TNN 26
Hello folks….(Deep voice) This is TNN…. Ah went awaaayyyy…. ah leave an’ come back home, ah come back tuh staaaayyy…..(background music)
PAINTIN' AH PICTURE.....
Alyuh ever hear de phrase “always producin’ but never have..”? dat jus’ about describe de situation dong here in de Arts an’ Entertainment industry
. Note de word in-DUST-try.. because dey ignore it for so long, it gatherin’ dus’. Yuh could imagine we have pan for 60 yrs, Carnival for 160 yrs an’ so much music festival an’ t’ing, an’ it eh have nowhere yuh could go an’ see some miniature models of mas long ago or buy some video on past drama productions or (ah still cyah believe it…) dat we eh standardise pan yet? By de way Sweden already standardise it an’ have ah factory, an’ we Carinval all over de worl’ makin’ money for dem odder countries but 6 months after Carnival they still cyah pay badleaders or pan players dey little kakada (remember dis festival does raise $150 M at least every year for we, eh…).Yes boy, but de greates’ is we doh even have ah Arts Museum or ah buiding tuh hol’ we culture…not one! Derek Walcott win all kinda Nobel Prize (put we on de map for somethin’ odder dan hangin’ people….) an’ 40 years after he set up de Trinidad Tent Theartre, dey kick dey tail outta de ol’ Fire Station building an’ tell dem fin’somewhere else tuh go. Wen dey ask for a space in the new library dey buildin', an’ buildin’, an buildin', dey say NO!, dey go distract an’ make noise.. apparently we eh know how tuh soundproof room yet… stupid me t’inkin’ dat ah library is one ah de bes’ place tuh promote literature an’ art…. but dat is why I stupid, yuh see….
Is years now we scruntin’ artists askin’ for ah buildin’ or workplace….. some people fin’ dey should build it deyself, but den why we rush an’ spen’ $XM dollar on ah Miss Universe buildin’…. let de company for Miss Universe build it.... yuh eh t’ink so? Is dem who want tuh use it… we certainly eh usin’ it now…. it fold up like ah ol’ newspaper. Wat it go cos’ tuh gi’ de people ah “Home for de Arts”?….. Oh gosh man, t’ings so bad, yuh cyah even go an’ tell people yuh is ah artist….. dey go classify yuh as unemployed… no respeck, man, no respeck…. an’ after all dem women an’ men sweat an’ fight for (ask dem ol’ kaisonians an’ panmen how much licks an’ jail dey get…), not even ah dusty ol’ chair tuh sit dong on an’ see dat everyting wasn’t in vain? Yuh could imagine Spektakula Forum (where nuff kaisonians make dey livin’ an’ reputation) up for sale now? De message clear… we have money tuh put up buildin’ an’ road an’ all dat kinda t’ing for foreigners tuh come for 48 hrs, but as far as we culture concern dey artists go have tuh carry de burden all de time …basically dey could Haul dey Arts…!
HOSPITAL (DEATH)BEDS.....
Well, if dis eh make yuh realise wey we headin’, nothin’ will…. ah man get jook in he foot from ah piece ah wire an’ only five days later (so dey say) he gone to de hospital tuh get ah tetanus vaccine. De fella was in bad shape (so de doctors say… yuh know it have as many versions of ah story as it have Trinis.... an’ den it have de facts…!) an’ for nearly two weeks de fella lie dong in bed while dey search de WHOLE country tuh fin’ tetanus serum tuh give he, but eventually he dead, because dey medicine dey was flyin’ in didn’t reach on time….
Now yuh ever hear so much dam stupidness in yuh life… consider dat in one day yuh cyah fin’ de medicine in the whole of Trinidad and Tobago (ah suppose people doh get chook wit’ nail an’ wire or cut wit’ ol’ metal again… so no need to stockpile, an’ further, nobody realise we was runnin’ short…), all yuh have tuh do is call any hospital in Miami (ah wouldn’t say Venezuela or Puerto Rico, assumin' we cyah talk Spanish).. order de t’ing on ah fax, put it on ah FedEx plane an’ it here in less dan 2 days. Dat eh take no rocket science…. but if was one ah dem daughter, mudder, fadder or wife, ah bet yuh dey woulda fin’ medicen quick doh….. Yes man. People eh care again boy,.. like de hospital an’ dem funeral home have ah t’ing going… you bring dem in, I go take dem out…. yeah, if yuh get sick, stay home, but if yuh really want tuh dead… go to de hospital!
OPEN UP! POLICE!
Well, dey want tuh pass ah bill tuh allow police to enter ah house if dey t’ink somebody beatin’ dey wife, woman, girlfriend, whatever… without ah warrant an’ do what is necessary tuh stop de abuse.
... which good, eh, except as yuh know de Cobra already talk about how dem fellas quick tuh draw an’ cyah shoot straight…… an’ dey still eh solve de problem of “Sorry, we eh have no car now, so tell de t’ief doh leave before we get dey…” or “ Well, wen we come she does say dat nothin’ happen, so she mus’ be like she licks….” or “dat is married people business..”Ah mean is all well an’ good tuh have we knights in grey savin’ dem ladies in distress, but what dey suppose tuh do after dey enter? Ah eh hear nothin’ about restrainin’ procedures, appropriate action, etc… Dis is no badjohn wuk,.. yuh know…. an’ remember, somebody ha’ tuh pay for dat door… an’ ah nex t’ing, real bandits goin’ ‘bout de place bawlin’ “Police” an’ bussin’ in house, robbin’ an’ rapin’ an’ all kinda’ t’ing…. Suppose de fella feel is bandit an’ leggo shot or chop on one ah dem? Alyuh go charge him for wat de man t’ink is self defense… dis could get messy, man…. leh we go cautiously on dis one…. wit’ respeck tuh breakin’ in people house, remember. “….fools rush in……”
BACK TUH SCHOOL......
Ah didn’t know learnin’ was such ah difficult t’ing….. remember wen de Education Committee (or somet’ing so..) went t’rough de submitted school books an’ discard more dan 80 % ah dem...? Well dey decide on a certain number dey go accept, an’ the booksellers tell de publishers go ahead an’ print dem.
Now Education Ministry (more ah Mystery…because ah doh know how dey does operate) decide dey go cut the number ah text dong an’ doh bodder wit’ de rest ah dem….. so it have one setta books on de shelves dat nobody eh go be buyin’ an’ de booksellers bawlin’ out for bloody murder….
Now, who decide tuh cut de number of books dong an’ eh tell nobody, includin’ de booksellers? Dey always sayin’ how chilren doh read an’ yuh cut dong de recommended list even more? From 16 books to 4?! Yuh mad or wat? How t’ick dem four books is? Of course dey proud ah deyself…. dey save parents money (an’ kill de booksellers), but ah hope dey know wat dey doin’, because de money dey save now, de go ha’ tuh spen’ later if dem chilren come out ah school, an’ cyah read, write, add.. yuh unnerstan’..? De Ministry of Education provin’ tuh be ah real tes’ boy, an’ like dey eh makin de grade……
That’s all for dis week folks. A special hailout tuh all de fresh-water Trinis who celebratin' dey new independence wit Clinton and de boys. Thanks for tuning in….any queries, questions, ole talk, comments…check we anchorman Cobra at ttcobra1@hotmail.com (please note the new address) Peace, ah gone…….Jean an’ Dinah, Rosita an’ Clementina….by de corner posin’ … (background music)
Views expressed do not reflect the opinions of KP Resorts, Ltd, it's management or staff.