01072022 WEEKEND

Friday, January 7, 2022

entertainment interview books food history marketing music animals

Weekend

Success at Coach Pages 08 + 09

We will rock you!

Bahamian band work with Grammy Award-winning producer on new song

pg 11

02 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, January 7, 2022

’Goombay Kids’ wins Indian film award and makes mark at other festivals

By Arthia Nixon | The Ambassador Agency

entertainment

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n Indian film festival has awarded the 2022 Best Television Award to the Bahamas-produced Goombay Kids. The show is making rounds in festivals from Canada to England and Russia, and an American film festival reviewer ranked the origin of Junkanoo episode five out of five for highlighting the Bahamas’ culture. The honours are a first for a Bahamian television production.

The educational show was created by Stephanie Nihon who was ecstatic to share the news on New Year’s Day. Ms Nihon always films the show on location, using venues like Atlantis, the National Art Gallery, the Pirate Museum, the stunning islands and even a Junkanoo parade.

Supervising producer of Goombay Kids is Rowena Poitier-Sutherland, niece of legendary Bahamian-American actor Sir Sidney Poitier. She is also the force behind the film and acting school Bahamas Artist Movement and the former executive director of Ministry of Culture. Serving as senior producer is Leslie Ellis-Tynes, known as the star and producer of the hit Bahamian talk show The Stew.

“This is truly beyond our wildest expectations,” said Ms Nihon. “We knew we had a hit, but it’s just a new level of excitement when international bodies recognise the talent, effort and work we put into it, so much so that they present us with this award. We are absolutely honoured and this shows that the Bahamas can create a dynamic product that can be appreciated across the world. It is meaningful to be awarded in India because we actually featured India on the show in season two as well as had Indian-Bahamian actors on it ” Goombay Kids was the award winner of Best TV Series at the 2 11 17 International Film Festival in Tamil Nadu, India. The show was also a finalist in the St Petersburg Television and Film Festival for Best TV or Web Series. Many members of the jury on the panel work in Russian cinema, TV and for local streamers.

The show was the official selection at the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival for Best Episodic in Hawaii. The festival, now in its 30th year, is one of the largest children’s content festivals in the US and it partners with 50 venues worldwide to screen KIDS FIRST! curated content. It is owned by the Coalition for Quality Children’s Media.

Goombay Kids also made an impression at the London Indie Short Film Festival, was was named an official selection at the Multi Dimension Independent Film Festival, and a quarter finalist in the Vancouver Independent Film Festival.

THE ACTORS on set for season three “The show is great and funny,” said KIDS FIRST! reviewer Tom W. “I like the creativity part of the show where the kids themselves make costumes related to the culture. I also like the historical back story of the culture and to make it more realistic, it was told by the goddaughter of the Godfather of Junkanoo, which makes it more appealing. I also like the lighthearted music throughout the background, which makes the movie more enjoyable.”

Now in its third season, Goombay Kids airs on OurTV (Ch 212) in the Bahamas and streams on several internet platforms including YouTube. The show has been praised by the Bahamas Film Commission and is gaining interest to be aired in other countries. Among last year’s highlights, Irish newspaper, The Independent featured a spread on Madison Knowles, the Bahamian actress who plays Anne Bonny in the 18th-century pirate’s hometown.

The third season was launched with a full red carpet premiere in New Providence where it airs onOurTV Channel on Cable Bahamas.

Ms Nihon continues to provide opportunities for creatives, using a local cast and crew including actress Leah Eneas (Beneath The Blue, Miracle at St Anna), child actor Javien Rankine (Netflix’s Mighty Express) and director/filmmaker Lanthro Munroe (Coco Studios, Tyler Perry Studios). Through Goombay Kids these Bahamian actors, comedians, and filmmakers are now positioned to create portfolios which can lead them to more international opportunities and awards.

For more information visit www.goombaykids.com.

CAST members at the season three premiere of ‘Goombay Kids’

‘Goombay Kids’ filming Junkanoo at the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas

‘Goombay Kids’ creator Stephanie Nihon (centre) and producers Leslie Ellis Tynes and Rowena Poiter Sutherland

The Tribune | Weekend | 03

Friday, January 7, 2022

Canadian author celebrates Bahamian potcakes in new kids’ book

By JEFFARAH GIBSON | Tribune Features Writer | jgibson@tribunemedia.net

books

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FTER sitting as an unfinished manuscript for almost 30 years, the story of Harbour Island’s potcakes was rediscovered by Canadian author and former Bahamian resident Clayton Johnston and has now been turned into a new children’s book called “Dead End Dogs”.

Mr Johnston is a Canadian educator who in the early 1990s lived for six years on Harbour Island teaching at the All-Age School.

For the last 27 years he has lived and worked on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. His work has taken him to over 60 countries around the world and allowed him time to observe, imagine, and most importantly, write.

“Dead End Dogs” is the author’s fourth book and his first children’s book.

“My other three are psychological and political thrillers and can be found on Amazon or Kindle,” he said.

“Dead End Dogs” was written many years ago and almost

forgotten by the author. He found the manuscript and decided that though written years ago, its message still packs a punch.

“I wrote ‘Dead End Dogs’ almost 30 years ago while living on Harbour Island. I only recently found it again,” Mr Johnston told Tribune Weekend.

“With my daughter on my lap, and a yard full of dogs, the story seemed to write itself. As any Bahamian will note, potcakes are as smart and resourceful as any canine you’ll ever meet; gritty, intelligent, and full of personality.

One of these clever potcakes – one the locals had called ‘Black Head’ – had already adopted my wife-to-be by digging a hole under her house and giving birth to a litter of pups.

From that moment on, Spot, as we came to refer to her, had entered our lives. We decided to keep the runt of her litter as well (Baby) and the remaining surviving potcakes were given away to friends and neighbors on the island.”

Many of the puppies, he said, returned to engage in fun with

Clayton and his family.

