03062020 WEEKEND

Friday, March 6, 2020

art books community film fashion music food animals puzzles

Weekend

GOURMET FOOD TRUCK Pages 14 & 15

Finding Jane Exploring Austen’s Bahamas connection pages 8 & 9

02 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, March 6, 2020

CRAFTS

Repurposing with creativity

By CARA HUNT

| Tribune Features Writer | cbrennen@tribunemedia.net

W

hat started as a way to meet a practical need for patrons at his car wash has turned into a lucrative and profitable hobby for 23-year-old Rarsharme Rolle, the owner of Creative Creations.

Rarsharme recycles wooden pallets into unique and useful household décor pieces such as bookshelves, bathroom organisers, vases, and most recently, flower pots.

His work cashes in on two of the big interior design trends: the rustic modern farmhouse style and upcycled furniture.

The rustic farmhouse style has been made popular by interior design guru and TV personality Joanna Gaines and features cosy. wooden, casual living pieces.

And of course as the world focuses on recycling and repurposing, many are turning former “junk” into new and useful home items.

But for Rarsharme, it all started because he needed a few chairs.

“I have always been handy.

I did some sewing and some carpentry work growing up,” he told Tribune Weekend. “I really got tired working for people and wanted to do something for myself.”

He tried several things, including a car wash.

“I wanted to have some chairs for my customers to sit down in as they waited for their cars and so I had some pallets and I went on YouTube and watched some videos on how to make chairs from pallets and other items, and that’s how I started. I started making other items and people started liking them and wanting to purchase them for their homes.”

Rarsharme also has several friends who also help make the items. He finds enjoyment and satisfaction in creating things from scratch and from items that ordinarily would just be tossed away.

“We get the pallets from an older gentleman who uses them in his business and then is happy to give them to us.

And so we can keep our prices low because we do not have that much overhead,” he said.

In addition to the items available in the collection, Rarshame said the team at Creative Creations are happy to assist clients with custom orders for their individual needs.

“I love the challenge of seeing a picture or hearing an idea and then being able to create it for them,” he said.

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Friday, March 6, 2020

Inside Weekend

My perfect Bahamian weekend Antoine V Duncombe Educator Q: Saturday breakfast or Sunday lunch?

Interview 4 - 5 Actress-turned-playwright Myra McPhee celebrates debut of her new play in New York

Food 7, 14 - 15 Chef Jamall Petty brings the gourmet touch to grab-and-go fare, plus smash cakes are a success with local clientele

History 8 - 9 A writer discovers an unexpected connection between one of the world’s most famous novelists and the Bahamas

Photography 10 A Rose-Coloured Lens takes a closer look at roadside retail

Music 11 Julien Believe celebrates 20 years as a fulltime artist; looks forward to the future

Entertainment 12, 18 International talent scout is looking for TV show extras; plus enjoy Spring break with a sensational beach party

Pageants 13 Two Bahamians top models prepare to take on London Fashion Week

Celebrity 16 The fashion hits and misses of stars attending Paris Fashion Week

Community 17 Notable Bahamian women will be honoured as Zonta celebrates its 100th anniversary

Calendar 19 Things to do around town this weekend

“Breakfast for sure on a Saturday. I take too long to do morning routines. Saturdays are chilled.”

Q: Wine, rum, cocktail or Kalik?

“I like to feel sexy... wine!”

Q: Beach or sofa?

“Beach. My mind has to breathe.”

Q: What is the one thing that you can’t live without?

“My phone. I live in it.”

Q: Weekend away; where would you go?

“Paris, France. I’m a lover of romance!

This weekend in history

March 7

Literary Lives 20 - 21

A ‘Naive’ tiger in the jungles of Paris

Books 22 - 23 Best-selling author urges aspiring writers to think big; plus new releases hitting shelves this week

Puzzles 26

Animals 27 The forgotten victims of coronavirus, plus Pet of the Week

therefore could not sue for his freedom in federal court.

• In 1964, heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay officially changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Today’s birthdays: Singer Mary Wilson (The Supremes) is 76.

Actor Tom Arnold is 61. Actor DL Hughley is 57. Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal is 48. Rapper/producer Tyler, the Creator is 29.

