Friday, March 2, 2018
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Weekend
SPRING STYLES Page 2
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02 | The Tribune | Weekend
Friday, March 2, 2018
fashion
Sweet Spring styles for kids By CARA HUNT cbrennen@tribunemedia.net
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t’s springtime, and what better way to start a season of new beginnings than a fashion show for the littlest fashion divas and dudes among us. Kalico Bay will present ‘La Bella Vita – A Children’s Spring Fashion’ this Sunday at SuperClubs Breezes. Store owner Danielle Anusieum told Tribune Weekend that guests can expect not only a fabulous selection of fashion during the runway portion of the show, but also enjoy a family friendly, fun afternoon with treats for both children and adults. “There are more than $2,500 in giveaways, prizes, clothing and gift certificates, and balloon art and custom treats. We will not leave parents out. We have a few surprises for parents, especially moms who love to coordinate with their kids; they will see some of our exclusive adult pieces as well. We want parents to be on the lookout for things they can take advantage of and we will have games and gifts connect to our parents mothers and fathers as well,” she said. Danielle added that guests should plan to arrive at 2pm to enjoy the free entertainment that is available for them prior to the runway show, which starts at 2.45pm. “The show is really not just about providing a fashion show, but giving persons an opportunity to come to a wholesome family event,” she said. Noted local stylist Kedar Clarke returns as the show’s host, and this year he will be joined by co-host Torrianna Darville Sands. Music will be provided by DJ Chelo. When it comes to fashion for the tots this season, Danielle said expect to see an explosion of colour and fun accents, like fringe details. “We have fringe in so many silhouettes and styles, from fringe skirts to full fringe dresses. If you recall last Spring, tassels made a huge comeback, and they still remain with us, but fringe is even bigger this Spring and Summer,” said Danielle. “All the bright colours come back for Spring,” she added, “from pastels
to the very bright neons. Colour is very hot, and we as Bahamians love colour I don’t think that will ever go out of style.” Something that she hopes will never go out of style either is mixing patterns and prints. “It is another really hot trend, which I hope will catch fire and stick, because it is really beautiful, unexpected and great to look at. Kalico Bay pushes the mixtures of patterns and prints where we have polka dots, plaids and stripes, and maybe even a floral, all in one outfit, but it works beautiful,” she said. “We have a lot a moms who are very traditional,
but they are becoming more open to mixing maybe four patterns or textures all at the same time.” Of course you can’t have a Spring fashion show without Easter attire, and Danielle said guests will be blown away by the selection they have this year. “This season we have travelled and met with designers and manufactures from all over the world, with the most opulent and mind-blowing gowns for girls for Easter. We have paid particular attention to our boys because they often get overlooked,” she said. “In some scenes in this show they are going toe-to-toe with the girls.”
Accessories will complete the look and this Spring clear acrylic bangles and earrings, hand-beaded rosette necklaces and fringe necklaces will be huge. Danielle recommends a denim jacket for parents hoping to add that one must-have Spring staple to their child’s wardrobe. “It’s just one of those pieces that can be dressed up or down, either to add pizazz to a causal outfit or to dress down a more dressier outfit if needed,” she said. Tickets are $15 for kids and $25 for adults, and include a complimentary soft drink and treat.
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Inside Weekend Interview 4-5 Cara Hunt talks to Tamika Taylor about her nonprofit to help those in need dress for success Food 7 Happy Foods 242 returns to TV with new eats and treats Fashion 8 - 10 Theodore Elyett shows at Buckingham Palace, plus Islands of the World Fashion Showcase hits the Big Apple Music 11 - 12 Angel Alei is ‘dying for love’, plus Sherwood Rahming celebrates genre-bending anniversary Weddings 13 Designer-to-the-stars Miguel Wilson lets grooms shine Carnival 14 - 15 Road Fever burns bright with Enigma’s sweet costume launch Art 17 Transforming Spaces goes all out for 2018 tour Community 18 BAIC Farmer’s Market is a hit with Bahamians Gardening 19 A busy month for planting Film 20 - 21 Oscar predictions ahead of Sunday’s award ceremony Literary Lives 22 - 24 The life and death of a decadent Roaring Twenties’ poet Forgotten Facts 25 Paul C Aranha on the development of ‘Briland Puzzles 26 Animals 27 Kim Aranha explains why the BHS is a no kill shelter Cover | Terrel W Carey
My perfect Bahamian weekend Takiya D Rahming Senior account clerk Q: Saturday breakfast or Sunday lunch?
“I love the Bahamian breakfast stew conch and stew fish with Johnny cake.”
Q: Wine, rum, cocktail or Kalik?
“Cocktail. After a long day at work and the stresses of life I need to unwind.”
Q: Beach or sofa?
“Definitely the beach. The Bahamas is known for its sun, sand and sea. I enjoy
going to the beach to relax; sitting on a beach chair and enjoying the weather.”
Q: What is the one thing that you can’t live without?
“I cannot live without God.”
Q: Weekend away, where would you go? “I would go to a Family Island to relax and get away from the hustle and bustle of Nassau. We have over 700 islands, each with their unique style.”
Things 2 Do this weekend Friday • Mardi Gras Weekend Venue: Louis & Steen’s New Orleans Coffeehouse Time: All day through Saturday Mardi Gras is in full effect back in New Orleans, and now in Nassau as well. There will be games, live music, movie night, sunrise yoga, a vendors’ market, kid’s face painting, prizes and giveaways, Junkanoo rush-out, dog costume competition. • Smugglers Recharged Time: 4.30pm Venue: Smugglers, George Street Sponsored by Johnnie Walker and Heineken, the event features international recording artist Anwar backed by The Spin Doctors, alongside DJ Dion da Butcha. Taste samples from the new menu, relax in the Johnnie Walker VIP Lounge or have a cigar in the smoker’s lounge. There is free valet parking and security will be strictly enforced. • Closing Exhibition of Works by Judith Papillion Time: 6pm - 8pm Venue: Gallery Hall at the Meliá Nassau Beach All-Inclusive Complimentary drinks will be served. • Wakanda Forever Time: 8pm Venue: Xscape Lounge, Madeira Street Celebrate black excellence Wakanda style. So come dressed in your best
African prints. There will be prizes for best dressed, and lots of surprises throughout the night.
Saturday
• Royal Bahamas Police Force Fun Run/Walk & Health Fair Time: 6am Start: Police Headquarters, East Street A mini health fair will be held on the grounds of the Police Headquarters after the race. • Full Moon Party Time: 6pm Venue: Philosophy Smokehouse Bar & Grill, Lyford Hills, Serenity Drive Enjoy dinner and a fireworks display as The Soulful Grooves provide live entertainment. Admission is free. • “The Palm” – Always by Allia M Dean Spring/Summer Debut Time: 6pm - 9pm Venue: University of the Bahamas Performing Arts Centre Gallery “The Palm” collection embodies the authentic Bahamian craft industry, from straw bags to woven baskets. Handmade jewellery and an array of wearable items for both men and women will be on display. • The Bingo Party Time: 7pm Venue: Boom Boom Room Sporting Lounge, Madeira Street Bingo tickets are $10; the grand prize is set at $800. • All White Glow Party
Time: 8pm Venue: SBG Night Life (formerly Sharkeez), Woodes Rodgers Walk Hosted by SBG Night Life and Epic Forealz, the party signals a new beginning in Downtown Nassau night life for the grown and sexy. The first hour will feature throw-back classics. Admission is $10; glow items will be provided.
Sunday
• ‘La Bella Vita’ by Kalico Bay Time: 2pm Venue: SuperClubs Breezes. SEE PAGE 2 • Nude – Wet Dreams featuring Dreamdoll Time: 5pm - until Venue: Mountbatten House Gardens, Graycliff Entertainment by DJ Tank, Unruly AJ & Onetime, DJ Looney, DJ Chippy and Selecta Fawteen. Free entry before 7pm. • Jazz at Jacaranda Time: 6.30pm Venue: Jacaranda House, Parliament Street Enjoy live music around the pool in the gardens of this historic house. If it’s windy, it will be held in the drawing room which still retains original features dating back to 1840. Light snacks and cash wine bar available. There is a $15 cover charge. E-mail jacarandanassau@gmail.com for reservations.
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interview Clothes make the man...and the woman. This is something Tamika Taylor strongly believes in. She tells Cara Hunt about her new nonprofit organisation designed to help those in need to dress for success.
