Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Trinidad and Tobago Carnival! a Tsunami of Revelry, Music, Dance, and the Best Escape to Reality
Where
the Prime Minister, the Beggar, the Thief and the Priest Converge and Fete
Together as One. Dat is Carnival!
For
epicurean pleasure in the splendor of masquerade, Trinidad and Tobago Carnival
is the world's jeweled oyster. Without this annual feast of gluttonous music
symphony and untamed insanity, our people will perish. We are Carnival and our
life is Theater
Trini Bacchanal
The first element of Trini (abbreviation for
Trinidad & Tobago) Carnival is Bacchanal. It is an occasion of wild and drunken revelry. It is spectacular costumes, it is infectious music, it is partying "all night long" and it is wanton and carefree abandon.
The Carnival Vapse.
Whether
Carnival falls in late February or early April, a universe of carnival followers becomes swept up in the momentum, loosely termed the Carnival vapse.
Behind the closed curtains of Trini Caribbean
families, being Carnival whipped, is as bad as being caught up in a cyclone.
The sudden impulsive urgency to leave home, family, responsibility and flee to
the shores of Trinidad and Tobago have wrecked many a happy marriage. Hot and
torrid romances have been dissolved by the sleuth of a Carnival vapse
In the monsoon of emotions to get to Steelband
Panorama preliminaries, to attend the Calypso competitions, or play de mas,
brave and upstanding citizens have been leveled to warahoon status .
In urban dictionary, warahoon describes dem wild indian who use to live in trinidad long time ago look at them warahoon running like asses.
In urban dictionary, warahoon describes dem wild indian who use to live in trinidad long time ago look at them warahoon running like asses.
Unless, you get to the soil of
Mother Carnival, Trinidad and Tobago, and suckle in her bounteous pleasures,
you find no remedy for relief.
Carnival, The Energy, the Music, the Mas
Carnival is as an energy force. There is
paranormal feteing. Prior to Carnival Mardi Gras Monday
and Fat Tuesday, as celebrated by our New Orleans reveler compatriots, there
are band launchings, there are celebrity events. There are all inclusive parties, there are
offshore, onshore, by the pool, around the Savannah, in the North Stand and
through the Grand Stands, parties to attend.
As the solemnity of Christmas ends, by the
dawning of the New Year, Carnival is the most practiced community fellowship
for Trinis inside and outside the island grounds.
Calypso and Soca are the popular musical songs and melodies exchanged between the performers and their
devoted fans.
Wining
Wining is not sipping Merlot, Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio. Nor is wining, "Whining" as is proverbially misappropriated..
Wining is the roll of the waist, with the cock
of the back, gyrating to the right, left and centre, The lower body swerves at
the hips in downward and circular pelvic motions, and rhythmically oscillate to
the dance of the pagans.
Carnival is Culture
The feteing starts on the heels of the Christmas season. The national musical instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, the steelband features prominently in panyard exhibitions to orchestral competitions. It all culminates on the Savannah stage in the most symphonic rivalry of musical showmanship.
Panorama is when steelband orchestras from
the north and south corners of the island compete for the best arrangement,
acoustic sound, tune and delivery to their most discriminating audiences.
Renowned world musicologists are invited to judge at Panorama semi finals and
finals.
Hugh Masekela shared these words during his 2014 visit
to a Trinidad panyard:
"You sounded great…thank you very much…you do not know how lucky you are …there are very very few countries in the world where people get opportunity to do this much music together… I know you take it for granted…but it's a wonderful situation…I hope it never dies…it's a very very rich heritage. Thank you very much.
Carnival the Celebration
- Sometimes when yuh at Carnival, yuh partying non stop. The weekend of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago yuh start feteing from Friday, Saturday, Sunday till Jouvert Morning. Sometimes, you doh even have time to check yuh own pulse -. describes a good dose of the Carnival celebration
- Jouvert
Jouvert is the early morning beginning of the
Carnival Monday Mas. Much like the Halloween ghouls, ghosts,and goblins in the
United States, but without the religious pandering, everyone gets dirty, nasty,
slimy and muddy. There is black face, white face, blue and orange face.
