Random thoughts on experiences and matters of interest. Hoping to foster a vibrant community of readers and contributors. It's the next iteration of Buzzing Around, which began as a school project.
Well...Christmas 2017 is almost over. I hope you all had a wonderful day filled with the warmth of family, good cheer and beautiful memories.
I welcome viewers from Portugal to these postings. I hope you enjoyed the visit.
Today I'm going to share my fave Christmas songs that give me chills. Like this one by Peabo Bryson.
Peabo Bryson "Born On Christmas Day" (Credit: arshcenter 2014)
These songs speak to the glory that was manifested in the birth of this child more than 2,000 years ago and I'm more interested in the fact that Christ walked the earth than in the actual date of his birth.
Mariah Carey "Jesus Born On This Day" (MariahCareyVEVO 2015)
When a child is born, no-one knows his/her potential, that's why it is so very important for parents to provide a nurturing environment for their children.
Pentatonix "Mary Did You Know?" (Credit PTXOfficial 2014)
While there may be an inkling as leadership traits emerge over the years, no-one knows when they are raising a future world leader, a future Olympian (and I don't mean one who shoots his girlfriend through a bathroom door thinking "it's an intruder" 😠) or a future Nobel Laureate in Literature or Economics or Science. Similarly, if someone ends up on the streets or in prison, we need to
remember that all babies begin with a clean slate and its the
experiences they have that mould them into the men and women they
become. If any of you are parents, it is wise to remember that. I'm sure most parents want to raise children of light not darkness.
So, as I sign off with "My Christmas Prayer" I ask you to remember the reason for this season of hope, peace, joy and good will. It's not Santa Claus, it's the birth of the Christ child, as these songs all say. Until next time...
Bebe Winans featuring Rob Thomas "My Christmas Prayer" (Credit: One UnconditionalLove 2014)
Having discovered that readers of this blog have hailed not only from Barbados, but Poland, Ukraine, Germany, The United Kingdom, France, St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thailand, Ireland, Venezuela as well as the United States, I'm going to focus on Bajan talent - music, arts and craft, success and survival stories - instead of my original intent, which was to share my random thoughts, musings...and the occasional rant. You will not find the salacious here, but perhaps some inspiration.
This means that nearly half of this blog's readers know little of Barbados' culture. So, to put some of our traditions into context, I'll give a little history.
Of course, we're a tropical island - so it doesn't snow. It's the music that makes the season for me.
Food and merriment are hallmarks of the Bajan Christmas. Baked ham is a favourite dish in many homes. During slavery (and remember slaves were chattel, that is property), Massa gave the slaves a Christmas holiday. He and his family celebrated in the European tradition. The slaves were given extra rations of meat, extra flour/meal (or whatever the carbohydrate of the day was), extra rum and they were allowed to party, so they danced and the drums beat well into the night. So there are lots of parties and family gatherings at Christmas.
Then, during the colonial era, people were so poor, they could only afford new socks and ribbons for the children, a new suit for the males and a new dress for the females at Christmas. They went to Church and then they went to Queen's Park in the city of Bridgetown for the Exhibition with its displays of livestock, a merry-go-round for children and sweetmeats to snack on. So Christmas was a day to look forward to. Today, people still shop for that new outfit and matching accessories. Churchgoers wear their new outfit to the 5:00 a.m. services, some also go to The Park (Queen's Park) where the Exhibition has given way to a free performance by the internationally-acclaimed Royal Barbados Police Force Band and a few accomplished vocalists rendering seasonal favourites.
Let's listen to the Mustard Seed Kids featuring the Queen of Soca, Alison Hinds, as they tell us about what happens at Christmas in Barbados (set to the tune of a very popular Crop Over song "Something's Happ'ning"). You'll hear about the ham, the shopping and the real reason for the season...the birth of Jesus.
"Christmas Happ'ning" (Credit: Russell Watson - 2012)
There is so much talent in Barbados per square mile. Here's another of our excellent vocalists with one of my seasonal local faves - Kimberley Inniss, with "It's Christmas Fa La La La La". Not sure if there's an official video of this one. But enjoy nonetheless. Her look may not be as marketable as a Rihanna or Shontelle but she
has a very fine voice.
Credit: bwe music (2016)
I've already featured, Tamara Marshall, whose vocal ability is outstanding. In this song, she wonders why her significant other only dotes on her at Christmas. A guilty conscience for a year of neglect...perhaps? It's a pity there's no official video around of this one.
Tamara Marshall - "Why Can't It Be Like This?" (Credit: Tsunami Tsam 2010)
Finally, I'll sign off with this one by Pastor John featuring Bevil Joseph, which I find totally infectious. Why don't you hug somebody and wish them "Merry Christmas"? 😉
John Yarde featuring Bevil Joseph - "Caribbean Christmas" (Credit John Yarde, 2017)
Merry Christmas from Barbados where we don't have snow but "plenty sunshine and de beach!" 😀
Wishing everyone the joy and peace of Christmas this year.
Today I'll share a few of the more humourous Barbadian Christmas tunes. Some will surely bring a smile to your face - after all we need a light moment amid the hassle and hustle that invariably comes with Christmas.
