Stinging!

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At this time of the year the temperature is certainly a whole lot cooler and some even say they can already feel the Christmas breeze blowing in the air. The plazas and shopping centres have started to become more busy as more people stroll through these areas as the weekends progress to the biggest shopping time of the year. But this is not the only thing that this time of the year is known for!

Other things are blowing through the air, yes words, insults, challenges and hints of lyrical wars! Yes even though the time has cooled significantly since the winter (or should I say cooler season as we are in the Tropics) things are certainly heating up in the musical arena. Artistes have been dropping words, hurling insults and even subtly challenging each other. But what could be causing this sudden upsurge of competition?

Well my friends, what has been staged as "The greatest one night show on earth", Sting, is drawing close! But you may ask how could a stage show cause so much drama? Well sting is well known for controversy and the inevitable "clashes" among rival Dancehall Artistes. These "clashes" are mainly lyrical warfare among artistes with artistes crafting lyrics that will appease to the fans more than the other artiste but at the same time insulting the rival. But, words at times have turned to violence as proven in the on stage fracas between Vybz Cartel and Ninja Man in recent times.

Now it's 2008 and December is drawing near so all the ill feelings during the course of the year are reaching their climax. Vybz Cartel is throwing words against his former mentor Bounty Killer and his group of Dancehall Artistes called the Alliance, which Vybz terms as the "appliance". Vybz cartel has also been even challenging is nemesis Mavado with insults on the latest Entertainment Report (ER) last Friday. Merciless has also been sounding the alarm, as he seeks to make his comeback on the Dancehall scene. Ninja Man has not been his usual self and has remained quiet thus far, but don't be surprised if this changes within a few weeks! No doubt more challenges will be issues before December 26, 2008 when many Jamaicans will be filing into the Jamworld Entertainment Centre in Portmore, to see the culmination of the battle taunts.

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The Dragon Passes

Byron Lee 27 June 1935 - 4 November 2008

On November 04, 2007 while many Jamaican's and Caribbean nationals alike celebrated the victory of Borack Obama, a great loss was in the making. Byron Lee of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, another of Jamaica's greatest music legends, passed on.

Byron Lee is synonymous with Soca here in Jamaica and no doubt in other Caribbean countries. His musical career spanned some fifty years and he was also one of the foremost persons credited with the inception of the Jamaica Carnival. Byron Lee and the Dragonaires was the headline band for almost all of the Carnival and Soca events, but his music extends even to other functions and events throughout the year. He was recently conferred with the Order of Jamaica during a special ceremony at the hospital last week by Governor General Sir Kenneth Hall and the Prime Minister, Bruce Golding.

Byron Lee has been fighting a battle with bladder cancer since 2006, but finally lost against this killer on November 4, 2008 at the age of 73. Byron Lee, also called the Dragon, a true icon of the Jamaica Music industry and Soca will be dearly missed.

Here is a little flashback to one of his most famous Songs, Tiney Winey.

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History Created... Barack Wins!!!

On November 4, 2008 a historic moment was made, when Barack Hussein Obama II became the first Afro American, Black man if you may, to become the president of the United States of America! So much persons in the US, in Europe and in the Caribbean was hoping and keeping their finger crossed that Obama would carry home the victory. It's almost unheard of, a non-white being elected as the president of the United States of America!

The issue should be who is best suited for the job and not the colour of ones skin, but one cannot help but to feel proud that a black man has accomplished what most if not all of us felt was impossible... well until now. I wasn't cheering for Obama just because he is black, but because I do think he is better suited or the job based on my limited coverage of the whole campaigning.

I am not into politics, but I can't help feeling overwhelmed with emotions after witnessing such a great historic moments. Congratulations Barack Obama!!!

This is just the beginning though, there is a lot of work at hand for the new president. The American economy, the world economy, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the environment and international relations. What does his victory mean for us in the Caribbean? Will we benefit form Obama's victory? Will he truly make a good president? Will his policies make the world better? There are a lot more questions to be answered along with these and only time will tell.

