One of the things I like most about Barbadiana is the under-appreciated "double feature". That's right. Pretty simple, but it's so cool that I can spend the equivalent of six American dollars and get to watch two new movies instead of one.
I'll get to the main feature in a bit, but the first movie was "" and although Tommy Lee Jones is now a cariacature of himself, he pulls it well enough and there's good enough eye candy (led by the increasingly more gorgeous Christina Millian) to make this comedy worthy. And no, I'm not a critic so don't bother to argue with me :-)
The main event of course was Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith. I won't comment on the increasing and more annoying trend to name TV shows and movies with preposterously long titles that are practically sentences (whoops, I just did, heh). I don't think this movie will surprass Titanic for earnings dollars, but definitely has a good leg up for artistic effects, fight choreography and digital animations. With a moon stage with enough lava to make Mordor seem like a picnicky place, it's brilliant. The story has enough predictability, and enough violence to challenge even its PG-13 rating. Fun flick. No spoilers, but R2-D2 is the bad-ass here :-)
Of course, the bad thing about movie-going in Barbados is that the patrons are way too loud for my liking. It's like etiquette goes out of the window here. Nowhere else I've been that's had this. A bit of a black eye I think.
That's my half-way update after my vacation in Barbados. It's just nice to be away from the workplace for a bit. Everybody should try it. Anyway. More later.
2005-05-19
2005-05-06
Good ol' Vacation
I'll be in Barbados for several days starting on the 7th. I'm not sure if I'll continue to Book bad drivers in Barbados, I'm sure I'll find myself frustrated at a few things but I'll be primarily a pedestrian or passenger when I'm down there so will be crossing my fingers that some joker doesn't side-swipe me.
I was disturbed the other day when a woman who I held a door open for, appeared to make every effort not to look at me. It's not like I expect a "thank you", but an acknowledgement would be the nice and proper thing to do. Or if you feel offended by the gesture (which I won't discount considering that some women could get anal about this kind of thing), let me know. Otherwise I just wonder if it's because she has an elitist complex, think I'm the hired doorman, or even has racial issues to deal with. I don't know. I doubt that it's the latter, but who knows.
I'll be blogging occassionally when I'm down there. Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with my fellow Beachlimers, influence the third member of the Network to stop slacking off and publish something (you know who you are, heh), and get to relax and seek out a few things. And by 'things', I mean property. Oh stop that,... I mean land of course.
I was disturbed the other day when a woman who I held a door open for, appeared to make every effort not to look at me. It's not like I expect a "thank you", but an acknowledgement would be the nice and proper thing to do. Or if you feel offended by the gesture (which I won't discount considering that some women could get anal about this kind of thing), let me know. Otherwise I just wonder if it's because she has an elitist complex, think I'm the hired doorman, or even has racial issues to deal with. I don't know. I doubt that it's the latter, but who knows.
I'll be blogging occassionally when I'm down there. Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with my fellow Beachlimers, influence the third member of the Network to stop slacking off and publish something (you know who you are, heh), and get to relax and seek out a few things. And by 'things', I mean property. Oh stop that,... I mean land of course.
2005-05-02
Crazy people, crazy situations
If I owned a cinema, one of the things that I would want to do is have separate screenings - one for those who knew not to talk during the movie, and one for all those who can't keep their traps shut.
Another example of what we have to deal with regarding crime is here. The Police spends a large amount of time trying to find this guy to try him on certain charges, but eventually it comes to naught because apparently a witness backed out of testifying.
This island suffers a lot when it comes to these kinds of trials because it's a small community, everyone knows everyone, and what with the reports that people in prison have access to mobile phones, it's not hard for someone facing trial to perhaps nudge a potential witness to reconsider their intentions. There's too little trust in the Police by the public, and perhaps a better witness protection programme needs to be implemented. A friend remarked to me that if you're more likely to walk free if you kill someone as opposed to stealing or using illegal drugs. Talk about incentives.
