Leaving On a Jet Plane...

Just a brief note to let my followers know that I'm off on a short vacation...know on the whole I've not been blogging often and it is for sure not as often as I would like...as in there is quite a bit I'd like to put forward here but only when I have enough time to hone my thoughts, ideas and feelings...meditate on them...well muse on them before I type...On my vacation as I mentioned here when I spoke about my camera I hope to visit a certain cavernous place and so you can look forward to pics of that hopefully if all goes well when I get back. As mentioned then on the whole you can expect to see lots more from me picture taking wise after I get that camera and perhaps video capturing wise as well...

Here is just a snapshot of other coming soons that are playing around in my musing head...

-Continuation of My Reincarnation Series and I pledge to stick with it this time...

-Talks on Parallel Lives...Parallel Universes...remember when I talked about Sliders and many, many, many, many Babitas...infinitely large numbers of Babita Dubays here! :)

-Talks about the Mother fluid...like I touched on here.

Also sadly I won't be able to take part in the Intention Experiment this time around as it will be on just as I end my jet plane journey to another land...but please check that lady Lynne Mc Taggart and her Intention Experiment to clean up polluted water somewhere on the globe right here! :) How cool an experiment it is! :)

So looking forward to musing with you guys again in early July! :) When I didn't have the words to talk about my parallel lives a certain blogger friend created this parallel universe for me and others to play in here and it was such fun...and since I hope to see racoons, bunnies and perhaps who knows badgers, hedgehogs/porcupines even on my trip...you can check out this link to his Wonkie cartoons and the picture in that wonderful universe is the picture that goes up as my blog picture for today! :)

For those of you who engage in Universal Collective Prayer with me on my sister blog click here to check out my plans for over there...

See you soon! :)

Have a Red/Green World Environment Day!-My Adventures at the Red Earth Festival 2009.

As you all know I was very excited about volunteering at the Red Earth Eco-Arts Festival last Sat 30 May 2009. It was in commemoration of World Environment Day which is today- Fri 5 June 2009...the idea being to have it the weekend before the day itself. A co-worker of mine...asked me what was all this thing he was seeing about me and Red Earth now...he thought it was Green earth...reminded me of two things in my musing mind simulataneously:

God's Green Earth

and of the title of one of my fav novels by Vickram Chandra

Red Earth and Pouring Rain- a cool book that makes me seriously appreciate the Indian monkey or not! :)



To be honest though this muser can't say for certain where the terms came from I'm thinking God's Green Earth perhaps biblical in origin or Christian like at least? And well seems Red Earth might be what native, aboriginal or first peoples world over might call the soil. I can say for certain there is another Eco Arts type festival of the same name in the US that promotes Native American Culture that just like most first people's culture world over lives as if the earth is part of their very essence as humans. And they are kicking off their celebs today! Check them out here...wish was attending that one too looks super cool!

However here on my island we had our own version of Red Earth. The Red Earth Eco-Arts Festival 2009 at our Chaguaramas National Park. Its main highlight was the first peoples of Australia...more so North Australia...and I was super excited to meet the head of the dance/culture group-Descendance that came here to perform- Ronaldo! It fact after having the heart felt moment to ask him how he felt about the movie Australia and to learn that generally they were good with it...like no, it wasn't just Hollywoodized the facts in the movie were generally true. And then to get to share with him for a moment how affected I was by the movie to learn about how intuitive the Australian first peoples were with the land so much so that the grandfather and son could communicate through it...he seemed to be moved too by my recollection of his people's ways and shared with me not only the environment like the wind etc but that his people could become like animals too (or at least be very in tuned with them? You should see Descendance do the Kangaroo by the way)...so I thought of Shamanism in the Native American people's culture...also asked about how he felt about their culture(Native Americans)....as I'm soon to visit a certain cavernous place, where well the Native Americans have artwork all over the cave walls...and he said yes they are very similar...and then I took a picture to remember the moment and the conversation!:)

For sure ancient Indian culture and religion is in itself an ode to nature as I said on my last blog post and on my Universal Collective Prayer (UCP) I often talk about it...you can check out this post about Hinduism's Ode to Water in the form of Mother Ganga...and as with the monkey business in Red Earth and Pouring Rain even monkeys are God! Check this post on UCP to hear bout my fav monkey himself! :)

So as I leave you with the sights and sounds of Red Earth Eco-Arts Festival 2009!

