Stunner's Afflictions

Trip to the Centre of the Island!

2009-11-01T14:07:00.004-05:00

Last month I went on my monthly Jamaica W.I./Lovers of Photography Jamaica Flickr group trip which took me along the south coast and into central Jamaica. I always like to go on the Flickr group trips as apart from getting to indulge in my photography passion, I get to explore this island I call home and with a fun crowd of people with similar interest. It is amazing how little of this island I know in all the almost thirty years I have been living on this island. These Flickr group trips are a wonderful way for me to explore the island as it only costs a nominal fee as we all pool together to charter a bus which significantly saves on the gas money I would have spent if I decided to ventured out on my own.

As I was saying, the trip took us to several places in Clarendon, St. Catherine that I have never been to before, some I have heard of and some had no clue existed. Here is a summary of the places that we visited on our last Flickr field trip.

The first stop of the trip was the ruins of Colbeck Castle, located in the community called Colbeck located two miles north of Old Harbour, St. Catherine.

Colbeck Castle St. Catherine

The next stop was a little pumping station located along the path of Salt River.

A boat docked along the river at the pumping station

The third stop was a quarry located in Clarendon, not sure of the name of this quarry.

A small lake that has formed in one of the holes of the quarry

The next stop was the bathing area of Salt River, where we enjoyed not the warm and cold salty water of the river but some spicy fish tea.

Salt River Clarendon

Next it was to one of the Oldest Churches in Jamaica, the St. Peter's Anglican Church located in a community call Alley.

St. Peter's Anglican Church

We then visited Alligator Hole, known not for alligators, but for crocodiles and manatee (sea cow). Unfortunately even though some of the members of the group got to see a lone manatee and some shots of the manatee, I had no suck luck.

Alligator Hole

The final photography stop of the trip was at Guts River, on the black sand beach where the river meets the Caribbean Sea.

The beach at Guts River

I had fun on the trip and I am already looking forward to the next trip, where I am sure I will have fun, see new places and of course get more photos!

Still Here... Just A Bit Distracted!

2009-10-23T11:58:00.005-05:00

Wait, don't file that missing blogger report! I'm still here, still around and very much still alive! I know I have been a very bad blogger and have been so scarce in the realm of blogging, but I have been somewhat distracted. No I have not found a job as yet, still very unemployed and have unfortunately maintained my bum status. I am still looking though and hoping I will land something very very soon before this money runs out and things get desperate. So what have I been doing to be so distracted?

Well I have been pursuing my photography even more and have been working to improve my skills and trying to be good enough to make a decent change from it. This involves watching several photography courses online and practicing by means of taking lots photographs. I have invested some more money in more photography equipment in hopes that it will improve my photography and start bringing in some form of income if it's even to recover the cost of my investment. You can see mt latest photos here http://www.flickr.com/photos/stunnerj/. Here is just a sample of my photography work.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stunnerj/

Apart from photography I have not been doing much, the rest of the time is spent refining my survival budget and job hunting. Going to bed late and waking up late on a regular basis just seem to make the days go by so quickly. I'm so not used to this being unemployed thing, even after almost three months! Still hoping that will change soon.

Speaking of distractions, I have found that a certain ad has been very good at grabbing the attention of a lot of Jamaican men... I bet you can see why! Check out this Mandingo Ad!

But have no fear I am still around, and I should be back on the blogging scene again as of now. Sometimes a little break is good, but I can't just leave you guys out like that, right!

Red Bull Art of Can Exhibition

2009-10-06T18:08:00.004-05:00

Last night I decided to go check out the Red Bull Art of Can exhibition to see the creative pieces that were on display. The Red Bull Art of Can is a competition in which the entrants make creative pieces almost entirely out of empty Red Bull cans. I must admit that there were several creative pieces on display and a testimony to the creativity of our fellow Jamaicans. Not all the pieces were mind blowing though, some were somewhat simply, while some were a bit confusing. But nonetheless, they all stemmed from the creativity of the designers and for the most part were very impressive. Of course you know I couldn't go the such an exhibition without carrying back a few photos for you guys! So without further ado, here are some of the pieces on display.

The exhibition is being hosted at Devon House here in Kingston and runs from October 1 to 11, 2009 between the hours of 10am to 10pm. So if you have the time you can go check out the pieces and cast your vote for your favorite entry.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month: The News...

2009-10-04T20:00:00.002-05:00

This post is in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is this month, October. The post below, was written several months ago, March 9 to be exact. I had declined to post it, as I still wasn't sure I wanted to post it... I guess I was thinking it was a bit too personal. However, I have now decided to actually release this post as my contribution to Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The News... (09/03/09)

A few days ago, was about early last week I got some very disturbing news. It was like something so surreal, shocking, it was to the point of numbing, I didn't know how to react. When I heard it, I was in total disbelief, yet it was true, I felt as if I was in a bad dream. Yet I could still feel the the temperature of the air on my skin. My sis called us into the room and sat us down, trying to comfort us that we should not worry, as she took a deep breath to tell us the news. She was rather calm, but no one in the room was, especially my mother who kept asking what it was, to the point where we had to tell her to just be quiet. Then my sis began to explain, she had felt a lump in one of her breasts, she did several tests and all confirmed that it was cancerous. We all sank, our hearts plunged into a pit of sorrow, mixed with disbelief, feelings of sorrow mixed with the anxiety of what can be done.

