beware

music sometimes can be used for protest. inna Jamaica that is often the case. for some reason, outside of Jamaica reggae is seen as party music. when in fact, the music is often calling for justice and peace.

police brutality is appalling in Jamaica. from Amnesty's website:

Police abuse has been documented by national and international organisations numerous times in the past 30 years. In 1986, an Americas Watch report, Human Rights in Jamaica, concluded that there existed in Jamaica: "a practice of summary executions by the police; a practice of unlawful detentions by the police at times accompanied by police assaults on detainees; and a practice of confining detainees in police station lock-ups under squalid and degrading conditions."

of course the unemplyed youth have also taken up violence as a way of living. here Tarrus Riley warns people to "beware" of the "youths dem an cops."




more reggae on my reggae blog: duppyrundem.blogspot.com

breakfast 'o champions

got up this morning and went for a slow run. overnight runoff caused miniature frozen rivulets on the sidewalks and streets. most were easy to avoid but on the hill descending from my neighborhood there we so many frozen patches that it was like running around land mines. I ran slow, focusing on my foot falls and form. it was a good run.

then I took a shower and made breakfast while Moe sat in his rubber chair and bopped to the reggae blasting from the morning speakers. on the menu: course corn grits with cheddar and a little bacon, fried eggs, bacon, and toast with some good locally roasted French roast coffee.

give thanks

happy birthday bob

jah, ever living, ever strong.

Kingston Town

and the classic UB40 tune

as far as the eye can see

reggae vibes de pon blogger

for all you lickele reggae vibes fans don forget to check pull up selecta for the best in old and young reggae videos

pull up selecta!

started a new page over the weekend called Pull up Selecta. I'll be posting pure reggae vibes from youtube. reggae music is my favourite musical genre and I can't really say why. it's sorta like having a magic surfboard, it just feels right. so I'll try and cut down on videos here on KuYah and instead post them on Pull up Selecta.

respec every time

protec yuh neck bwoy

Marine Forecast
Winds
Issued 03:00 AM ADT 24 March 2009

Today Tonight and Wednesday Gale warning in effect.
Wind northeast 35 knots increasing to 45 early this evening then backing to north 35 Wednesday evening.


Waves
Issued 05:00 AM ADT 24 March 2009
Today Tonight and Wednesday Seas 3 to 4 metres building to 5 Wednesday morning.

an dis wan goes out to me lickle B.

versions - "Let Down" by Radiohead

I love Radiohead. It seems that the more I listen the more it emblazons into my psyche. here is the original Let Down. The Easy Star All-Stars recently did a cover of this song with the golden voiced Toots. You can here that version here: Easy Star All Stars, Let Down.


and in other Easy Star news, the band is releasing their third tribute album. This time a Beatles tribute covering the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It's due out April 14th and "features guest vocals from an impressive list of reggae, dancehall and dub greats including Steel Pulse, Matisyahu, Michael Rose (Black Uhuru), Luciano, U Roy, Bunny Rugs (Third World), Ranking Roger (English Beat), Sugar Minott, Frankie Paul, Max Romeo and The Mighty Diamonds. The first single, “With A Little Help From My Friends,” featuring Luciano, will be released as an iTunes exclusive February 10. It will be paired with a b-side dub version featuring the legendary U Roy." bumbo clot bwoy!

waves of anticipation: the longest morning

this is where I hope to surf this afternoon. the wind should be calm and if it holds it could look just like this. right now the buoy is reading 7' @ 12 seconds but it's sure to drop in the next few hours. got a 10' pivot fin from if only yesterday for the log and looking forward to giving it a go. D$ wish you were here but I doubt you'd be into these conditions:

Wave Height: 7.2 ft
Dominant Wave Period (DPD): 12 sec
Air Temperature (ATMP): 28.4 °F
Water Temperature (WTMP): 35.2 °F
Wind Chill (CHILL): 17.6 °F

leave yuh wit some duppy art

the abyssinians

dawn ruminations

been up since five. folded the laundry, made some breakfast. sipping on coffee now listening to Midnite. it's really cold. minus 8 C. icy too. no matter. leaving here inna short while to check the points. the wind is still gusting to thirty kilometers so it's sure to be cold in the line up. paddle to stay warm. if I only surfed for riding waves I'd go back to bed. to see the sun rise and the steam coming off the harbour is enough to get me outta bed.

someone once said to me with reprimand "why be complacent?" perhaps I'm complacent about the state of things. and as a man blessed and fortunate, and if your reading this you too are fortunate, must I fight against humanities inhumanity? I suppose I could get up and fight -contribute to the violence and strife. no. I will not. if it's just this one go round I get then I am going surfing. I'll watch the sun rise and the wind blow -the snow fall, turn to ice and then wash away with the warming rain. from morning to sundown I'll be a watcher and a walker, feeling myself moving through space with all senses peaked. if you see me wave and smile and I'll do likewise. I will do my best not to judge you. I will hope that you too feel the wind. the wind is not delirious and absurd.

good things

here's a good piece of Jamaica culture via U Roy from the late 1970's. these days there's Armageddon in Haiti, genocide in Darfur, cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe, food riots in Bolivia, mass exodus of migrant workers back to their impoverished homelands all over Europe and Asia... and I live here in this little bubble. free to surf and enjoy a life not of my choosing but indeed of my design.

we choose every day no? I vacillate sometimes but more times I begin to know what I want and which way to go.

easy -go easy. don't tread hard on the land. I heard that advise from so many Rasta singers and thinkers. "tread light pon de land." in some Rastafarian beliefs the individual is the I and the creator/creation is the I. therefore to be free, to achieve enlightenment you must be I and I. you must be one. you must tread lightly upon the earth and respect your fellow man.

row

had two sessions this week. surfed almost four hours Monday with just a few others. slightly overhead, barreling, fast, snow on the bluff and everywhere.

then again this morning. small kine, the tide too high, the swell angle better for that other point but work got in the way. lots of clean little waves, turns and flowing with some cool heads. I give thanks for these days of nature and cold and feeling alive and not numb.

a wha - one spliff a day keep da evil away

hear me a seh
dem a watch all de time
a watch dem watch yuh
like mongose pon de foul inna coop
like rum head a watch London man drink 'im Heineken
like a hawk brejren -a watch dem a watch

but unno no fi care bout dat
jus gwaan an do a ting uncle
yuh no see it?
a ting is a ting king
an you hafi mek a flex

inna poor man country
mango no rot pon de ground seen
dem seh opportunity is bounty


dem not afraid ah opportunity
move yuh bumba clot bwoy!

billy boyo


more like this at Dub.com

respec

ellis and tupac

alton ellis passed away this week. king of rocksteady and lovers rock, ellis will have an impact on the genre for a long time to come. here's a Tupac clip with ellis holding down the chorus and riddim.



it's cold here now. there's still frost on my roof and it's after nine in the morning. we haven't had waves for about two weeks now. people are gettin cranky. soon though the soft tops and half hearts will hang up their hobby 'till next summer leavin the line-ups a little less cluttered.

B's in Taxco doin her thesis work. I miss her too. gonna joing her in a couple of weeks and hopelly get a few good rubber-free sessions on the sandbars of Troncones and maybe the left point if it's workin.

a lo cubano

ska for chango and yemaya



seen