuana), but cocaine! It is alleged by the US law enforcement officers that Buju was instrumental in the drug deal and has been recorded brokering the deal and even recorded tasting the drug for validity. This is one tough pickle Buju is in, even though it is reported that he vigorously denies being a part of the drug deal. However, his denial is not enough to get him off the hook and it certainly not an easy road to beat this charge.

There has been no official word from Buju's management team on the issue and the local law enforcement personnel has not indicated that they have specifics on Buju's charges. However, we do know according to the Associated Press that Buju faces a charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and faces up to 20 years in prison. It will be interesting to see how this turns out for Buju, who was just recently nominated for a Grammy for his latest album Rasta Got Soul. All of Buju's fans and of course Jamaicans on a whole are eager to hear the details and the fate of this popular artiste. Is he really innocent? Was he setup? is it a great conspiracy due to his anti-gay songs and recent nomination? I guess we all have to wait to see how this unfortunate ordeal plays out.

Source: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20091215/lead/lead1.html, http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20091214/lead/lead1.html, http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20091213/lead/lead1.html, http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g22fxkrM8bnyJ6iWw7HcA-IycAZQD9CJR8E82

Poll Results

Do you think Buju Banton is guilty of the drug charges?

No	9 (26%)
Yes	19 (55%)
Not sure	5 (14%)
What drug charges?	1 (2%)

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It Was Ony A Matter Of Time...

Yes, it was only a matter of time before the great DJ from Pirate Bay, Elephant Man, caught on and copied Jay Z and Alecia Keys song Empire State Of Mind and adapted it to make his new song! Elephant man has reconstructed Empire State Of Mind and has released a song called Kingston.! When will Elephant Man ever be original? When? Ele strikes again!

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They Have Returned and FREE!!!

Well it seems it will be a merry Christmas for cable subscribers here in Jamaica, for Flow customers at least! All indications are that Flow and HBO Latin America have ended their standoff and have struck a deal. Flow has conceded and has signed a deal with HBO Latin America to purchase their feed. This has resulted in the return of several HBO and CineMax channels to the Flows movie lineup (see chart below). Of course these new HBO and CineMax channels now come complete with Latin American ads and even some programmes are partially in Spanish. Seems I need to learn Spanish now... Um, where is that Rosetta Stone DVD? But I guess, Flow can't beat the big dogs so they just have to roll with them and work with the programme to return these channels that its Jamaican customers have become accustomed to.

However, this is not the end for the bag off goodies that Santa Flow has for its good little customers! As a special treat to its customers Flow has decided to offer its residential customers all eleven HBO and CineMax channels FREE for the Christmas season up until January 31, 2010! Yes fellow Flow customers you will be able to watch all these channels free for 2 months, enough to keep you entertained throughout the holiday season. They have further stated that they will soon provide further information on the packages that will be offered and pricing for these premium channels. Let's hope they will really be flexible as they claim they will be when they announce these plans. But in the meantime, entertain yourselves with the channels as Flow seeks to reacquaint you with this estranged channels.

www.flowjamaica.com

Source: http://www.flowjamaica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=249&Itemid=293

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Drought!

For almost the entire year the island of Jamaica has been experiencing a serious drought. The normally rainy months of April, May and October proved to be fruitless and with scarce rainfall too short and infrequent to mention. Even more disappointing was the peak of the hurricane season, even though I'm glad we didn't get a hurricane, but also we didn't get not even one good tropical wave to replenish the reservoirs and quench the thirst of the parched land! The Agricultural Minister announced that this is the worst drought the island has experienced in the past twenty years!

This drought has already begun to take its toll on the island, especially here in the Corporate area and even more so where I live. I have been experiencing water lock-offs since about June of this year, At first I used to loose piped water at about 10:00pm every night until e:00 the following morning, but things have now taken a turn for the worse. Now the water is being locked off as early as 7:30pm! And there is ominous news that as the drought progresses water restrictions will only increase, which would mean that customers will be seeing only a few hours of piped water per day.

However the far reaching consequences of this all island drought is not limited to just our individual pipelines, but the Agricultural sector too is feeling the effects if this drought being caused by what the scientist call El Nino. The longer this phenomenon continues our water supply, agriculture, livestock, and our normal day to day lives will continue to be placed into even more grave danger.

The National Worthless Commission... I mean National Water Commission (NWC), even though they cannot be blamed for the long term effects of this drought still needs to shoulder the blame along with the Jamaican Governments for the inadequate water supply the nation is facing. It seems that quite a few of the islands damns, especially the Hermitage Damn, which supplies the Kingston Metropolitan area have suffered reduced capacity over the past years due to silt. This reduced capacity coupled with increase population and businesses has further reduced the ability of these damns to collect and store enough water especially for times like these. However, our governments and NWC over the years did not see it prudent to increase our water storage capacity by dredging and/or increasing the number of reservoirs across the island, especially the city of Kingston.

