Downtown Zanta's larger than life...hmmm...

I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw this dude on a billboard. My first thought: who in the world put their money behind this? My second thought: why???
Yes, he is sort of funny in a shake-your-head-feel- sorry-for-the-poor- dude kinda way. And he's not homeless, by the way. He's got a place in Etobicoke. I last saw him in Yorkville right in front of Sassafraz (now burned down) during the Toronto international film festival doing pushups for a crowd that was like five people deep. JA Firebrand can back me up on this. Incredible! Now he's looming above one of the busiest corners in Parkdale. Is this what it takes to get yourself up above the crowd? I know of a lot more people who really deserve to be put up on a billboard. Some commenters love it and others don't but it seems this was done all in the name of liberated art. I've dined on patios where he comes around, shirtless as always, flexing his muscles and acting the fool. He may not be deemed dangerous, but I think he's just plain old nasty. I vote for "Mark Clarke" (the self-named "mayor" of Parkdale) to be next in line to get up on a billboard. He, too, may be a bit on the nasty side, but he rollerblades, makes chalk drawings of hearts on the sidewalks, preaches from his fire hydrant pulpit or street corners and has become quite the character of my little village. I heard he used to be a professor at one time. Even the folks over at the Drake don't shoo him away when he hangs outside their toney Queen West establishment. So that's my rant on the billboard thing. You've started the artistic billboard ball rolling Fauxreel!

There goes the neighbourhood...

well, it looks as if all the pleading in the world can't stop "progress". isle a quatre just off of bequia, st vincent (seen smack dab in the middle of the photo) is going to be developed into a luxury resort by the St Vincent government and the family of former PM Sir James "Son" Mitchell. the cost will be about 100 million big ones. i remember (and actually have a pic of myself) being on isle a quatre for a boxing day picnic back in 1991. we got there via my cousin's husband's speedboat and we ate fresh roasted fish and had a ton of other food. it was blazing hot and as I and my cousins darted off to discover more of the beach and surrounding area, i gingerly crept in my soft bare feet over huge black rocks only to get an eyeful of a couple of folks (europeans probably) taking a walk buck naked on a different piece of beach. guess they thought they'd be all alone on boxing day. oh well, 15 years makes a difference and soon no one will be alone here. according to an article on www.cananews.net,

"the [St Vincent] government signed the agreement with Louise Mitchell of the Isle de Quartre Development Company, based in Port Elizabeth Bequia, and the agreement will see a joint group of investors constructing the international resort over a 20-year period.
The project will be done in three phases, with the first phase seeing the development of infrastructure on the island; the second the construction of a hotel, spa, marina and sporting facility; and the final stage will be the sale of lots."

Isle a Quatre (pronounced as "ilycot" by most Bequians) is the biggest isle in the middle of the photo

some of my family members thought all along that since the mitchells are selling it off that the whole bequia crown lands protest was just concocted to stymy tourist competition. however, i don't believe that. one doesn't really have anything to do with the other. isle a quatre is private land as opposed to my support of the bequia crown lands cause because i did and still do believe that selling off a huge chunk of bequia's heritage in a bid to raise money to build an airport on st vincent really isn't the right thing to do. a new airport on the mainland won't create access for the isle a quatre resort anyway since as you can see, you're going to need a speedboat or a water taxi to get out there. build all the resorts you want, and i support development, but giving away your heritage to accomplish this just doesn't sit well with a lot of people including me. Louise Mitchell, daughter of Sir James feels that,

"The project is expected to bring a financial injection into the island of Bequia and Mitchell said that she expects the resort, when it is completed to be one of the main stays of the Vincentian tourism economy."

(Let's hope that Vincentians and Bequians will get jobs from this.)

"The Isle A Quatre project will be executed by the investment firm Dexior of Canada. The island is located south East of Paget Farm and has been in the Mitchell family for over 100 years."

Check out this link to see some photos of the mundane but fun happenings on this piece of Grenadine rock which may eventually become a thing of the past if the public (meaning locals)are kept out as is the case with most private resorts. I like mundane at times. http://www.becouya.com/Bequia/TheSea/iaq.htm

Power Vitamin!!!