Tamika Taylor
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any women have a love affair with fashion. After all, a cute outfit can help you feel great about yourself. But as Tamika Taylor learned, having nice clothes can do more than just improve your mood, it can also improve your life. After receiving a much needed gift of clothing from a friend when she herself was in need, Tamika has now decided to pay it forward with her organisation Showcase Bahamas, which seeks to empower women by providing them with work place appropriate attire. It may seem like a small gesture, but Tamika believes this idea has the potential to go far. “I am an executive administrative assistant,” she told Tribune Weekend. “But there was a period in my life where I was having a lot of financial hardships. It was hard for me to pay my essential bills, let alone buy things like clothing. I had six outfits that I would rotate and wear to work and two pairs of shoes, and I wore one of those pairs of shoes so much they ended up with holes.” It was at this point when a very kind friend offered Tamika some clothes from her own wardrobe. “I just remember feeling so overwhelmed and grateful and so I decided that whenever I was in a position to help I wanted to impact other people.” The idea that clothing could in fact be a ministry was not new to Tamika. “Growing up, my mother was a seamstress, so I was always around clothes and as a seamstress she
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always had people coming to her for funerals and weddings, and I remember many times people sitting on her couch as she sewed and them pouring out their hearts to her. So I know that clothing can be a ministry,” she said. And thus the idea for Showcase Bahamas – an organisation designed to give women a helping hand in their careers – was born. “It was birthed out of a need to help provide free professional clothing to people,” she said. Tamika explained that the mission for the organisation is to provide underprivileged individuals in the community with the basic tools required to jump-start their lives through the kindness of private citizens, corporate bodies and government agencies. It is the intent of Showcase Bahamas to provide a community, national and global service by equipping the unemployed with the resources required to successfully gain employment. Tamika started Showcase in June of 2016 and assisted her first client in September of that year. She noted that in May 2015, a year before she started Showcase, there were 1,840 discouraged workers in the Bahamas and 32.8 per cent of these individuals had never worked before. “We recognise that there is an opportunity to reach this demographic, as chances are they are not equipped with the proper attire to enable a successful interview process,” said Tamika. “I think that many people aren’t aware of just how much of a genuine need professional clothing is for some people. They don’t have anything to wear and it can cost them career opportunities,” she said. “I remember there was a young man who went to the Department of Labour and although he had the qualifications for the job he was interested in, the impression was that he was not serious about the profession because of the way that he was dressed. But it was just that he was not able to afford anything to wear for the interview. “Another lady was fortunate to land a position, but it was at a workplace with a very high standard of how they wanted their employees to look and she was just not able to immediately buy a wardrobe that met that standard. And buying clothing when you have so many other bills that need to be paid becomes a luxury and not a necessity.” She noted that she really wants Showcase to be an organisation which offers people the help that they need in a dignified setting.
PHOTOS/SHAWN HANNA
“I think that many people aren’t aware of just how much of a genuine need professional clothing is for some people. They don’t have anything to wear and it can cost them career opportunities.”
“People can be prideful, but this is a place where they can come in love,” she said. Tamika explained that she takes clients based on word of mouth or referral
to the Showcase Bahamas office, which is located in the Carey’s building on Mackey Street. She also said that moving forward she wants to continue to partner with
the Department of Labour, so that they can recommend persons who can benefit from Showcase. “I feel that that would bring another of level of accountability as well,” she added. Tamika said providing clothing to people who need it is just phase one of her goal for Showcase. ‘We also want to be a base for job training, especially in helping employees learn about proper customer service, which is a big thing in this country, and provide computer training. “Another area where we try to help people is with résumé writing, which can also include helping people set up a professional e-mail rather than some of those funny e-mails that you sometimes see on résumés. Additionally, I would also like to provide a venue where we can do mock interviews with persons who are looking for jobs so that they can know what to expect and how to conduct themselves during the interview and appropriate professional behaviour such as coming to work on time.” People are encouraged to donate their gently used clothing to Showcase Bahamas. “We have just recently partnered with the Ministry of Youth in some of their community projects and so we can also use clothing for that as well,” she said.
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section
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food
New eats and treats with ‘Happy Foods’ season eight By ALESHA CADET Tribune Features Writer acadet@tribunemedia.net
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ou know that local food show that makes your mouth water and make want to get out of the house to grab a bite to eat? Yes, that one; Happy Foods 242. Well, it’s back and will be shown on a television screen near you this weekend. The eighth season of the popular show premieres tomorrow on channel 212 at 7pm, and as usual Happy Foods 242 promises to give its viewers a firsthand look at all the new restaurants, bars, menus, ventures, and more. “I always say every season is the best,” said Sasha Lightbourne, the show’s host and producer. “This is number eight and we did a lot of new things: we featured a stall on Arawak Cay, made our very first wedding cake, and also featured nitrogen ice cream, just to name a few. With this show I always love the production mode. It’s a happy time and it’s great to be able to be around my team. They are the best. Jay, Kenny, ‘Y’ and Shakara make this show a good job to have, so to be back with them always gives me great joy.” Sasha told Tribune Weekend that she has learned some valuable lessons over the years, including how to utilise the growing power of social media, how to develop business skills and how to exercise patience – all in the name of building and protecting a successful brand. “I have learned that timing is everything. I also learned that word of mouth in the Bahamas also plays a huge role in having a successful business. There are so many people that gravitate towards ‘Happy Foods’ because they have heard about it or are themselves a fan. I love food and I am motivated most importantly by making my parents proud. Nothing warms my heart more than when my parents visit a place and they get the
Sasha Lightbourne with the staff of Drifters at Da Fry
Ice cream from #320 Nicecream
Happy Foods’ first wedding cake, courtesy of Take a Bite Bahamas.
‘royal treatment’, or people tell them how good of a show ‘HappyFoods 242’ is. They have been supportive from the start, so when they benefit I am overjoyed,” said Sasha. Speaking about the first episode to air tomorrow, the businesswoman said while she cannot reveal too much, she can say that she was very persistent in making sure this particular establishment was featured. “We actually just shot it last week after finalising on February 21, but I always envisioned it as the first show. It’s going to be good. It’s not a new new place, but it’s one of the newest ‘kids on the block’. I am very excited,” she said. She said this season was challenging to film, but at the same time she had a lot of fun. Getting to help make a wedding cake and learning all about liquid nitrogen ice cream were just some of the highlights she experienced. “The nitrogen ice cream was educational and fun. People will love this season, I assure you. Tune in to channel 212 every Saturday at 7pm and Wednesdays at 8.30pm for 10 brand new episodes. You can also watch the episodes on our YouTube channel, HappyFoods242, where food is the source of life,” said Sasha.
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fashion
Living it up in the Big Apple Nassau-based showcase celebrates milestone By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net
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HILE interest continues to build from countries such as Japan, Martinique, Cuba and Australia, a significant Bahamian presence is what organisers are hoping for when they stage a special year-end event of the Islands of the World Fashion Showcase (IWFS) in New York City. In recognition of the 10th anniversary of the premiere of the award-winning Bahamianbased showcase, organisers will host an IWFS event in New York City this November under the theme “Paradise Takes A Bite of the Big Apple”. The event will be presented by the Small States Foundation and Exiles. Designers based in or with origins in island nations around the globe will be featured at the historic 4 West 43rd Street venue. In a fusion of fashion and culture, they will be showing creations ranging from resort style to urban, red carpet and destination bridal fashions. Since its inception in 2008, IWFW has been hosted in Nassau, and has featured 75 designers representing 18 island nations and three nonisland countries. The designers to be selected to present at the New York event will be those who have shown themselves ready for a global commercial presence. According to Owen Bethel, principal producer of IWFW, they are presently in the process of inviting designers from island nations around the world to register for consideration and selection.
“It is certainly open to Bahamian designers and we have already been approached by five expressing an interest. We would love to see a significant presence from the Bahamas. However, we have also been approached by designers from Japan, Martinique, Cuba, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic and Australia,” he told Tribune Weekend. While islands are generally synonymous with resort wear and casual lifestyle, Mr Bethel said the organisation recognises that islands also represent “sophistication and luxury, ranging from a fusion of eclectic urban wear to glamorous red carpet and destination bridal outfits.” With that being the case, participating designers will have the freedom to present their work in different genres. “It is anticipated that many participating designers will take their inspiration from the theme of the event, ‘Paradise Takes A Bite of the Big Apple’, said Mr Bethel. In keeping with the evolution of the event over the past decade, from the presentation of cultural pieces unique to each designer’s island, to the most recent iteration into the “Haute Art Couture” component of the event, selected designers will be requested to create a piece inspired by art from an artist indigenous to the designer’s native island. “Where possible, the original artwork or a lithograph of the piece will be on view in an exhibition during the event in New York,” said Mr Bethel. IWFS’s New York City staging is hugely significant for many reasons, he explained. The city itself is considered one of the established fashion capitals of the world, with every major fashion brand, media house and significant retail merchandiser or agency having either a presence or representation there. “With the mandate to provide more exposure for relevant designers, and specifically those who have shown that they are capable of designing, producing and delivering at an international standard for a global commercial market, it is, without a doubt, a major milestone to be able to host the event in New York, and to provide such a venue and platform for the participating designers,” said Mr Bethel. And based on what they end-of-year staging yields, IWFS could have a fixed platform in New York which could potentially “facilitate the promotion of island-based designers on a consistent basis,” he added. “It also signifies the point in time that the original and broader purpose of the event – to be an avenue for the promotion of designers from the developing countries – will be explored and put into action. Not lost on the organisers also is the fact that New York is a significant hub and melting pot for persons of the Diaspora, from many of the islands around the world, but particularly from the Caribbean.”
