1. 20 hours ago 
    Soca Music 2010: We Palancing!
  2. 2 days ago 
    Well, hello there! Have we met?
  3. 6 days ago 

    Lost S6 Ep6: Sundown

    At first re-watching S1 Ep6 seemed an exercise in futility, as last night’s episode did not deal with Sun and Jin’s relationship. But several parallels can be drawn:

    “The Island might give you what you are looking for, but you have to give the Island something” -John Locke says to Charlie, S1 Ep6.


    This episode was the very personification of that, with Sayid killing Dogen (& Lennon- body count rises yet again) to get what he wants, and Claire performing tasks for the Monster as well.

    Also, the division of the group in Season 6 into Jacob v Locke followers is very similar to the division in S1 E6 (Jack, Locke, Hugo, the Kwons and Charlie are at the caves, whereas Sayid, Kate, Sawyer, Boone, Shannon, Michael and Walt end up on the beach tending the signal fire) with a few exceptions:

    Jacob

    Hugo
    Jack (no decision yet)
    Sun? (Ilana)
    Miles? (Ilana)
    Pilot? (Ilana)

    The Monster

    Sayid
    Claire
    Sawyer
    Kate (no decision yet)
    Jin? (Claire)


    The names of the 2 episodes are interesting as well: “House of the Rising Sun” v “Sundown”.

    I dislike how divided the Oceanic survivors have become. Yes, they have been divided often in the past, but this time, the stakes are higher and the division seems more permanent. They no longer have the common goal of getting off the Island.

    Why did Dogen have the power to keep the Monster out? Is it because he was the leader? If so, why didn’t Ricardus have the same power against the Monster? Then again, the Monster didn’t kill Ricardus, and it seems clear that the Monster kills where ever he can. He had to use surrogates to kill Jacob (Benjamin Linus) and Dogen (Sayid).

    Ummm, someone remind me who is Ilana again and why does she know so damn much? How has she gotten away with explaining so little of herself?

    My theory in the previous post about Jacob and The Monster just being 2 powerful individuals seems to have been taken apart when Dogen tells Sayid: “For every man there is a scale. On 1 side of the scale good, the other evil.” Although they are going to great lengths to portray the Monster as evil incarnate, I don’t buy it…yet. It seems both the Monster and Jacob are equally manipulative. Just because Jacob wears a sad cocker spaniel expression doesn’t make me want to trust him any more than the Monster.

    Who/what is the Island to make such demands on the people who inhabit it?

    And how about this episode’s alternate/sideways timeline? Sayid pushes Nadia to marry his brother, but still pines for her? Sayid’s brother “knows what kind of man” he is, but Sayid denies his former reality. He is in a penance of some sort. But don’t we all just get a little shiver when Sayid gets his ganster on? Mr Loan Shark, excellent villain though he may be, had no idea who he was messing with!

    That’s what is most interesting about this episode: the examination of good vs evil. Sayid is neither wholly good, nor wholly evil. He’s a man who does what he has to do, but his intentions are good ones (protect his loved ones) and above all, he is a survivor. The same could be said of any number of people on the Island. (Could this be about whether past actions really define the person you are today? Remember in episodes past when the Others didn’t trust Kate and tried to sow seeds of mistrust about her to Jack because of what she had done in the past? Yet she loved and raised Aaron wholeheartedly).

    Notable:

    • Did you see the look on Claire’s face when Kate told he she was raising Aaron? Kate seemed oblivious to it, but Claire would have killed that girl if she could have gotten out of that hole. (Then again, why was Claire leaving babies out in the jungle like that in the first place if she cared so much?)
    • As usual, no matter what happens, Kate survives.
    • Did you see how the Monster examined Kate at the end of the episode? He seemed a bit puzzled by her, but at the end, let her be. Somehow, Kate doesn’t seem to be apart of the plan, yet, she always lands on her feet. Is she a wildcard of some sort? Statistical anomaly?
    • What’s up with Sayid having been dead for 2 hours??? When he popped back up alive in Ep1 I thought they merely misdiagnosed his death. Is Sayid really still Sayid?
    • I am intrigued by the teasers for next week’s episode. The demise of Benjamin Linus? Tune me in!
  4. Notes: 1 / 1 week ago 

    Lost S6 Ep 4 & 5 + Looking Ahead to Ep 6

    Back on U.S. soil, it took a couple of days before I could tackle the 2 episodes of Lost that I had missed. You need both mental and emotional energy/stamina to tackle Lost, you know?

