And Still I Rise

According to the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Issue(CFNI) my island has the highest incidence of obesity in the Caribbean.Yes,St Vincent and the Grenadines tops a very unflattering list but somehow I find that little revelation very hard to believe.I didn't hear the percentages, the comparison between the other islands or even what numbers they used to define obesity.But from my observation I do not see that many obese people in my daily travels.

I did an online check and found an article that said SVG's obesity rate increased from little over 3% to about 4.5% in the late 90's.It would appear that those figures grew steadily in the subsequent years if am to take the word of CFNI.I guess that is the price we have to pay for "development" since our islands move further and further away from an agricultural base and begin to consume larger amounts of fat laden processed foods.Am always shocked when I see the large numbers of persons in KFC especially on Sundays.What happened to the family Sunday lunch when one would normally cook something special and way more nutritious than greasy chicken.

Added to that we have become less active preferring to sit in front of the television for hours and taking the bus for short distances.When I was going to school on the days when I took the bus I,along with my friends would walk from the bus terminal up to my school.Nowadays,I see my cousins and many other students taking another bus from the terminal up to school.Who would have thought things would have changed so drastically


But worst of all this excess weight can have serious health complications for a small population like ours.We want a decrease in diabetes,hypertension,heart problems and all the other things associated with being overweight and not a situation where more people can fall ill.So ladies although they say the men like women with meat on their bones it looks like this island has to go on a diet and fast too.

I have a function to attend next month and am here browsing dresses online.Here are my top pics and its the brown dress on the bottom link you should pay attention to.







Choices,choices.

Happy 26th Independence Anniversary St Vincent & The Grenadines “One People, One Vision – Celebrating 26 years as a nation

The green diamonds are shaped in a V for St. Vincent, and reflect the plural nature of the many islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. These gems define St. Vincent and the Grenadines as the gems of the Antilles. The Blue represents the sky and sea. the gold is for warmth, the bright spirit of the people and the golden sands of the Grenadines. The Green represents the lush vegetation of St. Vincent's agriculture and the enduring vitality of the people.

Its raining heavily as I type which is bad news for the parade and probably the big election rally in the PM's home village.It is speculated that Election date may be announced at this rally so anticipation levels are quite high.With this in mind the rain if it continues into the afternoon may not be enough to keep away the party faithfuls.Am gonna be listening intently to the PM's address to see what goodies he has in store for us after the hints of bonuses,salary increases etc.

We know the story. One December evening, a woman left work and boarded a bus for home. She was tired; her feet ached. But this was Montgomery, Ala., in 1955, and as the bus became crowded, the woman, a black woman, was ordered to give up her seat to a white passenger. When she remained seated, that simple decision eventually led to the disintegration of institutionalized segregation in the South, ushering in a new era of the civil rights movement."

"Our mistreatment was just not right, and I was tired of it," writes Parks in her recent book, Quiet Strength, (ZondervanPublishingHouse, 1994). "I kept thinking about my mother and my grandparents, and how strong they were. I knew there was a possibility of being mistreated, but an opportunity was being given to me to do what I had asked of others."

Here in St Vincent and I daresay the wider Caribbean are many traditions which people have grown accustomed to.On Nov 1, we light candles on the graves of our loved ones,Christmas time there is serenading and Nine Mornings festival and a rain dance in Union Island(a Grenadine island).

Vincentians,being the entrepreneurial souls they are decided to cash in on the All Souls tradition by turning graveyards into BlockO(road party) sites.It went on for some time until complaints from citizens caused the authorities to clamp down on it.Lately,there has been a renewal of the music a little distance away from the cemetery and its interesting to see how long it will be allowed.

Anyway,there is one tradition I wish would die simply because it is so annoying.I speak here of the practice of bussing(bursting) bamboo joints to commemmorate Guy Fawkes Day.Guy Fawkes day is either Nov 4th or 5th but they would start bussing the joints from mid October and this would be a daily thing lasting several hours into the night.How I wish they would burn an effigy or just let off some fireworks! Am not really sure how it works but I think they pour kerosene into the bamboo,light it and then keep re-lighting until the oil is hot which then causes the blast.

Apart from the annoyance of the very loud explosions the practice is very dangerous as several persons have been badly burnt as a result of something going horribly wrong.But not even the sight of badly burnt youngsters are enough to dissuade others.Meantime,I suck my teeth in annoyance everytime I hear the blasts and long for the day when Govt will intervene.Now I think about it the Noise Act should come in quite handy here,don't you think? Anyway,is this practice common in the other Caribbean countries?