It seems we all now need to take a backward... or I should say a forward step, to erect tanks and catchment facilities at our homes in order to ensure we have a fresh supply of water at our homes. Right now i think a meeting is in order at the half dead complex that i live to amend the Strata agreement to allow individuals to erect personal tanks, or for the strata to erect communal tanks for the complex. At this rate I will be living from bottle to bottle for my water supply and that just can't work! It's a serious state the country is in and even hotter, drier days are ahead as this El Nino drought drags on.

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So Scarce... Where is My Mojo? Where is Stunner?

Wow, my posting here has been scarcer than the rain in Jamaica! Well, maybe not as scarce as rain here, considering that the rainy month of October passed without any rain worth mentioning! It seems I have lost my Blogging Mojo, because I have been here so infrequently and the same can be said about me visiting blogs. is it that I have lost that drive to blog and keep up with the posts of other bloggers? Or is it really that I lost my Blogging Mojo and need to find it back? Or maybe it is Twitter to be blamed since I am almost always tweeting away? Well whatever the reason, I hope I can start posting here more frequently. So what has been happening in the Stunner's life?


Well, I wish I could say I am happily employed in a job a love and enjoy and being well compensated for my hard work. But alas, that's just a figment of my imagination as I don't even have a miserable job that can barely pay the bills. Yes my friends, I am still unemployed, still combing the Gleaner for job ads, still sending out applications one after the other, still unemployed and looking. Hopefully I will find something soon, and the searching goes on.

My photography

On a lighter note though, I am still toying with my hobby, photography, and trying to improve my skills in hopes of making some decent money from it. In fact, I have had a few gigs, the money isn't much to talk about, but it can pay a one bill here and there. In fact I have one to work on right now, but this damn place to damn hot to do anything that requires moving from in front the fan for even a second! If you are interested you can check it out here http://www.flickr.com/photos/stunnerj/. Maybe you'll see a photo you like and order a print from me, or like my portraits and hire me for a shoot, right, right, right...

YS Falls St. Elizabeth

My girlfriend was here for a few weeks and that kept me busy, no not in the bed, behind the steering wheel as we were on the road quite often. And I found myself traveling from St. Elizabeth in one end of the island to Portland on the other side of Jamaica. I didn't mind it though, it was great to spend some time and also to get out of this damn hot house and enjoy a bit of Jamaica. I finally made it to YS Falls after being disappointed on so many occasions before. I actually wanted to see this attraction for over four years now and never made it. So getting to go there and see it first hand was a wonderful experience for me. However there is more traveling in store, as this weekend will be the monthly flickr group photography trip and I am looking forward to that!

That's just about it in a nutshell, nothing super exiting and dramatic. Hopefully I will drop a decent post soon and get back that mojo! Come on mojo, you can do it come on...

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Passport Rush!!!

The scene at the Passport Office on Wednesday from under one of the tents.

People, people and more people!!! That was the scene yesterday at the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) as hundreds and possibly in the thousands descended to get their new passports! It was so full that people were everywhere on the compound and even large tents were constructed to house only a fraction of the crowd! But why this great rush for for passports? Well the government announced on Tuesday of this week that effective Monday November 17, the fee for obtaining passports will see increases ranging from eighty percent to as much as three hundred and eight percent! this means that the cost of an adult passport will move from JM$2500 to JM$4500 and for minors JM$1500 to JM$2700. But if your passport is lost or stolen and you need to replace it, you are in fo a shocking increase! The fee for replacing a passport in such circumstances will jump from JM$2500 to a whopping JM$9500! So make sure you keep your passport under some serious lock and key!

So with this announcement, hundreds of Jamaicans descended on the passport office in a bid to cash in on the last of the low prices before the new fees take effect. Yours truly Stunner was also one of the members of this large throng of people trying to avoid the increase in fees. When I arrived at the passport office at about midday I was shocked by the sheer number of people there in hopes of getting their new passport, so I proceeded to the desk at the side of the building and after having my documents checked i was issued a number H84. Hmm, H4 shouldn't be so bad, so i went and asked one of the passport office staff what number are they processing and was told they were in the low B's! What, that mean I had hundreds of people as the tickets were numbered [Letter A-J][01-99]! With that in mind I decided I would go about my business until they close the gate at 3:30pm. I came back to the passport office at 3:40pm and was still greeted by a huge crown which seemed to have only increased since I was last there! However, determined to get my passport I decided to stay, and stay I did. I waited and waited until the day progressed from a brightly lit afternoon to dark night as my number wasn't called until approximately 6:40pm! After going into the office itself, I spend about 20 minutes to get processed, basically a whole day combined!

According to The Gleaner's website, the crowd at the passport office has not subsided but is even larger than it was yesterday! It is so bad that according to the report, three police units have been deployed to the passport office to aid the private security company to maintain order! judging from yesterday, I can just imagine what that crowd looks like today and fear to even imagine what it will look like on Friday! I am sure the passport office will make more than their Christmas money between Wednesday and Friday! But it is terrible to see that the government as well as employers are cutting back on increases and cutting jobs, yet government fees and the prices of goods and services are skyrocketing! As Buju said, "What more unuh want... people fi do?", thing rough and they are getting rougher. If you plan to get your passport before the fee increases, I wish you well!