HAPPY WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 5 JUNE 2009! ...and don't forget to Twitter for those trees man! :)
Seems as of two hours ago 10,000 trees will be planted today cause of those Twittering Tweets! :)

And check out Meady's Musings fan page on Facebook here to see all the pics in the Red Earth Festival 2009 album or my Youtube channel here to see all the vids. And of course feel free to become a fan! :)

Local Peoples:Hindu community and Kairi people of Caura valley together with Australian first people-members of the group Descendance bless the earth...




Ronaldo tells of the big snake of creation and then sings about it! :) Sweet tunes...



Getting set for the big concert under that Bamboo Cathedral...


The High Commissioner of Australia to Trinidad and Tobago-Mr. Phillip Kentwell speaks about his nation's apology to the First People of Australia:


The Big concert... the earth sounds of Caura valley-Rythmic Roots


Descendance says hello...


The big jam up with local performers and Descendance...didgeridoo, pan, guitar, dholak you name it! :)

I'm Volunteering at the Red Earth Eco-Arts Festival 2009!

Picture taken from Wikimedia Commons

This weekend Fri 29 May to Sun 31 May 2009 is the Red Earth Eco Arts Festival...I know some are celebrating Indian Arrival Day on the island as well marked on 30 May every year...but hey half the population is of Indian origin we are all over the place in all walks of life we have arrived! :) Over 150 plus years now...so...instead I'm all excited about Red Earth! :) I know my ancestors would be proud as I'm hanging out with Dharti Mata herself along with some cool first people dancers flown in from Australia by the Australian embassy- Descendance! And since watching Hugh in the film Australia I've been wondering about this dreaming business so...so looking fwd! :) Really even more so than my ancestors or the Native Americans I find that the first people of Australia ...man they really have it going on with the Earth...she is not just Dharti Mata to them she is them and they her! Those people are the earth space they live in...there knowledge of their environment is so lived and breathed by them that they have developed an intuitiveness about them...I was so amazed to realise this while watching the film Australia...that is amazing! :)

I repost what I wrote about that film on my Books and Films Corner blog here:


"AUSTRALIA
Loved it! And no it wasn't just cause Hugh Jackman of my We Three Kings! fun and fame was in it! I loved it and unexpectedly so...because I just decided to go see it to meet up with some people and we figured it was the most passable thing on in cinema. I thought I was going to see before me a sweeping love saga unfold. And yes it was indeed a love story...but it was about Australia! I couldn't get the idea of 'dreaming' out of my head after I saw the film. It made me think about first peoples all around the world and how they really could have such a feel for the land...so much so that they become intuitive...it made me think of myself...I searched within...it made me realise that although I had never visited India I knew it because that was what Hinduism was...it was a tapestry of India...an ode to its rivers and valleys...its plants and flowers....and I feel the South Indians the Saivites were the ones who really were the first peoples of their they really knew the lady...it is why I celebrate that Hippy Master Shiv today! :)And it made me wonder of the land I now live in Trinidad. What do I know of it? Well it's first peoples...we have practically wiped them out and their voice here...well the Europeans did and we were the peoples they brought from another time when people still thought they could own each other...but what about now? It is almost impossible to gather much of the original peoples of Trinidad information...it is pretty much lost...but I could at least try to adapt the approach I know from Hinduism here in this land...and it was what I had been doing anyway...but Australia inspired me to keep on Dreaming..."

It is amazing how the universe unfolds but seems my wishes of Feb are all coming true because here I am about to be part of an Eco-Arts festival with first peoples from all over the world performing...including...that's right people from Australia! :)

So I'm head over heels...doing cartwheels if only I really could...excited about this event! I decided to volunteer at it cause then you get to be even so much more into it and closer to the workings of it I find...I actually enjoy volunteering so it is actually a pleasure and joy for me not a task...but yes a volunteer's day does tend to be long...and sometimes in the tropical heat we are having these days very hot! :)

So last weekend I went on the briefing for volunteers and it was the coolest thing to check out the sites that were going to be holding the events before hand!

-The Mystic House:This house is so coined cause when Merchant Ivory Productions were filming 'Mystic Masseur' the making of the V.S. Naipaul book Mystic Masseur into a movie. Well the production crew transported a house form the south of Trinidad to the Chaguaramas Nature park to do the filming. It was cool to me to be able to recognise when I looked at it...wait...it is the shop in the film! :)

-The Bamboo Cathedral: A protected area in the park since if people tamper with it...well we will loose the beloved cathedral that formed naturally with the bamboo. The area is made famous by Trinidadian artist Jean Michel Cazabon in his works and you would have no doubt seen it in his artwork if you are familiar with it and any Trinidadian would be subliminally even...as it is all over...and lots of video footage of it is aired over the years while I was growing up on national TV and pictures everywhere...

