Losing You

With her latest hit Losing You, Solange makes a definitive statement: She is her own woman! Her sound is unique, her wardrobe is feisty and the video which was shot in Cape Town, South Africa, is 4 mins 21 secs of cinematic artistry. The video was directed by Melina Matsoukas and it is available on iTunes

Mayhem or Miracles

I had a lead to interview an international artist in Montreal and i could barely contain my excitement. This was going to be a treat for my viewers so I made travel arrangements ahead of time and I even secured a guarantee that the interview was a shoo in. So how do the best laid plans become a colossal failure?

First my accommodation arrangements collapsed. This meant the travel plans had to change immediately. When the fateful day arrived, the bus driver refused to let me on, my ticket had expired. Intuition demanded that i cancel the trip, but adrenalin convinced me that I could pull it off. $115 later I was soldiering on. I arrived at Montreal only to find that the car rental agency which was supposed to close at 6pm was closed at 5:58pm. The agent who was supposed to schedule the interview could no longer guarantee it, and the artist who had been burnt by the media would not even look at my mic. Intuitively, I knew that the much coveted interview would not happen. I packed my equipments and left. No interview = no footage = no video. What a waste!

As I lamented on the implosion of my weekend, I remembered that sometimes you will have nothing to show for the money and time you have invested in a project. Such is life! Hardwork is not always rewarded with great results. The finest education does not lead to a great job. Lavish weddings do not guarantee successful marriages. And the fattest meat does not make the best soup. But, by unearthing the lessons in each experience, you discover that the darkest clouds have the brightest lining. I stopped lamenting about the failures of my weekend and smiled at the mini miracles of the weekend: I drove through Quebec and survived. I spent the most refreshing moments with my friend Mia’s parents in Saint Roch Ouest. We walked through the woods and marvelled at the foam-like feel of the pine needle covered ground. I filled my mouth with home grown yellow tomatoes and washed it down with Rosemary tea. The air was fresh and the people were warm. We laughed, we hugged and we kissed. There are miracles in mayhem - they are just waiting to be embraced.

Feathers, sequins and skin, Oh my

The city of Toronto is gyrating with energy in anticipation of the biggest North American Carribean cultural parade – Caribana. After six weeks of festivities, this year’s event will come to a climax on Saturday July 31st with costumes and mas band displays meandering through the streets of downtown Toronto.

The soundtrack of the carnival is diverse carribean music. So you will people from all over North American and other parts of the world, swaying to Reggae, Soca, Calypso, Chutney, Steel pan and Brass Band.

My favourite part of the parade is definitely the costumes. Where else in the world would you find flat-belly-women and jiggly-belly- women alike proudly strutting their goodies? Scantily clad and colourfully adorned in sequins and feathers, this is a rare moment in time when nobody worrys about BMI or cellutie. This day, everybody feels beautiful and it is definitely a contagious feeling.