Category Archives: 2011

2011

The vegan trend: Jamaican in China speaks out


Being vegan in Laos from a few months ago

Check out what your favorite Jamaican in China (and Laos and Saipan) has to say about why veganism is catching on in this article from demodirt.com entitled Not a Flash in the Pan: Veganism making its mark as a lifestyle choice, not a short-term trend.

demodirt.com is the leading online publication dedicated to providing demographic and psychographic intelligence about Generation Y, Generation X, Baby Boomers, Matures, and more. It also covers the latest demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal data and trends by race, religion, gender, geographical location, educational attainment, health, household income, and more.;

https://www.demodirt.com/index.php/us-trends/consumer-spending/475-not-a-flash-in-the-pan

2011

The Funny Things That Customers Do: I reserve the right to refuse…

As a nomadpreneur, I conduct a large portion of my business on the internet. I have websites through which I offer products and services to a wide range of markets.

I was listening, the other day, to a radio broadcast that was discussing the effect that technology has had on human interaction. A fascinating phenomenon of the internet is how it has changed many people’s communication styles. With no need to meet and interact face to face with the person they are emailing, many people have devolved to very crass, rude, inappropriate and offensive ways of speaking to each other. With their identities masked by anonymity, many people feel empowered to insult,  ridicule, curse and assume a combative postures in their communications with other human beings–in ways that would be unthinkable were they actually in the physical presence of the person with whom they are communicating.

Case in point. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I own and maintain a website called FreeSummerConcerts.com, through which–as the name suggests–I offer listings of all the free concerts happening in New York City each summer. Registration to the site is free.

Yesterday, a visitor to my site (“Rbish”) used the online form to sign up for the listings and added the following comment:

You guys suck big time! You post some corny ass ethiopian concert but you dont post the Nas/Damien Marley concert? You suck!

You should note, for the record, that the Nas/Damien Marley concerts he’s referring to are NOT free concerts but part of a national tour.*

Here is my reply to “Rbish”

 

Dear Rbish,

While I’m thankful for your feedback about my site, you should be aware that your style of communication and choice of words is unacceptable. I only serve adults who know how to conduct themselves according to commonly agreed-upon standards of polite behavior.

Despite what you’ve been led to believe about your rights of free speech, your CHOICE to speak in the way you choose DOES have consequences. You do not have the option of acting rudely AND also expect to be served graciously–if at all.

Therefore, you will not be added to my freesummerconcerts list. Unless you register under a different email account (which, of course, you are free to do unless I block your IP address too), you will not receive my weekly listings of concerts because your current email address has been flagged and banned from my system.

 

Walt Goodridge

owner of the FreeSummerConcerts.com site
*********

*It is my own adherence to certain rules of polite interaction that prevented me from responding to Rbish “what part of “FREE summer concerts” is giving you difficulty?”  (I thought it, but I didn’t write it!)

So, the bottom line is this: When you are in my domain (pun intended), you will behave yourself according to rules of common decency.

 

p.s. To read more of the funny things that customers do, and my responses, see these archived articles:

https://www.saipanpreneur.com/archives?LL=206&ref=98750

https://www.saipanpreneur.com/archives?LL=215&ref=100526

https://www.saipanpreneur.com/archives?LL=216&ref=100748

As you read these three accounts above–specifically #2 and #3–you may encounter what appears to be a contradiction as pointed out by a faithful reader. The story in item #3 recounts one of my very first forays into doing business in the music industry. I hadn’t developed my set of standard practices. It turned out that in this case, that having a contract proved fortuitous since the fellow in question was a “ne’er do well” who needed state court encouragement to “do well.” As I grew, both in experience, and in personal philosophical conviction, I developed the avoidance of contracts.

 

2011

…not to impress you, but to impress upon you….the importance of dreaming big!

Here are some recent happenings with two of my books:


Chun Yu Wang on Saipan
Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin: Diary of a Chinese Garment Factory Girl on Saipan (which I co-authored with Chinese national, Chun Yu Wang), is being used as a suggested text for a Women’s Studies course at California State University in Fullerton, CA. This is the third such use I am aware of. The first was for a Denison University Women’s Studies program, the second was for a French textbook company. There may be others, since there’ve been other large quantity orders through my wholesaler, and through Amazon which may also have been for educational purposes, or maybe even book clubs–no way to tell for sure.)


