Tuesday, October 30, 2012

... happy Halloween, sweetcup ...

... here-a-pumpkin, there-a-pumpkin, everywhere-a-pumpkin-pumpkin ... folks in Canada really do get into some Halloween, so much so, to go along with vicious vampires, greedy goblins, wicked witches and bulk-buy bon-bons, Canadian avenues, streets and lanes seem positively paved with pumpkins ...

... hyper-excitable children, dressed like embryonic cosplay conventioneers, race around sub-divisions - the more dense the habitats the better, with yawning sacks spilling sugary treats - woe betide the neighbourly soul who attempts to dole out ... fruit ...

... apples, bananas, mandarin oranges, raisins, nuts? - "nuh-uh, trick or treat buster, what else can ya show me?" ...














... well, ask me that question and I'll tell you of a worthy fruit that grows on the tropical passiflora maliformis vine, which also yields passion fruit, granadillas and a hard-shelled, green delectable called sweetcup ... 

... contemporary Halloween festoonery comes to mind however, when I picture the marble-sized wild varietal, also known as sweetcup ... sought out in the wild, and coveted by kids (big and little) in Jamaica, the soft orange shell, exposed from its unearthly-looking protective nest, has a markedly pumpkin-like appearance, and the edible grey, flesh-covered, slippery seeds inside even look like brain-matter too ...

... slurp clean with the tongue, no need to chew ...

... a sweet-slimy swallow, mmmm ... BOO! ...

Thursday, October 18, 2012

... she sells cheesecake by the seashore ...

... the real-time web-interview lasted just over one hour ... seems some people can't live without periodic updates on their favourite castmembers from Stargate franchises ... one question put to me was, "what would people be surprised to learn about you?" ...

... my unimaginative answer went straight for the mildly anachronistic fact that I have a Geography/Archaeology Bachelor's degree, but I could just as easily have spoken about my predilection for analog audio - the type preserved in concentric grooves on retro-vinyl platters known as records ...

... my overwhelming preference is, not surprisingly, for Jamaican music-forms, but my tastes are eclectic enough to embrace multiple genres, which makes for a large collection of diverse direction ... no longer the reigning format of issuance, records are now irreverently found (if at all) in dusty corners of thrift-stores, junk-shops and clearance-houses ... 

... on a recent excursion to one such emporium, which has yielded a full set of sharp kitchen knives, sundry furniture items and utilitarian bric-a-brac, I made a foray into the boxes of forlorn LP's, in search of a way to turn one dollar into its weight in gold ... emerging grimy, but clutching a dank smelling sleeve which would regress me to the early/mid 1950's ...


... y'see, these were times when Bob was still in short pants, Ska and Rock Steady weren't yet heard, and a word like "Reggae" might have earned you a straight-jacket for sheer randomness ...
 
... back then, indigenous music in Jamaica was called Mento, a more afro-percussive folk-style than the popular Trinidadian sound-of-the-day, but similar to the casual ear and consequently often marketed as Calypso ...
 
... as it turns out, this relic really is as represented, cool calypso, significantly featuring typical ribald lyrics and uncredited vocals from Gene Wolcott a.k.a. The Charmer (later to become Louis Farrakhan, Nation Of Islam leader), among others ...
 
... I've noticed copies of this relatively rare record sell online at prices ranging from $20 to $150 depending on condition of the playing surface and the state of the cover ...
 
... and indeed, it is that cover that leads anecdotally to a most titillating tease to this curious collector ... 
 
... chiffon shrouded show-girl Venus LaDoll, who graces the front, proves an enigmatic enough figure to outshine calypsonians ... my research reveals beguiling photos of this dancer-cum-comedienne turned burlesque stripper, whose act held "hip-tossing" sway in and around the years 1953-1955 ...   
 
... the sexy pics and the "bump and grind" descriptives, by themselves, would've been sufficient to keep my interest ... but ...

... "let them eat cheesecake!" could be the post-script riposte, as this lady, who reportedly tripled her income by embracing the time honored art of striptease, may be best remembered for being awarded "a small fortune" by a food manufacturer after testifying in court that she found a bug in a can of potted ham ...

... yep, y'heard it here kids, record collecting can be fun ...
 

Thursday, October 4, 2012

... a cure fi di fever ...

... since I began these Ackeelover Chronicles, cyberspace has coughed up a few life-lessons that have required some handling ... this blog is more than an exercise in writing, a public outlet for stream-of-thought on a variety of topics that infect my mind, it's turned into a vehicle for my learning as well ...

... feedback from the readership skews positive, with mild critique aimed at my chosen style of prose - eschewing capital letters to begin sentences, favoring instead consistent use of ellipses (...) to separate thoughts, sentences and paragraphs ...

... what lies behind the final interface though, beyond the building of riveting content and pithy copy, is a technical battle to thwart the malice, malfeasance and malediction that would compromise a sincere web-publishing effort ...
... searchable cache, which hoards remnant rants of a mentally-challenged Australian Stargate fan whose attentions toward me went far beyond the acceptable, underscores my paranoia ...
 
... it's hard not to see the-ghost-of-malevolence-past when confronted with suspicious-site warnings, such as the one that greeted viewers of this blog recently, but the new malady proved to be from an entirely different malefactor ...
 
... malware - loosely speaking, malaria for computer systems ...
 
... fortunately, there's a fix for this fever ... vigilance, tenacity, technical expertise and time to decipher dense diagnostic forum-threads for helpful antidote ... this is the unglamorous side of blogging, and it doesn't come with a futuristic bug-bustin' suit ...
 
... but it's a relief to rout malignancy for a clean bill o' health ...