Body
mud color is the costume du jour. There is no political correctness. You can be
a celebrity, or not. Everyone, black or white, Indian, Hindu, Muslim, Chinese,
Greek, Lebanese, or Syrian, become a nobody-anybody.
The only criteria of
normalcy required is to be insanely festive and happy.
- Monday Mas
Trini Carnival is the The Greatest Show on
Earth. Monday Mas is where the sightings of pretty Mas is premiered. The
talents of the great colony of artists who design costumes for masqueraders in
Carnival bands come alive. The epic stories of Greek mythology, the ancient
wars of the Roman empire, the fallen Dynasties, the Sea Monsters, the Galaxies
of the World, the indigenous Indian Tribal dress, the kings and warriors of
Africa are depicted as Mas costumes. The largest masqueraders ball in any part of
the world takes place in Trinidad and Tobago on the streets of the capitol city
Port of Spain, and its outlying towns and rural venues.
The landscape
of people, colors, sounds and gaiety are intoxicating. No one is a spectator.
Everyone, whether in costume or not, is consumed in the drunkenness of fun,
dance and non stop merriment.
- Tuesday Carnival Laniappe
On Carnival Tuesday, there is profusion of every
type of synergy and harmony and a myriad kaleidoscopic colors in every shape,
form and fashion. Bands of thousands of masqueraders come out in full regalia.
Accompanying the thousands of masqueraders are the trucks with the music.
Alongside the trucks, and the masquerades are the people, the tourists, the
spectators, and the Carnival jumbies. It is an orgiastic explosion of fun.
Then by Tuesday nightfall, Carnival takes her
leave. Along the streets, remnants of glitz, glitter, wings, headpieces,
lifeless and strewn are swept up by the engines of trash collection vehicles.
The feast of the Gods of Bacchanalia takes a
purging exit. The Carnival is Over.
Carnival is the Experience
Brazil Carnival showcases their Samba Dance Schools, New Orleans glams the avante garde and fierce outrageousness during their Mardi Gras celebrations, Trinis Play Mas without ceasing.
Brazil Carnival showcases their Samba Dance Schools, New Orleans glams the avante garde and fierce outrageousness during their Mardi Gras celebrations, Trinis Play Mas without ceasing.
Trinis have a World Treasure Resource. its the
Majesty of Carnival.
What happens at Trini Carnival stays with you
for lifetimes..
Thursday, January 1, 2015
My Top 10 Discoveries on Social Media Engagement
Here are my top 10 discoveries on social media
1. Person to Person conversations are so Yesterday
Instead of conversations, I can script a post to say my thoughts, themes, ideas, philosophies, discussion, and disregard the arguments in nano seconds of typing.
2. Technology is more entertaining than it is boring
For a gregarious introvert, the oxymoron of personalities, I am more fluid in my virtual communications.Open communication shared with others is a daily exercise of new and informational exposure.
It is very engaging to see the personality types exposed by the candor of their reflections. People display their political persuasions, their religious enthusiasm, or their atheism. There are the stereotypes, the misinterpreted, the bigots and the zealots.
3. Maintain neutrality or don't feel the mandate to pontificate
The public exercise of virtual freedom is not a space for open warfare. In the fractured schematic of the virtual world, there are; the dictator and spectator, the communicator and relator, the orator and berator. In the expose and the narrated, the truth and the fiction, the traveled and the traversed, the philosophical and the unsophisticated personality types are sharing in the popular culture of virtual reality.4. Viral is relative
Stars and media thrive on viral excess. To have star power and become a brand like the Kardashians, any and everything that can arouse twitter and reaction are viral worthy.Kim Kardashian poses with her butt implants for a cover shoot. It is newsworthy.