Arthur Wylie Only the Crazy and Fearless Win Big
An excerpt from my book, Turn Your Passion Into Profit, is being used in a new book by Arthur Wylie (with Brian Nicol) entitled Only the Crazy and Fearless Win Big! I’ve read the chapter on passion, and it’s pretty inspiring. According to the preview: In Only the Crazy and Fearless Win BIG!, he shares a little secret that few books discuss — to win big you have to be fearless and, sometimes, even a little crazy. Wylie outlines real-world examples from some of history and present-day’s most well-known names and everyday entrepreneurs in every industry, profession, and segment of the economy. Only the Crazy and Fearless Win BIG! shows how their decisions raised eyebrows, dropped jaws, and met resistance— yet proved to be right.”

The book is due out in January.Check out Arthur’s site at www.arthurwylie.com, where you can pre-order.

So, why do I share this with you? Well, not to impress you, but to impress upon you what’s possible when you follow your passion, and what’s possible when you dream big. These frequent  acknowledgements and validation (and the money from sales!) I receive, are the reward for finding my purpose as a “guru,” following my passion as a writer, creating products that are expressions of that passion, and marketing them for profit and prosperity…all while helping others achieve their dreams as well. As a result, I get the personal sense of fulfillment that comes from seeing my work appreciated and shared with others, and I enjoy the freedom to escape my previous life and live true to my self in a way and in a location that makes me happy. Anyone can do it, but it all starts with daring to dream something different–something bigger–for yourself. Finding it difficult? Well, perhaps all you need is permission.

 

As I wrote in an email just a few days ago to a coaching client, and special person in my life who was finding it challenging to reconcile her dreaming  with what she felt she was entitled to:

” ‘Reba’,
You have MY permission to dream and dream big. Go ahead, It’s okay. I want to know what your big dreams look, feel and taste like. Do it for me. I’m very curious. You deserve to share in all the abundance that the universe has to offer.  There are no other requirements to fulfill. You already qualify. As a child of the divine, of the universe, of God, if you will, there is nothing that  exists that you cannot have access to.  There is no definition and identity that you cannot adopt. It’s all yours by birthright. You are entitled to it because of your existence separate and apart from your learned identity and limitations hereon the planet. All of that is just a construct we need to practice stepping outside of.”

“There are no limits, no practical considerations, there is just desire and imagination. What would you attempt, if you knew you could not fail? What would you create, if everything you needed for its creation would be guaranteed you? What would you desire if “how” was not a part of the equation? What would your ideal life look like? You are not being asked to build. You are only being asked to envision and design. The truth is, “how” is none of your business. The universe always provides the “how” as you’ve already discovered for yourself. Your task is simply to dream. Animals don’t shy away from the food they need to survive and thrive. They seek it out. Plants don’t shy away from the sun, nor their roots from the water they need to grow and expand. They seek it out. The dreams of who you are are like the seeking of the food, sunlight and water you need for your fullest expression. Go for it. Do it.” [end of email]

 

Yes, sometimes you have to be fearless and crazy, but life rewards those who dare to dream of something more.

 

2011

Happier Abroad: Isn’t it a pity how most people want their slavery and feel empty without it?

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“Isn’t it a pity how most people want
their slavery and feel empty without it?”

That’s a quote from the HappierAbroad.com website. I came across the site while checking my tracker statistics, when I noticed that someone on that forum had posted a link to one of my Saipan sites in a discussion about dating abroad.

The site focuses more on the social and dating side of being happier abroad. It has a lot of information and perspectives of many other aspects of life and happiness, and mirrors what a lot of people I meet on this side of the world are saying about their former lives back home.

That particular quote (“Isn’t it a pity how most people want their slavery and feel empty without it?”), is something Happier Abroad founder, Winston Wu, wrote to me during an email correspondence about his essay on true freedom on his site. Check it out!

2011

Music Matters: Reggae Music and The Jamaican in China!

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For reasons I’ve yet to fully comprehend, I LOVE playing music for people. It all started back in college when I took over the reins of the “Caribbean Riddims” radio show from then host, Courtney Munroe.  For the next five years, I was known as “Sir Walt” the Reggae Deejay on WKCR-FM’s Thursday night show. (I eventually renamed the show “Reggae Riddims”) I shopped around New York’s many Reggae stores to find the latest and greatest music to play for my audiences. I get a unique thrill knowing that I’m introducing people to music they can listen to, think about, learn from and yes, even dance to.  The best calls I would receive during my shows would begin with the words, “Wow! What was the name of that song you just played…?” or “Where can I get that song you played last week?”