This was especially shocking to me, as I have never heard that my family has a history of cancer. I am all too familiar with Diabetes (often referred to as sugar) which my father has, Hypertension (also called high blood pressure) which my mother struggles with, but never have I heard about cancer. Then to learn it was someone so close to me, my own sibling, my sister. It was a bit... well it was hard to swallow, I, no one expected this. The others took it harder than me, even tears ran down their cheeks. I stood there, just trying to make sense of it, it grapple with the reality of the situation. Truth is, I am not that much of an emotional person, I do show affection and grief, but I mostly keep it inside. It still didn't really sink in even when my sis was explaining what she was going to do and the dates, it was just too surreal at the moment. The gravity of the situation did become more apparent when she drove to the Hospital today to begin the first stage of her battle with this enemy.

I have heard, read and seen a lot of information about this major killer, even given somewhat some supported the fight against cancer with a small donation for my pink ribbon. I also personally know people who have fought with this disease. So I know how terrible this disease is and how it can affect the patient and the family and friends of the patient. However, the feeling is just not the same and the full impact is just not there until you know that someone so close to you has it. This is not only scary to me because it is affecting my sister, it has also unearthed a fear that I too may be at risk, If my sister has it, then it is in the genes and thus I too am at risk. I took my last prostate blood test a few months ago as a part of a random medical. I took it lightly and just did it because I wouldn't be paying for it as my health scheme covers the cost of the tests. But now I think this is something I should do every year.

I pray that my sister will be strong throughout this ordeal and will pull through just as many other cancer survivours have done in the past. The only immediate comfort we have now is that the tests confirmed that it has not spread. She has began a life changing journey, a fight against an internal enemy, a battle that will take strength, courage, support and love. May God be with her in this time of need and may she emerge from this the victor and even stronger. That is my hope, as wishing it never happened is futile, but dealing with the problem together with help from above is the only way.

My sister has already completed her chemo therapy and her final radiation treatment since I wrote this post and is well on the road to recovery. Breast Cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States and a very prevalent disease in the rest of the world. It is a disease that has touched so many lives and more people are diagnoses with this disease every day. The fight against breast cancer is still ongoing and the search for a cure continues in earnest. For those who are now fighting this disease, may you be victorious in this battle and be one of those who can say they are survivours. Condolences to those who have lost loved ones to this disease. I guess I can repeat the advice that the the Medical Practitioners give to all females: do regular self breast examinations and mammograms (where applicable). I would also like to add that a proper, well balanced diet coupled with regular exercise goes long way. Hopefully a cure for this disease is in the near future that will spare many from the clutches of Breast Cancer.

More Increases, More Hardship!

2009-10-01T04:00:00.001-05:00

Once again, the hardship of the Jamaican people has increased. The Government recently tables its supplementary budget in Parliament and increased hardship was on the platter. The government has hiked the taxes on telephone calls, cards and instruments from the already high twenty percent (20%) to a whopping twenty five percent (25%). So now you will pay a quarter of the price of a call, phone card or instrument, plus the stipulated cost each time your take up that phone to make call, buy a phone card or purchase a new phone. Whoever said talk is cheap certainly didn't live or visit Jamaica! However the increase didn't stop there!

If you are thinking of traveling overseas any time soon you will be required to fork out some more money coupled with the already ridiculously high airfares. Why? The government has also chosen to increase the departure tax by a whopping eighty percent(80%)! So now instead of paying the regular JM$1000 for departure tax you will now be required to fork out an extra JM$800 to pay the new fee of JM$1800each time you purchase a ticket to travel. This government never fails to surprise as yesterday when they announced the increases they pulled a fast one and announced that these increases would be effective today, Thursday October1, 2009! Surprise!

However, the government wasn't all about increases as they announced that they will indeed be cutting something! What would cause the government to deviate from their trend of increasing? The government confirmed the fears of many public servants on Wednesday when they announced that they will be cutting the number of people employed to the public sector. Up to earlier this week the Labour Minister, Pernell Charles, stated that as far as he knows the Prime Minister would not be cutting jobs in the public sector, but the Prime Minister sang a different tune on Wednesday! No time-line has been given for this cut, but many speculate that it will be soon, with the IMF deal in sight. So once again the already high unemployment figure in Jamaica will increase.

The only good announcement that came from this supplementary budget was that the Cabinet was not immune from the public sector job cut and that the government will be seeking to cut down on the red tape and gymnastics required to start businesses. But even with this gleam of light the days ahead grow even darker and hardship will only increase for the average Jamaican.