My brother is involved with a business venture in which he truly believes. Check out this all powerful vitamin(s) in one little pill on his website:
http://www.dontforgettotakeyourvitamins.com/hazell3532

I should post a pic of him so you can see he's as healthy as a horse and means to stay that way, but I don't have one on hand. Maybe he'll supply a photo soon.

Ciao for now!

The African Slave Trade wasn't all that bad...

Not my words, but those of one of Vat City's top dogs. Yeah, you know, the seat of the papal papa. Just recently I read an article entitled "Human trafficking worse than African slave trade:Vatican official", written by an Associated Press reporter. Who knew? I mean, after reading up all those history books, perusing websites dedicated to the African holocaust, who the hell knew that modern day slavery would even begin to touch, no, be on par with the horrors that went on for four centuries? And who gave Mr.-Cardinal-Renato-Martino-former-longtime-Vatican-envoy-to-the-United-Nations-and-current head-of-the-Holy-See's-office the right to have the official say-so? Isn't it the Vatican peeps who constantly keep making apologies for their sins against humanity whether for aboriginal annihilations, homophobic attitudes, crimes against children, or for their racist ways? After reading the article, if the whole purpose was to highlight the atrocities that are being committed in the present with so little regard for the multitude of lessons we SHOULD HAVE LEARNED from the past, then why even mention or compare this "modern-day slavery" to 400 years of horrific free labour upon which Western society was built? Actually, what's happening could be a work in our favour all over again but then again maybe not. We're already industrialized and capitalist to the bone. You'll never be able to compare a so-called “third world” modern-day girl forced into prostitution (which also happens on the streets of North America) to thousands of black souls chained together and tossed off slaveships in the middle of the Atlantic ocean; or modern-day children forced into labour/militia to generations of grown men and women who were treated like beasts, and humiliated at every waking moment of their lives while well-meaning “civilized” folk turned their heads the other way. Please! Keep these times in history separate!!! Yes, we should learn to not make the same mistakes, but for God's and Goddess' sake, don't call up the name of the dreaded African slavery legacy and compare it to anything that is going on in the world today. As a matter of fact, this dark legacy (no pun intended) could probably, maybe, possibly, be equal to ALL of the atrocities put together that are going on in the world today. I'm taking a chance on saying that but this just goes to show how little mankind really cares about the atrocities that happened to Blacks. It's almost as if he's saying that the slave trade wasn't all that bad and that there could actually be something else with which to compare it. There will never be anything with which to compare it. None of what went on in the past or what’s happening in the present is right or conscious. The African slave trade was incomparable and has left an indelible mark on mankind that has yet to heal.

And by the way, all those years ago, I’m sure those poor victims also regarded their plight as “modern slavery”.

I'm usually pretty tolerant when it comes to different religions but that holier-than-thou Catholic head-of-the-class nutcase needs to check himself (actually, they all need to do this and quit putting their feet in their mouths) and get educated about what's really going on before starting to even compare!
Here's a link to the article. I'm done. http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/11/15/news/nation/15_04_0711_14_06.txt

South Asian Eats

I'm off to the library to pick up Patak's Indian cooking book. Love it Love it!!! I renewed it thrice and was actually under the impression that it belonged to me. Believe me, it was almost a tug of war between me and the librarian over that book when I returned it. Then my blogbuddy JA Firebrand tells me that she saw it at Winners in Dufferin Mall!! Got to pick it up. Just have to. I have a pork tenderloin sitting on my counter just begging to be seasoned with cumin and coriander and cloves. Boy I can just taste it now with my basmati rice and a side salad. And I was lucky enough to come across a really cheap Thai cookbook the other night. I scooped that baby up. I'll be experimenting with banana fritters, curried pork with pickled garlic, fried fish with turmeric, and broiled chicken with sweet chili sauce just to name a few! Man, I've gonna have to balance off all of this with some light weights and a yogalates video.
Later on this evening, it's off to the Drake to listen to our friend Jude spin some neo-soul tunes. One bevvy is all I'm having. Can't seem to drink as much as I could in the past. Ordering cranberry juice at the bar seems to be in my destiny. Oh well, so be it. Patak's, here I come!!!

