RSVG Police is my band ah de year
De Carnival done and mention must be made of some ah de positive initiatives that were introduced this year. Like no bottled drinks, every thing was sold in plastic containers; as ah result we had practically no smashing ah bottles and ah happy to say, no reported case ah bottle-stabbing or serious violence. Is ah PT that CDC or Town Board didnât think it was necessary to request also, that vendors provide garbage bags to collect the MTâs and avoid de wide-spread littering like you never seen before. Anyhow Kingstown was clean as ah whistle by 5:30 every morning, except Tuesday morning when town was overwhelmed the night before. And so my choice foh Sections ah de Band foh Carnival goes to de Sanitation Wukers foh ah great performance jigging with dey brooms, shovels, garbage bins, wheel barrows etc every morning at 1:00 a.m. cleaning de town and making it look like if nothing happened the night before. Ah hope CDC look sharp call them foh dey well-deserved prize, ah bone-us foh Carnival.{{more}}
Ah listening to all who get King and Queen, Band ah de Year, Best Dis and Best Dat; but my next choice is foh Band ah de Year, and that goes to the RSVG Police Force. Dey did ah fantastic job! Miss Lie-Za say ah must big-up Mill-ah and de Dream Team of Miller, Pompey, Christopher, Brewster and Davis, de âFabulous Fiveâ! How de trouble makers couldnât pass thru de Mill-ah-tall! De presence ah de Police was every way: SSU Squad, Black Squad, Drug Squad, Play-in clothes Squad, she say dey even had Mad Squad too! But all joke aside, de talk ah de town is how clean Kingstown was and the absence of any violence during the entire Carnival. Abijah say in his Kaiso that Sister Priam say: âIt wonât be always soâ; but my girl Lie-Za say: âshe hope it will be always soâ!
TIME FOH AH SHAKE UP CDC
Last week ah beg foh mercy foh CDC, ah felt that up to that time dey were doing dey best. This week ah not going to lick dem up, but some thing didnât go down well that needs talking bout. Miss Carival, de Show we ranking as second to none in de Caribbean, went on foh over six hours; Lie-Za complain that de quality ah de show, talent especially was poor, Mack Robertson say he fell asleep during de show and dreamt he was roasting breadfruit. If you know Mack, he ate piece ah dah Roast Breadfruit long before he wake up. But datâs Ridiculous, not de roast-breadfruit, de Show! And then on Tuesday, Mardi Gras, people in de Stands from 11a.m. till 1p.m before the first Band appear on stage, and then dey sat there up until 7p.m when the final Band left de park.
The concern here is that year after year, CDC does itâs own post mortem, while that is necessary, to assess you-self again and again, this could develop inbreeding which seems to be part ah the problem; Carnival is ripe foh ah open forum, some new faces with fresh blood need to be brought on board to inject new I-dears. The 1977 Carnival format is still very much in use. As Glenn would ah say: âItâs time foh ah shake up CDCâ!
WILL I-PA GO TO PAR-LIAR-MINT TOO
Ah not good at judging Mas but looking at it on TV, de Mas was good; ah would ah give Blondie Birdâs Band First Prize, Becks say Dragons, you see why de judges decision is always fine-all. De Kaisos this year was up to standard, lively music, most ah dem nicely rendered too. I-Pa Finally made it to de top! His first song âCanât tell de Comrad soâ has much in common with De Man Ageâs âDey Go Ban Itâ that he sang in 1978. Both ah dem say what dey had to say and then dissociated dem-selves. Lie-Za reminding me that when Princess Monique sang and won de Monarch, she was invited to Par-liar-mint and copies of her song were taken to de Caricom Prime Ministers Summit. Now she asking me if ah think I-Pa will get honorable mention in de House ah Par-liar-mint foh his skillfully written song on de Prime Minister, and if like Princess Monique, copies of his song will be taken to de next Summit. You see de problems ah does have with dat girl.
GET INTO SHAPE GIRLS
Ah was telling Lie-Za that ah sit down in me living room watching the Bands go pass de stage and ah couldnât help notice ah lot ah âout-ah-shapeâ women dancing on stage and dat is not how Vincy women custom to look. You know she chant me down say ah just like her pastor and de Kris-stuff-in and dem in her church, nobody could run down Carnival like dem, but dey donât miss ah show, dey home with dey eyes glued pon de TV watching everything that show. Ah had to tell she is nothing wrong with having ah look at de menu, but you donât have to go foh de food! But ah still insist that dem Vincy girls must tek stock ah dey shape or out-ah-shape.
JOHN AND JOE
Quadrille suffered ah terrible blow, two blows actually in one month with de passing ah John Nero ah wicked Banjo Player and Joseph âJoeâ Ince ah Cuatro Maestro. Both ah dem hailed from Sandy Bay and held de Fort after de passing of the famous Jonathan âSatanâ Ince, he was bad like Satan pon ah Banjo, de only man ah ever see play ah Banjo with one string.. This weekend we say farewell to Joe. Leo Anthony is all ready with his Violin so ah have to tek out me Cuatro and practise-up foh Uncle Josephâs funeral. With de passing of Joe, Sandy Bay Quadrille has lost all its ole stalwarts: the Ince brothers, Jonathan, James, Joseph and John Nero, all powerful Bible characters. One thing foh certain, with all dem ole time string band players migrating to Heaven, Saint Peter canât complain foh sweet music; dey love dey strong, but ah have news foh dem, de only drink in Heaven is Milk and Honey. May their souls sweetly rest.
And with that, ah gone again.
One Love Bassy.
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