Sources: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20091110/lead/lead5.html, http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=14273

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Restaurant Week 2009 Is Here!

It's that time again, the time for the top restaurants and the well known ones to put out their best and lure diners with not just savory meals, but with a ease of the pockets. however, what we all know as Kingston Restaurant Week (KRW) has expanded this year and has taken the sampling of delicious, discounted meals to the City of Montego Bay and the town of Ocho Rios. This recent expansion has led to the name of this week long event being changed to Restaurant Week (RW) to reflect this broadening of this culinary event.

Restaurant week kicked off on Saturday November 7, 2009 and will run until Saturday November 14, 2009. As usual the restaurants are divided in four categories, based on their price range, namely:

• Epicurean JM$3500
• Delectable JM$3000
• Savory JM$1600
• Tasty JM$1350
  

So based on your preference and the strength of your pocket you can choose from the four categories and have yourself a delicious three course meal for a price much lower than normal. There are the usual restaurants as well as new restaurant that have joined on for the event. However, the well sought after Mac;s Chop House is not on the list this year. Nevertheless there are still ample restaurants to choose from, not only in Kingston, but now in Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. For a full listing of the participating restaurants and the category they are in you can visit the Restaurant Week website.

I'm thinking I will be trying out the Savory category once again due to my financial constraints, but I just can't afford to miss out on dining at a reduced cost. Lookout for my review post where you will know which restaurant I visited and my review of my Restaurant Week experience. If you are going to Restaurant week, happy dining!

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Trip to the Centre of the Island!

Last month I went on my monthly Jamaica W.I./Lovers of Photography Jamaica Flickr group trip which took me along the south coast and into central Jamaica. I always like to go on the Flickr group trips as apart from getting to indulge in my photography passion, I get to explore this island I call home and with a fun crowd of people with similar interest. It is amazing how little of this island I know in all the almost thirty years I have been living on this island. These Flickr group trips are a wonderful way for me to explore the island as it only costs a nominal fee as we all pool together to charter a bus which significantly saves on the gas money I would have spent if I decided to ventured out on my own.

As I was saying, the trip took us to several places in Clarendon, St. Catherine that I have never been to before, some I have heard of and some had no clue existed. Here is a summary of the places that we visited on our last Flickr field trip.

The first stop of the trip was the ruins of Colbeck Castle, located in the community called Colbeck located two miles north of Old Harbour, St. Catherine.

Colbeck Castle St. Catherine

The next stop was a little pumping station located along the path of Salt River.

A boat docked along the river at the pumping station

The third stop was a quarry located in Clarendon, not sure of the name of this quarry.

A small lake that has formed in one of the holes of the quarry

The next stop was the bathing area of Salt River, where we enjoyed not the warm and cold salty water of the river but some spicy fish tea.

Salt River Clarendon

Next it was to one of the Oldest Churches in Jamaica, the St. Peter's Anglican Church located in a community call Alley.

St. Peter's Anglican Church

We then visited Alligator Hole, known not for alligators, but for crocodiles and manatee (sea cow). Unfortunately even though some of the members of the group got to see a lone manatee and some shots of the manatee, I had no suck luck.

Alligator Hole

The final photography stop of the trip was at Guts River, on the black sand beach where the river meets the Caribbean Sea.

The beach at Guts River

I had fun on the trip and I am already looking forward to the next trip, where I am sure I will have fun, see new places and of course get more photos!

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Still Here... Just A Bit Distracted!

Wait, don't file that missing blogger report! I'm still here, still around and very much still alive! I know I have been a very bad blogger and have been so scarce in the realm of blogging, but I have been somewhat distracted. No I have not found a job as yet, still very unemployed and have unfortunately maintained my bum status. I am still looking though and hoping I will land something very very soon before this money runs out and things get desperate. So what have I been doing to be so distracted?

Well I have been pursuing my photography even more and have been working to improve my skills and trying to be good enough to make a decent change from it. This involves watching several photography courses online and practicing by means of taking lots photographs. I have invested some more money in more photography equipment in hopes that it will improve my photography and start bringing in some form of income if it's even to recover the cost of my investment. You can see mt latest photos here http://www.flickr.com/photos/stunnerj/. Here is just a sample of my photography work.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stunnerj/

Apart from photography I have not been doing much, the rest of the time is spent refining my survival budget and job hunting. Going to bed late and waking up late on a regular basis just seem to make the days go by so quickly. I'm so not used to this being unemployed thing, even after almost three months! Still hoping that will change soon.

Speaking of distractions, I have found that a certain ad has been very good at grabbing the attention of a lot of Jamaican men... I bet you can see why! Check out this Mandingo Ad!



But have no fear I am still around, and I should be back on the blogging scene again as of now. Sometimes a little break is good, but I can't just leave you guys out like that, right!

