AH WIN AH HAM

Ah done see Christmas, ah win ah Kay-blue & Why-less Ham last week. When ah went to pay foh me mouth, me phone bill, de cash-hey gave me two vouchers, one say “Suzie-key Vitara next year” de other say “Ham”. Ah will collect de vehicle next year but right away ah went by Corea’s and collect ah big Carolina Pride Ham. Now if by chance all yuh win ah Ham too, don’t mek noise say yuh want ah big one like way Bassy get, ah done mek sure and tek de last ah de big ones if not de biggest.{{more}}

Ah love Ham, dat’s me fear-foh-it at Christmas. Ah grew up in de era when Ham was ah novelty, served only at Christmas, ah Ham had to last till New year, so every morning yuh get ah thin slice wid ah piece ah home made bread and yuh munch on dat slowly like mice nibbling cheese. Christmas Ham was not wid-out its ritual, soaking foh days to reduce de salt, den boiling foh hours in ah half-ah-drum ah water wid sugar and beer on an open fire. Every part ah dat Ham was put to use, from de outer most part, de sack foh kitchen rag, to de inner-most de bone foh peas soup in January. Ah refuse to change dat beautiful tradition, whereas some people want to eat Ham every day ah de year; not me, I like Santa, ah come once ah year, Christmas, and ah doing as Lennox Bowman sing, “don’t wait till de 25 th to enjoy Christmas”. My Christmas does start on December first wid me Ham. Bright and early last Sat-dey morning my Season began, no more one slice though, three slices wid ah piece ah hot roast breadfruit Wow! One slight problem, my lickle eleven-year ole daughter loves Ham and she making noise foh she three slices too.

When yuh Eat Ham once ah year it’s nostalgic. But dis Carolina Pride eat so good, ah had to look up dey web-site dat was on de label. Yuh never know, sometimes d’s manufacturers have give-aways, maybe ah might ah been lucky twice. Not dis time, dey provided ah set ah Trivia on Master Willie. Do yuh know dat no other animal provides ah wider range ah products dan de Hog. Even in de medical field Hog is useful: use de Skin foh burns, leave Burns Bonadie out ah dis. Foh making Insulin, no wonder pork so sweet, ask my 7 Dey friend Sir Louis, his granny uses to feed him Ham, she was Salvation Army. Dey meking heart valve from de Hog, maybe dem people wid heart like beast need to get some Hog valve replacement.

Hogs were responsible foh de naming of de famous Wall Street. Herds ah Hogs uses to rampage thru grain fields on Manhattan Island, so dey built ah large permanent wall along de edge ah Lower Manhattan to keep out de Hogs, ah street was later built along dat wall, and de name Wall Street emerged.

Ah story is dat in de UK three centuries ago, some one bought ah suckling pig in ah bag. He got home, opened de bag and ah Cat jumped out. When he went back to protest he was told next time “not to let de Cat out de Bag”. Dat’s funny eh, dat could never catch ah Vincy, we know “nah buy Pig in ah Bag” otherwise only ah DNA will save yuh. Mek sure and get ah Ham foh all dem phone bill yuh pay.

GO FOH GOLD KENNETH

Dr Ken John, de Grand Master of Vincentian Columnists, celebrates his “Silver Anniversary” 25 years writing his “This Week” column in de Vincentian. Is like ah marathon writing foh twenty five years uninterrupted. An article ah week; four, sometimes five weeks ah month, twelve months ah year, multiply dat by 25 (years) and yuh get over 1,250 articles, ah real commitment considering dat most ah those articles fell in ah category called “Ah labour of Love”. Writing an article is one thing but getting people to read yuh writings week after week, is by itself de challenge, it ain’t easy. Ken is like de God-father, de most experienced, most prolific and his scholarship in History, Polly-ticks, Law, de languages, Latin and French really separate de wheat from de chaff among us, no one will dispute de fact dat Ken’s de best. In SVG we are blessed to have ah cadre of excellent writers spearheaded by none other dan Ken John himself, Renwick Rose, Doctors Ferdinand and Fraser; Blazer Williams, Olson Peters, Jomo, Saboto and Casper, and don’t forget Avil Cupid’s letter from London, not prolific but short and spy-see. Let us not foh ah moment overlook de contributions from de ladies on de important areas of Health & Nutrition, Law, Business etc. Journal-is-him is in good hands in SVG.

So de Love Vine wishes de good Doc ah long and healthy life scribbling, may he continue from his Silver milestone, skip Pearl and Ruby and go straight foh Gold, If Kenneth “pen is” full ah ink he could go foh Pearl and den Ruby. Thank yuh Kenneth!

YUH MISS AH GOOD SHOW

Maybe ah should just repeat what patrons had to say after Pennola Ross’ show “Unfolding a window to the soul” last weekend: “Dis is ah fifty dollar show, we does pay more foh dem stupid bumba bumba shows”! “Dis is one ah de best show ever in SVG”! “She sang a lot ah songs but she look and sound like ah different person in every one”! “Who Ross is she people, ah never hear bout she before”. “Maybe she should repeat de show just after Christmas when all dem Vincies dey home”. “All yuh have tickets foh tomorrow night, ah coming back”. “Ah feel de song wid she and de Nun was de best”. “Yuh think so, ah prefer de Celene and Barbara one dat she and Andrea Gaymes sang”. “My grandmother would have identified wid dat folk song ‘Country Woman’, she uses to walk from Troumaka to Kingstown to shop”. “ When she started out wid dem Mozart music ah say it will be ah boring night, but when she said thank yuh very much and good night, ah didn’t want to leave, she good”. “She will do well when she go Berklee College”. Ah told all yuh not to miss de show, it was bubble-ishus.

SOBO-TOO GREEN

What’s happening in South Central Windward? ULP having anniversary celebrations up dey Fry-dey night. Talk is Senator Marks giving way foh Sobo-to See-saw ah chance to tek Sell-boy’s seat. But Lie-Za say See-me-in Green is back and rumour is NDP going foh him. Ah think ah taking in dat meeting, but foh now is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy.