This year I am very interested in speaking with the younger designers, such as Andrew Harris, AHMW (Andrew Harris Mens Wear) because it is very rare to come across a talented young designer whose primary focus has been on mens clothing. I have a selfish reason for this because I am a man, and as such, I like designers who design for people like me… men.

I have already planned out my wardrobe for the event, and I will hopefully be making contacts for a future endeavor that I am working on, which I will keep you guys posted on. I have not attended in a couple years and I am really excited to see how the designers have matured and how the event itself has developed.

Barbados Fashion Week 2010: Dress for it! And will I ever!

The Fashion is W.A.R initiative by RFAHarewood is set to launch in 2011.

I noticed that I hadn’t seen Rockstar 101 by Rihanna (ft. Slash).

Usually, before the video even comes out, the song is SOMEWHERE in the Hot 100 but with the video out a couple weeks now, I’m shocked that it’s no where to be found. At least I was at first.
Then I gave it some thought… the song which stuck out to me the first time I heard the album when it was released, and in my mind, this would have been a power single, especially the way in which I invisioned the music video. So when I heard this was going to be a single I was all excited thinking oh yay! Another potential number one single, then I saw the video and my jaw dropped.

That video looks like how a ghetto person imagines Rock music to be, as opposed to some artistic representation of being a Rockstar. Then when she suddenly dresses up like an Eastern European dominatrix, I gave up on the video altogether. Sad to say, worst video to date by Rihanna. Colour me disappointed.

Oh by the way- why are they putting her in blackface? Just a question.

I investigated nearby pawn shops to offload a watch or two, but I never followed through on that because well… just because. At any rate, I had really been finding it difficult to part with my possessions since I spent so much time and effort (and money) acquiring each of those items and I hold them all so dear. Not QUITE materialistic, let’s call it sentimental. Given the difficulty, I decided to hold off hawking my belongings since I had nothing I was willing to part with.

Fast forward to me sitting down watching clips from the Isle of Wight Festival and seeing an ad with an overly made up blonde girl standing up in front of a ticket station using her cell phone, then attempting to use her phone to pay for the ticket. Here booms the announcer’s voice informing all of us wondering what’s going on that only Envirofone.com gives you money to recycle your old cell phone. Being ever so curious I decided to check it out, since I had another phone with me that I really don’t use and I’d simply transfer the contacts to my SIM card and readily part with it for the right amount of cheddar.

Imagine my surprise when I found the sister phone to my model which I paid roughly £123.00 for, they had the GALL to value it at £9.02 (the 2 pence really was the slap in the face)! Well I said to myself, this does not even include wear and tear or anything, just the flat fee! It was like being robbed at gunpoint! I was tempted to fall to my knees, toss my possessions on the floor and plead for my life! Then I decided to be cheeky and see what they would give me for the BlackBerry Curve 8520- £52.05 I’m like “Now they’re really having a laugh!”

I refuse to even hyperlink them in this post because they’re criminals! There are several other sites that purchase the same second hand phones for sometimes £30 more than Envirofone does and up! Think about that, just hit the internet and do a proper search. Don’t let their hefty advertising budget fool you, each new customer pays for an old ad.

Rubbish!

The second email I got was about Teairra Mari’s new project “At That Point” from which her latest single  ”Sponsor” the Gold Digger anthem comes. The article made mention of the fact that she’s still touring promoting her single despite the video being banned on several stations. After watching the video 2 things came to mind, 1- she’s fat. 2- the video’s crap but nothing ban worthy… I think people are just on a hater binge now. I mean… ALL songs from Ciara of recent want banning from tv if they’re going to ban Teairra. Meanwhile, I’m actually a fan of Ciara (hey girl) but really she been trying too hard to act too loose and it’s coming across as desperate, but I digress.

Peep the video below and see for yourself.

Lady GaGa said it best in her song “I Like It Rough” from her The Fame album.

That’s the problem with many relationships these days. People have been so conditioned to thinking that being coupled is the most important thing there is to a social existence. Ranked above friendship, a career, even above your own happiness. That last part always had me confused though, think about it- Being with someone is more important than being happy. I must have grown up on too many fairy tales because the two (being coupled and being happy) always used to go hand-in-hand in my books. So when did it happen that happiness was not a side effect of this “relationship” we’re trained to desperately seek?