Nicki Minaj and the Anaconda salacious video antics are viral material.
The less clothes worn by Rihanna and Miley Cyrus for public events, that's viral value. This is news, viral and epidemic
Viral is momentary. The stars get their fame and until their next spectacle event is publicly posted, their viral fortune continues to expand.
5. The economy of virtual spending
Online grocery shopping is more expedient and ever better bargains can be easily found by performing specific searches. Either store pick up or home delivery, these choices are better than the picking, parking, loading frustrations of instore purchases.One of the best online purchases for 2014 was the Overstock.com Barbie Doll Dream house.
The labor of love for my granddaughter Raylynn by her Dad to put this together Christmas day was beyond priceless. But the joy for Raylynn and her look of complete bliss, are beyond words or money.
6. Isolation and Introspection are not because of loneliness.
The choice to experience a rich virtual education does not diminish the absence of human encounter.When social media posts share the nostalgia of homelands far away, there is connection. In the misery of all that seems trivial, when you are uplifted with a kind affirmation, the essence of harmony of lives becomes more evident.
7. Sharing is Caring
Sharing pictures, and posting about common interests introduce people to one another.For some they are entertained, others may need to politicize. To some, praying and seeking faithful are shared interests.
8. Virtual Optimization is Visibility with personalized hashtags
Online exploration of vacation destinations has excited my travel curiosity. The pictures to world destinations with sun, sand and beach are my most favored posts. My hashtag #LifeisaBeach is my virtual tour posts of destinations to visit.#Ihopeyoudance is a favorite post that I regularly share. With many dancing styles, the line dancing with the over 55+ to the newest hip hop movements with ages ranging from 5 to 95 are my zest potions to share with all.
#Familying with immediate members of family, with friends and those who are no longer strangers are the bonding connections that are continued in my posts of shared and common interests,
9. Virtual is the new Actual
Being socially engaged is not just a virtual experience in social media, it is my highway to the world or people, places things to do and things to see.Virtual is the new Actual
10. Be authentic and Just be You
People who are engaged are individual and unique and esoteric and normal in their day to day lives and activities.
For those who are uncomfortable with radical issues, doctrines, ideologies or dispositions, social media will be a dubious challenge.
For those who are enthusiastic about being the person they are and can value all that is diverse and all encompassing, the authenticity of self is all that is really needed.
Engagement in virtual reality and the experience of social media and social networking are filled with exploration and discovery
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Nostalgia, when Tradition and Reality collide...the yearning of Christmas of yesteryears
fondest family Love and Blessings |
The baking, from the sweet bread, the white bread, the sponge cake, and the fruit cake were the virtual cravings to my empty palette..
Many family friends and colleagues posted pictures and told stories of the magic of smells coming from the family homes and kitchens. There was bounty and abundance and varieties of holiday feasts. The pictures were tastes of homesickness that were agonizing.
The cuisine, the breakfasts, the lunches, and the dinner spreads were all too many. Everyone shared the sumptuous feasts that families overextend themselves to bestow consumptive indulgences on all tastes and palettes.
And in perspective, the sentiment of tradition pierced deeply in the solace of invisibility.
The meaning of tradition is all too real when the tradition of meaning will more than likely become extinct as years go by and memories are no longer treasured.
Why does the song O Holy Night bring tears to congregations when sung at a midnight mass service? In the nostalgia of the ethereal hope that the Savior message of the Christ born occurs, this song evokes imagery and pageantry of the celestial. The melody of the words, "O night Divine, when Christ was born" it renders a bewitching spell of angelic harmony of birthing and renewal.
So it happens for many Catholics and other Christian denominations and even to strangers who become families.
The tradition of ritual and Church is perpetuated in the repetition of the liturgy, the doctrine, and the romance of the sacred. All of the splendor and majesty that comes with the Christmas theme, with Hannukah, Kwanzaa festivities, and other festive holiday practices are steeped in holistic reverence.