Of course, I consider myself very blessed to have been born Jamaican. Growing up in the country that created Reggae music was and continues to be a treat beyond compare.  At the time I was growing up in Jamaica, we had two radio stations–RJR and JBC–Radio Jamaica and Redifusion, and Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation, respectively. On any given day, you could hear soul, calypso, US country music, Jazz and more all one right after the other all on the same station. Even if you didn’t have a short wave radio, like I did, you could pick up Spanish broadcasts from Cuba, which is only 90 miles north of Jamaica. Oddly enough, because of the early reputation of Reggae on the island of Jamaica itself, there was actually a time that it got harder to hear Reggae on Jamaican radio! Yes, it’s true! However, the rise of Reggae’s international appeal–thanks to artists like Bob Marley–changed that.

In any event, I’ll speak more about music matters as time goes on, but the reason this all came up, is that I recently realized that my FreeSummerConcerts website is actually an online manifestation of that same passion for sharing music. It takes a slightly different form, but every summer, I compile a list of all the free music concerts taking place in my former “home” of New York City, and I present it on my site and to my mailing list (14,000 people at last count).

Furthermore, it seems my two former lives (radio deejay and New York resident) just converged this week, when I noticed that Reggae artist, Maxi Priest would be performing in New York on Thursday, August 4!

So, in sending out this week’s FreeSummerConcerts mailing to my subscriber list , I searched through my old photo collection and added the following preface (blue) to this week’s concert listing:

 

[Dear Summerconcert subscribers],
This is one week when I’d LOVE to be back in New York with you! Aretha Franklin is performing, and Maxi Priest is coming to town! For those of you who didn’t know,(and that would be all of you), I used to be a radio deejay on WKCR-FM, New York. I had a show called “Reggae Riddims” as “Sir Walt.”As such, I got to interview great Reggae performers, and got free tickets to attend concerts, meet the artists backstage and duringrehearsals and more! I was the first deejay on New York radio to play Maxi Priest’s debut album, and had a chance to grab some shotsway, way, way back in the day! So, finally, all these years later, I get to scour through my recently digitized collection of 4,800 photos to find a fewshots to share with you!

British artist, Pato Banton, Maxi Priest and Me in Central Park (early 90’s I believe)

Freddie McGregor and Maxi at rehearsal before a concert at Radio City Music Hall

Front row seat shot of Maxi letting his hair down for the crowd!

Maxi Priest performs this Thursday in New York City

WHEN: Thursday, August 4, 2011, 12:00 PM(NOON)

ARTIST/EVENT: Maxi Priest!

WHERE: BAM MetroTech Commons, the corner of Flatbush and Myrtle Avenues in Downtown Brooklyn. (BROOKLYN)
Could someone please film it and post to youtube?

So, the point is: I’ve got years of stories to tell, photos to share, lyrics to translate, bootleg recordings to play (I never destroy or delete anything), so I’ll be sharing more of my passion for ALL TYPES of music right here on the Jamaican in China blog..(after all, I promised you Reggae music as well as everything else as part of I want to date a Jamaican in China!”, so here’s where I deliver), because….music matters!

 

2011

The Jamaican in China’s “Best of China!” Travel Rhyme

As a *guest travel blogger for ChinaTravel.net (sounds glamorous, doesn’t it?), I’ve been asked to do a special post summarizing my time in China. By the terms of our unique *exclusivity agreement (sounds official, doesn’t it?), the post is only available on THEIR site.

For the benefit of those who wish to do the same thing, I’ve consulted with my *crack legal team (sounds impressive, doesn’t it?) and shall herewith present: THE INTRICATE LEGAL DETAILS OF ESTABLISHING A GUEST BLOGGER EXCLUSIVITY AGREEMENT: (Take notes. This gets a little complicated.)

STEP 1. Ahem. Basically, I emailed Aimee Groom at ChinaTravel.net and begged her to let me write for them, and she emailed back and said….”Okay.”

(um, allright, allright. Her exact words were: “Okay. Don’t beg. It’s not attractive. Now, get up off your knees….”)

(..and I really don’t have a legal “team” per se. It’s really just two, okay, okay, more like 1 person….an advisor, or more like a voice, (sigh) okay, if you must know…it’s actually my voice…in my own head. But, I do listen when it speaks. And I never interrupt.)

So, with that said, click on the image or link below to read what I’ve coined  a “TRAVEL RHYME!”

Click here to go to ChinaTravel.net to read the Travel Rhyme

2011

What would Kermit the Frog think about the Coffeepot Cookbook??

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Kermit the frog and the coffeepot cookbook

What would Kermit the Frog think about The Coffeepot Cookbook? This is an important question. YOU may not think about it, but this is the type of question that keeps me up at night. Fortunately, I won’t have to spend time thinking about this particular puzzler any longer.

