Blah, Bloh, Blog

Please..

.. say a prayer and send a thought for the people in the path of Cat 5 Hurricane Katrina.

Posted by YingYang at 11:38 AM 3 comments   

Sweet, Sweet Grenada

My boss bummed a ride with some people who were flying around the island doing aerial photography. He got some really nice shots; makes you get all sentimental and "I-Love-Grenada"-ish.

Sweet, sweet Grenada
Lovely land in the West Indies
And if you feeling nice
Always visit the land of spice
- Cheesy touristy calypso usually accompanied by some shak-shak and a quattro.

Yeah, you know I lurrve Grenada until later today when I squeeze up in some hot mini-bus with 10 sweaty Rastaman. :)

Anyways, this shot was taken at the north of the island, looking northwards. The island in the forground is Sugar Loaf (I think), and the large one in the background is Carriacou.


This is the northwest coastline, interior mountain range in the background.


This is the southeastern coastline.


It's nice to see how a lot of the trees and foliage has really picked up.

*sigh* I'm all misty-eyed now.

Posted by YingYang at 9:38 AM 9 comments   

I'm not dead. Yet.

First off the bat I must give a warm welcome to Richard, Ana, SmallIslandGirl, Mad Bull and YamFoot; my appreciative thanks for adding me to your blogrolls. Now I've got to go hunt down a good statistics software so I can really bore Mr YingYang with lots of blah blah about referring URLs, in-depth analyses of links, search words and the like.

I'm feeling very guilty about not writing more often and I apologise. Its not that I don't want to. In fact, now that I am enjoying the delights of public transportation I spend my commute composing very lengthy, utterly witty blog posts. Don't mind that none of them seem to end up online.... It's the thought that counts. [OK, the thought doesn't count but no need to go there. Jeez.] One of my co-workers is on holiday, so I am filling in for her while doing my own job as well so blogging from work is difficult to say the least.

Well, for all the parents out there you can get a laugh about the fact that I'm frantically potty-training Toddler YY. She is supposed to start nursery school on September 6th and it is a requirement that she be able to use the toilet. By herself. And pull her pants back up I guess. I'm giving myself a panic attack just thinking abut it. She has mastered wee-wee. But poo is another matter. She's got some hang up about poo; she doesn't announce it (like she does with pee - "Mummy, wee-wee inna potty"), she just poops in her pants. And THEN whines and moans about it because she hates to have it hanging around in there. And then she says as an afterthought "Mummy, poo-poo. Inna TOILET!" By which time I am having a fit, muttering frantically to myself under my breath while holding a teeny little panty full of toddler crap, all the time worrying about those ridiculously expensive private school fees that might go to waste if they send her home for not being potty-trained properly.

Speaking of which, WTF is up with school fees? Dayummmmmm! I'm sending ToddlerYY to Westmorland School, my alma mater. Quite a lot has changed since my day and it's rather surreal when you realise that the head of the PTA is a girl that was 2 classes below me. Anyways, its a private school so exorbitant fees are to be expected, but when I got the official prospectus and fee list I was blown away. Let me give you a small sampling:
1. An application fee. Non-refundable. [But of course]
2. An enrollment fee. Of EC$1,500. Payable ASAP.
3. An annual PTA fee.
4. An annual registration fee for .... I dunno.. Isn't that covered by enrollment and applicaiton? Guess not.
5. Oh yeah, regular school fees. Of EC$675. Payable every term.

Above does not include books, uniforms, etc.
But does include requisite snotty little elitist attitude inherent in private schools. Plus the added bonus of making YingYang one of the baking-for-the-weekly-cake-sale, volunteering-for-the-crappy-school-related projects, PTA-attending, soccer-and-swim-team-assistant-coach, SuperMummies. [Major eye-roll]. Might I point out that my own mum thinks this is hilarious.

