Last day in Torcy!!!

Torcy has been nice to me, it's about 10 or 15 minute train ride East from Torcy to Euro-Disney! I have not been to Euro-Disney but I will visit it in the next couple of months. In Torcy, there are some very nice restaurants, a 12 cinema movie theatre and there is a huge Mall 10 minute walk from my hotel. This town I believe is catered for the tourists who go and visit Euro-Disney. However I also found out that there are some big companies near-by like Nestle, where over 1500 people work. So this city is growing more and more. I like it actually but it is too far from Paris, too far from work.

Well, I have to say, I've been looking very forward to this day and even more so for demain when I will get the keys for my appartment and move my things in the morning. WOW, I am really starting to feel like Paris has become my new home. I have to thank alot of people for helping me make this happen, all of the great people I've met in France. Gabbo, Tanya, Sacha, Nat, Yanick, Marc, Mat, Oliver, Iris, Jalia, Isa, Fulya, Alexis, Didier Petit, Jessica, Val, Sebfo and my Moroccan luver Saad, hahaha :-D If there is anybody I forgot, please forgive me, It's still only 10am in Paris so my brain is working only around 65% ;-)

Seriously, you all have been great and I'm looking forward to more adventures together. After the move, I now will be within a 10 minute walk from Champs Elysees and I will have a great and clear view of the Eiffel tower!!! Yup, life is good, I get to wake up every morning, look out my window and see the Eiffel tower. Demain, I will have photos and videos to show you all, directly from my living room, hehe.

BTW, I'm still looking for volunteers to help me move, hint, hint, Gab and Sacha.

Congratulations Monic!!!

World please welcome Alika Mikaili Ford!!! She was born on May 2, 2006. Her mother is a good friend, Monic Fournier from Montreal. They are both doing very well and they are looking forward to the warm summer weather.

Monic, I will be returning to Montreal in late June, I look forward to meeting Alika in person then, again I am very happy for you. See you soon :-)

Good luck!

I want to wish Good luck to everybody who are about to take an exam today or in the upcoming days. It's crunch time, I hope you all are prepared.

And good luck Tanya, Phil, Caro and all my other buddies :-D


<-- Geek Centerfold, lol

2 days to go!

Yes, I am getting very excited now. I will be moving soon to my new appartment near the metro Trocadéro in the 16th arrondissement. This time as compared to move I did to come to Paris, this one should be a piece of cake. Well I hope so anyway ;-)

I got 2 large suitcases and 3 hand bags full of stuff to bring over there. I am hoping Gab, Sacha or anybody else could lend me a hand with moving these things through the RER train system.

So yes, soon the fun will begin at Keith Palace, stay tuned for more info and videos directly from my living room, hehe.

Un Autre Bon Weekend à Paris

I was happy to see Friday 16h30 come as it was the end of my day at work and the week as well. I headed back to my hotel, thinking to myself this is the last Friday that I'll be doing this, because next Friday, I'll be going to to my new place next to the Eiffel tower!!! HAHA!!!!

I had to hurry and get things together to meet the Gang for a soiree de cinema et des drinks apres!
Afterwards we went for a drink at Cafe OZ which turned out to be alot of drinks, surprise, surprise. Went to Sacha's place to rest.

Saturday was a very chill day although for me the afternoon was crappy. My cell phone rang and I was supposed to meet a friend and I ended up waiting for 2 hours for nothing. I ended up going back to my hotel in Torcy and there I charged my cell, and took a nice long shower. I returned back to Le Marais where I met up with Sacha and Alexis. We chilled for a while, playing Xbox and then decided to head out to the Ave de Champs Elysees. However we tried to go to a club called VIP, the entire Mexican National Soccer team was there but the doorman told us that we had to have escorts in order to get in. Ok fine, so we moved on...

