I love making mistakes like these. I think they look so cool.
I was bumped on the elbow when I took this picture of a calypsonian performing at a calyspo show. He was dressed up as a magistrate and was swinging his gavel as he sang his composition.
“Kaiso! Kaiso!” is a phrase of encouragement, akin to “Bravo! Bravo!”
Kaiso is another name for calypso, the indigenous music created and loved by Trinbagonians & Caribbean people.
…”Mama, look ah boo boo dey.”
Harry Belafonte and Nat King Cole perform a classic calypso “Mama Look A Boo Boo”, which was written in 1956 by Lord Melody (Fitzroy Alexander).
Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I was also able to find the same song done on the steelpan… It was performed by a University student from California named Ziba Zehdar, as part of her university coursework or something.
Taken from Ziba's Vimeo profile...
What made me smile was that she’s so good, that the MC introducing her actually has to announce to the audience that – contrary to the thoughts and questions of many – that he “didn’t hire her to play the steelpan”, and that she was a matriculated student at the school!
I was just in the mood for some old school kaiso. I hope you do enjoy! It always makes me happy and proud to see a facet of my culture being appreciated by other inhabitants of the big blue marble! 😀
Peace and Rice,
Boboleechron
We in Trinidad and Tobago (heck, the entire Caribbean) have such a wealth of talent in our blood. While we must take our many art forms into the new millennia, we must also ensure that we don’t forget our roots & culture. By revisiting them every so often, it not only serves as a source of edification and pride, but in my view, it’ll also to help educate the younger generations of our rich heritage and our identity as Caribbean people.
I hope you enjoyed!
(bigup to @suzettegardner, who shared this video with me. 🙂 )
Blame it on @aplusk. Blame it on @Oprah. Blame it on @CNN even, but yes, I’ve finally decided to join the Twitter brigade.
Twitter is a site where users post 140-character messages that are distributed to groups of people/users who follow their every post… they’re known as “followers”. The service allows users to “tweet” (post) as well as “follow” other Twitterers.
http://twitter.com/boboleechron is where you’ll find me… and I’m just getting my “sea legs” around the service.
I first got introduced to Twitter during my daily tech readings a few years ago. Then Keith, a friend and fellow blogger of mine, started using it. I didn’t seem to think I had the time or the “content” to start a “microblog”.
The recent race to a million Twitter followers between CNN and Ashton Kutcher (aplusk) got my attention… as did the fact that Oprah Winfrey became the latest celebrity to join the service. Kutcher said that:
“I found it astonishing that one person can actually have as big of a voice online as what an entire media company can on Twitter,” Kutcher says in a video, which was shot from inside a car and was posted on Qik.com.
“So I just thought that was just kind of an amazing comment on the state of our media, and I said that, if I beat CNN to 1 million viewers, then I would ding-dong ditch Ted Turner — because I don’t think it’s gonna happen.”
My first thought was that he was right… Twitter is a great equalizer for the masses. The people now have the means to reach others and to spread their versions of the real story.
Then I started to think again… just who is Ashton Kutcher? Besides the fact that he’s an actor and the husband of a famous actress, who is he? Why would a million people choose to get their “news” from @aplusk as opposed to CNN? In a sense, his winning the race to a million followers is symptomatic of the problem being faced by all media carriers, especially the traditional press: the masses are no longer interesting in reading yesterday’s news. Advances in communications and internet technologies are blurring the dividing lines between us all. The global village is now, and we’re all sitting in the same cafe with the same access to the same gossip about what “Mary” got herself into last night… as soon as she updates her online status.
I read online that some view this race to a million as further proof of the dumbing down of America, and by extension, the globe. I disagree. A million people wanting to find out more about what Ashton and Demi wore to lunch as opposed to wanting to hear more about the economic plans of the Obama administration isn’t dumb…
No, I don’t think its dumb at all. Its escapist. Life today is stressful. People have lost their houses, their jobs, their live savings… its getting harder to afford the basics for most of us as our salaries stay the same or go kaput whilst prices skyrocket. The comings and goings of celebrities help people tune out of the world for awhile… put a smile or a smirk on a few faces everyday… entertainment. Besides which, why buy the newspaper cow when the information milk is free? 😆
I hope, if anything, that I get to interact with more of you folks… and even make a few more friends via Twitter. I’m a later adopter by nature when it comes to technology… I know someone always comes along with something better, faster and stronger on short notice. Feel free to follow my feed and to post your own in the comments, if you wish. I promise not to be a spammer, and not to tweet (or retweet) crap!
Peace and Rice,
jw
A shot of a Prisoner Transport van stuck in traffic ahead of me on a rainy day.
It’s around 9.30am. I’m twiddling my thumbs, bopping my head to the music, while waiting my turn to cross the intersection.
Then it hits me.
Court cases start at 9am. There were prisoners in this van… I assumed they were being taken to the Magistrate’s Court right down the street… and it was 9.30am.
“Justice… On Time?”