Limey has gotten into the discussion as well with a worthy debate here.
Another example of what we have to deal with regarding crime is here. The Police spends a large amount of time trying to find this guy to try him on certain charges, but eventually it comes to naught because apparently a witness backed out of testifying.
This island suffers a lot when it comes to these kinds of trials because it's a small community, everyone knows everyone, and what with the reports that people in prison have access to mobile phones, it's not hard for someone facing trial to perhaps nudge a potential witness to reconsider their intentions. There's too little trust in the Police by the public, and perhaps a better witness protection programme needs to be implemented. A friend remarked to me that if you're more likely to walk free if you kill someone as opposed to stealing or using illegal drugs. Talk about incentives.
Limey has gotten into the discussion as well with a worthy debate here.
2005-04-26
Sweet Dreams Are Made of This - maybe
I've never been one to subscribe to the theory that dreams are the precursors to reality, or whatever the phrase is. While I've had many crazy dreams, they've all been simply that, dreams. I tend to nearly never have dreams involving people that I know (or involving people such as Gabrielle Union). Even the more erotic ones have involved people I've never met or could not recognize as a celebrity.
It was quite weird when I had a dream the other day in which I believe I had sex with a female friend. Now we already know that I have tended to be attracted to at least some of my female friends. However, I really try to avoid thinking of them in a sexual manner. Why? I think I don't want to come across as disrespectful in any way, and perhaps by allowing for things approaching lust to cross my mind, I cross that boundary. Agree or disagree with this thought process in the Forums, if you like. Heh.
What makes this situation a little more intense is that I have had a crush on this woman for a fairly long time now. We're good friends. A mutual friend has already at least once hinted to me that we should hook up. I think even the woman herself may have had the idea pass through her mind. When I woke up, I had a very strong urge to call her - I hadn't seen her in a few weeks as well. I didn't make the call though. What would I say?
Was this dream an actual sign and a pleading by my subconscious to actually do something about the current relationship? Or was it just another typical 'who knows, alternate universe' scenario that shouldn't affect my normal decision-making process? I don't know.
It was quite weird when I had a dream the other day in which I believe I had sex with a female friend. Now we already know that I have tended to be attracted to at least some of my female friends. However, I really try to avoid thinking of them in a sexual manner. Why? I think I don't want to come across as disrespectful in any way, and perhaps by allowing for things approaching lust to cross my mind, I cross that boundary. Agree or disagree with this thought process in the Forums, if you like. Heh.
What makes this situation a little more intense is that I have had a crush on this woman for a fairly long time now. We're good friends. A mutual friend has already at least once hinted to me that we should hook up. I think even the woman herself may have had the idea pass through her mind. When I woke up, I had a very strong urge to call her - I hadn't seen her in a few weeks as well. I didn't make the call though. What would I say?
Was this dream an actual sign and a pleading by my subconscious to actually do something about the current relationship? Or was it just another typical 'who knows, alternate universe' scenario that shouldn't affect my normal decision-making process? I don't know.
2005-04-18
Road Rants & Other Issues
Again, people in Bermuda generally don't know how to use the indicator signals on their vehicles. In addition to those who indicate a left turn without turning left (the indicator is apparently to show that they're in the left lane when they're already IN the left lane) at a roundabout, there are those who choose to show their indicator signal while they're already making the turn instead of before making the turn. It's atrocious.
The Royal Gazette Letters to the Editor section was interesting today. The first letter concerns the housing situation in Bermuda. This writer wonders if a better plan was affordable rentals as opposed to ownership, which makes sense considering that the land supply is finite. Second and third letters concern Independence, the big buzz word around here lately, well at least as far as the government is concerned. The second one was written by a former classmate of mine. It's good to hear my peers speak out in the media about issues.
