July 4th at the Shack

Well, that was fun. Considering the 4th fell on a Monday and we're not actually in the USA, I was pretty impressed at the turn-out Mr. X had at the Shiggidy Shack.

Of course, Popcorn was there - nice statement t-shirt.



Now, he may not be on Facebook but he did send me an email the other day. Peter informed me that I was the first person he had ever emailed. Ever. I'm not sure which is more amazing - his never emailing anyone before or me being the first. The masterpiece? "Same old. Same old. Regards popcorn." Apparently those words took him a long time to peck out, so I'm guessing I won't be getting another email any time soon. I suppose I should save this one for posterity.

I then got the scare of my life when someone came over with red, white and blue beads and Michael and Derrick insisted on showing us their you-know-whats. Derrick's not even American for Pete's sake.



There was food.



Lots of people eating.



And several bands playing on a beachfront stage with a dance floor so everyone could get their boogie on.



Groupies:



Of course, there were fireworks. Here's the best of (video):



We jammed with local band KC-5 until just short of midnight. Glad I didn't have to work today :)

Ya Mon at The Strip and the St. Kitts Music Festival

So I finished my edits!! Of course, my edits of the editor's edits are being edited yet again, so the ping pong goes on, but getting through the first pass was a relief. I spent all day yesterday, going through 3 years of photos for possible use - where, we're not sure yet. The title of the book is A Sail of Two Idiots with a subtitle still being revamped. They even sent me a cover sample, which I'm not sure they want me to share, but let's just say it's pretty cool to see it all coming together.

Last night was our last TGIF at The Dock with Charlie & Tanya. Boo.



Of course, we'll see them again today at the hash and Sunday at the beach (it's a small island). We've got Charlie in this picture, but Tanya was too busy drinking champagne somewhere. What's more amazing is having Steve & Pat in the photo. They were at The Dock!! These two hardly ever go out to The Strip! It was fun to see them in a different setting. Of course, we'll see them at the hash too.

The group then headed over to Mr. X's Shiggidy Shack for some grub and continued partying, while we went to the mostly reggae night at the St. Kitts Music Festival. We missed most of the 1st act, Yellow Man, who sounded pretty good. Really enjoyed everything Cocoa Tea sang and then jammed even harder to Maxi Priest. By the time that set was over, it was about 1am. A couple of other guys came up playing to track music, ho hum, but we hung in there until Gyptian came on. Of course, then it was 2am, so we lasted until about a quarter til 3 and decided to call it a night, or morning as it were. And, of course, I was then up 3 hours later...I haven't stayed up that late since the last time we went to the Festival a couple of years ago. It was a lot of fun and people watching was a real hoot, but the fact that I can't sleep when the sun is up makes doing these things a bit of a drag. I'm tired!!! We weren't allowed to take pictures, so if you want to look you'll have to go to the Festival's website or SKNVibes photo gallery.

I really must mention the people watching again. Women were wearing their tightest, shortest dresses and men wore their best meat-market outfits too. My favorite was a guy with a t-shirt just like the one to the right. Classy. We could not have had a better temperature for the concert last night. There was a great breeze, no bugs, and very little rain. That said, it would sprinkle the tiniest bit and all the people standing on the lawn (we brought chairs) would move slowly under various vendor tents. Then when no downpours happened, everyone would saunter back out. This happened about 5 times, until the 5th one when it actually did pour. We put our chairs over our heads and hoped it would end quickly - which it did, although we still got a bit wet.

So the concert was fun, but there were only 2 toilets working for the women and, of course, no toilet paper. After a while, the ladies started going into the men's room and using the trough. Michael said that the women had no qualms whatsoever about dropping their knickers or hiking up their skirts and doing their thing, while the men were hovering in the corner trying to hide their junk. Weird. It also took a bit too long between sets (anywhere from 1/2 hour to an hour) so if they get that under control, maybe the concerts won't go until 4am. They did have good popcorn though - that's right Steve - we had popcorn for dinner (again). It is a food group, you know!

Bankie Banx (Anguillan musical artist) was there, watching not performing, and apparently is going to be playing at Sunshine's beach bar in Nevis on Sunday (at 5pm)- there's nothing about it on Sunshine's Facebook page (shocking). I've never heard him before, but doubt we'll go over. He talked to Mr. X last night and suggested he might play for the Shiggidy Shack for the 4th of July X-travaganza. Wouldn't that be cool?

So today is the summer solstice hash where we're supposed to dress up/dye our hair rainbow-y. We don't happen to have that kind of stuff in our wardrobe and can't just run to a Target or something, so guess we'll just be blah. I've been told that the walker's trail is full of views, so I'm charging my camera now. The runners are all groaning already as their trails are being set by Viking John and are likely to be rather difficult.

For our Sunday pleasure, Spice Mill has started their SummerFest events, and will have their version of the Musicfest down on the beach (no time given).

You know, I never get tired of seeing these guys.

