Basdeo Panday – Politician or Actor?

Many of us in Trinidad and Tobago take for granted the ingenuity of Mr. Panday, Opposition Leader of the UNCA. This man is a stalwart in local politics. Born in 1933, Mr. Panday worked as a cane worker, teacher and civil servant prior to obtaining three degrees. Now this is where it gets interesting, Mr. Panday has degrees in Law, Economics and Drama. Who does that? Who combines those subject areas and why? Mr. Panday is a brilliant man in that he understands that politics is drama in its truest sense. Politics has been our reality TV for decades and unlike many other politicians Mr. Panday is well aware of this. Without a doubt Mr. Panday has changed the political landscape in Trinidad and Tobago simply by the strategic skits that he has played out throughout his almost thirty years as a member of the Parliament. I will take the activities of the Parliament yesterday to prove my point. The sittings which are governed by standing orders start on Fridays at 1:30 p.m. unless the House otherwise decides. Therefore Mr. Panday being a Member of Parliament since 1972 very well knows this, yet he arrived late for effect. Mr. Panday very well knew that there would be a media circus and as such for maximum effect he arrived after his opponent in the “mother of all elections” held on Sunday. In case you live under a rock the UNC-A held internal elections on Sunday and Mr. Panday and Mrs. Persad-Bissessar vied for the position of political leader, Mr. Panday lost. Upon arrival Mr. Panday theatrically offered his seat to Mrs. Persad-Bissessar, then as reported he proceeded to sit and say nothing to Mr. Warner his former cohort who was appointed as chief whip on his right and Mrs. Persad-Bissessar on his left. With Mr. Panday seated between them “KamJack” talked to each other and pass notes to each other. Well I anxiously await the next phase drama from Mr. Panday, after all the man is well trained in the field. I personally wish that Mr. Panday remains a Member of Parliament for as long as he is of sound mind to do so.


Do you think the actions of the Leader of the Opposition are deliberate? Do you appreciate the drama and theatrics brought to the Parliament by Mr. Panday?

Teen attacked in KFC

I would really like to know what is going on in our beloved country. We are all going crazy. People running into KFC to attack a 16 year old boy. Can you believe this nonsense? What can a sixteen year old do to enrage someone to attack him? Additionally I want to go back to the parents. When I was sixteen I had a clear mandate, go to school, learn, behave and go straight home after school. When I got into the house I had to call my mother to let her know that I was home. I never found out what would have happened if I did not go straight home because my mother made it abundantly clear that she was the boss and her rules were to be followed. Plus I am coward and I don’t like to get in trouble. So why was that sixteen year old in KFC at 2:45 p.m.? The news made no mention of him being a student of anywhere. We need to do something and we need to do it quickly. Additionally we as citizens need to stop waiting on the Government to find a solution. A simple start can be for us as adults to monitor the underage persons around us, provide guidance to them and act as mentors. That has nothing to do with the Government, it has to do with us being responsible citizens.

The Piss Poor Conduct of the El Do Blue Teachers

Teachers in El Do Blue don’t want to work until 3 o’clock to facilitate the Ministry of Education’s attempts to curb the violence between El Do Blue and El Do Brown. I am totally disgusted with those bastards. Teaching is no longer a profession, it has become a job, something to do during the day to get money. For many persons teaching, it was not a first choice but a last resort after trying unsuccessfully to gain employment elsewhere. These same teachers give themselves a holiday for two months during July and August, and two weeks or more during the Christmas and Easter vacation periods. How much would it hurt to work an extra half hour. The Ministry of Education should start to make deductions from their pay for not showing up to work during vacation periods.

Originally El Do Brown was a Junior Secondary and El Do Blue was a Senior Comprehensive, with the former having younger students that the latter. When news of this violence between the two schools broke I wondered whether the change to both schools having students of the same age had something to do with the violence. I remember back in the day it was said that the reason for Tunapuna Government Secondary and Hillview College being dismissed fifteen minutes apart was because there were some fights between the two schools. I always felt that was urban legend though so don’t quote me on that.

