Venus w/ love

my new love:)

you goin crazy?

Machel Montano is absolutely one of THE most talented artistes on the planet, the kind that makes me proud of the Trinidadian blood running through my veins. NO doubt he will show up again and again on this blog. He is a musical genius and the genre of soca owes him!!!! He even makes a somber song danceable, which made me feel kinna guilty for wanting to sway the hips to this tune, but that is the essence of Machel!!! As I'm about to make my long awaited exodus to the sweet islands of Trinidad and Tobago for our beloved carnival, this song will stay in my mind, even amongst all the bacchanalist soca songs I am loving for 2009. This is because in my opinon, no amount of new condos being built, fancy parties and promotions, trips ddi and brand new cars can hide the fact that the violence and level of disparity is out of hand. People tend to "lose their minds" in T&T, especially around carnival time, which is what they're supposed to do but in a safe, fun and considerate kind of way. Not the shooting and killing, drunk driving and drunk fighting kind of way which can, and does, also occur. It breaks my ♥ because often times my heart resides in Trinidad, where in my opinion, it belongs. So I took a time out to recenter myself because I am not immune to the losing of mind in the name of carnival fever. However, come tomorrow the positivity will flow like a Trini flash flood and I will continue to be Tustyyyy!!!! (click link for full explanation of Tusty)
bless

There's no excuse for mindlessness. Even the "anti"s that think they're going against the norm, have developped their own norm, and therefore have become their own form of sheep. There is no substitute for consciousness. It's great to have fun,jump on and off trends and enjoy what the world has to offer, but let's not forget the essence of individuality. booyakasha.


"The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed."
Steven Biko
Speech in Cape Town, 1971

Much too much...

One of the hardest things for me to do is acknowledge when something is too much. I try to deny the competitor in me, for fear that I'll lose control. I can lose control, get totally engulfed and never admit that something is too much. It's unhealthy, it's scary. It comes in handy when faced with adversity, but I'm working on moderation.

I've gotten myself involved in a few projects that just may be 'too much' for me. What do I do? avoid and avoid and hope they disappear. again, unhealthy. let's hope I can get it together so things don't all fall apart. I'm starting with this...because thisssss is just too much for me....much too much



bless.

have you ever wanted to marry a movie?

I am head over heels in lusty love with Slumdog Millionaire. see it. you must. Granted it wouldn't have taken much to persuade me to dedicate a couple hours to this one. It's got what I need in a potential "favourite movie": gritty realness, a totally plausible yet seemingly unrealistic scenario and subtitles. I don't always require subtitles (well not if it's in english or french),but I crave real world cultures and experiences. Slumdog Millionaire is amazing . The story line is incredibly written, the cast is genuinely endearing and there is alwaaaaays something going on at any point of the film.

I am definetly a "foreign" film addict. I hardly watch mainstream movies with much devotion, and when the "foreign" films become mainstream I am happy for the film but secretly wish the world knew that they're uninformed and limiting themselves to mainstream recycling. It shouldn't take an Oscar nomination to watch a film they may need to read in order to enjoy. :)

Yes Slumdog is amazing . But I'm not the type to jump onto the bandwagons at the drop of gen. pop. admiration.

Cidade Dos Homens or City of Men (the sequel to City of God) is my favourite "foreign" film. I use "" around the word foreign because I'm not so convinced that these films are anymore or less foreign to me than a movie like Finding Nemo. I'd say an orphaned talking fish is pretty foreign in my scheme of things.

I have watched City of Men and City of God more times than I can count, and I'm the type to watch a movie only once, twice if I'm pretending that I've never seen it before, while I'm in the company of a companion (yes I do that). It also helps that my ONLY celebrity crush is in this film, a Brasilian celeb who, last I heard, can't speak English but is working on it and has no idea that I would sponsor him PRONTO/ASAP/tout de suite. His name is Jonathan Haagensen and he's delicious and incredibly talented. I scoured the city of Toronto looking for how and where I could get the TV series continuation of City of God, also named Cidade dos Homens. My searched took me to Bay Street Video where I was able to rent all 4 seasons:) blissssss

Being francophone, I can't help but name french films as my pleasure of choice. Top 3 would have to be: Amélie, Rue Casse-Nègres and La Haine
Amélie has just enough quirkiness for me
Rue Casse-Nègres is a 'near and dear' since part of my heritage is Martiniquais and my maman introduced it to me when I was a kiddie.
La Haine left me speechless.

Honourable mentions go to Malena (italian), Curse of the Golden Flower (chinese) and Pan`s Labyrinth (spanish)

enjoy

bee ell oh gee

when you go to the gym you exercise your body, when you go to school you exercise your mind, go to a party and exercise your social skills, when you blog you exercise your.....fingers? ♥