Staff Appreciation in the Rain

First I wanted to say thanks for all the virtual palm slapping I received from you readers. It's always fun to hear from you. Yes, I'm feeling pretty good about it all and appreciate the love. As far as celebrating, we actually had planned on going to the Alliance Francaise events but I made a boo boo with our bank account and we were out of money until the weekend (I hate it when that happens) so we kept things rather low-key. Sadly, a couple of our friends are leaving the island so Friday night was also a preliminary going away party for them. One of them, Ron, used to be a hugely popular spokesperson for an Amrad product and the departing couple ran across one of Ron's promotional materials while they were packing and hung it up at The Dock. Hey Ron, you know the company is still using you on their website - you getting royalties?!

We'll really be sad to see them go. Both Tina and Ron volunteered for a lot of activities on the island, and Tina was a great cook, photographer, exercise buddy, and friend. Boo.


Wilbur(t) from Reggae Beach Bar is going to miss them too (this video was taken by Tina and was the first time I'd seen that darn pig up and about).



We (not including Wilbur) ended up at Mr. X's Shiggidy Shack where we ran into a few other friends and got a bit goofy.



I have no idea how Michael ended up with my purse, but he wouldn't give it back.



Saturday, Michael watched his Flyers go kapoot, and on Sunday we were invited to go out with the Shiggidy Shack staff to take part in their Employee Appreciation Day. Paula, the bar's long-standing bartender, is getting ready to head home herself for the summer, so it was going to be an early going away for her as well. Whaa.



This season-ending activity would include a trip on the Shiggidy Xpress over to Nevis. A few shots of the staff liming on the way over.



Some were more into the ride than others.



Talk about jingle boobs - Sarah having a bit of fun with some water balloons.



Once we got into the cut between St. Kitts & Nevis, we were reminded that the 3rd Booby Island Cup (Regatta) was on when we saw about 11 sailboats jutting back and forth chasing each other. Winds were not a problem.



We zoomed in and out of the racing boats, got mooned, waved a lot and then headed to the beach.



The larger charter catamarans take tourists to Nevis and bring them to their private oasis on Pinney's Beach, but since they weren't there, we decided to take advantage of it. We walked this beach several times when we had Jacumba and never noticed it.



There was lots of food and plenty of hungry people to feed.



Here's Esther hogging the salt fish for herself.



After a little time for digesting, it was time for the games. And the rain...



It took a while to figure out what the heck was going on but eventually they decided to start with the ol' soak-a-towel-with-water-and-fill-a-bucket game. You might recall these games from our Hash Limp-ics, but well Mr. X is an avid hasher, so that's really not surprising.

Everybody really got into it.



Almost there!!!



And the winners are:



What to do with all that water...



Next up was the two-legged race.



Oh no, not running around the stick. Well, at least these guys didn't have to chug a beer while doing it.



Time for a much needed rest (plus it was warmer in the water).



Pretty.



This next one was just scary and Rated R. Two people had to bend over and wait for their partner to come careening up behind them, shove a balloon between their legs, and pop it. All I can say is OMG.



You still have to keep your kids away from this one. This time there was a water balloon involved and everyone had to keep it between them unpopped until they got to the other side of the beach and then had to pop it.



Ok, we're back to the G-rated stuff - egg tossing. These guys had quite the distance to toss this egg, but they quickly figured out that if they just let it fall in the sand, it would likely survive. I'm pretty sure that's called cheating.



Some things just defy explanation.



How about a quick relay. On your marks, get set.



Go!



Hey - wait a minute! The guys holding onto the finish line rope took off running too. It was hysterical as it took a while for the runners to figure out that their target was on the move. You'll note X hugging his hamstring (he did just celebrate a birthday, you know).



And lastly, a tug-of war. I love these things from a picture-taking standpoint. People's expressions are awesome.



Mermaids?



Ok, here comes some serious rain. I'm pretty sure it's not going to go away.



We loaded all the stuff back on the boat and then got pelted with rain. There's Satie-in-the-Box trying to stay dry.



Another method.



There was a party going on on Nevis's Oaulie beach for the regatta folks, so despite the crappy weather conditions we headed over to check it out. Hey there's Jazzique playing. And tents to keep us dry!



So while some of us huddled under the tents...



Others went out and got their groove on.



Our group inspired a few others to get out there.



Of course, the party didn't end there. We still had to get back to St. Kitts. We decided to do that when Jazzique's speakers fizzled after one too many wind gusts whipped a copious amount of rain under the tent to douse their equipment once and for all. I hate it when that happens. We'll keep most of what went on on the Shiggidy Xpress a secret, but let's just say people couldn't resist the poles, the speakers were about to come out of their sockets, and I've Got a Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas was played about 6 times.



Yep, I was ready to join this bunch.



I'm pretty sure the staff is going to be a little out of sorts today. Michael's certainly thankful it's a holiday (Labour Day). Paula & I, staff photographers, and even Captain X! were good, thank you very much. Yep, definitely an entertaining day. Here are all the pictures I took - I just love the facial expressions on everyone; I laugh every time I click through them.

There's still moisture overhead, but it's sunny for now, so we're hoping to get in a few rays.