I got an email this morning from a gentleman named Seth, who, coincidentally is in Italy, and…well, I’ll let him speak for himself:

******

Hello,

My name is Seth. I have been living on the road for 10 years, touring with [from Walt: a live performance of popular children’s show which shall remain namelss]. I am in hotels 47-50 weeks a year. Most of the time, I travel domestically in the USA, but more recently I have been spending about 6 months a year internationally. I have been fixing meals in my room for quite a long time. Currently in Italy I bought a electric Kettle/ coffee pot and some metal lined (because I couldn’t find glass) Thermos(es). A vegetarian on my current tour handed me your book. Good read, very nice.

My schedule can have me work from sun up to sun down or three days off; I never know what shopping opportunities will or wont be available. I constantly look for what we call crate foods/ suitcase foods for days when there are no food sources available. Your book has given me some new things to try.

FYI when I am making pasta I take the dry ingredients and put them in the thermos ad boiling water and close it up for the time it takes to cook, freeing the Kettle up. We also use the American coffee maker to make soups (not run through but heated and water added to). Also the clothes Iron can make good sandwiches and if you are careful, cookies.

I don’t know how it fits into your diet but wakame seaweed rocks and in dryed form stores well, great for a bad shopping day meal vegetable.

Last but not least in your book you have a section on extra essentials, Zinc, Oil of oregano, tea tree oil, chlorophyll, and vitamin C. In what forms do you have them and how do you implement them into your food?

If I get any good pictures I send them your way.

Best Wishes,

J. Seth Leach

******

Thanks, Seth! Sooooo…..it seems a copy of my Coffeepot Cookbook has found its way to Italy, and at this very moment, may be keeping Kermit, Grover, or maybe even Miss Piggy alive and healthy for an appreciative crowd of kids in Italy! Isn’t that heart warming? >sniff<

Um, Seth? Would it be inappropriate for me to ask you, to um, maybe slip a mention of the cookbook into your dialog while you’re on stage? Like, I’m thinkin’ that when the Cookie Monster asks you for cookies, you can, you know, hand him an iron and some cookie dough, and tell him, “Things are going to be a little different around here, from now on, Cookie…thanks to The Jamaican In China’s Coffeepot Cookbook! Here’s your iron!”


Just a thought. Let me know!
No actual endorsement of the Coffeepot Cookbook by any celebrity is intended. Appreciated, but not intended.

2011

My Beijing buddy, Ben, is cycling across America!

I finally wrote my “Best of China” post for ChinaTravel.net. Stay tuned for the big reveal!

Meanwhile, speaking of China, I met some cool people while I was there. I met my friend, Ben Partan, while I was at a club in Beijing. We were invited by a mutually-just-met stranger. We discovered he actually has family on Saipan, and we hit it off.


Me and Ben at a smoke-filled club in Beijing, China.

Turns out Ben is a cycling enthusiast with a unique story to tell.

And since, for now, I’ve got nothing more exciting to share than scenes of seabirds searching for salmon…..

Saipan seabirds

…and tourists being towed across the tide….

Always something to do on Saipan

…Here’s the beginning of Ben’s fascinating story:

In the fall of 1986, I felt sick at school and ended up going to the nurse’s office and then to my pediatrician. He took some blood tests. The next thing I knew I was at Children’s Hospital in Boston receiving many more tests. I spent the night at the hospital and was admitted so that more tests could be done. One that I remember was the bone marrow biopsy because having a large bore needle stuck into your bone and having the marrow sucked out is painful enough to be remembered for a long time.

The result of the tests at Children’s Hospital and the further tests across the street at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute determined that I had a form of myelodysplasia and was missing half of chromosome 13…. It was also know that my specific problem had only been diagnosed in a handful of people. (Later, I think I remember hearing I was number three…..

The Bone Marrow Transplant…

Previously to 1986….(see link below to continue reading)

Ben is now celebrating 25 years of life after the bone marrow transplant by indulging his passion for cycling, and riding across the United States. I invite you to read the rest of Ben’s story here: https://www.cycling2celebrate.com/home/?page_id=2. Tell him Walt sent you and encourage him to keep writing about his cross-country adventure!

2011

Di bus CAN, in fact, swim (Free download of Holland basement house remix of Nobody Canna Cross it!)

All the way from Holland, comes proof positive that di bus can, in fact, swim! You should never doubt Clifton again.

Once again, I’ve converted the flv to an mp4 file for your easy download and viewing pleasure! No need to thank me, just tell a friend!