The next place we tried was called Le Manrae, it's apparently owned by Johnny Depp. There the doorman was an asshole, and told us a bunch of BS, so then we left. I did not like that at all, it seemed as though this guy thought we are a bunch of thugs from the ghetto or something. In fact Sacha, Alexis and myself looked great and we were stylin it! We looked good, we should have been escorted in like a royal Prince. I heard that it was in fact a very good thing that we did not go inside. A fight broke out and Pepper spray was releashed into the club, the night ended early as the police arrived and everybody left because of the burning pepper spray. LOL, that is what happened when you don't let in VIP's like myself and my boys ;-)

We did end up having a great night at this club called "Six Seven". The music was great, it played recent songs (Well for France anyway, they are way behind compared to Canada) and the DJ made incredible remixes, I am definitely going back there real soon! We got back to Sacha's place at around 6h45 in the morning and played Xbox. I got to bed at my hotel at 9am!!! :-D

As for Sunday, it was very chill. I spoke to Sacha, Tanya, Nat and Gab, I was supposed to go to the gym but I ended up only speaking to Sacha later in the afternoon. I slept very well last night and I am ready for a big week, as I am moving on Thrusday to me appartment, and finally I will not have to travel over an hour to get into Central Paris. Hurray!!!

Mooner Boy Mat!!!

Mat a.k.a Mooner Boy is 1 of a kind, I am certain that nobody noticed this in the pic except for Gab. Although looking at the pic now, I hope Yanick noticed, or else I'll be a bit worried about him, lol.

Mat, Gab and myself are going to Olso, Norway on June 9th, it should be a great trip! However, I think Mr. Mooner Boy would agree, that there needs to be a nice Black "ass" to and some flavor to the moon collection of photos! What do you think Mat? ;-)

"The Blowers Daughter"

"And so it is
Just like you said it would be
Life goes easy on me
Most of the time
And so it is
The shorter story
No love, no glory
No hero in her sky"

I got to give it to Gab, he was the person who introduced me to this song. I admit at first I found it not to my usual taste of songs but honestly, it did not take long to grow on me and now I love it so much that I just got to share it with all of you.

Now here is the chorus that seals the deal on the quality and the true meaning of this song. it's great and now I will check for more songs from the artist who sings this song, DAMIEN RICE.

"I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes"


If you like to download the song, it's on Gab's server, Right-click HERE. And select "Save target of link"

OILERS are going to the Stanely Cup Finals!!!!

Well, I am very happy for Oilers' and thier fans Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. For those of you in Europe who don't know, the Edmonton Oilers are 1 of six Canadian NHL Hockeys teams and the Oiler just won their way into the most important playoff series in Hockey, the Stanley Cup finals!!!

I am not personally an Edmonton Oiler fan but I am very proud because they're a Canadian team nonetheless. I am not a Montreal Canadiens Fan either, even though I am born and raised in Montreal. However, I love the Ottawa Senators who are arguably the most talented team in the NHL, but as it is apparent, talent doesn't get you into the finals if you have no heart. The NHL now has 30 teams within this professional hockey league however there are only 6 canadian teams left. This is an important fact since at one point in the league's 106 years of existence there was at least 10 Canadian* teams.

So my faith is with the Edmonton Oilers to represent Canada and bring back the Stanley cup back to Canada. This is very important because Hockey is Canada's Unoffical National Sport. Canada prides itself with producing some of the best hockey player's ever to live, including Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and upcoming future of Canadain hockey Sydney Crosby!

Go Oilers and go Hockey Canada, bring back hockey to Canada!!!

* Source of this info cannot be confirmed.

I was almost forced to step in....

This occured last night of the RER A train going towards Paris from Torcy. I got on the train and then at the next stop some people got on, shortly after this, it started. I was on the top level of the double decker train when I heard a loud commotion coming from the lower deck. It actually sounded like a guy was fighting someone. However the most disturbing thing was that the other voice was that of a girl! Now at this point of the ride the train was fairly empty but I was certain that there were some other people down there as well.