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Red Bull Art of Can Exhibition

Last night I decided to go check out the Red Bull Art of Can exhibition to see the creative pieces that were on display. The Red Bull Art of Can is a competition in which the entrants make creative pieces almost entirely out of empty Red Bull cans. I must admit that there were several creative pieces on display and a testimony to the creativity of our fellow Jamaicans. Not all the pieces were mind blowing though, some were somewhat simply, while some were a bit confusing. But nonetheless, they all stemmed from the creativity of the designers and for the most part were very impressive. Of course you know I couldn't go the such an exhibition without carrying back a few photos for you guys! So without further ado, here are some of the pieces on display.





The exhibition is being hosted at Devon House here in Kingston and runs from October 1 to 11, 2009 between the hours of 10am to 10pm. So if you have the time you can go check out the pieces and cast your vote for your favorite entry.

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Breast Cancer Awareness Month: The News...

This post is in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is this month, October. The post below, was written several months ago, March 9 to be exact. I had declined to post it, as I still wasn't sure I wanted to post it... I guess I was thinking it was a bit too personal. However, I have now decided to actually release this post as my contribution to Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The News... (09/03/09)

A few days ago, was about early last week I got some very disturbing news. It was like something so surreal, shocking, it was to the point of numbing, I didn't know how to react. When I heard it, I was in total disbelief, yet it was true, I felt as if I was in a bad dream. Yet I could still feel the the temperature of the air on my skin. My sis called us into the room and sat us down, trying to comfort us that we should not worry, as she took a deep breath to tell us the news. She was rather calm, but no one in the room was, especially my mother who kept asking what it was, to the point where we had to tell her to just be quiet. Then my sis began to explain, she had felt a lump in one of her breasts, she did several tests and all confirmed that it was cancerous. We all sank, our hearts plunged into a pit of sorrow, mixed with disbelief, feelings of sorrow mixed with the anxiety of what can be done.

This was especially shocking to me, as I have never heard that my family has a history of cancer. I am all too familiar with Diabetes (often referred to as sugar) which my father has, Hypertension (also called high blood pressure) which my mother struggles with, but never have I heard about cancer. Then to learn it was someone so close to me, my own sibling, my sister. It was a bit... well it was hard to swallow, I, no one expected this. The others took it harder than me, even tears ran down their cheeks. I stood there, just trying to make sense of it, it grapple with the reality of the situation. Truth is, I am not that much of an emotional person, I do show affection and grief, but I mostly keep it inside. It still didn't really sink in even when my sis was explaining what she was going to do and the dates, it was just too surreal at the moment. The gravity of the situation did become more apparent when she drove to the Hospital today to begin the first stage of her battle with this enemy.

I have heard, read and seen a lot of information about this major killer, even given somewhat some supported the fight against cancer with a small donation for my pink ribbon. I also personally know people who have fought with this disease. So I know how terrible this disease is and how it can affect the patient and the family and friends of the patient. However, the feeling is just not the same and the full impact is just not there until you know that someone so close to you has it. This is not only scary to me because it is affecting my sister, it has also unearthed a fear that I too may be at risk, If my sister has it, then it is in the genes and thus I too am at risk. I took my last prostate blood test a few months ago as a part of a random medical. I took it lightly and just did it because I wouldn't be paying for it as my health scheme covers the cost of the tests. But now I think this is something I should do every year.

I pray that my sister will be strong throughout this ordeal and will pull through just as many other cancer survivours have done in the past. The only immediate comfort we have now is that the tests confirmed that it has not spread. She has began a life changing journey, a fight against an internal enemy, a battle that will take strength, courage, support and love. May God be with her in this time of need and may she emerge from this the victor and even stronger. That is my hope, as wishing it never happened is futile, but dealing with the problem together with help from above is the only way.

My sister has already completed her chemo therapy and her final radiation treatment since I wrote this post and is well on the road to recovery. Breast Cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States and a very prevalent disease in the rest of the world. It is a disease that has touched so many lives and more people are diagnoses with this disease every day. The fight against breast cancer is still ongoing and the search for a cure continues in earnest. For those who are now fighting this disease, may you be victorious in this battle and be one of those who can say they are survivours. Condolences to those who have lost loved ones to this disease. I guess I can repeat the advice that the the Medical Practitioners give to all females: do regular self breast examinations and mammograms (where applicable). I would also like to add that a proper, well balanced diet coupled with regular exercise goes long way. Hopefully a cure for this disease is in the near future that will spare many from the clutches of Breast Cancer.

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More Increases, More Hardship!

Once again, the hardship of the Jamaican people has increased. The Government recently tables its supplementary budget in Parliament and increased hardship was on the platter. The government has hiked the taxes on telephone calls, cards and instruments from the already high twenty percent (20%) to a whopping twenty five percent (25%). So now you will pay a quarter of the price of a call, phone card or instrument, plus the stipulated cost each time your take up that phone to make call, buy a phone card or purchase a new phone. Whoever said talk is cheap certainly didn't live or visit Jamaica! However the increase didn't stop there!