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What’s more, IWFS’ staging in New York takes it back to its origins when it was endorsed by an arm of UNESCO. “The event was conceived during a posting at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in Paris, France, in order to provide a venue where designers from developing countries could obtain international media exposure and subsequent opportunities for sales to a broad range of fashion retailers and merchandisers,” said Mr Bethel. “The event was narrowed to focus primarily on designers with origins in island nations as a first stage, with the intent that it would ultimately develop into a broader-based platform for designers from other developing
Designs presented during last year’s Islands of the World Fashion howcase.
countries. After successfully hosting it in the Bahamas for the past several years, with limited reach and expansion to the larger target market and objectives, it was deemed timely to take it to the next level and place the platform right in the backyard of the major fashion trade and media houses and retailers. Therefore, the appearance in a New York-based production brings added value to those designers successfully selected to participate.” It is also important to reflect on the event as a vehicle for the promotion of cultural diversity, tolerance and dialogue through the creativity of fashion. Mr Bethel noted given that designers have leeway to draw attention to
global matters, such as the environment and climate change, the education of youth on HIV/AIDS, human smuggling and trafficking, and poverty alleviation, and their particular impact on small island developing states. Over the the course of its 10-year journey, IWFS has experienced numerous highs, attracting attention from international fashion media such as Vogue Italia and fashion publications from Canada, Russia, India, the United Kingdom, and throughout the Caribbean and US. This has been a significant factor in exposing the participating designers to the world. “Several have even succeeded in having products purchased and placed in boutique stores in Florida and the
Bahamas, and major retail outlets such as Top Shop in the United Kingdom. Several models have also been catapulted into the international arena, having been recruited by organisers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi,” said Mr Bethel. “From the perspective of the Bahamas, we have seen the advancement onto the international fashion stage of such talented designers as Theodore Elyett and David Rolle, both of whom were assistants and novice designers during previous editions of Islands of the World Fashion Showcase, and also recipients of scholarships for summer internship to the prestigious Parsons School in New York City.”
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fashion
A gown fit for royalty Local designer Theodore Elyett showcases at Buckingham Palace
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(l-r) Nadja Swarovski, Theodore Elyett, HRH Countess of Wessex and Catherine Rocheford, a Barbados accessory designer, at Buckingham Palace.
heodore Elyett made history last month when he became the first Bahamian fashion designer to showcase at Buckingham Palace before a royal audience, including Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Sophie, the Countess of Wessex. The Commonwealth Fashion Exchange Programme selected Elyett to create a one-of-a-kind ball gown representing his home country through fashion on the international stage. For the first time, the Commonwealth came together during London Fashion Week to showcase a wealth of design and artisan fashion talent from across its 52 countries. Elyett’s gown was revealed at an exhibit curated by Vogue European Editor-at-Large Hamish Bowls. The Bahamian High Commission in London hosted a special reception in honour of Elyett’s representation of the Bahamas on February 21. The public is able to view the dress at the Australian House, and the exhibition will culminate later this year in New York, where Elyett’s dress will be on display during the next sitting of the United Nations. The two-tiered ball gown was designed and created exclusively for the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange Programme, with a financial investment from Equity Bank & Trust Bahamas Limited. Showcasing Elyett’s affinity for bold prints and patterns, the gown was done in intricate island themed designs, honouring the island of the Bahamas and highlighting the colours of the tropical island destination as inspiration. The shell of the dress was produced with 100 per cent natural fibre materials and the waistline is embellished
with 1,800 hand-stitched Swarovski crystals. The printed bodice of the gown, featuring an asymmetric shoulder and bustling detailing, flows into an exaggerated voile handkerchief hem peplum. On the skirt of the gown, sea turtles and seashells float over 20 yards of probed twill, depicting the beauty of life beneath the sea. The ball gown depicts calming shades of Capri, Aurora Borealis, jonquil, aquamarine, and indigo blue to accentuate the tropics of the Bahamas. “I often use my island roots and travel experiences as inspiration for my creations. This ball gown is a celebration of island life combined with the mastery of French couture,” said Elyett, who is also the artist-inresidence at Baha Mar. “When I put my pencil to the drawing board, I allow my imagination to run wild, but still give special attention to what people have grown to love about my brand: elegance and sophistication.” In less than two decades, Theodore Elyett has become renowned as the nation’s premier fashion designer and a trailblazer in the regional fashion scene. Thirty-one-year-old Elyett became a celebrated figure after conquering the competition in the reality-television show Mission Catwalk. Elyett has won more than two dozen awards and is committed to doing his part to elevate the local fashion industry and carve a path for aspiring Bahamian designers. The one-of-a-kind ball gown was designed at The Current at Baha Mar, a hub for creativity, complete with an art programme, galleries, studio spaces and workshops and classes. Designed to support local artists and promote Bahamian arts, the artist-in-residence programme allows local and international artists to follow their artistic pursuits, culminating in exhibitions, lectures and workshops designed to expand their artistry. “The team here at Baha Mar is extremely excited for Theodore to take advantage of such an outstanding opportunity. It fills us with great pride to see young talent thrive in such a magnificent way. He is an excellent example of hard work and dedication to his craft and we are glad for Baha Mar and The Current to support him and provide a platform artists on their journey to success,” said Graeme Davis, president of Baha Mar. Following this international adventure, Elyett officially started his three-month residency at The Current yesterday.
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music
Artist spotlight: Angel Alei finds inspiration in heartbreak By ALESHA CADET Tribune Features Writer acadet@tribunemedia.net
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or up and coming Bahamian musician Angelique Mackey it feels great to see the positive strides her musical journey is making. Humble by nature, the singer said right now she still feels like she has yet “to put a drop in the bucket”, however, with the right support and backing she is sure she will one day see her vision come true. Angelique uses the stage name Angel Alei and recently released a new single called “Die”. “Die” came as a surprise, she said, because at the time of its creation she was on the fence when it came to picking a beat for the song. It was only after hearing the rhythms over a period of time that Angelique found the perfect words to match. “I started humming a melody and found words that would fit nicely, which is when ‘Die’, or ‘dying for love’, became my main concept. I’ve been through a few bad relationships and the two relationships that hit the most made my verses what they are,” she said. “My recent ex-boyfriend taught me more than I ever thought I could learn from a person, and I just wanted the song to leave a lasting impression on those who heard it, as well as find its way to the people that need to hear it.” When it comes to the visuals to accompany the single, Angelique said the “Die” music video, conceptualised
by photographer Scharad Lightbourne, was shot at the Marley Resort on Cable Beach and Sandyport. “The video is still not done, but I know my audience will love every part of it. It basically tells a story of someone I thought was good for me, that isn’t, and then someone that makes everything clear and feels right. Ladies, you know what I’m talking about. We wanted it to be dramatic and so love-lust that my character would end up seriously hurt in the end. Scharad was visualising suicide, but I thought an ending where I’m alone but still left with both (love interests) would’ve been more of a plot twist,” said Angelique. Since the age of 14, Angelique has been singing for
friends. After gathering enough confidence, she entered an international competition. The positive results from this experience led her to further invest in her career. A few of Angelique’s past songs include “Dawn”, ‘MSG To Distant Lovers”, “Crossroads”, and “Fall in Love”. “Since then I’ve worked with a lot of local producers, which led me to meet Jay Isaacs, who has a media company and a newly established label. I became one of the first three artists to start with them and we continue to work, grow and push other artists to do the same. Working with Jay has allowed me to see the ins and outs of the business, focus on the right aspects of it, travel, perform, and more. I can only see better things from here on,” said Angelique. She thanked her mother, who plays piano and other instruments, for fostering her musical talents. “My mother enrolled me into violin lessons at the age of five and since then I’ve gained an appreciation of musical instruments, theory, and every aspect of music. She’s my number one inspiration. This year I plan to continue releasing personal favourite singles like ‘Ending Start’ and ‘Summer’, until I have the clout to release an album and something fruitful can come of it. I want to tour twice in the year 2018, work with as many artists, producers and event coordinators as possible, and be the best Angel Alei I can be. The rest is up to God,” the singer said. Readers are encouraged to keep up to date with Angelique’s music via iTunes, Tidal, Deezer, Spotify, Spinrilla, YouTube and SoundCloud.
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music
Celebrating a genre-bending anniversary
Artist Sherwood Rahming marks his “Sherriversary” with an intimate concert.
By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net
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t was described as an intimate, soulful concert underscored by “chill vibes” and a tad bit of raunchiness as local artist Sherwood Rahming celebrated his “Sherriversary” at Hillside House Gallery last Friday. The showcase featured soulful R&B renderings from Sherwood, who marked the one-year anniversary of his latest project, “Sherri”. The album chronicles Sherwood’s personal journey of understanding love and the process by which he figures out what makes sense to him. From start to finish, the album is a conversation incorporating personal stories from others about their experiences with love that all tie into his own personal experience. And just as honest and open the album is, so was Sherwood’s performance. He sung songs from the smooth and groovy collection, including jazz, neo soul and reggae, and even presented some spoken word poetry. “The idea behind ‘Sherriversary’ was about me getting genuine fans of the music together to celebrate an album that sparked conversations that aren’t typically had, but to also celebrate this smooth and chill vibration of music that I’m so fond of. I want to connect with my fans in personal ways so I made the show free for anyone who RSVP’d,” the singer told Tribune Weekend. “Sherriversary” also featured guest performances by artists Shon P, Zuu, Adria, and also a surprise appearance by Judah Tha Lion. “I was the headliner for the night, performing the majority of song from my most recent album, ‘Sherri’, backed by a live band. The event’s turnout was
fantastic. Total attendance was about 100 people who were all familiar with the music,” he said. Sherwood is an artist, producer and engineer who dabbles in the genres of hip hop, R&B, soul and funk. He has been actively at work in his craft since
2012 and released his first significant project, “Revitalised”, in 2016. “I’ve mostly been making new music, much of which may never be released. But just experimenting with new sounds, techniques and ideas figuring out how to make better music,” he said.