Why private school you might ask? Well, as I mentioned above, it is my alma mater so I like that she will be going to a school where many of the teachers remember me. The class sizes are small (only 10 in her nursery class) and the school's academic record is excellent. And at the risk of sounding elitist myself, I think I prefer that she be in the company of snobby, petit-bourgeois wannabes than some of these damnass, uneducated, delinquent thugs that seem to be proliferating Grenada's primary schools these days. Case in point: our babysitter's grandson: 9 years old, is happily rattling off frigging 50 Cent lyrics, doing that collar-flicking thing that rappers do, gangsta-posing, etc., but cannot recite his TWO TIMES TABLES. The 2x tables?!? Say wha'? I still haven't managed to wrap my mind around that one yet. How can a 9-year old not know the 2x tables? And still get moved on up to the next form? Oh yeah, at his school a few months aback, there was this incident with some kid brandishing a cutlass, and some other kids threatening a teacher with knives. And these are primary school kids, note well. Man, I remember getting suspended for passing notes that were poking fun about a teacher's hygiene [well it was funny until I got caught]. I can't imagine bringing weapons to school and threatening to cut up your teachers. Times sure have changed.

It's raining and I am pleased to say that for the first time since Ivan, our roof is leak-less (kinda). My brother and some of his partners came over last weekend and nailed down bits and pieces of galvanise over the gaping holes and exposed plywood. We have finally put away the buckets, pots and other assorted water-catchment items. For now at least, knock wood. :)

Peace out and don't forget to register for the Cariblogr list. Tell them Uncle Mad Bull send yuh.

Posted by YingYang at 8:49 PM 6 comments   

WooHoo

This man is unbelievably hot.


Mmmmmmmmm. Yummy.

More?


*YY fanning self* Wow! Terrence Howard is sweet. Guess who's first in line for Hustle and Flow?

Posted by YingYang at 4:18 PM 3 comments   

Oh Really?

An article at PCWorld.com states that "research" (note the quotation marks) indicates that:

[QUOTE]
compared to the average Internet user, visitors to Web logs, or blogs, tend to be younger and to belong to a wealthier household, a study has found.

So hear that you'all? We is well-tee oui!

Posted by YingYang at 10:35 AM 3 comments   

Steuppsssss

Well, looks like Sinead O'Connor is a Rasta now.

QUOTE:
O'Connor thanked Rastafarians for telling people that God and religion are separate, as well as having touched and saved individual lives. I would not be alive on this earth today if not for the teachings of Rastafari. When somebody saves your life, you owe them. I dedicate my life entirely to the teachings of Rastafari," she said.

[PAUSE]

[SIGH]

[INHALE]

STEEEUPPPPSSSSSSSSSS!

Posted by YingYang at 3:15 PM 6 comments   

Jukkin confusion..

I came across this today. Of course, given the saga of the Bahamas and Caricom (are they in or are they out?), and ongoing regular drama of the CSME, B'dos vs Guyana, Trini oil vs Chavez and he big deal, blah, blah, blah, I found that page and the links it contains had me chuckling and grumbling. Rather thought provoking. Or maybe just plain provoking...........

If you guys allow me for a moment to express my views on the single market. In a nutshell - if we don't move on with our regional union then we might as well move to the Sahara and waste away. We have no choice. We cannot compete on our own. End of story. The issue is not IF, it is HOW BEST and HOW SOON.

Sadly, between our own selves and our useless politicians (yes all of them are useless) we just can't seem to get our act together and stop the back-biting, bitching, whining and moaning. The "me versus you" that we love to propagate among ourselves (case in point the link above) seems silly when the reality is that it is us against the rest of the damn world. To my unqualified eye it just seems that Caricom/CSME is fast heading the way of the W.I. Federation of the 60's if we - the populations - don't wise up fast and understand the potential and the possibilities. Most of us have no idea what the CSME is, how it can and will affect us, the pros and cons, changes or adjustments to make it work better.

