HIT YOUR 6 ON ROUTE KINGSTON KICKS!!! Escapade # 11 – JAS Farmers’ Market (Agro 2014) at Hope, JC grounds, May 31

Recent Farmers’ Market New Kingston – Gleaner

GMOing has been going on for millenia …….’Birds Do It, Bees Do It …Even Educated..’.

But there’s GMO…& then there’s GMO… We got ortaniques by GMOing (grafting – some loss of genetic material – seeds don’t grow) we also get all our imported soy from Monsanto’s dark arts  (gene splicing, major loss of genetic material & nutrients & disease causing) such that ‘Monstertanto’ makes us ill with it… there’s a difference.  In  the era of Monstertanto whose GMOed and chemically treated seed make up 90% of the world’s seed trade, Dominica is officially organic and Bayern is officially non-GMO… Mexico, France & Hawaii have followed suit and India is battling to keep Monstertanto out of its rice paddies.  So what can we do to save ourselves?  Politics aside, follow Mr. Tufton’s lead … and let’s all go to Farmers’ Markets – still common all over Europe and something of a persistent ‘rebel movement’ in North America … land of the supermarket.  In the last 100 years soil nutrients have been depleted by over 50% and food nutrient values decreased at even higher percentages.

What’s the good of a farmer’s market?   Well, in Jamaica, not all problems are solved by them, but here’re some really good reasons to patronise them:

1) Great prices & the middle man is cut out so all money to farmer

2) you can get more full nutrient, non-GMOed food

3) you eat local and help cut the import bill

4) you cut the carbon footprint

5) you cut packaging pollution

6) you have greater control over what you eat (talking to farmer can tell you how he farms and whether you want to buy his fare based on his practices)

Here’s what you should look for:

1)  Indigenous and wild crops –  they’re non-GMO, less pesticides – (some farmers spray their yams, etc) no growth retardants (all American potatoes sprayed with it from mass producers unless organic)

2) Leafy vegetables with holes in them (no or less pesticides which even insects don’t eat)

3) Buy Michael Fox’s & anybody else’s organic greens & foods (if there). In Jamaica though, not all organic is organic, the farmer just thinks so…

6) Find someone whose eggs are very little, the yolk is huge and nearly blood red & tastes like butter (lot’s of excellent fat) – these are mostly organic eggs

7) Buy New Zealand whole milk dairy – All American dairy has bovine growth hormone unless stated otherwise or 100% organic, better yet, buy raw whole milk if anyone is selling it and boil it yourself.  By the way, after age 5, all dairy you consume ought to be fermented.

8) Buy grape and ox heart tomatoes, most plummies are GMOed and pesticide sprayed

9) buy coconut oil that ‘sleeps’ –  best for your brains, frying and your gut – very virgin burns easier though, don’t let it, all burnt oil carcinogenic.

10) Buy Heritage/heritage (a brand and also all non-GMO generic) seed and create/grow your own from heritage stock you grow

11) Find non-GMO big, smellie pawpaws and pines, full nutrient complement – all small pawpaws and the new Jamaica Producers pines GMOed

12) Don’t waste your money – Buy your alkaline water from the Roquefort Bath head spring, 300 dollars to go in and fill all the bottles you like – one glass per day

13) Buy fish 2lbs and under in weight – above that heightens mercury exposure

Cautionary Tales:

1) Developing countries, including us are often recipient users of banned ‘gift’ pesticides from the States.

2) All Jamaican corn and soy is GMOed and sprayed by Monstertanto, we are the largest per capita consumer of soy on earth leading to male impotence, gynoecomastia, premature puberty, thyroid problems, calcium uptake interference, immune breakdown, etc. etc.  Fermented organic soy is good for you & eat organic soy beans only as often as you would eat any other bean.

3) Know that all commercial gourd fruits suck up pesticides, eat them as a calculated risk or find organic ones

4) GMO does not grow (the seeds are ‘mules’ & that’s the catch, Monstertanto enslaves the contracting farmers of other countries into repeatedly buying ‘demon seed’ and suicide is becoming well known among poor farmers in Asia.  Safe GMO – like grafting & hybridisation – can be reverted by nature, unsafe gene-spliced GMO cannot, what’s lost or added is so forever)

5) Pesticides are designed NOT to wash off so wash and rinse all fruits and veggies in pure liquid castile soap and rinse well…water alone removes NOTHING

Join THE OCCUPY MONSANTO & THE FOOD REVOLUTION MOVEMENTS  ON THE WEB- MONSTERTANTO, DOW ETC ARE DEATH TO THE ENTIRE WORLD BEE POPULATION WHICH IS BEING DECIMATED, NOT TO MENTION…US

HIT YOUR SIX ON ROUTE KINGSTON KICKS – Escapade No. 9 – What’s Old is New Again … in Port Royal – Dining & Dancing at the Anglers’ Club

Do you remember 1st time Rae Town sessions … not what is going on now … I mean like back in the 70s … Well think of this month’s shindig as Rae Town with dining for uptown, downtown and crosstown.

