A guy I knew died yesterday in a car crash. I didn't know him well but he was one of those people my blood took to one time from the first time I met him. That was a year ago. Ever since then I'd see him pretty often at UWI and would always hail him out, go shit talk a five and whatnot. I hadn't seen him a while and then he was at a small but sectioned lime I went to night before and I didn't even make him out.. I feel pretty badly about that now, not because he's gone but because I didn't realize he was there. Even if he were alive today I'd feel the same way.
This post isn't about that though.. it's about death. Death seems all the more painful and tragic when it's around times like these.. Christmas time especially and specifically. But that's human perspective of course, but why wouldn't it be.. we're all at the very least.. human. Death doesn't stop for the holidays. It doesn't wait til the warmth has passed and we go back to the everyday grind. It's constant and ever-present. Always around.
Also, no matter how great of a person you are, if you're doing something dangerous and stupid, you're liable to face the obvious consequences. My partner was speeding. On a length of road that's particularly curvy. And his steering was giving trouble. He was a great guy, but his death was his own fault and that's a harsh reality. His best friend was also killed in the crash so he took his friend's life as well. Because of speeding.
so that's the bitter truth.. we all take for granted the fact that we are here one moment and can be gone the next. Out in the blink of an eye. We go about our existence so generally oblivious to what could happen and treat people as such as well. We hold grudges and hate. We keep secrets and hold off on setting things straight.. we assume there's going to be a tomorrow when in reality that's brazen and arrogant of us to do so. Hence the phrase 'tomorrow please God'.. tomorrow if it pleases God.. because only by God's grace is there a tomorrow and none of us knows God's will. This death, more than any other, perhaps because I saw him the night before, has solidified in me the importance of today and the here and now. Reality is harsh but you can operate within it and use it for your better good. Or perhaps just learn to cope with it.
So to my partner, I hope you are resting in peace; in a better place than I am in right now. You will be missed and your memory will live on. I hope your death will influence at least one person to live their life in a better way than yesterday.
to his friends, family and loved ones my deepest and most sincere condolences. I am incredibly sorry for your loss and my prayers and heart go out to each of you. He was great in life, he will be great in death.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
CHRISTmas?
so we're almost to that lovely day full of warmth and cheer and happiness and love etc etc etc.. no, not the anniversary of the day you lost your virginity.. I'm talking about Christmas. Celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Over the years I've realised I have a few issues with this time of the year though, and these issues/the realization have never been more apparent to me than this year.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm pro-celebration of Jesus' birth, so it's nothing to do with that occurrence. Rather it's the fact that people love to take advantage of this time of the year for whatever reason they can think of. And I'm not just talking about commercialism either. I'm grouping those who categorise this time of year as 'the season of giving' into it as well - those people who do all they can to get all the support and donations they can accommodate and give to the poor/charities/homeless etc. But wait foots, isn't that a GOOD thing? well yes, it is.. these people are so much less fortunate than most of us and need all the help they can get. My disagreement lies with the fact that these so-called good samaritans, these christmas-saints, these good-willing donaters do absolutely nothing for the rest of the year to help these less fortunate persons.
January - November these 'samritans' go about their lives as normal without any regard to the persons who will suddenly find so much help during December. Then parang hits the airwaves, decorations start to go up and lo and behold! it's time to consider the less fortunate. Here's a thought: perhaps if you considered the less fortunate throughout the whole year you wouldn't have to spend as much time, energy and funds at the end of the year to help them (because they'd be in a generally better position than on the average year).
Related to this incident is the people who use this 'season of giving' to ask for donations and help. They're in the malls, by the entrances and walking about inside. They're on the roadside, by the grocery.. I have mixed feelings on this. Yes I admit to this time of year being quite influential on the average person's will to give/donate and as such it only makes sense to use this to your advantage.. but this still doesn't sit quite right with me. You're taking advantage of the season. And yes what better way there is to celebrate the birth of our Lord and saviour than by giving to the poor etc.. but how am I to make sure my money is getting to the poor? and the fact is that most people do not think about Jesus when they give to these people asking for money. They're simply at the mercy of their environment and are thus coerced into giving. A lot of the time it's guilt as well. And this shouldn't be the case.
