New Year Message

My New Year Message to everyone is to cultivate the right attitude and have hope. Hope will see you through to 2011 and stay with you when the going is good and when there are challenges. Hope for the betterment of yourselves, country, and the world. Happy New Year!

Profound, Controversial, and Gaffe

This feature presents three recent quotes from personalities in the region. See if you can figure out who said what and which statement in your opinion was the most profound, controversial, or a gaffe. Today’s clue, all three persons provide economic insight based on their experiences.

1. “It is individual actions, one on top of the other, that create economic activities.”
[A plug for entrepreneurship interestingly coming from the CEO of a local conglomerate]
2. “When it comes down to actual discussion, the Caribbean is sidelined.”
[Inequality cited and one of the conclusions reached after much discussion at a recent Latin American and Caribbean group meeting]
3. “I am absolutely certain that by the next quarter, we can say that the recession is behind us.”
[This one is either coming from the Book of Revelation or a future prediction. I got five on it!]

Well good luck, did you get them all right? If you did, congratulations, you are in the know!

Payless

Word out from the Minister of Industry, Investment & Commerce is that, “a lot of foreign companies are now showing interest in Jamaica, especially since the reduction in the crime rate.” Payless ShoeSource has been confirmed as one of these firms. Representatives are reportedly now in the island working with JAMPRO and recruiters. Stores are planned to open in Kingston, possibly Montego Bay, or Negril. Ok folks, do your research. Check out how easy it is to do business in Jamaica (DBR 2010 – See link to JAMPRO Trade & Investment website under Sites to Watch). Coming here could turn out to be the next hot spot/investment trend/market.

Update: Grand opening of 3 stores expected February 2011.

Merry Christmas to all my friends, family, and fans

I wish you a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year. Above all, remember there is a reason for the season. It’s not what you get but what you give.

Thank you for supporting my blog. Please keep coming back in 2011. I promise to continue to reveal tidbits and to accentuate the positive side of life at home. One love to all of you.

To ketch the Christmas vibe, click Christmas in Jamaica. Listen and enjoy!

Destination Jamaica

Last night at the New York Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, Jamaica was voted Best Caribbean Destination by readers of Travel Weekly for the 2nd consecutive year. Add this to another major award copped last month when the island was named Best Honeymoon Destination. Well it seems we will soon get Best Divorce Destination too! According to the daily, it looks like celebrities are turning up to holiday on the island in order to regroup and escape divorce drama! Y’all need to pack your bags and head to everyone’s favourite destination.

Christmas in the City

Just in case you are not aware, there is a renewal downtown. Have a look at the thousands of shoppers that turned up looking for Christmas deals all day last Thursday. “Yeah man, nuff tings deh yah!”

[Credit belongs to Norman Grindley, Gleaner photographer]

By the way don’t try to see if you can make me out in the pic. Like I told you, I am keeping far from the madding crowd, lol.

Island Cruiser

Did you know that we have a local car manufacturer that has been in operation for more than 10 years and has so far manufactured 65 vehicles? The company Excel Motors Limited located in Westmoreland recently exported 3 models of its ‘Island Cruiser’ to Turks & Caicos for deployment in the rental car industry. The cars featuring rich tropical colours are 2-door jeep-like vehicles mounted on fibreglass chassis with Japanese-made engines and are ideally suited for touring the coasts and the beaches. Caribbean markets are being targeted initially but who knows after that it’s ‘to di world.’

Trust me, only on JamRock!

“Cabbie Chronicles”, a Jamaican animated feature, recently won the Best Caribbean Animation Award at the Animae Caribe Animation and New Media Festival in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. The short feature is a creation from the Jamaican team of Alison Tabois Latchman (writer), Marlo Scott (illustrator) and Anieph Latchman (animator). You have to view this cartoon. “Cabbie Chronicles – Drive Thru Drama” takes a light-hearted look at a taxi driver and the clients he meets every day. The group promises that they are working on the next episode and we should expect more from Cabbie. Trust me, only on JamRock!

Shopping from afar? Buy Jamaican!

Well, you know I have no intention of joining the madding crowd at either the malls or the supermarkets this Xmas. So I came across this local site with slogan, “Why join a line when you can go online”, and I am thinking that just maybe some of you from afar might have been wondering how to get goods delivered directly to your loved ones back-a-yaad. I gotta look out for my peeps so CLICK HERE and see for yourself.