still more photos

The Trench Town massive at the singles retreat...

More TT Massive...
Me and Andrea Oliver, 3 days before I left the USA
Me and Tiff Brown, 3 days before I left the USA. 

more pics!

Yeah, it's like "nothing" for a while, and then "plop!" a whole bag of random pics. Well, take 'em or leave 'em!



Me, circa the same time as before.
Ewarton, coming down from Mount Rosser, with fog present. That's the flash of the camera, not the sun...this pic was taken on the way back from the singles retreat.

The minature golf course at Starfish Resorts, site of the singles retreat.

the latest in actual Geoff activities...

...as opposed to ramblings on current events and random thoughts...

Yesterday I went on a field trip into the hills of St. Thomas/Portland. Our aim was to investigate potential water sources for this community up there, and while I don't think that the river we looked at will do any good for them, it was still an exhilarating trip. We went up the Hector's River bed and tracked it up until we entered the John Crow Mountains, which I've heard of many a time but never actually BEEN to. The river bed was very awe-inspiring, and I bet it would have been even more inspiring if water was flowing in it...then again, the way the rocks appeared, we would have been in major trouble if caught in that waterfall. I'll bet that when this river is in flow, it would rival any major waterfall currently well known in Jamaica. As it is, the flow is sub-surface for the most part...and who would want to hike all the way up there just to be at peace in nature, with just janga (small river shrimp), fish and wild hogs for company? (I didn't see any, but I know they're up in the hills).

Anyways, the pics show some of the views, as well as the river bed itself and the various channels we measured. The Mississippi it ain't...

it was a nice trip though, I had a good time. The hike nearly busted me, but I got my second wind and was able to continue after the first rest with nary a break...I was drinking like a fish the rest of the day though!

more picis forthcoming

more Colbert

A few thoughts on Stephen Colbert’s skewering of the White House and the press…

Humor is a subjective thing. Something you may find funny, I may find totally disgusting, and vice versa. It’s kind of hard to judge what’s funny and what’s not, based upon how many people laugh, or how many say they thought it was hilarious. One has to consider WHO those people are, and WHAT was the subject at hand, whether they were predisposed to think it funny or not.

Those who focus on whether or not Colbert’s performance was successful because it made (or didn’t make) people laugh are missing the point completely. Humor had nothing to do with what Colbert did. It was witty, but it wasn’t meant to be humorous. Someone wrote an article about that; I don’t recall who, but do a search for humor vs. wit and Colbert to find it.

Personally, I read the transcript before I got a chance to watch it, and I will admit that I found it funnier to read than watch (not that I didn’t laugh either time.) But the main focus to me, which can be totally lost in the “argument” about whether Colbert was funny or not, was that it was a well-incised camouflaged-yet-very-obvious reminder to the president and the press corp that they ain’t doing DIDDLY and that they should not stick their heads in the sand too much anymore, because we aren’t buying it. This wasn’t about being liked by anyone there, this was about getting a message across to the people you want to hear it. Colbert could have said all those things the same way many of us do; to our friends and people who think like us…and no one else would have heard or cared. You think Bush gives a fig about Michael Moore? However, Bush got a dose of reality that he would not have gotten any other way because he doesn’t listen to anyone who doesn’t agree with him; they all get pushed away or ignored or otherwise put out of focus. Now all of a sudden one of those people gets a chance to tell him the whole truth guised in truthiness? OOOOOOH man.

Stephen Colbert had the titanium cojones to speak the truth to the captive audience, and that’s the story. It’s not about how funny he was, it’s about the way in which he preached his message. Anyone focusing on anything but that is trying to cover themselves, because they know they got dinged in his words and the truth HURTS.

Singles retreat :)

So I was on a retreat a couple weekends ago. It was a very nice occasion, relaxing, invigorating, Spirit-filled, all that good stuff. When I first heard about it, I thought that it would be a waste of money, but having gone there, I admit that it was funds well spent. The retreat was at the Starfish Resorts in Trelawney…it was a very good hotel. Not quite 5 star, and even 4 stars is a bit generous…but I’ll be generous. 4 stars it is! I had fun there, the buffet-style menus were varied enough for my tastes, and it’s the only place I’ve seen so far in Jamaica that actually has a sushi restaurant (which I was unable to partake of, because it cost extra). Anyways…the first impression I got of the place was that of a giant motel, ‘cause that was what it looked like upon initial approach. Just goes to show that first impressions can be wrong sometimes. The rooms were clean, the facilities were working, the pool and Jacuzzi were good, the conference room was nice as well. I would go back there.

The retreat itself proved to be a great idea, and I feel that great things will come from it. The presentations included self-esteem, coping with loneliness, boundaries in dating, being comfortable and happy when being single, and a few others. The program was a bit cramped; there wasn’t a lot of social time besides mealtimes and Sabbath evening…you had to do your own meet and greet. Then again, that’s what you’re SUPPOSED to do.

One thing that was troubling was the male-female ratio. Including the people from Cayman, there were about 20 or so guys there, tops. This compares to about 90 or so women. What is going on here?? This is a pressing concern, I think…

I met some interesting people on the retreat. It’s always good to make new friends, no? Pics may come later; can’t post them right now.

A plug for the dearly departed.

Go buy/rent this TV show on DVD, and see what manner of quality TV NBC decided to cancel, in favor of taural fecal matter such as "Deal or No Deal" and "The Apprentice." It's been 4 years since they canceled this TV show, but my bitterness at NBC still burns and will never die. I hope NBC stays in the graveyard of network television, may UPN and WB leapfrog it and send them further to obscurity. My review of this TV show on Amazon is one of the spotlight reviews (incidentally, "Boomtown" has a 5-star rating there too!).

Stephen Colbert

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/4/30/1441/59811

This is a transcript of Stephen Colbert’s devasting satirical monologue about the president…it is a work of ART and perfect TRUTHINESS. Viva!

Also, the bees moved out :-( Oh well…