“Next, I’ll continue to work on planning great shows for the rest of the year, along with making new music. There’s likely going to be a new project from my camp in 2018, so I’ll be focusing my energy on making sure it’s even better than the last.”
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weddings
Celebrity designer lets grooms shine By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net
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want something totally different than anything before, using exquisite fabrics and unique colours like aqua, teal and coral. We find that people are using a lot of different colours and people are incorporating them into their looks,” he said. Wilson said one of the common issues he sees are grooms waiting too late to decide on their wedding attire. “When you run out of time you just don’t have the luxury of getting things
the way you want, when you want. And when you have time you can also budget better and be able to have exactly what you want,” he told Tribune Weekend. “Your wedding day is the biggest party you will ever throw more than likely, and you know your bride is going to look better than she has ever looked any day of her life; you should do the same. It is your party and it should look like your party, and you should want to look better than on any other day of your life.”
Atlanta designer Miguel Wilson (at centre) presented his latest collection at the Muna Love Affair Bridal Show in Nassau.
PHOTOS/WELLINGTON RAMSEY AND CANDIN MOSS
esigner-to-the-stars Miguel Wilson often tells grooms, “the gown is only half the picture”. And with as much energy brides spend on finding the perfect dress, Wilson believes grooms should also pull all out stops, “because it his day too.” “That is my tagline – ‘Because its his day too’. We want to give men a similar experience that women have. A lot of times when women get engaged the first thing they do is get their girlfriends together and go shopping for a gown. I want guys to have fun coming to me and have a great experience looking for the perfect tuxedo for their wedding day,” he said. Wilson, an Atlanta-based designer who has dressed the likes of star quarterback Cam Newton and rapper Ludacris, recently exhibited his latest wedding collection featuring tailored tuxedos and suits at the Muna Love Bridal Show at the British Colonial Hilton in Nassau. The Miguel Wilson Wedding Collection, he said, was created for the discerning groom who wants to look his very best on one of the most important days of his life. Wilson specialises in wedding attire for men and has more than 20 years experience in the wedding industry. He has dressed Todd Tucker and Peter Thomas of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” and Joseph Morgan from “The Vampire Diaries” for their televised and highly publicised weddings. At the Muna Love Bridal Show, his collection was composed of ready-towear tuxedos, dinner jackets, suits, shirts and accessories. The designer also offers custom designed couture for those that desire something personalised. “No matter what the colour palette, grooms are definitely into having European cuts in suits. Secondly, there are two types of grooms out there – the guy who wants a very classic elegant look, maybe an ivory jacket or a black jacket that they add textures to. Then sometimes there are the ones who
16 | The Tribune | Weekend
Friday, March 2, 2018
celebrity The Weekend Fashion Report BRIT Awards 2018
With Karin Herig and Cara Hunt
FAIL
SPLIT
HIT
FAIL
HIT
Jennifer Hudson ”The Voice UK”
Camila Cabello ”Havana”
Dua Lipa ”New Rules”
Noomi Rapace ”Alien: Covenant”
Millie Bobby Brown ”Stranger Things”
Karin says: “This is like at least one size too big on her. Did she lose weight right after purchasing it? Aside from that it just looks cheap and plasticky. No effort seemed to go into this styling. It’s just boring.” Cara says: “The fit of this dress is just horrid. It literally looks like it’s dropping off her. It’s a poor choice; her stylist should have picked up on. And on top of the ill fit, it is really wrinkled and just ‘blah’ to be honest.”
Karin says: “It’s really badly constructed, but I seem to have developed a soft spot for big, poufy gowns, so I can give it somewhat of a pass. The powder blue colour is really nice, and if she didn’t move too much, I’m sure this flimsy design held together.” Cara says: “This dress, and I use the term loosely because it looks like a bed sheets with a hole in the middle, is awful. It is unflattering rather than than the sexy flowy goddess look I am sure she was going for.”
Karin says: “I did not expect Dua to be serving us all that! I love it! It’s so big and fluffy! I want it. It must have been a nightmare to move about and sit down in, but who cares! It’s the ultimate dramatic showstopper.” Cara says: “It’s my dream dress – a dress made of cotton candy. If only it were true and you could just walk up to her and grab chunks all night. I mean, this is so theatrical and impractical yet I love it.”
Karin says: “Bag lady meets haute couture? She looks like she had to run from wild dogs tearing at her dress to make it to this red carpet. The belt is especially atrocious. This is a dress Helena Bonham-Carter could maybe pull off, not Noomi.” Cara says: “This dress looks like one of those fashion challenges, you know the kind where you have to use all the materials presented to you? In particular, I dislike the belt and the one long sleeve. They just seem unnecessary, but the dress on the whole is weird.”
Karin says: “This is so precious! It looks like she’s going to a very stylish tea party of yesteryear. I adore it! The ruffled tiers just make it the ultimate girly delight. Love the chunky pink sandals; they work surprisingly well here.” Cara says: “This is a sweet dress. What doesn’t show that well in this picture is the jewelled floral appliqué on the bodice. It’s a nice touch and helps to formalise the look. I like the contrasting shoe choice as well.”
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Friday, March 2, 2018
art
Transforming Spaces pulls out all the stops for 2018 tour
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ickets are now on sale for the popular annual Transforming Spaces art bus tour which will be taking place on Saturday and Sunday, March
17 and 18. Four galleries will be featured this year: D’Aguilar Art Foundation (DAF), Doongalik Studios, Hillside House, and for the very first time, The Current Baha Mar Art Studios. Each gallery has chosen their own theme but each will entice their patrons’ appetite for new and innovative Bahamian art, as well as holding related activities to enhance their offerings in the days leading up to, and following the weekend tour. DAF has designed a collaborative exhibition with an interesting twist entitled “MUSE: Malone & Pachino”, showcasing the intimate artist-muse relationship spanning over 50 years in Bahamian painting. Moved by the late Brent Malone’s use of muses in his life’s work, contemporary artist Allan Pachino Wallace also works with selected live models in a variety of mediums. MUSE brings together paintings from Malone and Pachino featuring the women and men that inspired these master artists to create some of their greatest oeuvres. Doongalik Studios is focusing on a Junkanoo-themed exhibition entitled “JUNKANOO - A Celebration of Life” which will introduce Junkanoo artisan and entrepreneur Kevin Knowles and his wife Vanessa of Jujukanoo Arts, who has worked in the medium since he was a teenager, producing colourful Junkanoo ornaments and figurines which have amazed both locals and visitors. This will be his first full exhibition of his Junkanoo work, something which he always dreamt of doing. In conjunction with Jujukanoo, the Junkanoo Commandos will design a pop-up Junkanoo shack on the gallery premises for patrons to experience the behind the scenes journey to Bay Street. Dr Nicolette Bethel, Noelle Nicolls and Arlene Nash Ferguson, who were key members in the Junkanoo think tank, will offer their audience an innovative and educational exhibition of “Junkanoo – Towards a New Future.”
Art by Gio Swaby
Art by Chantal Bethel
Hillside House is pleased to partner with the University of the Bahamas (UB) to host a unique cultural experience that showcases the talents of UB’s Visual Arts, Music, Culinary and English Studies disciplines under the theme “Historic Nassau”. The threeday event promises to offer an engaging and interactive programme of live art, literary and musical performances, educational experiences, and creative workshops that for the first time bring together UB students, staff, faculty and alumni who will be highlighted in three group exhibitions. Lead by UB art faculty Keisha Oliver with guidance from master artists Antonius Roberts and Maxwell Taylor, “Historic Nassau” is designed to celebrate and reinterpret Bahamian traditions through a sense of community. The Current: Baha Mar Art Studios is pleased to present two exhibitions for the tour: “Rooted: An Exploratory Celebration of Blackness, Hair and Womanhood”, with works by Gio Swaby that celebrate a type of self-love and appreciation within black female communities. This series of stitched portraits on canvas attempt to illustrate an exchange of cultural information related to hair-care. The second exhibition, “Instinct II: From Darkness to Light”, is an investigation into the dichotomies of concepts related to life and death, good and evil, love and hate, hope and despair and struggle and victory, to name a few. It showcases new works by 10 female artists, including Nadine Seymour-Munroe, Ana-Lisa Wells, Chantal Bethel, Claudette Dean, Jessica Colebrooke, Leanne Russell, Lillian Blades, Lisa Codella, Sue Bennett-Williams and Sue Katz. Although the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas will not be a scheduled stop on this year’s tour, they invite the public to view their new multimedia exhibition opening on March 22 entitled “We Suffer to Remain”. Tickets for the Transforming Spaces Tour are available for purchase at Doongalik Studios and The Place for Art, and the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas. Visit www.tsbahamas.com for more information.