The Royal Gazette Letters to the Editor section was interesting today. The first letter concerns the housing situation in Bermuda. This writer wonders if a better plan was affordable rentals as opposed to ownership, which makes sense considering that the land supply is finite. Second and third letters concern Independence, the big buzz word around here lately, well at least as far as the government is concerned. The second one was written by a former classmate of mine. It's good to hear my peers speak out in the media about issues.
2005-04-11
I hate Bermuda's drivers
Saturday night, it poured heavily. Unfortunately I'm riding at the time and I got drenched THREE times by oncoming cars whose drivers decided the best way to go through a deep water puddle was to do it quickly. Thanks a lot, guys. Now I may have the beginnings of a cold or something. Just peachy.
Still on the driving front - the recent court case regarding a young girl getting struck and killed by an oncoming car at a pedestrian crossing failed to bring any satisfactory result. It was ruled to be a straight-forward accident. It seems that a number of smaller mishaps combined to contribute to the tragedy - with everybody and yet nobody at fault.
I was later informed that pedestrian crossing laws differ when in Hamilton (our capital city) and outside the city. Apparently the drivers are not required to stop to let pedestrians cross when outside of the city limits. Pretty ridiculous. Why build them if they're not there to give pedestrians the right of way? Unfortunately I cannot verify this because the Road Laws are not available from the Bermuda Government website. Sheesh.
A good number of Bermuda's drivers need to read and understand the laws in the first place, but if the laws themselves are unavailable or outdated (or both) then what else do we expect but a whole bunch of crashes and other traffic incidents that can lead to tragedy?
Still on the driving front - the recent court case regarding a young girl getting struck and killed by an oncoming car at a pedestrian crossing failed to bring any satisfactory result. It was ruled to be a straight-forward accident. It seems that a number of smaller mishaps combined to contribute to the tragedy - with everybody and yet nobody at fault.
I was later informed that pedestrian crossing laws differ when in Hamilton (our capital city) and outside the city. Apparently the drivers are not required to stop to let pedestrians cross when outside of the city limits. Pretty ridiculous. Why build them if they're not there to give pedestrians the right of way? Unfortunately I cannot verify this because the Road Laws are not available from the Bermuda Government website. Sheesh.
A good number of Bermuda's drivers need to read and understand the laws in the first place, but if the laws themselves are unavailable or outdated (or both) then what else do we expect but a whole bunch of crashes and other traffic incidents that can lead to tragedy?
2005-04-06
Yay for Daylight Savings Time
Aside from the lost hour of sleep, there's something rejuvenating about the first day after switching our clocks forward an hour. To look outside and see the sun still out and looking at the clock and seeing that it's only like 7:30pm, it's refreshing. That's one of the positives of springtime in Bermuda.
I think that Barbados should push its clocks forward an hour permanently - from a selfish point-of-view, I'm not enthused about the sun up at 5am and it being bright and hot by 7, and the sun down by 6pm or whatnot. I think it'd be worthwhile to have a longer actual day - I think businesses could get behind that idea, although if I'm not mistaken the average workday there is 8-4 instead of the North American 9-5. Interesting.
Pope John Paul II passed away recently. Congrats to all those who persevered and picked him in their Dead Pool this year. Seriously, it's a bit stunning. He was well-respected by the majority of the global community, despite his hard stances regarding contraception, abortion rights and homosexual marriage. Already the media is creating buzz about the battle for his successor. Figures.
I think that Barbados should push its clocks forward an hour permanently - from a selfish point-of-view, I'm not enthused about the sun up at 5am and it being bright and hot by 7, and the sun down by 6pm or whatnot. I think it'd be worthwhile to have a longer actual day - I think businesses could get behind that idea, although if I'm not mistaken the average workday there is 8-4 instead of the North American 9-5. Interesting.
Pope John Paul II passed away recently. Congrats to all those who persevered and picked him in their Dead Pool this year. Seriously, it's a bit stunning. He was well-respected by the majority of the global community, despite his hard stances regarding contraception, abortion rights and homosexual marriage. Already the media is creating buzz about the battle for his successor. Figures.
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