Then there are the beggars (I feel bad using this term btw) who suddenly come out at this time and sit by the door to groceries etc. What are these people doing the rest of the year? Where do they sit between the months of January and November? they prey upon your seasonal mood and guilt to give the hand-outs.. and for what? I'm not following them to find out so I don't know. What about the beggars who are on the roadside every month of the year asking for money/food etc? I'm thinking they should get preference at this time of the year. If I had the urge to give money to someone I've never seen sitting outside TruValue, I'd take whatever I was going to give him and give it to the tall man who walks the road to go back to the highway from UWI there, or the indian man who is there as well. Or one of the squeegie boys who, annoying as they may be, are still there the rest of the year and not only there when they think they'll have the most opportunity to get something.
There's an ad on the radio that plays on 94.1 *THE BOOM CHAMPIONS!!!* and really really annoys/irritates me every time I hear it. It's for sports and games and it's a song-ad with some guys singing to the tune of 'Jingle Bells' "Jingle Bells.. Christmas really stunk, I got nothing that I like, my gifts were all just junnnnk!" WTF?! you know why your Christmas stunk? because you're so focused on getting gifts that you forgot about the truth behind the season. And yes, I know this is an ad but still.. ughh.. that ad represents all that is now wrong with this time of the year.
And another thing: I understand that December 25th is the acceptable and recognized date for the recognition of the birth of Jesus, but why can't we celebrate this at other times during the year? why not have this in our hearts and minds the whole year through? I'd say my New Years' resolution would be to do that but then I'd be subscribing to another tradition that I have some faults with, so I'll just start from today.. and everyday be thankful for what Jesus did for me and thus for his birth.
apart from this I do love the season though. Ham, turkey, pastelles, sorrel... yummmmy! the warmth inside you get when you really feel the meaning of Christmas. The decorations, the lights, the parang, the festivity.. it's always nice to be festive. But we must not forget that without Christ we'd not have this in the first place.. so big up to THE 'man' J.C.!! *fist-to-chest thump*
so thus wraps up my Christmas blog.. well I might end up doing another before/right after so perhaps this won't be the only one. Til next time.. Christmastime! *mini christmas tree begins to get bigger* CHRISTMASTIME! *and bigger* CHRISTMASTIME!! HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! *extends to full length and glows with coloured blinking lights and decorations*
^ if you don't get that reference then you're square man. (while the rest of us are shapeless masses of potential that can become anything we want)
Now don't get me wrong, I'm pro-celebration of Jesus' birth, so it's nothing to do with that occurrence. Rather it's the fact that people love to take advantage of this time of the year for whatever reason they can think of. And I'm not just talking about commercialism either. I'm grouping those who categorise this time of year as 'the season of giving' into it as well - those people who do all they can to get all the support and donations they can accommodate and give to the poor/charities/homeless etc. But wait foots, isn't that a GOOD thing? well yes, it is.. these people are so much less fortunate than most of us and need all the help they can get. My disagreement lies with the fact that these so-called good samaritans, these christmas-saints, these good-willing donaters do absolutely nothing for the rest of the year to help these less fortunate persons.
January - November these 'samritans' go about their lives as normal without any regard to the persons who will suddenly find so much help during December. Then parang hits the airwaves, decorations start to go up and lo and behold! it's time to consider the less fortunate. Here's a thought: perhaps if you considered the less fortunate throughout the whole year you wouldn't have to spend as much time, energy and funds at the end of the year to help them (because they'd be in a generally better position than on the average year).
Related to this incident is the people who use this 'season of giving' to ask for donations and help. They're in the malls, by the entrances and walking about inside. They're on the roadside, by the grocery.. I have mixed feelings on this. Yes I admit to this time of year being quite influential on the average person's will to give/donate and as such it only makes sense to use this to your advantage.. but this still doesn't sit quite right with me. You're taking advantage of the season. And yes what better way there is to celebrate the birth of our Lord and saviour than by giving to the poor etc.. but how am I to make sure my money is getting to the poor? and the fact is that most people do not think about Jesus when they give to these people asking for money. They're simply at the mercy of their environment and are thus coerced into giving. A lot of the time it's guilt as well. And this shouldn't be the case.
Then there are the beggars (I feel bad using this term btw) who suddenly come out at this time and sit by the door to groceries etc. What are these people doing the rest of the year? Where do they sit between the months of January and November? they prey upon your seasonal mood and guilt to give the hand-outs.. and for what? I'm not following them to find out so I don't know. What about the beggars who are on the roadside every month of the year asking for money/food etc? I'm thinking they should get preference at this time of the year. If I had the urge to give money to someone I've never seen sitting outside TruValue, I'd take whatever I was going to give him and give it to the tall man who walks the road to go back to the highway from UWI there, or the indian man who is there as well. Or one of the squeegie boys who, annoying as they may be, are still there the rest of the year and not only there when they think they'll have the most opportunity to get something.