I figure it happened somewhere between puberty and your first kiss. Hormones start raging and then peer classifications start changing from friends to a multi-dimensional grouping including the people who started having sex way too early to those who felt like they’d never have sex at high school because they were religious, unpopular, fat, tall or whatever reason they felt applied to them. The pressure to be aligned with someone especially in a sexual nature becomes ingrained in the minds of the adolescents and they start to  adjust their outlook on relationships and what they were looking for in a partner for the sake of being accepted by their peers. This stage in life is understandable for many because during those years we are still trying to carve an identity all our own and it’s a teething process. However, some people get stuck in the ‘high school’ stage of relationships right through the course of their life and I often wondered why.

Now my experiences in high school were totally different because I cared little for my classmates, and I didn’t consider them to be my peers in any form shape or fashion. Apart from a uniform, we had very little in common. As isolating as it may sound, I was still relatively popular, however I still used to watch on in amazement at the lengths people went to get accepted by a group of people I felt were none too ‘awesome’ to begin with. For example, there was this young girl who was in a physically abusive relationship with one of the older ‘cool’ kids who I just thought was a walking colonic bag but apparently he had a way (and a fist) with the ladies. I say that is utter garbage personally but it is nothing new and far too typical these days. Again, youthful ignorance could be tagged as being responsible.

As an adult I find emotional dependence is the primary cause of people ending up with partners that really are shit. More so than the story about being financially dependent on a person, it’s love. Often times people are ashamed to admit they’re in love with the person who ‘dims their shine’ so they make up other excuses which they’re less ashamed of, and even wish were true. I’ve always been of the stance- I rather be happy alone than miserable together- not to say I jump ship at the first sign of trouble, but I do make sure I am well taken care of emotionally and I don’t need another person in my life (apart from my friends who I love dearly) to make me feel ‘happy’ and trust me, it took a few years to get to a point in my life where I can say I’m happy. Sure, shit happens on a daily basis but that’s life, knowing I have good friends who have my back and more importantly, being able to stand on my own two as the Hip Hop and R&B artists put it, has given me this sense of calm and level-headedness which comes in quite handy when the world is falling down around you and anarchy is in the streets.

If my readers are to take anything away from what I wrote, let it be this:
1. You’re worth more to you than you are to anyone else, value yourself appropriately.
2. Love who you’re with, but never be blinded by the feeling to the point you’re no longer self-sufficient
3. Spend time developing solid friendships. Lovers will come and go, but your friends will be there to have your back.
4. Learn to be happy alone or you’ll never know how to be happy with someone
5. Never mistreat those close to you. The same way you wouldn’t want someone mistreating you and
6. What goes around DOES come around, maybe not today, but when that other shoe drops you better pray you’re not under it.

Now go on, live, love, and glow!

Anyway it’s been one full year since I’ve posted and so many things have happened personally and internationally. I’m now a firm believer in Blackberry Mobile Devices (aka phones), I’ve left the public service and now working for myself because clearly this isn’t my main stay of income… what else… um… I’ve made new friends, excommunicated persons who I used to call friends, and general anarchy and chaos prevailed. I purchased two watches since the last time I posted:

This sexy Guess watch above for Summer

and this equally sexy Encore Oz watch by Marc Ecko for Winter.

All in all, it’s the same old thing:
Men are dogs
Women are bitches
Money gets spent
And it’s all for the riches.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter for more timely updates, at RoHareVodka (just click the name) or check the Twitter sidebar I reactivated today with the new twitter name, same account, different name.

Thank you all for sticking with me during my down-time and there’s more to come, just wait and see.

It saddens me that the economy has affected fine dining so much that AQUA Restaurant and Lounge has been made the next victim. Also as a result, the next installment of AQUA Del Mar has been canceled, further taking a toll on the nightlife. People need to party in times of recession. It gives people an escape from the pain and troubles of their declining existences. Not to say that ignoring a problem is the solution, but if it’s beyond your control, dwelling and wallowing certainly won’t make a difference.

R.I.P Aqua Barbados, you will be sorely missed.

Making things worse are the reactions to the closure, as though a crime against humanity was committed, talking about they were waiting for this day, a special on chicken. MY GOODNESS!