As I didn't feature Barbados' lyrical master in my Independence Day tribute to Bajan music, I'll start with the "Bajanised" (yes, I'm coining a word, that's why I studied linguistics 😉) version of Mummy kissing Santa Claus - except that it's not Mommy but Maizie, a chap's girlfriend. This one warrants a chuckle.
Red plastic Bag: "Maizie" (Credit: Bajanbloom Bloom)
Clearly Maizie totally bamboozled (that's a Bajanism for completely fooling someone) her local sweetheart.
If you're in the cold, a punch a crema would warm the insides. Here's Barbados' first major musical ambassadors with "Drink A Rum" - and for those who've not yet heard, rum was first produced in Barbados apparently.
The Merrymen: "Drink A Rum" (Credit: Edward Spencer)
Well, this one by Sach Moore and the Sandpebbles is very funny - it doesn't show Bajan women in a nice light however, so feminists will cringe and may complain that this form of quid pro quo is really the world's oldest profession for a woman. Still, the music is sweet for days!!
Sach Moore & The Sandpebbles: "Wha Yuh Gotta Gimme Fuh Christmas?" (Credit: bajanmusicfan).
The modern version of this is by Eric Lewis of MADD, a local comedy group, also popular for their Crop Over contributions. He declared: "She Mistake Me Fuh Santa Claus." I always thought it was "she musee tek me fuh Santa Claus"!
Eric Lewis: "She Mistake Me Fuh Santa Claus" (Credit: bwe music)
If you're thinking Bajans too commercial with this Christmas thing, two of our most beautiful voices have the right spirit for the season...I've declared myself a Biggie fan, so enjoy his reggae version of "Little Drummer Boy".
Geoffrey "Biggie Irie" Cordel: Little Drummer Boy: (Credit: Bajanbloom Bloom)
And here is Tamara Marshall, who began singing gospel and then moved on to more secular material. She sings: "Do You Hear what I Hear?"
Tamara Marshall: Do You Hear What I Hear? (Credit: bwe music)
I'll sign off with the Merrymen's "Happy Birthday Jesus" to show we know the reason for the season isn't gifts and themed parties but the entrance into our time of the Saviour of the World. "For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3: 16).
The Merrymen: Happy Birthday Jesus (Credit: Bajanbloom Bloom)
Today, as Barbados celebrates our 51st anniversary of Independence with a very special tribute to our global hip-hop queen #Rihanna with the renaming of the street where she grew up from Westbury New Road to Rihanna Drive, I didn't plan to write much. Instead I'm sharing some homegrown vocals of various genres.
I'll begin with what for many years was my favourite Barbadian song ever. It's still a classic for me. It's "Emmerton" by the maestro and national cultural ambassador, Anthony "Gabby"Carter, who can do the most amazing vocal gymnastics. This song is a lyrical tribute to a street in Bridgetown where he grew up:
The Mighty Gabby doing what he does so well - singing and playing guitar
For me, he remains a true king in Barbados' calypso arena, John King, now a political aspirant. In this introspective, inspirational song, he laments violence in society. It's as fresh now as it was when first released 20 years ago!
John King: How Many More
This lead singer has one of the sweetest soca voices and this is the song that made me a fan...around 25 years ago. Yes, back in the days of vinyl records. I'm sure there was an official video for this, but haven't located it online. 😞
The Splashband: Get Busy Get Behind the Truck
Then there is the party band of my heydey, Spice & Co. (Yes, I used to party like most youngsters do eventually...just my crowd was somewhat more refined than the bohemianism of today). That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 😉 This was one of their biggest party hits: "In de Congaline".
Spice & Company from way back when
So, to celebrate Barbados' Independence, I give you this one from last year that's now growing on me - "Independence Day" by iWeb, the reigning calypso monarch of Barbados, and Nikita, who did a first-class cover of Rihanna's "Love on The Brain" at the renaming ceremony today.
Independence Day
Just to show that amazing songs aren't just in the secular realm, check these out:
This young man released his debut album #1st John earlier this year, and I made sure I got a copy. Too many of my faves by him were on it to miss. Appreciated that he autographed it too. 😇😇
Release the Soundz
This song is by a young woman who used to sing soca and then she gave her life to Christ and showed that change of heart with this beautiful rendition:
Keann Walters' I Am Amazed
As Independence Day 2017 closes, I could not sign off without this invocation:
It's Independence time in Barbados, this month, so my "Against The Odds" story will focus on our biggest export to the world - albeit branded and packaged by and for another culture!
Back in 2007, I subscribed to news from Yahoo Music and they would feature a hot and rising artist weekly. I rarely checked them out. Then one day, I saw an image of a stunning young woman with what was picked to be the hottest dance track of the summer. I did not even check it out. I thought, "Goodness another African-American youngster who's a Beyonce wanna be".
A couple months later there was some buzz in the local newspapers and on radio about a young Bajan lass with a hit moving up the Billboard charts over the summer. I was curious. Then this video was shown on national TV in Barbados...