“They eventually made their way back to us, if only to hang out each day. At any given moment there could be a group of about eight to 10 dogs gathered on the sandy road in front of our house. These hangers-on were either siblings, cousins, strays or any dog that lived on our little dead-end street on the tiny island the locals call Briland.

Observing them each day, I knew that this pack of wonderful deadend dogs deserved a story of their own,” he said.

“Dead End Dogs” is a children’s chapter book and as such, it delves into a myriad of themes. At the

forefront are themes of loyalty, friendship, bravery, danger, death, and above all, love.

And to express his imagination in the most artistic way he knew he needed the creative hands of a Bahamian illustrator.

“I decided a good way to find someone was through the University of Bahamas. I ended up contacting Keisha Oliver, the Assistant Professor of Design. She in turn introduced me to a recent graduate and former student of hers: Janae Ferguson.

“I wanted Janae to have the freedom to interpret the book herself.

The illustrations are the result of what she felt to be important or interesting moments within the story,” said Mr Johnston.

Ultimately, he said the main-take away from the book is that “love conquers all.”

High schooler takes readers on sci-fi adventure with debut novel AFTER sitting as an unfinished manuscript for almost 30 years, the story of Harbour Island’s potcakes was rediscovered by Canadian author and former Bahamian resident Clayton Johnston and has now been turned into a new children’s book called “Dead End Dogs”.

Mr Johnston is a Canadian educator who in the early 1990s lived for six years on Harbour Island teaching at the All-Age School.

For the last 27 years he has lived and worked on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. His work has taken him to over 60 countries around the world and allowed him time to observe, imagine, and most importantly, write.

“Dead End Dogs” is the author’s fourth book and his first children’s book.

“My other three are psychological and political thrillers and can be found on Amazon or Kindle,” he said.

“Dead End Dogs” was written many years ago and almost

AUTHOR December Davis forgotten by the author. He found the manuscript and decided that though written years ago, its message still packs a punch.

“I wrote ‘Dead End Dogs’ almost 30 years ago while living on Harbour Island. I only recently found it again,” Mr Johnston told Tribune Weekend.

“With my daughter on my lap, and a yard full of dogs, the story seemed to write itself. As any Bahamian will note, potcakes are as smart and resourceful as any

canine you’ll ever meet; gritty, intelligent, and full of personality.

One of these clever potcakes – one the locals had called ‘Black Head’ – had already adopted my wife-to-be by digging a hole under her house and giving birth to a litter of pups.

From that moment on, Spot, as we came to refer to her, had entered our lives. We decided to keep the runt of her litter as well (Baby) and the remaining surviving potcakes were given away to friends and neighbors on the island.”

Many of the puppies, he said, returned to engage in fun with Clayton and his family.

“They eventually made their way back to us, if only to hang out each day. At any given moment there could be a group of about eight to 10 dogs gathered on the sandy road in front of our house. These hangers-on were either siblings, cousins, strays or any dog that lived on our little dead-end street on the tiny island the locals call Briland. Observing them each day, I knew that this pack of wonderful

dead-end dogs deserved a story of their own,” he said.

“Dead End Dogs” is a children’s chapter book and as such, it delves into a myriad of themes. At the forefront are themes of loyalty, friendship, bravery, danger, death, and above all, love.

And to express his imagination in the most artistic way he knew he needed the creative hands of a Bahamian illustrator.

“I decided a good way to find someone was through the University of Bahamas. I ended up contacting Keisha Oliver, the Assistant Professor of Design. She in turn introduced me to a recent graduate and former student of hers: Janae Ferguson.

“I wanted Janae to have the freedom to interpret the book herself.

The illustrations are the result of what she felt to be important or interesting moments within the story,” said Mr Johnston.

Ultimately, he said the main-take away from the book is that “love conquers all.”

04 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, January 7, 2022

Ellis

Kasimu

After excelling with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and being selected to help guard some of the world’s most high-profile individuals like Bill Clinton and the Obama daughters, Kasimu returned to his first passion in life: event design. He tells how his unique skill set made him a valuable member of the design team that decorated Rawson Square this holiday season.

Jeffarah Gibson

interview

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“I can use a glue gun and a real one,” he told Tribune Weekend.

AHAMIAN event design professional Kasimu Ellis learned a long time ago that planning a special occasion is much more than just knowing the difference between chiavari and ghost chairs, or being able to tell garden roses from carnations. Being a proficient event designer requires a diverse skill set.

It is as technical and logistical as it is creative, and it needs the foundation of a detailed plan that factors in contingencies for worstcase scenarios.

Kasimu could not have foresaw how the skills acquired in his previous careers – working in law enforcement and as a member of the personal protective detail for some of the world’s most important people, including former US President Bill Clinton, the Obama kids and former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during their diplomatic visits to the Bahamas – would help him in planning special occasions for customers.

Kasimu never saw these unrelated fields meeting.

But his path was filled with many unexpected adventures.

Kasimu, who was one of several members of the collaborative team that

decorated Rawson Square for Christmas, has his mother and father to thank for his skills in designing and planning. As a child, he loved all the big family events that were happening around him, and as he got older, he helped his parents with their creative business ventures.

“My mom does crafts, wreaths and sprays. My dad did catering for 40 years, Lucky5 Catering. My Friday evenings were spent in a kitchen and my Saturdays were busy setting up events,” he said.

“I have been working since I could walk. Learning to set tables was my version of shooting marbles and playing ‘Cowboys and Indians’.”

And under his parents’ tutelage, he said, he learned “the values of honesty and work to work again.”

“If you can’t do first class, don’t do it at all” was a saying in his household.

After slowly mastering event design, Kasimu tackled a more daunting challenge. He put the glue gun down to pick up a firearm when he enlisted with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force in 1995.

Kasimu underwent training in weaponry, becoming proficient in using the Browning 9mm, a Glock 19 and Colt 45.

