St. Lucia Jazz Festival

I have to be honest. In the years past, I used to look forward to the Jazz festival. Though, as I look back now I realise it was all for the wrong reasons. Jazz was just a lime, an image thing really. It was good for your image to be there. Although there were many great artistes, I hardly ever acknowledged their presence. Instead I would walk around seeing who was there and ensuring they saw that I was there too.

When it really came down to it, I had no interest in attending Jazz this year. First because no particular artiste attracted my attention (tho I wish I had gone to the Friday show to witness the Amy Whinehouse fiasco )and secondly because the price had got too rich for my pocket. Hey, you all may think EC$175.00 grows on trees but I have a baby to feed.

Luckily for me though (if you chose to see it that way) my GF got two (2) free tickets from her workplace. So we went to the Saturday show. So I saw George Duke with, Jeffrey Osborne, Bebe Winans, James Ingram,Teddyson John; Michael McDonald, Boo Hinkson & Friends, Estelle and Michel Aubertin. Not a bad package all things being said. Not necessarily to my taste but a good lineup none-the-less.

What did I learn though? Jazz isn't for me anymore, well at least not with the lineup they had this year. Don't get me wrong, my taste in music is pretty broad. I have an appreciation for a lot of different genres. I just have not been particularly impressed by this years lineup. However, Patti La Belle and Beres Hammond were set to perform the Sunday....that would be a good show I am sure.

I guess I really don't know what the point of this Blog is. I was so unmoved by the event i really can't find much to say though I walked with my camera with the full intention of writing a great blog. Sigh.... Such a disappointment. I think I will leave it as is and await some true inspiration for my next blog.

A star is born?

Well today I discovered something. I found out that people are actually reading this Blog. Amazing, I know. All this time I thought I was doing the equivalent of writing into a diary - thoughts go in and are never shared. Well, a good friend confirmed that as many as three (yes 3 whole persons) have read my blog. So ha! In your face Sydney Sheldon (or feel free to insert other famous writer here), I have a following. Thank you! Thank you!

All the little people, I thank you. My fans, my family, my entourage, I thank you all. I promise to continue providing this in-depth, prize-winning and timeless literature for your pleasure. Who knows, maybe my following will grow to four (4) or....dare I say it...even five (5). Think of the marketing potential.

Anyway, autographed portraits are now available for $1,000.00 a copy....oops sorry. that was a typo, I meant $10,000.00. Order now while they are still available.





P.S. : Seriously tho, I am glad to know that even just a handful of people take time to read my nonsense. Thank you!

The Cellphone Craze

I have always been a bit of a tech junkie. Granted I don't have a large disposable budget, so I always scrutinized my purchases before rushing in to buy...(well most times anyway). My latest dilemma has been over the purchase of my next phone. The story began when my HTC 8925/Kaiser (AT&T Tilt) started to go bad (flex cable needed to change). The cost of repairing it was ridiculous in my opinion, so I opted to sell my phone and purchase a replacement.

There were a few factors I decided on. First, my new phone had to be a candy bar shape, no flip or slider. I just couldn't deal with flex cables anymore (also had the same problem with the older HTC 8525 I owned before the 8925). Second,the phone should preferably not be a full touch screen, given the likelihood of me cracking the screen. However, I was not completely against the idea of a touch screen. Finally, it should encompass all the features I want, I am willing to pay top dollar if the phone will provide everything I need. So that includes 3G, WI FI, GPS, a good camera,a videocall camera, a good browser and a music player with a 3.5mm headphone jack.

My original desire was the Blackberry Bold 9000. I really can't complain about what this phone has to offer. It remains one of the top contenders so far simply because it has all the features I want...well minus one or two which I could live without. It is also a good looking phone, for my tastes anyway. But before I rushed out to buy one, I decided to research some of the upcoming models to see if something better was on the horizon.

The first model I considered was the Sony Ericsson Idou. http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_idou-2683.php Apparently, Idou isn't the marketing name for the phone but rather a code used to ID it before release under a different name. This phone looks good. In fact it is probably the best looking phone of the four I am considering. And it certainly hasn't disappointed in terms of features. I won't go into details of the features as the links I have inserted should provide that data. But I will say that it's promised capabilities are certainly attractive. My only concern is that it has a rather hefty price tag attached to it and, like the two others I will mention later, i couldn't find information on a release day.

The second model is the LG GC900 Viewty Smart. This phone is another attractive contender. There are certainly a laundry list of interesting features. I like the slo-mo video recording and the tv out in particular. One thing I hesitated on was the brand. Most LG phones I heave heard or read up on have had issues with slow processors and resultant system crashes, slow-downs and glitches. From all accounts it seems this may not be an issue with this model, but I am unconvinced thus far. Again, I am unsure when this phone will be released if it hasn't been yet.

The third and final phone is the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD. So far, this phone is in the lead. In fact, I am very interested in this one. So after such a build up, what is so attractive about it? Well, it is beautiful, fast and feature rich. Aside from the fact that it has all the features I want (even a FM transmitter which I realise I didn't mention earlier), the document viewer is a plus for me, so that I can have access to my work on the go and the ability to record HD quality video. Now all this comes at a price, but I do not honestly feel that the price is too much, well given that those I have seen online are accurate. All in all, I think I have a winner.

Now I know some of you have probably noticed that all three of the Blackberry challengers are all full touch screen phones. I did indicate that I wanted to steer clear of those, but given the excellent features these phones have and the fact that I can't seem to find a non-touch screen phone with similar features. Maybe i haven't searched hard enough. Anyway, these are my thoughts, let me know yours.