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community
Farmer’s Market is a success By FELICITY INGRAHAM
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inister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Renward Wells, who said he is passionate about seeing the Bahamas become a self-sufficient nation, has made “an important step” towards that goal by bringing the departments under his ministry and their related entities under one mandate. This, he believes, is vital in order to encourage more Bahamians to engage in farming and fishing for the health and wealth of the nation. Since coming to office, Minister Wells said he took the time to engage at all levels at the various entities, including: Department of Agriculture, the Department of Marine Resources, the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI), and the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC). By doing so, he found that it was necessary for these entities to communicate better in order to become more effective. He wants the process to be efficient and effective to give the industries of agriculture and fisheries a chance to thrive. When all entities are on the same page and are communicating well, ministry officials expect to have even better results. This goal resulted in a senior managers conclave recently, where top officials from all entities spent a full day determining the best way forward. In addition to discussing their challenges and finding solutions, they were motivated by Youth Director K Darron Turnquest, who encouraged all government employees to walk with an attitude of success and take pride in their jobs. Gabriella Fraser of the Vivian Group guided the team through the entire day. The Vivian Group is an independent development, research and policy organisation, devoted to providing clear, comprehensive and thoughtful research, analysis, strategic and development planning, for businesses, industry, government, and the not-for-profit, non-government sectors. Minister Wells wants Bahamians to buy local produce as well as their
by-products to keep money in Bahamian’s pockets. BAIC held it’s first Popup Farmer’s Market last month, with local fresh produce available at its Gladstone Road location. The Farmer’s Market is geared towards delivering a weekly supply of fresh produce coming in from Family Island farmers directly to local consumers. BAIC’s Executive Chairman Michael A Foulkes said he wants to enlighten Bahamians about what produce is available on a weekly basis, while providing them at food items at affordable prices. During the first Saturday of the Farmer’s Market, the produce sold out within hours. There was a high demand for zucchini and papaya. Throughout
the day the produce available included: purple cabbage, tomatoes, zucchini, and papaya from Andros grown; and pumpkin from Eleuthera. In addition, shoppers were also able to purchase jams, healthy bars, herbal teas, juices, pepper sauces, fresh coconut, organic eggs, and pastries from other vendors. The next Farmer’s Market will be held tomorrow from 8am to 3pm. Items are only available as long as supplies last. To find out more on the Farmer’s Market, check out www.baic.gov.bs, www.facebook.com/mybaic, and www. instagram.com/mybaic242.
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Friday, March 2, 2018
gardening
A busy month
Cooked chard stalks make an interesting addition to many meals.
January was wild, wet and windy as well as darned cold, and seemed to last for 90 days. February was lovely. Jack Hardy hopes March continues in the same way.
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arch is a busy month in the garden. We need to prepare our fruit trees for good harvests and satisfy the needs of our ornamental shrubs and trees. Citrus and fruit trees should be fertilized with a citrus special, preferably in the form of fertilizer stakes that can be hammered into the ground and provide a steady supply of nutrients. An application of Sequestrene 138 chelated
iron can also be added as a drench, then a foliar spray of minor elements. This treatment once every season will guarantee our fruit trees are in good health and capable of producing lots of mangoes, guavas, cherries, avocados, lychees, carambolas, limes and oranges. Hibiscus and other ornamental shrubs should be pruned if that has not already been done. Although thick foliage looks nice it is better for the plant if air can move through and sunlight penetrate. This means removing some quite large central stems that can be used as cuttings to propagate new plants. A general purpose fertilizer should be used, with Sequestrene 138 added to promote better absorption of the nutrients you add. Flowering shrubs can also be pruned for shape. Most bear their flowers at the end of branches and this means your shrubs may be flowerless for a month or so but it will be worthwhile in the end. We often take our palms for granted but they too will be greener and more attractive if treated with a palm special fertilizer that contains beefed up amounts of magnesium and manganese. While working on your fruit trees and ornamentals check for scale insects. Small outbreaks of scale can be treated with a rag soaked in dormant oil but widespread infestations should be sprayed. A systemic drench can be
used for ornamentals but not for fruit trees. I make it a habit of drastically pruning my roses in April and October, preparing the plants for a change in season. This year I will do my pruning this month. I remove about one-third of the total growth and cut away all small branches leaving only sturdy branches that will bear well. In the vegetable garden we should have ample amounts of all our favourite veggies. Lettuce tends to turn bitter when the temperature rises but there some varieties that protect against this. You may find it more palatable to make your salads from greens rather than lettuce. Japanese mizuna, spinach, Malabar spinach, beets and chard are all good candidates for fresh mixtures when picked young. This year I have gone a little overboard on chard. Related to beets, chard leaves are delicious and the cooked stalks make an interesting addition to many meals. Chard stalks can be white, yellow, green, red or pink but traditionalists can grow solely white with green leaves. If chard is new to you you will have to figure out ways to absorb it into your regular meals. Eggplants started in December or January should be reaching flowering stage and giving promise of good returns as the temperature rises. With regular maintenance eggplants will be productive through the summer months.
There is time for a fresh sowing of carrots and beets, probably the last of the season. Cabbage is also worth a try but collards are a safer bet. The cauliflower season is definitely over and broccoli will soon be. Tomatoes are at their most productive as spring approaches. Back in late November and early December we were excited about our first toms developing colour but now there are fruits ripening with abandon. This is the dry season and birds take liquids wherever they can. I do not think birds particularly like tomatoes but find them a good source to quench their thirst. You will probably cut down on mockingbirds beaking into your ripe fruits if you keep a bird bath nearby. The best solution is to enclose tomatoes in paper bags when they begin to develop colour. It does not look pretty but is effective. Birds usually like to sample red and pink tomatoes and tend to disdain yellow fruits. There is time to sow one more crop of tomatoes if you are quick. The best bet is Large Fruited Cherry tomatoes as these produce early and are stunningly tasty, on the small side but big enough to slice. Like tomatoes, peppers are at their most productive during spring. As the temperature rises I find Sweet Banana and Cubanelle peppers to be less subject to sun scald than bell peppers. It is a good idea to sow sweet pepper seeds two at a time in the same hole in order to produce more foliage to protect the fruits from the sun. You must remember to fertilize and water them a little more heavily, of course. Hot peppers relish hot weather. The fruits should be picked once they have ripened. Hot pepper plants look lovely laden down with fruit but this may cause them to die, mission completed. Pick your peppers every day and make sure you remove the fruit stalk. Leaving these on the plant can also cause premature end of growth and even death. A quick way to preserve your hot peppers as a condiment is to put them into a saucepan and cover them with a brand of bottled sauce such as Crystal or Cayenne. Bring to a boil and simmer until the larger peppers like Habaneros collapse. Pour into a sterilised jar and refrigerate when cool. Always handy, always hot.  • For questions and comments, e-mail gardenerjack@coralwave.com.
20 | The Tribune | Weekend
Friday, March 2, 2018
film
Oscar predictions: What will win,what should win “Get Out” is nominated for Best Picture, and Daniel Kaluuya (right) is a Best Actor nominee.
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head of Sunday’s 90th Academy Awards, Associated Press film writers Lindsey Bahr and Jake Coyle share their predictions for a ceremony that — at least at the end — should be a nail biter. BEST PICTURE The nominees: “Call Me by Your Name,” ‘‘Darkest Hour,” ‘‘Dunkirk,” ‘‘Get Out,” ‘‘Lady Bird,” ‘‘Phantom Thread,” ‘‘The Post,” ‘‘The Shape of Water,” ‘‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” BAHR: Will Win: No controversy, timely messages, a dash of fantasy and a love of movies, “The Shape of Water” seems to be the safe, if a little boring, front-runner. Should Win: “Lady Bird” is the movie I want to watch over and over again. It is such an effortlessly perfect slice of life film that will be around far after this awards season noise comes to an end.
“The Shape of Water” is nominated for Best Picture and Best Director.
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COYLE: Will Win: There are five movies with a legitimate shot to win, which makes this year more difficult than usual to call. I’m going to say Jordan Peele’s cultural sensation “Get Out” wins because it has two crucial things going for it: the all-important SAG ensemble nomination and a good shot at a recently highly predictive screenplay award. That, and it did more to re-energise genre filmmaking than anything in a decade. Should Win: “Call Me By Your Name” stood apart for me. It’s a movie that feels like it has the windows open, and life just flows through it. BEST ACTOR The nominees: Timothee Chalamet (”Call Me by Your Name”), Daniel Day-Lewis (”Phantom Thread”), Daniel Kaluuya (”Get Out”), Gary Oldman (”Darkest Hour”), Denzel Washington (”Roman J Israel, Esq.”) BAHR: Will Win: Gary Oldman has won most of the major awards so far and there’s no reason he wouldn’t continue the streak at the Oscars, much to the chagrin of the internet’s darling, Timothee Chalamet, who will definitely get another shot at this award down the line. Should Win: Gary Oldman’s full and complete transformation into Winston Churchill is something they should teach in acting (and makeup) classes forever. COYLE: Will Win: Oldman has this one in the bag. Should Win: I wouldn’t begrudge Oldman his moment in the sun. But I’ll say Day-Lewis is simply the best there is. Maybe a surprise Oscar would coax him into rethinking retirement. BEST ACTRESS The nominees: Sally Hawkins (”The Shape of Water”), Frances McDormand (”Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”), Margot Robbie (”I, Tonya”), Saoirse Ronan (”Lady Bird”), Meryl Streep (”The Post”) BAHR: Will Win: It’s funny how uninspired the acting categories can seem when the same people win every award. This is Frances McDormand’s year, plain and simple. Should Win: This is an extremely tough category, but out of this batch, it was Margot Robbie who stretched herself beyond anything I might have
“Call Me By Your Name” is nominated for Best Picture, and Timothee Chalamet (left) is a Best Actor nominee. Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill in “The Darkest Hour” is nominated for Best Actor.
