Clivia Writes: November 2007

, by clivia

In Miami Carnival 2008,

Miami Carnival 2008...FULL STEAM AHEAD!!

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, by clivia

In Blog, Homesick

Absent

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, by clivia

In In Other News, Music

My Hip Hop Questions... or Talib Sexy Man Kweli

Talib "Sexy Man" Kweli - In the Mood

Don't mind me...I know I'm a Trini...i.e Soca Lover...but i listen to all genres...and these are a few observations on Hip Hop...lol...indulge me..[I not going to Trinidad for carnival...lol..so my interests diverted...]

1. What do we have to do to make Lauryn Hill Happy and hopeful and optimistic without messing with her brilliance and eloquence and talent and energy?? I just want her whole. I think we need her in this life. I pray for her. My heart reaches out to her when I see her perform before and hear her speak now. I’m sure she’s searching for her personal truth but GODDAMN WHY THE HELL IS IT TAKING SO LONG??? The silence she’s created is DEAFENING. It’s almost a scream. I miss her. Come back to us. We need you.

2 Can Little Kim please stop the surgery? I’m afraid for her. She used to be such a pretty chocolate thing? You think it’s addictive? I love her energy and spunk. I don’t judge her antics, her stunts her words. In fact I admire her….but dammit the heifer is scary..

3. Is it just me or do people just not realize the brilliance of Talib Kweli? Or Common? Or Lupe Fiasco? Or Mos Def? Or Kanye? YEAH KANNYE?? The man is cocky yeah…but Cocky never killed anybody and the man backs his shit up!! So how the hell is Hip Hop Dead?? HOW?? Jay-Z retired and came back? New artists are creating a fusion Genre…I don’t know what the hell to call it…but its rap riding Jazz influenced music like back in the Tribe called Quest days with REAL SINGERS doing hooks..and speaking Truth…neo soul is a backdrop to new Hip Hop..so how the hell…sigh…anyways…..so if that is NOT HIP HOP somebody tell me what the hell it is…

4. Is loving the style of Chrisette Michele? And the re-emergence of that timeless classic music? I’m tired of seeing hard hip hop ho’s. Glamour is back..THANK GOD!! Let talent speak not naked legs and breasts and you know…. I’m not hating or knocking anybody. I know sex sells…but Jill Scott in her splendor is so refreshing to me. I wanna strut too.. Like Kanye says the good life where the real girls look better than the models…haha..

5. Are people not seeing the influence of reggae in hip hop? Doesn’t Alicia Keys No one feel like a flash back to some Bob Marley classic? I haven’t placed it yet…but I will. And Akon’s Mama Africa? Sigh..am I too anal?? or too much time on my hands...

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, by clivia

In Lifestyle,

Saturday Morning Chores- Living Trini

Ok for those of us that grew up in Trinidad/Tobago..Saturday morning was always chores morning..
and for some blinking reason...your parents always had TONS of mahogany furniture that needed to be rubbed down with a soft cloth and Pledge oil..eventually the spray replaced it...thank god..

Intricate Lace Doilies, starched and sprayed into spectacular designs, had to be lifted and shaken , tables dusted and polished and then replaced. Crystal vases to spray and wash down with Windex, and Terazzo floors made broom clean.

In our house we had 2 cherry wood rocking chairs, a dining room table with six chairs, a drinks cart, a piano..YES I SAID A PIANO...sigh... a glass top breakfast table with stainless steel chairs with a wicker seat and a sleeper lounge to dust plus a whole living room to vacuum.

It never dawned on me that we had so much wood in our house till Saturday morning bright and early VAL - [the mommy only I CAN SAY THAT OKAY????] wake us up to do chores before we had to head to ballet class or tennis and pan and whatever else for the rest of the day.

Most times I would wake up early on my own so i could eat cereal and milk and watch Batman and Animaniacs [what happened to that show?? it was the BOMB] on the black and white tv in the kitchen...[that was daddy cricket tv- the screen was so small that if you exhaled your cheeks could block out the screen...but don't let cricket season be going on and that man couldn't watch his tv....haha..]

anyways...

The point of all of this is that at times you were just sooo upset that you had to allll of this stuff on saturday morning when cartoons was running and in reality it was the weekend...

But what happened instead...was..

AMAZING..

its still one of my favourite memories of childhood ever...

Mommy would put on the radio.

I cant remember the exact stations now ...and the hosts over time changed..

But what started as a chore turned into a

SOCA APPRECIATION SESSION...

you would be polishing away at the table ...and don't even realize ..that you were singing along to whatever new or old song was playing on the Radio. And this was before the time of the Radio MAFIA ..so we heard everything...oldies, chutney, pan...YES PAN!! on the radio.

Mommy and Renee and I would be doing a miscellaneous chores...and then Mommy would breakaway into the Pembroke dance..for the uninitiated..this is a low low wine down with your rear end cocked high in the air..and the arms moving in what could only be called a flailing of sorts..My Auntie Mau is also a pro at this one. we have all since learned this to a tee..especially since Mommy has been known to break into this dance..in THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET on occasion..one time on a shopping session in Trinidad for curtain fabric for Christmas...sigh..my mom is the best!!