March 6 • In 1475, the legendary Italian artist and poet Michelangelo was born in Caprese in the Republic of Florence.

• In 1857, the US Supreme Court, in Dred Scott v Sandford, ruled 7-2 that Scott, a slave, was not an American citizen and

• In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received a US patent for his telephone.

• In 1926, the first successful trans-Atlantic radiotelephone conversations took place between New York and London.

• In 1936, Adolf Hitler ordered his troops to march into the Rhineland, thereby breaking the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Pact.

Today’s birthdays: TV personality Willard Scott is 86. Actor Bryan Cranston is 64. Author E L James (”Fifty Shades”) is 57. Comedian

Wanda Sykes is 56. Actress Rachel Weisz is 50. Actress Laura Prepon (”Orange is the New Black”) is 40.

March 8 • In 1618, German astronomer Johannes Kepler devised his third law of planetary motion, which implies that the period for a planet to orbit the Sun increases rapidly with the radius of its orbit.

• In 1960, Democrat John F Kennedy and Republican Richard M Nixon won the New Hampshire presidential primary.

• In 1979, technology firm Philips demonstrated a prototype compact disc player during a press conference in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

Today’s birthdays: Pop singer Peggy March is 72. NBC News anchor Lester Holt is 61. Actor Aidan Quinn is 61. Actor Boris Kodjoe is 47. Actor Freddie Prinze Jr is 44. Actor James Van Der Beek is 43.

– The Associated Press

04 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, March 6, 2020

BOOKS

Transitioning from acting to writing has opened exciting new opportunities for this social justice-minded Bahamian artist. She tells Cara Hunt about her new play which debuts this weekend as part of an American-Caribbean women’s festival in New York.

Myra McPhee

A

fter years of performing as an actress on Bahamian stages, Myra McPhee is excited to let her writing talent take centre stage as she celebrates the world premiere of her new play, “Lessons My Father Taught Me” in New York City.

The one-woman play is part of the “Hear Her Call” Caribbean-American Woman’s Theatre Festival which is taking place in Jamaica, Queens this weekend.

Hosted by Conch Shell Productions, the festival is a celebration of the diverse viewpoints of CaribbeanAmerican female playwrights and filmmakers.

Having her play selected for the festival is a huge honour for Myra, who has enjoyed using her talent to highlight social issues.

“This is a festival that is for women of colour from this region who now live in the United States – all the things that I am – and it is so wonderful to have this platform and this space to express our voices,” she told Tribune Weekend. “This is the second year of the festival and my first year being a part of it and I am honoured and excited.”

Myra’s play “Lessons From My Father” tells the story of a woman who must explore

how trauma and abandonment have impacted her life and created a cycle of sabotage, self-doubt and stagnation.

“The character’s name is New Providence and throughout the play she is in therapy where she comes to realise that all the challenges she has in her other relationships, with her mother, her lover and others, stem from the fact that she has not resolved the issues she has with her father.”

New Providence’s life has been built on a shaky foundation, so she is functional but not whole. A particular event then occurs to bring things crashing down around her.

“There are a lot of references to sand in the play which of course alludes to island life, but also the idea of sand being a poor and shifting foundation.”

In the play, New Providence puts it this way: “Growing up on an island, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by sand, can be unsettling. Nature is ever-present and reminding me that nothing lasts forever.

Life can change with a gust of the wind or with the revelation of a secret that feels like a betrayal. The soft white sand under my feet quickly reminds me that I am lacking key skills because you can’t build a life on sand, or lies, or secrets, or regret, or shame. You let me be your dirty little secret for

“Growing up on an island, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by sand, can be unsettling. Nature is everpresent and reminding me that nothing lasts forever....”

– excerpt from “Lessons My Father Taught Me by Myra McPhee

years. Two lovers who were abandoned by their fathers thought they were standing strong, but were sinking in quicksand.”

The themes of the play are ones Myra has returned to again and again.

Her work focuses on social justice advocacy with particular focus on the intersections of black, immigrant and female experiences.