In the southwest corner of the square is the wonderful old upstairs building which is certainly one of the oldest bar sites in the island, destroyed and rebuilt a few times well. It’s called the Anglers Club now. Upstairs is the room in which I did a Malibu Rum ad starring as one of the 2 chief dancehall queens such that when I descended back into the bar, I was complemented as “de real ting” .

Well, it’s been under new management by a team of two gents and their lady friends (one lady a real worker and the other a plumptious show piece whose legs look like they are wearing stockings) for the last 8 months. And you know the Jamaican opener, “An dem have a man yu see…!”  Well they certainly have one. Tafari is very well tipped in money and drinks (purely voluntarily) because “im can play from Mario Lanza to dancehall” … and he really can…  I bought him a beer.  Longtime I haven’t heard that breed of dance music.  All 19 of us took at least one whirl … even though Jamaicans have lost their twinkletoes.   I was shocked to discover an old high school tegereg colleague who could cut a serious rug!! WARNING … AFTER 11PM MUSIC & CROWD MORPHS TO DANCEHALL ‘STYLIE’ & FEEL FREE TO DECLINE THE MARGARINE IN PREPARATION OF YOUR DISH!.

The strategy is to take your vegetables and gourmet snacks like red vino and go in a group.  When you get there, tell one of the bar proprietors you want a maitre d for the evening. When the elected arrives, send him to any of your favourite eateries around the square area and he will sort and relay menu prices and listings, your currency, change and food.  (Give him a mini percent for his trouble).  Dig in and enjoy then dance to Tafari who plays a lot like an older generation Merritone crossed with Gibbo in his day


This photo of Port Royal is courtesy of TripAdvisor

JAMAICA/CHINA DO BUSINESS? GUNG HE FATT CHOY … IN THE YEAR OF THE HORSE …AMEN

D&G phones

YOU KNOW THIS IS ACTUALLY POSSIBLE – MAROONS, ATHLETES & MUSICIANS – ALL ON OUR TERMS AFTER HARD WORK & SOME SACRIFICE, THINK ABOUT IT.

OUR RESOURCES:
A DIRECT LINK TO A JAMAICAN LAWYER ON AL GORE’S CLIMATE AND CARBON FOOT PRINT GROUP
MASTERS IN GRANTSMANSHIP HEADING BIG TIME FOUNDATIONS
A DIRECT LINK TO THE NATURE CONSERVANCY WHICH ONCE BOUGHT AN ISLAND FOR 31 MILLION US TO SAVE IT
A CHINESE JAMAICAN FELLOW AWARDEE WITH AL GORE ON CLIMATE CHANGE AT OR FROM UWI

ADD UP:
SO WE GET THE GRANT WRITERS TO GET US SOME MONEY FROM NATURE CONSERVANCY TO FORM A NEGOTIATING GROUP INCLUDING SUCH AS THOSE ABOVE AND FORCE GOVT TO FESS UP/ACT & NEGOTIATE RESPONSIBLY ON OUR BEHALF

SCENARIOS:
ILLEGAL DEAL IN THE FIRST PLACE
BUT IF A LEASE, WE CAN NEGOTIATE WHAT THEY DO WITH OUR LAND AND WATER
IF STRAIGHT SALE, IT’S STILL OUR TERRITORIAL WATER WHICH CAN’T BE SOLD SO WE STILL GET TO SAY HOW WE EXPECT EFFLUENT TO BE PREVENTED FROM CREATING DISASTER OUT THERE

THIS IS GOING ON ALL OVER THE GLOBE, LET’S JUMP UP AND DOWN & ‘FLING OUR TOYS OUT OF THE PRAM’:
US MAKING ILLEGAL ENCROACHMENT ONTO SOME OF ITS TERRITORY OF DEVELOPMENT IN SECRET
COCO ISLANDS WITH COSTA RICAN GOVT BEING BRIBED TO ALLOW POACHING
SOCHI OLYMPIC SITE IS BEING BUILT ON NATIONAL PARK ETC ETC