The Tribune | Weekend | 05

Friday, January 7, 2022

“I

can use a glue gun and a real one,” he told Tribune

Weekend.

Throughout his time in the RBDF, Kasimu completed several courses and professional development training, including diving, rappelling leadership and weaponry - excelling in all these areas. He was also a instructor of the Commando Squadron of the force.

And even though his job offered him much adventure, he still never forgot his first love.

“Definitely on the weekends I would do events. I soon realised that I was a natural,” he said.

He realised that the skills he had acquired in the Defence Force were transferrable to event planning.

“The discipline is definitely a major plus in my field; time management, being able to handle stressful situations, and most of all, following through to the end and having a never say die attitude,’” he said.

Then in 2001, Kasimu found himself thrust into a completely different adventure which required his skills.

“After the 9/11 attacks on the US, the State Department decided to hire from the countries they operate in. I was chosen out of hundreds of applicants. No matter what I do, I want to be the best. If you look throughout history, the US Federal Government usually recruits inside the military. I considered it an honour and a privilege to to be chosen as a protective agent/security specialist,” he said.

After ending his tenure with the RDBF in 2003, Kasimu underwent several training courses, including

KASIMU pursuing his first love - event design. He was member of the design team responsible for decorating Rawson Square this Christmas

KASIMU with former US President Bill Clinton completing a diplomatic security course, bio-chem first responder course, VIP tactical support and WASP training (tracking of weaponry).

His skill set and training landed him a job as a

KASIMU with fellow security agents

protective agent with the US Embassy in the Bahamas from May 2003 to April 2006. Later, he was appointed as the Ambassador’s protective detail of the US Embassy.

“Every day was a challenge. With doing protection, everyone knows who you are but you don’t know who the enemy is. You constantly have your head on a swivel.

As an agent you have to think of every ‘what if’

possibility. In my training we learned to drive at the school that NASCAR drivers are trained. The training is at the highest level. I did my bodyguard training in Virginia and some training in Washington, DC. I think this is where I learned how to deal with people. We had a saying, ‘If you couldn’t talk your way out of a conflict you were in the wrong field’ - verbal judo,” he said.

When VIP visitors, some of the US’ most important people, visited the Bahamas, the pressure was certainly on.

“People like Condoleezza Rice, Bill Clinton, Sasha and Malia Obama and John Carey; all high-profile people.

I did most of the advance work: checking routes, identifying safe havens, making sure evacuation routes were clear. So it’s safe to say I know most of Nassau,” he said.

And Kasimu knew that under no circumstances could he drop the ball - a way of thinking that has followed him into his design business: “You don’t get any do-overs.”

“Being entrusted with the safety of such persons, I consider that was an honour and a privilege,” he said.

Kasimu’s time at the US Embassy Bahamas came to an end in 2016. And after working in the high-pressure atmosphere of protective security, he opted for a career that utilised all his skills, but in a more relaxed environment.

Kasimu settled into the role of event designer with a local company, until he was recently furloughed due to the pandemic.

However, he continues to keep busy as an independent designer and contractor.

“I realised that I could actually be paid for doing something that comes so natural to me. I feel like a professional athlete, I get paid to play. I am paid to do something I did as a child growing up. Like they say, if you get paid to do something you love, it’s not really work,” he said.

hates alternative (2,3,5) 27 Woman of brazen ideas (4)

06 | The Tribune | Weekend

23 Change4during Detest; 5 Radio; meditation (4) 7 Implication; 6 Trample;

l D e H f e tor

Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so the each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

● The Target uses words in the main body of Chambers 21st Century Dictionary (1999 edition)

HOW many words of four letters or more can you make from the letters shown here? in making a word, each letter may be used once only. each must contain the centre letter and there must be at least one nine-letter word. no plurals.

Verb forms ending in s permitted.

TODAY’S TARGET Good 18; very good 27; excellent 35 (or more). Solution tomorrow

Yesterday’s call 0907 181 2585 Sudokufor Answer today’s target solution

*Calls cost 80p per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge.

BATTLESHIPS CRYPTIC PUZZLE Across 1 Cash or credit? (6) 4 Partisan assembly produces a candidate (8) 9 Money for a horse (6) 10 Charm Tibetan leader with performing animals (8) 12 One expresses surprise being doubled up in laughter (2-2) 13 Distorts notes added after hostilities (5) 14 Is half a mile away from land (4) 17 Basic system goes crazy and runs wild (4,3,5) 20 It’s inclined to attract sightseers in Italy (7,5) 23 Frank has nothing to write (4) 24 A grain seen only in oak (5) 25 Mineral in crystal-clear form (4) 28 Tie completely round (4,4) 29 It’s worn by a woman for a dance (6) 30 Tender arrangement for Ted and Alice (8) 31 Is against using Latin (6)

1

2

3

4

9

5

Down 1 They don’t believe he requires foreign capital (8) 2 They open out for the novice (8) 3 Acquires, say, ornaments for the garden (4) 5 They should be carefully rounded inside and out (5,7) 6 I make an offer in place of a previous quotation (4) 7 Not quite out of St Malo (6) 8 Make an offer for a boat (6) 11 Pilot skill used to put down on shore (7,5) 15 She left under a cloud (5) 16 Declare the taste to be novel (5) 18 Those feeling the heat suit those feeling the cold (8) 19 Valuable - but too nice (8) 21 Charged for being drunk (6) 22 Give an account of prices to the public (6) 26 Elegant style in which ice cream is served (4) 27 Lift elbow to highest point (4)

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Yesterday’s Easy Solution Across: 1 Proof, 4 Deviate, 8 Set, 9 All thumbs, 10 In force, 11 Chime, 13 Grumpy, 15 Feeler, 18 Sonar, 19 Optimum, 21 Unconcern, 23 Bin, 24 Embargo, 25 Cadge.

