Secret Resorts

Our home for the next 5 days couldn’t have been better;  it’s the Secrets Wild Orchid  Resort in Montego Bay, a fairly new hotel.  The picturesque property and extremely warm staff, up to this point have ensured that we really do feel as though we’re at home ( Well, the one that we don’t know about:))

We spent the earlier part of yesterday evening getting settled in and unwinding a bit in our luxurious (very) rooms. The latter part of the evening was spent becoming acquainted with the international bloggers, dinner on the beach and some fine music to complete the exploit.

Day 2 of this excursion only looks better as our itinerary is packed with places to go and things to do with visits to Mystic Mountain,  Dunn’s River Falls, Dolphin Cove, Chukka Caribbean Adventures @ Chukka Cove etc.  Day 2, let’s go!

Yesterday marked  the first “Pegasus Tweet up”, a meetup of people from the popular social networking website, Twitter. The Jamaica Pegasus, located in Kingston, hosted a little over 100 people who were eager to witness the tweetup which was postponed due to the unrest in Kingston.

“Tweeps” finally had the opportunity to match handles/usernames with faces.  The Pegasus Tweet up, arguably is the largest and probably the only formal tweetup in Jamaica to date. The Jamaica Pegasus who organised the event, ensured that everyone was adequately entertained and provided an open bar and a buffett with a wide array of food.

I finally had  the opportunity to get more acquainted with friends like @Jamaipanese, @stunnerj et al , who I’ve known online for years but never had the opportunity to meet until last night.  What was supposed to be a good night for me ended up being a great night, as I won the gate prize. I had no idea there would be a prize draw for a round trip to London via British Airways.

I was most impressed with the Pegasus. I had no idea that, on top of the splendour, they’d offer something as cool as a trip to London for their first tweetup. I was even more surprised that I won; the only thing I have ever won was a Key Ring courtesy of Stunner. Haha! He did say to me, over a year ago, “it’s never too late to start winning”.

Events of these nature, show that companies such as the Jamaica Pegasus are keen on customer satisfaction. I mean how many companies in Jamaica follow consumer trends?  Good Job, Jamaica Pegasus, You’ve taken a bold initiative and have shown how useful social media can be for companies to connect with existing and potential customers. Hopefully other Jamaican companies will follow suit and host events just as good as yours. It may be hard for some to both catch up with social media and host similar events. Pegasus has set the precedence.

What is a tweetup?

A tweetup is an event where people who Twitter come together to meet in person. Normally we connect with our friends online after we have met them. At a tweetup you meet the people you might only otherwise know virtually. Like finally putting a name to a face, a tweetup is a great opportunity to really connect with the people in your network and share just a little more than 140 characters at a time.

Excerpt from: http://socialhat.com/what-is-a-tweetup/

Images courtesy of: http://stunner101.blogspot.com/

Below is a comprehensive listing of ways to keep abreast:

Google: With Google’s Real time indexing it’s easy to track anything with the keyword ‘Jamaica’ in it. Track what international media houses, blogs etc are saying about Jamaica worldwide. Click Here.

Facebook: ‘On the Ground News Reports’ has been doing a good job of gathering what has been unfolding in the streets through collaboration with Jamaican Citizen Journalists. You can opt to keep updated about happenings via their facebook or twitter page You can also read general public facebook updates re: Jamaica here

Twitter: I have compiled a twitter list of over 360 Jamaicans so people can easily follow the said list to keep updated via mobile, desktop etc.  You can follow or view the list here

Nation Wide Radio: Nation Wide has been providing comprehensive coverage re: extradition affair. Click here to listen to online stream.

Ustream.tv: Through Ustream, JNN ( Through Jamaica Live)  has been able to provide great coverage of what is happening in West Kingston and its environs. An embedded ustream feed is below. Alternatively, you can click here to watch from the source.

Was i missed? If I’m to go by Google’s web analytics then yes, i was indeed missed ( My blog has seen a 5% increase in hits in the last couple of months) , and you know that makes me feel all warm inside ( Maybe it was My post about Miss kitty, Love you Chic,  but i still don’t see you doing anything about your weight, work on that will you). It was only a temporary hiatus though i had no real reason to stay away, i just found it very hard to do a paragraph or more for the last 2 months, blame Twitter ( Follow me, i tweet as much as i talk, and that’s A LOT).

