Parang, Parang | 2010 Festival is here!

Well unless you have been hiding under the proverbial rock you should know that as the month of October pushes its way to the end of the year that Christmas is in the air in the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago... That means Parang is here!

The current season was launched in Arima at the Omera  headquarters of the National Parang Association. The headliner for the affair was the well know Lara Brothers band. Willie Lara is the only surviving member of the original band that was started over seventy years ago when his three other brothers sang with their parents.

The video clip above was highlighted on the Trinidad Express web page and is presented here for your listening pleasure.

Video source: Trinidad Expess Newspaper

Reactions:

Kaiso, Kaiso |Oh Chune Boi!

Every year hundreds of Calypso and Soca songs/music tracks are released for sale to the general public. Some of these songs are instant hits while others, for some reason have such an impact on us that we find ourselves singing the lyrics long after the season is gone.

The songs that remain with us are the ones that would last a lifetime. However have you ever given thought to the songs, singers and music released yearly to the extent that if you wanted to know the songs released for a certain period that it could be easily sourced and documented regarding the singer, composer, musicians and even where it was recorded? I have and came up dry and disappointed in my online search for such a database.

Recently I noticed the following on the Wack radio (www.wackradio901fm.com)website: "The National Action Cultural Committee is pleased to announce the calypsos which were selected to be among the Top 20 Calypsos for 2010. These calypsos will be awarded at a gala ceremony which will be held on Saturday 8th January, 2011, at the Cascadia Hotel, St. Ann’s." This was followed by a listing of the songs and the singers. I thought to myself well if they listed 20 songs then form what database did they prune this list?

I went to the TUCO website (www.tucott.com) to see if they had a list of songs released for 2010 and as a matter of fact since this is the World governing body for calypso take a look at a listing of calypso releases as a historical guide to the art form. Nothing...just songs for sale! On the same web page there is an article entitle, "Our Calypso jewels not treasured"... oh yeah? Talk about promoting the craft and there is no listing of the songs sang by Lord Kitchener, or the Mighty Sparrow or Lord Shorty, or the Roaring Lion etc etc.

We really need a National archive for the art form and it is a shame that millions of dollars are spent yearly by TUCO (government funded) and to this date we don't have an archive of the singers, songwriters, musicians, recording studios and the works done for and by each category. This is a shame and a National embarrassment... Something needs to be done, this wrong needs to be corrected for the sake of the art form and the people who help create it year after year. It is bad enough that we fail to honour those who created the music, even after they die. At least we should chronologically record the historical data as a courtesy to their genius and for the future generations to come.

Reactions:

"Permission Please" | Yuh is ah Trini

Triniglish|Trinididioms spoken and explained #71
Yuh is ah Trini|"Permission Please"

One thing that children who grew up in the islands during the 60's, 70's and  80's know and remember to this day is licks! We got licks for any reason and most times without reason. If, when getting licks during spelling drills, you did not cry or show that the blows mattered the teacher added strokes until you were literally vanquished. The learning process took on its own meaning and the licks that were meant to 'motivate' the students to get it right simply scared the hell out of children and removed any joy or desire to attend school. Yes, if you are smiling (I am wondering why) because you can recall those days in school then you have passed the test and can proudly say that "Yuh is ah Trini!". 

School days were memorable indeed but most of the memories were that of licks or good memories of student teachers playing guitars and singing "Michael row the boat ashore" or some of the patriotic national songs that are unknown to children today. Well for this posting I want to help you recall something that we all did during class. The act of asking for permission to leave to use the bathroom or to simply speak during class had to be done by first asking for "permission please".

Permission sir or permission miss had to be said but with that also came a very unique and formal way of expressing your desire to get the teacher's attention. First one had to stand at attention and make a fist, then   just like a military salute extend your index finger across ones forehead and say, "permission please". Some children also extended both the index and middle finger instead of the pointer finger only. Now after standing in this position for a while (in retrospect if felt like forever) came the anxiety... a decision was forthcoming. If the answer was "no" then there was disappointment and the a hard seat awaited after the answer that was a  disappointment. Then there was the flip side when permission was granted and with that came a sense of accomplishment especially if it meant leaving the classroom for a few minutes. Sometimes even when permission was granted but you took too long to return to the classroom out came the whip and after a few strokes one was left wondering what the hell happened?

Now that I recall those days I consider the act of asking for permission, especially with the semi military style salute to the teacher, I cannot help but smile and even wonder where did that silly salute start. Of course the obvious conclusion would be to blame the colonial masters for the implementation of that gesture. However, taking into consideration that the US military also had a significant presence in Trinidad it could be that the locals adopted the practice from the American military. If you have an idea or know how the gesture originated then please leave a note that could add to or resolve the origin of the gesture to salute while asking for permission from the primary school  teacher (primary school - standards 1 through 7) .