Even the ritual of the materialistic excesses, the shopping, the buying, the gifting, the expenses, and the displays are typical and requisite holiday occurrences. They are the traditional norms today. These are the themes of most commercial spectacles of tradition.
For the tradition of holiday gestures to be replaced by the insularity of modern isolation, it becomes a reckoning of the axiom: Out with the old, In with the new.
To reminisce on what made a home for the holidays is to recall the stature of the "homemaker".
In my personal idea of tradition, the homemaker was Mammy and Daddy. The essence of the holidays was the work, the preparations, the baking, and the family sharing. These were the most precious gifts I have ever known.
The homemaker is for me the presence of the intangible. Is this not the Christmas story? Is this still the message of Christmas? This humble birth in a manger story, a symbolic theme of Peace and Goodwill is the defining message of the Season.
In the perception of the mercenary traditions of now, busyness is the norm. The things that we have are mere tokens of opulence. There is a perfected farse that we no longer need to belong. It becomes natural to be apart because we have become so proprietary. All the busyness of our sophistication, the talents we have, the things we own, and the insularity that makes us distinct from others, enable our separation.
The nostalgia of tradition wanes.
As I reflect on the paradox of the manger story, the lowliness of the birth in a manger, the woman Mary.. who despite all fears and doubts and criticisms accepted her chosen calling, the Joseph, partner, who companioned and provided intimate stewardship to family and legacy, and the life source of birthing, the child, the innocence, the meek, the gift of the Presence, the lure of sentiment is aroused in promise.
Sentiment is not love.
While there is the challenge to constrain sentiment, practicing love distills even the murkiest distancing in life's path of obstacles and challenges.
The cherished memories of the warmth of home, the traditions of the family shared, and the making of a home, without much of all the things that today represent value and worth, are the anchors of history that justify tradition and legacy.
Now, it makes sense. The feeling of nostalgia, when tradition and reality collide. and the reason for the Season becomes singular endeavors of private exclusivity.
In discovery, to become home and to welcome others to share the gift of home are deeper and very lonely sentiments.
The homemaker is for me the presence of the intangible. Is this not the Christmas story? Is this still the message of Christmas? This humble birth in a manger story, a symbolic theme of Peace and Goodwill is the defining message of the Season.
In the perception of the mercenary traditions of now, busyness is the norm. The things that we have are mere tokens of opulence. There is a perfected farse that we no longer need to belong. It becomes natural to be apart because we have become so proprietary. All the busyness of our sophistication, the talents we have, the things we own, and the insularity that makes us distinct from others, enable our separation.
The nostalgia of tradition wanes.
As I reflect on the paradox of the manger story, the lowliness of the birth in a manger, the woman Mary.. who despite all fears and doubts and criticisms accepted her chosen calling, the Joseph, partner, who companioned and provided intimate stewardship to family and legacy, and the life source of birthing, the child, the innocence, the meek, the gift of the Presence, the lure of sentiment is aroused in promise.
Sentiment is not love.
While there is the challenge to constrain sentiment, practicing love distills even the murkiest distancing in life's path of obstacles and challenges.
The cherished memories of the warmth of home, the traditions of the family shared, and the making of a home, without much of all the things that today represent value and worth, are the anchors of history that justify tradition and legacy.
Now, it makes sense. The feeling of nostalgia, when tradition and reality collide. and the reason for the Season becomes singular endeavors of private exclusivity.
In discovery, to become home and to welcome others to share the gift of home are deeper and very lonely sentiments.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Social Justice is not Black and White. Looking at fear, divide and conquer, and the psyche of the cult of media
In the aftermath of the death of Freddy Gray, Baltimore explodes. But this picture of a little black boy offering a bottle of water to a police officer, who may perceive him as a potential threat, given the current state of repeated incidents /killings epitomizes a palpable moment of reconciliation.
Were this only, the hope for all to see each other as needing each other...