Down: 1 Passing, 2 Out of turn, 3 Flair, 4 Dulcet, 5 Vehicle, 6 Aim, 7 Ensue, 12 Islamabad, 14 Partner, 16 Romance, 17 Toledo, 18 Sauce, 20 Tonic, 22 Cub.

Yesterday’s Cryptic Solution Across: 1 Lists, 4 Tallies, 8 Ski, 9 Utterance, 10 Affable, 11 Ha-has, 13 Alight, 15 Usurer, 18 Inter, 19 Ringlet, 21 Fascinate, 23 Gut, 24 Resumed, 25 Shred.

Down: 1 La Scala, 2 Skinflint, 3 Squib, 4 Tether, 5 Larches, 6 Ian, 7 Sheds, 12 Horologer, 14 Heroism, 16 Rotated, 17 Errand, 18 Infer, 20 Needs, 22 SOS.

EASY PUZZLE

Across 1 Change course abruptly (6) 4 An unexpected gain (8) 9 Energetic activity (6) 10 Acute contagious disease (8) 12 Domesticated (4) 13 Frivolous (5) 14 Use bombastic language (4) 17 Progress effortlessly well (2,4,1,5) 20 Specifically (2,10) 23 Supporter (4) 24 Lesser (5) 25 Old (4) 28 Cumbersome (8) 29 Large nonvenomous snake (6) 30 Expert shots (8) 31 Place of worship (6)

Down 1 Deliberate damage (8) 2 Group of supporting dancers (8) 3 Depraved (4) 5 Without excess (2,10) 6 Boring (4) 7 Attractiveness (6) 8 Slackness (6) 11 In excellent health (3,2,1,6) 15 Malodorous American mammal (5) 16 Absurd proceedings (5) 18 Pre-eminent component part (8) 19 Careful forethought (8) 21 Completely void space (6) 22 Bloom (6) 26 With deduction of (4) 27 Sort (4)

FIND where the fleet of ships shown is hidden in the grid. The numbers to the right of and below the grid indicate how many of the squares in that row are filled in with ships or parts of ships. The ships do not touch each other, even diagonally. Some squares have been filled in to start you off.

Solution tomorrow 1

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A B Y D

R K W U

C K Z T

M R A H

N M F C

A B R X

S C E B

L G B Y K P L

G A W Q W I U

E E C D G P L

G M H T G S U

THE ALPHABEAT

TARGET Best described as a number crossword, the task in Kakuro is to fill all of the empty squares, using numbers 1 to 9, so the sum of each horizontal block equals the number to its left, and the sum of each vertical block equals the number on its top. No number may be used in the same block more than once. The difficulty level of the Conceptis Kakuro increases from Monday to Sunday.

O V Q Y U O I

M F M N P N A Friday, January 7, 2022 L L X O O X T

8 Demonstrate; 14 Ruinous; 16 Taffeta; 17 Urgent; 19 Purse; 21 Avail.

1

2

1 x Battleship

3 x Destroyer

2 x cruiser

4 x submarine

3

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But you have complete the grid too! Nea hoar hoard hoary hold holy Aloe. use the and black squares below hood hoodygiven hoof letters hooray hydro down: Squadron, Shin, A load loaf loofa loofah the lord grid oral is ‘rotationally Tombola, Fresco, Asses, A the grid to start. road rood roof royal yahoo Skewed, Baste, Entail, Ra symmetrical’ – in other words, it looks the Lapel, Dart, Preserve. * same if you turn the page upside down.

Solution tomorrow A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

16

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26

2

35

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Y

8

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● Alternatively, for six Extra Letter clues to text DXBEAT to 64343. Texts cost £1 plus your

KEIJO

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The Tribune | Weekend | 07

Friday, January 7, 2022

A one-of-a-kind fusion of international cuisines

Grand opening of new AsianLatino kosher dining restaurant

ahamians have learned to appreciate and enjoy various fusion cuisine concepts that have been introduced to these shores over the last few years, but the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar has something completely new, not to mention unusual, up its sleeve: an Asian-Latino kosher restaurant named Cinko.

The term kosher describes any food that complies with a strict set of dietary rules of traditional Jewish law. As the Bahamas’ first ever kosher restaurant, Cinko has been officially certified under the strict supervision of Chabad of the Bahamas to ensure it meets the necessary requirements.

Cinko also celebrates the rich culinary diversity of Latin American cuisine and pairs with bold Asian flavours.

Locals and visitors alike are invited to experience the longawaited grill helmed by Peruvian Chef de Cuisine Jerson Reyes.

Chef Reyes’ extensive menu offerings honour authentic classical dishes of these distinct regions and pair them in perfect harmony.

Restaurant-goers can delight in signature sushi rolls, Argentinian BBQ, a collection of ceviches, mouthwatering sandwiches, and indulgent desserts.

Standout dishes include Peking duck tacos with kimchi, chili plum sauce, and purple flour tortillas; the Cinko beef burger with avocado, crispy onion, roasted shishito, and poblano relish sriracha; and a parrillada, an assortment of grilled meats served with crispy truffle potatoes and grilled vegetables, chimichurri, ají amarillo, and rocoto carretillero.

Dessert menu highlights include churros served with chocolate; coconut flan with coconut tuile; and Canjica rice pudding with corn, cinnamon, and mango.

“We could not be happier to be expanding our prestigious culi-nary repertoire with the opening of Cinko and greatly look forward to welcoming our guests and local Bahamian community to experience this outstanding dining destination,” said Ulrich Samietz, general manager at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar.

have come to know and love at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar.” Located in the West Tower of Grand Hyatt, Cinko is open for dinner Sunday through Thursday weekly. Additionally, bespoke kosher menus can be arranged to accommodate intimate celebrations and larger group events through the resort’s on-site kosher kitchen.

Kosher breakfast and lunch menu items will also be available throughout other Grand Hyatt, Rosewood and SLS Baha Mar outlets within the resort.

