Patrick Husbands Does It Again!

At the 33rd edition of the Barbados Gold Cup yesterday at the Garrison Savannah, Patrick Husbands the "Woodbine Wonder" beautifully pushed Major Marvel, an American entry, into the winners circle and took home  the first prize purse of $120 000 and the glittering Sandy Lane Gold Cup! A seven-time Sovereign Award-winning jockey, Patrick joins Venice Richards and Jonathon "Jono" Jones with four wins in the Caribbean’s most prestigious horse race. The 40-year-old also became the first rider to win all three feature races on a Gold Cup Day! In the big race in front of a massive crowd, Nominee, a Trinidad entry, came second, Dashing David, another American entry, was third, and Shared Adventure, one of several Barbadian entries was in fourth position in the eleven horse field.

Congrats to a top notch jockey, a 'cookist', and an overall good person whom I dub 'de Woodbine Wonder from B-Town'!

More T and T Carnival Results!

2014 National Calypso Monarch Results

Published on Monday, 03 March 2014 13:14

1. Roderick “Chucky” Gordon - Wey Yuh Think/Wedding Of De Century
2. Kurt Allen - Sweet Sizzling Summer/The Lost Psalm Of King David
3. Selvon “Mistah Shak” Noel - Bois/Crime Round De Clock
4. Hollis “Chalkdust” Liverpool - Ah Miss De Bards/De Guest List
5. Brian London - The Heart Of A Warrior/Call Dem Out
6. Victoria “Queen Victoria” Cooper - Political Love Affair/Congo Warrior
7. Alana Sinnette - Sea Lots/And Calling It Rain
8. Weston “Cro Cro” Rawlins - Pious, Poor But Proud/Goodness Delayed
9. Carlos “Skatie” James - Calypso Woman/Jack And Jill
10. Myron “The Incredible Myron B” Bruce - One More Sip/First Black Prime Minister
11. Eric “Pink Panther” Taylor - De Richest Man/Not Tonight
12. Roger “Bodyguard” Mohammed - Aloes Vendor/False Papers

Trinidad and Tobago Roadmarch 2014 Results 
(ranked using number of plays on the road) 
1. Machel Montano - Ministry of Road . 374
2. Farmer Nappy - Big People Party . 59 
3. Benjai - Come Out To Play . 39 

For Panorama 2014 it is Phase Two!

Last night it was pan fuh so and in the large band category the points were very close. Please check http://www.panonthenet.com for details and results in the other categories.

The first five winners in the large band category are:

PHASE 2 PAN GROOVE -JUMP HIGH; arranger Len “Boogsie” Sharpe (287 points)

TRINIDAD ALL STARS –Excitement; arranger Leon ”Smooth” Edwards (286)

RENEGADES – In De Minor; arranger Duvone Stewart (283)

DESPERADOES – Spankin- A Tribute; arranger Robert Greenidge

EXODUS – Pan Is Carnival; arranger Pelham Goddard

Tonight it's Dimanche Gras in Port of Spain with the following singers ( Morell Peters aka Luta is the reserve) singing the songs listed here plus another one:

·  Alana Sinnette ·  Brian London ·  Skatie ·  Chalkdust  ·  Kurt Allen ·  Incredible Myron B ·  Chucky ·  Body Guard ·  Mistah Shak ·  Queen Victoria ·  Cro Cro

·  Sea Lots ·  Call Them Out ·  Jack and Jill ·  The Guest List ·  Sweet Sizzling Summer ·  One More Sip ·  Wey Yuh Think ·  False Papers ·  Bois ·  A Political Affair ·  Pious, Poor but Proud

Some T and T Carnival 2014 Results!

Last night it was energy fuh so in T and T! Caught some of the Soca Competition last night on radio and CBC TV after checking some vintage performances by Smokey Burke, Richard Stoute, Tony Grazettes, Lord Radio, and Michael Thompson, and Desmond Weekes backed by the Flashback Band on the first night of the annual three day Agrofest at Queen's Park in Bridgetown. Biggie Irie didn't place in the top four but represented well from most reports! Congrats to de RedBoyz on their work with Biggie, Farmer Nappy and Destra Garcia as they were outstanding in the Groovy Soca Monarch Competition! Tonight it's Panorama and tomorrow night Dimanche Gras;wow wow sweet music fuh days!! Here are some results:

Brian London won over Black Sage in the Extempo Competion

Power Soca Monarch:

1. Machel Montano - :Ministry Of The Road"
2. Hollice "Mr Killa" Mapp - "Rolly Polly"
2. Neil Iwer George - "Mama Oye"
2. Destra Garcia - "Mash Up"
 
Groovy Soca Monarch:

1. Kerwin Du Bois - "Too Real"
2. Machel Montano - "Happiest Man Alive"
3. Darryl "Farmer Nappy" Henry - "Big People Party"
4. Destra Garcia - "First Time"

Independence again!

1627 to 2014
The Holetown Festival to celebrate the Anniversary of the First Settlement of Barbados
begins on Sunday 9th and ends on Sunday the 16th of February!