If you are thinking of traveling overseas any time soon you will be required to fork out some more money coupled with the already ridiculously high airfares. Why? The government has also chosen to increase the departure tax by a whopping eighty percent(80%)! So now instead of paying the regular JM$1000 for departure tax you will now be required to fork out an extra JM$800 to pay the new fee of JM$1800each time you purchase a ticket to travel. This government never fails to surprise as yesterday when they announced the increases they pulled a fast one and announced that these increases would be effective today, Thursday October1, 2009! Surprise!

However, the government wasn't all about increases as they announced that they will indeed be cutting something! What would cause the government to deviate from their trend of increasing? The government confirmed the fears of many public servants on Wednesday when they announced that they will be cutting the number of people employed to the public sector. Up to earlier this week the Labour Minister, Pernell Charles, stated that as far as he knows the Prime Minister would not be cutting jobs in the public sector, but the Prime Minister sang a different tune on Wednesday! No time-line has been given for this cut, but many speculate that it will be soon, with the IMF deal in sight. So once again the already high unemployment figure in Jamaica will increase.

The only good announcement that came from this supplementary budget was that the Cabinet was not immune from the public sector job cut and that the government will be seeking to cut down on the red tape and gymnastics required to start businesses. But even with this gleam of light the days ahead grow even darker and hardship will only increase for the average Jamaican.

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Everybody Going with the Flow?

The line at Flow's Pavilion Office in Half Way Tree

I received my LIME bill and realized that it had doubled since my last bill and I have not increases my usage nor have I added any new service! How could have my bill doubled just like that? Then I remembered that i no longer have the concession LIME staff normally enjoyed and as such I am now just a regular paying customer. With my unemployed status in mind and this sudden increase in my bill I have decided to go with the Flow in a bid to save money via their bundled service as well as their promotion that they are currently having. I called Flow and spoke to a nice agent who gave me the prices and was more than willing to sign me up. However, I wanted to go to the store to ensure there was no trick and to do my subscription there for their services. Big mistake!

So this afternoon I went to the Flow office located at the Pavilion mall. When I parked in the parking lot the security came to hand me the parking ticket, when she paused and asked me which store I was visiting in the mall. So I told her Flow. Without hesitation she said. "Mi nauh guh even badda give yuh nuh ticket cause in deh ram-up". Right then and there disappointment set in as I hate lines and hate waiting! I decided to go there just out of curiosity, maybe she was just exaggerating. I should have listened, as I totally wasted my time and energy walking up to the store. the line was so long that it was all the way outside the store!

I decided, well the New Kingston office should be better, and so I drove down to the New Kingston Office. this again was another waste of time and gas, even though the line was inside, it was like an overgrown anaconda stuffed in a little box! After taking a number as the security reassured me that I should take a number to speak to an agent as the line was for other transactions. i waited over half hour in the store as I watched the number slowly incremented closer to my number, but was still had a long way to go. It seems everybody has opted to switch to flow or had inadvertently become Flow customers!

I think I might create an account via their contact centre tonight and go in early tomorrow and pay for the subscription to their service. If I sign up to Flow, I will be cutting my LIME Internet, Netspeak and maybe the landline, as well as cutting my Logic One cable service to consolidate them to one bill. This would reduce my bill by JM$1000 to JM$2000, and coupled with their promotions I would be saving quite a few thousands for the next three months!

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Doomed - $5000, JPS Hike!!!

Our fate has been sealed today, September 24, 2009, the average Jamaican has been plunged into further hardship. The Office of Utility Regulations (OUR), for weeks has had our fate in the palm of their hands, as the deliberated in giving the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) the hike the deviously conceived and presented in earnest. Today was D-day, as the OUR was to say whether or not it would be granting the JPS the hike they have been eagerly awaiting and once again the customer's worse fear was realized!

The OUR has granted the JPS an increase on the non-fuel charge of the electricity bill, though the increase is not the ridiculous 23 percent average JPS was asking for, it is still a significant increase. The JPS received a 13 3 percent average increase in non-fuel charge of their monthly bills, which is still a huge increase in these harsh economic times. This 13 3 percent average increase in the non-fuel part of the electricity bill, is further compounded by the ever increasing fuel-part of the bill, which increased even up to this month! I dread the thought of what my next light bill will look like, because even with my attempts of conservation, I still see a bill coming up to several thousands. JPS is sticking true to their motto, "Changing lives with our energy", because they are certainly making our lives harder and making us poorer!

To coincide with this hike in the electricity bill, or maybe just coincidence, the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) has commenced the circulation of the new Jamaican Five Thousand Dollar note (JM$5000). This is just perfect timing with the OUR grant of an increase to JPS, as we certainly will be forking out much more money to pay our bills. No doubt this increase granted to JPS, will shortly start to trick down into other utility bills: telephone, cellphone, cable, water, etc and will even start to translate into other goods and services. At least when people go to pay their bills instead of forking out several Thousand Dollar bills (JM$1000), they will be forking out less paper with this new JM$5000 bill. Now we can cover more bills with less notes. that's they only good way of looking at it, if there is at all any good way to look at it!