It was a bonding experience...sometimes we would just follow her around doing whatever she did..
or we would critique the new songs coming...out..
and looooooord
what would happen if they play a vintage song like Merchant PROGRESS..or Caribbean connection
it was the bonding of one generation and another..
and to the tunes of DavidRudder High Mass
and Ras Shorty I and
Umbayaya Oh...oh oh oh oh...
and Andre Tanker..
and Sparrow ..
and Shadow Bassman..
and Lord Nelson, and Cro Cro..and Explainer...
and the Amazing DeFosfo himself...
and Tigress..and Singing Sandra...
and Black Stalin...
and Signal Hill Alumni Choir...

and explaining to mommy the themes of the new soca..

and then arguing about Machel mixing old school with new school..
you forgot about your chores...this was a bonding moment..

Chores forgotten
we danced together..
we re-discovered the old and accepted the new...
making up our own words when we didn't know them..[Mommy still doing this..I try and sing Fireball - What I want- and all i hear is go down co low-ka low-ka low-ka come up per high chi high chi...]

Saturday morning chores forgotten..
a tradition reinstated..
energy renewed
a memory reinforced..

living trini...forever

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, by clivia

In BGITR,

New title - VIBRATIONZZ 2008

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, by clivia

In Cliviawrites,

The Art of Being a Trini...

Being Trinbagonian is an art form. I’m sure being from any Island Is. Here is some insight though into why being Trinidadian is such a difficult task unless you were BORN into it...Feel free to add more as you think of them
You refer to all salt crackers as "Crix".
You know the meaning of the word "Obzokie". ???
You go to parties for the food [well sometime…Friends I go for the Corn soup]... and the word free never quite had the same meaning.
Your recipe for making orange juice is plenty water, plenty sugar, plenty ice and only 2 orange... and Angostura bitters…
You say "Boy" at the beginning of a sentence and "man" or “Dread” at the end of it...and the words "Yes We" doesn't refer to any people, person or thing
"Priority" doesn't have anything to do with what you have to do right away.
You put ketchup and pepper sauce and Mustard on your pizza. Anchovies? Yuh losin' it or what?
Your cupboards are full of canned corned beef, Sardines, pepper sauce and red beans and baked beans ...and a dry coconut for the pelau.
You think steak is a waste of good meat. You rather cut it up and stew it with some potatoes instead ... or curry it and make roti.
You use your finger to measure the water when cooking rice.
You bring home food from a party.
You show disappointment by Steupsing, sucking on your teeth...and You can conjugate "ah steupse" by age four (three if yuh smart)
You call a soda a "sweet drink" and an Avocado, a "Zaboca". and you go to the shoprite clerk and ask them "whe allyuh have de Breeze?" meaning "where is the laundry detergent?".
You say "Whappenin" even at a funeral…
You tell the host "Good Night" when you arrive at someone's home in the evening.
When someone pays you a compliment, you say "Doh mamaguy meh". When someone sympathises with you, you comment "Yuh think it easy?".
You refer to all sweet coloured juice as "Kool-Aid".
You call a quarter a "schilling" when this really means 24 cents.
You know that using "Blue" makes white clothes whiter.
Just because something is called a "bake" you don't assume that it indicates the way it was cooked.
You know that a Washy-kong bears no relationship to King Kong.
You know about straightening, pressing, S-curls and Gherri curls regardless of your ethnic background.
You have cancelled plans because of rain even when you're going to be indoors. Rain is also a legitimate reason to miss work.
All vaccinations are called injections. All dish washing detergents are called "Squezy".
You know of at least one person who wakes up at 4am to LISTEN to cricket from Australia / New Zealand on the RADIO.
On at least one occasion you have: been told that you have a cold in some part of your anatomy other than your head or chest and/or had a virus named after something popular with the times eg. Bionic, Ninja, the hijab and the sting.
Despite lack of interest, someone has tried to convince you of the benefits of taking a purge, or becoming a born again.
You can feel cold when it's 25° C.
You pronounce words in plural, even though it's meant to be singular, eg."gimme ah COKES" or "ah GRAPES".
You say "FLIM" (film), "AXE" (ask) or "PITIAH"(picture), "STATELLITE" (satellite), "CUTLASH" (cutlass). Maybe USED to say….or know somebody who still does.
You know what "Wukking a 10-days" is, and know darn well it's going to take much longer than 10 days.
You know the meaning of several indian words, eg. "dahl", "bahgee", "channa", "bharra", "chunkae", "bowgee" and use them in every day language and actually believe them to be the correct English terms. .
You know that a lime is not necessarily a fruit.
You call any 'older' woman "Tantie" and any 'older' man "Uncle", regardless of whether or not they are related to you or even know you.
You could sing an entire Parang song in Spanish word for word, but don't speak or understand a word of Spanish.
When in doubt of how to prepare something to eat ... CURRY is the always the solution. You know Trinis will curry any and everything (not just meat) even mango, fish, conch, chataigne, etc...
You can call your fellow "countryman" by an ethnic name and it would be ok,eg.chinee-man, creole, dougs, or pyol