My name is KORLEKi😊

 Yup that's my African name given to me by the Krobo tribe in Ghana.

https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2023/06/a-cultural-awakening.html?m=1

That name is specific to me, as it is based on certain aspects of my birth and personality.

On the other hand, Joan is a relic of colonialism and I can't believe I changed my good name, Marshall to a common name like Williams.

I remember being told by someone who was checking the telephone directory many years ago to try and find me, that he had counted 32 Joan Williams!

And that was in Kingston alone.

See what I mean?

I want you to go find me another KORLEKi Adjado anywhere else in the western hemisphere.

Pity it's such a bureaucratic nightmare to change ones name officially.😡

Ps. Big up my designers Judi and Coretta.❤️. Great job by the seamstress in Duncan's too, Charlene. Not only is she a neat dressmaker but a super pleasant person as well..

NCB sucks😡

 Is it possible to get customer service anywhere which is worse  than what the National Commercial Bank (NCB) offers?

I hardly think that is possible!

Can you believe that they apparently do not service their ATM machines and clearly don't give a damn that some people may not be able to afford the fare to travel from point to point to find one that works!!

Recently the newspaper carried an article about the major share holder,  billionaire Michael  Lee- Chin, shaking up the management because no dividend had been paid for three years. 

Does he care equally about the poor or crippled who have to travel from point to point to find one of their machines that work? 

Thank heavens I am not one of their customers.

My frustration with this bank  stems from the fact that apparently, they have a monopoly on regional ATM's but don't take that monopoly seriously.

I am staying in the Duncan's area of Trelawny where they have a NCB machine at the supermarket. But last week all I could get was a message that they had no money. So I  went to the next one that is close to Glistening Waters by the old Road leading into Falmouth.

Same crap, so I had to wait till we were heading to Ocho Rios to get a machine operated by Sagicorp bank, that works.

And today, same crap at the same two machines in Trelawny.

This time we had to head to BNS in Falmouth where they have four working machines outside the branch.

My information is that the NCB branch has three machines outside at their Falmouth branch and most times they are also down! Also, there is only one human teller inside to serve the needs of it's customers!

Does this sound like an organization that cares about the poor who have no private transportation and must depend on route taxies or other public transportation to get access to their own money?

Disgraceful .

I cannot tell a lie😁

I would love to say I caught this fish (a barracuda) but as you get older, it is hard to lie as you easily forget the lies you told!

So no, while I was in the boat, I never even caught a fly. This is borne out by the fact that when we pulled in the line to return home, my bait had not even been nibbled.

Two hours trolling and not even one bite😡

Fact is, 4 barracudas were caught today, 2 by my brother Bernie, one by my niece and one by the fisherman, Mustafa, who took us out.

Bernie, Mustafa and the unfortunate Joan 

My cousin Coretta buck up pon a fish🤣

Let me clarify the catch though. 

Bernie was so overjoyed when he caught an 8 pound barracuda, that when his rod was re-baited, he handed it to Coretta and immediately, she got a hit. 

Within 3 seconds!

So they are arguing over who the expert fisher person was!

I swear someone obeahed me, for very rarely do I return without anything while being in the same boat as they are.

Because of his luck today,  I told Bernie to buy the lottery. And he not only did but has promised to give me half. 

So, if you hear I am in Africa and might not return for a year or two, it's because his luck extended to the lottery today.

So oono please pray.😁

The final farewell

No matter how ill someone is and you know only death can only bring them peace, you are still very sad when you say that final farewell.

That's how it was as I attended my schoolmate Hughie's funeral yesterday.

He had gotten the terrible news some 18 months ago that he was diagnosed with that unnerving stage four pancreatic cancer.

Hughie and Wife Desi.

This is a lethal cancer that also killed the likes of Pavoratti and Alex Trevet shortly after they were diagnosed .

Being a doctor himself, Hughie knew he had no chance of survival.

He tried to take the kemo but could not stand the terrible side effects. So he went to Mexico to try an alternative. 

While he knew it couldn't cure the demonic cancer, at least the side effects were not as bad.

He could now eat the foods he loved, have more time with his family and even return to his practice occasionally.