The brand-new kosher eatery also offers Shabbat dinner and lunch for observant guests yearround. Each Shabbat meal option will include challah, kosher wine, appetiser, a main course, side dish and dessert. A kids’ Shabbat menu is also available for children ages 6-12 for Friday dinner and Saturday lunch.

“I am thrilled that Cinko is now open and I am honoured to provide the kosher certification to a restaurant of the finest quality cuisine, as well as the highest kosher standard,” said Rabbi Sholom Bluming, Chabad of the Bahamas. “Cinko continues to bring excitement all over the Jewish world as the first and only kosher restaurant in the Bahamas. We look forward to being a part of its great success.”

food

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“Our goal has always been to provide all guests with a warm, inviting, and refined experience.

We are extremely delighted to

be able to provide our kosher patrons with these exceptional food options, alongside unmatched Bahamian service that our guests

10 | The Tribune | Weekend

gardening

Friday, January 7, 2022

Exotic pines and orchid trees

G

ood day, gardeners! I am gazing out the window at dormant, snow-covered plants, vines, shrubs and evergreen conifers, and I get to thinking about how well natives hold up to the elements, wind, salt, heat or cold, etcetera. Native plants stand up to environmental conditions better than any exotic ever will. Looking at the conifers (pine, spruce, fir, etcetra) leads me to think about the Norfolk Island pine and how it holds up surprisingly well in hurricane situations, although the Norfolk Island pine is definitely not native to our region. It is in fact, an exotic, imported species in our part of the world.

The Norfolk Island pine is native to an island named…. wait for it…

Norfolk Island, off of the east coast of Australia, north of New Zealand, and south of New Caledonia. It is native to a hurricane-prone region.

There is a photo of one that I saw

from Hope Town, Elbow Cay, Abaco, after hurricane Dorian that while it had most of its branches torn off, it was still standing. I have noticed around New Providence that even the strongest of storms do not do much lasting damage to the Norfolk Island pine.

They are also quite salt tolerant.

Norfolk Island pines are not true pines; they are members of a pre-historic family of conifers Araucariaceae, an incredibly diverse and widespread plant family during the Jurassic and Cretaceous time periods. They went extinct in the Northern hemisphere but remain in the Southern hemisphere. The one thing with these plants is that they require a decent amount of space if planted in the ground. They can get well above 60 feet tall in our region, and 15’ across and are best suited to large properties if planted in the ground.

The Norfolk Island pine makes a great indoor plant, and they are much slower growing in pots than

they are when planted in the ground, as with most plants. Indoors they tolerate low to medium light, and they also make great patio plants if kept in pots, so as to restrain the growth.

For large foyers or common spaces in office buildings or hotels these are a good choice as a large potted specimen.

When it comes to planting a Norfolk Island pine in the ground, be sure to have loads of space for it.

Native plants tolerate native conditions better than imports, and natives from hurricane prone regions are a decent alternative in our islands, to add alternative aesthetics to a garden space. The Norfolk Island pine is not invasive, it does not spread by seed in our region, that I am aware of at the least.

One import that does not tolerate wind is the Bauhinia (there are several species), sometimes referred to as the orchid tree or poor man’s orchid, amongst other names.

Bauhinias break easily and a strongbranching structure must be thought of years ahead of time to create a strong tree. They are not recommended for coastal plantings, but they are a fine show on the backside of a hill or in the lee of a building.

Hummingbirds adore Bauhinia flowers, as do beneficial wasps, bees, butterflies and other helpful flying insects. I have one that the heart wood is rotten out, and it has to come down, but I am holding off as long as I can. At the least until I can get hold of another one to get in the ground in another location.

Not all exotics are detrimental, especially if given sufficient maintenance or space. Natives are always the best thing to set a base landscape or garden, and while some exotics are invasive and detrimental to our native environment (that which is always changing), some can be beneficial as windbreaks, aesthetics, or for the flowers that benefit the beneficial birds and insects and also give spectacular displays when used in the right place. As always, I wish you all peace and prosperity, or in other words, I wish you happy gardening!

• Adam Boorman is the nursery manager at the Fox Hill Nursery.

You can contact him with any questions you may have, or topics you would like to see discussed, at gardening242@gmail.com.

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Friday, January 7, 2022

M47 rocks the Bahamas Set their sights on rest of the world

M

47, a new alternative rock band from the Bahamas, has just released their debut single “Hints”, available on all streaming platforms and online

music

retailers.

The group was founded in October 2021 by singer, songwriter and guitarist Ash Algreen and producer, songwriter and bassist Gavin Knowles.

Sound engineer Mike N Klonaris joined the team in December 2021. Mike has worked on projects out of Gregory Town Sound Studio with Craig Ross (Lenny Kravitz’s producer/ guitarist) and Compass Point Studios with producer/engineer Terry Manning (“Widespread Panic” and “Stockholm Syndrome”). He has also published photography on a few albums, including Stockholm Syndrome’s “Holy Happy Hour”.

“Hints” was recorded in Nassau at the Bass Man Studio, with recording engineer and

LEFT to right - Mike N Klonaris, Ash Algreen, Gavin Knowles

session drummer Kevin Dean. Then the song was sent off to Los Angeles to be mixed and mastered by multi–Grammy Award-winning producer and musician Andy Kravitz.

Ash said he got into music at a young age.

His grandfather, Norman Pinder, played guitar and sang old hymns.

“We would be at his house almost every day.

Uncle Raphael his son lived next door and played classical music as well, so I absorbed all that and started learning easy songs with three chords - oldies like Buddy Holly and The Everly Brothers. I also had a Willie Nelson songbook with more interesting chords and lyrics and I saw that he wrote all of his songs so I thought maybe I could try that. I started writing songs and got more into lead guitar, and was terrible at first, but I just kept playing every day,” he said.

Ash is also a member of the popular local reggae band Willis and the Illest and

was recently a finalist in the Nassau Music Society Audience Choice Awards Guitarist Competition.