HIT YOUR SIX ON ROUTE KINGSTON KICKS – ESCAPADE No. 8 – HASHING IN JAMAICA – Get your fresh air, Make friends & Explore (nearly free :))

Have you ever ‘Hashed’?  Plenty of camaraderie, easy going exploration and fresh air quite cheaply…ballpark JA$600.  Exertion levels are graded so check with the ‘lead hares’ or website to see if the month’s tour is for you.  Depending on how far afield you go, costs rise or fall.  You wouldn’t believe the kind of people you buck up on these outings …and even the few profilers can’t bother with profiling on these tours :).  It’s been around since at least 1998 and this is RUN 411!

I’m dealing with those tours around Kingston, usually least expensive and as with all ‘Hashing’ – must go and come in a day.  It is also known that you shouldn’t really be dug out of bed at an ungodly hour on a Sunday.  The ones in Kingston might (click green) start out of Stony Hill, ( like this month’s one to Struan Castle), Jack’s Hill, Long Mountain, Hellshire…that kind of thing – can start as a trail out of somebody’s backyard if it’s one of the older rural St. Andrew homes, for example – an extension of where Kingstonians might go any given Sunday for a day outing…my favourite Kingston one was the ruinate around Strawberry Hill and then we ate back all the calories at Cafe Blue roadside :)….at our own expense.  So go mini walkabout around Kingston, get your exercise with friends and breathe fresh air on ‘Hash’.

Truth is, 1/2 of us don’t know what’s in Kingston, much less Jamaica….or the value of what we have…

Struan Castle Grounds, St. Andrew
Struan Castle Grounds, St. Andrew

Depression is the Demon -Taking the Beast by the Horns- Moving into the Light‏

  • Why am I writing this to about 200 of you at Christmas?  Because it’s the right time to save a life.  There are 2 major spikes in Jamaica – Christmas and birthdays.  Since the advent of the Valentine’s rubbish from the USA, we’ve started to acquire this date as another spike.
  • The tool below was given to us medics by the psych fraternity to help us care for our clients and their families who frequently have no idea that depression exists and if they do know, have no idea how to talk about and deal with it.  This tool makes it much easier.  The yes and no answers mean you don’t ‘have to talk’ but breaks the awful ice so somebody can try and do something.
  • If any 5 of these exist in the last 2 weeks, the client is clinically depressed and a candidate for the bio-psycho-social approach to treating depression (an appropriate combination of rememdies-counselling-altering of social patterns).  Depression is a sickness as any other but often with more illness and lethal results.  If No. 9 does not occur, watch for escalating illness and disease of every kind because wherever the mind is, the body surely follows:

1  Depressed mood?

2  Significant diminished interest or pleasure in the things that used to elicit pleasure/interest?

3  Significant weight loss or weight gain
4  Insomnia or too much sleeping/not wanting to leave bed?

5  Jitteriness or going into slow motion/reverse gear?

6  Fatigue or loss of energy?

7  Feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt?

8  Diminished ability to concentrate?

9  Recurrent thoughts of death or suicidal ideation?  Yes?  Have you planned it out? (No. 9 with or without other points puts client in medical emergency category even if in the last year)

Males more likely to kill first time.  Females more likely to commit attempts as a cry for help.  For God’s sake check a female’s thyroid functions.

Share this with everyone….or keep for further reference or to help yourself….I’ve been in the pen with the Demon…I know him well…escape is an up and down process that requires ‘backative’ either from others or one’s own shored up resources and belief in ‘The Force’.  ‘Make it so No 1’.

BEGINNING

Watch this man tell it like it is…..

HIT YOUR SIX ON ROUTE KINGSTON KICKS – ESCAPADE No. 7 – TGIF at Countryside Pan Yard

Once upon a time there was a boy and his pops owned an outdoor sign business.  The pops had a dream but the son thought him whacky…   The pops built a musical pan yard oasis and rum bar on Eastwood Park Rd. called Countryside Pan Yard.  Now the son said 2 and 2 were not making 4 so the pops was forced to give in UNTIL they sold the outdoor sign business and low and behold, although the son still thought the pops whacky, (I mean who goes into the entertainment and nightclub business at age 80 thought the son) gave in to the dream and TAH DAH………!!!!!!!