Willem Dafoe is nominated as Best Supporting Actor for “The Florida Project”
assumed her capable of as the proud, defiant and unapologetic Tonya Harding. COYLE: Will Win: McDormand is a virtual lock. Should Win: The most deserving is Ronan, who’s perpetually playing a jumble of emotions, most of them contradictory, at once. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR The nominees: Willem Dafoe (”The Florida Project”), Woody Harrelson (”Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”), Richard Jenkins (”The Shape of Water”), Christopher Plummer (”All the Money in the World”), Sam Rockwell (”Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) BAHR:
Will Win: Sam Rockwell went big in “Three Billboards” as the racist cop who decides to (maybe) start rethinking (some of) his ways. Should Win: It is Willem Dafoe who gives “The Florida Project” its beating heart. He makes every moment he’s in memorable, whether he’s escorting a suspicious character off of the property of a low-rent motel on the outskirts of Orlando, or just trying to count the rent money. COYLE: Will Win: Rockwell is the favourite but I smell an upset. There’s not much evidence for it. I just think good sense will prevail and Dafoe will win his first Oscar. Should Win: Would it not be great to see Jenkins win? Would anyone not cheer seeing Harrelson at the podium? But Dafoe’s low-rent motel
father-figure will go down as the iconic performance of the bunch. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS The nominees: Mary J Blige (”Mudbound”), Allison Janney (”I, Tonya”), Lesley Manville (”Phantom Thread”), Laurie Metcalf (”Lady Bird”), Octavia Spencer (”The Shape of Water”) BAHR: Will Win: Allison Janney, who is very excellent as the caustic, complicated mother LaVona in “I, Tonya,” and everyone has noticed. Should Win: Lesley Manville upstaged Daniel Day-Lewis (in a good way) as the steadfast Cyril, who can be sometimes terrifying and often funny and without whom “Phantom Thread” would have come crashing to the ground. COYLE: Will Win: Janney, a riot in “I, Tonya,” is the favourite. Should Win: I’d cast my non-existent vote for Metcalf, in her first film in almost a decade. Her character in “Lady Bird” is one of the finest working mothers I’ve ever seen in movies. BEST DIRECTOR The nominees: Christopher Nolan (”Dunkirk”), Jordan Peele (”Get Out”), Greta Gerwig (”Lady Bird”), Paul Thomas Anderson (”Phantom Thread”), Guillermo del Toro (”The Shape of Water”) BAHR: Will Win: Affable, undeniably talented, quick to drop an expletive and “in love with love and movies,” Guillermo del Toro is the likely pick for this year’s best director. Also, “The Shape of Water” could only have been made by him. Should Win: Christopher Nolan really should be getting more awards for his achievement with “Dunkirk.” Nolan made a masterpiece of suspense like we’ve never seen before. COYLE: Will Win: Del Toro seems to have this locked up. Should Win: I really have no idea. The filmmakers in this group are impossible to compare against each other; all of the movies are so singular to the director. Anderson’s impeccable comedy? Gerwig’s richness of lived-in detail? I don’t like choosing but Nolan’s feat in “Dunkirk” is a majestic creation of sight and sound. LINDSEY BAHR and JAKE COYLE AP Film Writers
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Friday, March 2, 2018
literary lives – harry crosby
A decadent poet for the Roaring Twenties Sir Christopher Ondaatje writes about the enigmatic life and violent death of the American heir, bon vivant, poet and publisher who epitomised the lost generation of American literature. PART I
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t 5.30pm on the afternoon of December 10, 1929, J P Morgan, Jr waited impatiently for his nephew Harry Crosby to meet him at his Madison Avenue townhouse. It was a nerve-wracking time for Morgan, the most powerful financial man in New York, who had been
setting up a banking pool to raise a quarter of a billion dollars to support stock prices which had just crashed on Wall Street. Harry had intended to give his uncle a bound copy of his latest book of poems, “Sleeping Together”. Morgan had given his wayward nephew a job in a branch of the Morgan bank in Paris which he had shunned after only a few months with no explanation. Exasperated, Harry’s mother Henrietta Green – Morgan’s sister-in-law – and Caresse, his wife, left the Madison Avenue town house to their rooms at The Savoy Plaza hotel. Worried, they telephoned their friend Stanley Mortimer, a portrait painter, whose studio above the Hotel des Artistes was sometimes used by Harry Crosby for his amorous trysts. He agreed to check the studio. He had to get help to break down the locked door and found Crosby and his lover Josephine Rotch, both of Back Bay, Boston, lying in bed with a 25 calibre bullet hole in his right temple next to Josephine who had a matching bullet hole in her left temple in what appeared to be a suicide pact. Crosby was still clutching the Belgian pistol in one hand, Josephine’s hand in the other. “Though we hear various reports of his existence we can never find the young wizard who is able so they say to graft the soul of a girl to the soul of her lover so that not even the sharp scissors of the Fates can ever sever them apart.” **** Henry Sturgis Crosby was born in Boston’s exclusive Back Bay area on June 4, 1898. He was the descendent of generations of blue-blooded Americans: the Van Rensselaers, the Morgans and the Grews. His uncle, J Pierpont Morgan, was at the time one of the richest men in America. His father’s mother was the great-granddaughter of Alexander Hamilton. He had one sister,
Harry Crosby (June 4, 1898 – December 10, 1929) Katherine “Kitsa” Schuyler Crosby, who was born in 1901. The Crosbys spent their summer on the north shore of Massachusetts in Manchester-by-the-Sea, 25 miles from Boston. His religious mother was one of the founders of the Garden Club of America, and his father, a banker, relived his glory days as a Harvard football star through his Ivy League and Boston society connections. Harry Crosby attended the exclusive St Mark’s
preparatory school and then, after taking his 1917 entrance examinations to Harvard, was interrupted by World War I and sailed to France to become an ambulance driver. For Crosby and his schoolmates, the war in Europe became a form of risk and adventure. However, the realities of war became abruptly apparent to the youthful and headstrong Crosby when he encountered the horrors of death on the Western front.
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Three of his closest friends were killed in action, and he was cornered by a dangerous barrage as he tried to get his ambulance to a hospital in Verdun with one of his friends who was bleeding to death in the back of the van. The incident would change his life forever. Anger and resentment replaced innocent adventure and he blamed God for the experience. At one time he was seen running lap after lap around a frontline field – the only way he knew how to release his anger and frustration. The violent encounter made him grow up quickly. He would never be the same person again. “I saw the most gruesome sight I’ve ever seen. Lying on a blood stained brancard was a man – not older than twenty I afterwards ascertained – suffering the agonies of hell. His whole right cheek was completely shot away so you could see all the insides of his face. He had no jaws, teeth, or lips left. His nose was plastered in. Blood was streaming all over. Under his eyes the skin was just dead blue ... It took us an hour driving between two or three miles per hour to get him to his destination. Of course he couldn’t yell as his mouth or what was left of it was a mere mass of pulp. For a while I was afraid our ambulance was to be turned into a hearse, but he was still alive when we got him there. Of course in typical French fashion the doctors held their usual debate of questioning whether it was the right hospital or where his papers were.” Crosby returned to New York with war medals – including the Croix de Guerre – of which he was particularly proud. Pulling strings to get his release from army duties, Crosby finally got his discharge and re-entered Harvard to get his “war degree” in 1921. He also met and fell in love with Mary Phelps “Polly” Peabody – a married woman, 28, six years older than he was, with two small children. They met at a picnic hosted by Crosby’s mother. Two weeks later they went to church together in Manchester-by-the-Sea and spent the night together. Their affair was widely known and scandalous. Crosby begged her to leave her husband, who had been in and out of sanatoriums fighting alcoholism, and marry him. She refused. Crosby threatened suicide. However, she let him visit her on weekends in New York, after which he would return to
Harry Crosby’s uncle, J P Morgan, Jr, was a finance executive who followed in his father’s footsteps to head the firm J P Morgan and Co.