There's an ad on the radio that plays on 94.1 *THE BOOM CHAMPIONS!!!* and really really annoys/irritates me every time I hear it. It's for sports and games and it's a song-ad with some guys singing to the tune of 'Jingle Bells' "Jingle Bells.. Christmas really stunk, I got nothing that I like, my gifts were all just junnnnk!" WTF?! you know why your Christmas stunk? because you're so focused on getting gifts that you forgot about the truth behind the season. And yes, I know this is an ad but still.. ughh.. that ad represents all that is now wrong with this time of the year.
And another thing: I understand that December 25th is the acceptable and recognized date for the recognition of the birth of Jesus, but why can't we celebrate this at other times during the year? why not have this in our hearts and minds the whole year through? I'd say my New Years' resolution would be to do that but then I'd be subscribing to another tradition that I have some faults with, so I'll just start from today.. and everyday be thankful for what Jesus did for me and thus for his birth.
apart from this I do love the season though. Ham, turkey, pastelles, sorrel... yummmmy! the warmth inside you get when you really feel the meaning of Christmas. The decorations, the lights, the parang, the festivity.. it's always nice to be festive. But we must not forget that without Christ we'd not have this in the first place.. so big up to THE 'man' J.C.!! *fist-to-chest thump*
so thus wraps up my Christmas blog.. well I might end up doing another before/right after so perhaps this won't be the only one. Til next time.. Christmastime! *mini christmas tree begins to get bigger* CHRISTMASTIME! *and bigger* CHRISTMASTIME!! HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! *extends to full length and glows with coloured blinking lights and decorations*
^ if you don't get that reference then you're square man. (while the rest of us are shapeless masses of potential that can become anything we want)
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
A Dream I Just Woke From
I had a thought recently that maybe I'm an atheist who's too much of a pussy to be an atheist. i.e. I'm in fear that I may be wrong and when the time comes I'll pay for my mistake.
Then I thought a little more but eventually didn't bother about that thought anymore. Now, after my dream I consider this a slap in the face of everything I believe to be a sign of THE higher power in my life. From little things to blatant, obvious things. From strange things like my beloved 626 being stolen and being found and returned to a police station before I even know it went missing to the existence of the super-natural and my experiences with it. I may be laughed at by some but I hold these things very dear to me.
My dream, I don't think was overly symbolic. Perhaps it was purely psychological but even so, or rather especially so (from a certain standpoint) I should take notice of it. I dreamt I was back in my old house with family and friends. It was a worldwide special day.. like Christmas, except it was a tradition where you light candles and go to a mass or something or the other along those lines. So everyone(neighbours etc) were lighting their candles and going(walking) to some church that was close-by. I didn't want to go and I was kinda annoyed that I was being made to go by my parents so instead of carrying a cd player or something to tune out, I used my phone. I plugged in my phone's headset and was playing/blasting Necrophagist from it.
Walking down the road, one of my best friends had to leave to go pick someone else up. Right after this happened (in the dream) I suddenly had a book in my hand and the scene shifted to a few of us being in my house, which wasn't my true old house but it was supposed to be. The book had some symbols and markings on the front and my mom told me don't touch that book it's evil. I figured she was just saying that crap because I was listening to metal etc etc. Scene shifted back again to the road I was on before, and my mom screaming at me (a bit fearfully at this time) to get rid of the book. I screamed at her (a little hesitant and unsure) that she was being dumb and I threw the book at this hot girl who was in front of me. This is where the dream gets.. odd
The book was either grabbed by the girl's hands or started levitating in front of the girl. I realized quickly that this really wasn't an ordinary book. I kinda started yelling at the girl to get rid of the book but then a voice screamed that it was going to possess her.. which it promptly did. Four witches/demon chicks possessed the girl. I felt like it was my fault this happened (doi) so I tried to get the demons out by lay-exorcism (lol!). I held the girl/demon combination and tried to say the our father prayer. It did not work too well. In between the prayer I kept having thoughts of having sex with the girl. I tried again.. same result. I started feeling like this wasn't going to end well.. for anyone. I didn't want to say the Hail Mary because someone I respect for their belief and spiritual wisdom once said something along the lines that 'Mary has no power to listen to prayer etc. She is not divine, she was a human.' and as such said person didn't believe praying to her.