Everybody Going with the Flow?

2009-09-28T16:46:00.005-05:00

The line at Flow's Pavilion Office in Half Way Tree

I received my LIME bill and realized that it had doubled since my last bill and I have not increases my usage nor have I added any new service! How could have my bill doubled just like that? Then I remembered that i no longer have the concession LIME staff normally enjoyed and as such I am now just a regular paying customer. With my unemployed status in mind and this sudden increase in my bill I have decided to go with the Flow in a bid to save money via their bundled service as well as their promotion that they are currently having. I called Flow and spoke to a nice agent who gave me the prices and was more than willing to sign me up. However, I wanted to go to the store to ensure there was no trick and to do my subscription there for their services. Big mistake!

So this afternoon I went to the Flow office located at the Pavilion mall. When I parked in the parking lot the security came to hand me the parking ticket, when she paused and asked me which store I was visiting in the mall. So I told her Flow. Without hesitation she said. "Mi nauh guh even badda give yuh nuh ticket cause in deh ram-up". Right then and there disappointment set in as I hate lines and hate waiting! I decided to go there just out of curiosity, maybe she was just exaggerating. I should have listened, as I totally wasted my time and energy walking up to the store. the line was so long that it was all the way outside the store!

I decided, well the New Kingston office should be better, and so I drove down to the New Kingston Office. this again was another waste of time and gas, even though the line was inside, it was like an overgrown anaconda stuffed in a little box! After taking a number as the security reassured me that I should take a number to speak to an agent as the line was for other transactions. i waited over half hour in the store as I watched the number slowly incremented closer to my number, but was still had a long way to go. It seems everybody has opted to switch to flow or had inadvertently become Flow customers!

I think I might create an account via their contact centre tonight and go in early tomorrow and pay for the subscription to their service. If I sign up to Flow, I will be cutting my LIME Internet, Netspeak and maybe the landline, as well as cutting my Logic One cable service to consolidate them to one bill. This would reduce my bill by JM$1000 to JM$2000, and coupled with their promotions I would be saving quite a few thousands for the next three months!

Doomed - $5000, JPS Hike!!!

2009-09-24T13:39:00.008-05:00

Our fate has been sealed today, September 24, 2009, the average Jamaican has been plunged into further hardship. The Office of Utility Regulations (OUR), for weeks has had our fate in the palm of their hands, as the deliberated in giving the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) the hike the deviously conceived and presented in earnest. Today was D-day, as the OUR was to say whether or not it would be granting the JPS the hike they have been eagerly awaiting and once again the customer's worse fear was realized!

The OUR has granted the JPS an increase on the non-fuel charge of the electricity bill, though the increase is not the ridiculous 23 percent average JPS was asking for, it is still a significant increase. The JPS received a 13 3 percent average increase in non-fuel charge of their monthly bills, which is still a huge increase in these harsh economic times. This 13 3 percent average increase in the non-fuel part of the electricity bill, is further compounded by the ever increasing fuel-part of the bill, which increased even up to this month! I dread the thought of what my next light bill will look like, because even with my attempts of conservation, I still see a bill coming up to several thousands. JPS is sticking true to their motto, "Changing lives with our energy", because they are certainly making our lives harder and making us poorer!

To coincide with this hike in the electricity bill, or maybe just coincidence, the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) has commenced the circulation of the new Jamaican Five Thousand Dollar note (JM$5000). This is just perfect timing with the OUR grant of an increase to JPS, as we certainly will be forking out much more money to pay our bills. No doubt this increase granted to JPS, will shortly start to trick down into other utility bills: telephone, cellphone, cable, water, etc and will even start to translate into other goods and services. At least when people go to pay their bills instead of forking out several Thousand Dollar bills (JM$1000), they will be forking out less paper with this new JM$5000 bill. Now we can cover more bills with less notes. that's they only good way of looking at it, if there is at all any good way to look at it!

This hike in electricity bill and the new JM$5000 note further highlights the plight of the average Jamaican people and gives a dim picture of the overall economic health... or ill-health of the country. Dark and gloomy days lay ahead, we can't stop it, we just have to learn how to survive as much as possible. With this in mind, and my current unemployed status, I now have to reevaluate my energy conservation and see where can further cut back on my energy consumption to stay afloat in this turbulent economic stormy waters.

Source: http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=12847, http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=12851

Jobless Photographer

2009-09-21T11:15:00.004-05:00

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/

It has been one month and 21 days since I have been unemployed and yes I am still a bum! The job market looks barren like a dessert on steroids, some real good links would be like a great shower of much needed rain. Searching The Gleaner for jobs is just a useless waste of my JM$100 and time. Now I have decided to just send out general applications to various companies, while I keep searching for a job. With dwindling funds, I need to find something quick, as the cost of living in Jamaica gets higher with every passing day.