Boston on the midnight train. Crosby pursued her with ruthless intention. He was fierce in his determination, and in December 1921 Richard Peabody offered to divorce her. The marriage ended in February 1922. Crosby got a job at the Shawmut National Bank but left after eight months. His uncle, J P Morgan, Jr then kindly offered him a job in Paris with a Morgan subsidiary Morgan, Harjes et Cie which he accepted. Polly Peabody preceded him there and was followed by Crosby who continued his wayward trysts with other women, forcing Polly to return to New York. Terrified that the relationship was over he bribed his way on to the Aquitania for New York and proposed to Polly by transatlantic cable. They were married in the Municipal Building in New York on September 9, 1922 and set sail again for Paris on the Aquitania two days later with her two children. Harry Crosby had a built-in-fear of being trapped – and Polly understood this and determined that she would not build a cage around her fickle husband. But, with her children, he felt trapped anyway. Continued on page 24
Crosby and his wife Caresse lived in an apartment on one of two islands on the Seine in Paris during the early 1920s.
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Harry and Polly (later Caresse) Crosby on the day of their marriage on September 9, 1922. Continued from page 23 Suddenly he was not just a husband and lover, but a stepfather. He didn’t like it, and even though he had pampered the children when he courted Polly with flowers and presents, once he was married the children became entirely hers. In 1924, the couple rented an apartment on the Faubourg St Germain for six months, but then in November 1925 moved to a fashionable apartment on 19, Rue de Litte where they remained for the rest of their time in Paris. By then Crosby had forced Polly to formally change her first name to Caresse, and briefly considered Clytoris before deciding on Caresse. Her name had to start with the letter “C” to go with Crosby. Even by the wild standards of Paris in the 1920s, the young couple lived a hedonistic and decadent life – including an open marriage and numerous affairs. Crosby was a gambler and womaniser, drank champagne continuously, used opium
Ernest Hemingway (far left), a friend of Harry Crosby’s, holds court with expatriate writers in Paris in the 1920s.
and hashish. They wrote a mutual suicide note with explicit cremation instructions. At the end of 1923 Crosby quit his job at Morgan, Harjes et Cie, and devoted himself to the life of a poet and publisher. Crosby’s trust fund allowed him US $12,000 a year (about $170,000 in today’s money) but he constantly overspent and asked his reserved but tolerant father to put more money into his account from his inheritance. He first asked his father to sell $4,000 worth of stocks “to make up for past extravagances in New York”, and then: “Please sell $10,000 worth of stock. We have decided to live a mad and extravagant life.” His father complied and the couple continued their selfish lifestyle, hosting exotic dinner parties and taking extended travelling tours to North Africa where they would return several times. Crosby had tattoos made on the soles of his feet – a cross on one and a pagan Sun symbol on the other.
The legends of American writers in Paris between the wars are legion and early in the Crosby’s courtship they had discussed an ambition to develop a career in literature. In fact as early as 1922 when Polly had broken off one of her promises to marry him, Harry wrote to her more in hope than in desperation. “If you could be content to live very modestly I would take up writing. I think with your help and advice and with your wonderful mind to help me that we have the ability to produce something worthwhile ... keep on with your writings. We must compare notes ...” In mid-1923, when he had told his father and mother that he was leaving the bank, he had told his mother, “I’m thrilled at the idea of writing ... but it is a game where one must be left alone for one or two more years to work out the problem for himself.”
His mother tried to encourage her son, but his father was both angry and humiliated. Paris in the 1920s was a city of encouragement for artists – including writers. At one time in the latter part of the 19th century and well into the 20th Paris was the garden of creative talents, and artists flocked there from around the world. By the 1970s, however, nothing was left but nostalgia. So the ground in Paris in the 1920s was fertile even though it was not planned that the Crosbys would sow their literary seed. American writers actually did little writing in Paris with the possible exception of Hemingway, but once Crosby began to write he wrote steadily and obsessively. He was not the typical American in Paris. He shunned the cafés of Mont Parnasse and had left America as much to turn his back on Boston as to escape his parents. Once he had left the bank he searched for opportunities in the city where he had been living for two years. Crosby was at home with the French and with their culture and language. And eventually he was influenced by the French writers more than any others – especially Rimbaud, as well as Anatole France and Flaubert. He also found friendship and encouragement in Walter Van Rensselaer Berry, a cousin of his father, a wealthy gentleman in Parisian social and literary circles. He was a man whom Edith Wharton loved throughout most of her life. Berry was a lifelong bachelor – a man of patience and fine literary instinct. Berry advised Crosby to follow his inclination, leave the bank, and write. He, more than anyone else, caused Crosby to accept this muchwanted sound counsel. A remarkable friendship of encouragement began that ended only four years later in 1929 when Berry died. It was only after he met his cousin that Harry Crosby began to gorge himself on the modern French literary masters: Valéry, Verlaine, Baudelaire and Rimbaud. NEXT WEEK: A life of hedonism and poetry ends in a double tragedy. • Sir Christopher Ondaatje is the author of “The Last Colonial”. He acknowledges that he has quoted liberally from Wikipedia, and “Black Sun” by Geoffrey Wolff.
The Tribune | Weekend | 25
Friday, March 2, 2018
history
Briland Forgotten facts Paul C Aranha
T
he aviation sector is abuzz with talk about a new airport at North Eleuthera, which reminds me of how nearby Harbour Island has been a leader in Bahamian tourism. It started on a small scale, with ‘snowbirds’ seeking refuge from the cold, cold north and renting rooms and cottages during winter. The birth of Bahamas Airways in November 1936 made every island accessible by plane, and Harbour Island became BAL’s No 1 destination. BAL’s amphibian aircraft landed in the sea and passengers went by dinghy to/from the dock. Ease of access encouraged more people to visit ‘Briland, but there were still no resorts, until J Allen Malcolm arrived in 1951. Allen and his wife Rem created Pink Sand Lodge, starting with only four rooms, plus rented cottages in Dunmore Town. They could accommodate up to 80 guests and this put a strain on Bahamas Airways’ one-flight-a-week service, using a 21-seat Catalina seaplane. Harbour Island’s tourism and Pink Sand Lodge grew together until, in 1954, the local Board of Works, with the help of Allen Malcolm, built a seaplane ramp to accommodate Bahamas Airway’s eight-passenger Grumman Goose amphibians, which operated multiple flights each day. It was not rare to see three amphibians on that ramp, and it wasn’t long before the Goose could not meet the demand. Brilanders and visitors were on the move and an airport was desperately needed. In 1959, North Eleuthera Airport opened to serve The Bluff, Upper and Lower Bogue, The Current, Harbour Island, Spanish Wells and, to a lesser extent, Current Island and points beyond the Glass Window bridge. It was for domestic flights only. The first time I landed on this airstrip I met J B Barry, who introduced himself with these words; “My name is Barry. B A two Rs Y. Not B E two Rs Y, ‘cause that spells berry and I don’t bury nobody.” J B’s taxi transported most of Pink Sand’s guests to the dock and, over the years, he and I had many interesting chats. He was so proud of Allen Malcolm, telling me that Mr Malcolm had been on the airstrip location team and worked with the Commonage Committee to choose the site. I joined Bahamas Airways in 1963 and remember talking with Allen Malcolm, on one of my first flights, about North Eleuthera Airport’s becoming an international airport and his negotiations with Colonel Joe Mackey for Mackey Airlines to introduce scheduled flights from/to Fort Lauderdale. Mackey’s inaugural flight took place on June 16, and Allen Malcolm as an invited guest. Bahamas Airways (domestic) and Mackey Airlines (international) brought more and more visitors to
Bahamas Airways’ Grumman Goose on the Harbour Island ramp. At the nose of the plane, Captain “Tubby” Welch talks with Rem Malcolm. Allen Malcolm, with his back to the camera and wearing his trademark shorts, welcomes an incoming visitor.
The late J B Barry with Dick Malcolm at the North Eleuthera Airport.
Harbour Island so that by 1965 new resorts began to appear – Runaway Hill, Dunmore Beach Club, Coral Sands, Remora Bay, Tingum Village, Valentine’s – but ‘Pink Sands’ people were visitors who came yearafter-year and, in later years, flew with my Trans Island Airways. Pink Sands is no longer owned by Malcolm; Allen and Rem have passed away, but not before becoming proud citizens of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. Multiple airlines, domestic and international, now serve the North Eleuthera airport, together with charter companies, executive jets and a host of private planes and it appears that a brand-new terminal is to be built. Wouldn’t it be nice if the airport were given the name J
Allen Malcolm International Airport? • For questions and comments, e-mail islandairman@gmail. com
• I apoligise to readers of last week’s article on Death Valley for referring, incorrectly, to Sweeting Road. Thanks to Steve Albury and the Rev Charles Sweeting, I have learned that his father, Allan D Sweeting, and two or three uncles, owned a number of lots on what was to become Sweeting Lane and they cut and made the road themselves, by hand.
This week world history MARCH 3
• 1931 – President Herbert Hoover signs a congressional act making “The Star-Spangled Banner” the official national anthem of the United States. • 1991 – At 12.45am, robbery parolee and taxi driver Rodney G King stops his car after leading police on a nearly eight-mile pursuit through the streets of Los Angeles, California. He consequently becomes a victim of Los Angeles Police Department brutality, which is captured on video.
