I have no problem with the Calypso or Soca events which lead up to the parade. My problem lies mainly with the street dancing. Now, don’t get me wrong – I am all for having a good time and parading on the streets. Hell, there was a period when I would be part of a carnival band each year, for several years. However, it has continued to worsen over the years, with this year being the most horrible and unbearable to date.

What was once fun to watch and take part in, has now become quite embarrassing to watch. All you see is men and women so drunk that they only have a vague idea of their surroundings; the nasty dancing which resembles sexual acts; women clad in their very revealing costumes – behaving stupidly, especially when they realize that they are being filmed by a camera.

The men are disgusting as well, but as usual, I am here to attack the women. It seems that the women of Saint Lucia have lost all sense of direction, and all pride and respect for themselves and each other. As if behaving like wild animals was not shameful enough, some of these women looked HORRIBLE in their carnival costumes.  Yes, I will admit that some of them looked nice in their costumes, but the majority of those wearing a two-piece costume looked like they needed to get their hands on the best weight loss supplement out there.

I don’t know what mirror they looked into before they left home on Carnival Monday, but someone should tell them that its not sexy to be wearing a panty and bra on the streets, when you are severely overweight with a hanging stomach. If you MUST take part in carnival, then wear the 1-piece costumes, and act like a damn LADY and not a wild animal. Seriously – Its time for us to get our act together. I am so pissed that I will have to continue this rant later on …

Lately, I’ve been speaking to some females around my age (I will refer to them as acquaintances, rather than friends) and I was quite alarmed at some of our conversations. Here is one, for instance:

Girl:   Remember the cute guy that I told you that I had a crush on last week?

Me: Yeah, what about him?

Girl: Well, he’s my boyfriend now.

Me: Okay, cool. Nice catch lol. (and random conversation continues)

One week later ….

Girl: I’m depressed. I want to break up with my boyfriend.

Me: Already? Why? What happened?

Girl: Well, I never really liked him, I just had a crush on him and I f*cked him, but he’s no good in bed, so now I have no use for him. Plus, he is annoying.

At this point I am shocked and speechless. Thankfully my cell phone rings, so that I don’t have to continue this conversation.

Apart from this conversation, many females have hinted that they would sleep with guys soon after they started speaking to them. My question is, do all females do that? Was I so caught up in my own little world that I never realized that we (females) are just as promiscuous as the males?

Maybe I am old fashioned, but I believe that before I end up in bed with a guy, I must first get to know him, spend time with him, develop feelings for him and TRUST HIM (and this process does not take only two weeks). Since when are we jumping headfirst into something as serious and delicate as sexual intercourse, within a matter of days of meeting the guy? What happens when we find out that the guy was only using us, that he has some disease, or a bad reputation, or is married with kids? If we continue this cycle of meeting a guy, sleeping with him, breaking up, moving on to the next guy, sleeping with him, breaking up, etc., where the hell are we going to end up?

I found out from my friend Al that when it comes to HIV, the Caribbean is the second most infected region in the world, with Sub-Saharan Africa being the first. Imagine that we are more infected than all those other LARGER regions.

At the end of 2007, an estimated 230,000 people were living with HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean. Some 20,000 people were newly infected during 2007, and there were 14,000 deaths due to AIDS.

In two countries in this region – the Bahamas and Haiti – more than 2% of the adult population is living with HIV. Higher prevalence rates are found only in sub-Saharan Africa, making the Caribbean the second-most affected region in the world. Half of adults living with the virus are women.

I am genuinely concerned about our health and sexual habits in the Caribbean, hence my reason for writing this post. Sex is a wonderful thing, but carelessness and having sexual intercourse with multiple (or even one) sexual partner(s) can ruin our lives. I have seen people die from AIDS, and it was not a pretty sight. I know people with herpes who have to deal with disgusting outbreaks, and who are on medication for the rest of their lives. Lades, make sure that you not only have one sexual partner, but practice safe sex as well. Don’t only rely on the pill – use condoms as well because even if you are being faithful, you don’t know if your partner is messing around. If you can’t resist the urge to sleep with every guy that you fancy, at least use protection (and carry your own condoms because guys always claim to “forget” theirs at home or in their other pair of jeans).