However, despite being pretty worrying, the unemployment status has had a few... very few perks. Apart from getting all the rest and sleep I want, I have had time to experiment more with my photography. I have not been doing the number of photo shoots as I would like to, good models that would work for free are extremely hard to find. almost non-existent. I have had to relay on pouncing on my female friends with camera and umbrella in hand. Nonetheless, I am hoping to do a few shoots to improve my photography and possibly to make a little change from some of the shoots. You can see the latest photos and how much... or how little, I have improved on my photography so far here http://www.flickr.com/photos/stunnerj. I want to get out more to take photos, but gas is pretty expensive, so it's a bit hard to convince myself to just drive out and take photos, especially since I am not making back the money from it so far.

So the job hunt continues, and the photo snapping goes on, day by day...

Swayze and Rhone Have Passed On

2009-09-15T21:25:00.005-05:00

In just the space of two days the entertainment industry has lost two great icons on both the international scene and on the local scene.

theinsider.com photo

On Monday September 14, 2009 the world found out about the death of actor Patrick Swayze who succumbed to his battle against pancreatic cancer at the age of 57. Swayze was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer in January of 2008 and has been fighting this terrible disease while maintaining his acting career. Patrick Swazye is best known for his roles in the block buster movies and all time favorites Dirty Dancing and Ghost. The media's fascination with Swayze did not end with those two movies as he was named by People's Magazine as the sexiest man alive in 1991. His last lead role was the series The Beast, which premiered in January 2009 was later canceled due to the deterioration of his health. Hollywood has lost yet another great actor, the man who made Dirty Dancing appealing to so many females.

jamaicaobserver.com Photo

The local scene however, was not spared from the loss of an icon in its entertainment industry as on Tuesday September 15, 2009 the well known playwright, actor and director Trevor Rhone died in the hospital after suffering a heart attack at the age of 69. Trevor Rhone is best known for his plays with the most popular being Smile Orange, Old Story Time and Two can Play. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the first Jamaican movie The Harder They Come, which stared Jimmy Cliff and further served as a resident playwright at the Barn Theatre. This great talent did not go unnoticed as he was also a recipient of the Commander of the Order of Distinction. Another great produce of Jamaica and one of our most well known member of the dramatic arts fraternity.

Running Man!

2009-09-14T21:50:00.004-05:00

Ever since the change in my employment status I had to make a few adjustments to my lifestyle in order to curtail and minimize my budget. One of those changes was to give up the gym, yes it was hard, a very difficult decision to make, but it had to be done. My gym fee was very expensive, even after the 20% discount I received through my former employer. As I am now unemployed I no longer have that discount and I recently leaned that the gym fee has once again been increased now to an even more ridiculous level!

As with every trip to the US, I gain weight, and this trip was no different. Being home most of the time I hardly do much physical activity and so I have undone all the hard work I had put in at the gym in past months. Realizing this and considering that this sedentary lifestyle is not good for my health, I needed to take action. I have to look good even once before I real the downhill years, and also to stay healthy since diabetes, hypertension and cancer runs in my family! I can't afford the gym until I get a job, so what am I to do?

I have decided to get some exercise in by doing some running! Yes, I have decided to start running in hopes that this will help me to burn this fat and get toned and also keep me in a healthy state. So today I made my first attempt of the hill and it was totally wonderful, challenging, but wonderful. At first when I arrived at the hill in Hope Pastures, I thought it was a pretty easy hill so after walking a few chains I started to run up the hill. But while I was there running the hill revealed it's true self and it got steeper, and steeper. After a few more exhausting chains, the pace slowed and slowed as I felt my body crack under the pressure and my running pace was watered down to a steady stride with much heavy breathing and the downpour of sweat.

But I never gave up and I made it to the top of the hill with a good steady walking pace. I hated going back down the hill though, as it was pressuring to the knew due to the steep decline, but I made it down and managed to repeat the process up the hill one more time. I am ready to do it again tomorrow and at least three times a week challenging myself every time. It will be rough, it will require dedication, but I have to do it, for my health and for my body.

Kanye Strikes Again!

2009-09-14T00:35:00.009-05:00

Oh yes you guessed it, Kanye West Does it again! How much further can one man push his head up his ass? Mr, "Conceited", Mr. "I Need Attention" had to make sure he was in the limelight again at the 2009 MTV VMA's. this time he wasn't on the stage to accept an award, but he surely found his unwanted ass on the stage to make an jack-ass of himself.

It was in the middle of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech, after she was announced the winner of the Best Female Video, Kanye proceeded to interrupt her by taking the mic from her and announcing that he thinks Beyonce has the best video. No Kanye, the whole world does not revolve around you, not everyone thinks like you and not because you don't agree with something doesn't mean we all want to know what you think! I lost my ratings for Kanye West ever since he started to exhibit his conceited, boastful self-righteous behaviour regularly and now this latest act just shot him down quite a few more notches. Right now he's in negative on my scale!

Don't take my word for it, here is the video. (Update 14/09/09: Had to change the video as Viacom had Youtube remove the original citing copyright issues)

Kanye West you need to pull your head out your ass... that is if it's not too far up and can't come out!