Myra started acting when she was still living in the Bahamas. She performed in productions of “for colored girls who have considered suicide” and “The Vagina Monologues” in Nassau, and in the social justice initiative “Tunnel of Oppression” in East Lansing, Michigan.

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As an alumna of the Social Justice Training Institute, she is passionate about using theatre to examine social justice themes and violence against black and brown bodies.

In April 2017, she codirected “Endless Long Hot Summer”, a production about the violence in the US during the Summer of 2016 and created and produced the SLC Hair Show: “Happy to be nappy, kinky, wavy, coiled or straight to explore the hair journeys of people of colour”. In May 2018, she produced and performed her one-woman show, “Take Me Baby or Leave Me”, an epistemological study of a black woman’s 492-year transition. This piece explores how a woman’s journey through life is the result of the work and experiences of her black ancestors. It also examines the roles of community and the effects of isolation on immigrants as they navigate life-changing transitions.

In October 2018, her original play, “Lies We Tell Our Amygdala”, was produced and published in Nassau.

Leaving the Bahamas, Myra moved to the US to attend the University of South Carolina where she received a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication and then a Masters in Education in Higher Education and Student Affairs.

In 2019, she received her Masters in Theatre from Sarah Lawrence College, where she is currently employed as the director of residence life and an associate theatre professor.

Prior to Sarah Lawrence, Myra worked for the US State Department at the US Embassy in Nassau as the education and cultural specialist.

She has worked at several universities, including Michigan State University, where she was responsible for strategic planning and leadership development. She also worked at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore, La Salle University in Philadelphia, and the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

MYRA received her Masters in Theatre from Sarah Lawrence College last year.

“I finished my Masters in December and I have come to realise that my strength is really in writing rather than acting. I was investigating trauma in black woman and how it shows up in other spaces, which is where the original idea of the new play came from,” she said.

Last year, one of the professors from her Master’s programme announced she was retiring and encouraged her students to finish any projects they would like her assistance with.

“Lessons From my Father” grew from that impetus.

THE POSTER for Myra’s new play

“This is the fifth version of this play and it took about a year to get it to where it is.”

Myra says she finds writing very therapeutic and introspective.

“Anyone can write. I used to think of writing as someone who locked themselves away in a cabin in the wood and emerged with these amazing pieces of work. But I had a professor who told us just get up and write one word and that makes you a writer.

I am not striving for perfection. I would say just write what you know because that makes your work honest...and allow yourself to be reflective and vulnerable. Writing just unlocks something inside of me. I find that I am in a really good space when I am writing,” she said.

Looking to the future, Myra’s next project is likely to be an collaboration with another group of women writers about female anatomy.

“It will focus on the relationships that we as women have with our breasts. So that is still in the planning stages.”

She would love to also be the kind of artist who can participate in artist-in-residence programmes.

“I would love to help other artists learn to find their voice.

As actors we tell so many stories that come from other people, but writing allows you to tell your own stories and there are so many stories out there still to be told.”

06 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, March 6, 2020

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Friday, March 6, 2020

food

Smash it like you mean it

By ALESHA CADET | Tribune Features writer acadet@tribunemedia.net

T

wo years ago, Kim Kardashian West once again set the internet atwitter when she sent a number of her Kimoji fragrances housed in breakable and edible chocolate hearts to influencers and fellow celebs.

The hearts, accompanied by wooden gavels for the breaking, were the work of Chris Ford, the executive pastry chef at the Beverly Wilshire in Los Angeles.

The hearts were a huge success on Instagram and soon inspired similar edible gift packaging. People seemingly found it irresistible to use the supplied tiny mallets to smash open these chocolates containers.

Destroying something edible that is nicely decorated seems to satisfy some primal urge in many. It is what led to the recent smash cakes trend – birthday cakes you give young kids to literally smash to bits, with frosting, chocolate and bits of cake flying everywhere.

Roxy Smith, a Bahamian pastry chef, said she was at her desk job, scrolling through social media and waiting for 5pm to arrive, when she stumbled across these socalled smash cakes. Up until this point she had only known smash cakes as something given to parents for their kids, but this particular concept she now beheld was different. She sat on the idea for a few years, figuring out how to make the most alluring cakes the

Bahamas has ever seen. After a lot of trial and error, experiment after experiment, she finally perfected her Bahamas Smash Cakes.