Gavin, a nominated Hollywood In Music Media Awards record producer, was raised between the Bahamas and Devon, England.

An electronic dance music producer, much of his work is in international film/TV libraries.

His music has appeared on Fox TV, CW and several other TV networks.

He has travelled widely and weaves his background and life experiences into his music. He’s a member of PRS Music (UK PRO affiliated with ASCAP). He also belongs to TAXI which is an online A&R community.

Gavin said: “My music journey has been exciting. I look forward to a new chapter with M47!”

The band is currently writing and recording more songs for their upcoming EP. Follow them on Instagram for updates @m47_official.

Literary lives V S Naipaul (1932 - 2018)

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Friday, January 7, 2022

Trinidad’s most famous writer who often disavowed his origins Part 1

fees. Instead, on an impulse, he travelled to Spain and spent all his savings. He explained his actions as a sort of “mental breakdown”.

Sir Christopher Ondaatje comments about the

majestic, but impenetrably enigmatic Indian writer who climbed his way to the Nobel Prize winner’s podium, and encountered racism and criticism every inch of the way.

“To be a writer you have to be out in the world, you have to risk yourself in the world, you have to be immersed in the world, you have to go out looking for it. This becomes harder as you get older because there’s less energy, the days are shorter for older people and it’s not so easy to go out and immerse oneself in the world outside.”

- V S Naipaul Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, commonly known as V S Naipaul, was born on August 17, 1932, to Droapatie and Seepersad Naipaul in the sugar plantation town of Chaguanas on the Island of Trinidad, the larger of the two islands in the British crown colony of Trinidad and Tobago in the West Indies. He was the couple’s second child and first son.

Naipaul’s paternal grandfather emigrated from India as an indentured labourer in a sugar plantation.

His wife followed ten years later.

Although slavery had been abolished in 1833, “Indenture” was the legal contract drawn up by employers to

meet the demand. It was one step up from slavery and provided an escape for people in India, blighted by the Great Famine of 1876-1878, emigrating under contract to outposts like Trinidad, Fiji, Guyana and the Dutch colony of Suriname. The Naipauls were Hindu Brahmins guided by ritual restrictions including food, drink, attire and social interaction.

These restrictions were to have an enormous influence on Naipaul and his family who moved to Trinidad’s capital Port of Spain.

Naipaul’s father became an English language journalist and contributed stories to the Trinidad Guardian. Being a British colony they were forcibly encouraged to speak English and acquired a great reverence for the language and for writers – spawning the dreams and aspirations of the young Naipaul.

In 1943, the eleven-year-old Naipaul was enrolled in the government-run Queen’s Royal College, a cosmopolitan school run in a similar fashion to the British public schools.

He was a bright young boy and, spurred by his ambitious father, he

won a Trinidad Government scholarship to study abroad – anywhere in the British Commonwealth. He chose to go to Oxford to do a degree in English. He wanted to write. In August 1950, he boarded a Pan Am flight to New York, and continued the next day by boat to London. He hardened himself to the ambitions of his family and purchased a pad of paper and a pencil.

“I had bought the pad and pencil because I was travelling to become a writer, and I had to start.”

- V S Naipaul The notes and letters from those humble beginnings were to be used in a chapter in Naipaul’s novel The Enigma of Arrival, published thirtyseven years later.

Naipaul arrived at Oxford at the end of September 1950 full of enthusiasm. However, a year later he lost his confidence, felt his writing was contrived, was lonely and probably homesick. Plans were made for him to return to Trinidad, and his father sent him a quarter of the passage

In 1952, at Oxford, Naipaul met Patricia Ann Hale, an English History student. The friendship flourished and developed into a sexual relationship. He began to recover and she became a partner in planning his literary career. Patricia Ann Hale’s family were hostile about the relationship – but it continued.

Both Naipaul and Hale graduated with “seconds” in 1953. That year Naipaul’s father had a coronary thrombosis and died in October.

Although it fell to him to light his father’s funeral pyre he had neither the time nor the money to travel to Trinidad. Thus it was left to his eight-year-old brother to perform the cremation, leaving a bitter and guilty wound in Naipaul’s psyche.

Prospects for employment in post-war England were bleak and, financially depleted, Naipaul survived by borrowing money from Patricia Hale and his family, and working at odd jobs. He reluctantly enrolled for a B.Litt post-graduate degree in December 1953 at Oxford in English Literature but failed his first B.Litt exam. He passed his second written examination but his viva voce interview the following February did not go well and he was failed overall for the B.Litt degree, putting an end to his academic studies at Oxford.

Naipaul moved to London, borrowing a flat from a family relation.

Patricia, in the meantime, had won a scholarship to the University of Birmingham, and moved to independent lodgings where Naipaul could visit her. It was a bitter time in Naipaul’s life where he denounced Trinidad and Trinidadians, and castigated the British for taking him out of his country. Increasingly dependent on Patricia, who remained loyal and encouraging, he was despondent and depressed. It wasn’t until December 1954 that Henry Swanzy, producer of the BBC weekly programme Caribbean Voices, offered Naipaul

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Friday, January 7, 2022

the book had “the unforced pace of a masterpiece: it is relaxed, yet on every page alert”. Francis Wyndham too in the London Magazine suggested that the book was “one of the clearest and subtlest illustrations every shown of the effects of colonialism ...”

NAIPAUL and his long-suffering first wife Patricia Hale a renewable contract to present the programme that he would keep for four years. Patricia continued to be the main bread-winner for the couple.

“I came to London. It had become the center of my world and I had worked hard to come to it. And I was lost.”

- V S Naipaul In January 1955, Naipaul transferred to a small flat in Kilburn and he and Patricia Ann Hale were married. She continued to live in Birmingham and came up to London weekends. Naipaul presented Caribbean Voices once a week from a sparsely furnished room in the old Langham Hotel, which was host to a tribe of ambitious Caribbean writers, giving Naipaul friendship and camaraderie and inspired him to write a three thousand word article on someone he had known as a child in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Fellow writers urged him to continue this theme, and over the next two months he completed what would become his first publishable book, Miguel Street.