Remember I said if I were brave enough I'd have a tattoo? Not the one pictured below though which could probably get a man killed.



Can you imagine the size of the gun if this man started packing on pounds?

A few days ago I saw an email entitled 25 things Sistas should not apologise about.One item that caught my eye and made me smile was "Never apologise for wearing weaves.You bought it and therefore it is yours." Weave wearing is a rather touchy subject and many weave wearing sistas are at the receiving end of many jokes.It is typical to be told that there are many horses that sacrificed their tails to meet your beauty needs etc etc.So, here's some affirmation for weave wearers of the world.

A lot of people view it as a hatred for the type of the hair you were given by God.Black women complain about their nappy hair and how hard it is to manage unless it is in some processed form.On the other hand the women of other races with their flowing ,wash and go type of hair appear to have it so much easier.With the perception that part of beauty is having long hair the weave generally serves to compensate for what you see as being shortchanged.I don't know if it is common knowledge but white people for whatever reason wear weaves too.

Something about weaves that irritate me is seeing little children with their hair all done up and sometimes in different colours.Call me old fashioned but what happened to the days when parents/relatives would comb their kids hair.I remember as a child sitting between some female relative knees and having my hair combed.

It was a daily ritual that was kinda comforting too notwithstanding the discomfort one felt at times.Invariably, you would complain about your hair being tugged,or chafe at having to sit for what seemed like forever.Sometimes,you got a lash for not sitting still enough or not holding your head straight.Nevertheless,I think it was a way of bonding because while your hair was being done it would be just you and your mother and some little lessons would be taught.Then when the job was completed your head was twisted at different angles to decide if it was done to their satisfaction.I know you ladies can identify with this.

As I got older gradually my hair care was left up to me.I had unprocessed hair right through my school life and I had to take the time to manage it.That is not to say that I didn't resent the time I had to spend on my hair as compared to all my friends who were sporting processed hair.But,on reflection my hair still looked good,different but good.Some weekends I would sit for several hours while my mother or aunt braided my natural hair in tiny plaits.This would be good for about 6 weeks and back then people would ask if it was my hair.

I say all this to say that if you take time your hatural hair won't be seen as a drag.I suppose it all comes down to accepting that our type of hair will never be like the other races.Nowadays,I have gone the processed route and people still ask if am wearing a weave(see pic to the left).I am unsure whether they think hair my length must be store bought or if it is a bad weave job:).So,I never know whether it is a compliment or insult.Anyway,ladies if you wear weaves make sure it is nicely done and not the type that make people cringe.

Courtesy a friend's Friendster account.I sure can relate.

Being Twenty-something - they call it the "Quarter-
life Crisis. It is when you stop going along with the
crowd and start realising that there are many
things about yourself that you didn't know and may
not like.

You start feeling insecure and wonder where you
will be in a year or two, but then get scared
because you barely know where you are now.

You start realising that people are selfish and that,
maybe, those friends that you thought you were so
close to aren't exactly the greatest people you
have ever met, and the people you have lost touch
with are some of themost important ones.

What you don't recognise is that they are realising
that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or
insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job ... and it is not even close to
what you thought you would be doing, or maybe
you are looking for a job and realizing that you are
going to have to start at the bottom and that
scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what
others are doing and find yourself judging more
than usual because suddenly you realise that you
have certain boundaries in your life and are
constantly adding things to your list of what is
acceptable and what isn't.

One minute, you are insecure and then the next,
secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force
of your life. You feel alone and scared and
confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you
try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon
realise that the past is drifting further and further
away, and there is nothing to do but stay where
you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how
someone you loved could do such damage to you.
Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet
anyone decent enough that you want to get to
know better. Or maybe you love someone but love
someone else too and cannot figure out why you
are doing this because you know that you aren't a
bad person.

One night stands and random hook ups start to
look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot
don't seem as fun.

You go through the same emotions and questions
over and over, and talk with your friends about the
same topics because you cannot seem to make a
decision.

You worry about loans, money, the future and
making a life for yourself... and while winning the
race would be great, right now you'd just like to be
a contender! What you may not realise is that
everyone reading this relates to it.
We are in our best of times and our worst of times
trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out

Not my words but here goes:

1. People who point at their wrist while asking for the time.... I know where my watch is pal, where the hell is yours? Do I point at my crotch when I ask where the toilet is?


2. People who are willing to get off their ass to search the entire room for the tv remote because they refuse to walk to the tv and change the channel manually.


3. When people say "Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too".
Damn right! What good is cake if you can't eat it?