I reshare this blog #SocialJustice after dealing with my own emotions after #MichaelBrown. Now those same emotions are as raw as it was just 6 months ago
Social InJustice
As a mother, the ache in my being for any other parent who suffers a loss of a child is daunting. To lose a son, by murder by an officer of the law is unconscionable. To lose a son because he is marginalized, because of the color of his skin is irreparable. To lose a son, because the scales of justice are now tainted in his blood, and even the mere act of reparation in a court of law is compromised in a jury's verdict is inconsolable
.
I stand with the Mother of Michael Brown and the people of Ferguson in a grief that is unsustainable.
We are psychologically drowning in hurt and pain and we all are emotionally scarred in the extremes of social justice.
I stand with the Mother of Michael Brown and the people of Ferguson in a grief that is unsustainable.
We are psychologically drowning in hurt and pain and we all are emotionally scarred in the extremes of social justice.
We are demanding that we only see this through the microscope of Black and White.
We are incising the vitriol of Hate and fueling the war mongering of prejudice.
We are perpetuating the psyche of divide and conquer.
Media is drowning us in the furor of our worst fears. If for the last 24 hours, we have been incensed by the atrocities of the verdict in Ferguson, we have now succumbed to the very power of the medium of our own worst fears.
Just perhaps, the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and so many who have been the victims of heinous societal injustices, are the calls for all to reclaim and demand the rights of human justice.
Human justice is not practiced in a courtroom as we can now attest.
Human justice begins in the birthing of a human, in the conduct we share with our fellow beings, in the respect we instill in our families. We are the forces of human justice by instilling virtue and value in our children and loved ones.
When we are all aware of the very potent opportunity we come into this world to share, we will not have to find the excuses to distinguish each other by race, or color or by what the world deems as value.
When we choose to revere our humanity, the lives of the victims of societies ills, will in fact, be honored in their memories.
To achieve social justice, let us not become slaves to the idea of Black and White, but let each of us awaken to our conscious experience of our highest being.
As Robert Nestor Marley sang and many other life prophets have proclaimed:
"Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war and until there are no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation, until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes. And until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race, there is war. And until that day, the dream of lasting peace, world citizenship, rule of international morality, will remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued, but never attained... now everywhere is war"
Friday, October 31, 2014
Carmen De Lavallade "As I Remember It" at the Kennedy Center, Wash DC Oct3014
#CarmendeLavallade beauty finessed with ethereal charm.
In her performance "As I Remember It" on October 30th 2014 to a capacity audience at the Kennedy Center, Terrace Theater Washington DC, her autobiography was told in memories voiced and displayed in film montages.
No she did not need to wrench her now 83 year old vintage muscles, nor strain that elongated neck, nor master any extraordinary pirouttes or toe points. her story mesmerized the audience in captions of fleeting moments of video, photography and film.
in a most intoxicating dramatization, she recreated Creation. God creating man/being in His own image and likeness in a very sculpted dance choreography, echoed by singing that resonated the fervor of the piece. In the next sketch she wailed at the penance of aging, talking to her fragmented body and its diminishing dimensions.
All this done with one costume. A draping fushia sweater over a deep maroon full body dance leotard.
The artistry of the tempered movements of the now aged Carmen, and the mirrored reflection of the young nubile exotic Carmen de Lavallade was the Dance of Immortality. With a stool and a tall back chair as her props, and a curtain of cascading rows of vertical miniture bulbs, the scenes were shadows of life moments with the many greats of performers, Pearl Bailey, Alvin Ailey, Josephine Baker and many more famed dancers, choreographers, producers of her era.
She introduced us to the marriage of like spirits in her meeting her husband Geoffrey Holder. So potent was his magnetism that she married him four months after their first meeting. As the show ended, as she summarily concedes to the mortality of her humanness in poetry and dance, the curtains in the back reflect her dancing with her lifelong partner Geoffrey, with rambunctious exhilaration and feisty artistry. i was holding back a gush of tears... because all the memories still live on....