Click here to download Di Bus CAN Swim!
Click here to download

Download The Original Nobody Canna Cross It Video

2011

Encyclopedia Goodridge presents Unfinished Business: Harvey The Rat returns with a vengeance!

If you recall from page 74 of Jamaican on Saipan, I had a little run-in with a rat while I was living in Chalan Kiya. I thought that that sordid episode had ended. Well it seems that “Harvey” didn’t think so. He’s back……and he’s pissed. But let me start at the beginning.

A few nights ago, I returned from a night out at the Liberation Day festivities here on Saipan to find this:


A hole in the bottom of the screen door to my bedroom balcony with a paper towel sticking out. (Crime scene recreated for the benefit of the investigation.)

I know why it happened. Without getting into too much detail, I use coconut oil for massages. (For more, see I want to date a Jamaican in China (“Don’t speculate! Ja-Make-A-Date!”)

In any event, while I was out that night, I had left a little measuring cup of coconut oil and an oil-soaked sheet of paper towel on the floor by the bed. (Neatness has never been my strong suit).

Harvey must have caught the aroma of sweet oil as he was making his nightly rounds, and decided to take a souvenir home with him. My measuring cup was gone and the paper towel, as I mentioned, was stuck halfway through a hole in the mesh at the bottom of the sliding screen door. It’s the sort of mesh screen that keeps out mosquitoes, but was never designed for determined, committed, goal-oriented rats.

So, just so we’re clear: “Yes, officer, a rat broke into my apartment from the balcony, stole my plastic measuring cup, came back, and was halfway through his second incident of breaking and entering and first degree theft, when my return scared him away.”

The next morning, I measured my screen door, then went to Ace Hardware and got some higher/stronger gauge screen, some screws, bolts and washers to construct a rodent barrier!

I had the mesh cut about two feet high, as the sales rep at the hardware store and I both agreed that the rats wouldn’t climb up the mesh to get to the weaker mesh above. I took my purchase home. (I felt like Wile E. Coyote with a new contraption from ACME, or Elmer Fudd)

I attached the higher gauge screen to the smaller gauge.


I’ll stop you yet, you wascally wodent!


I was so proud of my handiwork

Well it seems the hardware rep and I were wrong. I went to bed thinking that all was right with the world. However, at 4:00am this morning, I was awakened by the sound of some scratching. I opened my eyes and found myself staring at the underbelly, and into the glowing yellow eyes of a rodent, two feet off the ground, perched on the top of the high gauge mesh, still outside, but about to begin his toothy assault on the smaller gauge mesh to gain another entry into my apartment.


Re-enactment featuring professional rat actor paid rodent scale. No animals were harmed in the making of this.

A few milliseconds later, a thought entered my mind: “Excuse me, you’re lying on a bed two feet off the ground and you’re staring at eye level at the furry underbelly of a rat hanging from a mesh screen, suspended in the air two feet above the ground about to gnaw his way into your apartment. Hello?”

 At that point I sat up, and my quick movement scared him away.

Ah! yes! I love a battle of wits and will! (even if it’s with a rodent!) Bring it on! I lay in bed staring at the ceiling and spent the next few minutes figuring out my retaliatory (or would that be “defensive”) strategy. Would I have to use high gauge mesh on the entire screen door? Would I have to keep my glass door shut at all times (unacceptable, since I don’t believe in or use air conditioning, and  prefer to have a breeze flowing through my apartment). Think, man! Think!!! Poison? Rat trap? No good. I don’t believe in  killing–not even ants–plus, a dead Harvey the Rat would simply be replaced by another, angrier friend or family member. I’d have to launch what would eventually become known as “The Great Jamaican Rat Massacre of Saipan!” I’d have to sleep with a shotgun. Frankly, I don’t have the resources.

And then, as I stared at the mesh, and the sliding door picturing the rat climbing up, it hit me! I think I found the solution!

Encyclopedia Goodridge and the Mystery of the Bypassed Barricade

I’ll pay homage to Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective, one of my favorite series of children’s books growing up, and ask: “What did Encyclopedia Goodridge realize that could make all the difference in the world to keeping the unwelcome rat outside the apartment?”  If you think you know the answer (or if you simply want to make a suggestion), email me (walt@jamaicaninchina.com) enter, and then click the link below for the answer!

CLICK HERE to learn the answer!

Diabolical, don’t you think? Well, I’ll let you know how it works out…..stay tuned!

Moral: If you run away to a tropical island to escape the rat race, beware, the rats might not be too far behind!