Blah Bloh Blog

The Nu Project

Pam Northman aka BBB — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:42:28 +0000

“We get a lot of feedback from women (especially) who have struggled to see themselves as beautiful, and this project has helped them on that path.”

Matt Blum – Photographer

Simply the best blush/bronzer ever!

Pam Northman aka BBB — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 18:50:12 +0000

After literally years of looking for the right blush/bronzer, I’ve fallen madly in love with Iman’s “Afterglow”. Gorgeous! (Click the pic for a purchase link)

March 13, 1979 – The People’s Revolution of Grenada

Pam Northman aka BBB — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:39:11 +0000

Graphic “borrowed” from AGD Signs, Grenada
https://www.facebook.com/AGDSIGNS

Today marks the 34th anniversary of the People’s Revolution of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. A lot has been written on and about the PRG since then so I won’t add to the general chorus of opinions, pseudo-facts and propaganda (coincidentally this was the Revo’s favourite word!)

Below is the text of the address made to the nation by Maurice Bishop which aired on Radio Free Grenada at 10:30am that morning.

Brothers and Sisters,

This is Maurice Bishop speaking.

At 4.15am this morning, the People’s Revolutionary Army seized control of the army barracks at True Blue.

The barracks were burned to the ground. After a half an hour struggle, the forces Gairy’s army were completely defeated, and surrendered.

Every single soldier surrendered and not a single member of the revolutionary forces was injured.

At the same time, the radio station was captured without a single shot being fired.

Shortly after this, several cabinet ministers were captured in their beds by units of the revolutionary army.

A number of senior police officers, including Superintendent Adonis Francis, were also taken into protective custody.

At this moment, several police stations have already put up the white flag of surrender.

Revolutionary forces have been dispatched to mop up any possible sources of resistance or disloyalty to the new government.

I am now calling upon the working people, the youths, workers, farmers, fishermen, middle- class people, and women to join our armed revolutionary forces at central positions in your communities and to give them any assistance which they may call for.

Virtually all stations have surrendered. I repeat, we stress, resistance will be futile.

Don’t be misled by Bogo DeSouza or Cosmos Raymond into believing that there are any prospects of saving the dictator, Gairy.

The criminal dictator, Eric Gairy, apparently sensing that the end was near, yesterday fled the country, leaving orders for all opposition forces, including especially the peoples’ leaders to be massacred.

Before these orders could be followed, the Peoples’ Revolutionary Army was able to seize power. The people’s government will now be seeking Gairy’s extradition so that he may be put on trial to face charges, including the gross charges, the serious charges, of murder, fraud and the trampling of the democratic rights of our people.

In closing, let me assure the people of Grenada that all democratic freedoms, including freedom of elections, religious and political opinion, will be fully restored to the people.

The personal safety and property of individuals will be protected. Foreign residents are quite safe and are welcome to remain in Grenada.

And we look forward to continuing friendly relations with those countries with which we now have such relations.

Let me assure all supporters of the former Gairy government that they will not be injured in any way. Their homes, their families and their jobs are completely safe, so long as they do not offer violence to our government.

However, those who resist violently will be firmly dealt with. I am calling upon all the supporters of the former government to realize that Gairy has fled the country and to cooperate fully with our new government. You will not be victimized, we assure you.

People of Grenada, this revolution is for work, for food, for decent housing and health services, and for a bright future for our children and great grand-children.

The benefits of the revolution will be given to everyone regardless of political opinion or which political party they support.

Let us all unite as one. All police stations are again reminded to surrender their arms to the people’s revolutionary forces.

We know Gairy will try to organise international assistance, but we advise that it will be an international criminal offence to assist the dictator, Gairy.

This will amount to an intolerable interference in the internal affairs of our country and will be resisted by all patriotic Grenadians with every ounce of our strength.

I am appealing to all the people, gather at all central places all over the country, and prepare to welcome and assist the people’s armed forces when they come into your area. The revolution is expected to consolidate the position of power within the next few hours.

LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE OF GRENADA!

LONG LIVE FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY!

LET US TOGETHER BUILD A JUST GRENADA!’”

Check out my Google+ album for some PRG photos.

Speech found online at http://www.thegrenadarevolutiononline.com

Am I the only p…

Pam Northman aka BBB — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:04:15 +0000

Am I the only person who thinks Adele is just a little bit overrated? Sure she’s a damn good singer but she isn’t the second coming of vocal acrobatics.