Guys, I know that the tone of this post was directed to the females, but you should think about this as well, as MANY of you are evn more promiscuous than the females. I will leave you guys with some reading material so that you can see this is NOT A JOKE!

Reading Material:

Caribbean HIV/AIDS Statistics

HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean

AIDS Wiki

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Sexual Health

STD Prevention

President Elect Barack Obama may be busy assembling his transition team and meeting with economic advisers to discuss healing the blighted US economy. But it appears he still has time for a little poetry.

Three days after winning the presidential election, Barack Obama was spotted in Chicago carrying a book of poems by Derek Walcott, the West Indies Nobel laureate.

The Illinois senator was photographed holding the new-looking book, perhaps a gift he had just received, and reading a letter as he headed to his car with his wife, Michelle.

The 500-page volume, Collected Poems 1948-1984, is one of 20 collections by the poet, theatre director and playwright, who has also written more than 20 plays.

Walcott, who won the 1992 Nobel prize for Literature, is often described as the West Indies’ greatest writer and intellectual. He was born in St Lucia in 1930 and is best known for his epic poem Omeros, a reworking of the story of the Odyssey in a 20th century Caribbean setting.

Collected Poems 1948-1984 includes selections from all of Walcott’s previous seven books of verse, including the full text of Another Life, his 1974 autobiographical poem.

Source: Telegraph News

Forty Acres: a poem for Barack Obama from Nobel winner Derek Walcott
The West Indies poet Derek Walcott, winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize for Literature, writes exclusively for The Times to mark the election of Barack Obama as President.

Forty Acres
Out of the turmoil emerges one emblem, an engraving —

a young Negro at dawn in straw hat and overalls,

an emblem of impossible prophecy, a crowd

dividing like the furrow which a mule has ploughed,

parting for their president: a field of snow-flecked

cotton

forty acres wide, of crows with predictable omens

that the young ploughman ignores for his unforgotten

cotton-haired ancestors, while lined on one branch, is

a tense

court of bespectacled owls and, on the field’s

receding rim —

a gesticulating scarecrow stamping with rage at him.

The small plough continues on this lined page

beyond the moaning ground, the lynching tree, the tornado’s

black vengeance,

and the young ploughman feels the change in his veins,

heart, muscles, tendons,

till the land lies open like a flag as dawn’s sure

light streaks the field and furrows wait for the sower.

Source: Times Online

So many people are celebrating this victory, including Saint Lucians. I heard that some people were having motorcades, and my family even had a BBQ earlier this evening to celebrate Obama’s victory (even though the voting wasn’t over yet). I’ve noticed that many people in the Caribbean were rooting for him, even though they were not able to vote My friend Tracy attends the Grambling State University, and she worked really hard to convince people to get out and vote. As I’m writing this, she’s out with her friends celebrating the victory as well. I know for a fact that Omar, Kristin, Preston and Kera are happy too!!

I watched McCain’s speech tonight, and I felt a bit sorry for him, and for Palin as well. Palin actually cried, and McCain was close to tears – I would be too, if I had lost by such a landslide. I honestly think that McCain could have had a better chance if he had not chosen Palin to be his running mate. Obama’s speech was so touching, and so many people in the crowd were moved to tears, including Oprah Winfrey, and Jesse Jackson. I’m very happy that Obama was elected, and I just hope that he does his job, and does not disappoint us all. Afterall, whatever happens in the USA affects us in the Caribbean (and the rest of the world) as well.