    Episode 4: The Substitute

    In this episode, we learn that the Monster is “recruiting”. He tries to get Richard and Sawyer/James to come with him. He brings Sawyer to a cave where there are many names written all over the ceiling crossed out with numbers next to them. The names that are not crossed out are:

    23 Shephard
    42 Kwon
    16 Jarrah
    8 Reyes
    4 Locke
    15 Ford

    These are names of candidates to protect the Island. Jacob believed that the Island needed protecting, but the Monster maintains that there was nothing to protect the Island from. Kate’s name is conspicuously missing from the list. We also don’t know whether Kwon refers to Sun or Jin.

    In the alternate timeline: Locke is still engaged to marry Helen, gets fired from his job and comes to terms with his handicap through meeting Rose and learning about her terminal cancer.

    Notable for me about this episode:

    • Who is the weird little kid running around telling the Monster that he can’t kill “him”? Is it Jacob? By “him”, does he mean Jacob (meaning there will a be a consequence) or Sawyer? And why is The Monster so surprised at first that Sawyer can see him, yet so ready to deny the child’s existence after their little “conversation”?
    • The Monster needs a candidate to get off the Island.
    • You can’t put one over on Sawyer: he knew immediately that the Monster wasn’t John Locke. He said it was because Locke was always afraid, even when he was pretending he wasn’t. Observant little bastard! LOL
    • How come Ilana is such a smartie pants?
    • Where does Ricardus get his eyeliner?


    Episode 5: The Lighthouse

    This episode focuses on Claire and her new role as crazy lady on the island: animal skull in the baby carriage, the presence of her “friend” (which ends up being the Monster-who she immediately recognizes as NOT being John Locke), believing the Others stole her baby and willing to kill them for it.

    Hugo and Jack take a trip to the Lighthouse, where we learn that the numbers preceding the names in the previous episode correspond to a number on the dial in the lighthouse which allows one (we assume Jacob) to watch the “candidate” in the real world (off the Island). Jack smashes up the Lighthouse and we learn that was apart of Jacob’s plan all along.

    In the alternate timeline, Jack struggles to repair his relationship with his teenage son (who I honestly don’t remember ever existed). Also, Jack’s mother finds Christian Shephard’s will and learns of the existence of a “Claire Littleton” who we know is Jack’s half-sister.

    Notable for me in this episode:

    • Is Claire really off her rocker? Jin seems to think so and lies to Claire, but it wasn’t that long ago that the other survivors thought killing the Others was a good idea. And can you blame Claire for being suspicious of the Others? They did kidnap her and give her a bunch of shots when she was pregnant with Aaron! Not the mention the branding & whatnot.
    • How does The Monster appear to Claire? As her father? As Locke? In some other form?
    • Being a candidate confers a level of power on the survivors- Hugo was able to use that to get Dogen off his case when he wandering the caves.
    • I am not sure who is the good guy & who is the bad guy: the Monster or Jacob. But I do know that both of them are dealing in half-truths and manipulation, and have been doing so since the beginning. Can it be neither good or evil- just a struggle between 2 powerful individuals?
    • Who the hell was behind the Claire apparition that appeared to Kate a couple of seasons back and told her not to dare bring Aaron back to the island?


    Looking Ahead: Lost S1 Ep6: House of the Rising Sun

    After writing entries for both episodes, I read my favorite Lost blogs to share comments and thoughts. One blog suggested each episode in Season 6 corresponds to the episode of the same number in Season 1. So I took the liberty of watching S1Ep6 in anticipation of tonight. We’ll test the theory:

    Jin attacks Michael on the beach for seemingly no reason. We then focus Jin and Sun’s relationship: from the beginning to the present. Kate, Charlie, Jack & John Locke go on a trip to the caves to get water for the group. By the end of the episode, Sun fixes the situation between Jin & Michael by revealing to Michael that she speaks English. Also, the survivors have split into 2 groups: Jack, Locke, Hugo & the Kwons are at the caves, whereas Sayid, Kate and Sawyer end up on the beach tending the signal fire.

    Notable Quotes

    • Upon finding the bodies in the caves “Our very own Adam & Eve” -Locke
    • “The Island might give you what you are looking for, but you have to give the Island something” -Locke


    *It was so funny to me to remember how I thought Sun might be interested in Michael because she kept creeping up around him…what a long time ago that seems!*

    Can’t wait to see what’s in store for tonight!

  5. 3 weeks ago 

    Lost S6 E3

    Through all the madness, deadlines, boxes & packing I still feel compelled to write! SMH. LOL

    I do not know what to make of Episode 3 of Lost…

    Through discussions with other Lost fans, I became convinced that in Episode 1 the Others were infusing Sayid’s body with the spirit of Jacob. Now I’m not so sure. Torture? Poison? Spreading darkness? Doesn’t seem to be the case. Looks like another twitter friend of mine might have been right, that Christian Shephard and Claire were in some way down with “the Monster”, although I didn’t want to believe it because I drew parallels with Christianity: names being Christian and Shephard and all.

