“What can be taking the [Dr Keith] Rowley Administration almost a year to deal with the contents with an already completed report [on former Sport Minister Darryl Smith]? “Why the hesitancy by Prime Minister Rowley to make public the committee report?” The following Letter to the Editor on the government’s …
Read More »CAL extends sympathy after tragic Ethiopian plane crash, reveals own Boeing stock and safety checks
Caribbean Airlines (CAL) has assured customers that it will ‘put the safety of its passengers, crew and operations first’ in the wake of Sunday’s tragic Ethiopian Airlines plane crash in Addis Ababa, which left all 157 passengers dead. The fatal crash was the second in five months involving a Boeing …
Read More »Daly: Mas not done, check the Judiciary; Justice Jamadar should stay in his section
Mr Justice of Appeal Peter Jamadar should have stayed in his section. His statement in the capacity of Acting Chief Justice attempting to set boundaries for the long established tradition of satire and calling out ‘mocking pretenders’ during the Carnival season was surprising. Returning from my usual chip with All Stars …
Read More »Famalay for the Road! Machel nears record; here’s how he compares with Kitchener and Super Blue
Soca star Machel Montano is now just one hit away from the all-time record for Road March titles, as he was awarded his tenth crown today by TUCO for Famalay—a collaboration which includes Ian “Bunji Garlin” Alvarez and Gamal “Skinny Fabulous” Doyle. Famalay was played 346 times at the respective …
Read More »Thompson: More, Sparrow, More! Why Cutteridge won battle but Sparrow took the war
The following is the fourth and final instalment in Owen Thompson’s four-part series on the classic album, More Sparrow More!, by iconic calypsonian Slinger “Sparrow” Francisco: There are other equally telling avenues that allow us to arrive at meaning and afford us powerful glimpses into the unique quality of the …
Read More »Dear Editor: Resolving the concerns over the judiciary, Gafoor suggests mediation
“At stake here is the constitutional right to freedom of expression, which is ventilated not only during the Carnival season but is an entitlement which belongs to all citizens protected under the Constitution and the common law, subject only to the law of defamation or other statutory constraints…” In the …
Read More »Thompson: A lizard, school ma’am, Martinican mademoiselle and Sparrow’s sporting cock
The following is the third in Owen Thompson’s four-part series on the classic album, More Sparrow More!, by iconic calypsonian Slinger “Sparrow” Francisco: In Sa Sa Ay, Sparrow begins by making us all complicit eavesdroppers, inviting us both at the end of the first and the second stanzas to listen …
Read More »Daly Bread: Needing a new Kambule; why T&T Carnival requires a paradigm shift
At the Panorama semi-finals two weeks ago, I became involved in a discussion with Eintou Springer, her daughter Attilah and an official of Pan Trinbago. The discussion turned to how Pan Trinbago spent the taxpayers’ money it received from complicit governments in the past and apparently continues on the same path. …
Read More »Thompson: Connecting Jean and Dinah to Sparrow’s unnamed pretty lil Martinican gyal
“[…] Sparrow took command of a cultural realm that touched a particularly sensitive chord, allowing for the message to be conveyed with extraordinary directness and clarity; the entire country sang along… Musically, and in terms of the procedural norms of an art form peculiar to T&T, Jean and Dinah was …
Read More »London is the new capital of calypso; 21 year old bard’s Imagination takes him to crown
The fresh-faced Ronaldo London, 21, is Trinidad and Tobago’s new king of calypso, after he defeated 15 contestants to seize the 2019 Calypso Monarch crown last night at the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain. London, who sang last, won the favour of the judges and the audience with …
Read More »Who feels it, knows it! St Bernard’s pick for calypso crown and how local music can raise foreign exchange
I’m backing Joanne “Tigress” Rowley for Calypso Monarch 2019. Her story is real. Her music is good. And, yes, I had a ring side seat to her deciding on the song, Who Feels It, Knows It. Her rendition deals with depression and a mental health issue she dealt with after …
Read More »Thompson: Education, school days and 50 years of More Sparrow More!! (Part One)
“In the fullness of time, when Slinger Francisco’s massive oeuvre is unreservedly appreciated for its immense breadth and depth, rigorous scholars and casual calypso lovers alike will point to one special year, the Carnival season of 1969, when the Mighty Sparrow’s More Sparrow More!! album was released. “There had been …
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