In her performance "As I Remember It" on October 30th 2014 to a capacity audience at the Kennedy Center, Terrace Theater Washington DC, her autobiography was told in memories voiced and displayed in film montages.
No she did not need to wrench her now 83 year old vintage muscles, nor strain that elongated neck, nor master any extraordinary pirouttes or toe points. her story mesmerized the audience in captions of fleeting moments of video, photography and film.
in a most intoxicating dramatization, she recreated Creation. God creating man/being in His own image and likeness in a very sculpted dance choreography, echoed by singing that resonated the fervor of the piece. In the next sketch she wailed at the penance of aging, talking to her fragmented body and its diminishing dimensions.
All this done with one costume. A draping fushia sweater over a deep maroon full body dance leotard.
The artistry of the tempered movements of the now aged Carmen, and the mirrored reflection of the young nubile exotic Carmen de Lavallade was the Dance of Immortality. With a stool and a tall back chair as her props, and a curtain of cascading rows of vertical miniture bulbs, the scenes were shadows of life moments with the many greats of performers, Pearl Bailey, Alvin Ailey, Josephine Baker and many more famed dancers, choreographers, producers of her era.
She introduced us to the marriage of like spirits in her meeting her husband Geoffrey Holder. So potent was his magnetism that she married him four months after their first meeting. As the show ended, as she summarily concedes to the mortality of her humanness in poetry and dance, the curtains in the back reflect her dancing with her lifelong partner Geoffrey, with rambunctious exhilaration and feisty artistry. i was holding back a gush of tears... because all the memories still live on....
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Tessanne Chin Live at The Hamilton Wash DC Oct 28 14
Tessanne Chin, Winner of The Voice 2013 performed in Washington DC at The Hamilton Hotel. To a sold out audience of nationals representing Jamaica, and all ends of the Caribbean and new fans, Tessanne performed with gusto, with earthiness and with commanding intimacy.
This is my video, which was allowed by the announcer, with no flash. I was privileged to be Standing Room Only up front and personal to capture the radiance, the beauty, and the inviting persona of a truly endearing and richly talented artist
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Memorial Day Remember Your BLessings
#MemorialDay #RememberYourBLessings Blessed thoughts and Live in the richness of each moment in fellowship and love.. gcw written Dec 2011
Zuckerman thinks about a net world, and so it is.
Gates thinks a program and Microsoft runs on every computer
These are just the cosmic forces exampling manifestation,,, and each of us has this limitless potentiality.
When thought becomes so potent, that it manifests into an actuality, the impossible is possible, the unbelievable is believable, the unreachable is reachable, and the infinite is attainable.
To live each moment, each day, each year, knowing that my thoughts can breathe new life, a new existence, is to acknowledge the gift of creation. In its most complex definition, that our existence came to be is the wonder and awe of a genius Creator.
As we step toward our destiny, may each of us know that we are greater than our fears.
We have opportunities beyond our imagination, we have the miracle of thought.
I embrace the past with gratitude and humility. I look forward to a future of hope and dreams.
I Live today so that my thoughts express the beauty of the Creator, who gives me lifeBlessed thoughts and Live in the richness of each moment in fellowship and love
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Compelling Video on Race with Mellody Hobson: Color blind or color brave?
Watch this compelling video http://youtu.be/oKtALHe3Y9Q should be on every academic curriculum, on every public podium, on world forums to engage people everywhere in reaching beyond their skewed ideals of color, race, gender, and truly fashioning a world that is color brave... this 14 minute video is invigorating, insightful and will infus a deeply aroused passion for our World vision. If you, like me, do not know who @MelodyHobson is..let me steal from her TED talk to state, that she is Magnetic, Charismatic, and Eloquently accomplished. and too, being the wife of George Lucas, a man who has explored the diverse frontiers of film and theatre with celebrated aplomb, makes their union, a collaboration of genius appeal.
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