At that point in the dream however, I felt like I was quickly approaching that 'shit out of luck' moment so I tried it. And it started working. One Hail Mary after another and the erotic thoughts subsided and it looked and felt as though I was doing some damage. I threw in some personal, on the spot made up prayer to draw power from the almighty and after a while I managed to get the job done. Girl was saved, day was saved hooray, hoorah.
Things were a little shaky after that then the scene changed back to the house and I was in it with what was supposed to be my family and a friend or brother. There was a really bad storm and we had no windows for some reason so all the breeze was coming inside and was really strong. There was thunder and lightning - the whole shebang. I felt/heard a voice saying 'this is what happens to you when you love your God!' and I replied that if this storm was the work of my God then I would be safe. Unfortunately the storm proved to be the work of some far more sinister force. Things quickly escalated and the friend/brother almost got sucked out a door and people were hysterical blah blah blah. I think the witches/demon chicks came back. I fought them off again however and it stuck this time.
Things returned to normal and sunny etc and the dream ended soon after with me telling someone that 'I don't need to wear my love of God as a badge on my sleeve, I have it in my heart."
That concluded my dream and I woke up. I didn't even intend to write this blog but it just sort of happened. I guess cus a friend asked how come I haven't written anything in a while and I figured you don't need anything in particular to write about in a blog such as this, so.. why not
But in writing this blog things hit/occurred to me from my dream that weren't immediately clear to me at first. As such I'm thankful that I did write this post. Those things that became clear are:
well the obvious one: I don't need to wear my love of God as a badge on my sleeve, I have it in my heart. This is quite powerful to me.
then there's this: Buildings and organizations calling themselves 'the church' or 'a church' may be corrupt/ed but the true church of God, of Jesus Christ cannot be tainted. It is a place where true believers, true faith holders gather. - this is also important to me cus I've bashed the church generally for quite some time. I've made tons of jokes to my catholic best friend about pedophile priests and the like, as well as some other more negative stuff. I lumped everything into 'the church' and said they were hypocrites and liars, self-righteous and corrupt. Truth is.. I still think they are, but now I've learnt the difference between man's church and God's church.
to follow up: The traditions of man may have been started in good faith or in bad but this matters not when matched against the traditions of your personal faith and belief - Christmas may be taken from pagans etc etc. but whenever you choose to reflect and thank God for the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ - that's your Christmas Day. If you want to have the usual turkey and ham etc celebrations with your family in July for Christmas that's your Christmas.
and finally: Some things you think may be innocent or even from 'God' may not be so innocent or positive.. this is the point of the book 'The Beautiful Side of Evil'. Some things we take so innocently may have a more sinister purpose.
and what about Necrophagist? I didn't get any negative feelings about that, only one psychological one, which was that I used it as a reasoning to think my mom was being bitchy about the evil book. Hopefully dream-me will know better next time. I still don't believe I listen to satanic music. I actually stay far away from satanic music. And trust me, there is metal and then there's satanic metal. There's death metal and then there's satanic death metal. It's not all the same thing.
Then I thought a little more but eventually didn't bother about that thought anymore. Now, after my dream I consider this a slap in the face of everything I believe to be a sign of THE higher power in my life. From little things to blatant, obvious things. From strange things like my beloved 626 being stolen and being found and returned to a police station before I even know it went missing to the existence of the super-natural and my experiences with it. I may be laughed at by some but I hold these things very dear to me.
My dream, I don't think was overly symbolic. Perhaps it was purely psychological but even so, or rather especially so (from a certain standpoint) I should take notice of it. I dreamt I was back in my old house with family and friends. It was a worldwide special day.. like Christmas, except it was a tradition where you light candles and go to a mass or something or the other along those lines. So everyone(neighbours etc) were lighting their candles and going(walking) to some church that was close-by. I didn't want to go and I was kinda annoyed that I was being made to go by my parents so instead of carrying a cd player or something to tune out, I used my phone. I plugged in my phone's headset and was playing/blasting Necrophagist from it.