Reactions:

Tobago to get its own Carnival dates | Just do it!

"Carnival has nothing to do with lent, Carnival is a business." Take note of that statement because it could change the character of Tobago and make it a carnival market of choice in the not to distant future. Those words came from a calypsonian who understands the business of carnival but it sounds even better knowing that the person making the statement can actually get it done... a government minister, a calypsonian, a culture ambassador, none other than the honorable Winston Peters aka calypsonian Gypsy.

It is about time this thinking came to the table for discussion... Yes do it; unhitch carnival from the yolk of the church. Move Carnival away from this religious impediment that has brought about short and long carnival seasons. 

OK, let's not get ahead of ourselves... Minister Gypsy (Arts and Multiculturalism) was thinking about giving Tobago a separate date to host their carnival celebrations... Brilliant!

Now why is this such a great idea? Well Tobago has been and will always be a great tourist destination. Just think about the carnival loving population from the larger of the two islands heading across for the shows and the actual celebrations - that alone will boost the fortunes of the business community in Tobago. Input into pan, band creations everything that relates to the business of Carnival will improve ten fold in Tobago when this change occurs. The tourists who would have experienced carnival in Trinidad would come back for the Tobago installment and as the new date becomes a fixture and the rest of the World learns about it the government and business communities would have to expand infrastructure to cope with the movement of people for this new carnival date. 

I see Tobago's carnival becoming a festival that takes the best from Trinidad's carnival that would keep the original lent-hen dates the same while the change takes place in Tobago. Bands would move over to the sister island and add to the local production thereby adding impact to the festival (good for the international video advertisements). I applaud Mr. Peters for approaching the Tobago House of Assembly with this brilliant idea. I hope that Mr. Orville London and culture Secretary Tracey Celestine agree with this plan and get a date that would capitalize on the flow of tourists to the region. 

This is a win win situation and I really do hope that we would soon see two major carnival celebrations in the Republic of Trinidad  and Tobago (ROTT). Now this has nothing to do with the Point Fortin celebration that is growing into a mini carnival. Tobago is special and is a tourist destination that is well known in Europe and North America. This is long overdue and should be implemented without delay! 

Reactions:

"August Holidays Purge" | Yuh is ah Trini!

Triniglish|Trinididioms spoken and explained #70

Yuh is ah Trini|"August Holidays Purge"

Castor oil, lamp oil, chinaponium  and senna and stinky smelling worm grass to show dem worms where to pass!

Every Trini child looked forward to August holidays. Those were the best of times for some and not so great for others. Some of us were sent to other parts of the country to "spend time" with an aunt or uncle for a week or two. That was exciting in the beginning but there was so much crying after a day or two... "What happen chile? Why yuh crying?" The tears flowed and the chest heaving made understanding difficult but the outcome was simplistic and common to all, "ah miss meh mammy, ah want to go home". Those were the "good ole days" indeed.

However for those who remained at home there was always the dreaded clean out 'to kill d'worms' and the follow up 'to show dem where to pass' (d'way out!). This was and will always remain a very bad memory. To think that parents did this out of love in nerve wracking more so when we look back and relive the experience... it was not pleasant and came with licks and the horrible taste of Castor oil and senna.

It has been said that Castor oil offers a natural protection from deadly viruses but we got it for constipation. This has me wondering why we were given it followed by a dose of senna? Long long ago when I attended government primary school we were give a drop of an oil that I recall as chinaponium followed by a small cup of Epsom salts. Lord have mercy the oil tasted horrible and the Epsom salts had you literally going - it was a glorious day of "forced runnings".

We woke up in the morning to a very beautiful day with the sun shining through the windows only to be called into the kitchen for an enamel cup of senna. That was it... but they had to catch me to get me to drink it. I was forced to drink that nasty tasting liquid after receiving several lashes with a belt and doing a crazy dance and scream in the yard. Well everyone in the neighborhood knew that I was giving trouble and that I deserved the cut arse that I was getting... but this time the Gods should have intervened! No one should have to drink those concoctions! 

I have to add here that if you believed you escaped the ordeal from your parents then watch out for your grand parents because they would introduce you to the stinky smelling worm grass.

One thing that those experienced did was help me create concrete memories that not even ginkgo biloba could accomplish. To this day I recall those experiences as if they happened yesterday. Indeed, if you can recall those days then you have passed the litmus test and can consider yourself one true true Trini. Yes, 'Yuh is ah Trini' if you ever had to drink Castor oil, lamp oil, chinaponium and senna. 

Reactions:

Status Change|Richarde' Bereaux and Skeeto

Change has come and it is good... This is the direction|the path to success that pan music and those who engineer it must take. I thoroughly enjoyed this pantastic instrumentation and will look forward for more from these very talented guys! If you liked Deuces by Chris Brown  then you will love this Facebook "Status Change"...

Reactions: