Another Trinidad Carnival has come and gone. And it has left me with many more questions than answers. I’ll start with the most benign. On a lighter note: masquerader tips, tricks…and lessons Toe pads do not work. At least not for me. Though, maybe my toes would be even worse without them. Kinesio tape rocks. If you have any injuries, old or new, get a … Continue reading Party done! Musings on Trinidad Carnival 2014
I am at odds. On the one hand are the succinct, sage but fatalistic words of Trini (West Indian? African diaspora? Universal?) sayings like: “Like who like you” “Bat in yuh crease” “Goat doh make sheep” And the blood-chilling end to the fable that lives in different incarnations in different parts of the world (the scorpion and frog in Aesop, the morrocoy and scorpion in … Continue reading Pragmatism vs idealism…or something
I think it’s nearly 10 years I’ve been trying to decide whether I agree with this! I first heard it said by Phylicia Rashad on a New York TV station, and I’ve been mulling it ever since. I thought I disagreed with it, actually thinking film was more life-like and theatre more “artful” – at least from the actor’s perspective – but I think I … Continue reading “Theatre is life, film is art, TV is furniture”
To be aware is to watch your bodily activity, the way you walk, the way you sit, the movements of your hands; it is to hear the words you use, to observe all your thoughts, all your emotions, all your reactions. It includes awareness of the unconscious, with its traditions, its instinctual knowledge, and the immense sorrow it has accumulated—not only personal sorrow, but the … Continue reading Every breath a meditation
I wanted to be a marine biologist for a spell as a child. I was particularly fascinated by the “big fish” – the fish and mammals that dominated the ecosystem. Sharks in particular fascinated me, being among the few species that had barely had need to evolve over millennia, so perfect was their design. It horrifies me a bit that among our local delicacies is … Continue reading Shark protections — a necessity in Trinidad & Tobago
One of my ongoing projects is digitising the Marionettes‘ almost 50-year historical archive. It’s a project I seldom have adequate time for, but the Universe has cleared the way and I’ve been going through some decades’ old footage. Much of it brings bittersweet memories. So many songs, events and performances brought me so much joy growing up, with this my extended family. The sadness comes … Continue reading Barter, or life has loveliness to sell…
Well first of all I’m annoyed I deleted the Marionettes version of us singing a beautiful arrangement of this classic (Quaker? Christian?) hymn. We sang it a few years ago, and it was almost an anthem for our likkle bu’ tallawah Trini community choir. The words and the beautiful arrangements helped steady restless or grieving spirits, and bring us all back in touch with the beauty … Continue reading “How can I keep from singing?” (All hail #MusicMonday)
Allegro con brio Andante con moto (7:28) Scherzo (17:25) Allegro (22:48) I refuse to be stripped of it. I refuse to have it reduced to anything less epic than it is (or can and should be). Everybody knows Beethoven’s fifth symphony, or at least those arresting opening notes. They’ve infiltrated popular culture almost to have become hackneyed. The symphony itself is masterful, dramatic and intensely … Continue reading Take 5: Beethoven’s fifth, and the triumph of imagination