There was a rumble and then a girl started crying and another screaming..... I was in shock, i got up and was going to go down but then I heard another female voice. It seemed that she separated the 2 who were fighting. I was going to go down but this older guy looked at me and said "attend". I gave him a weird look but I waited nonetheless. I was wearing my Canada jacket, so he knew I was out of town. What shocked me is that NO ONE seemed to do anything!

I sat back down in my seat and listened attentively for any more screaming or fighting. There was alot more arguing and yelling that proceeded. As we reached other stops, more people got on but they were still arguing and one of the girls was crying.

I had enough and I got up, i opened my phone to pretend that I was talking on it and then looked down onto the bottom level, to see what was going on. To my surprise, there, I saw someone around my age and to my dismay, he was also black. As for the girls, they were stunningly beautiful, well dressed, the type of lady that would attract my attention... I was like damn, how in the world and girl like that let's a guy slap her around like that, and on a public train in front of everybody????

The guy and I locked eyes, and I swear I was ready to go if he would have said something to me but it was the girl, who was crying, who then I looked at.... she gave me a smile.. the kind of smile saying I'm ok, but go....

SO I sat back down, but that situation was really bothering me that situation. I knew I was alone but I also knew that the train was getting closer to Paris, so there would be police near by if anything happened. I can't understand how that could happen, and that no one seemed to want to get involved... I thank you ERIN for showing me that this kind of behaviour in unacceptable.

Speaking of X-MEN III....

Well, I'll say this, Mystique, I felt sorry that you lost your powers but, I sure did enjoy seeing it and I look forward to seeing it agin, and again, and again :D hehe.

I liked it, the movie has lots of action and the storyline seems to work well.... I think most fans of X-Men will definitely enjoy the movie and I recommend for those of you who have not yet seen it, Stay till the very end even after the closing credits ;-)

I think I'm becoming an internet junky

Oh NON!!! I hope that isn't true, that i'm becoming an internet junky but I have to say i was starting to freak out alittle bit yesterday when I could not get online... It's weird, I guess I'm really getting hooked. I've always prided myself that I can separate things like work from my personal life... I work with PCs all day long at the job and I have to be on the net often, but I could be home and not need to be online...

Perhaps it's the fact that since I've moved to France, the internet is the best way to stay in touch with friends and family, so now I'm hooked...

I will promise you this... I'm not sure if it's like this in Montreal but here in France, they have a lot of "internet cafe" where even at 1am in the morning on a Friday and Saturday night, there are peopl inside, on the computers, surfing the web, I mean the place seems full!!!! Incredible!!!! I noticed this as I was walking by, heading to meet my friends to watch X-Men III. Crazy, I tell you, get a life people, Ostie! ;-)

I represent!!!

TRUE, STRONG & FREE!

Take a look at my Roots Canada jacket. It's funky, cool and stylish. As I walk around Paris, everybody knows where I come from and Canada is respected quite nicely here. Although I'm Jamaican, I still love the country where I was born and grew up in!


*More info on Jamaica is coming!

Follow up on the Da Vinci Code

As you all know I am very interested in the Da Vinci Code theory and the possiblity of a scandal or coverup within the Catholic Church. My interest started when I began reading the book, however I did not finish reading the book when I ended up seeing the movie. As I mentioned in a earlier post I like the parts of the book I actually read better than the movie itself. As a matter of fact I am beginning to enjoy the book more so than the movie as I continue to read on. At this point I think it may have been better to wait till I finished the book but I would never take back the great time I had at the movies with Tanya. I think once I finish the book I will go to see the movie again and compare the 2...

Speaking of movies... X-Men III is out, I am looking forward to seeing it too! I am happy to know that at some movie theatres in Paris, they show the movie in it's orginal language (VO) with French subtitles. It funny however that I find myself looking at the subtitles even though I am hearing the characters speak in English. Another movie I'm looking forward to seeing is Cars, It looks very entertaining, kinda like the Incredibles.

It's Friday, not Monday Val!!!!

