Ley we celebrate wid Starlitf

Dis Friday night we going to see what is possibly de greatest musical presentation ever put-on in SVG. It is going to be unique and again possibly one of the first of its kind here and elsewhere. We have heard Steel and Brass, we have had Steel wid Voices, Steel wid Combo, but ah don’t believe we ever had Steel wid all combined, Brass, Voices, Strings (violin and guitar) and electronic key-board. All of dis will be packaged by Starlift Steel Orchestra, now celebrating 42 years, not only dis country’s oldest Steel Band but unquestionably de best Steel Band ever, having won more Panorama championships dan any other band, and if my Mats is correct, won more champs dan all de other bands put together.{{more}} Dis production is ah bold and courageous attempt by any stroke of imagination, no wonder it has been attracting attention and enquiries from all over including Pan Organizers in T’n’T and de USA. This show will take place at de Arnos Vale Playing Field that is presently being transformed into ah concert theatre setting, at ah cost that is getting close to one hundred thousand dollars. Errol “Sardo” Sutherland, ah Pantractor, self made Architect/Engineer from practical experience, ah man wid nuff I-dare is heading de team that will create de environment (stage, lights and sounds) foh dis protuberant Presentation. Musician Coombsie is back to celebrate wid his Alma Mater, he’s ah Graduate Musician but before he migrated, ah remembering him playing ah beautiful Trumpet, and arranging foh Starlift back in de 60’s and 70’s when dey successfully attempted classical tunes at Music Festivals. De never tire-in John Horne will manage de stage and Chorale, Cantemos along wid an entourage ah talented individual musicians, Violinist, Guitarist, pianist will make up de cast foh dis highly anticipated night ah great performances.

It’s ah hundred dollar show that had to be priced at fifty dollars to give every body ah chance to attend “ de greatest show in vincy-earth” . Sadly it’s one night ah showing, yuh miss it and dat’s it. One regret is dat months ago de organizers ah dis show announced de date and venue December 18th. It pains me now to hear dat on de same night, organizers of another popular Christmas Carolling Competition are having dey show. And dey’s yet another Dance Competition on de same night. How Selfish and Uncaring can we be at times.

OUT AH EVEIL COMETH GOOD

Talking bout Selfish and uncaring, what could be going thru dem thief-men heads when dey broke into de Salvation Army storeroom, and stole out more dan half ah de parcels dat were packaged wid lickle rice, sugar, flour and other food items to be distributed to de hundreds ah less fortunate ole people among us? Those of us who understand de ways and means dat de Lord chooses to provide foh his children would realize dat “out ah evil, cometh good”. I am sure dat when de news about de theft broke on de Radio, (E.G. Lynch deserves special mention foh making ah personal appeal on behalf ah de Army), dat de response wid fresh supplies and other contributions more dan covered de loss. So we give thanks to de Lord foh small mercies and say ah special prayer foh forgiveness and mental help foh de thieves.

TRI TRI SET ME UP

Ah got to apologize to Tri Tri lovers foh setting dem up. Ah predict Tri Tri last Sat-dey, de Tri Tri set me up, dey mek me prediction look wuss dan de No-way-john Rob-I who did pre-dick ah Soon-ah-me was going to hit SVG in November, unless of course, de Rob-I was referring to de results ah de Riff-around-dem dat struck de ULP like ah Tied-all wave. But foh me, is de second time ah fall flat wid my Tri Tri prediction. Ah not making excuses but certain physical conditions must be in place in order foh de Tri Tri to be harvested. Firstly it must be raining in de mountains to create a fresh-water environment at de S-tree, dah is way de river meets de sea; to ensure rains at all times, we must stop cutting down de forests. And de second condition, is at de same river-mouth, de sea tide must be high enough to permit de Tri Tri to transfer easily from de sea to de river as dey attempt to migrate upstream. None of these conditions were met last week. De weather was bright and sunny all week, which was good foh Mr Ash at Lowmans Hill, who prayed foh good weather to put up his Christmas lights, and what ah spectacular display ah Lights dey up de hill. Also very noticeable was de sea tide last week-end, it was at its lowest. So de Tri Tri couldn’t come in and was like frustration all over, fisher folks and consumers waiting ashore as millions ah Tri Tri at de sea shore trying to come in to repeat dey life cycle. And while all ah dat going on, up by de Port, hundreds ah lickle Convent School girls held-up from going on de School’s annual Fun Raising Boat Ride, couldn’t go out to sea until dey paid de iniquitous one dollar departure tax. And dem people still wondering why dey got 43% ah de votes, oops ah forget is Christmas no Polly-ticks. Be careful how yuh shop, buy what yuh need not what yuh want. And wid dat, is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.