GRAND RE-OPENING: EDDIE & WAYNE CHAI’S COUNTRYSIDE PAN YARD – THE FAMOUS EASTWOOD PARK OASIS WITH A ‘CHRIS BLACKWELLIAN’ STYLE. NEW & IMPROVED FOR YOUR FRIDAY HAPPY HOUR (NO COVER CHARGE)  STARTING AT 4.00PM WITH FISH AND JERK STANDS (THE CONQUERING LIONFISH OF JUDAH IS RESPLENDENT ON THE FISH STAND), FANCY BREWED COFFEES AS GOOD AS ANY STARBUCKS OR BETTER IF YOU ASK ME, 2 BARS, THE HUMMING BIRDS STEEL PAN BAND AT 7 PM AND EASY PARKING AND ACCESS NOW OFF THE BUSY MAIN ROAD.  SOME SERIOUS DJs and EVERY SO OFTEN DROP INS FROM VARIOUS ARTISTS INCLUDING THE REALLY UNIQUE QUASI ETHNIC/JAMAICAN FUSION BAND, NOMADS, WHICH HAS CAUGHT BLACKWELL’S EAR. LOVE THE SONG/CHANT ABOUT THEIR ‘UNCLE BUNGO CLARKE WHO DRIVE IM RAS KYART ROUN TOWN’…HILARIOUS…THE BASE IS GIANT PLINKUM PLINKUM BOX, NOT A BASE GUITAR. REALLY ENGAGING…
SO REMEMBER, FULFILLING OF DREAMS HAS NO AGE LIMIT AND NOW IT’S A SERIOUS FAMILY BUSINESS, ‘NOT NO SIDE LINE’ AND YOU CAN RENT THE PLACE FOR YOUR OWN ESCAPADES!

Grand Re-opening Countryside Pan Yard
Grand Re-opening Countryside Pan Yard

HIT YOUR 6 ON ROUTE KINGSTON KICKS!!! Escapade No. 6 – Little Freebies at SWISS STORES F&B

Getting their KICKS at Swiss Stores F & B
Getting their KICKS at Swiss Stores F & B

Ah me Christmas cometh…YAHOO, I really like it because I don’t shop :). Anyway, this stop – Swiss Stores FB bar/cafeteria downtown, the idea of Bangueter, the Nephew – if you haven’t already. I held off on this till they fixed up their parking…and they have…sooo…may I invite you down between 11.00 am and noon on Sat Nov 30? True it’s not free fare but it won’t break you and you can order as much or little as you like – Silverhill brewed coffee, basic teas (EBreakfast, EGray & Mint) hard drinks and wine and light fare – and to sweeten the deal and entice you downtown because this is what KINGSTON KICKS IS ABOUT..(rely on it, if we don’t take it back, hooligans will continue claiming it and a few local stalwarts and bright foreigners (Digicel) will reap all the benefits as they maintain their/take a stand)…I’ll give away 4 copies of my new book YU GET JOOK! DIARIES OF A JAMAICAN MEDIC and offer free medical chat…notice the latter word; I can’t prescribe, offer formal second opinions, sign documents, deal with emergencies, etc in this setting…more like…everything you ever wanted to ask a doctor and didn’t. And I won’t answer any emailed questions either! The idea is to give you reason to come downtown and look around again…

SWISS STORES has a history with us as one of our foremost luxury businesses…they’ve crafted many a gift for VIPs and celebrities worldwide. My favourite is the lignum vitae amethyst broach that went to the Queen Mum (hope SS and the crafter finally split the copyright in equal measure, was a big hullabaloo) and then there’s the story of my mother’s engagement diamond. Yes, today some of us prefer checking the provenance of the jewellery we wear but in Mum’s day it was just a happy business to give your gal her engagement ring. Bought at Swiss Stores, wherever she went around the globe with proud Pops, from Asia to meeting Princie in the UK, there were those in the know who commented “Madame, that is a beautiful piece, where did you acquire it?” Notice the terminology at this level…not “Wow, where did you buy that?” Now, it was not any gigantic rock but read into the former question the following, as they further intimated to Mum…a truly flawless stone (credit the SS buyer) with a world class exquisitely executed brilliant cut (credit the SS craftsmen). I can tell you …I remember it as a real rainbow flasher. In fact, the 2nd time she licked it out of its setting in a night time driveway, that’s how Pops found it for her; it gave a brilliant flash in the beam of the torch. She licked it out a total of 4 times and on the fourth lost it…luckily eons into their long marriage.

Directions: Drive down Church St to corner of Water Lane and there’s the new little parking lot just behind Swiss Stores.  Click to see their page:

SWISS STORES FB DOWNTOWN