Walking down the road, one of my best friends had to leave to go pick someone else up. Right after this happened (in the dream) I suddenly had a book in my hand and the scene shifted to a few of us being in my house, which wasn't my true old house but it was supposed to be. The book had some symbols and markings on the front and my mom told me don't touch that book it's evil. I figured she was just saying that crap because I was listening to metal etc etc. Scene shifted back again to the road I was on before, and my mom screaming at me (a bit fearfully at this time) to get rid of the book. I screamed at her (a little hesitant and unsure) that she was being dumb and I threw the book at this hot girl who was in front of me. This is where the dream gets.. odd
The book was either grabbed by the girl's hands or started levitating in front of the girl. I realized quickly that this really wasn't an ordinary book. I kinda started yelling at the girl to get rid of the book but then a voice screamed that it was going to possess her.. which it promptly did. Four witches/demon chicks possessed the girl. I felt like it was my fault this happened (doi) so I tried to get the demons out by lay-exorcism (lol!). I held the girl/demon combination and tried to say the our father prayer. It did not work too well. In between the prayer I kept having thoughts of having sex with the girl. I tried again.. same result. I started feeling like this wasn't going to end well.. for anyone. I didn't want to say the Hail Mary because someone I respect for their belief and spiritual wisdom once said something along the lines that 'Mary has no power to listen to prayer etc. She is not divine, she was a human.' and as such said person didn't believe praying to her.
At that point in the dream however, I felt like I was quickly approaching that 'shit out of luck' moment so I tried it. And it started working. One Hail Mary after another and the erotic thoughts subsided and it looked and felt as though I was doing some damage. I threw in some personal, on the spot made up prayer to draw power from the almighty and after a while I managed to get the job done. Girl was saved, day was saved hooray, hoorah.
Things were a little shaky after that then the scene changed back to the house and I was in it with what was supposed to be my family and a friend or brother. There was a really bad storm and we had no windows for some reason so all the breeze was coming inside and was really strong. There was thunder and lightning - the whole shebang. I felt/heard a voice saying 'this is what happens to you when you love your God!' and I replied that if this storm was the work of my God then I would be safe. Unfortunately the storm proved to be the work of some far more sinister force. Things quickly escalated and the friend/brother almost got sucked out a door and people were hysterical blah blah blah. I think the witches/demon chicks came back. I fought them off again however and it stuck this time.
Things returned to normal and sunny etc and the dream ended soon after with me telling someone that 'I don't need to wear my love of God as a badge on my sleeve, I have it in my heart."
That concluded my dream and I woke up. I didn't even intend to write this blog but it just sort of happened. I guess cus a friend asked how come I haven't written anything in a while and I figured you don't need anything in particular to write about in a blog such as this, so.. why not
But in writing this blog things hit/occurred to me from my dream that weren't immediately clear to me at first. As such I'm thankful that I did write this post. Those things that became clear are:
well the obvious one: I don't need to wear my love of God as a badge on my sleeve, I have it in my heart. This is quite powerful to me.
then there's this: Buildings and organizations calling themselves 'the church' or 'a church' may be corrupt/ed but the true church of God, of Jesus Christ cannot be tainted. It is a place where true believers, true faith holders gather. - this is also important to me cus I've bashed the church generally for quite some time. I've made tons of jokes to my catholic best friend about pedophile priests and the like, as well as some other more negative stuff. I lumped everything into 'the church' and said they were hypocrites and liars, self-righteous and corrupt. Truth is.. I still think they are, but now I've learnt the difference between man's church and God's church.
to follow up: The traditions of man may have been started in good faith or in bad but this matters not when matched against the traditions of your personal faith and belief - Christmas may be taken from pagans etc etc. but whenever you choose to reflect and thank God for the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ - that's your Christmas Day. If you want to have the usual turkey and ham etc celebrations with your family in July for Christmas that's your Christmas.
and finally: Some things you think may be innocent or even from 'God' may not be so innocent or positive.. this is the point of the book 'The Beautiful Side of Evil'. Some things we take so innocently may have a more sinister purpose.
and what about Necrophagist? I didn't get any negative feelings about that, only one psychological one, which was that I used it as a reasoning to think my mom was being bitchy about the evil book. Hopefully dream-me will know better next time. I still don't believe I listen to satanic music. I actually stay far away from satanic music. And trust me, there is metal and then there's satanic metal. There's death metal and then there's satanic death metal. It's not all the same thing.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Funny thing happened the other day..
