How do we get our brilliant steelbands and their significant numbers of youthful players and supporters back on the road on Carnival days? The steelbands are a unifying and healing force and are capable of mitigating the divisiveness and socio-economic exclusivity with which the Carnival band scene is riddled. Carnival …
Read More »Vaneisa: A Ministry of Festivals can be revolutionary—with Manwarren at the helm!
I don’t actually mean that we should have a ministry of festivals, in the sense of a state-controlled body—that kind of lumbering oversight has done little to develop anything meaningfully. Not for an entity that has to be agile and innovative and intimate with our history and traditions. Last year, …
Read More »Early Bird: Machel’s Monarchy triumph; mafia or merit? Mission for the media?
“What shit you talking, bro?” Bobby asked, his jaw literally dropping. “We talking bout the same song?” Even before Calypso Fiesta, I had shared Soul of Calypso with my pardna on WhatsApp. We both agreed then that it was not the “hit calypso” Machel would have us believe it is. …
Read More »Noble: Messy Massy and Mr Warner
During the massive rebranding exercise, Tony Deyal wryly commented: “Neal and Massy announced it was Massy and proved to be even worse, messy…” He also cautioned Mr Gervase Warner: “…I keep seeing the CEO in almost every local forum pontificating about the economy, the environment, and everything under the sun… …
Read More »Vaneisa: Steelpan unity, disingenuous Gypsy and a Carnival of identity
Something of an epiphany came to me after the Panorama finals. Steelband arrangers genuinely seem to respect and admire each other. I couldn’t think of any instance where they have made derogatory remarks about their competitors. Apart from the swagger that is typical in a competitive environment, there is a …
Read More »Daly Bread: “Conglomerate mas” subduing our authentic Carnival experience
There is speculation how tomorrow and Tuesday’s Carnival will turn out, as it is taking place amid concern about the price of Carnival participation and the possible deterrent effect of rampant violent crime. At last, there is also intensity of concern about the changing character of the mas’. Social media …
Read More »Noble: The problem with Dr Paul Richards’ grilling of Police Commissioner
“The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.” Milan Kundera, a Czech and French novelist, in The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (1979). The book discusses how people tolerate the torture and suffering over which they have no control. These lessons apply to us as …
Read More »Vaneisa: The season of everything—embracing the Carnival spirit
One thing this country is extraordinarily gifted at is its creative impulses, and Carnival is the premier showcase for it. The sound of steel pans was my first and abiding connection to Carnival. It is still the most powerful bond. Just as cricket fills me with a sense of West …
Read More »Dear Editor: Calypso Fiesta should be only road to Big Yard—not Tobago Monarch!
“[…] It is totally unfair to all semi-finalists that a calypsonian who won a competition in Tobago months before, under completely different circumstances in a completely different environment and possibly judged by a different panel of judges, can be automatically ushered into the Calypso Monarch Final on Carnival Sunday night. …
Read More »Dear Editor: Why was Thomas-Felix moved? Industrial Court owes T&T transparency
From the onset I wish to indicate that I hold no brief for either the outgoing office holder or the newly appointed President of the Industrial Court. However, as an industrial relations practitioner I wish to indicate that without any transparency on what transpired in this instance a lot of …
Read More »Dear Editor: Senator Richards must prove allegations against Alexander, or apologise!
“[…] Dr Paul Richards is not only an independent senator, but also a very experienced journalist. He ought to know better. “He has an obligation to provide the evidence [against Senior Superintendent Roger Alexander from the TV6 Beyond the Tape programme], or publicly withdraw his statement and apologise…” The following …
Read More »Daly Bread: The Panorama bond—panyards remain a zone of peace
Last Sunday, this year’s Panorama semi-finals brought strong feelings of peace and togetherness to the Queen’s Park Savannah and its environs. The event mirrored the camaraderie of the previous Sunday when the Panorama judges visited seven Port of Spain panyards and the crowds were so big that they could only …
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