Pon De Replay
Like any patriotic Bajan and former Billboard Top 40 listener, I was thrilled to bits for this national's success. I still didn't connect her to the Yahoo "Hot Pick" I'd ignored. However, I took note of her achievements after that and though old enough to be a Mother to her, I became a fan of #Rihanna's music between the 2007-2010 period.
So last year, when taking the Social Media Marketing course with the University of Durham, I decided to find out who was Barbados biggest export? It turned out to be Rihanna.
I don't think Barbadians ever realised how huge this young woman from Westbury New Road (with the street where she used to live now renamed Rihanna Drive) had become in three short years. By 2010, the daily growth of her Facebook page exceeded 57k. No other Barbadian product even comes close. As I write, her Twitter page (linked above) has more than 82 million followers and her FB page has more than 81 million. That is influence.
She has represented international brands, even launching her own perfume and now beauty lines.
Hers is really a Cinderella story and a fine example of making it global...against the odds. And she is from this little rock in the Atlantic Ocean.
With the rest as they say being history, all that's left is for me to share some of my fave Rihanna songs. yes, they are her older hits.
SOS
The Nyo duet: Hate That I Love You
Keep flying the flag Riri. Ignore the haters...but do remember you are an example to millions - especially very young girls. Up and On!
If
someone told me 10 years ago that I'd be watching a series classified
as DLSV (suggestive dialogue, coarse language, sexual situations &
violence) with a heavy serving of hip-hop (my least fave genre), I'd
have said "no way".
Then I saw Cookie Lyon strut out of prison to get her piece of the #empire and I kept tuning in.
Taraji P. Henson as Cookie Lyon leaves prison after 17 years.
While
I like "Jamal's" pop sound, it's not the music that makes me a fan.
It's actually the story-line. The story of a a hip-hop music mogul who
strives to stay on top in the music business - having created an
"empire" from mostly foul gain and on the sacrifice of a wife who
lovingly and trustingly did some of his "dirty work" for him, gets
caught and does 17 years of time, only getting out when she rats on what
she knows of the underworld. Now Cookie's back to take what she's owed!
She
proves to be a mother who loves her sons dearly and falls back in love
with the still bad boy Lucious, now dapperly turned out in expensive
suits, living in lavish splendour and dating a sassy debutante nearly
half his age.
The Lyon Family
That was season 1. Over the remaining seasons Cookie, known for her loud mouth,
Cookie Lyon's fashion style is bold and colourful!
bold
fashion choices but excellent ear for sound, soon proves her worth in
the music industry eventually clawing her way back onto the executive of
Empire.
Cookie gets her seat on the board of executives
But the real draw for me was Taraji P. Henson herself. I'd seen her work in a couple of Tyler Perry's dramas - The Family That Preys, I Can Do Bad All By Myself for example - and Think Like A Man. So
I watched Empire out of curiosity and kept tuning in like millions of
fans everywhere to see what new trouble Cookie was causing - and she
caused lots. None more so than for a young man to lose his chance in
politics, thus earning the eternal ire of his conniving bourgeois mama,
played by another female powerhouse of an actress, Phylicia Rashad.
The Grand-dame of the '80s sitcom, Phylicia Rashad, plays the arch enemy of the Queen of the Empire, played by Taraji P. Henson
What
really interests me though is Taraji's story of making it against the
odds - graduating college as a young, single mother, packing up to go to
the other side of the USA to be an actress with that child in tow and
well into her 20s.
Taraji tells her against the odds story
Her rise to success was anything but overnight and now as a middle-aged
Mom, her career is rising with the Cookie Lyon role and the portrayal in
the highly-acclaimed film, Hidden Figures for which she and the entire ensemble received a Screen Actors Guild Award earlier this year.
Receiving the SAG Cast Award for the film "Hidden Figures"
Here's to Taraji P. Henson - a true winner against the odds.
Well, we live in a very dynamic age and there is so much I would like to talk about - but can't as an employee of the state. I was recently reminded that by law, public servants are unable comment openly on matters of policy or administration, unless designated to do so.
Yes, employers like loyalty - and being loyal is highly commendable. Nobody likes a whistle-blower - but then how would all of those corporate abuses have been discovered in the international business environment a few years ago?
Frankly, an individual should be entitled to speak his/her mind (without disclosing state secrets) on matters of concern. No-one agrees with every decision made by the government of the day...or an employer's for that matter. Sometimes one has to sacrifice for the good of the state. Sometimes one disagrees with the approach that an administration is pursuing. Leaders need to understand it's not a personal attack, and when it is that should not be, so commentators should not make it personal.
So instead of commenting on what I agree or disagree with, I'm showing photos of my Fleurs des Antilles collection from back in 1991/92 - when I dabbled in fashion design. For those who do not know, I am trained in Fashion Design but my interest has always been theatre-costume design for which there is no market in Barbados. So, I was happy to do fashion writing for a time.
I intentionally cropped out most of the models' faces as I have no idea what's become of them over the last 25 years. The only faces shown are two models in my actual graduation collection as that was a matter of public record.