    This episode was very emotional as well. Sawyer’s real grief for Juliet & conviction that he should be alone, Jack seemingly longing for Kate, yet also not caring whether he lives or dies anymore, Kate seemingly longing for Sawyer or maybe just might have beens. Jin’s eternal longing for Sun. Does anyone else find it interesting that Kate never seems to listen when people tell her to leave them alone or not to follow? You would think she would pay attention at some point especially after all the things that have happened in the past, for example, Jack losing his chance to get off the island way back when. It seems that Kate is destined to never give a damn about anyone but herself and her own agenda.

    But then again, maybe not. She seems to have this connection with Claire and her baby, no matter what time period. If nothing else, she’s destined to be present whenever Claire goes into labor. Who else was freaked about by the appearance of Ethan? I kept wanting to scream at her to get away, he puts me on edge with his scary looking fake sympathetic face and needles. *shudder*

    And is it just necessary to have a gun toting crazy babyless chick running around the island? Rosseau is gone, so now Claire has jumped up in her place?

    As usual, this episode of Lost leaves us wanting more, peppers us with doubts, plot twists and more questions of what is to come. Who else felt a slight chill at the previews of the next episode? Sawyer alone with “the Monster”? Should be interesting to say the least!

    I will be missing the next 2 episodes of Lost (thank goodness for online episodes!) but I plan to be right back into the swing of things for Episode 6, I promise you that! Happy Lost watching folks!

  6. 4 weeks ago 

    Getting down to the wire....

    I am so damn tired right now. Why is it, no matter how carefully you plan a move, it turns out to be stressful? No matter what man!

  7. 1 month ago 

    This is my time…no…this is MY TIME!!!! PALANCE!!!!!!!!!!!

  8. 1 month ago 

    PSA- Help Haiti, OMEProductions clothing drive this Sunday!!

  9. Notes: 6 / 1 month ago 

    I am overwhelmed. By the magnitude of this tragedy. By the images. By the pain my country is going through.

    I am lucky, because all through the night, we had no idea what was happening. But at day break, my favorite time of the day, I received a call from my sister to tell me that she had heard my father’s voice for herself, that he was alive, and I just closed my eyes and prayed to God, and I cried and I rocked, because my father is one of my best friends on this earth, he is my hero, and it was unthinkable that I should imagine a life without him alive on this earth with me.

    I am sad because just as I received these wonderful calls, proof that our loved ones were still alive and breathing on this earth, there were so many more who hadn’t received those calls. Even worse were the thoughts of those who knew their loved ones still lived, buried beneath this building or that, but there was no one to call and notify and please get my loved one out alive.

    I’m blessed by all the phones calls and tweets and texts and facebook messages that I have received from people around me who care, who just want to extend their hands and touch and lend their support and just let me know that they are there.

    I am tired of the news coverage, all the “poorest country in the western hemisphere” and “4th poorest country in the world” ‘s as if that’s all that defines a people, that’s all that mattered. I am angry, because everyone acts as if the European countries and the US didn’t spend years shutting us out of the global economic system, for fear that we would liberate their slaves, leaving us to fare as best we could, oh but look back now and we have no idea how this could have happened right?

    Mostly I close my eyes and cry and pray and try not to think about what’s gonna happen when people stop thinking about this tragedy and what we are going to do when everyone goes back to not caring about Haiti.

  10. Notes: 1 / 1 month ago 
    Flaimahmy's post "Help Haiti"

    A list of organizations to donate to- if you wish to help witg Haiti relief efforts.

  11. 1 month ago 

    My sister just spoke to my father in Haiti- he’s in Petionville. I’m so relieved that all I could do is sit here and cry for a second. He said it was bad. Really bad.

  12. Notes: 2 / 1 month ago 

    The big day has arrived. — years ago today, my light first shown upon this world. I was born in a hospital on the North Shore of Long Island. I had a head full of curly Afro & my parents had to carry me home days later through 6 feet of snow.

    This year my birthday has been a mini-social tour. Rather than having just one big party, I’ve been going to as many little parties as I can get my hands on, having dinner and drinks with individual friends and family, just generally doing it up at every chance I get. It’s been a good time.

    Cause what can you do? You are going to get a little older. Celebrate if not for yourself, than for your mama’s accomplishment in having you. Your are here, alive and breathing. Celebrate that!

  13. 1 month ago  from nonprofitblogs
    New York and San Francisco Use Condoms as Evidence of Prostitution

    nonprofitblogs:

    Thursday, I pointed out that police in D.C., which has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the country, are reported to use possession of condoms as evidence of sex work. (Yeah, they…

  14. Notes: 1 / 2 months ago 

    2010 so far…

    My Cleanse: I’ve gotten to that point in the cleanse where everything is coming up. My skin was extra itchy for several days and now I’m blowing my nose constantly. It feels good because I am giving my body a chance to clean itself from the inside out, anything that might have been clinging to me all this time is losing a foothold, and with a lot of water and patience it will all have to disappear. It’s exciting.

