“It doesn’t matter how strong your opinions are. If you don’t use your power for positive change, you are, indeed, part of the problem.” 

“I’m fulfilled in what I do… I never thought that a lot of money or fine clothes-the finer things of life-would make you happy. My concept of happiness is to be filled in a spiritual sense.”

“Love the moment and the energy of the moment will spread beyond all boundaries.”

When my people finally got ready to head back into town, they dropped me off at Silver Sands where my mother and her friends were staying. Since I had not yet slept (see Legendary night) I fell asleep in no time. About 2 1/2 hours later I was awoken to eat lunch. Since we were leaving there for 6pm I had no time for beach or pool (though really it was way too windy to enjoy either).

After dumping my bag with my mother’s friends who had come early, I headed backstage (thank god for this artiste band, it was wonderful). Most of Friday night’s show is a blur to me. I seem to recall that Richie Stephens performed but I was too busy looking about food at that point.

The highlight of my night, and pretty much anyone else who was there was Air Supply. This is the first time they ever performed in Jamaica, and according to the sister of one of the guys (who I chatted with backstage), she has been trying to get them here for ages but she didn’t think they believed her about the market here for their music.

Well, from the first note of the first song, the audience was singing. Except for maybe one song from their new album, we knew every word to every song (typical Jamaicans). I actually have a video clip of an example of this. Will get around to posting that soon enough. You could see the shock on Air supply’s faces. They didn’t expect this. Their performance was fantastic! They had energy and charisma and the crowd loved it.

I can tell you I overheard them say they would definitely come back, so somebody needs to get on that. See the rest of the pics.

The Thursday pre-show drama will be related at another time. For now I will stay on the happier note. After we performed and changed our clothes, a few of us (out of the 10) stayed to watch the rest of the show. Our artist bands (left) gave us full access to back stage.

From back stage (right) we got to see John Legend and his band (that had kept us waiting earlier when they sound checked). Fantabulous!! The drummer had some fancy hand movements that caught my girl Shienne’s eye. My eyes were on John at his piano. Whoooooeee! That man could sing!!

We headed down to the “hospitality” area (quotes explained in a later post) to get our pics with the Legend (below). I wasn’t so interested in seeing Shaggy perform but took my opportunity for a pic.

After the show, thanks to Shienne’s new friend (Swiss Chris, the drummer), we headed back to Half Moon Hotel to lyme with the guys from the band. Between a few drinks, a 6am swim and a great breakfast buffet, Shienne and I got back to our hotel at 10am Friday morning with enough time to shower and dress to check out at 11. All in all a great night!!!

Check out the rest of the pics. More updates to follow.

I know everyone is dying to hear all about my weekend at AirJa Jazz and Blues, and more importantly to see the pics. I am in the process of sorting out the pics to post, they should be up later today.

Firstly, for those that didn’t know before, the main reason I went to the Jazz festival (besides to see Air Supply) was because I was dancing. That’s right!! Bianca was doing some latin dance with a band that performed first on the Thursday night. This is why I was bussing my ass going dancing after pan for the last few months.

To answer the question I know is coming next, NO - I don’t have any pictures of me on stage. I don’t even have pictures of us in the costume. You will soon hear all about the dramas that took place on Thursday to lead to this travesty.

What I can do is stroke the imagination with a description of said costume - the top is a gold material, shorter than midriff because is really stopped right below the bust, deep V-neck with a black band at the rib cage in order to tie a knot. Long sleeves with a frill/flounce at the end in a material matching the skirt. The skirt was made of a thin black material that was completely covered in gold sequins. Stopping just above mid-thigh, it was designed to twirl out when we were spun. All in all, an interesting look for B.

Updates soon to follow on my weekend.

Spent the last few days up on the North coast for Air Jamaica’s Jazz and Blues Festival. Too tired to write about it now but plenty stories and pictures to post. I will get to it over the next couple days.

Courtesy of MaryJane:

“Wait for the boy who pursues you, the one who will make an ordinary moment seem magical, the kind of boy who brings out the best in you and makes you want to be a better person.

Wait for the boy who will be your best friend, the person who will drop everything to be with you at any time of the day no matter what the circumstances.

Wait for the boy who makes you smile like no other and when he smiles you know he needs you.

Wait for the boy who wants to show you off to the world when you’re wearing sweats and no makeup.

Most of all wait for the boy who will put you at the center of his universe, because obviously he’s at the center of yours”

Sigh. Still waiting.

One of our very own, the soon-to-buss BellaBee, has been busy with her song-writing. You can check out some of her early pre-release stuff (not yet studio ready) on her MySpace site. Good stuff Bella!

It is rumoured that one of her songs (not on the site) called “Run Tell” has been played on the radio here in JamDown. It is a dancehall song with the lovely Bella on vocals. Please listen out for it and let me (and her) know if you hear it.

Not meaning to get too morbid here, but who among us has thought of how our blog would be seen if we died?

BusinessWeek’s Blogspotting ran a story about a 25-year-old student whose Friendster site became a source for news coverage after her tragic death. Following a news story with testimonials from her friends drawn from the site, apparently “hordes of digital rubber-neckers” stopped by her site.

Essentially your website could become something of a shrine. What does your site say about you? Some people use their site to keep friends and family up-to-date on happenings in their lives. Others use it to share their thoughts on life. For some it’s a medium to express themselves creatively. Of course, some pursue a combination of all of these goals.

If someone were to come along after you are gone and see your site, would they recognize you? would they see a secret part of you? would they get to know you as a friend? would they think you are weird, crazy or endearingly sweet?

Something to think about.

Traditional wedding vows include the now almost cliched phrases “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health”. Of course, implied are all the in-between stages.

The extremes of the scale are used because all relationships, between couples, friends, coworkers, show their strength not by getting through the good times but by surviving the bad. This is not to say that the absence of bad means a weaker relationship. But when things get rough we can see what the relationship truly has under the surface.

The expression “fair-weather friend” was coined to describe those friends that disappear when things get a little more difficult, when things stop being fun. Of course, both parties need to be aware of how they behave in those situations. Is it that your “friends” leave you hanging in your down times? Or do you actually push away your friends when they might help you most? A true friendship will push through these patches. Your friends will be there for you when you need them, and you in turn will lean on them if you need their help.

Just reminding us all to look at the friendships that we value and make sure we are not only focusing on the good times.

For those of you that have not yet been introduced, I want to present my god-daughter, Aliyah Gabrielle, born to my friends Nyasha and Johann 3 weeks ago today.