4. When people say "it's always the last place you look". Of course it is. Why the hell would you keep looking after you've found it? Do people do this? Who and where are they? Gonna Kick their asses!


5. When people say while watching a film "did you see that?". No Loser, I paid $12 to come to the cinema and stare at the damn floor.


6. People who ask "Can I ask you a question?".... Didn't really give me a choice there, did ya sunshine?


7. When something is 'new and improved!'. Which is it? If it's new, then there has never been anything before it. If it's an improvement, then there must have been something before it, couldn't be new.


8. When people say "life is short". What the hell?? Life is the longest damn thing anyone ever does!! What can you do that's longer?

9. When you are waiting for the bus and someone asks "Has the bus come yet?". If the bus came would I be standing here, dumbass?


That's your weekend smile,chuckle or .......

After much resisting I have been forced to turn on word verification.There comes a point when you have had it with countless tooth whitening and improved sex life links.They must know something that I don't know! I would have prefeered using something different that doesn't require typing in those tiresome letters but the Haloscan experiment didn't work.Any of you know how I can switch to it and retain my old comments?

The problem of dog overpopulation is a real one. However, the noble goal of preventing unwanted dog pregnancy does not justify the means being used. Millions of brutal forced castrations and female genital mutilations take place every year in America. We need to put a stop to these atrocities and give every living creature the respect it deserves.

Just as forced sterilization isn't the answer for human population control, it's not the solution for dogs. Instead, we should respect dogs' rights as living beings by honoring their instincts and sexuality and provide them with safe, effective birth control.



NEW YORK (Wireless Flash) – The creator of a meat-scented dog condom had high hopes for his invention, until the pooch product was recalled.
Phillip Laxis, product developer for dogcondoms.com, admits, “I’m not going to lie to you. It’s a disappointment,” but says the extensive test market studies that resulted in 102 unwanted pooch pregnancies and 15 near- choking incidents justified the recall.

Surprisingly, Laxis thinks it’s the fault of the owners, who he envisioned would place the condom on the dog before intercourse and supervise the act.

In his words, “People were not anticipating the dogs’ needs. Create a doggy date situation where you can control it, a situation where no one gets hurt.”

While Laxis admits parental pooch supervision might not create the ideal romantic situation, he asks, “Do you see the romance in genital mutilation?”

The self-professed dog lover says he’s not giving up on safe sex for schnauzers, and is now working on a female dog condom using “some sort of harness mechanism.”


I still can't decide if this is a joke.

Sunday, on 60 Mins Elian Gonzalez gave his first interview since the incidents which five years ago propelled him into instant fame. Actually, I had seen a feature on him about a year ago where his father said he won’t be in the public face until he turns 18.I don’t know what accounted for this change of face but probably it was a good payday or some skilled Public Relations.

Isn’t it just amazing the way a human interest story became this huge international custody battle? The poor child was a pawn in the hands of the relatives, who in their arrogance determined it was better for him to live in America. An added bonus was he was a weapon in the Cuban exiles armoury to prove that people are risking their lives to flee Castro’s hell. Lost in all of this drama was the fact that the boy had a father who wanted him and whose rights were not negotiable. Nobody ever proved that the father was abusive to the boy and yet the story was allowed to grow more and more ridiculous.

Now eleven years old Elian seems to be a confident child but bearing the scars of the loss he suffered. Some parts of the interview appeared a bit contrived but I believe he wanted to be with his father. Naturally, the Miami faction believes that Elian was brainwashed and is merely spouting Castro’s rhetoric. Maybe he is, because after all Castro is taking quite the interest in the young boy.But,it is silly to believe that had Elian stayed in Miami he would not have been anti Castro. We would have been fed a steady diet of Elian proclaiming how great it is to be free whilst recounting the horrors of the 6 years he spent in Cuba. Oh yes, there would have been no saints there either.

Equally disturbing was the house where Elian lived in Miami has been turned into a shrine. I saw a closet filled with his clothes, stuffed toys lying around and the clincher is a huge cross adorning the closet from which he was taken. The whole theme of the room is bent on making a parallel between Elian and Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, in Cuba a bronze statue is erected outside of a museum in Cárdenas. You got to wonder if Elian will really ever be allowed to just be a child.

That's Jessica Biel according to Esquire magazine.She looks good but I won't have backed her to win this.Tvholics like me will know her as Mary from 7th Heaven. More recently she was in Blade Trinity and Cellular.Anyway,I think I am guilty of exposing too much of my screen habits.