Love

We sometimes meet people who we think can satisfy us and then it turns out that they can't . We at times fall so hard for people not knowing if they have fallen equally hard for us in turn, or hardly caring. At the most unexpected times, we look love right in the face not knowing what we are seeing, and we continue to search for it...

Love usually does not come in the forms we dream of. I saw a TV show about a girl born with disfigured legs which had to be amputated. She grew intoa a legless woman who was fierce and lived life to the fullest as much as she could. She was surrounded by a loving family and when she grew into a woman, she found love (or love found her). A man with legs, fully functional with his full mental capacities saw the value in her and loved her for who she was inside, not what she looked like on the outside. This legless woman and her man were married and on top of everything she conceived and bore a son.

I asked myself how it is that I couldn't find a man, but this legless woman could? It came down to Love. I do have a love that has been in my face for the last four years but I have chosen to put him on hold in hopes that I would find a more "perfect" fit for me. Will I ever? Perhaps he is the "perfect" one and I'm ignoring this. I wonder if I've put my own love on hold while I hold out for something else. I want to be like that legless woman.

Glue sniffers & stank locations

First of all, my hats off to the TTC driver who decided to put his Queen streetcar out of service last Friday when a customer complained of a glue-sniffin' crony in the back of the car. And guess which building we pulled up in front of when all this went down? The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health right at Queen/Ossington. So we all had to get off of the streetcar because of this ass and of course mister sniffer disembarked with the rest of us - obviously a follower, not a leader. That's when the driver motioned for all of us to get back on and when the druggy tried to get back on with us, he was blocked by the driver (not a bad lookin' brother either) and hauled to the curb by a female passenger. Thank God! I was starving and was on the way to Harbourfront for dinner and drinks with my new acquaintance and Drake Hotel regular, Geoff. Do I count as a regular, I wonder, since I've been following DJ Jude at his Sunday night on the Drake's Sky Yard patio rooftop? I think I've missed maybe two or three Sundays since the start of the summer.

In any case, we made it to Harbourfront where I dined on smoked salmon with juicy capers, sweet red onions and a variety of bread with three different types of dip: sundried tomato pesto, hummus and olive tapenade. Yummmmm!!! I always wanted to be a food critic. Getting paid to eat? Let me know where and when!

Second of all, on Sunday just gone, at Flemingdon Park behind the mall where the Food Basics is just off of Don Mills, NBA player Jamaal Magloire had his 2nd annual community bbq and blocko. He had a band in this year's carnival and there were some of the larger costumes on site. At one point in the afternoon, my girl and I joined the mini carnival parade around the mall parking lot. We were having fun and it was fine until we came back round the back of the mall and encountered all these huge metal garbage bins. The stench was horrible and all I could think was that it wasn't right that the supporters of this NBA player's band should be breathing in the fumes of waste. I hope this bbq gets so big that they have it in a different location or that the next go round, the climax of our mini parade doesn't end by inhaling a stank stench.

Busy is nice

I've been going at it for the last couple of months with my new client, the award-winning actress d'bi.young www.dbiyoung.net
Her theatrical run of her award-winning play is coming up next week. See the flyer.
I'm sure I'll continue to meet many interesting and artistic people through working with her and I'm looking for a couple more clients. I find I really enjoy assisting ultra-hectic people in balancing their personal and professional lives. Sounds sadistic in a way, doesn't it? But seriously, every day brings new tasks, new challenges and new learning experiences. And I don't have anyone breathing down my neck supervising me. Nice.

I hope my business grows by leaps and bounds. I'm crossing my fingers for the stuntman who is interested in my services. Hope he also comes on board.

That's it for now. Just gearing up for tomorrow and an important interview I'm moderating with the Toronto Caribbean press.