The camera comes out…
*Click!*
*sigh* 😕
Peace and Rice.
(For those interested, this was taken at what’s known as “Green Corner” in Port of Spain… the corner of Park and St. Vincent Streets. All the buildings on the corners are no longer painted green anymore, but it still retains the name. The vegetarian place on the left painted itself green. Let’s hope the others follow suit sometime.)
The thing about getting up late in the morning on Carnival day is that you miss the opportunity to get pictures in “good light”. With the sunlight being the brightest thing for miles, not only will you save batteries by not having to use a flash, but everything you want to shoot simply looks good.
I, however, like to take shots at night, with my flash. There’s something that ‘pops out’ when you watch mas at night… more so when you take a picture of it. All the glitter mas makers use in their creations come into full effect when the sun goes down. It kicks up the portrayals a notch… or a few.
I like the energy of night mas, too. You’d think that the masqueraders would be dog tired after jumping up and down in the hot sun for two whole days… but they’re still so full of life and energy… its infectious! They do their collective best to just wring the best out of the last few hours of Carnival, willing it to stay, offering their jumping and wining and wailing as offerings to the Bacchanalia.
Carnival 2009? You were one of the best. I hope you took good notes to pass on to Carnival 2010!
Peace and Rice,
jw
Hey, folks… here’s the second part of my 2009 Carnival picture collection. Like I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I wasn’t out for very long on Carnival Tuesday, and for a short time I had the bad luck of being caught in a bad position when a great band was making its way across the stage… I was facing the sun.
Anyway, I didn’t let that deter me from the mission at hand… which was to capture a little piece of the bacchanal that is Carnival to share with you.
The bulk of the pix are from the band Legends, led by Big Mike and his partner Juliette. The rest are from Trevor Wallace.
Most of these were taken on Ariapita Avenue in Port of Spain, close to the NCC Judging point at Adam Smith Square.
Peace and Rice,
jw
Hey folks! I know I haven’t posted in a bit, but I was kept really busy at work. I guess I should be thankful – being busy at work means that at least I still have a job! Not many can say that, so I am grateful! 🙂
Like I mentioned in my last post, I was on the road for Carnival… Tuesday. My feet hurt, my abs hurt… everything but my head, which was real niiiice. So Monday after Jouvay, yours truly simply chilaxed by the girlfriend. So we hit the road on Tuesday.
Here’s some of what I snagged.
Enjoy… more to follow!
Peace and Rice,
jw
After a five year leave of absence, I decided to play J’Ouvert (pronounced “joo vay”) again this year.
Each year at 4 am on Carnival Monday, Carnival begins under a cloak of darkness. Fuelled by exhilaration and the energetic rhythms of soca music, revellers take to the streets for the predawn party of J’Ouvert.
J’Ouvert from the French ‘jour ouvert’ or ‘day open’ is almost ritualistic in its celebration of the darker elements of the island’s folklore and history. Bathed in chocolate, mud, oil and paint, bands of revellers depict devils, demons, monsters and imps. Choose your medium of expression; J’Ouvert is a time for loosening of inhibitions.
I chose to play with “Generation Lion”, a band fronted by an old schoolmate of mine, Rubadiri Victor. “Generation Lion” is the title of a magazine he produces which highlights Trinidad and Tobago’s social, cultural and sporting groundbreakers. Its the largest glossy magazine in the Caribbean (its usually over 300 pages long), and its in its 4th printing.
Here’s some of the action I encountered on the road…
I’m on my way to get some more Carnival pictures… see you soon!
Peace and Rice,
jw
I was out and about today…
Connect the dots! Passed by this old office building on Maraval Road, Port of Spain.
I ran into an artist painting...
She was painting a coconut carriage around the Savannah...
...and attracted a fair amount of curiosity and attention.
She was doing an oil painting for a friend's new art gallery. She uses a plastic bag as a palette. I thought it looked pretty.
While I was there watching her work, I noticed some interesting sights…
Pretty Tree Cathedral
Ackee flowers (?) in coconut shell.
Stag... a man's beer.
I was hungry, so I told my new artist friend “goodbye” and travelled somewhere for lunch.
Lunch was part-Latin, but lunch was all good!
Here are the condiments. Clockwise from upper left: Hot pepper sauce, Tamarind sauce, Garlic sauce and Shadon Beni sauce.
Lunch was polenta, stewed chicken, with a side salad of stir-fried seasoned broccoli and cauliflower florets. Washed down with Pommecythere (golden apple) juice.
Did I mention that lunch was good?
I decided to have a slice of heaven for dessert. Oops... I meant carrot cake...
After I'd paid for lunch, I looked around and saw some interesting pictures hanging on a nearby wall.
They were rare pictures of popular calypsonians (some of whom are deceased). I took pictures of them. The owner objected though. I deleted them out of respect for his collection. He promised me that we could meet to chat after Carnival was over and he’d let me see the others.
Today was a good day…
Peace and Rice,
jw
The Bobolee Chronicles 