-The Dry River Bed: Well it is as the name says a dry river bed and the performers are going to be blessing the space and then Rocking the River bed!

-The Old American Wartime Tracking Station: Nuff said...but there is some cool star gazing going on up there tonight as part of the festival.

I could go on but the festival itself has its own website here Red Earth Festival and you also check them out on Facebook here

Me, I'm just excited as is reflected in my Facebook status hoping like Shakespeare's famous title "All's Well That Ends Well"

And HAPPY WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 5 JUNE 2009! ...Twitter for those trees man! :)


HAPPY INDIAN ARRIVAL DAY FOR TRINIDADIANS OF INDIAN ANCESTRY AND ALL THOSE AFFECTED OR INFLUENCED BY US POSITIVELY TOO!

Twitter for the trees! Twitter for the Trees! Twitter for the trees! :) I'm following Twitter for the trees! :)

Living and Loving in London with Qype!

Hey let me tell you a story about some Londoners:

Alice well she just stepped off the plane. It’s her first time in London and other than down the rabbit hole she hasn’t a clue where else to go!

And Hafiz he’s been in London studying for months now but he hasn’t made it past the University perimeters!

While Abayomi has been living in London for years but still finds it hard to keep up with all the new restaurants, clubs, pubs that seem to be opening and closing all the time. Which ones to go to? Which ones are any good? It’s always a fight to keep up. And how does she let everybody know not to ever, ever have sushi at that place she went to last Friday? And to always buy the cheesecake and coffee from the new little pastry shop on her street corner ? :)

While Paul he’s lived in London all his life but still sometimes feel the need to reach out and connect with all other social drinking loving folk like himself! Is there really a ‘Cheers’ out there somewhere? No, not the ones named after ‘Cheers’ a real ‘Cheers’…where you can find your own Norm, Sam and Cliff…you think?

All these poor lonely Londoners were lost roaming souls until one day a lovely muser like me stopped each one of them on the streets and said:

WELCOME TO QYPE! BE A QYPER! LET’S GO QYPEING!


They all looked at me like I was a mad woman! But they agreed to pet the manicou on my shoulder while I took their mobiles and pointed them to:

http://www.qype.co.uk

And after that my friends four new Qypers were born…and they told their friends and friends of their friends until a legend was born…all of London, UK, Europe and eventually the world was Qypeing…they were finding cool places, people and things to do and it was as fast as lightning…ooh baby it was so exciting! :)

And here is why…

Qype is this cool site that allows you to check out a broad range of places you would normally frequent arranged in broader categories like:
Eating & Drinking
Arts & Entertainment
Health & Beauty
Nightlife
Events

There are many other categories as well and the site's biggest traffic and main hub seems to be London but you can set the site to browse other areas in the UK, Europe and throughout the world. The site is in English but can also be set to be read in German, French, Spanish, Brazilian and Polish languages.

Anyone can become a Qyper and Qypers aren’t just out there looking for information they are also writing reviews, telling friends what they like about these London restaurants in the category restaurants london or where the best place to have a pint of Guinness is in London by browsing in the category pubs london

And remember Qypeing is not just about Food and Drink…for the theatre lovers like this muser there is the Arts and Entertainment category where if you click on it and then go to Theatres you will find a listing of 426 Theatres in London with Qypers writing reviews and posting pictures and details about the theatres.

For those of you who engage in Universal Collective Prayer on my sister blog well there is a place for that too…under the same Arts and Entertainment tab you have to click on Religious and Spiritual and voila you get 72 hits!

So for sure it is a wide and varied world of Qype!:) But dem Brits sure love their social drinking so raise your glass and hop over to the hottest forum on the site "We like social drinking"…well if you like! :)

All in all welcome to the world of Qype!…a wide and varied world with lots to read, learn and interact with, so that you can get about London, UK, Europe and even the whole world better with the wisdom of many as the wind in your wings!:) No more, bad sushi and always, the best cup of coffee! And for the vegetarian like me there is lots of that too just click on one of the 116 Vegetarian restaurants listed here and no meat eater ever touch my muse!:)

ENJOY!
And hey why not join Qype now it's free and them Qypers are giving away some shiny new Iphones I hear if you write a review on there! :) They told only my muse but I'm telling you! :) Maybe I'll write one too! :)

Gone Gardening: My First Harvest!

