Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category
Monday, July 7th, 2008 |
I need to stop running away from my blog. And believe me when I say I am running. I’ve been avoiding writing in this thing like the plague and for no good reason at all.
CNC3 - Specifically Samuel McKnight
Dear CNC3, please spend the money to hire good reporters instead of hiring substandard ones with the hope that they’ll work out. Case in point: Samuel McKnight. Newsflash! He’s not working out. Is it that no one over at CNC3 has realised this? As if the crime situation isn’t bad enough in itself, I have to listen while Samuel McKnight bludgeons the English language to death. Are things really that bad in the hiring business? Some tips for Samuel McKnight.
(1) Pronunciation - There is no “y” in “Cat”.
(2) Subject and verb - It’s great if they can agree sometime. Honestly, man. Singular subject, singular verb. Plural subject, plural verb.
(3) The Possessive Case - It’s surprisingly easy to use. For example let’s say “The girl’s father” instead of “The girl father”. Or how about “The man’s car” instead of “The man car”. Try it out.
(4) When conducting an interview it’s a good practice to keep speaking standard English. Remember the microphone is also picking up your questions. For example don’t ask, “And afta dat where she went?” or “An’ wha he tell she?”
Geez, man.
Trinidad Rum Drinkers
Are you a Trinidad Rum Drinker? If you are, you can’t be as dedicated or as serious a rum drinker as you pretend to be if you’re not a member of the Trinidad Rum Drinkers club. Shame on you, poseur. The TRD club has been experiencing a high turnover rate in recent years and is actively recruiting new members. So you there, if you ever plan to get serious about your choice and consumption of alcoholic beverages be sure to apply for membership in this exclusive club*.
*Beer, whiskey, homemade wine drinkers need not apply. Bay Rummers tolerated downwind. No Vodka Snorters. No Tobagonians.
Posted in Media, Miscellaneous | 18 Comments »
Friday, May 2nd, 2008 |
Seriously, don’t call this a comeback.
The Fat Solo is back! Coming soon to a beach lime near you.
I can’t even remember the last time I saw one of these on grocery shelves, but it looks like Solo Beverages Limited has brought these back at least for nostalgia’s sake. Everyone knows the Fat Solo bottle is the fine china of the soft drink world. There is no better delivery method for your sugar/CO2 mix than the thick glass of this bottle.
The classic Solo flavour is still there, but the bottle is not there completely. Yes it’s kind of the same. The bottle is still stamped with the logo, but the original label was painted on and this new label is plastic. Yuck. Who knows why it was changed, but the experience is just not the same. I’m thinking if you’re not going to go all the way, why even bother. At the very least we don’t need more plastic in the environment. Maybe the good folks at Solo had a reason for changing from paint to plastic. Who knows? I for one am happy to see the Fat Bottle make it’s comeback.
But, yeah don’t call it a comeback.
Posted in Miscellaneous | 29 Comments »
Tuesday, December 11th, 2007 |
Before I begin this, I apologise for my two-week absense. Yes, I’ve been busy. No, I haven’t been so busy that I couldn’t find time to blog. Yes, I’m a little bit lazy.
December 6th marked my 18th month blogging anniversary. I missed my 1 year anniversary because I was so busy during that time period, I didn’t have time to write a post about it. I was only slightly worried at the time that I somehow miraculously chose to begin this blogging expedition on 6/6/06 - Actually I’m still a little worried about that. I’m even more worried that I didn’t catch that till a year later. I just wanted to say thanks to all of you for all the reads, comments, criticism, jokes, shared experiences, e-mails, and everything that has made this blogging expedition so incredibly enjoyable.
I want to take the opportunity to reminisce a little on the great moments and not so great moments of The Manicou Report.
Number of posts: 287
Highest number of page loads in one month: 18,679 (May 2007)
Lowest number of page loads in one month: 376 (June 2006)
Total number of Page Loads: 111,741
Local Highpoint: Being interviewed by Kayode James of the Trinidad Guardian and subsequently being mentioned in the story about blogging in T&T.
International Highpoint: Former Time Magazine blogger and current Atlantic Monthly blogger Andrew Sullivan linking to my post The Trinidad/Guyana JFK Terror Plot (Which explains my outrageous stats for May 2007.)
Lowpoint: Having to enforce comment moderation and remove my chat box.
Most searched for word: Akon
Second most searched for word: Sampson
Favourite Post: Ramleela Fire!
Most Bizarre E-mail: From someone calling herself an Achong who “took me to task” for “bashing her family” in my post “Larry Achong - The PNM’s Best & Brightest“. I don’t know if she reads my blog at all still, but I don’t really care since she was a little fas to e-mail me in the first place, especially with such a poorly-worded, less than coherent e-mail. Here’s the exchange of e-mails with some details removed to protect the guilty.
