LIFE IN A BANANA REPUBLIC: Jun 5, 2008

Thursday, June 5, 2008

A CELEBRATION OF PAUL STEEL

Another senseless automobile accident, another good soul lost.

Yesterday, I participated in the Celebration of Paul's life next door on Ambergris Caye. The ceremony was an exceptionally beautiful one by the seaside overlooking the reef. Paul was a sweet , gentle, friendly, kind person with movie star looks. He was an avid diver & sailor and jointly owned about a dozen catamarans with his wife, which they rent on a weekly basis. TMM BAREBOAT VACATIONS boats can be seen all over the waters in our country.

Practically everyone in Belize has a warm story about Paul. This is mine.

Paul & his wife Natalie have been long time friends of my family from the time they first met on Caye Caulker about 30 years ago and fell in love on & with our little island. A few months ago when I was talking to Paul here on the island, another person who was with him asked how long we knew each other, he said - "practically since she was in diapers".

When they met, Natalie was a high school classmate & friend of my older sister & cousins, & she would come then to the island to visit us. It is a warm memory to think that my sisters friendship with Paul's future wife somehow lended itself to faith & Paul's happiness. This lovely couple maintained a house throughout the decades here on Caye Caulker and this place held special memories for Paul as meeting Natalie here changed his life forever and produced two lovely children - Eric & Tianna.

My deepest regret to his family. I will sadly miss your smile Paul.

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Dr. John McVay's UTILA RAP No. 19

We're nothing more, nothing less, just part of the human mess.
You never stop being a student.
Nothing smells better than sincerity.
Behavior is easier to change than people.
Creativity can not be forced.
Gossip is a necessary evil in a small town.
Gossip is a necessary evil in a small town.
Loving is simply the melding of two minds.
Accept your fate, aint life great!
Death is the great equalizer.
Listen to Life.
The passage of time is the only cure for a lost love.
Only a receptive mind can learn.
What matters most is not much matters.
People make bad crutches.
Life is a job without pay.
Honesty can not be hurt.
Drugs need to be disciplined.
Nice people can be the most venomous
With confidence the impossible is possible
Seduction rarely rewards
The man that needs nobody has somebody
We only get so many favors

Dr. John McVay's UTILA RAP #20

Dusk is no friend of dawn.
You're only young once and old forever.
Charley's always hungry.
Subjective is so subjective.
Life is just a continuum of simple tasks.
Habits are greedy; addictions are needy.
Time urgency kills more people than cancer.
Good can no be separated from bad.
The only reason people build you up is so they can tear you down.
Life ain't for pussies.
Everybody has a comment, but nobody has an answer.
There's only two languages spoken: drunk & sober.
Depression is self-obsession.
Victory is the acceptance of defeat.
The most dangerous enemy is the one you don't fear.
Anger is more harmful to the giver than it is to the receiver.
More than enough is too much.
Without a down there is no up.
What you don't control will control you.
The dog behind the fence barks the loudest.
Don't stop or look back.
It's never as bad as it can get.
Impossible is impossible.
Flop. On!

Dr. John McVay's Utila Rap #6

"time is only an issue for those who worry about it"
Dogs don't see size.
Throw a party and they will come.
Lose your lover and nothing will hurt again.
Dig it while ya got it.
When all else fails, you can always give up.
Life ain't pretty for the angry man
The plan with the greatest chance of failure pays off with the biggest rewards.
You are a finite being in an infinite world.
Too many remedies and not enough cures.
A country that can't rock will never roll.
Drop anchor and you're history.
The world remains the same, only humans change.
Insight gained through observation is lost with interaction.
The only death you don't have to live with is your own.
A sense of detachment is necessary.
If you look for love, you will never find it.
True love don't get lost.
Hope is for losers.
Chance encounters are the most lasting.
The value of opinion is valued by its source.
Holding back the urge to speak your mind will only constipate your existence.
As long as there are tribes there will always be war
Escape into your own mind.
Focus on the sea and not the boats in the harbor.
Nature returns what humans rob.
The poor buy the gadgets that the rich cant afford.
Get your punches in while you are still in the ring.
The face of greed is the ugliest.
The weapons of choice vary; some use their tongue while others use a machete.
Good women always pick the wrong men.
You can't kill what's bad.
Its not how far you fall that counts, it's how you land.
Rave On.

Dr. John McVays Utila Rap N0.7

Gotta be constantly changing position
One expectation is one too many.
Excess killed Elvis.
Too much is never enough.
Minimum survives while maximum dies.
There are two people you don't mess with...the cook and the doctor.
In matters of war there are no neutral parties
Judas is among us.
There ain't no good way to die.
The feud is forever.
Your only one good lick away.
Nothin' more flammable than love.
Your T.V. is talking to you.
There are boundaries.
Loves is a male concept.
There is no one thing that is goin' to work.
Dark clouds are pretty, too.
Money only buys dependent people.
Different works.
Sharing is what is most lacking.
Things are clear as mud to the uninformed.
Without collaboration there is no creation.
When oil meets water,a baby is born.
Beware of apologies.
Life is dangerous to your health.
Your enemies are always plotting.
Too much contemplation complicates copulation.
Once a receptor is filled it keeps coming back for more.
He who has the best documents wins.
Freedom satiates.
Do as you do.
Pound on!

Dr. John McVays Utila Rap #16

Bury the past and fertilize the future.
There's usually more than one choice.
Love is a hard drug to control.
The best things in life are the most addictive.
A scar is living tissue.
Love is a disease of relapse.
Two is too many and one is not enough.
Life will get you through.
Only room for one boss in a relationship.
There is no peace worth keeping.
Two like minds equal war.
The competition is stiff; drugs don't mix.
Control is sacrificed when a craving is satisfied.
Short is sweet and long is sour.
It takes a man to be a man.
Gotta fall in love with the feud.
Adversity is part of the human condition.
At the end of the day all you got is honesty.
the scent of sex is only equaled by its taste.
Love is a concept that only a few can grasp.The believers don't want to die.
Try to be more than what you are and you become less.
Bars are for drinking, not socializing.
When people stop talking to you; you are nothing.
Drugs don't take a break.
A good loser is the real winner.
Life has a big appetite.
Release the beast.
Bunn on!