This hike in electricity bill and the new JM$5000 note further highlights the plight of the average Jamaican people and gives a dim picture of the overall economic health... or ill-health of the country. Dark and gloomy days lay ahead, we can't stop it, we just have to learn how to survive as much as possible. With this in mind, and my current unemployed status, I now have to reevaluate my energy conservation and see where can further cut back on my energy consumption to stay afloat in this turbulent economic stormy waters.

Source: http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=12847, http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=12851

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Jobless Photographer

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/

It has been one month and 21 days since I have been unemployed and yes I am still a bum! The job market looks barren like a dessert on steroids, some real good links would be like a great shower of much needed rain. Searching The Gleaner for jobs is just a useless waste of my JM$100 and time. Now I have decided to just send out general applications to various companies, while I keep searching for a job. With dwindling funds, I need to find something quick, as the cost of living in Jamaica gets higher with every passing day.

However, despite being pretty worrying, the unemployment status has had a few... very few perks. Apart from getting all the rest and sleep I want, I have had time to experiment more with my photography. I have not been doing the number of photo shoots as I would like to, good models that would work for free are extremely hard to find. almost non-existent. I have had to relay on pouncing on my female friends with camera and umbrella in hand. Nonetheless, I am hoping to do a few shoots to improve my photography and possibly to make a little change from some of the shoots. You can see the latest photos and how much... or how little, I have improved on my photography so far here http://www.flickr.com/photos/stunnerj. I want to get out more to take photos, but gas is pretty expensive, so it's a bit hard to convince myself to just drive out and take photos, especially since I am not making back the money from it so far.

So the job hunt continues, and the photo snapping goes on, day by day...

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Swayze and Rhone Have Passed On

In just the space of two days the entertainment industry has lost two great icons on both the international scene and on the local scene.

theinsider.com photo

On Monday September 14, 2009 the world found out about the death of actor Patrick Swayze who succumbed to his battle against pancreatic cancer at the age of 57. Swayze was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer in January of 2008 and has been fighting this terrible disease while maintaining his acting career. Patrick Swazye is best known for his roles in the block buster movies and all time favorites Dirty Dancing and Ghost. The media's fascination with Swayze did not end with those two movies as he was named by People's Magazine as the sexiest man alive in 1991. His last lead role was the series The Beast, which premiered in January 2009 was later canceled due to the deterioration of his health. Hollywood has lost yet another great actor, the man who made Dirty Dancing appealing to so many females.

jamaicaobserver.com Photo

The local scene however, was not spared from the loss of an icon in its entertainment industry as on Tuesday September 15, 2009 the well known playwright, actor and director Trevor Rhone died in the hospital after suffering a heart attack at the age of 69. Trevor Rhone is best known for his plays with the most popular being Smile Orange, Old Story Time and Two can Play. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the first Jamaican movie The Harder They Come, which stared Jimmy Cliff and further served as a resident playwright at the Barn Theatre. This great talent did not go unnoticed as he was also a recipient of the Commander of the Order of Distinction. Another great produce of Jamaica and one of our most well known member of the dramatic arts fraternity.

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Running Man!

Ever since the change in my employment status I had to make a few adjustments to my lifestyle in order to curtail and minimize my budget. One of those changes was to give up the gym, yes it was hard, a very difficult decision to make, but it had to be done. My gym fee was very expensive, even after the 20% discount I received through my former employer. As I am now unemployed I no longer have that discount and I recently leaned that the gym fee has once again been increased now to an even more ridiculous level!

As with every trip to the US, I gain weight, and this trip was no different. Being home most of the time I hardly do much physical activity and so I have undone all the hard work I had put in at the gym in past months. Realizing this and considering that this sedentary lifestyle is not good for my health, I needed to take action. I have to look good even once before I real the downhill years, and also to stay healthy since diabetes, hypertension and cancer runs in my family! I can't afford the gym until I get a job, so what am I to do?

I have decided to get some exercise in by doing some running! Yes, I have decided to start running in hopes that this will help me to burn this fat and get toned and also keep me in a healthy state. So today I made my first attempt of the hill and it was totally wonderful, challenging, but wonderful. At first when I arrived at the hill in Hope Pastures, I thought it was a pretty easy hill so after walking a few chains I started to run up the hill. But while I was there running the hill revealed it's true self and it got steeper, and steeper. After a few more exhausting chains, the pace slowed and slowed as I felt my body crack under the pressure and my running pace was watered down to a steady stride with much heavy breathing and the downpour of sweat.

But I never gave up and I made it to the top of the hill with a good steady walking pace. I hated going back down the hill though, as it was pressuring to the knew due to the steep decline, but I made it down and managed to repeat the process up the hill one more time. I am ready to do it again tomorrow and at least three times a week challenging myself every time. It will be rough, it will require dedication, but I have to do it, for my health and for my body.

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Kanye Strikes Again!

Oh yes you guessed it, Kanye West Does it again! How much further can one man push his head up his ass? Mr, "Conceited", Mr. "I Need Attention" had to make sure he was in the limelight again at the 2009 MTV VMA's. this time he wasn't on the stage to accept an award, but he surely found his unwanted ass on the stage to make an jack-ass of himself.