My entire point here is that I am disappointed with the El Do Blue teachers who don’t want to give half hour of their time, which I am sure they are already being paid for. I think that the Ministry of Education has responded relatively well and the Teachers are now sabotaging the efforts of the Ministry.

What do you think about the El Do Blue Teachers? What do you think about the Ministry of Education’s response to the incidents between the two schools?

Bishops Carnival Fete 2010

I had the opportunity to yet again attend a fete for 2010, which was Bishops 2010 production. This was my second consecutive year in attendance. First off I would say that the fete had noticeably less patrons than the previous year. Again I would attribute this to the hosting of another event on the same day, which was WITCO One. Last year One was held on the same day with QRC and I chose to attend One. My issue with one is that it is like a regular fete with food on the outskirts and there is no designated area to eat. So Trinis just walk all through the fete eating as they feel like. Additionally One fete this year was $800.00 (confirmed by a call made to Witco) and with no HD himself but just his wayward disorganized followers, not me, I good.

Anyway back to the matter at hand. Bishops was nice I was pleased with decision to attend. The entrance was nicely decorated with a white back drop and some splashes of colour here and there. The customer service from the Hilarians who were easily identifiable in their red t-shirts was excellent. The vibes was nice in that even though there was a wide cross-section of age groups, everybody looked like they were having a good time in their own way.

My only issue was that there were only two bands, a reduction from the previous year, Asylum and Roy Cape. Bunji and Fayanne were ok I guess I really was not paying close attention because I was liming. I saw their performance at Amnesia and it was good and it sounded like the same exact thing minus Fayanne talking about old ass people. Rita Jones caught my attention because she was wearing some ridiculous nonsense, but at least thank God she was wearing stockings. Jason and Blaze I love them. That is all I have to say and I hope to be palancing on the road.

What I essentially realized at Bishops was that a fete is about the lime, meeting new people and old friends. At Bishops there was a great combination of all the right factors and I had a ball of a time. Once there is a Bishops 2011 and I am alive and well, I will be there.

Where did you go on Saturday 16th January 2010? How was it?

Cabinet Reshuffle?

Yesterday there was a Ceremonial Opening of the Third Session of the Ninth Parliament. It is quite interesting because a ceremonial opening is usually held at the beginning of Parliament, which is after a general election, not for the opening of a Session. It makes me wonder what our Prime Minister is up to and what prompted him to have this gala opening at such an unusual time. I am wondering if he is possibly going to announce a Cabinet reshuffle maybe today at the Cabinet Press Conference or at the next sitting of the House of Representatives. I have already indicated my opinion on this in a previous post, so let’s see what happens in the next few days.

What do you think our Prime Minister is up to?

Haiti Earthquake – We are Truly Blessed

Once again Haiti has been affected by a natural disaster, this time an earthquake. It makes me wonder if that country is cursed or something. How unlucky can one country be? We as Trinidadians should consider ourselves to be blessed and thank God that so far we have been relatively untouched by natural disasters. I often wonder if our blessings come from the fact that so many religions are represented in Trinidad and Tobago. We just can’t help but be blessed.

In viewing the pictures of the earthquake, I questioned the soundness of some of the infrastructure in the first place. A country such as Haiti that has been through constant turmoil, building safety may not have been high up on the list of priorities. As such buildings may have been constructed without proper inspections being done. Additionally, with corruption of Government Officials being a major problem, even if inspections were done I am sure that the quality of inspection would be below standard.

So at this time when we Trinbagonians are feting and spending money on lavish ceremonial openings for Parliament, we also need to keep in our prayers our brothers and sisters in Haiti. What are your thoughts on the Earthquake and the general trials and tribulations that the Haitian people have been experiencing?