Went to a client's office to organize deposit and down-payment for a job we were gonna do for them and stuff. The boss man was temporarily 'away' so he was forwarding his calls to his lieutenant (hereafter known as 'mads'). So we're at the client's office and some discrepancy or the other occurs.. some confusion or whatever, so the client (hot chicky!.. whom I also know from before.. who was looking especially hottt that day) decided that she'd call the bossman.
The scene:
Client has a normal-sized desk and is sitting behind it.
Mads is sitting right up on the opposite side of the desk, using it to write stuff.
I am standing right behind Mads and have a view of everything.
The punchline:
Client calls bossman and mads, of course, answers the phone (because all his calls are being forwarded to her). Mads answers 'Hello, good afternoon?'
Client says 'good afternoon, may I speak to *bossman's name* please?'
Mads: 'oh I'm sorry.. *it is at this point that I am really trying to resist the urge to buss out laughing* the bossman isn't available today. I'm Mads.. *the client has a bewildered look on her face, as if she's not completely sure what is going on and if this is real* .. would you like to leave a message?'
at this point the client realizes what has taken place, especially because I'm laughing my ass off as quietly as I can behind Mads and hangs up the phone.
wait, wait, there's more..
after the client hangs up the phone Mads continues..
'hello? hello? I think they hung up! but ey!ey! what kinda ting is tha... wait.. why you laughing so mu...'
priceless.. truly priceless.
or perhaps you had to be there.
The scene:
Client has a normal-sized desk and is sitting behind it.
Mads is sitting right up on the opposite side of the desk, using it to write stuff.
I am standing right behind Mads and have a view of everything.
The punchline:
Client calls bossman and mads, of course, answers the phone (because all his calls are being forwarded to her). Mads answers 'Hello, good afternoon?'
Client says 'good afternoon, may I speak to *bossman's name* please?'
Mads: 'oh I'm sorry.. *it is at this point that I am really trying to resist the urge to buss out laughing* the bossman isn't available today. I'm Mads.. *the client has a bewildered look on her face, as if she's not completely sure what is going on and if this is real* .. would you like to leave a message?'
at this point the client realizes what has taken place, especially because I'm laughing my ass off as quietly as I can behind Mads and hangs up the phone.
wait, wait, there's more..
after the client hangs up the phone Mads continues..
'hello? hello? I think they hung up! but ey!ey! what kinda ting is tha... wait.. why you laughing so mu...'
priceless.. truly priceless.
or perhaps you had to be there.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
1, get ready to go, 2, get ready to go. 1, 2, 1 2 3 4...
I've been thinking lately that a country's most popular music might be a good indicator of said country's lifestyle, thinking and general attitude towards things. I think this with regards to one genre of our various national music styles - soca. Now don't get me wrong, I like soca. I even love it sometimes but I still can't help but wonder about what soca and fetes say about trinis.
People wonder how Hitler could have had such influence. I think if Machel decided he wanted to continue the 'thousand year reich' I don't think many would even bat an eyelash. He'd definitely have his army of loyal followers, especially if he decided to conduct the genocide in fetes.
More than soca artistes of course, have this commanding ability though so that's not even limited to our culture. What has made up the brunt of my thinking is the content of these songs and what they represent. I like to have fun, free up and enjoy myself like anyyyooone else but there comes a point when you SHOULD stop, reflect on the music that you're listening to and think about what this really says about the people who listen to it, if anything.
Soca is made to energise people and to aid in the general freeing up of oneself at a party. It's a fun music, an energetic music, an excitable music. You hear that beat and that rhythm and your waist starts going one time. You want to grab a hold of your or any man or woman and buss down a flex.
But what does this really say about our people? You have some conscious-minded people in the midst of all the waving of rags and flags but these people and their songs seem to get lost in the sea of 'jump and wave, jump and wave'. As such I'm not going to generalise all soca songs and when I do use terminology that does such I do so with full mind that not every soca song is about the same thing.. just most.
So yes, I wonder what a foreigner coming for our carnival must think apart from 'wowww these people have so much fun!' etc etc etc.. what would they think beyond the fun? would they think 'wow, these people have such laid back lifestyles, everything is a party and a fete. Do they care about anything else?' or would they take it for granted that we DO care about other things, just not enough to put them into our most popular style of music? would they perhaps question what we do for the rest of the year after carnival is over? perhaps they might think that if we cared less about jumping and waving and more about our crime situation that things might be a little better for us when we actually go out to fetes.