These cakes are like edible piñatas for adults, and like piñatas, they are also filled with candy, or whatever the customer wishes. Roxy makes these special breakable and fillable chocolate moulds for birthday and bachelorette parties, weddings, and other celebratory events.

“I’ve always been a pretty crafty person. The experience has been crazy so far.

I gathered inspiration from different businesses and companies internationally and decided to launch my own, but trust me, it wasn’t easy.

Smash cakes are very delicate and temperamental. Bahamas Smash Cakes is actually a joint venture between myself and my significant other, Lakeem.

He handles the administrative duties and me, the creative crazy stuff. He lets me know whether my ideas are a ‘go or no’. We make a great team.

Lakeem’s background is in economics and mine in art design,” Roxy told Tribune Weekend.

No two cakes are the same and can be filled and decorated however the customer wishes. No design is off limits.

“What I like most about being an entrepreneur is the endless possibilities of what I can or can’t do. There’s no one to tell me when to start or stop working; when I can vacation

or when I can have a sick day.

This is a luxury I’m so incredibly thankful for. Not many Bahamians are afforded the opportunity,” said Roxy.

“We’re a home-based company in Nassau, and truthfully, we want to stay small. We don’t see ourselves owning a big factory and hashing out 100 cakes per day, no. I want to keep things personal and intimate.”

For more information, visit Bahamas Smash Cakes on Facebook.

08 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, March 6, 2020

history

Searching for Jane Austen in Nassau The Bahamas’ surprising connection to one of the world’s most famous novelists

By PAUL BETHEL

JANE Austen (1775 1817); a 19th-century engraving, likely derived from a portrait by her sister Cassandra

A MAP of the “Bahama Isles” from 1810.

M

ost people would never connect England’s great novelist of domestic satire Jane Austen with an archipelago of 700 islands in the western Atlantic. After all, Jane Austen never ventured beyond the shores of her native land.

Indeed, her life was confined to a relatively small corner of England.

In 2007, I wrote a lighthearted article for Jane Austen’s Regency World magazine (the official magazine of the Jane Austen Centre, Bath), in which Mrs Croft – one of the characters in Jane’s novel “Persuasion” – makes a fictional trip to Nassau, Bahamas. This was because Mrs Croft remarks quite casually (in Chapter 8 of that novel) that she had crossed the Atlantic with her husband four times, but was never in the West Indies, as “we do not call Bermuda or Bahama, you know, the West Indies.”

I tried to capture what her impressions of Nassau might have been at the beginning

of the 19th century, and was surprised at how eagerly the magazine’s editor accepted my offering.

Most of the naval details in Austen’s novels, especially “Mansfield Park” and “Persuasion”, came from Charles and Francis, her two “sailor brothers,” both of whom became admirals in the British Navy—though this was well after Jane’s death at the age of 41.

Over time I wrote several more serious articles for the same magazine – the most recent one appearing in the January/February issue this year – and as I researched more about Jane Austen’s life and times, I began to wonder if there might be even more of a connection to the Bahamas than was hinted at in “Persuasion”. I eventually conceived of a tour of Regency/Georgian Nassau based on this possibility, and, in late 2018, began to investigate.

This was in the nature of a hunt for buried treasure, with only cryptic clues to guide me in my search. It turned out to be an epic quest, spanning

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three centuries and crisscrossing the Atlantic Ocean. The internet turned up a great deal of information, but little that was relevant and no positive confirmation of my theory of a connection between the Austen family and the Bahamas.

In the course of my inquiries, I contacted several people who had written books about various members of the Austen family, as well as the Jane Austen Society in the UK. They were very courteous and encouraging, but could offer little help.

Finally, last March I got in touch with Paul Aranha, whose articles in The Tribune about Bahamian history are always so inspiring and informative. I mentioned that the only connection I knew of to the Austen family was that of Admiral James Gambier (born in Nassau, 1756), whose father served twice as acting governor of the Bahamas, and who helped to promote the careers of Charles and Francis, Austen’s brothers.