Diana Athill, an editor of André Deutsch, read the book and liked it.

However the publishers thought that a series of loosely linked stories by an unknown Caribbean writer would not sell in Britain. The discouraged Naipaul was instead persuaded to write a novel. He quickly wrote The Mystic Masseur in the autumn of that year, and the book was accepted

by André Deutsch and Naipaul was given £125 as an advance Royalty payment.

Six years after arriving in England his widowed mother convinced him to return, even briefly, to Trinidad.

He agreed and booked a passage

on a banana boat that took passengers from Bristol. There were several West Indians on board and he wrote enthusiastically to his wife Patricia about the numerous dialects and conversations with his fellow travellers. The 1956 Trinidad elections gained a majority for the majority blacks and Indian Muslims.

When he was there he also gathered information on a new comic novelette which resulted in The Suffrage of Elvira (1958). The acceptance of these two first novels prompted André Deutsch to publish the formerly rejected Miguel Street (1959).

With Caribbean Voices slated to terminate in 1958, Naipaul broke relations with the BBC, and accepted his only full-time employment with the position of editorial assistant for the magazine Concrete Quarterly, the house organ for the Cement and Concrete Association, at a salary of £1,000 a year. It was to be the setting for Naipaul’s later novel, Mr Stone and the Knight’s Companion (1963), but before that he began writing A House for Mr Biswas (1961).

Naipaul and Patricia moved from their attic flat in Muswell Hill in North London to an upstairs flat in Streatham Hill and he started work on A House for Mr Biswas. It is, in my opinion, his finest book – more truthful and more real. His father is the inspiration for the novel and the character Mohun Biswas, referred throughout the book as Mr Biswas.

He was comfortable writing the book because he knew what he was writing about.

“I had more than changed flats: for the first time in my life I enjoyed solitude and freedom in a house.

And, just as in the novel, I was able to let myself go, so in the solitude of the quiet friendly house in Streatham Hill I could let myself go ... The two

NAIPAUL’s first work to achieve worldwide acclaim years spent on this novel in Streatham Hill remain the most consuming, the most fulfilled, the happiest years of my life.”

- V S Naipaul Mr Biswas is forced by his circumstances to be an apprentice to a Hindu priest; a signboard painter; a grocery store proprietor in the depths of Trinidad’s sugarcane district; a driver or overseer in an overgrown sugar estate; and a reporter for the local The Trinidad Sentinel. Despite his independence, he is unfortunately still dependent on his in-laws, and the vagaries of colonial society. There is tense humour, anger and sniping wit as Naipaul finds his metier and, like his protagonist, strikes out on his own and buys a house with borrowed money. Patrick French, Naipaul’s biographer, writes: “A House for Mr Biswas is universal in the way that the work of Dickens or Tolstoy is universal; the book makes no apologies for itself, and does not contextualise or exoticise its characters. It reveals a complete world.”

Later Naipaul admitted there was a short period at the end of the three years that he was writing the book that he knew what he was writing almost by heart. When he had finished he was nervous and unwilling to re-enter the world that he had created. He never again read the book whose proofs he had passed in May 1961.

Reviews were flattering – as they should have been. Colin McInnes, writing in The Observer, stated that

Exhausted after completing A House for Mr Biswas, Naipaul and Patricia accepted an invitation from the Trinidad government offering an all-expenses paid trip. They spent the next five months in the Caribbean. Dr Eric Williams, the Premier of Trinidad and Tobago, which was part of the short-lived West Indies Federation, urged Naipaul to travel to the other countries within the Federation – so that he could write about them. He did this, travelling to British Guiana, Suriname, Martinique and Jamaica with his wife.

The Middle Passage: Impressions of Five Societies – British, French and Dutch in the West Indies and South America was his first non-fiction travel book. It was perceptive and descriptive and he was criticised for his insensitive descriptions. But it is a good book using lots of West Indian humour – not always accepted in Britain. The book also reveals the beginnings of a change in Naipaul.

“The history of the islands can never be told satisfactorily. Brutality is not the only difficulty. History is built around achievement and creation; and nothing was created in the West Indies.”

- V S Naipaul He digs in as the book progresses, noting insightfully that slavery had engendered “self-contempt”, impelling the descendants of slaves to idealise European civilisation and to look down on all others. Here he was partially mirroring his own identity and attitude.

• Sir Christopher Ondaatje is the author of The Last Colonial. He acknowledges that he has quoted liberally from Wikipedia; The World is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of V S Naipaul by Patrick French, 2008; and Lives of the Novelists by John Sutherland, 2011.

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Friday, January 7, 2022

Prohibition revisited - A brush with the Feds

history

O

ver the almost 20 years that I operated an air-taxi business, we catered to a variety of passengers from all social strata, usually without fanfare. Our passenger list included several governors of the Bahamas, the United States Ambassador, the Prime Minister of the Seychelle Islands, the Swedish Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, stars of stage and screen. It was a thrill to fly Juan Trippe, the founder of Pan American Airways.

Safety and punctuality were our primary concerns and, when HM Queen Elizabeth II came to Nassau for the 1985 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, we were chosen to fly HRH the Duke of Edinburgh to and from Eleuthera. We (our pilots, our mechanics, our aircraft and our maintenance records) had to be inspected and approved by Scotland Yard, Buckingham Palace and the Royal Air Force. It was the only time that a member of the Royal Family flew on an air-taxi.

Most of our flights were rather mundane, but an e-mail from a fan of this column brought back memories of an unusually memorable flight to Florida.

We were hired by a local law firm to fly one of their clients accompanied by an indentured law student from Nassau International Airport to Tampa North airstrip, where the pilot would wait for an hour or so, then bring the two pasFORGOTTEN FACTS sengers back to Nassau.