That said, I must admit that I can't see how the Bahamas could really be integrated into a single market with most of us. Their entire socio-economic structure is different to most of ours. Yeah, they speak English but so what? They are certainly much more Americanised (less British), and obviously identify more with North America than with - say - Trinidad. Or Dominica. Just becasue they have their version of Carnival, doesn't make them an automatic shoo-in for CSME membership. Just because their population looks like the population of St Vincent, doesn't automatically mean the population's general outlook is anything like St Vincent's. Just becasue they have sun and sand and live on islands doesn't mean that what works for Grenada and Guyana will work for them. I'm not being divisive; I'm being realistic.
And I feel the same way about Haiti. (We'll have THAT discussion some other day). Haiti is so not on the same page as the rest of the Caribbean that.... well..... I don't even know what to say.

I am sure my opinion hasn't come across very clearly, and I hope no one gets offended! I'm certainly not as up on the Caricom/CSME issues as I have just pointed out we all should be. But I would love to hear what others think.
_____
Mull on this:

well I am proud to say that I am a bahamian. and I don't need no other island in the caribbean to represent my country cause no one else can. personally I feel that the majority of the caribbean is just jealous of the bahamas. especially jamaicans! and my thing is if you hate and destest us so much why do you migrate here in droves trying to find a better life or find some kind of income than what you have in ya own country? our dollar is the highest in the caribbean and we have one of the highest standards of living in all the caribbean. yes we listen to reggae, and you should be glad and thankful we purchase it to contribute to your economy. at least we live in a country where homes have running water and people don't have to bathe in tubs outside in the fuckin yard! at least we can afford to go to places like KFC or McDonalds and buy a frickin meal for under $5.00 USD. how much is your dollar again? is it a $100USD to one yet? when you get to our standards of living then you can open ya ass and speak. until then, continue to be jealous and shut the fuck up!

Yeah, well OK I threw that in just to muddy up the water and make some confusion. Find more here.

Boy, bachannal is one t'ing dat does unite all of us oui!

Posted by YingYang at 10:12 AM 4 comments   

Jackson's Jury

As if the idiots on Michael Jackson's jury couldn't piss me off more, it turns out that they are little more than (a) real nutcases or (b)total famewhores.

Horrifying details about the sham jury and its sham-ier deliberations include:

Jury deliberations in Michael Jackson's child-molestation trial were allegedly tainted by shocking misconduct that included smuggling in videotaped Court TV shows and secretly communicating with the pop star's mother.
---
A gang of three female jurors were such rabid Jackson fans that they cooed, "Not my Michael . . ." when the panel discussed the felony charges against the pop idol. Both Cook and juror Ray Hultman "said these three women formed a bond, and their minds were made up about one-third of the way through the trial," Brown said.
---
Hultman and another unidentified juror apparently joined Cook in an early vote, leaving the panel split 9-3 in favor of acquittal, Brown said.

He also said Hultman claims he ultimately went along with the "uneducated" majority because he didn't think he could persuade them to reconsider. Cook has said she was "intimidated" into joining the crowd. It's unclear what swayed the third juror.

Why? How? What? Where's the calls for mistrial?

Posted by YingYang at 10:13 AM 1 comments   

Soon come

I know I haven't got a post up in ages but you know how it is. Work, work and more work.

My crappy car is broken so I am enjoying public transportation (grumble, grumble).

Last week, Blogger misplaced not one, but two really long and ranting posts; I haven't summoned the energy to re-write them yet. Sorry.

Abeni and Jdid have written much about Vincy Carnival and Caribana. How telling is it that, with the onslaught of Grenada Carnival this weekend, the thing foremost in my mind is to remember to check the TV Guide listings to see when Law and Order is on. "Good lord woman" (I tell myself), "You're only 34."

Yeah, tell that to the damn bus conductor who called me "Mum" yesterday. Steuppss.

Posted by YingYang at 3:19 PM 2 comments