Mr Aranha was fascinated by my project, but knew little about Jane Austen or her family. He did, however, provide an interesting fact: that the grave of Deborah Gambier, Admiral Gambier’s mother, is one of the oldest in the cemetery at St Matthew’s Church.

This led me to look for more information on the Admiral and his relations. In one of my old biographies of Jane Austen (bought about 25 years ago, I think), I found a simple reference to the effect that “James Austen’s wife was related by marriage to Samuel Gambier...as well as to James Gambier.” There it was, hiding in plain sight.

James Austen was Jane’s eldest brother, and a clergyman like his father before him. In the notes to the text of that book, I discovered a detailed outline of his wife’s relatives and was able to create a brief “family tree” showing that the wife of James Austen had a half-sister who married Samuel Gambier (Secretary of the Navy Board), the brother of Admiral James Gambier.

It was this connection which brought his brothers to the Admiral’s notice, and Jane Austen records in her letters that her father was writing to Gambier himself. This is the kind of detail which her fans find endlessly fascinating.

I believe there may be other connections which I have not yet discovered, and am continuing with my research into the adventures of her brothers during their years of service in the West Indies. But for now there is enough to have established, beyond

IN the novel “Persuasion”, the character of Mrs Croft states “that nothing can exceed the accommodations of a man-of-war” when travelling across the oceans. (Oil painting by Peter Monamy)

JANE Austen’s “sailor brothers” – Rear Admiral Charles John Austen (left) and Admiral of the Fleet Sir Francis William Austen any doubt, the family connection between the Austens and the Gambiers – which leads ultimately to Nassau.

Since the era when Jane was writing her great novels was a time of development and expansion in Nassau, we have many fine examples of late Georgian architecture which would be of interest to history buffs in general and Austen fans in particular. The important thing is for any presentation of history or culture to be fun as well as informative.

I am currently negotiating with a local tour company in the hope of developing two separate “Jane Austen in Paradise” tours which will have the benefit of introducing visitors to

Bahamian history while incorporating aspects of Jane’s work and the influence of the Gambier family on her brothers and thus (by extension) her novels.

This will open up new opportunities in Bahamian tourism and perhaps broaden the view of many Bahamians as well. There’s no better time to benefit from this aspect of our history, as Jane Austen is very much a “hot commodity” these days, with the recent conclusion of the ITV miniseries based on her unfinished novel, “Sanditon”, as well as the upcoming release of the latest film version of “Emma” (which will be shown at the Island House Cinema March 13 - 26).

I’d very much enjoy hearing from other Bahamian Janeites, though there are probably not many of us. Anyone interested may contact me about anything Austen at bandrews58@ yahoo.com. There always seems to be something new to discover about this endlessly captivating writer.

• Paul Bethel is a Bahamian writer who has had six Regency-era novels published under the pseudonym of Beth Andrews. He has worked as a sub-editor at the Nassau Guardian; earned a certificate in novel writing from Writer’s Digest School, Cincinnati, Ohio; was a finalist in several contests sponsored by local chapters of Romance Writers of America (RWA), and is a regular contributor of articles to Jane Austen’s Regency World magazine. His most recent publication was “Quadrille”, a collection a collection of four regency short stories released as an e-book by Regency Reads.

“

What a great traveller you must have been, ma’am!” said Mrs Musgrove to Mrs Croft.

“Pretty well, ma’am in the fifteen years of my marriage; though many women have done more. I have crossed the Atlantic four times, and have been once to the East Indies, and back again, and only once; besides being in different places about home: Cork, and Lisbon, and Gibraltar.

But I never went beyond the Streights, and never was in the West Indies. We do not call Bermuda or Bahama, you know, the West Indies.”

Mrs Musgrove had not a word to say in dissent; she could not accuse herself of having ever called them anything in the whole course of her life.

– (Chapter 8, “Persuasion”)

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PHOTOGRAPHY

Roadside retail

B

eauty is all around us in the Bahamas, on land and in the sea. But many of us are too busy with everyday life to pause and really see and enjoy the astonishing sights that surround us. Veteran photographer ROLAND ROSE captures both the ordinary and extraordinary and puts it in frame for us so we can see our environment in a new light.