PS: you can also vote on the poll at the bottom of the page.

Brown Sugar!!!

2009-09-12T14:34:00.003-05:00

Brown Sugar (Jamaica Observer photo)

Brown Sugar felt really sweet on Friday night as the sang away with the 2009 Digicel Rising Star Competition! first place and a cheque for JM$1000000! It seems Jamaican's love sweets and sweet they got as Brown Sugar thrilled her way through the competition to snatch victory in the 2009 Digicel Rising Star Competition! Her strong voice, sexy atire, voluptuous strong body, and crown appeal got Jamaica voters texting her number like crazy!

it came down to Brown Sugar and Princes Tia in the finals of the competition and last night, based of the performance of Brown Sugar over the last shows and the reaction of the audinence to her performances we all knew the last show was just to announce Brown Sugar as the winner. I could tell that she had the potential to reach very far in the competition when I saw her perform is the preliminary rounds. Throught the competition she matured and her performances and singing grew even stronger, strong enough to become the 2009 Digicel Rising Star.

Congratulations to Brown Sugar on her victory and to Princess Tia for great performances even at her young age!

No More HBO and Cinemax!

2009-09-09T12:34:00.008-05:00

When I came back to Jamaica from my New York vacation and turned on my television, I scrolled to my favorite movie stations, HBO and Cinemax, only to be greeted by the "rice grain" signals on my screen. What! I still can see the other channels quite well, so I know my cable is connected, maybe these two stations are just down at the moment. Two days later and still no HBO or Cinemax, this was serious! So I clicked over to the Logic One information channel and was greeted by this notice below.

Both HBO and Cinemax have been removed from the channel lineup as ordered by the Broadcasting Commission at the request of HBO Latin America! What? Why? How could the Broadcasting Commission order the removal of these well watched channels just like that, how could they?

This question was then answered in a notice from two of Kingston's biggest cable company, Logic One and Telstar. It seems HBO Latin America has ordered that our local cable companies cease and desist from broadcasting all HBO and Cinemax North America feed effective immediately. According to the notice HBO Latin America has claimed that it is in the advanced stages of preparing a channel for the Caribbean region, called HBO Caribbean. They have also assured the cable operators that the new channel will not be broadcast in Spanish of with Spanish sub-titles. The alternative proposed by by HBO Latin America for the Cinemax channel was in the form of movies produced by Warner Brothers. In other words, they are in the process of providing our cable operators with a watered down feed to broadcast to their subscribers.

No time-line was provided in the statement for the commence of these two new channels slated to replace the HBO and Cinemax that we were used to. So until then We will have to do well with the other movie channels in the lineup, that is if you don't have Flow. There has been no statement regarding Flow's channel lineup, so I assume Flow is unaffected by this action. (Update 09/09/09: I have been advised that Flow has removed the mention channels from their lineup too.)All this has raised a few questions: Why has HBO Latin America suddenly ordered a cease and desist? Are our cable providers not paying for the feed? Why does HBO Latin America want to give us a different (watered down) set of channels? Is it that they are giving us a substandard version to fit our budget? What will these new channels be like?

Whatever the reason is, one thing is for sure, it seems there will no longer be and HBO and Cinemax as we know it for these two cable operators and their subscribers.

Final Destination?

2009-09-07T17:55:00.006-05:00

For all those who watched any of the Final Destination sequels you will know why I find a story I recently read in The Gleaner website bit of news all so strange! For those who didn't watch the original or the very predictable sequels, here is the gist of the movies. A group of people consisting of friends and complete strangers miss a horrific death due to the premonition of one of the members. However shortly after "death" comes for each and every one of them one by one no matter how hard they try to avoid it.

Hey speaking of Final Destination, I watched Final Destination IV 3D, I know it was crap, but I just wanted to see the 3D effects. I won't even give a review of that movie. All I'll say the very first Final Destination was absolutely great and they should have just stopped there.

Alas I digressed. Well now that you get the gist of what I am talking about, you will understand why I found this story in The Gleaner very surprising!

Twice unlucky - Cyclist dies after being hit by motor cars

Published: Monday | August 31, 2009

A pedal cyclist died at the Falmouth Hospital from injuries he sustained after being hit by two motor cars along the Falmouth main road in Trelawny on Saturday.

He has been identified as 52-year-old George Sinclair of Hague in the parish.

Reports from the Constabulary Communication Network are that about 7:35 p.m, Sinclair was riding his bicycle along the Falmouth main road in the vicinity of Rock Bridge when he was hit by a Toyota Camry motor car travelling in the opposite direction. The driver of the car exited the vehicle and was assisting the injured man out of the road when he was hit by a second Toyota Camry motor car that was heading towards Falmouth. Sinclair was taken to the Falmouth Hospital where he died while being treated.

Weird isn't it? Can you imagine being hit at the same spot, twice in almost the same instant in time and by the same make and model car! That's some real life Final Destination stuff there!

