http://negrilnotes.com/blog Originally based on my travels to Negril Jamaica though lately I've tended to wander Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:03:19 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Download Info Google Petition http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2012/01/sopa-when-republicans-and-democrats-agree-watch-out/ It doesn't interest me if there is one God Or many gods. I want to know if you belong -- or feel abandoned; If you know despair Or can see it in others. I want to know If you are prepared to live in the world With its harsh need to change you; If you can look back ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2012/01/self-portrait-david-whyte/ Oooh! The heat is threatenin' our very lives today. . . If I don't get some AC, I'm-a-gonna melt away . . . Woo Hoo, 104º in Manhattan today, the RealFeel® temperature is 115º. I'm sitting in relative comfort in a Starbucks at 51st & Broadway watching people stumble by. ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2011/07/gimme-swelter/ I'm starting this post with a few photos. I'll add the drama later.... [caption id="attachment_898" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I love this angle!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_899" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="As close as you can get . . . "][/caption] [caption id="attachment_900" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Sunset from The Castle - June 18, 2011"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_901" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="From The Castle's ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2011/07/negril-june-2011/ I'm long since booked, I packed last weekend and filled in a few missing items last night, so all that's left is the GOing! A 5:40AM Flight puts me in Montego Bay before 9AM, and at The Castle well before noon. It's like getting an extra day in paradise! I look forward ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2011/06/booked-packed-aahhhhhhh/ Realcity: Realcity Check http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2011/06/go-read-my-post-realcity/ I get so excited whenever I book a trip to sunny Negril! I'm not doing anything fancy, but I'm so relieved to be booked. Air Jamaica was expensive this time around. but what can you do? I booked my favorite room at The Castle for the week and I can't ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2011/05/book-pack-and-go-baby-woo-hoo/ My Friend Victoria is getting a lot of headaches from the MTA the past few days because she is using used MTA Metro Cards as canvas for mini paintings of New York City scenes. I'm a big fan and I just had to grab a few of these mini masterpieces ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2011/04/metro-card-recycling-original-artwork-purchases/ Is this East Village artist a threat to the sanctity of the MTA’s intellectual property?. http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2011/04/is-this-east-village-artist-a-threat-to-the-sanctity-of-the-mta%e2%80%99s-intellectual-property/ Many of you have no idea that I am a world-class film guru. Well, I am, and here are my 2011 Oscar Picks and Predictions: Best Documentary: Feature Restrepo - I haven't seen this one, but I still think it should win. I don't care if you're pro-war, or anti-war. Get over ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2011/02/oscar-predictions-2011/ I wrote a piece about my discovery of. and subsequent membership in, the Park Slope Food Coop here in sunny Brooklyn, NYC. http://realcityny.com/ http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2011/02/published-realcitynycom/ I woke up around 8AM, well that's not really true, it was more like I stopped sleeping sometime around 8AM which for me is way late even on the foggiest of mornings. I'd slept so late that Kris was already showered and had gone down for coffee. I stumbled over ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2011/02/negril-may-2010-the-kids-b-day-trip-part-5/ Just before Thanksgiving I got an email from my sales manager, “Hey Vince, Are you up for an install in the Caribbean around Christmas?” I responded simply, “Sure, I’m game. What’s up?” Over the next month or so the project began to take shape, but the date was pushed forward ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2011/02/st-john-usvi-trip/ There's an ethereal quality to The Castle's morning stillness. Whispering a subtle greeting, the day shifts gently into being. A familiar opening. I sat quietly watching as The West End stirred lazily. By 6AM the road was awake, and the distant whine of a fisherman's outboard brought with it the ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2011/01/negril-may-2010-the-kids-b-day-trip-part-4/ It doesn't have the same ring to it, but I feel like I'm cheating on Negril. I'm sitting here at Has Beans Coffee Shop in sunny Brooklyn doing research on St. John US Virgin Islands. One of our clients is opening a restaurant there in a few weeks, so I ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2011/01/st-john-notes/ From my dimly lit table next to a steamy radiator, I sit quietly as Brooklyn braces for the forth snow of the season. You'd think we were in Bulgaria with shortages of everything. I don't get it, the bodega on the corner is always open, and I'm sure the Chinese ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2011/01/negril-may-2010-kids-b-day-trip-3/ Kristine was probably having seconds thoughts as the Negril breeze drew closer, and my Negril mania heightened. "Bug spray, you need really good bug spay!" "We need to be on the road by 4AM, I'll get the taxi to pick me up first and we will come by your ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2011/01/negril-may-2010-the-kids-b-day-trip-2/ Normally I post lots of photos with my stories in order to break the monotony of the telling, This next series of posts will be mostly sans photo since my daughter Kristine has forced me into a no pic post pledge. This last Negril trip was one I'd been hoping ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2011/01/negril-may-2010-the-kids-b-day-trip/ http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2010/05/state-of-emergency/ Wow, this will be my thirteenth trip to Negril, and it still seems brand new to me. Always a different mix of people and situations, always something new. This time I'm going with my lovely and talented daughter Kristine, and my friends Jason and Megan will be staying right across ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2010/05/lucky-13/ I haven't posted a packing list for my last several Negril trips. I didn't think it was a big deal until a fellow Negrilophile accosted me last September, so here goes. I'm attempting minimalism for this trip. There are so many little things I never touch once in Negril, it's ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2010/04/may-2010-packing-list-attempt-at-minimalism/ So there I was, just minding my own business in the comfy confines of Ozzie's, a coffee shop on 5th Avenue in Park Slope. I was working on a piece I'd written on a scrap of paper a few days ago (http://bit.ly/2cMYKv), when a young woman stopped and asked me, ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2010/02/are-you-a-real-writer/ In the fall of 2008 on becoming a formal Zen student I took part in a small private ceremony where over tea and light conversation my teacher, Daido Roshi, presented each of us with our grey student robes, and our oryoki bowls. Items linking us in the long line of ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2010/01/elvis-the-buddha/ Hello to all my fellow Negrilaholics! I apologize for not getting to this sooner, but I need a month or so to digest my trips before spilling my guts here. So here we go... I planned this trip back around last Christmas. Sitting before my laptop and Google Calendar blocking out ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2009/11/mom-and-dad-in-negril-9-09/ I wanted to share this note from Joe & Laura: Hi Vinny! I can't tell you how much I have, and am currently, enjoying reading your Negril exploits! Too funny, way insightful and very informative. Thanks for all the vivid descriptions of a lot of the places I've been reading about ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2009/11/a-letter-to-the-editor/ http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2009/09/vinny-pon-de-beech-in-negril-september-2009/ Woo Hoo! Making my last minute packing decisions, stuffing the new suitcase, and having second thoughts on my book selections, which are all par for the course. Flight info: Flying from JFK to Montego Bay on Air Jamaica Flight #0010 with a scheduled arrival time of 3:35PM. Negril Transport: Usually I ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2009/09/negril-bound/ I loved this list by my pal Marko, so I stole it (Shamelessly I might add). Kuyaba for romantic dinner and drinks on da beach Boat Bar for 200J Red Stripes on da beach For Real for 150J Red Stripes on da beach Selinas on Sunday for Brunch on da beach ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2009/09/things-to-do-in-negril-by-marko/ Sitting here with my fab new netbook I miss my pen and paper. The computer is great for writing the thing you plan to write, but when there's no plan I find myself missing the meandering of pen on muted vanilla page. So unimportant, so much room for error and ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2009/08/writing-practice-redux/ The countdown is on! I love the pre-trip angst, the packing list, the scampering around looking for that one thing you can't find anywhere. I haven't really gotten started. I'm usually 90% packed by now, shirts starched and boxed, new travel sized toiletries stacked up. I did buy a new ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2009/08/negril-trip-all-new-again/ I should know better. Tuesday is the worst night to walk into a restaurant in Brooklyn, or anywhere else for that matter. But my schedule has been so screwy lately I didn't think about what day it was until after I was committed. The St. Claire Restaurant, is a diner on ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2009/08/the-worst-restaurant-in-brooklyn/ It's like duh... We talk about it all the time, it's a core tenet, so why are we so rocked by change? OK, maybe I need to get out of the third person. Why am I so rocked by change? That's the question. We get used to this or that, the ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2009/08/impermanence/ I'm in that no man's land of booked, but too early to pack, and going is so far off. September seems too far away to be in pre-Negril mode, so I guess I'll call it post-booking-pre-packing excitement mode. Are are some things one can do? Is it ever too early ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2009/07/book-pack-go/ I'm sitting here at Gorilla Coffee in sunny Park Slope Brooklyn celebrating Independence Day with my awesomely cool brand new netbook! It's so cool and trendy that I just had to add "netbook" to my spell checker. At first I thought these things too small, but for the price and ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2009/07/first-annual-indepenence-day-post/ Maybe it's because I have a nasty cold, and I'm a little grouchy, but as the city braces itself for the impending onslaught of the dreaded swine flu, I wonder if this is all some kind of social experiment. A lesson in control from our friendly faceless puppet ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2009/05/flu-overflow-or-would-that-be-over-flu/ http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2009/04/no-one-knows-how-it-started/ Harry Kalas 1936-2009 I will never pretend to be a huge baseball fan, but one of the charms of living in Philadelphia all those years was hearing Harry Kalas calling a Phillies game. A lot will be written and said over the next few weeks as those more knowledgeable than I ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2009/04/harry-kalas-is-outtta-heeeerrrrreee/ There was a time I thought plastic (vinyl) fences were a good idea, you know, practical, easy to maintain, long lasting. A man becomes pragmatic and expansive when in the reassuring embrace of The Home Labyrinth Super Store. Last week I was on a commuter train, minding my own business, trundling ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2009/03/plastic-fences/ http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2008/11/change-ready-or-not/ First comes the call by Harry Kalas... ... AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!! ... Channel 29 coverage ... Go Philly!! http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2008/10/phillies-overcome-the-curse-of-billy-penn/ I can't believe I missed the West Indian Day Parade last year! I don't remember what I did instead, but if I'd gone I would have remembered what I did, since I did this, and it would have been awesome, but then I'd be comparing this year to last year ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2008/09/a-little-jamaica-in-brooklyn/ Big bad Gustav was still only a tropical storm as he made his way along the southern coast of my beloved Jamaica, lucky for my Jamaican friends. There are reports of wind, some down trees and lost bech chairs, but it seems Negril fared ok. I found some storm video of ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2008/08/gustav-visits-negril/ George Carlin died yesterday, it's sad but it's not really a shock. I'd been a fan since I first heard him in 1974. Jeff Geist and I "borrowed" the Class Clown album from his uncle and sat listening to it through shared headphones while his little brother Michael stood look-out. ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2008/06/george-carlin-rip/ Yes, Yes it's time for another trip to sunny Negril, though this one kinda snuck up on me. Saturday June 7th I'll leave the house in Brooklyn about 5AM, and I'll be on the J.U.T.A. bus to Negril by noon. On past trips I'd be packed by now, my over-stuffed rolling ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2008/06/its-almost-that-time-again/ At first I thought the situation called for an ode, "Ode to Rebecca", but our entire relationship consists of two emails and a phone call. An ode might be a bit much. Maybe I should explain: Friday night I went over to my friend Dee's place in Crown Heights. She had somehow ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2008/05/rebecca-the-blackberry-angel/ The next day started early for me. Well before dawn I walked cool damp Castle grounds. I love his place! I love the gentle slosh of the Sea emanating from the Blue Cave, the cool salty breeze in my hair, the sun lightening the edges of the eastern sky, and ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2008/05/kings-of-the-castle-part-3/ It's been on my mind to continue telling the story of my Dad's first trip to Negril. In the weeks after returning I'd spent hours scribbling this and that in my journal, that's my process. I write and write, I dump it all onto the the page, and then I ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2008/05/negril-with-dad-continued/ For years I've been moving towards eastern philosophy for the answers to my questions. I tried to find my place in conventional western belief systems, but I just couldn't get past the invisible man in the sky thing. The Force, Universal Consciousness, call it what you will, but that's what made sense to me. I wanted to cut ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2008/04/zen-thoughts/ Upon hearing about Hands-On New York Day, a friend of mine said, "Ya know, that's one of those things that when you hear about it you and think, 'Hey I'd like to do something like that someday', but you never actually do it." And for a long time that was ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2008/04/hands-on-new-york-day/ I never dreamed of climbing Mt. Everest whether it was there or not, hell I get winded on a ski lift. Jon Krakauer's book, Into Thin Air, evokes wonder, tempered by visions of stark conditions and daunting sacrifice. Krakauer writes in a way so pain-stakingly specific, yet somehow leaving room ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2008/03/into-thin-air/