It was in the middle of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech, after she was announced the winner of the Best Female Video, Kanye proceeded to interrupt her by taking the mic from her and announcing that he thinks Beyonce has the best video. No Kanye, the whole world does not revolve around you, not everyone thinks like you and not because you don't agree with something doesn't mean we all want to know what you think! I lost my ratings for Kanye West ever since he started to exhibit his conceited, boastful self-righteous behaviour regularly and now this latest act just shot him down quite a few more notches. Right now he's in negative on my scale!

Don't take my word for it, here is the video. (Update 14/09/09: Had to change the video as Viacom had Youtube remove the original citing copyright issues)



Kanye West you need to pull your head out your ass... that is if it's not too far up and can't come out!

PS: you can also vote on the poll at the bottom of the page.

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Brown Sugar!!!

Brown Sugar (Jamaica Observer photo)

Brown Sugar felt really sweet on Friday night as the sang away with the 2009 Digicel Rising Star Competition! first place and a cheque for JM$1000000! It seems Jamaican's love sweets and sweet they got as Brown Sugar thrilled her way through the competition to snatch victory in the 2009 Digicel Rising Star Competition! Her strong voice, sexy atire, voluptuous strong body, and crown appeal got Jamaica voters texting her number like crazy!

it came down to Brown Sugar and Princes Tia in the finals of the competition and last night, based of the performance of Brown Sugar over the last shows and the reaction of the audinence to her performances we all knew the last show was just to announce Brown Sugar as the winner. I could tell that she had the potential to reach very far in the competition when I saw her perform is the preliminary rounds. Throught the competition she matured and her performances and singing grew even stronger, strong enough to become the 2009 Digicel Rising Star.

Congratulations to Brown Sugar on her victory and to Princess Tia for great performances even at her young age!

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No More HBO and Cinemax!

When I came back to Jamaica from my New York vacation and turned on my television, I scrolled to my favorite movie stations, HBO and Cinemax, only to be greeted by the "rice grain" signals on my screen. What! I still can see the other channels quite well, so I know my cable is connected, maybe these two stations are just down at the moment. Two days later and still no HBO or Cinemax, this was serious! So I clicked over to the Logic One information channel and was greeted by this notice below.

Both HBO and Cinemax have been removed from the channel lineup as ordered by the Broadcasting Commission at the request of HBO Latin America! What? Why? How could the Broadcasting Commission order the removal of these well watched channels just like that, how could they?

This question was then answered in a notice from two of Kingston's biggest cable company, Logic One and Telstar. It seems HBO Latin America has ordered that our local cable companies cease and desist from broadcasting all HBO and Cinemax North America feed effective immediately. According to the notice HBO Latin America has claimed that it is in the advanced stages of preparing a channel for the Caribbean region, called HBO Caribbean. They have also assured the cable operators that the new channel will not be broadcast in Spanish of with Spanish sub-titles. The alternative proposed by by HBO Latin America for the Cinemax channel was in the form of movies produced by Warner Brothers. In other words, they are in the process of providing our cable operators with a watered down feed to broadcast to their subscribers.

No time-line was provided in the statement for the commence of these two new channels slated to replace the HBO and Cinemax that we were used to. So until then We will have to do well with the other movie channels in the lineup, that is if you don't have Flow. There has been no statement regarding Flow's channel lineup, so I assume Flow is unaffected by this action. (Update 09/09/09: I have been advised that Flow has removed the mention channels from their lineup too.)All this has raised a few questions: Why has HBO Latin America suddenly ordered a cease and desist? Are our cable providers not paying for the feed? Why does HBO Latin America want to give us a different (watered down) set of channels? Is it that they are giving us a substandard version to fit our budget? What will these new channels be like?

Whatever the reason is, one thing is for sure, it seems there will no longer be and HBO and Cinemax as we know it for these two cable operators and their subscribers.

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Final Destination?

For all those who watched any of the Final Destination sequels you will know why I find a story I recently read in The Gleaner website bit of news all so strange! For those who didn't watch the original or the very predictable sequels, here is the gist of the movies. A group of people consisting of friends and complete strangers miss a horrific death due to the premonition of one of the members. However shortly after "death" comes for each and every one of them one by one no matter how hard they try to avoid it.

Hey speaking of Final Destination, I watched Final Destination IV 3D, I know it was crap, but I just wanted to see the 3D effects. I won't even give a review of that movie. All I'll say the very first Final Destination was absolutely great and they should have just stopped there.

Alas I digressed. Well now that you get the gist of what I am talking about, you will understand why I found this story in The Gleaner very surprising!

Twice unlucky - Cyclist dies after being hit by motor cars

Published: Monday | August 31, 2009

A pedal cyclist died at the Falmouth Hospital from injuries he sustained after being hit by two motor cars along the Falmouth main road in Trelawny on Saturday.

He has been identified as 52-year-old George Sinclair of Hague in the parish.