 But he knew it was only a matter of time, so he had to make the best of life,  one day at a time!

Faith DAguilar, well-known  Jamaican soloist, sang " One day at a time" and "God will take care of you"  for Hughie.

Very appropriate.

His funeral was held at the historic Mandeville Parish Church, St. Marks, which was built in 1820.

Dr. Bryan Morgan, former schoolmate and friend, spoke about his days at Munro College.

Hughie's daughter and her best friend delivered the eulogy.

It was more a celebration of Hughie's life, but as I ran into other schoolmates from our era, it reminded me how few of us are still around and healthy to boot!

I am happy that I got to visit him a year ago when he was feeling good and had even returned to his practice for a few hours daily.

Walk good mi fren.❤️

Sumfest sell off

If the only act we saw on Saturday night at Reggae Sumfest was the Big Ship's performance, it would have been worth the money.❤️

L-R front: Coretta, Joan, Ruby. Back L-R: Lolita, Judi, Bernie 

Freddie and his sons were out of the world. Especially considering that the Captain, Freddie McGregor is just recovering from a stroke!

If you just heard the strong voice alone, you could never guess Freddie, had to remain seated while performing and that his left side is clearly still paralyzed.

But he was so professionally backed up by his sons Steven and Di genius, that the performance was just out of this world.

They were just awesome.

And guess who was in the backing band?

 None other but the great Dean Frazer himself!😍

And you couldn't stop Freddie. It was as if he was determined to belt out all his hits despite his struggles.

The crowd showered him with love.❤️

His voice broke as he stopped to  thank us for the love and prayers.

Lieutenant Stichie 

The segment honoring King Jammy was great too, as coming on stage were old time favorites such as Lieutenant Stichie, Tanya Stevens, Major Mackerel, Ricky Spice etc and they were all wonderful.

Ricky Spice

While I instructed my eyes to close only during band changes, they sold me out and I missed much of Morgan heritage, Romaine Virgo and Wayne Marshall.

At least they stayed open long enough for me to hear Gramps Morgan deliver 'people like me."

My eyelids let me down though😡. 

We were determined to stay to the end to see  Lady Saw now Pastor Marion Hall, who eventually came on after 6am. 

Tanya Stevens 

Captain of the Big Ship, Freddie McGregor.

In my book, Lady Saw is the winner as Pastor Hall, while retaining the energy, is just too preachy .

Lots of people seem to agree with my assessment as it was during her performance that many packed up and left.

 As the bible says, " out of evil cometh good". 

Well if the Palladium hotel was not such a moronic organization, ( more on that anon) we could not have made it to Reggae Sumfest this year.

The fact is,  we were scheduled to attend the grand finale of the family reunion there (more on that anon) but the lousy hotel reneged on the deal, so as we weren't staying there, we couldn't attend.

We went to Sumfest 's final night instead and that's the good that came out of their evil😡.

The family reunion Tshirt.

We were staying at Silver Sands.

L-R: Coretta, Judi, Joan, Bernie, Lolita.

Silver Sands beach is private and better anyway.

And what a night it was.😻🥰🙂😍.

Big up Sumfest 2023 and all the performers on the final night.

Birthday Bash

With COVID and all that jazz, tot many people actually make it to

80  these days.

And most who do, certainly do  not retain an aura of youth!

Dr. Basil Kong (r)

Dr. Basil Kong is and great exception to that narrative as he certainly does not look a day over 60!

He celebrated the milestone with a wonderful bash at Old Fort Villas, just outside Ocho Rios.

The location was excellent, the food superb and the guests were all in a happy mood.

His cousin Ricky Kong, formerly of " The Jamaicans"and Beverly's Records on Orange Street, with the birthday boy.

Dr. Kong who holds a Jurist Doctor degree as well as a PhD, was born in Woodlands, St. Elizabeth and attended Springfield Primary school before migrating to USA. 

He lives in Georgia but returned home to celebrate his big day, attend a family reunion and enjoy the beautiful island.
 

Founder/ leader of Tallawah Mento Band based on Florida, Colin Smith, could not help himself, so joined the local Mento band contracted to entertain.

The guests all happily joined in.