Source: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090831/lead/lead4.html

The Miserable Landlord

2009-09-05T00:36:00.002-05:00

This is one of the reasons i try my utmost best not to live anywhere where I have to share with my landlord, especially when the landlord is elderly!

Enjoy your weekend!

PS. The back pon the rock and in the heat!

Chris Brown Shocked with Amnesia!

2009-08-31T21:40:00.004-05:00

nydailynews.com

I was watching on CNN HLN today and say a clip of the Larry King Live, Chris Brown interview and was totally shocked at what Chris Brown was saying! This was the first public interview Chris was giving after his altercation with his then girlfriend Rhianna which send her to the hospital with multiple bruises. This was his chance to tell his side of the story and to salvage his reputation, but his interview responses threw some serious punches. Why?

Larry King: "When you hear all the things the Police and the reports said you did, how do you react to that?"

Chris Brown: "... I just look at it like wow... I'm in shock..."

What the hell! What do you mean by you are in shock? You personally beat a girl to a pulp and then turn around in an interview saying that you are in shock as if you were one of the millions who watched this shocking story on TV! What were you in shock for? That it actually got out on the news? That you got charged and sentenced for beating a woman? What are you in shock? Ratid, I'm in shock that Chris Brown is in shock! But that isn't all, what really took the cake was what happened next!

Larry King: "Do you remember doing it?"

Chris brown: "No."

What the #*#^@&%! What happened Chris Brown, are you suffering from amnesia? You beat beat a woman so bad that she had to go to the hospital and the police had to get involved, you see the incident reported endlessly in the various media and now you all of a sudden forget! Hold on, I wonder if Chris Brown is a drug addict or a serious alcoholic, because he must have been under the influence of some mind altering substance to forget that infamous incident! Oh wait, better yet, maybe it is that Rhianna put on some serious lick (blows) in his head, giving him a concussion, leading to memory loss!

It seems Chris Brown wasn't ready for this interview at all, he should have stayed in hiding a little longer, because his answers to Larry King's questions were very lacking. His publicist and manager need to be fired for letting Chris brown go on big CNN, on a famous show as Larry King Live and chat such rubbish! Not even a little dry run session to prep Chris before so he didn't go on to national TV and further damage his reputation! Despite what might have gone down on the night in question between himself and Rhianna, this bout of amnesia just don't cut it! He just needs to fess up, confess about what happened, offer a sincere apology to Rhianna, go to counseling and try his very best never to let something like that happen again. Join support group or action group against violence against women and re-gain some form of good standing with his fans and the public. But claiming to be shocked and forgetting what he did, nuh mek it (unacceptable). Chris Brown needs to go beat out something better on the drawing board!

Oh before I forget, damn amnesia! Here is the video...

Ookkkaayyy Then!

2009-08-28T15:40:00.005-05:00

jamaica-star.com

That's what I had to say when I saw the image of Ms. Kitty (AKA Fluffy Diva) on The Star's website as the Hottie Hottie Femme Fashion girl of the day! I know Ms. Kitty as a very self-confident fluffy (Jamaican slang for larger/chubby/fat women) woman. When I went to that section of The Star's website I certainly was expecting to see a picture of Ms Kitty in a swimsuit hanging on to a pole! What do you say: Self-confident or just plain bold? Sexy or tasteless?

Happy Four Year Stunner's Afflictions!!!

2009-08-25T13:55:00.003-05:00

Once again, my absentmindedness has led me to forget to commemorate my Bloggerversary! As of August 02, 2009 Stunner's Afflictions is four (4) years strong! Who knew that when I signed up on Blogger and typed those few words that I would be still typing all my foolishness still to waste your time [evil laugh].

I must admit though that I have not been posting as regularly as I once did and I guess that's understandable considering that everything and everyone goes through changes. I have evolved and so has my blog... well somewhat. The good thing though is that I am still blogging and I still have the wonderful support of you my readers.

So now as I am here celebrating the fourth year of my blog, I also take this opportunity to say a big thank you my readers, because without you my constant ramblings would be of no use. I hope I can make it yet to another year and to continue to keep you entertained and in some cases informed.

Once again, HAPPY BLOGGERVERSARY STUNNER'S AFFLICTIONS!!!

PS: Since you are the readers, let me know what you like to read about or what you would want to see on Stunner's Afflictions. I post my thoughts and experiences, but you too can make an input. So let me know what's on your mind.

Who said...

2009-08-23T10:20:00.000-05:00

... white girls didn't have ass? Saw this girl at the Ft. Lauderdale International Airport on Friday, and immediately went into paparazzi more with my cellphone. Well, I might be wrong and she may have been Hispanic/Latina. Else that would have been a white girl trapped in a thick black girl's or Latina girl's shape! Well: white, Latina, mixed with black, whatever, she has a ratid shape and booty!

4x2!!!

2009-08-22T14:37:00.003-05:00

It seems of late that my blog has been converted to a sports blog or an unofficial IAAF World Championship blog! But how could I not blog about this great sporting moment in Jamaica's history? The Jamaica team has certainly been performing well so far in the 2009 IAAF World Championship races so far and today was no exception!