By the way,the sexiest woman alive lives in SVG:)

Doctor sued over sex treatment for back pain

Woman says physician told her having intercourse with him would help

SEATTLE - An Oregon woman whose doctor convinced her that he could cure her lower back pain by having sex with her is suing him and his medical clinic for $4 million, according to legal documents obtained Monday.

The doctor, Randall Smith, who was 50 at the time, was stripped of his license and sent to jail for 60 days last year for charging the state’s Oregon Health Plan $5,000 for his 45-minute “treatments” involving the woman.

“Dr. Smith’s medical treatment included intercourse in which he told plaintiff was needed to help alleviate plaintiff’s lower back and lower extremity pain,” the former patient said in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, which charges battery, negligence and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, was filed Friday in Multnomah County court.

“We never comment on lawsuits,” said a spokesman for the Adventist Medical Group clinic in Gresham, Ore., where Smith worked. Smith could not be located for comment.

Though he pleaded guilty to submitting false health care claims, a felony, Smith maintained the sex with the 47-year-old woman was consensual

Can someone be this gullible or is it an affair gone wrong?

Like I said before the countdown to elections has begun.I have never voted and you would think I would be excited at the prospect of exercising my democratic right.Sadly,what I feel is a whole lot of indifference over the process.The ruling party came in to office with tremendous good will from the population. But quite a bit of that sentiment has since evaporated and the way some things are handled are reminiscent of the previous government.It seems like the more things change the more they stay the same.

Another thing that bothers me is the pettiness of the politics.Sure, there is a place for the picong(making jokes) but when politicians take the stage and go into detail about a person's sexuality or some other non issue it becomes annoying fast.Is it asking too much to have a campaign that focuses on the issues rather than making everything so personality based? And then the stories float around of persons being offered money or materials for their votes.I suppose it would not be that easy to prove bribery but I'd be happy if stories of that practice become less and less.

So if I don't vote am I allowing myself to be invisible and thereby allowing others to make a decision for me? Or is the whole idea of my vote being so important a farce since my involvement ends when I come out the polling booth.I often hear people say that one individual vote can determine the outcome but generally no constituency is ever won or lost by a handful of votes.I suppose it comes down to choosing the lesser of the evils and is that really any way to vote?

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Since Campfyah got curious about the different blog names I find myself thinking of the nicknames that the people I come into contact with possess. Some nicknames are merely a shortened form of a person’s given name e.g. Kami or some totally unrelated variation (to me of course). I still cannot figure out why William is Bill or for that matter Richard is Dick. Maybe, today will be the day I get enlightened.

Then there are the nicknames which are borne from physical characteristics giving rise to a tall person being called Tallboy, a short one Shortie etc. In some instances the nicknames associated with physical characteristics are the opposite of the persons so you may find a skinny person being called Fatman.

The thing with nicknames is that they become so universally accepted that you often forget the person has any other name. I have even known of persons who use their nicknames as their given name.One of my friends is known by the name Jasmine but it is no where to be found on her birth certificate. The story goes that after her parents had registered her names the mother decided to call her Jasmine and it stuck.

So here goes some of the nicknames ranging from the cruel to the ridiculous with the funny some where in the mix. One boy I know goes by the name Cantankerous because everyone in his group found him to be very disagreeable .How ironic that his name is Joe but the nickname ended up being four times as long. A conductor on one of the minivans is called Monkey,a nickname that connotes blackness and ugliness. Sociologists,make what you will of this. Coincidentally, the brother is Turkey although the connection escapes me as he neither gobbles nor does he have a long neck or any other thing turkey. Maybe, it is just a fascination with the animal kingdom. By the way the driver of the minibus is Stick Man, a name which needs no explanation. Another young man who is not easy on the eye (am striving hard for political corrected ness here) goes by the name Horror.

Then, there is this older man called Sticky panty. No one knows for sure the origin of the name which means you have a license to let your imagination roam. Recently, I heard a youngster being called Warne not because of his cricketing abilities but as a tribute to the ease with which he can spin anything to his advantage. Closer to home my grandmother was called Princess and I like to think they saw something stately in her even as a child. A popular figure associated with netball coaching is known as Yard ah mouth due to the fact that his mouth is unusually wide. Thanks to the popularity of the movie King Kong quite a few Kongs,all unattractive can be found walking the street. Like I said some of the names can be quite cruel but over time the recipients probably grew to accept them.

Strangely, I find the female nicknames to be less interesting than the men although I know a Cinderella.The village christened another woman Ball of Fire due to her feistiness. This could go on for ever but am going to end here and invite your comments.