    The first time I did a cleanse, I held on for seven weeks and I felt amazing afterwards. People still comment on how healthy and vibrant I seemed. Of course they hasten to try and reassure me that I don’t look unhealthy or anything now, but I understand. I can feel the difference inside myself. I realize through this process how sluggish I’ve become, how used to being weighed down I am. Slowly I’m  letting all that stuff float up and away.

    Less time on twitter/facebook: I take my social networking time in short little bursts. Once or twice a day, usually in the “off” hours (6am, 3am), I will log on and interact with my peoples. The rest of the time I harness the energy and channel it towards my notebook or reading. Sometimes those thoughts will still make it onto twitter, but sometimes it just doesn’t seem important enough to share. It’s forcing me to really temper my words and realize that it’s not necessary to share ALL my thoughts. Liberating.

    Daily Mediation: Fabulous. I read a passage from my Vanzant book every day. I also experiment with chanting, using Om (which I pronounce A-U-Mmmmm) and a sanskrit phrase from my Deepak Chopra book (there’s a different phrase every day). I’m still not sure what I’m doing sometimes, and it can feel silly. Other times, I will be lying in bed, drifting off and I will recall a sound from mediation and repeat it over and over in my head and it will bring me peace. There are occasional 1 second bursts of clarity, too quick for me to grasp and hold onto, but they give me hope because I know that they are there.

    Daily Yoga: I try to start my day with a sun salutation sequence, and then I will grab a few of the poses from Bikram and do those as well. I keep forgetting to do Shavasana or Dead Man’s Pose, which I have been taught is necessary in all yoga practice. I figure I will get there eventually. At least I’m moving and getting my blood flowing. I feel the strength returning to my arms, it’s all the Downward Dogs that I have been doing! LOL

    Writing Journey: I have started a new journal for the new year. Although I have developed a habit of writing everyday, it hasn’t been journaling, something that I have done since I was in the second grade. When I look back I find it strange that I went 1 year without keeping a diary. My last diary was full of so much sadness that I questioned the wisdom of holding onto these memories so tightly. Maybe we aren’t meant to record these things, maybe we are meant to forget, to let things go?

    But in all things I am a writer, and it is easier to process my thoughts when I am trying to organize them so that they can be recorded. Also, I realize that I have been denying myself a certain amount of alertness about the circumstances in my life by not reviewing and recording them. Lastly, how will I ever write a proper memoir if I don’t review my day/week/month and write it down? LOL

  15. 2 months ago 

    The 5 Stages of Grief

    1. Denial — “I feel fine.”; “This can’t be happening, not to me.”
      Denial is usually only a temporary defense for the individual. This feeling is generally replaced with heightened awareness of situations and individuals that will be left behind after death.
    2. Anger — “Why me? It’s not fair!”; “How can this happen to me?”; “Who is to blame?”
      Once in the second stage, the individual recognizes that denial cannot continue. Because of anger, the person is very difficult to care for due to misplaced feelings of rage and envy. Any individual that symbolizes life or energy is subject to projected resentment and jealousy.
    3. Bargaining — “Just let me live to see my children graduate.”; “I’ll do anything for a few more years.”; “I will give my life savings if…”
      The third stage involves the hope that the individual can somehow postpone or delay death. Usually, the negotiation for an extended life is made with a higher power in exchange for a reformed lifestyle. Psychologically, the individual is saying, “I understand I will die, but if I could just have more time…”
    4. Depression — “I’m so sad, why bother with anything?”; “I’m going to die … What’s the point?”; “I miss my loved one, why go on?”
      During the fourth stage, the dying person begins to understand the certainty of death. Because of this, the individual may become silent, refuse visitors and spend much of the time crying and grieving. This process allows the dying person to disconnect oneself from things of love and affection. It is not recommended to attempt to cheer up an individual who is in this stage. It is an important time for grieving that must be processed.
    5. Acceptance — “It’s going to be okay.”; “I can’t fight it, I may as well prepare for it.”
      This final stage comes with peace and understanding of the death that is approaching. Generally, the person in the fifth stage will want to be left alone. Additionally, feelings and physical pain may be non-existent. This stage has also been described as the end of the dying struggle.

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30s. black. female. haitian. american. funky loc diva. twit-a-holic (add me-LOL). soca junkie, kompa queen. perpetually carnival bound. party animal. reading fiend. "talks" to football players on sun. just your average study in contradictions. more about me.

also bringing it to you live from brooklyn.
 

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