Both our women and men 4x100m team claimed goal today, beating their rival convincingly! there was no doubt that we won those goal, no photo finish necessary! This morning started the day off on a excellent note, our women 4x100m team, comprised of: Simone Facey, Shelly-Ann Fraser, Aleen Bailey, Kerron Stewart claimed the goal medal in 42.06 seconds. Then earlier this afternoon the men 4x100m team, which had the likes of: Steve Mullings, Michael Frater, Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, took the gold in 37.31. this 4x100m relay was like a replay of the Beijing Olympics last year, a great race to close of the day.

Congrats to the 4x100m teams, and to the entire Jamaica team, who tore up the tracks at the IAAF World Championship!

For those who want to relive or see for the first time here are the races.

Women 4x100m

Men 4x100m

I Am Legend II

2009-08-20T15:40:00.011-05:00

http://berlin.iaaf.org

No, they are not making a sequel to I Am Legend, but the should, but this time the star will not be Will Smith, but our very own Usain Bolt! What else can we call him? His performance at the 2008 Olympics and now at the 2009 IAAF World Championships, is phenomenal, no, legendary! Another page in history was written by this great track and field author, Usain Bolt, when he snatched... no, when he out-rightly and deliberately, without a shadow of a doubt took the gold medal in the 200m finals! Not only did he just convincingly win the race, but he smashed his own World record that he set a year ago with a winning time of 19.19 seconds! Apart from Lightening all i can think of to call him is Legend!

dresonic.wordpress.com

Continuing with the movie script, I think he can have another costar to the cast and she is none other than Melanie Walker, who won the 400m hurdles with the world's second fastest time! Melanie won the race in a convincing manner, similar to that of bolt way ahead of her nearest competitor in 52.42 seconds, a new championship record. Congrats to Melanie Walker on a stellar performance and for getting a gold medal in a great race.

The Jamaican team is certainly on fire at this World Championships in Berlin Germany! They are certainly there collecting precious metals with a medal standings of 5 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze. Congratulations to all of our winners and the entire Jamaican team. Go team Jamaica, go! I know the I Am Legend II will be a blockbuster, with a stellar cast!

Here are the videos, to relive these great moments!

Bolt 200m Victory

Melanie Walker 400m Hurdles

Man or Woman, Identify Yourself!

2009-08-20T02:26:00.002-05:00

http://www.charlotteobserver.com

That's exactly what the IAAF is saying to Caster Semanya, the eighteen year old winner of the 2009 800m World Championships! The Guardian reports, "The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) yesterday revealed that Semenya has been the subject of a gender verification process both in her native South Africa, and since she arrived in Berlin. The official investigation could take weeks to draw conclusions with an endocrinologist, a gynaecologist and a psychologist all involved." This dark shadow of doubt about the sex of Caster has now come to the forefront since she claimed victory in the women's 800m World Championships well ahead of the other competitors with a Personal Best of 1 minute 55.45 seconds. But why has a major sporting association raised this sensitive and controversial issue?

I only learned about this sensational and controversial athlete on Wednesday night, and had to check this out for myself. At first I thought hey were questioning her gender because she was somewhat muscular, but I was totally amazed... [rephrase] shocked by her photos! No disrespect to this athlete, but I could definitely see why her gender was in question here. I sat there going through several pictures for female traits and I am still looking! Her entire built appears to be male, broad shoulders, tapered stature, no hips, masculine chiseled face and very well defined! The only thing that appears to be missing is the "male package" in the pubic area! I must admit, after going through several photos, I too have raised questions about the sex of Caster Semanya. I have even gone as far as analyzing her name... Cast (h)er, Se(e) men ya(h)!

http://www.mirror.co.uk/

But putting the crude jokes aside, it must be a very emotional and stressful period for this athlete, in a moment when she and her country should be celebrating a great victory and a milestone in her life and career. Not only is her gender being questioned by curious onlookers, but her gender is being questioned very publicly on the international scene with hints of the possibility of her being stripped of her medal and title. It is not the first time as the Guardian reports, "Semenya's coach, Michael Seme, says he is well used to the commotion. He recalls stopping to use the facilities at a petrol station in Cape Town recently and as Semenya tried to enter the women's toilets, she was stopped by the petrol attendants. "Caster just laughed and asked if they would like her to take off her pants to show them she was a woman,"". Hopefully she can display the same lightheartedness where this much larger issue is concerned. I wish Caster all the best and hope, this is just a case of mistaken identity, that she is actually a "born woman" and that she can celebrate her victory and continue to make strides as an athlete.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/aug/19/caster-semenya-800m-world-athletics-championships-gender

100m Domination!