MARCH 4 • 1801 – Thomas Jefferson is the first US President to be inaugurated in Washington, DC. • 1933 – Franklin D Roosevelt inaugurated as 32nd US President, pledges to pull US out of the Depression: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” MARCH 5 • 1963 – the Hula-Hoop, a hip-swivelling toy which was
first marketed by Wham-O in 1958, is patented by the company’s co-founder, Arthur “Spud” Melin. • 1946 – British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gives his famous speech condemning the Soviet Union’s policies in Europe and declares, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.” This considered one of the opening volleys announcing the beginning of the Cold War.
nasTy (across) inane (down)
26 | The Tribune | Weekend
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.
CRYPTIC PUZZLE Across 1 Assembly of silent boys, apparently (10) 6 Unending danger for a fairy (4) 10 An essential part of thieves’ language (5) 11 Flew round in a miraculous way (9) 12 Possible secret of not having to pay (4-4) 13 Principle of having it both ways (5) 15 Makes one of use if in trouble (7) 17 It’s a handicap, in a manner of speaking (7) 19 Impudent girl accompanying travellers (7) 21 Tie up an unusually attractive plant (7) 22 This excuse is out of place (5) 24 Push the boat out and depart (5,3) 27 But it doesn’t include meals in the dining car (5,4) 28 She gains an advantage by returning (5) 29 Regrets the ways of the French (4) 30 Knocked flat - by a hard bargainer! (6,4)
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
Yesterday’s Easy Solution
Down 1 Drive out from Across: 1 Deficit, 5 Bonus, Houston (4) 8 In general, 9 Woo, 10 Test, 2 Doing a rush job on the 12 Decadent, 14 Plague, 15 Pigsty, 17 One-sided, 18 Myth, roof ? (9) 21 Ewe, 22 Impromptu, 24 Rusty, 3 A day-to-day 25 Reputed. occurrence (5) Down: 1 Drift, 2 Fug, 3 Cone, 4 Where patients are treated 4 Tureen, 5 Bulgaria, 6 New internally (7) jersey, 7 Shortly, 11 Shapeless, 5 Dance for soldiers and 13 Futility, 14 Pioneer, 16 Keeper, surgeons (7) 19 Hound, 20 Pomp, 23 Pit. 7 Mischievous sprite within (5) 8 Possibility of redundancy that won’t come to anything (4,6) Yesterday’s Cryptic Solution 9 Tied up and refused food (4,4) Across: 1 Oneself, 5 Pedal, 14 Attendant who never answers back gets pushed 8 Absorbent, 9 Pet, 10 Elbe, 12 Novelist, 14 Arrive, 15 Scraps, around (4,6) 17 Duty call, 18 Beam, 21 Nun, 16 A Latin is possibly one of 22 Ideal gift, 24 Arson, 25 Eye these (8) test. 18 Clear love Down: 1 Orate, 2 Ems, 3 Earl, 4 Faeroe, 5 Patience, 6 Duplicate, declaration (9) 7 Litotes, 11 Baritones, 20 Take a liberty ? (7) 13 Eviction, 14 Addenda, 21 Throw out a proposed 16 Sleeve, 19 Motet, 20 Aloe, scheme (7) 23 Ice. 23 I scold, being very annoyed (5) 25 Point to a number consumed (5) 26 Repair that’s right inside and wrong outside (4) Down Across 1 Small 1 Mandatory (10) sheltered 6 French WW1 bay (4) generalissimo (4) 2 Idiosyncrasy (9) 10 A planet (5) 3 Tip 11 Olympic winner’s over (5) award (4,5) 4 Imply (7) 12 Robe of 5 Told (7) office (8) 7 Of a 13 Begin again (5) bygone 15 A descriptive age (5) term (7) 8 Stupid (4-6) 17 Religious 9 Incarcerate (8) nonconformity (7) 14 Untruthful (10) 19 Fiendish (7) 16 Trusty 21 To excuse (7) follower (8) 22 Economic 18 In sentimental collapse (5) mood (9) 24 German-born 20 To nurture (7) U.S. physicist (8) 21 Coagulate (7) 27 Efficacious (9) 23 Proficient (5) 28 A tropical fruit (5) 25 Multiplied 29 Location (4) by (5) 30 Commercial 26 Inadequate (4) middleman (10)
EASY PUZZLE
r E o P i r
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o f f r E o P i r
yesTerday’s soLUTion aching acing arch arching arCHiVinG arcing cairn caring carving caving chagrin chain chair chairing char chin china cigar crag craving icing inch narc racing ranch rich ricing vicar
call 0907 181 2585 for today’s target solution *Calls cost 80p per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge.
*SP: Spoke – Helpline 0333 202 3390
Ambrosia, Ogled, Pertain, Unveils, Fight, Trimeter, Cheque, Scraps.
Extra letter clues
0907 181 2560 (Deduct three minutes for each extra clue letter heard)
full solution
0907 181 2558
T U V W X Y Z
1
*Calls cost 80p per minute 21 plus your telephone company’s network access charge.
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The Tribune | Weekend | 27
Friday, March 2, 2018
animals Animal matters Kim Aranha
PET OF THE WEEK
The nature of a no kill shelter
Delightful Dean Boy By The Bahamas Humane Society
“G
ood morning! My name’s Dean Boy and I’m here to introduce myself to you. As you can see I have soft fluffy ears and am very alert. I’m about one year old and I enjoy the company of other dogs, as well as of humans big and small. I can be trained as a house dog or won’t mind staying in the yard, though I’d appreciate a good long walk now and then. Like all BHS adoption animals, I am neutered so I won’t be wandering off looking for the ladies. The Bahamas Humane Society is a no kill shelter so they will take good care of me for as long as it takes until I am adopted, but I’d really rather it were sooner rather than later. Please come in and meet me. I’ll be happy to get to know you! Adoption hours are 11am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, and 10am to 4pm on Saturday, or you can call 325-6742 for more information. See you soon!”
H
WHAT IS A NO KILL SHELTER? A no kill shelter is one where animals are not euthanised because they are inconvenient. They are not killed because they have not found a home in a prerequisite amount of days. They are not killed because they are too shy, too ugly, too feisty or too quiet. They are not killed because they dig holes in a garden, bark too much, hate cats, don’t enjoy other dogs, are afraid of the thunder, run away or chew shoes. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP AN ANIMAL? For as long as it takes; we are in this together with the animal. If they come to us, they come to a certainty of food, water, shelter and kindness. I wish we had enough staff and volunteers to say that they get lots of love and cuddles, but there is not the time. However, they are safe until we match them with an appropriate home, which hopefully will supply them with the love and affection every living creature craves and is entitled to. WHAT IF THE ANIMAL IS VERY SHY? We do our best to get the shy ones into foster families so they can learn to trust people again. If there are no foster families available, our very busy staff – and I assure you that the are busy – find the time to take them for a little walk, stroke them, and help them to bond. WHAT IS A FOSTER FAMILY? We have quite a number of people and homes registered with the BHS
PATRICIA VAZQUEZ
ere we go again, like the ‘70s Dolly Parton song says: “Just when I’ve begun to get myself together”…more fake news and comments pop up on social media about the Bahamas Humane Society. Once and for all folks we are a no kill shelter!
who will take in puppies who need bottle feeding, mother dogs with their litters or adult dogs who need special medical or psychiatric care. Shelters are not a good environment for nursing puppies, too much noise and people, plus like all places with a large amount of animals or people, disease is more easily transferred. These wonderful animal-loving people take the dog or cat into their homes and help them “sort themselves out” so that they are able to fit into home life. It is a wonderful voluntary service these kind people provide. DOES THE BAHAMAS HUMANE SOCIETY EUTHANISE ANY ANIMALS? We only euthanise animals that are terminally ill or injured beyond help. There are diseases and conditions where the animal is going to die slowly and painfully; we choose to help them on their way as painlessly as possible. DOES THE BHS HAVE A CLINIC?
Yes, we do, and with three highly skilled veterinary doctors. They are the vets who care for the shelter animals. They do not take death lightly; it is not one of the options if the animal can be saved. These veterinarians care for their patients and love animals. We also run a clinic for outside patients, and when clients ask us to “put their dogs to sleep” for ridiculous reasons we fight tooth and nail to get them to change their minds. An owner has the legal right to demand this service, but we reserve the right to challenge the owner’s request. I have seen and heard of so many really pathetic and lame reasons for wanting to get rid of an animal, a pet who loves the owner unconditionally. The top five are: 1. I am moving into a new home where animals are not allowed. (Really? Then don’t move until you find somewhere that allows pets) 2. I am having a baby, so I can’t keep the dog! (Chile please! I had two children whilst owning five dogs and
one weighed 130lbs and was of questionable nature….FYI she never even looked at the boys the wrong way) 3. He digs in the garden (No really, excuse me, is he a dog? Train him with kindness not to. Chief has his special bush where he is allowed to dig. They ARE dogs, remember). 4. It is just too much trouble to care for him and I do not have the time (let’s just hope your family does not feel that way about you one day). 5. He barks too much. (And what do you do about it? He barks because you have left him in the yard alone and he is bored to tears. Take the poor animal into the house, play with him, give him toys. Yes, dogs bark; they are not mute). The most pathetic and sad reason for one woman wanting to put a beautiful dog to sleep? She is too friendly! I had to buy the dog to stop that one. I repeat, the Bahamas Humans Society is a no kill shelter. Remember that please.
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Friday, March 2, 2018
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