Outta De Blue XI - QRC Fete

This year was my first time attending QRC’s fete. The set up was nice. I was a bit annoyed when I realized David Rudder was performing when I arrived. But I took the opportunity to eat. I did not even notice a band change as Roy Cape swiftly followed. I was starting to like Roy Cape last year, however I want to believe that it was really Trini Jacobs l liked, because I really not feeling the band this year. Rita Jones needs to realize that if the world famous Beyoncé could perform in stockings, it would not be a bad idea if she did the same thing. Dil E Nadan was great, what I like most about the band is that everybody has their little piece to sing. Contrary to what I thought they are not a Chutney band , they performed a nice mix of songs. There was one tiny band member with some interesting waist movements, very nice. Ladies you should check that out. They were followed by Kes the Band featuring Nadia Batson. Apparently Nadia lost some weight, she is looking very good. Left up to me, with a voice like Nadia’s she could look however she wants. Kes was wearing tights, I swear, but he could really move that tiny waist of his. I feel I want Kes to wine on me, I just have a feeling I would like it.

The food was the usual stuff, curry crab and dumpling (a favourite of mine), bake and shark, BBQ Chicken, main meal curry and fish broth. I am not too sure about the fish broth but it smelled really good when I passed. In addition to the regular bar there was a cocktail bar. I was the designated driver so I did not really explore the options at the bar. There was a sober zone though. I don’t really believe in that getting sober before you drive home. I really think the best option is to designate a driver.

Generally the vibes in the fete was a bit lacking. Although the DJ John Wayne tried his best to hype up the party it was just dead. Additionally I found that the fete was scanty and I wondered where were all the QRC old boys who are so proud to be a Royalian. I hope that the school was able to make a profit. This is not really a fete that I would go to next year. So I don’t know where I would be going on this fete night. I feel next year I will go to Blazing Fire Fete.

What did you think about QRC 2010?

Soca in Moka 2010

Carnival officially started for me at Soca in Moka, which has been the case for the last few years since I have been doing the all inclusive scene. The fete was pretty nice. The price of the ticket increased to $500.00 from $475.00 the previous year. My instant observation about the event was that it was noticeably more crowded than the previous year. I would attribute this to the fact that last year Amnesia was held on the same day. Honestly I preferred the scanty version of the fete, but in the name of making money for the school it was better to be jam packed.

The styles and fashions were wide ranging. This is why I like to go to Moka, to get a sense of the styles being worn for the season. Essentially what I realized is that hoochy is always in style, so anything short tight and revealing will always look good. I did notice a lot of long dresses, skinny jeans, tights with shirt dresses and cute short dresses. People were looking good generally. What I realize is that there are many chubby women who look really good, and the reason they look is because they are confident. Confidence is a key factor to looking good. It helps you to stand proud and feel good about yourself. So for me this year thick chicks are in because they were looking great on Sunday. Then there was general eye candy. I do not know what it is about carnival but this is the time of the year to gape. The men were looking hot. If kidnapping was not an offence I would have taken home a few. I even saw some very hot women giving me competition but it’s all good. What I want to know is where are these people during the year, obviously they don’t live in Trinidad.

The entertainment for the fete was interesting. Jason the ‘palance’ man was host of the show. He and Blaze performed their hit for the season with Kes the Band. Their performance was great and needless to say the same for Kes and his team. Roy Cape however was annoying. Apparently Blacks has taken over the complaining about fight down from Destra. He had to tell everyone that he is off the market. Let me take the opportunity now to thank that lovely lady for that bit of community service and taking one for the team. Blacks needs to realize that the only persons fighting him down is his fat, out of breath self. Blacks’ hit song last year was performed by Kes in Girl Power and if that was Kes’ song it could have been road march. So if Blacks fight down the gym gets his breathing under control and performs the hell out of those wonderful songs he would see his way. This was his year to just relax and step out because Machel and Destra off the scene. Dil E Nadan also performed but I was not really paying attention because I walked in when they were on stage and I was observing the scene at the fete.

The food was nice as usual with curry crab and dumpling, creole, Chinese, and bake and shark. I personally think that fetes need to give the bake and shark a rest but that is me. The bars however were out of stock of a few things at one time. I would not really complain too much about this because as I said earlier the fete had a lot less people last year so I don’t know if they adjusted their catering.

All in all the fete was great and I will be going to the fete again next year. It was a great start to my season and I am looking forward to my next event. What are your thoughts on Soca in Moka 2010?