2009-08-17T15:16:00.004-05:00

http://berlin.iaaf.org

On Sunday August 16 we witnessed Usain Bold strike on the tracks at Berlin by shattering the world record and claiming Gold in the 100m sprint. We also saw Asafa Powell cling on to the bronze as he sealed third place for himself. Today the women took their turn at dominance of the track when they stepped on their mark to determine who will claim the title for the women's 2009 IAAF World Championships. Would our women accomplish a similar feat as did Usain or Asafa?

I am back in Mount Vernon, which means no cable and no means of watching this anticipated race. So I had to settle for the live race updates on the 2009 IAAF World Championships website. So there i was sitting in front of the laptop watching the results as they came in, and so went out cheers of joy as i saw the results pop up in front of my eyes! Shelly-Ann Fraser crossed the finish line with a World Leading time of 10.73 seconds, followed closely by her fellow team mate Kerron Stewart, with her Personal Best of 10.75 seconds! Gold and Silver for Jamaica! It would have been all Jamaican victory, but Veronica Campbell-Brown was denied the third place by Carmeleta Jetter. Nevertheless, it was great race today, with very good results.

Congrats to our female 100m athletes, they all did well today and have added to the proud feeling that Jamaicans all over have been feeling since yesterday. In case you all missed the race, here is the clip of the race that I got view a few minutes after the race.

Bolt Lightning!

2009-08-16T20:59:00.005-05:00

http://www.universalsports.com

Once again the man dubbed the fastest man on earth has proven why he got that title and in fine style. On Sunday August 12, 2009 the fastest man on earth, Usain Bolt, sealed his stamp in the book of athletics records when he smashed the World Record to create a new World Record of 9.58! He did this in the 100m Finals of the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin against two of the best in tracks, Tyson Gay and fellow countryman Asafa Powell. No doubt Bold has become even more invincible after this much anticipated showdown between him and the fastest American Tyson Gay, who was hoping to accomplish the impossible task of beating the sprint king Usain Bolt.

Being in the US, I was very nervous that I would miss this big showdown, but the American media made sure they broadcast this race as their top athlete was running the race of his life. The TV was on, the TV tuned to the race station, anticipation filled the room. The anticipations built, not because I was hoping Bolt would beat Gay, I already knew that, but I wanted to see how well he would smash the record. The athletes took their marks, set and with the exploding from the firing of the gun an clean start was made and within seconds, 9.58 seconds to be exact, it was all over! Usain "Lightning" Bolt smashed his own record and wrote a new record in the books. I wasn't expecting a lot from Asafa Powell, but he gave me the brawta I was looking for as he grabbed the third place with a fine run.

Congrats Usain and Asafa on a great victory and I have to congrats Tyson two for a good run and placing second. However, another challenge is brewing, as the 200m race will see Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay squaring off again as they challenge each other for 200m world supremacy. That promises to be another great showdown on the tracks in Berlin. Will there be an upset? Will there be another World Record? Well only August 20 will tell!

If you missed the race or just wanted to relive the moment, here it is!!!

Orphan, The Ugly Truth

2009-08-14T17:49:00.005-05:00

Hi there my readers... well that is if I still have readers, since I haven't posted or visited much blogs lately. Things haven't been all that hectic, but it seems the time just goes by so quickly without me even knowing what I did or when the time went by. One of the few things I have been doing is watching a couple of movies at the cinema and of course I have to give you a run down of the two I watched so far.

The fist was The Ugly Truth, a battle of the sexes romance comedy staring Katherine Heigl who plays Abby Richter, a small network TV producer at the top of her game but not the same in her love life and Gerard Butler who plays Mike Butler who runs a off the wall programme about relationships on a late night cable station. Their worlds collide when they are pitched together to host a programme on Abby's network in a desperate bid to increase ratings. Mike takes on the challenge of helping Abby get her love life on track which leads to quite a few funny moments. The Ugly Truth, although predictable, was a decent romance comedy which is sure to give you a few laughs and won't let you feel bad about going to the Cinema. I give it a Stunner Rating of 3 out of 5.

Last night it was off to the cinema again, but this time it was to watch Orphan. Now this movie was pretty decent, the story line, the suspense and the ensuing terror was just enough to make it a movie worth watching. It started off slow, but I guess that slow start was needed to build up the story and the scenes to follow. The movie is about a couple, John and Kate (Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga)... no not the same ones from John & Kate Plus 8, these had only two children. However, they have been suffering from the loss of their third child who was a stillborn which has left Kate very fragile since the ordeal and it has been putting a strain on their marriage. In ad effort to move on with her life, save her marriage and appease her young daughter who wants a sister, Kate decides to adopt a daughter from the local orphanage. They find themselves drawn to a very articulate orphan named Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), who they decide to adopt. However, they certainly were not prepared for what Esther had to offer and the life threatening trouble that was to follow, because there's definitely something wrong with Esther. If you want to go watch a movie with great suspense mixed with terror and a decent plot, then this is definitely the movie to go watch. I recommend this movie for the cinema money! I give it a Stunner Rating of 4 out of 5!

I guess there are a few movies still out there worth going to the cinema to watch.