I'm back

After a long break I am back again. Stumbled across a website called success.org and I give it a 10 when it comes to information on developing one's self. When you get a chance check it out http://www.success.org/AP/. Hope when you do you would tell me what you think.

Remember those New Year resolutions I made in January? Well I have not kept any of them. Tomorrow May 1, is a good time to start again.

Rihanna has a new website

Bajan songtress Rihanna has a new website.

Click here to check it out.

Kudos BL&P

I wish all service industries around the Caribbean could be like the Barbados Light & Power Co. Ltd. Last Saturday there was a power outage and when I called the company - the most pleasant gentleman answered the call, he not only told me what the problem was but gave a time for the resumption of service. In typical BL&P style the power came back on sooner than he said.

Kudos to our power company! I wish my other Caribbean homes could take a leaf from your book.

Jill Scott in Concert - Fantastic

Went to the Jill Scott show at the Wildey Gymnasium and it was fantastic.... wanted to see Lionel Richie but I had to work, wasn't feeling well either.

Click here to read what the Barbados Nation had to say about the show. I agreed with it 100 per cent!

Big Nike contract for Rihanna

Just when you thought the DJ couldn't turn her music up any louder, Barbadian star Rihanna has landed two lucrative endorsement contracts.

The Def Jam recording artiste is about to be the US$20 million face of world-renowned sportswear giant, Nike – the first entertainer to do so – and will endorse a new line of trendy jeans for the JC Penny clothing chain.

At left: Our own cutie-pie Rihanna

Check her out on the Def Jam Recordings website.

According to Rihanna's producer and writer, Evan Rogers, who "discovered" her while on holiday in Barbados last year, the endorsements will take the 17-year-old's fairytale rise to stardom even higher.

"She's making history because she's the first ever non-athlete to endorse Nike, which has built a worldwide campaign around the first single of her second album," Rogers said of the Pon De Replay girl.

"The Nike campaign will include an online promotion and television commercial. It's a US$20 million worldwide campaign for Nike women's wear, and Rihanna will be the face of that campaign," he added, noting that the label worn by Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and other sports stars would be launched with the 17-year-old next month.

You go girl!

Happy New Year!

Today the year 2005 comes to an end and as the sun sets we will be preparing to usher in the New Year, with all its hopes and challenges.

I've written my resolutions and I really intend to keep them this year as I need an overhaul both physically and mentally. I want 2006 to be different.

From past experience keeping resolutions can be hard but I need to keep in the forefront of my mind that achievement comes only from sacrifice. So 2006 is the no bull shit year. The year will be dedicated to developing self discipline. The year in which I do the things that I need to do whether I want to do them or not.

Here is my list:

Lose weight - 155 lbs would be excellent. In 2005 I reached an unbelievable 172 pounds... gained from being away from home and not going to the gym.

Get back to my books - started a training program and have only done one Test. Get the dalm thing completed by June 2006.

Update my computer skills - Read my Windows XP in its entirety... remember how I read MS Front Page from cover to cover about five years ago? Get to the dentist - have not been for almost two years and that is totally unacceptable.

Go back to Toastmasters Club - still hate speaking public speaking and that has got to be fixed. I know there is a lot more I want to achieve in the New Year but with health and strength I am going to go out there and kick some butt!

Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve eve

It's the day before Christmas eve and I am as excited as a child.

I had promised myself way back in November that my shopping would have been completed by now but what a laugh. Bought my last gift this morning then got myself the biggest, badest chocolate cake I've ever tasted now I am sure to enter the New Year 5 pounds heavier.

Had hope to bake the Christmas cake tonight but the carpenter is in the kitchen fixing the hinges on some cupboards so that would have to be done tomorrow.

I am dead tired now so I am off... see you tomorrow.

Sharpening My Saw

I have been working like a dog so I've decided to take today off. I wonder how I ever got caught working seven days a week - but I am not doing it anymore.

Like Stephen said in his book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" one needs time to 'Sharpen the Saw' and I swear my saw is dull.

Yesterday morning it hit me like a big rock - that I maybe losing my efficiency because I try to single-handedly do too many things for an organisation that does not give a shit about how things get done... anyway there is only one person to blame, and that's me.

So I am turning a new page and doing things differently.

Flight Plan - Saturday October 29

I went to see Flight Plan last night. Normally, I would go to a movie and before I finish the popcorn, or half way into the film I am asleep.

But not last night, oh no...I don't know of anyone who could sleep through that movie.

It's a story of a woman (Jodie Foster from Silence of the Lambs) and her daughter flying home from Berlin to America. While they are airborne the child disappears and nobody admits she was ever on the plane. Is the mother a mental case? or is something sinister going on? The movie was suspense from the beginning to the end - and the end was a bomb. Is was like an Alfred Hitchcock thriller...I gave it all the stars - go and see it.

Wilma turns deadly - October 19

I can't help but say how lucky we Bajans are.

That hurricane - now called Wilma - passed us as just another weather system and has now turned into a major Category 5 monster. Reports are saying it is the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, with meteorologists warning that it could maintain devastating power as it crosses Florida from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic.

Can someone please say what has suddenly gone wrong with our weather?

Now it's Wilma

Tropical storm Wilma has been drenching Jamaica yesterday and forced more than 100 people into shelters in the parishes of Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine as heavy rain soaked most parishes.