Anyhow it’s Christmas, alas i probably wouldn’t have remembered if  it wasn’t for those annoying lovely children singing the Christmas claro ad every 5 milliseconds on tv and radio…seriously; my fellow Jamaicans seem to share the same sentiments also .  It’s really nice ad though you can’t help but sing along with it, it has this get happy and go feeling to it ( Especially the little girl with the absent incisors, how original, I’m sure many people had a collective “aww” while watching),  makes a guy want to go out and get a claro device, but seriously i think this  CAN  be considered child labor. If you observe  the little girl at 37 seconds into the ad you’ll see how long she held that note for…that’s preeeetty impressive ( and hard, just ask Denny). My favorite claro ad of all time though is this. Congrats to Admark Jamaica for the good work, and no dammit I’m not being paid, and this is not a sponsored claro post or anything of that nature….well maybe, but why would it matter.

Anyhow, i have some cool things planned for 2010, keep an eye on my blog, have a Great Cashmas Christmas and Wonderful New Year ( Full of taxes, and very hungry people).

P.S Tell me my new blog theme is awesome, make me happy.

There’s 2 things they can do:

1. They can try and fight this decision, which they will probably will never win; wasting time not capitalizing on this opportunity  OR

2. They can go into the studios and start producing some awesome songs ( a song can still be good and not be plagued with expletives) for public consumption, it’s simple really, if your songs are clean then you’ll get airplay, majority of the dancehall artists plan to fight this and continue with the old foolish ways, but the smart ones will do what i say and capitalize on this golden opportunity.

The latter being the most logical thing to do, is the most prudent thing to do, follow these words and reap the rewards

What i think will happen is that criminals will get far more vicious; they know they’re going to die or get caught sooner or later so there’s this heightened level of indifference on there part, causing them to commit even more heinous acts without any regret or remorse whatsoever. A criminal’s only resolve is the inevitable death they’ll face (by whatever means, it’s like crossing a road without looking left or right, hoping you’ll get hit), whether it be death by the police, or death by hanging.

I always say, never object to an idea unless you have a suitable alternative, so here’s my alternative to hanging:

Let’s NOT be nice to these criminals. Let’s put them to work. I say we put iron collars around their neck, that will shock them( not kill, but they’ll feel excruciating pain if they try to remove it) let’s plant GPS trackers into their skin and set them to work, let’s dress them in pink prison garments and set them to work all day with only one meal. Let them clean this country, clean the gutters, weed the grass, plant trees etc. And when they finally die of exhaustion because of ill treatment, we’ll be satisfied that they contributed to the welfare of the country before they died, and what better way to reward them for their “hard” work than to dig a nice big hole to throw them in when they die.

But, sadly this is all wishful thinking, the Criminal Human rights advocates would be all over this like flies on feces, but who cares? I’m sure we could get them to shut up, after all it’s for the betterment of the country and as a group people have power .

Yes, this will cost money, but it would be worth it, the country would definitely grow. Hanging is like a bad road needing an urgent fix, you find cheap methods of fixing it, but the road will only last so long and you end up spending more to fix it again( and this process is repeated without any substantial benefit), why not invest time and good money to make it a wonderful solid road to drive on?

“No Wait! This is all to barbaric, the aforementioned idea is horrible, how could you think such a thing Gordon!…” As if the criminals aren’t barbaric.

Keep safe my fellow Jamaicans.

I’ve been browsing through some of my previous blog posts and i’m laughing. I’m impressed by how my writing and deduction skills improve each year ( or so i think), it’s really liberating and  makes me feel quite good to know i’m not on a downward spiral. I must admit, i’m nowhere near a man, but i’m not a  boy either, i’m well on my way, three cheers for me:) Happy Birthday to Me and I HOPE to see many more years.

I’m at the point in my life where my empathy is being exhausted, it’s hard to care, not because i don’t want to, but because when i hurt, i hurt really bad, and that’s a feeling I’ve become quite familiar with over the years. The only solace the Jamaican populace has right now is to Turn to God, hoping he’ll punish whoever executed such horrendous deeds, but is that enough…is it really?