Because Tampa North did not have immigration and customs facilities, the pilot landed at one of the East Coast airports and cleared immigration and customs, before flying to Tampa North.

We had no reason to think that anything had gone wrong with the flight, until the pilot phoned to report that the two passengers had been arrested, our airplane had been confiscated and he was already in Nassau.

At North Tampa, the passengers had gone off, saying that they would be back in about an hour. The pilot filed a flight plan back to Nassau and settled down to wait. When the passengers

PAUL C ARANHA

came back they put a suitcase into the luggage compartment and the plane headed for the departure end of the runway, but when the pilot lined up on the runway the plane had been surrounded by police cars and armed cops.

Both passengers were arrested, the suitcase (containing over a million dollars in cash) was confiscated and the plane was impounded. Fortunately, the pilot was free to do whatever he liked. He chose to leave the country as quickly as possible, catching the next scheduled flight, before anybody changed their mind. Informing his employer was not a priority.

I sought the advice of the head of US Customs at Nassau airport with whom we worked quite closely and was told to go to Tampa and meet with the head man there. It took a lot of talk and a lot of questioning, but I flew myself back home in my airplane, wondering whether Tampa Customs had spoken to Nassau Customs, where my company and I were counted among the “good guys”.

• For questions and comments, please send an e-mail to islandairman@gmail.com

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Friday, January 7, 2022

Animal matters Kim Aranha

animals

I

have written many articles saying goodbye to a special pet usually dogs, but some cats and horses too.

None more difficult than the one I write today.

How does one go about describing a gentleman amongst dogs? A big gentle, sweet bear of a boy who never showed aggression or fierceness? Don’t get me wrong, he knew how to bark at the gate - he would run up and down the wall, “chasing” golf carts.

Buddy was a star, he was just that, a buddy. My son Scott chose him out of a litter of six in Westridge; six adorable fat little black puppies scampering around behind their mum and dad. We had gone to look, but who on earth goes to “look” at puppies without coming home with one?

Buddy settled in with his boy and slept the first night in his bed, the sheets were navy blue and the next morning we couldn’t find Buddy because he blended into the dark sheets.

He was an energetic and loving puppy who chased after his master enthusiastically.

Buddy was the king of the swimming pool and as hard as he tried, he could not teach his four potcake siblings to swim with him. He had a blue floating toy called “toy toy” and he would tirelessly run and jump into the pool with bounding energy to retrieve the toy and bring it back. He would drop it on the side of the pool, his face a picture of canine concentration and his tail wagging fiercely for it to be thrown again and again and again.

If we put on a bathing suit and Bud saw, he would go berserk, jumping and barking. And if we used the word “swimming” the result was the same, but he was super smart, he never once jumped into the canal, he knew that was off limits.

Buddy and his boy, Scott Aranha, at his wedding on the beach Buddy was a black labrador and had papers, but he didn’t do dog shows, he just did family life at its best. He would come back from a beach day covered in sand and flop down with the confidence of a dog who knows just how much he is loved.

Though Buddy lived with us, he was always Scott’s dog. Best friends with Chief, “husband” to Bella, and a tolerant friend to the other two.

Buddy saved his kisses for his boy Scott, and later when Scott and Bianca got engaged, she was honoured with kisses; Buddy did not throw those around.

He considered himself a potcake and liked nothing more than digging holes under a bush in the garden.

Like us all, as Buddy grew older he slowed down some - not much, until the last couple of years when he could no longer manage the steep stairs in our former home. It was sad to see him age, but he was so dignified.

PET OF THE WEEK

(PHOTO/LINDA GILL-ARANHA

A gentleman who was everybody’s Buddy

Buddy in his petit point chair He was indeed a happy boy for the past five months, as he could, once again, sleep in the same bedroom as us when we moved into a house with no stairs.

Buddy had many prize moments in his happy doggy life but one of the most important must have been attending the wedding of his boy Scott and Bianca. He stood proud beside Scott waiting for the moment the bride arrived and when she did, his tail was wagging in circles.

When you lose a friend it hurts.

Losing Chiefie in May and now Buddy a couple of days ago has been terribly painful. They both had gigantic personalities and filled the house with their size, both physically and the with the size of their characters.

We used to say that Buddy was like Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way. He was a gentle giant, he was sweet and unassuming, careful and eager to please. I don’t think any dog could ever be a “gooder” (a Buddy word) boy. He was just the

Bubby loved the pool and his ‘toy toy’ ultimate Good Boy. I look at his photo and my eyes fill with tears. Coming home to a house with no Buddy was miserable… missing his big paws padding around the house and then the thump as he would hurl himself down on the tiles.

Buddy’s best girl was Bella, and you can see that she is grieving. We give her love, and we give her space, she has never known a day without Buddy in her 12 years of life. They would tour the garden together right up to a day or two before he died.

I was away when the angels came, his best human Scott was there though. I suspect that there has been much rejoicing up in Rainbow Bridge when Buddy was reunited with Chief…I sense that they may be having chats in the clouds that I will share with you.

Goodbye Buddy bear, you were everybody’s friend, you will wear the wings you deserve well, you were an angel on earth.

Foster a puppy

By The Bahamas Humane Society Happy New Year!

The Bahamas Humane Society is starting out the year with... puppies! This crew is still bottle feeding and will do better out of the shelter environment.

If you’ve ever wondered about fostering, why not give it a try in 2022? The BHS will provide the bottle and goat’s milk, you provide the TLC and time.

Once they’re feeding on their own, and able to be vaccinated, they’ll be ready for shelter life and

can return to the BHS. For more information, please call Fiona or Novie at 3235138.

All the best for 2022, and don’t forget - spay and neuter your pets!

Adopt, don’t shop.

If you can’t adopt, foster.

If you can’t foster, volunteer.

If you can’t volunteer, donate.

If you can’t donate, educate!

Help make a difference!

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