Reports from the Constabulary Communication Network are that about 7:35 p.m, Sinclair was riding his bicycle along the Falmouth main road in the vicinity of Rock Bridge when he was hit by a Toyota Camry motor car travelling in the opposite direction. The driver of the car exited the vehicle and was assisting the injured man out of the road when he was hit by a second Toyota Camry motor car that was heading towards Falmouth. Sinclair was taken to the Falmouth Hospital where he died while being treated.

Weird isn't it? Can you imagine being hit at the same spot, twice in almost the same instant in time and by the same make and model car! That's some real life Final Destination stuff there!

Source: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090831/lead/lead4.html

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The Miserable Landlord

This is one of the reasons i try my utmost best not to live anywhere where I have to share with my landlord, especially when the landlord is elderly!



Enjoy your weekend!

PS. The back pon the rock and in the heat!

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Chris Brown Shocked with Amnesia!

nydailynews.com

I was watching on CNN HLN today and say a clip of the Larry King Live, Chris Brown interview and was totally shocked at what Chris Brown was saying! This was the first public interview Chris was giving after his altercation with his then girlfriend Rhianna which send her to the hospital with multiple bruises. This was his chance to tell his side of the story and to salvage his reputation, but his interview responses threw some serious punches. Why?

Larry King: "When you hear all the things the Police and the reports said you did, how do you react to that?"

Chris Brown: "... I just look at it like wow... I'm in shock..."

What the hell! What do you mean by you are in shock? You personally beat a girl to a pulp and then turn around in an interview saying that you are in shock as if you were one of the millions who watched this shocking story on TV! What were you in shock for? That it actually got out on the news? That you got charged and sentenced for beating a woman? What are you in shock? Ratid, I'm in shock that Chris Brown is in shock! But that isn't all, what really took the cake was what happened next!

Larry King: "Do you remember doing it?"

Chris brown: "No."

What the #*#^@&%! What happened Chris Brown, are you suffering from amnesia? You beat beat a woman so bad that she had to go to the hospital and the police had to get involved, you see the incident reported endlessly in the various media and now you all of a sudden forget! Hold on, I wonder if Chris Brown is a drug addict or a serious alcoholic, because he must have been under the influence of some mind altering substance to forget that infamous incident! Oh wait, better yet, maybe it is that Rhianna put on some serious lick (blows) in his head, giving him a concussion, leading to memory loss!

It seems Chris Brown wasn't ready for this interview at all, he should have stayed in hiding a little longer, because his answers to Larry King's questions were very lacking. His publicist and manager need to be fired for letting Chris brown go on big CNN, on a famous show as Larry King Live and chat such rubbish! Not even a little dry run session to prep Chris before so he didn't go on to national TV and further damage his reputation! Despite what might have gone down on the night in question between himself and Rhianna, this bout of amnesia just don't cut it! He just needs to fess up, confess about what happened, offer a sincere apology to Rhianna, go to counseling and try his very best never to let something like that happen again. Join support group or action group against violence against women and re-gain some form of good standing with his fans and the public. But claiming to be shocked and forgetting what he did, nuh mek it (unacceptable). Chris Brown needs to go beat out something better on the drawing board!

Oh before I forget, damn amnesia! Here is the video...

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Ookkkaayyy Then!

jamaica-star.com

That's what I had to say when I saw the image of Ms. Kitty (AKA Fluffy Diva) on The Star's website as the Hottie Hottie Femme Fashion girl of the day! I know Ms. Kitty as a very self-confident fluffy (Jamaican slang for larger/chubby/fat women) woman. When I went to that section of The Star's website I certainly was expecting to see a picture of Ms Kitty in a swimsuit hanging on to a pole! What do you say: Self-confident or just plain bold? Sexy or tasteless?

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Happy Four Year Stunner's Afflictions!!!

Once again, my absentmindedness has led me to forget to commemorate my Bloggerversary! As of August 02, 2009 Stunner's Afflictions is four (4) years strong! Who knew that when I signed up on Blogger and typed those few words that I would be still typing all my foolishness still to waste your time [evil laugh].

I must admit though that I have not been posting as regularly as I once did and I guess that's understandable considering that everything and everyone goes through changes. I have evolved and so has my blog... well somewhat. The good thing though is that I am still blogging and I still have the wonderful support of you my readers.

So now as I am here celebrating the fourth year of my blog, I also take this opportunity to say a big thank you my readers, because without you my constant ramblings would be of no use. I hope I can make it yet to another year and to continue to keep you entertained and in some cases informed.

Once again, HAPPY BLOGGERVERSARY STUNNER'S AFFLICTIONS!!!

PS: Since you are the readers, let me know what you like to read about or what you would want to see on Stunner's Afflictions. I post my thoughts and experiences, but you too can make an input. So let me know what's on your mind.

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Who said...

... white girls didn't have ass? Saw this girl at the Ft. Lauderdale International Airport on Friday, and immediately went into paparazzi more with my cellphone. Well, I might be wrong and she may have been Hispanic/Latina. Else that would have been a white girl trapped in a thick black girl's or Latina girl's shape! Well: white, Latina, mixed with black, whatever, she has a ratid shape and booty!

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