The Selling of Bequia Crown Lands

st vincent better be mindful and not take a 'who cares' attitude about bequia. dollars talk and if the vincy people are oblivious and keep their head in the sand, they could catapult themselves 200 years back into the past and end up landless people working for wealthy landowners once again. i may be going a bit overboard here but just envision this: 21st century colonization, but from asia this time, instead of europe.

in 1776, john byres surveyed bequia and at that time 700 acres of crown lands were put aside for poor white settlers. what a difference 200 years make, huh? i wonder if it's these very same crown lands that are now in the hands of god knows who? hmm...now in 2006 we are selling off crown lands to build an international airport on the mainland? is e.t. joshua airport not good enough? there is already a pink elephant of an airport in bequia sitting virtually empty unless you count the private jets that are parking there for pennies. look y'all, here is a petition that can be signed in support of the protest of the selling of bequia crown lands:
http://sv.usaroots.com/petition.htm

do your duty as a citizen whether you're ULP or NDP. be not afraid.

vincentians - get educated, get aware, and for god's sake and yours, demand more from your government! or vincyland may one day be called st.taiwan or st. malaysia.
thank god for freedom of speech!

Caramel Turnovers @ Timmy's

Ok...so JA Firebrand was bragging about how to-die-for this pastry was. So during the Leonard Cohen concert at Bay/Bloor yesterday we ducked into Tim Horton's for a cappucino and turnover. I took one bite into its flaky buttery-ness and my eyes nearly rolled back into my head. Firebrand was busy eating hers and simply nodded an "I told you so".
I quickly said, between bites and a sip of my vanilla-flavoured cappucino, that this was blog- worthy. Firebrand concurred. We considered buying shares and writing thank you letters to Timmy's for creating this semi-decadent sweet.

It brought back memories of growing up in Montreal and going to Woolworth's back in the days when they had lunch counters and a bakery. My absolute favourite dessert was an apple turnover. There was just something about the flakiness, the sweet crunchy sugary topping, the triangular shape, and the hidden burst of tender baked apples in the centre of it that demanded I skip/run/twirl all the way down Decarie Boulevard to Queen Mary Street anytime I could work 50 cents out of my Mom or Dad. At least I think it cost 50 cents back in '76. Ahh, those were the days. That Woolworth's is gone now and they put up a pharmacy in its place, but the memories will never leave me. I think that when a child tastes something for the first time that is so delightful to the palate, that taste memory never goes away. I will always love me an apple turnover.

Caribbean Men are so Fine!!!!!!

I think I need to become a photographer or something. I just saw two photos from a Trini all-male calendar and just the sample photos had me going. Check out what I'm talking about!! --------------------------------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ----------->>>>>

Yeah, I thought so...here's the link: http://www.islandevents.com/whats_hot/article_1601.shtml

My girls and I were discussing the lack of quality unattached men here in the T-Dot (Toronto) and it is deplorable. I personally had a nasty encounter with a supposedly connected young Trini who had, as my girl put it, "trollish manners". Boy, I'm still reeling from that...I've really got to keep an eye out for these slippery jerks. But I still check for the brothers, but not only them, they have some nice Caribbean men of all shades and backgrounds....the thing I like about my Caribbean heritage is the culture, the people, the food, the festivals, the music, and its colourful history. Right now I'm listening to my favourite music in the world! SOCA!!!! Can't wait for this year's carnival in Toronto.

But back to the men...ladies, we can't live with them and we can't live without them. I'm no lesbian and so I need my man...yes sir. So although they can give us massive headaches (some good, some bad) I pay tribute to men, especially Caribbean men! Here are a few worth mentioning:
Kevin Lyttle of St Vincenthttp://www.kevinlyttle.net/
Anthony Gunn of St Vincent/Barbados
http://www.guardian.co.tt/archives/2004-11-14/bussguardian3.html
Brian Talma of Barbados http://www.irieman-talma.com/bio.htm
Brian Lara of Trinidad & Tobago http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Lara
and

Damion Marley of Jamaica
http://www.damianmarleymusic.com/



I know, they are celebrities but they're still men and some woman is in their lives. With that said, I think I'm going to call one of my good male friends and see how his day is going and let him know that I'm glad he's in my life. Hopefully that'll earn me some points when it comes to relationship karma...ha ha..