LOL, it's an inside joke, Val is a colleague of mine and during a phone conversation, she said that today is Monday! It' was very funny and at first I got scared because for a brief second, I thought she was right, hehe.

Thank Heavens it's really Friday, for whatever reason, I still find it difficult to get out of bed. I'm begining to think that no matter what the situation, I will always feel that way. I'm not a morning person so perhaps this is the reason its hard to get up at 7am. Funny, I used to work often earlier hours at CN and it was not this hard to get up.

Lots of things to do today, so Have a great Friday and perhaps I'll be seeing some of you later for dinner and drinks ;-)

Caught on Tape!

This video doesn't give the exact same affect as the Paris Hilton video does but it's entertaining nonetheless ;-) It is a photo that involves the infamous Gabriel Labelle au boulot. Click below to be able to download it. The file is big (about 21 mb) but you see exactly the kind of hard worker he is, lol.


Download clip

Thought of the day

The desire to succeed means nothing without the will to prepare!


Source

La Suite, Style and Class

Last night I went to a very nice place on George V near Champ Elysees called La Suite. The place is Stylish and Trendy. A fitting representation of the upscale section of Champs Elysees where you can find stores like Luis Vuitton located at 101 Ave de Champs Elysees. BTW, the arc de triumphe is also near by and my appartment is about a 5 minute drive from here too. I love it!!

I stayed till about 12am because i had to work this morning but I would have stayed all night if I could. Yanick was supposed to have joined me but he canceled at the last minute, too bad my friend, you missed one nice party. I'll see you guys at the next one!

Lots of Random Facts

The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."

On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament Building is an American flag. (An american must have wrote this, because it should be known that the 2 dollar Canadian bill note has been retired for almost 10 years now)!

"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".

Cat's urine glows under a blacklight.

If you add up the numbers 1-100 consecutively (1+2+3+4+5 etc) the total is 5050.

The symbol on the "pound" key (#) is called an octothorpe.

Ethernet is a registered trademark of Xerox, Unix is a registered trademark of AT&T.

If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.

The international telphone dialing code for Antarctica is 672.

and finally Donald Duck's middle name is Fauntleroy.

Actual News Story

Hitting on the novel idea that he could end his wife's incessant nagging by giving her a good scare, Hungarian Jake Fen built an elaborate harness to make it look as if he had hanged himself. When his wife came home and saw him she fainted. Hearing a disturbance a neighbor came over and, finding what she thought were two corpses, seized the opportunity to loot the place. As she was leaving the room, her arms laden, the outraged and suspended Mr. Fen kicked her stoutly in the backside. This so surprised the lady that she dropped dead of a heart attack. Happily, Mr. Fen was acquitted of manslaughter and he and his wife were reconciled.

Pas fort, Pas fort de tout!

Gabriel Labelle, pas fort dude. As you all may know, I work with Gab at La Societe General. In fact I can say he is my friend first I've made here. I can even admit in alot of ways he has guided me in the right direction, in terms of getting settled, showing me the good things and some bad things (Please read this about my first weekend spent with Gab) about Paris. I will tell my version of what happened but basically all of the bad in that incident occurred because M. Labelle at times runs his mouth too much. For the most part I can say his has become one of my best friends BUT I am disappointed and not very happy at all with his actions today!

We are at work, he is supposed to be training me on this new software SmartLink (It's a powerful banking software used worldworld and has billions of dollars moving through it everyday). Now we all now I am an anglophone and on top of that I sometimes suffer from a small speech inpediment which I discovered while attending John Abbott College. So when this asshole starts making fun of how I speak, and my ability to speak French, it really fucking bothers me!!! In fact Gab, had the nerve to insult me in the office, in front of everybody. He has not and does not take the necessary time to properly and professionally show me how to use the software correctly. the only thing I've learned from him is how to update my Blog at the office, thanks Gab ;-)

I'm not sure but I think that it takes a very insecure individual to start making fun of someone's ability to speak a language. Let alone to a colleague, but I am certain you would not do that to your friend. I do not want to waste anymore time here, as I have wasted 6 weeks already but I will not go any further on this topic.