I am ****** Achong. Born May **, 197* in Brooklyn, NY. I am the daughter of *** Achong the daughter of *** Achong and ***** Harding. I am also and ******** and an *****. My bloodline is pure. Through out my families history and it’s great nation. I was raised in Trinidad by my Great-grand mother ****** until the age of 8. I now live in Columbia, SC. A Disable Veteran of the United States Army and have 3 sons ********. and ******* and one ****** age 14 that will carry on my grandfathers name for the future of my ancestors to come. My family has always been outspoken, smart, athletic and courageous in anything that we do and I am proud of that fact. I stand behind my people which is also Trinidad and Tobago and will return soon. ********@hotmial.com. Please remember where things began because it we will never end.
Hi ******, Thanks a lot for your e-mail. I have to say though I am a little confused as to the reason behind it. Mani
Just as a child growing up my family seems to have been always bashed. The Achong name that is. I find it a little hurtful even though I am no longer there.
Hi, Well I don’t think anyone is bashing the Achong name. People are condemning this one action of his. Are you related to Larry Achong? Mani
Yes
Ok Then! Thanks for writing! Please ask your doctor if increasing your dosage is right for you. (I didn’t write this, but I thought it.) Why in the world is she writing me telling me the names of her kids?
Post most commented upon: The Sampson Nanton Lesson (69 - Some of which are mine though)
Most Viewed Post (I believe): Akon Zen Trinidad Nappy-Headed Hos.
Most e-mailed post: The Trinidad/Guyana JFK Terror Plot (May 2007)
Most common Tag: PNM (67)
Number of unpublished drafts that will likely never see the light of day: 23
Number of times I know I’ve been Whoised: At least 10
Number of people who know I have a blog: 5
Favourite Image: The one I did for Caribbean Airlines.
Number of Times I’ve been back to the Wizz Computers after I swore never to go back: 0
Number of Times a girl sent me pics of herself: 2
Posted in Miscellaneous | 12 Comments »
Thursday, November 22nd, 2007 |
Bhagwansingh’s Hardware:
Not to be confused with Lowe’s Hardware:
…just so you know.
THE END
Posted in Miscellaneous | 7 Comments »
Thursday, November 22nd, 2007 |
A second round of blimp pics to all you blimp groupies out there. Here’s a pic of our airship patrolling the evening sky. In case you were wondering, the rag hanging out of its butt is your national flag, ladies and gentlemen.
Posted in Miscellaneous | 10 Comments »
Monday, October 8th, 2007 |
Hello boys and girls, I just wanted to tell you that I will be guestblogging on Izatrini today. Click here for today’s post. But tune in tomorrow for your regularly scheduled broadcast.
Posted in Miscellaneous | 1 Comment »
Monday, October 1st, 2007 |
But a a, allyuh boy get ah mention in the Guardian again. Apparently my site was mentioned in the Monday 24th September edition of the paper in a story titled “Internet Campaigning” (on page 4 mind you). The story was written by Mark Lyndersay who normally writes the Bit Depth column in the Guardian and who also blogs on his own website.
The section about The Manicou Report goes:
But anonymity has its upsides, and there are at least two blogs created by unidentified contributors that are worth following this election season.
The Manicou Report has been around for a bit, and its author claims to be a UWI student airing his opinions. The writing is clear and pointed, unfettered by partisan thinking and disturbingly funny.
I am very humbled by all Mark’s compliments and I appreciate them very much. Did you read the part where he said I was “unfettered by partisan thinking and disturbingly funny”? That’s my favourite part.
Also getting some coverage was “The Secret Diary of Patrick Manning”, by, well, Patrick Manning. I’m happy for him as he’s a much better blogger than I would have guessed. Mark says:
For laugh out loud funny, you must read “The Secret Diary of Patrick Manning,” a hilarious entry in the “fake blog” sweepstakes that is sharply relevant and pleasantly amusing. I’d go so far as to say that even PNM stalwarts will find many entries on this blog entertaining.
The anonymous author strikes a winning balance between cruelly accurate satire and an appreciation of the Trini way in his portrayal of an embattled, slightly eccentric PM recording his thoughts on a “secret” blog.
Of course, Patos would disagree with Mark referring to him as an “anonymous writer” since he’s pretty open about who he is.
I didn’t get to see the story myself as I rarely ever buy newspapers during the week. Only yesterday did I find out out about it when my sister called and asked me if I knew my blog was in the newspaper again. She promised to save the paper for me so I’ll get to see it this weekend.
Posted in Miscellaneous, Politics | 5 Comments »
Thursday, September 27th, 2007 |
Hi, I wanted to share with you a comment I received today on my post “Indecent Proposal“. It’s from John. And by the way, all spelling, grammatical, logical, punctuation, number/letter confusion, factual and glaring errors are his. My response to John follows.