OK sorry for not sharing with you as it happened but for those of you following my gardening blogs...here it is My First Harvest! :) It actually occurred on as the picture tag will show... 20 April 2009!



It wasn't reaped by me but then my gardening project has always been community based. It was reaped by one of my uncles- no pictures attached. The said uncle who one morning secretly weeded my garden and I figured...hmmm...someone has been weeding my garden?...and figured it was him...but then he came to say the "He had done it like Rumpeltstiltskin" his words!...so you see those nursery rhyme terms run in the family! :) But he didn't expect anything in return...in fact he then proceeded to pick the first harvest and leave it with my mother!:) As you can see it pictured above it was the Cherry Tomatoes he picked...they're definitely delicious to eat just raw and yep can definitely make up part of a raw or semi-raw diet if I decided to go back along that road! I've since had them both raw and just tossed into other dishes semi-raw or all cooked up...delicious all ways...and yep it does taste like a cherry a bit mixed with a tomato and is a burst of flavour! I've even since gotten a second batch as pictured below:

And my sunflowers seem to have almost completed their cycle...sorry was a bit taken up to do more pictures also my mum has been accusing me of going picture crazy and perhaps she is right...although yep it is to share on the blogs but...and yep I will do more sunflowers soon and will this time shoot more pics when they are all in their full bloom...some marigolds are springing too so that should be good...

Definitely more photos should be in the works since I'm planning to acquire new tech toys soon and will be blogging in more style come the end of June or so just wait and see! :) One tech toy which I am excited to test out soon on a trip to a certain cavernous place is as below. Check it out I thought it was an excellent Amazon buy! :):


As I leave you I'll have you know that not a single fertilizer was added on this grow and my little Ratna eggplants have borne fruit...also even my tiny bell peppers are now flowering for so!:)

To Be A Leader?-My Primary and Sub-Primary Theme Songs! :)

As the 5th Summit of the Americas unfold here on the island i.e. in Port of Spain, Trinidad. I've been having a ball looking at the whole buzz around the summit, the speeches and antics of some of the most flamboyant, radical and controversial Latin American leaders out there-Hugo Chavez with his wingmen Evo Morales and Daniel Ortega. All under the auspices of Barack Obama as in my perception he looks over them like a grand judge! :)

Now I’m not much for blogging about politics on this blog as I more think of politics and politicians in comedic and entertainment roles perhaps it is the Trini in me that is accustomed with the legacy to quote the old calypso “Them only kicksin (joking) in parliament”. But really seeing characters like Hugo Chavez highlighted locally it has made me wonder really what does it take to make a leader? Not what it takes to make a good leader cause to me and I will have to quote my favourite Shakespeare’s Hamlet again:


“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

So perhaps then I am inspired by the same Hamlet cause I am pondering:

To Be or Not to Be...A Leader

So many great quotes in Hamlet it seems cause my favourite quote is from it too...

"...To Thine Ownself Be True..."

So I won’t go into what is a good or bad leader but just what it takes to make a leader. And really it doesn’t take much to me really…as complicated as most people make it sound to me we are all leaders and daily lead in our own right. If we remind ourselves of this more often or look within and realize this more often each day and then step up to the plate and do the right thing and so lead in our own way each and every day for sure the world would be a better place.

We all need to make our way…and we all have our unique purpose here on earth. And so it made me want to sing a song I call my sub-primary theme song…'Wonder' by Natalie Merchant cause I’ve always associated with this song but really not in a “I think I’m so great way” but in a way that really it just made sense to me how I felt about myself and I connected with it. My primary theme song being 'I am the One and Only' by Chesny Hawks which I’ve shared on this blog already but will share again.

So really the quotes:

“Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country” -JFK

“The Power of One” –which really it seems, can be linked back to this South Africa/Australian novel’s title and these Irish and South African campaigns to save electricity.

And at the 5th Summit of the Americas yesterday here in Trinidad come to mind:

"It's important to remind my fellow leaders. It's not just the United States that has to change. All of us have responsibilities to look toward the future…''- Barack Obama

So let’s all be Leaders...let’s all be that change we want to see...

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” –Mahatma Gandhi

So I leave you with my primary and sub-primary theme songs as inspirations to myself to be reminded to do so...and perhaps for you too but really be your own leader and find your own theme song to listen to...of course cool if you really associate with mines and want to share it too...after all music is for the people!