A flooded village in the vicinity of the Spanish Town/Linstead bypass.

The Met office said the storm was expected to dump more rain on the island today and tomorrow, with the possibility of further flooding.

Last night Wilma was drifting slowly to the south at a mere four kilometres per hour on a path that would take it near the Cayman Islands. Forecasters projected that the storm could further develop into a powerful hurricane, heading either to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula or the Gulf of Mexico.

My sister's birthday

Today is my sister's birthday.

More terror in Trinidad

As expected another bomb went off in Trinidad on Friday night just outside Smokey and Bunty in St James which left ten people injured.

Now this is the fourth time in four months that that has happened...July 11 on Frederick Street, August 10 on George Street, September 10 at KFC Independence Square and now St. James.

The island's crime rate seems to be growing and growing - kidnapping, robbery, assault and murder...what is the authorities doing to stop this? When people stop visiting because they are too scared?

At right: The area where the explosion took place on Friday night at Western Main Road, St James, Trinidad.

The Barbados Jazz Festival

Well it's that time of the year again. The itinerary for the 2006 Barbados Jazz Festival has been announced. The headliners for the event are Lionel Richie and Jill Scott and the ticket prices have soared - US$100 to see Lionel Richie and US$75 for Jill Scott.

I was thinking that I don't want to pay that sum to see Lionel Richie sing old songs but when I remember his hits like "Truly", "Hello" and "All Night Long" ... well maybe. He last performed in Barbados in 1978 with the Commodores and his show was a sell-out.

Jill Scott - she's my girl - with that smile, that so cuddly voice, my type of moves... and words... reminds me to live my life like it's golden.

Jill's got a lovely website check out http://www.jillscott.com/

Above is Jill Scott with her first Grammy. Below is the itinerary for the festival.

I'm back

Well I haven't had time to post since September 22. I wasn't ill or anything just simply too busy.

September 22

Today is my brother's birthday and also the 50th anniversary of Hurricane Janet - the most devastating hurricane to hit Barbados in the 20th century. Thirty-five people died, 20,000 were homeless and 8,100 homes were destroyed.

In North America today folks are awaiting the passage of Hurricane Rita - a category 5 storm.

CNN announced today that you can follow the storm live by visiting hurricanelivenet.com.

Above: A building in Galveston, Texas, is readied for the approach of Hurricane Rita. Rita, one of the deadliest storms ever recorded, sent millions fleeing, threatened vital oil production and cast fear far and wide as it ripped across the Gulf of Mexico, whipping up winds of 170 miles an hour (275 kilometres).(AFP/James Nielsen) .

Here comes Hurricane Rita - Wednesday Sept 21

As if it isn't enough another major hurricane is making its way to southeast Texas and coastal Louisiana. It is expected to hit the Lone Star State this weekend.

Again folks are being asked to evacuate, but I guess they will this time after seeing the fury of Katrina.

To think that Texas had just welcomed thousands of evacuees after Hurricane Katrina hit, and many are now having to flee again. What a pity.

Above right: Long lines of cars are heading out of coastal Texan towns as Hurricane Rita gains strength to become a Category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph (267 km/h). September 21, 2005. (Reuters Photo).

Tuesday - Only five days left

Spent some time reading this evening but took a break to watch Oprah. She interviewed the famous Lance Armstrong, Sir Anthony Hopkins (from Silence of the Lambs - I just love him), and the man who will always hold a special place in my heart -Luther Vandross.

Usher and Patti LaBelle performed two tracks from the upcoming album "So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross". You know I've got to get that.

Oprah also paid special tribute to John H. Johnson of the Ebony/Jet fame.

Then I switched to UPN to watch the new Tyra Banks show. It was all about breast - Victoria Secrets and all. I had to switch the television off though after listening to two minutes of Anna Nicole Smith. Can someone tell me what's the dumb blond's claim to fame?

How time flies

Well I'm exactly one week into my vacation and to date nothing really exciting has happened. Can someone tell me why I opted for such a short holiday?

Now there is a tropical depression on our doorsteps - anyway we could do with some rain... not the torrential stuff, but enough to keep the place cool and green.

Hey, watched a movie called "After the sunset" tonight.

It's about a master thief who retires with his girlfriend to an island in the Caribbean. The thief's nemesis, a crafty FBI agent, appears on the island and a game of cat-and-mouse ensues. Check it out. What I liked about it most is that it has real Caribbean music - including Kevin Little (of St. Vincent & the Grenadines) hit "Turn Me On"... and you know I love that song.

Tropical Depression No. 17

Just checked the weather and it seems like Tropical Depression No. 17 is set to become a tropical storm later tonight.

At 5 p.m. EDT the centre of the depression was located near 13.8 north, longitude 55.2 west or about 290 miles east of Barbados. The depression is moving towards the northwest near 9 mph and this general motion is expected to continue for the next 24 ours.

The weather people are saying that maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph with higher gusts and the depression is expected to become a tropical storm later tonight. Its name will be Phillipe.

Let's hope Phillipe keeps out of our face and not add any more trauma to the Caribbean or the southern part of North America - they can't handle any more.

The beautiful beach at Brandons was picture perfect today.