John said…
How cuould anyone sensible enough could actually vote for COP. This party has no vision and direction.That party has a set of political rejects and persons older than Panday eg. Alloy Lequay, Humphery just to name a few. Why don’t all the top ranking members of COP resigned there seats because they are there because of the UNC. When Dookeran was in the UNC , just imagine he was forming his own party,isn’t that betrayal to its highest level?They have absolutely no shame. What have Panday done to these people? Or I see, he is the bad one because he started all of them with political life after taking them from the gutter.Everyone knows that he is the best Prime Minister Trinidad ever had during 1995-2001. Just imagine with $9.oo dollars a barrel, he done so much for this country.What have this man done to deseve this sort of hate and malice by most people who are supporting COP. I will tell eveyone who is voting for COP count your vote as a waste of time because they are not going to win a single seat. I am so sorry for them.I wish them and who are supporting them GOOD LUCK in the General Elections.
John, I consider myself very sensible which is why I choose to vote for the Congress of the People, I’m sorry if you have concluded that the two are mutually exclusive. No vision and no direction - that’s a sentiment I’ve heard being bandied about before. What do you consider to be a vision? Because I have listened extensively to the COP’s Tuesday night meetings and I can say that I have heard lots of vision coming from them. And not only visions, but plans and tactics in everything from National Security to Agriculture. Seriously, did you check on that before you wrote it?
Dookeran forming his own party while he was being kicked in the teeth was betrayal? Are you trying to say that a man planning his political survival when he was he was being kicked to the ground over and over again is betrayal? Then I must have a little traitor in me also because I would have done the exact same thing.
People older than Panday are bad? OK. I agree, lets take them all on a train somewhere and exterminate them.
Dookeran was in a gutter when Panday called him? Was he really? In any case, why is it that you feel like people owe their souls to Mr. Panday despite what he does or says?
John I am sorry to say that you have been misled. Oil averaged $9 a barrel for only three months. From December 1998 - February 1999 the price of oil progressed from $8.64 to $9.86 to $9.30. In March of that year the price of oil rose to $12.05 and the yearly average for that year was $16.55. While these are not the great prices we enjoy today (thanks to the war in Iraq), it would be misleading for you to keep saying that oil was $9.00 a barrel. I wouldn’t expect you to know this however as people who tend to utter slogans, rarely check on their validity.
Why don’t all the top ranking members of COP resigned there seats because they are there because of the UNC.[sic] Well John, you see, to get to the top echelons of the UNC, you have to accomplish a certain amount of butt kissing - butt kissing isn’t easy and after you’ve done it for so many years you really don’t want to throw it all away because of conscience. So you stay and grit your teeth. And when Panday says jump, you ask “how high?”.
Ed agreed with you when you said that Panday was the best Prime Minister Trinidad ever had during 1995-2001. Let me say that I agree with you too. No other Trinidadian Prime Minister at that time could compete with him. It was almost like no one else existed.
You mentioned shame. Remember politics has a morality of its own. It’s that same lack of shame that has the UNC pleading to unite with “the Corpse” and the leader of the Corpse, the Duck. Where’s the shame in that?
Have you ever realized the level of stupidity coming out of the UNC these days? Have you? I want to sit here and walk you through it piece by piece, but I think I will be wasting my time, because if you haven’t seen it yet, you never will. Where was the sense in mistreating Mr. Dookeran and effectively kicking him out of the party? Where was the sense in electing him political leader only for the party hierarchy to appoint Kamla as Opposition Leader? You may want to label those who want to vote for the COP as insensible, but if voting for the UNC is being bright, I want to remain a dunce.
By the way bredda, the UNC is not winning this election. The only party with a chance is the COP. So who is wasting their time now?
Posted in COP, Miscellaneous, UNC | 30 Comments »
Tuesday, August 28th, 2007 |
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| Cheryl Sankar wearing the forbidden Camouflage |
Isn’t camouflage still illegal in Trinidad and Tobago? Consider this Newsday pic of T&T’s Taekwondo champ about the town wearing a camouflage top. I would think that if you did own camouflage the very last thing you would want is to be photographed wearing it.
Of course I think that that camouflage law in Trinidad can be a little silly at times - unless of course the Trinidad and Tobago regiment begins issuing spaghetti-strap tops and rubber slippers. Now that would make it relevant (and a little scary I might add).
Posted in Miscellaneous | 8 Comments »
Monday, August 13th, 2007 |
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| TT Laws CD ROm Advertisement |
Icame across this ad while reading the Sunday Guardian. Holy crap! $5,000 for a CD ROM? First of all who is going to drop $5,000 on a CD ROM? Secondly, who was in charge of pricing? Thirdly, isn’t extortion against the law too?
The ad also says that you can purchase 10 CDs for $5,500 or 25 CDs for $6,500, but it stipulates that that is for server use only - whatever that means. The thing is you can find the revised laws already displayed on the Ministry of Legal Affairs website, so why charge $5,000?
Meanwhile, you can get the entire Encyclopedia Britannica Deluxe 2007 DVD-Rom for under $20 on Amazon.
I don’t care if I were the Chief Justice himself, here meh nah, I would burn a copy. Don’t be surprised if this is the next hottest item from the sidewalk DVD vendors.
Posted in Justice, Miscellaneous | 15 Comments »