Until then, let us bask in this moment and hope for the best! "Yes we can!" Barack Obama: 44Th president of the United States, fist black president of the United States, one of the (thanks for the correction Abeni) youngest presidents of the United States. History Indeed!

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No TV

I went to bed about 2:00 am on Thursday morning after just watching a little TV, only to be awaken at about about 5:00 am by a loud crashing sound, one of the loudest thunders I have ever heard. But as I am not afraid of a little thunderstorm and since I was really tired I quickly fell back asleep. I woke up later in the morning and after making some breakfast I sat down to eat in front of the TV, i took up the remote and pressed the power button, but nothing happened! No static, so sound, no picture, the entire TV was dead!

I tried the button on the TV, in total disbelief, everything else was on: the DVD, the cable box, the radio had power... but the TV was still not turning on. I reset the switch on the power strip and that didn't solve the problem. Then that awful, feeling crept in and I sunk to a new low, when I finally accepted the fact that the TV was hit by a power surge. Then, could feel my big jackass ears grow longer as I though to myself, "... this is a power strip, it doesn't offer any @$@!&@%! protection, stupid!". You see I had the TV and other stuff in the power strip 9also called power tap), while the computer and computer related stuff were in the real surge protector. I was supposed to have bought another surge protector for the TV and other entertainment electronics, but just never remembered to do it.

Now I have to pay the ultimate price for my stupidity and absent mindedness. I called the repair man who came on Saturday to look at the TV, he changed a rectifier that was shorting but that didn't work either. He whisked away the TV to perform further surgery, but has advised me that the microprocessor seemed to have took a hit and will need a replacement. Hopefully this doesn't cost me an arm and a leg to fix and I certainly don't have the money to go buy... oh Lord... buy and new one!

Today is Monday and I'm still without my TV, bored as hell! Even though I don't watch TV that much, it just feels like such a big loss without it, like a void in my life and especially a void on my TV stand! To ensure you guys don't make this stupid mistake I have posted a few pics and make sure you all have a surge protector not a power tap!

Real surge protector I had the computer on.


Real surge protector/voltage regulator I now have the computer on.


Evil impostor power tap I had the TV on (beware)!

Choose wisely my friends and get a real surge protector!

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Daggering!

No it is not some violent means of killing people, but if you look at it it certainly looks like a very violent activity! Daggering is one of the latest craze in the Dancehall these days, it may be refereed to as one of the new dances, even though I do not consider it a dance at all. To me Daggering is more like an over exaggerated sexual act or very dangerous and violent dry humping. This new, so-called, dance has been a staple at almost all the Dancehall sessions held on a daily basis... yes I did say daily.

Daggering is a dance that is performed by a male and a female and consist of over the top gyrating, heavy pelvis thrusting and daredevil leaps by both dancers on each other. I am proud of the fact that as Jamaicans our creativity seems to be boundless as we create new dance moves almost every day. However, Daggering is not one of these dances that I am proud to claim as Jamaican, to me it is... barbaric and makes Jamaicans look extremely uncivilized. I am still in disbelieve that people go out on a nightly basis just to behave like this. Well that's just my opinion on this new dance called Daggering, but you decide for yourself.



No sah no Daggering for me!

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Truckin' Ain't for Sissies! (Truckfest 2008)

Damn right!

On Sunday I went to Truckfest with a few of my friends with the hopes of seeing some well tricked out trucks. But despite a few well polished and outfitted trucks, it was mostly ordinary truckes that were cleanup for display. The event itself wasn't as organized as an event should be and for something that was also dubbed family fun day we were rather pissed that we couldn't bring in our igloo. But despite the obvious disappointment I did manage to get a few decent shots. So here are a few of the pictures I took. You may olso go to my photoblog for some more photos. As usual you can click on the images to enlarge.

Mean monster trucks

Big red tiger trucks

Well polished, fancy interiors

Trucks with their polished engines on display

Trucks with bright pretty lights

Trucks that breathed fire

All kinds of trucks!

That was truckfest in a nutshel, well in a few shots. I hope you liked the photos.

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