How I Work

Pam Northman aka BBB — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:52:15 +0000

Lifehacker is one of my favourite websites (if you don’t read LH daily you should) and they’ve been running a series of articles entitled “How We Work“. Each article features responses from various techies, geeks, businesspeeps or other special folks about a variety of topics pertaining to … well… how they work. Interesting reads were Felicia Day, Guy Kawasaki, Limor Fried, and Baratunde Thurston.

Of course having nothing else better to do on a Monday afternoon (heh), I decided to write my own version of How I Work. Without further ado:

Current gig: Office Manager at [redacted]. Internet junkie and sometimes-blogger.
Location: St. George’s, Grenada
Current mobile device: Blackberry 9800. Yes, please hold all snarky comments as there are no jokes you can make about my shitty phone that I haven’t already made to myself.
Current computer: 13″ MacBook Pro at home; 15″ Compaq 610 at work (running XP); Ubuntu partition on my daughter’s 14″ Lenovo for emergencies. I’m not fond of Windows (bite me all you Windows’ freaks!) so if I must use it at work I sure as hell ain’t using it at home! Although, to be honest, I have altered, tinkered and tweaked with my work machine so much that is most unlike a standard Windows machine. Heh.
One word that best describes how you work: Sporadically and frenetically as shown below:

What’s apps/software/tools can’t you live without?

Google’s line-up: Chrome, Gmail, Docs, Calendar, Tasks and Reader. Apart from being a MacGurl, I’m also a GoogleFreak. Anything Google wants from me, they can have, privacy settings be damned!
Skitch
Twitter
IFTTT
Dropbox. I keep trying other similar services but nothing beats Dropbox. Use my referral link to sign up!
Transmission bit torrent app. (Lurve me some downloaded TV shows)
NetShade anonymous proxy app. (Hello there Netflix, Spotify and Hulu!)
Cloudly
Dashlane (since it now controls all my passwords!)

What’s your workspace like?

At home: Non-ergonomical and cramped
At work: Messy.

What do you listen to while you work?

I’m not one of those people who can listen to music while working so I’m usually in silence.

What’s your best time-saving trick/life hack?

Hiring a housekeeper to come in once a week and paying someone to do my laundry. The time, energy and frustration savings are immeasurable.
Declutter. Minimise. Streamline. I faithfully read Leo Babuta’s blog Zen Habits and am trying to incorporate his tips and techniques into daily life. It’s a sloooooow process but it’s definitely worth it.

What’s your favorite to-do list manager?

Google Tasks. But I want to know WHHHHYYYY Google isn’t developing it more, making it better, more integrated and more feature-filled. Grrr….
The old favourite “emailing lists to one’s self and hoping you remember to read it” trick.

Besides phone and computer, what gadgets can’t you live without?

Not a gadget but I can’t live without my French press.
Or a toaster oven.

What’s your sleep routine like?

I’m one of those people who need a full night’s sleep and if I miss some hours on one night I’m going to make them up somewhere else. I’m usually asleep by 10pm, awake at 5:45am.

Are you more of an introvert or extrovert?

A bit of both sometimes. I really, REALLY enjoy being alone. In fact, being around other people for too long drains the hell out of me and screws with my mental rhythm. That said, I can also be a social animal when the occasion calls for it. I enjoy witty repartee and lively discussion and can socialise for hours! But after long nights, I usually need some decompression/alone time.

What everyday thing are you better at than anyone else? What’s your secret?

Thinking fast on my feet re: troubleshooting, problem-solving and planning. My secret? Containment, Correction and Resolution. Contain the situation, correct the problem and resolve the issue as quietly and cleanly as possible. (And often with the maximum amount of clenched-jaw, swear words). The flipside to this is that I am only able to sustain this in one area of my life, and for now I can do this at work, so every other aspect of me is haphazard.

Who would you kill to see answer these same questions?

Steve Jobs [Sigh ]
Amy Poehler [Love her!]

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Advice from my mum: Outsource household tasks. She always said “your weekends and spare time are well worth the cost” and I whole-heartedly agree.
Love what you do.
Advice from my dad: Whatever it is you do with your life, give it your all. Otherwise you’re just wasting time and blocking space.
Treat yo’self!

Anything you want to add for readers?

Be true to yourself. It’s hard to learn how to do this and it’s an ongoing process that changes as we change.
Be kind to yourself. No one can hurt us as badly or make us feel as worthless as we do to ourselves.
People come into your life for a reason or a season. Or sometimes both.

Peace out y’all!