I don't mean to sound narrow minded, mind you. Because I do love soca myself, as well as many other forms of music. I also know that when you go to a party, you go to a party.. you don't go to a party to discuss the economic situation of the country or global warming or how much chicken and flour is rising (and really, wtf is up with that shit!?) You go to have fun and enjoy yourself and that's where the majority of soca is heard and enjoyed, so it'd be wrong to totally base an assumption or judgement on those circumstances. The fact still remains however that there are people who listen to soca right thru, year round, apart from the fetes etc and there are people who make songs year-round with the same thing in mind.
And really, how many times can one artiste bring out a sing with the same exact message? 'get on bad, free up yuhself, jump, wave yuh rag, wine behind the truck, wine on a woman..' and it's like people don't even seem to notice nor care about the content of the songs. As a friend recently said 'a popular artiste could bring out a song that was total shit and it'd still be a hit because they're popular and because it has a soca beat'. I personally still have my intelligence at parties and can recognize the difference between a song with any other redeeming value than to get me pumped to take that next wine on that cuteness standing next to me though.
the soca mentality just really makes me question what values many of T&T's citizens hold and what they really care about. Do they only care about partying and getting on, having a good time or do they actually care about what happens to the country and what happens to them? I'd like to think it's the latter, and truthfully I have seen things that indicate this, but it's still a thought I have.. this whole soca saying something about our country thing
People wonder how Hitler could have had such influence. I think if Machel decided he wanted to continue the 'thousand year reich' I don't think many would even bat an eyelash. He'd definitely have his army of loyal followers, especially if he decided to conduct the genocide in fetes.
More than soca artistes of course, have this commanding ability though so that's not even limited to our culture. What has made up the brunt of my thinking is the content of these songs and what they represent. I like to have fun, free up and enjoy myself like anyyyooone else but there comes a point when you SHOULD stop, reflect on the music that you're listening to and think about what this really says about the people who listen to it, if anything.
Soca is made to energise people and to aid in the general freeing up of oneself at a party. It's a fun music, an energetic music, an excitable music. You hear that beat and that rhythm and your waist starts going one time. You want to grab a hold of your or any man or woman and buss down a flex.
But what does this really say about our people? You have some conscious-minded people in the midst of all the waving of rags and flags but these people and their songs seem to get lost in the sea of 'jump and wave, jump and wave'. As such I'm not going to generalise all soca songs and when I do use terminology that does such I do so with full mind that not every soca song is about the same thing.. just most.
So yes, I wonder what a foreigner coming for our carnival must think apart from 'wowww these people have so much fun!' etc etc etc.. what would they think beyond the fun? would they think 'wow, these people have such laid back lifestyles, everything is a party and a fete. Do they care about anything else?' or would they take it for granted that we DO care about other things, just not enough to put them into our most popular style of music? would they perhaps question what we do for the rest of the year after carnival is over? perhaps they might think that if we cared less about jumping and waving and more about our crime situation that things might be a little better for us when we actually go out to fetes.
I don't mean to sound narrow minded, mind you. Because I do love soca myself, as well as many other forms of music. I also know that when you go to a party, you go to a party.. you don't go to a party to discuss the economic situation of the country or global warming or how much chicken and flour is rising (and really, wtf is up with that shit!?) You go to have fun and enjoy yourself and that's where the majority of soca is heard and enjoyed, so it'd be wrong to totally base an assumption or judgement on those circumstances. The fact still remains however that there are people who listen to soca right thru, year round, apart from the fetes etc and there are people who make songs year-round with the same thing in mind.
And really, how many times can one artiste bring out a sing with the same exact message? 'get on bad, free up yuhself, jump, wave yuh rag, wine behind the truck, wine on a woman..' and it's like people don't even seem to notice nor care about the content of the songs. As a friend recently said 'a popular artiste could bring out a song that was total shit and it'd still be a hit because they're popular and because it has a soca beat'. I personally still have my intelligence at parties and can recognize the difference between a song with any other redeeming value than to get me pumped to take that next wine on that cuteness standing next to me though.
the soca mentality just really makes me question what values many of T&T's citizens hold and what they really care about. Do they only care about partying and getting on, having a good time or do they actually care about what happens to the country and what happens to them? I'd like to think it's the latter, and truthfully I have seen things that indicate this, but it's still a thought I have.. this whole soca saying something about our country thing
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