I expect a proper training, I have no idea why in France the transfer of knowledge is so weak here but it disgusts me to no end. This software and the ability to learn it does not require having a masters degree as a French linguist. It does not function like this in Montreal, and in the world of IT, where anybody is easily replacable, proper training is given even with mutliple softwares in weeks, not months for just 1. Needless to say I will not chastise him in front of others, I do not function like this but I do hope well Gab is busy surfing the web and updating his Blog instead of training me, that he'll read this.

Talent, this guy has alot of it!!

Yan B (Yannick Bleney) is a photographer, DJ and has many other talents. He is an all around nice guy and I enjoyed chilling with him when he came to Paris. Here is a photo he created about the boys and the good times we all had when he was here.

Truths and Myths about the Da Vinci Code

I am currently reading the book, Da Vinci Code and I have seen the movie. I am enjoying the book very much but I have not enjoyed the movie as much. I recommend reading the book first and then go see the movie. Here some some interesting facts about the in the events and facts mentioned in the book & movie are credible.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown is a best seller on the fiction list; however, the author clearly states that the story takes place in the context of factual events, places, organizations and rituals. To enhance the credibility of this claim, Brown includes not only fictional characters in his plot, but real people (both past and present) who will be readily recognized by the book's audience.

Concerning whether Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, they come to no solid conclusions. Note “most” disagree with this position while they found but “one” who agreed with it.


Source read it and you be the judge.

We have reached the middle of the week

I hope everyone is having a good Hump day. Yesterday I received information concerning my upcoming trip back to Montreal; I'll be staying for a total of 2 weeks and I will return back to Paris the day after my birthday!

I had to visit the doctor yesterday, the first time ever in Europe and hopefully the last. I received my medical certificate. It certifies that I am fit and ready for competition in organized sports, such as Basketball, Handball and Phyiscal conditioning.

I have also started looking to buy a dinning room table & chairs for my appartment. I am thinking of buying them new but I was told it is possible to buy quality furniture from people who are moving or even leaving Paris. Sacha, please give me more info on this and if anybody else has some helpful tips, it would be greatly appreciated.

I am still tired this morning, I find that I am not getting enough hours of sleep. There is so much to be done as not enough hours to do it. Hopefully I'll be able to rest demain, I found out yesterday that Thursday is a holiday in Paris so this is my chance to relax. Hopefully, we'll see ;-)

A great night of culture!

Ah, a very great night indeed. Last night there was "the mysteries of the Bulgarian voices" at the Casino de Paris Theatre (No it's not an actual casino). Tanya invited me to go check it out, I had mentioned that I have yet to do anything interesting like going to the theatre since I've been in Paris.It was a very good show and I must say that I have not seen any like it. The singers are very talented and even though I did not understand the language. Thank you very much Tanya for a night of culture and for showing me the sophisticated side of Paris.

Another good night at San Antonio's

Last last after the gym, Sacha and I met Gab and Mat @ San Antonio's for dinner. Admittly now it's all of our favorite place to eat. Again, the food is great, reasonable prices and a upscale but not a snobby place to eat. We had alot of laughs and interesting topics of conversation for example we talked about work, being French Canadians living in France and our Salaries. Yup, it was interesting. The topic got very interesting when Gab started tqlking about Linux and how it is better than Windows. I disagree but not completely but I have NOTHING negative to say about Microsoft because without it's software, I would not be working in France, making good $$ and having an adventure!

Everything is falling into Place

I just came back from an appointment at the bank, and yes avec la Société Genérale. I received ma carte Blue Premier! Here in France, all banks issue a combo card that is a Visa and a Guichet chat, all-in-one. This particular one is a GOLD Visa, with bank card previledges. It's an interesting concept since it's different in North America. I can use this card anywhere in the world, as a credit card or Guichet bank as it is linked directly to my bank account. It also has the same previledges as a north american GOLD card. Yup, I'm liking Europe already, hehe.