Pounds and more pounds!

I'm trying to get motivated here to lose at least 25 pounds. Don't ask me where they are. They must be hibernating in my legs and on my waist. Don't like it! Don't like it at all...aggghhhh....but I find the gym so tedious and walking is boring. I was thinking that maybe I could volunteer on a construction site or help out with Habitat for Humanity building some houses or something. That would help, don't ya think? Maybe I should get a job planting trees. All that walking from one seedling plot to another, digging, putting in those cute saplings and then shoveling dirt on top of the hole should help me shed some fat, tone up those unused muscles and get back my waist. I took a pic of myself in the fall and promised myself that I would get rid of the excess fat. Geez, my own kids laugh at me after I eat and point to my pregnant-looking belly. And they're old enough to know better than to do that. If they think it's funny, others will too...and forget about the "bikini-ready" motivating factor. What beach am I going to be lolling around on? Ashbridges Bay? Don't think so. Yeah, that's a pic of the beach right there. Some beach, huh? I don't even know how some folks dip their whole selves in that polluted Lake Ontario water.

Utah Polygamists vs Rastas and Muslims

I was watching Larry King Live and the show was about polygamists from different sects in Utah...the Mormon church says they don't agree with this business of having many wives. But it got me to thinking that it's kind of the same philosophy that Muslims and Rastas have concerning the man having more than one wife. I was told that in the Muslim faith you can and/or should only have more than one wife if you are financially able to take care of her and any children that may come out of the union. Lord, I hope I'm not speaking in ignorance here. And I was told by a Rasta man that it's not really natural for a man to only have one woman. Men are just not built that way, they need to have more than one. I was kinda checking this particular Rasta and really couldn't wrap my head around that philosophy, so I knew that he and I would definitely not work out. It's bad enough that I'm sometimes a little jealous when I'm the only woman in my man's life - I just can't imagine me sharing my man with another woman. I would go mental.

I don't know how these women do it in the name of religion. There was one man who had more than five wives and there were 54 children spread among them! That's like two public school classrooms put together. Holy Lord, I have three and the noise levels drive me nuts, I sometimes think I'm in a bloody market place.
And can you imagine actually being within earshot of hearing your loving man humping his other wife? Oh God!

That's it for now...I guess I've made my point that I'm a one man woman and don't need any other company in any of my relationships. See Firebrand, I posted more than once in one day...I think I beat ya....

Saturday is almost here...

My friend Firebrand chided me for not creating a new post..heh heh....ok gyal, here I'm doing it...gotta get a hang of this thing and realize it's like an online journal. So my day went a little stressful and I was really needing some yogic chants and deep breathing exercises in the morning. Got to get me some tapes. Well, later on I'm slated to record a radio commercial for Scotiabank Caribbean and then get some regular day work done.

There's lots of goings-on in T.O. and I'm looking forward to celebrating spring by attending a lot of them if my budget allows. Gotta pick and choose....there's First Fridays and Bump 'n Hustle among tons of others...hey Firebrand, you checking out the Bump...it was a nice time last time...i had the absolute gall to ask a guy to dance and he was so impressed that he had to pull me aside after we finished doing our boogie-down to let me know how thankful he was that I actually asked since it's well known that many T.O. girls are stuck up..I still got a lot of Mount Real in me so it's not too hard for me to put myself on the line like that. I've been told that chances are I will not face rejection...so throw on that tank top, the comfie Parasucos, and the neat Pumas and let's sweat till we're wet!

God I hope that was a good enough sell to get you to come out..

talk later and yeah yeah, I'll post every day from now on...

Spring has Sprung!

OK...I don't know about you but I'm exhausted from all these winter months...and all these winter clothes. I don't like layering unless it's a bunch of tanktops in different colors over a nice short denim skirt. Summer here we come!
I can see the buds pushing their way out and the birdies are a-singing...It's only a matter of time before the barbie will be fired up....

Hmmm...kinda like this blog thing...can write the way I talk without censoring myself too much....