Below are some of the sentiments expressed on her page:

PIa ur were like a sista..jah knw star…:’( yow…URS AN ANGLE * GOD”S CHILD* I LUV u SIS….y they tek u like dis…WHO DO THIS!!! tehy have no heart.

on her bday she passed away
she turned 18 then that was it
its as if she was onli to go this far and no more… AII boi
its in GOD’s hands so we ahve to trust him

It’s a really sad and empty feeling..the direction in which our country Jamaica is headed; when someone asks me if it’s safe her…can i genuinely tell them YES?

Nothing in this world to smile about…  I bet you had no idea you’d die on your birthday; i wonder if i’ll die on mine.

Most Jamaicans, if you ask them cannot justify there support for Obama, they vote for the person and not what the person stands for. Obama is the change we need, and the story aforementioned is enough justification of that

The Story…

Mary lacked money to fly home to Norway – he saved her love

ÅSGÅRDSTRAND (VG): Mary was a newlywed and ready to move to Norway, but was stopped at the airport because she didn’t have enough money for the trip. Then a stranger turned up and paid for her.

Mary Menth Andersen was 31 years old at the time and had just married Norwegian Dag Andersen. She was looking forward to starting a new life in Åsgårdstrand in Vestfold with him. But first she had to get all of her belongings across to Norway. The date was November 2nd, 1988.
At the airport in Miami things were hectic as usual, with long lines at the check-in counters. When it was finally Mary’s turn and she had placed her luggage on the baggage line, she got the message that would crush her bubbling feeling of happiness.
-You’ll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway, the man behind the counter said.
Mary had no money. Her new husband had travelled ahead of her to Norway, and she had no one else to call.
-I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions, says Mary.

Although she explained the situation to the man behind the counter, he showed no signs of mercy.
-I started to cry, tears were pouring down my face and I had no idea what to do. Then I heard a gentle and friendly voice behind me saying, That’s OK, I’ll pay for her.
Mary turned around to see a tall man whom she had never seen before.
-He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive. The first thing I thought was, Who is this man?
Although this happened 20 years ago, Mary still remembers the authority that radiated from the man.
-He was nicely dressed, fashionably dressed with brown leather shoes, a cotton shirt open at the throat and khaki pants, says Mary.
She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway and assured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote his name and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thanked him repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the security checkpoint, he waved goodbye to her.

The piece of paper said ‘Barack Obama’ and his address in Kansas, which is the state where his mother comes from. Mary carried the slip of paper around in her wallet for years, before it was thrown out.
-He was my knight in shining armor, says Mary, smiling.
She paid the 103 dollars back to Obama the day after she arrived in Norway. At that time he had just finished his job as a poorly paid community worker* in Chicago, and had started his law studies at prestigious Harvard university.
In the spring of 2006 Mary’s parents had heard that Obama was considering a run for president, but that he had still not decided. They chose to write a letter in which they told him that he would receive their votes. At the same time, they thanked Obama for helping their daughter 18 years earlier.
In a letter to Mary’s parents dated May 4th, 2006 and stamped ‘United States Senate, Washington DC’, Barack Obama writes**:
‘I want to thank you for the lovely things you wrote about me and for reminding me of what happened at Miami airport. I’m happy I could help back then, and I’m delighted to hear that your daughter is happy in Norway. Please send her my best wishes. Sincerely, Barack Obama, United States senator’.
The parents sent the letter on to Mary.

This week VG met her and her husband in the café that she runs with her friend Lisbeth Tollefsrud in Åsgårdstrand.
-It’s amazing to think that the man who helped me 20 years ago may now become the next US president, says Mary delightedly.
She has already voted for Obama. She recently donated 100 dollars to his campaign.
She often tells the story from Miami airport, both when race issues are raised and when the conversation turns to the presidential elections.
-I sincerely hope the Americans will see reason and understand that Obama means change, says Mary.

*Not at all sure about this part of the translation. The Norwegian word used is ‘miljøarbeider’, I don’t know what the exact English word for that is or even if there is one, and I don’t know enough about Obama to say what job of his they’re talking about.
**This is my translation of the reporter’s translation of the letter. From English to Norwegian and back to English. So obviously it is not correct word for word.

I’m at a lost for words..not much i can say.  Better luck next time.

Update: The Males in the 4 x 100 made us Proud again, congrats:) And here i thought it was turning out to be a dissapointing day:)