Words to my sub-primary theme song by Natalie Merchant-

"Doctors have come from distant cities
Just to see me
Stand over my bed
Disbelieving what they're seeing

They say I must be one of the wonders
Of god's own creation
And as far as they can see they can offer
No explanation

Newspapers ask intimate questions
Want confessions
They reach into my head
To steal the glory of my story

They say I must be one of the wonders
Of god's own creation
And as far as they can see they can offer
No explanation

O, I believe
Fate smiled and destiny
Laughed as she came to my cradle
Know this child will be able
Laughed as my body she lifted
Know this child will be gifted
With love, with patience and with faith
She'll make her way

People see me
I'm a challenge to your balance
I'm over your heads
How I confound you and astound you
To know I must be one of the wonders
Of god's own creation
And as far as you can see you can offer me
No explanation

O, I believe
Fate smiled and destiny
Laughed as she came to my cradle
Know this child will be able
Laughed as she came to my mother
Know this child will not suffer
Laughed as my body she lifted
Know this child will be gifted
With love, with patience and with faith
She'll make her way "

Easter Sunday!- Morning has Broken...My Refinery Walks, My Sunflowers and a Butterfly

On this Easter Sunday morning many of us think about rebirth...a fitting song for this is one already featured on my blogs in the past...I particularly felt that way on New Year's Day this year and so dedicated the song on the blogs then- Morning Has Broken by Cat Stevens and other versions of it.

However you can feel that way on any day of the year of course. Last Diwali morning (08) I had this beautiful and marvelous dream that to me was the opening up of a very new beginning and birthing to me...of course Diwali is also the start of the Hindu financial year but again I think this can happen on any day...the dream was so beautiful but its contents and details I'd rather keep to myself in a way for now...although I believe I've discussed it on those famous dream blogs we had back on Intent a few months ago...aaahh so beautiful to recall that dream...

Of recently I've been taking many walks and perhaps I'll share the details about my steppy thingy a.k.a my pedometer on this blog soon but very recently I took a walk in my company's refinery. The refinery has parts that hold living quarters called bungalows from the times of the British, golf courses, artificial lakes that were created to collect water that can be used as cooling water in the refinery...and perhaps then the birds came...but would you believe it the refinery also has a Wild Fowl Trust that is housed on its grounds...of course all of this is a good way away from the actual refinery itself but to me our refinery is living testament to sustainable development.

I particularly like the number of Samaan trees that it preserves one of the most beautiful and blessed trees on the island and an ecosystem in itself. My family used to have one in our living area for many, many years (>50 I think) until one relative who owned the portion of the land that it was on saw it fit to chop it down...it was wood to him...a living ecosystem to many others who lobbied for him to keep it standing...when that tree was chopped for months I saw it still like the ghost of a lost love it appeared on the skyline...I had grown so accustomed to seeing it there for the 20+ years of my lifetime back then...a true loss...and you know as a child I use to swing from that tree...I shall have to scan the pic of that and share one day...you must see that tree...such a sad story really...but some people see the world differently no doubt...

However I'm glad my current employer sees the need to keep those Samaans...even admist tanks and pipelines...and refinery cooling water! :) So onto the resurrection as we speak of the trees that live! :) Here are the pics I took on my refinery walks followed by my sunflowers...my suraj mukhi and their surprise visitor whom I captured in digital form! :)

A grove of trees...


A pipeline and a tree...sustainable development maybe? :)


Into the Woods I go...


This is the path I took...


As I walked a lake I met...


There were some pelicans on the lake...


Then I walked some more till I stopped...


Then on my walk back I looked at that lake some more and...
Was that mangrove I did spy?...


And surrounding the lake were so many beautiful trees...


Then I looked across the lake and saw a bungalow...


As I walked back on the other side of the path I saw another lake and on the banks of it were trees littered not with white paper but with egrets! :)


Then I saw some egrets perched in a nearby tree...


Then I looked at those same egrets but more closely...


Then I walked on and took this pic to summarise what I was pondering on...
Here in a refinery so much nature and beauty this could only one thing be
Admist tanks and pipelines
Trees and vines
And so yet still sustainable development could be mines! :)


And a few evenings earlier when I came home from work to my surprise here were my
sunflowers...my suraj mukhi along with a definite and beautiful surprise!:)


PS: At the upcoming 5th Summit of the Americas next week the wives of all the delegates including Michelle Obama will be visiting our refinery to see the staff club and the Wildfowl Trust! :)