Ah I am getting INDEPENDENCE today since a good friend arrived yesterday from Toronto with it! I'll tell you more about it later. In the meantime check this media release:

INDEPENDENCE

By Cecil Foster

(TORONTO – January 20, 2013) INDEPENDENCE (Harper Collins Canada; ISBN:
9781443415057; on sale January 28, 2014; $29.99 CAN) is the deeply moving
story of the coming of age of a country and a boy, at the time of Barbados’
independence from Britain in 1966.

Fourteen-year-old Christopher Lucas and Stephanie King have been neighbours
and best friends since they were born a few months apart. They have been raised
by their impoverished grandmothers after their mothers went “over ’n’ away” to
the United States and Canada to find work when the children were toddlers; no
one has heard from the mothers since. The grandmothers are growing more and
more desperate about their ability to support their charges. When the novel
opens, there is a sudden and unexplained rift between Christopher and Stephanie
following the return from Canada of a benefactor named Mr. Lashley, who
lavishes gifts on Stephanie.

Through a series of triumphs and catastrophes, Christopher and Stephanie determine their places in the world and take control of their lives. Rich with the details of Bajan culture—from food preparation to political and financial affairs, from sexuality to spirituality—Independence is a fascinating window onto a little-known world and a touching portrait of a journey to adulthood and the women who guide it.

CECIL FOSTER was born in Barbados and immigrated to Canada in 1978. He has been a reporter for The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and the Financial Post and has contributed to such magazines as Chatelaine, Maclean’s, Toronto Life, NOW and Canadian Business. He has also worked for the CBC (in radio and television), and CTV and is a regular commentator in the national media. He has published five works of non-fiction and four novels, including his highly praised debut, No Man in the House. Currently, Foster is a professor of sociology at the University of Guelph and is director of graduate studies in the department of transnational studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Independence is his first novel in almost twelve years.

INDEPENDENCE by Cecil Foster

HarperCollins Canada I ISBN: 9781443415057 I On Sale: January 28 I Price: $29.99 Canada

Mr. Impact in The Gap too!

I was heading to Dover pasture earlier tonight to take in some of the annual Joel Garner Tapeball 20-20 Cricket competition with over ten teams made up with youthful and mature players affiliated somehow with the various secondary schools past and present of Barbados when Peter Dear reminded me that De Shak  Bar and Grill at Dover Beach features the outstanding musician Mr. Impact every Saturday night from 7 until 11! Mr. Impact sings sweetly and plays his steelpan adroitly at several spots on the South coast several times a week, but the "Put Yuh Hand on De Bumper" (a soca hit several years ago) manager says the place to see him perform is at De Shak! I usually like his performances at Mo's Grill in Oistins every Monday night and at Crystal Waters Beach Bar, Worthing every second Sunday afternoon. I plan to check the Shak Shak show soon on a Saturday night! Oh by the way, Saint Leonard's Secondary defeated the Grantley Adams Secondary team in the twenty overs per side game!

SOMETHING IS HAPPENING IN THE GAP.......again!!

So hard to blog when the beautiful weather everyday beckons you to just relax at my two favourite liming spots: Crystal Waters Beach Bar at Worthing and the newly reopened Sanddollar Café at Dover Beach! Talking about reopening, there have been a few re-openings and openings in the St. Lawrence Gap recently. Time Out Hotel with its Sporting Pig Bar is back; the once called Bresmay Hotel, then Escape Hotel is now Infinity on the Beach; Jobu’s Restaurant and Bar is now Sharkey’s Restaurant and Bar; and The Old Jamm Inn club has given a new life to what was Lipgloss and before it the popular Afterdark Nightclub. A small café named Bliss has joined the upper part of the Gap and is beside Express Car Rentals, and a medium sized restaurant called Crave is at the front of the Reggae Lounge. If you crave not only tasty food but some flavourful jazz, you can enjoy it with top Bajan songstress Cici and ace guitarist, in any genre, Mike Sealy on Sunday nights at Crave Restaurant and Bar. It’s open from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m. daily with a happy hour from 6 to 8 p.m. For another jazzy session you can check out Panta Brown (keyboards) and Boo Rudder (drums) and a bassist on Wednesday nights as you dine or sip a few drinks at Rush Restaurant and Bar. And the Thursday nights jazz continues at Ocean 15 with Errol Bradshaw and Friends!

For the under thirty party peoples Sugar Ultra Lounge blasts off from 9 p.m. on Thursday and Saturday nights where disc-jockeys mostly play R&B,house, hip-hop, soca, reggae, and other pop music. For these same partiers the recently nicely refurbished Reggae Lounge and McBride’s Pub serve up mostly reggae, soca, and R&B with the occasional live band and are opened seven and six nights respectively. I particularly like the patio groove of Old Jamm Inn which often features some of the best young musicians in Bim! There, my recent guest Nish from New York jammed one night on his sitar with a local artist; both musicians and the audience enjoyed a lot that impromptu session!  Another cool patio space with artists mostly doing the alternative music ting is the buzzing, well established Café Sol at the start of The Gap. Indeed the Gap has been buzzing very much with visitors and locals alike since December! I hope this will continue right into Crop-Over which will be in full swing come July!