http://negrilnotes.com/blog Thoughts - Words - Images - Music - Loosely based on my travels to Negril Jamaica Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:53:55 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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 when I became a formal Zen student, I took part in a small private ceremony where over tea and light conversation the teacher gave each student his or her robes and eating bowls, items reminiscent of ancient Buddhist Monks taking vows to follow the way. ... 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/ The night was electric, two great teams poised on the brink of immortality, an entire city humming with excitement. "Could it actually happen?" the fans of the underdog whisper, afraid to predict too boldly. I could be talking about New York City and the Giants fans this last week. But I can't stop comparing ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2008/02/something-was-so-familiar/ 205, Damn! The scale in my mother's upstairs bathroom shouts up at me in bland grey digits. At first weighing the scale showed a more agreeable, albeit false, 186, but I knew it was just toying with me. The fluffy artichoke green toilet mat somehow got stuck in the lower left corner of my mom's digital scale. It's the ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2008/01/back-in-philly/ Into the Wild is Jon Krakauer's exhaustive, insightful, if sometimes bleary-eyed look at the life of Christopher J. McCandless, and his unfortunate death in the Alaskan taiga during the summer of 1992. An admittedly a semi-objective biographer, Krakauer is able to get past his infatuation to give a deep, even beautiful account of this young ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/12/out-of-the-wild/ Info: West End Road - Garden Side across from Rockhouse. Food: Erica's Lobster dishes are the mainstay of this little gem in the Negril cliffs. Grilled Lobster all over Negril is so often tough and/or lacking in flavor, few people really know what to do with it. At Erica's the lobster is tender, ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/11/ericas-cafe-review/ Life has been such a whirlwind since coming back from Jamaica. I’ve been writing in flashes of insight and memory, but coherence is eluding me. I’ll be on the subway, something will pop into my head, and I’ll scribble furiously in my journal trying to catch the essence of my ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/11/getting-there/ Before going Negril a few weeks ago I made a special website banner, and I planned to make the switch with my first post from Negril. I still don't know exactly why, but when I made the changes my site blew up! It didn't take me too long to get it to display ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/11/finally-fixed-posting-today/ It was a little rough getting here, a delay at Newark Liberty and a lot of evening traffic in Mobay, landed us at the Blue Cave Castle about 7:30-8:00PM. It wasn't too bad, we had champagne on the plane and Red Stripes in the taxi. Our first day included a trip ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/10/kings-of-the-castle/ The day has come! Woo Hoo! It's still dark in Brooklyn. I'm heading out to breakfast at Marko's, then on to the D Train to 34th Street, then NJ Transit to Edison, NJ where my Dad will pick me up. By Late afternoon we'll be in sunny Jamaica! Stay tuned to this ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/10/and-it-begins/ What a blog avoiding jerk I've been these past few weeks! My impending Negril trip looms near, and like always I attempt squeezing four weeks of work into the two weeks before a two week vacation. I should know better, but it seems to happen to some degree or another every trip. Hmmm, so what ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/10/busy-busy-bzz-bzzz-bzzzz/ At 30 days out from a Jamaica trip I usually begin to stress about packing, rounding up all the supplies, and trying to remember all the things I forgot last time.  Well, this time I'm not stressed at all. Here is it 28 days, 14 hours and 45 minutes from wheels up and ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/09/packing-time-28-days-out/   My first 9/11 as a New Yorker was thankfully uneventful, though it seemed to me there was a lot more security around on 9/10. All day people were looking up, and pointing south, "Where were you?" conversations overheard everywhere. In some ways, it was just another 9/11 which is pretty sad. The news covered the ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/09/nine-eleven-in-07/ This isn't a diatribe against the Eagles coaching staff for letting great player like Jeremiah Trotter go—again. No, the sudden sacking of the vaunted Middle Line-Backer, or more so my reaction to it, brought into clear relief the fact that I no longer live in Philadelphia. It's funny how things hit you. ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/08/jeremiah-and-me/ Writing about and visiting Jamaica in due course includes dealing with hurricanes. Hurricane Dean is slamming the shores of our favorite likkle place as I write this. I nervously watch the NOAA Storm Track, and I sit helplessly online in a RealNegril.com Boardie chat-room keeping an all night vigil hoping for some word ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/08/deans-big-blow/ Here we go again! I just booked another Negril trip! Woo Hoo! I did the cha-ching thing with the nice Air Jamaica gentleman last night around 9PM. I was going to wait till next week to book, but the fares plummeted in the last few days. EWR (Newark NJ) to ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/08/66-days-14-hours-29-minutes/ For years I’ve been a proponent of Eastern Philosophy. I read "The Wisdom of Insecurity" by Alan Watts in the late nineties, which set me on a course of discovery. Since then I’ve read boxes of books on subjects ranging from Vedanta to Voodoo, Tao to Toltec, and nearly every ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/08/stepping-into-zen/ Cub reporter Buzz Bogan here on the scene in Midtown Manhattan where something happened at or near Grand Central Station around 6-6:15 today. The police closed 42nd Street, only allowing westbound foot traffic, heading away from the scene. It was quite a sight! Thousands of New Yorkers walking calmly but quickly eastward ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/07/something-happened-on-the-way-to-the-train/ I haven't completed my first week in Brooklyn, but I'm enjoying the culture shock. Wow! Brooklyn is a lot different than Philly, but since I lived in Abington, a comparatively bucolic backwater, not actually in Philly, my head is spinning. Rosie "The Cat" is adjusting well, thought she was really pissed the first ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/07/brooklyn-without-batteries/ The Jamaican Cowboy was a friend of mine, though I did not know him well. Like a piper calling us home to Negril, his music and his charm filled our living rooms every Sunday morning. Our first meeting was on my first trip to Negril way back in February 1994. I ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/06/the-jamaican-cowboy-into-the-sunset/ Sunset Park Brooklyn to be exact. It's a nice upscale Spanish neighborhood, a ground floor apartment, and only a few minutes from the Subway. I'm excited to make the move. My suburban Philadelphia existence needed some shaking up, so I decided to try something, and somewhere, completely different. It's been ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/06/brooklyn-it-is-vinny-from/ She did it again! My amazingly attractive, smart, competent and witty daughter Kristine graduated from Hofstra University yesterday afternoon with a B.A. in Film Production. Woo Hoo!! What a week Kristine had. Last Monday (5/14) she turned 21, and on Sunday (5/20) she not only graduated from college, but she hosted ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/05/congratulations-kid/  Yes, Yes, Negril Notes has won the prestigious "Bloggy Award." I'd like to thank the "little people" who have made this all possible: My family; my friends; my beloved readers; and, of course, the phalanx of midgets I employ who do the actual typing, spell checking, etc. (they prefer the term "little people," they're ... http://negrilnotes.com/blog/2007/05/bloggy-award-thanks-to-all-the-little-people/