Boy, I am just so happy that I got to see history being made today. Now … enough of my rambling. I think I’m beginning to inherit my father’s political genes (he was the Minister of Finance in the 70′s). Off to bed …

They say that Obama is a Muslim … but there are so many Muslims in the USA. Do they want to kill these muslims too? They say that he is a black monkey … do they want to kill all black people too? America is a melting pot of all cultures, races and religions: black, white, Spanish, Asian, Catholic, Baptist, Muslim, Buddhist, etc. America is not only a country for white, non-Muslim people.

Its time that we see the bigger things in life, and not concentrate on race and religion. I signed the petition, and I urge you all to do the same. Obama supporters, McCain supporters, independents, non-us residents and citizens … well all have to help stop this crap!

Dear Senator McCain and Governor Palin,

Time and again in America, people of all races and backgrounds have overcome division and fear, and come together to uplift the country and create a more equal and just society. It’s part of what makes this country great.

With an African-American nominee running on a major party ticket and a woman on the Republican ticket for the first time in history, this campaign has seen Americans–men and women of all races–inspired to continue that great tradition, coming together to bridge the gaps that history has set between us in service of our national progress.

But let us be clear: while we have made great strides in this country when it comes to racial equality, we are not finished. Now, more than ever, we need leadership that understands that we live in complex times where too many are quick to judge another by the complexion of their skin or the sound of their name.

In the last few weeks, Senator McCain and Governor Palin, rhetoric at your campaign events has taken an increasingly dangerous tone that seems to ignore the precarious state of our progress when it comes to race and ethnicity.

Supporters at your rallies and other events have used hateful language and called for violence against Sen. Obama yelling “kill him!” “off with his head!” and “bomb Obama.”

For the most part, you have stood by in silence. In addition, you have also repeatedly made statements that somehow connect Senator Obama with terrorism. Your surrogates have emphasized his middle name. This is problematic and dangerous, and we believe helps create the conditions that have given rise to these incidents of violent rhetoric from some of your supporters.

Today, we’re standing together as Americans of all political persuasions to express our deep concern that the decisions of your campaign are contributing to a dangerous atmosphere of paranoia, division, and hate that, as we have already seen, has the potential to seriously harm our country and its progress.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

In these trying times, candidates seeking the highest offices in the land must call on the best in each of us, and call off the worst.

We urge you to join people of conscience from all races and backgrounds to reject the politics of division and fear, and come together to uplift the country and create a more equal and just society.

— The undersigned –

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not campaigning for Obama. I’m just trying to be fair here. If you want to sign this petition, or if you just want to learn some more about this issue, click here.

Young Mecca is one of Saint Lucia’s very own talented musicians. He’s been singing for almost a decade now, and has released many mixtapes and number one singles each year. I remember purchasing the Rhymaz Inc Mixtape Vol.1 in 2004, and really loving what I heard. Mecca is on fire!! On Friday October 10th, the Mirror Newspaper printed an article on Young Mecca, and he was also featured on http://www.dailytunez.com. Click here to listen to (and download) his latest single, My Favourite Things.

Its so nice to see a fellow Lucian doing something positive with his life! Mecca, I love your music, and I want you to keep up the good work.

To all my readers – make sure you visit Mecca’s Website or his blog to see what’s going on. Download the mixtapes, view the videos, and most importantly – leave him some love and let him know that he has your support!! Spread the word …

It’s so cute, yet it’s not so as imposing as these other big tattoos. Plus, it’s not immediately visible, so it would not pose a problem at work (quite a few employers are not fans of immediately visible tattoos). Another tattoo that I wouldn’t mind getting is Rihanna’s famous star tattoo on the back of her neck. I prefer the first one (before she extended it) which just contained a small bunch of stars. Again, it’s not immediately visible and is classy, and very discreet.

I also love Rihanna’s foot tattoo, since it symbolizes Music, which happens to be one of the most important aspects of her life. It’s so cute!!

Hopefully, one day I’ll be brave enough to get a tattoo (or more than one) of my own, but until then, I’ll stick to my henna tattoos. But for sure, Rihanna and Nicole Richie are my tattoo role models!