I texted my dad a little while ago to make sure he’d safely arrived in London after being out of town for a while. No sooner had he texted back in the affirmative did he ask: “What password did they give you for the internet?” So I sent it. He SMS‘d back: “Thx.” Continue reading Techie dad
Why isn’t there a culture of real feedback, reviewing or criticism in T&T? It’s something I’ve heard artists and (good) journalists & editors complain about for years: that there isn’t a real core of reviewers and “critics” (however infuriating they me be) to actually give feedback on our cultural products. I can’t remember the last time I read a proper review of local art, music, … Continue reading Arts criticism/reviewing in Trinidad & Tobago: is there any?
In loving memory of Aunty Astra Da Costa Fare you well, my dear, I must be gone, And leave you for a while; If I roam away I’ll come back again, Though I roam ten thousand miles, my dear, Though I roam ten thousand miles. So fair thou art, my bonny lass, So deep in love am I; But I never will prove false to … Continue reading “Fare you well, my dear, I must be gone, / And leave you for a while…”
LARRY KING: Susan, you’re single. In fact you say you’ve never been kissed. Now you’re getting piles of fan mail. How will this change your life? SUSAN BOYLE: I won’t be lonely. I certainly won’t be lonely any more! LK: Will you date? Will you change the way you look? Your dress, your hair, your style? SB: Why should I? Why should I change? It … Continue reading Susan Boyle’s answers to Larry King (check & mate)
In the last few years, changes in regulations have made it easier for entrepreneurs to launch their own TV/radio stations, newspapers and magazines, so there has been a proliferation of media channels in Trinidad and Tobago. And this is to say nothing of the increasing broadband penetration and the growth of the internet on the islands, and the number of companies operating news and entertainment-based … Continue reading Media Saturation? Economic slowdowns & the media in Trinidad & Tobago
I was glad to read it, but not sure I believed it. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2008 not only listed Trinidad & Tobago as the regional leader in both the Caribbean and Latin America in closing the gender gap, but placed #19 of countries around the world making that kind of progress. The new spot is up 27 places over our … Continue reading Really? T&T leads Caribbean & Latin America in closing the gender gap
Trinidad and Tobago has made an immense contribution to regional and international music with calypso, the steel pan, soca and more. But unfortunately, we have not done enough to support these local artists and inventors by buying legal copies of their music, from which they might actually garner some income. Instead, via illicit music downloading and sharing, and most lucratively for pirates on the streets … Continue reading Music Pirates: Time to Walk the Plank
I’ll start with “artiste“, because its senseless use is far more tangible to me, while I entertain that there may be some sort of rationale for the employment of the term “master artist” that I have not yet encountered. Let’s start at the beginning. Trinis have this thing where anybody who is a performer of any kind may be referred to as an “artiste”, with … Continue reading On “Artiste” & “Master Artist”
