So, is countdown time...kings, queens an' individuals prancin' an' paradin' in de Savannah, pansides all over de place practisin' hard, hard
an' de rest of T&T partyin' like it ent have no tomorrow. An' then yuh yuh pickup de papers an see dat real bacchanal only now start...no, not
de UNC tryin' dey best to implode, but de story 'bout what suppose to be happenin' wid de Savannah after Carnival 2006.

I sure dat jes like me plenty people did forget dey suppose to be givin' de Savannah a 'facelift' - in fact is more like a full blown Hollywood actress overhaul when yuh think 'bout it!. De idea is/was (an' hopefully will still be to blow way de Grand Stand, stage and de North Stand an' replace dem wid a "Cultural Centre" dat would serve fuh all kinda activites from plays to Panorama an' de Parade of de Bands an' anyting else yuh could throw at it. Dey been makin' de usual noises 'bout dis fuh plenty many years now, an apparently it even reach to point of havin' a design dat get pick...a nex' design dat is, because back in 2000 when de UNC was in Gov't an' it was dem turn to talk de talk, Colin Laird did submit a design dat apparently did find favour keepin' dust off a table/desk/shelf in some office somewhere, mainly because dey did soon lorse de election.

But anyways, as is always de case in PlusCaChangelandia de idea did get float again an' a nex' architect (Stephen Mendes) design get de nod. But as yuh would expect nuttin' do happen easy in dis land...from de newspaper story it seem dat nobody did know how de design get choose, Pantrinbago folks not happy wid de design an' sayin' it cyant hold enough people an' dat dey shoulda have a stage wid audience on one side only which is a mucho valid point, half de time yuh only seein' de back of who on stage an' it bound to make de settin' up of a panside plenty easier. But wait, there's more! Better yet, EVEN if as dey plan call for an' dey start work Ash Wednesday, it ent go finish in time fuh Carnival 2007. Excuse me??? Dem crazy or what? Is no way dat should be allowed, even if all de complex ent complete, at de very least de stage/performance area an'
seating bound to mus' be ready fuh 2007...an' yuh know wid World Cup Cricket here in 2007 dey go want to have 'cultural display' an' ting fuh
de visitors, is where dey feel dey go hold dat - in de Oval where dey playin' de matches or in one of de odder Stadia we have dat ent getin'
properly utilised anyway?

Chile, I doh know...I really doesn' know what does do dese con-sultants an' technoc-rats dat drawin' big salary an' jettin' off all round de world. Yuh mean to say is not one person could standup an' tell de Emperors' an dem dat dey not only ent wearin' no clothes but dey leavin' skidmark everywhere? Now, I ent see Mr. Mendes design, an' de article did talk 'bout de one dat Laird did do an' also had a picture...so in fairness I have to say I sure he design good too, is jes I find it should get build in stages like how Laird say he own woulda get build, an' 2007 mas wouldn' get putout. De ting is, I wonder if in fact de Gov't/Ministry or whoever it is send out de brief did specify anyting odder than "build a cultural centre in de Savannah to replace what dere now". From what Laird say he design woulda be real nice, it woulda had solar cells on de roof to generate electricity, a macco big underground water storage tank an' de North Stand woulda be a 'hill' wid trees an ting on de north side an' changing rooms an' parking underground so as to not mashup de aesthetic an' functional aspects of de Savannah...is to hope dat some of de same kinda thinkin' did pass through de con-sultants an' technoc-rats who did prepare de brief an' endup in Mendes design.

Me ent care who get de wuk to design or build de ting, all I want to know is dat when it done, we could look at it an' be proud of de place not 6mths after it build, but 6, 16 or 60 years later because it did get MAINTAINED as well as utilised rather than bein' a nex' white elephant to add to de expansive, expensive, an' extensive collection we done have.

Allyuh behave yuhself fuh de season, an' please Mr. DJs allyuh could give we ah ease up wid de aerobics music in de parties? Is not only de youths an' dem who does go to fete yuh know...if I didn' know better I woulda swear de DJ an' dem have shares in either de Ambulance Service or Private Hospital, is so dey tryin' to give people heart attack.

 

BACKCHAT: Issues006

Salut ma Tante!
After reading your last feedback letter it seems like someone is preparing to write a thesis on your use of the vernacular of the islands (our
beautiful twin republic).

On the other hand another respondent is not very happy with the use of the vernacular without realizing that it gives many of us ex-pats quite a
chuckle. Up here in Quebec we have a version of french which is spoken by the ordinary folks and it is called "joual"-a corruption of the french
word for horse. There are plays written in joual and it is quite amusing to hear the humour that comes out of the ordinary folk. Every culture has
a patois of some kind and when you are well-travelled you pick up quite a few of them. The Haitians have their Creole and you can see their posters and signs in their demonstrations where the word President is written as Prezidan which is simply the phonetic pronunciation of the french word for president. I enjoy your rants immensely and I would miss it terribly if you discontinued it.So keep on blogging it for the pleasure of those of us who appreciate it.
Ciao!
//Canada


Well Tants, You go always get de pros and de cons of every situation. But what really wrong wid dat 'concerned Trini citizen' who was 'realled
disappointed' when he/she opened your Trinidiary website and see the crap....'? Who invite he/she? Did he/she go to Holy Name or Fatima 24/7
therefore doh know or like we Trini dialek? Dis is how we talk to each odder and if he/she cyar understand it or have a problem wiid it, den
doh read it. Period.

As you know, most, if not all of us, who enjoy Trinidiary on a weekly basis, could speak the Queen's English with the best of them...when we
need to. But dis forum is not for dat! So get of de damn bus and lef we be!!!
//USA


Tantie your Talk is great. I teach English here in Guadeloupe and I can use it to show the students there are Englishes, not just Albion English.
Indian english, South African English, all of dem great joy to check. Even the pure Oxford English is a deviation on the original tongues it
emerged from. Same thing for French. Now when we defend our different creoles in the Caribbean we defend what we have that is really ours.
//Guadeloupe


Backchat: Issue 07

Salut ma Tante! It seems that you have not read my last e-mail. Are you having too much firewater in your coffee? As for the telecommunications
thing - perhaps you will end up with so many companies due to convergence that the public will benefit if they are smart enough to play them off one against the other. In that vein I got a free cell phone plus 1000 hours of overseas calling in North America and a preferred rate for all my other
services like Internet, Satellite TV and Landline with Call Waiting and all the other bells and whistles which I never use anyway. The companies are playing on the public's appetite for gizmos like watching the Olympics on your cellphone and taking snapshots and transmission by e-mail to your relatives and friends.

I have gone past the "gee Whiz stage and why on earth would I want to watch TV on my cell when I have a perfectly large enough HD TV in my living-room? Incidentally why are all the Carnival costumes so much the same old-same old? What became of all the creativity of the 20th Century? All the copies of Cecil B. de Mille epics? No wonder my nephew was bored when I took him to a Pow-Wow and he saw the aboriginals in their finest regalia doing their Jingle Dances etc. A visit to a record store in the ghetto soon cured that and bored me to tears.
//Canada


when we goin an do more dan talk tants? all dis sense yuh makin here in dis newsletter, it have all ah we sittin here and noddin we head in total
agreement but dat eh doin nuttin to change nuttin. we need people with initiative an who care bout we and we country to step forward an all ah
we go be right behind yuh all de way. not all ah we cud lead, I done know dat arready, so de leaders have to step forward now. I does always say
Trinis so blasted laid-back dey does be horizontal sometimes but ah tink them startin to wake up and if we cud find a good leader, ah feel we go come out in we masses now. whey you tink?
//Trinidad