update: a friend, a hero

evidently, i have one last quick post in me before i depart from the connected world for a while. to echo a previous post, there is a video on carribeanfreeradio filmed by wendell manwarren and edited by roger roberts, himself, highlighting his triumph at the new york city marathon. check out our friend and hero: roger roberts.

obituary

unfortunately, despite every attempt for revival, my laptop has passed after a long two-month battle with an unknown cancer that inevitably lead to it's self-destruction. it is survived by myself, creator, owner and friend. it was nearly 6years old. i ask that you understand this time of mourning. i will be unconnected from the rest of the world for at least a week while dell builds a new laptop for not just anyone, but only one: me (i acted fast to help the kids forget). i'll be using this time to remember the feel of my pen as it strokes across the pages of my notebook. hopefully by the time i rejoin the digital community i'll have plenty of posts to share with my new, younger, sexier laptop.

ghana youth photo project

i gotta say that i love the power art has to change life. the ghana youth photo project was started in october 2005 by photographer jamie lloyd in nima - one of the poorest ghettos of ghana's capital city, accra. i came across a video describing the project on youtube earlier today. the objective was to give ghana's youth a chance to become ambassador’s of their neighborhood, city, country and continent by showing the world a look at life through their eyes. the project provides these children with an amazing outlet to express themselves: photography; one of my many personal favorite mediums. there are similar projects already in existence in other countries like india and indonesia; inspiring hope and creativity among the world's youth. the sad truth is that programs like this should be offered on an even wider scale. in this day of war, mass genocide, and extreme poverty, the world's youth needs a reason and a path to seek out the beauty and the truth woven within the chaos. even in this city, the capital of the supposed "most powerful" country in the world could use more programs like this one. as an amateur photographer and a believer and leader of the consciousness (the effort to better the world), trying to create a program like this one is very appealing. the dc youth photo project has a nice ring to it - now it's just a matter of lobbying for funds and support. this link will allow you to check out some of the photos taken by the children in ghana. big-up jamie lloyd for her efforts to create a better more beautiful world. more to come...

orchéstre baka de gbiné

i am always on the lookout for great music, particularly music with a purpose. recently i came across this album: gati bongo by orchéstre baka de gbiné. orchéstre baka de gbiné is a musical group composed entirely of people from the baka tribe found deep in the rainforests of cameroon. the baka pygmies spend their whole life in the same forest that is continuously being harvested for wood by several international logging companies. this unfortunate conflict of interest inspired the name of the group - gbiné meaning help. the group's first album, gati bongo, which was released this past april echoes the baka people's cry for help. thankfully, with help from the global music exchange, a charity based in the uk, all royalties earned from sales of their album are returned back to the tribe. the album is fantastic and is available on itunes and cduniverse.com. the purchase of this album will support a great cause for a struggling people. give it a listen and a purchase for yourself- help the baka save their home.

hbo would rather women play nice

i love hbo. not being able to afford it right now kills me on a weekly basis. their original series programming is without a doubt the best entertainment television in production to date. most nights, hbo shows are the only programs worth tuning in for which is why, when it's not football or comedy central, my dvd player gets nearly as much time as my television. clearly, i am a huge advocate of the hbo network; they do not disappoint - until now. i was checking out espn.com today (yes, i am a guy afterall) and came across an article that popped my hbo bubble. apparently, an ali will be fighting at the garden once again. muhammad's daughter laila (the best known female boxer in the world) is set to be in one bout of a four bout ticket, including the male heavyweight championship fight this saturday night at madison square garden. the evening is scheduled to be broadcast live via hbo late night boxing starting 10pm est. unfortunately, hbo is refusing to broadcast laila ali's bout against shelley burton simply because they do not condone female fighting. while i, myself, am not much of a boxing enthusiast, it does seem wrong that in this day and age, where we could possibly be watching hillary run this country in 2008, that a network like hbo is taking it upon themselves to sensor the world of female boxing.

friends and heroes

i spent yesterday with a sweet trini traveling to nyc to visit two thirds of the 3canal triad. roger roberts and warrenman made their way to new york from tnt so that the ever heroic roger could be one of the 37,000 running the ing new york city marathon. holding tough through the 42kilometer race, roger crossed the finish line in the 224th minute (quite an impressive time for those unaware). as if i needed another reason to look up to rr - he really is my hero and one of my best friends. congratulations roger. i am very proud of you. the near 4hour lime with the boys, complete with bonus homemade barbecue, rice and beans, and macaroni pie, was entirely worth the 9hour drive. seeing wendell and roger is a rejuvenating event. they both thankfully looked happy and healthy, even with the p-funk-role-reversal experienced between, the movie star, warrenman and myself. thanks for the lime fellas. sorry to miss stanny. biglove and blessings to all the canals.

fff#59

i had a hard time with this fff and as a result it was a bit rushed. just the same, it's still nice to be fffing. thanks to jj for the opportunity.

It was untoward what he/she said to him/her/me but worst of all was…

it was untoward what he said to me but worst of all was the tone he carried through his near incoherent mumbling. it was his “long-day-at-work, third-glass-of-gin, you-little-shit” tone again: a tone that i hated and tried to avoid at all costs. it meant i would be waking up hours later with a headache and any combination of fat lips, black eyes, chipped teeth and bloody ears. i often wished my ears could bleed earlier as a warning sign; at least then i would know to keep my distance. they never seemed to warn me on time, of course, and the stresses of the work day and the chilled sting of the gin could be felt with each individual punch which i found was proportional to the number of drinks. sometimes, when the drink count was above five i was able to find him too tired, well, too shitfaced to take out his stresses. unfortunately, tonight had only been a 3 or 4 drink night, judging by the amount of slurring, and i had to bare the brunt of it. after i came to i would normally watch him passed out on the couch, staying awake all night to make sure that if he did wake up in need of another stress relief, it would be on me and not one of my siblings. tonight would be no different, including the strict promise that i would never let it happen again. i told myself, as i had so many times before, that the next time i would battle back. i snuck away from my post at the end of the couch long enough to see what stress marks he left on my face. with my head throbbing and my right eye practically swollen shut, the blurry self-portrait starring back at me couldn’t lie and showed me a monstrosity of a man i was starting to know all too well. i tried to wash my face clean of all its color, but the soap and water removed only the red; leaving behind the blacks, blues, and purples. returning to my post just after midnight, i noticed immediately that there was an escapee from the couch’s holding cell. where was he? i rushed to the bedrooms, checking on each room to ensure the safety of the innocent. they were fine. walking back down the hall and past the holding cell, the faint smell of gin got caught in my nose and i turned just in time to dodge the bottle coming toward my head. i watched the image of a beefeater shatter against the coffee table and quickly grabbed the largest shard i could find in anticipation for combat. he came at me in a drunken, staggered rush and moments later found himself with the glass shard pressed hard against his jugular. it was time that i hold up to my promise. i pressed the shard even harder into his skin until a bead of blood developed at the point of impact. in a moment of sobriety, i watched his face go white and fill with fear. my arm went weak and dropped the now red-tipped shard. “never touch any of them, or i’ll come back for you,” i said with a certainty to let him know i meant it. i walked out the front door and collapsed to my knees in the street long enough to comprehend that i had just nearly killed my father. i’ve never gone back and hope my siblings are still alright.

catch and release

if you love seafood then you may want to get out to your local red lobster or legal seafood restaurant while you still can. the next generation may not have the luxury. recent studies (another source) have determined that fishery stocks have depleted by one-third on a global level and if current trends continue the sea fish market will drop out by 2048. experts chalk up this near inevitable destruction of marine biodiversity to direct individual acts: the pollution of the seas and over-fishing. the technological advancement of the fishing industry, in recent years, has increased the success and ease of the trade and thus increased the tendency of over-fishing. both pollution and over-fishing are problems contributing to a possibly permanent change in the ecosystem - something no one should be willing to settle for. as a species we would definitely feel the effects of such a change and it is ultimately up to us to reverse the process. it starts with a conscious effort to cut down on pollutants across the globe. of the 48 areas in the world set up to protect marine biodiversity, all have shown an improvement as a direct result of a growth in the protection against pollution. over-fishing is, unfortunately, a problem that will require more of a political powered regulation. hopefully that will come with time. this is a call to stay conscious about our ecosystem and make every attempt to take care of it. if we don't, we may leave behind a world with far less than just a lack of sushi, shark+bake, and lobsterfest.