I also obtained housing insurance for my new appartment in the upscale area of the 16th arrondissement. Insurance is obligatory in order to get an appartment here. Move in date: le 1eme juin so stay tuned for a video and photos from the appartment. Yes the first weekend of June, drinks will be at my place ;-)

Quality weekend :-)

I have to say that this weekend was a great one. I got to speak to friends from Montreal like Rudy, Bradley and Caroline. I solidified my relationship with new friends and hung old with good buddies like Sacha, Mat, Yannick and Gab. So I have to say that I am feeling happy about my decision to move to France. There are alot of people I have to thank both in Canada and here for helping make this experience fun and adventurous

Can I sleep just a few minutes more???

Oh boy, It was hard to get up this really. I mean really hard, the hardest morning yet since I arrived in France. I had intended to update the blog and add some more photos this morning before leaving for work but... as tired and as weak as I felt this morning, it was NOT going to happen. I'm not sure why I'm so tired this morning but it may have something to do with going to the gym with Sacha and having long conversations on msn until way past my bedtime. I promise that I'll get top bed earlier... Ok I'll try at least.

"La nuit des musées"

"La nuit des musées" de la ville de Paris!!! That is what the night is called, sorry, I could not remember it before. Ok well it looks like it will be me and Mat. According to Mat, we got to hurry because some of them may not actually be open all night!!! After that, it looks like i'm going to do some salsa dancing at a special party "Salsa à l'ENST". So it should be a very interesting night and I will have photos from the musée on my Gallery page. Have a great Saturday everybody :-D

Cold, windy, and rainy day in Paris...

It's a Cold, windy, and rainy day in Paris... but I'm going to make the best of it!! Today I will go and do a little bit of shopping. I'm thinking about buying some new shoes and a dress shirt. In Torcy, not far from my Hotel, I will go to the huge mall and look around.

Unfortunately I am not 100% certain but I believe tonight this is a special event involving all of Paris' museums. They are supposed to stay open all night long and allow visitor a look at them in the night time, making the experience somewhat unique. Well, I for one can't wait to visit every single one, but of course I can't do it all in one day, or night but throughout my stay here I will visit them often. Now the only other thing to decide is which one should I start with??? The Louvre perhaps??? I will let you know ;-)

Bon Weekend!!!!!

It is the finally Weekend!!!! Keith has the Building!!! Les boys, we'll speak later and we'll start the the weekend off right. As I can see from the "Quebecois Pot", the weekend has already started from some of you ;-)

Today almost seems like a holiday!!!

Yup, that's right... Gab has the day off today and It's so calm and quiet!!!! LOL, he has a big mouth and loves to talk (Sometimes it gets his friends arrested, hehe). So it's cool to have the office be a little bit calmer, LOL.

I'm kidding Gab, you know I luv ya man... I am looking forward to hearing about last night at cafe OZ. I sure that you will have alot of photos on your Blog. I also heard that you guys took the party over to Huslters.... Oh boy, it must have been a heck of a night.

Alright, Gab, I'll speak to you later tonight. Hey Yan, Mat, Sacha... what is the plan, it's Friday les boys!!!!!!

I got the Bball Jones!!!!!!

Ok Guys, when the heck are we going to play some basketball???? I feel like I'm wasting away here??? I know that since I'm from Canada, and that I am such a talented dude, that you boys might feel intimidated by playing me, but don't worry so much. The worst that will happen is that I'll dunk on you... she really it' not so bad, if there be someone taking pictures, at least you can feel proud about playing with such a superstar as myself, lol !!!



PS, Mat and Sacha, I think I will join you guys and sign up for the gym in early June!!



PSS, For those who don't know this, I'm not usually this cocky except when I'm on the court playing basketball, it's called trash talking! AJ and Bradley could attest to that, lol