Bahamian entrepreneurs have many ways of turning a profit. The colourful street markets pop up the all over the islands.

TOP: Ice cone kiosk in San Souci; middle left: barber shop on Wulff Road; bottom right: fruit market on Market Street; bottom left: vegetable stall in Harbour Island.

Friday, March 6, 2020

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Friday, March 6, 2020

music

Julien Believe celebrates

20

ears y in

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

I

music

| Tribune Features Writer | jgibson@tribunemedia.net

F anyone knows how to have longevity in the local music industry, it’s Julien “Believe” Thompson.

The singer has been a full-time artist, experiencing local and regional success, for two decades now.

And he has no intention of slowing down either.

Julien recently released his “She Gat That Junkanoo” music video and will be turning out more singles as the year progresses.

“It’s a special year; it marks 20 years since I’ve started doing music full-time and professionally,” he told Tribune Weekend.

As a mainstay of the local music industry for so long, the artist said he has seen an evolution happening here in the Bahamas.

“I’m excited for the paradigm shift and movement within the music community here in the Bahamas; a major progression of arts and entertainment with new artists. 2020 is off to a good start but I’m definitely shooting for the stars by continuing to open doors for artists,” he said.

Julien said over the last 20 years he has seen support amongst artists and from the government growing, as well as an increase in performance opportunities, and in general a camaraderie like never before.

The singer has had the opportunity to expand his fanbase beyond the shores of the Bahamas.

He has been afforded many international opportunities to perform, including at the Latin American and Caribbean Festival in Beijing, China, which was his third visit to China after his debut at the Miss World Pageant in Sanya.

He also performed the national anthem and a selection of his original songs like “Come Thru Queen” and his smash hit “The Caribbean Slide” to a crowd of over 35,000 at the Rotary International Convention in Hamburg, Germany, with outgoing president, Bahamian Barry Rassin. Last Summer he represented the sounds and culture of the Bahamas, courtesy of the Ministry of Tourism, on a tour throughout the US and the islands.

Julien, who is managed by the Chameleon Management Group, said

he could not do all the multi-tasking he has to do without his team to assist him.

“Being able to perform at the Miss World Pageant in 2015 in Sanya, China was probably one of my biggest moments. On stage, repping my country and putting the Bahamas on the map is and will always be my goal.

Another big thing for me was creating and executing the ‘I Believe In You’ school tour along with Chameleon Management Group. It was a blessing to partner with other creatives and civic organisations to get into the schools and spread positivity. In year three, we visited over 45 schools across

the Bahamas in all of the major islands, reaching over 30,000 kids,” he said.

Being a full-time artist has been working out well for Julien, who encourages those seeking to the follow the path he has to plan their course.

“Some days are going to be tough but you have to put 10 toes down and keep going. It’s also good to have a plan, a road map, that keeps you on track. Networking and building relationships is also vitally important.

One of the best decisions I made was hiring a team of people to assist me in my endeavours because you can’t do it alone,” he said.

And as he looks ahead to another decade, Julien is excited to see what changes will take place on the local music scene.

“I’m excited to see new artists emerge and have more Bahamian artists perform throughout the Bahamas, to be able to make a transition wave internationally. The more Bahamian artists performing internationally, the bigger our impact is on the music industry. I also want to see more Bahamian performers locally...like at every concert that happens in the Bahamas a Bahamian should also be on that stage,” he said.

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Friday, March 6, 2020

entertainment

Spring break kicks off with a sensation

By ALESHA CADET | Tribune Features writer | acadet@tribunemedia.net

I

t’s that time of a year again when students let loose and party around the clock. Yes, it’s Spring break 2020. And Atlantis has decided to do things a little different this year. Celebrating this unique vacation period from March 11 to 14 on the resort’s West Beach, Atlantis’ first ever Sensation Beach Party will feature a stage on the sand, daytime beach parties, an open bar, and nightly DJs spinning primarily electronic dance music with an infusion of hip hop. Headliners will include names like Loud Luxury, Brandi Cyrus, Brooke Evers, Chase B, DJ Irie and Lil Jon. Michael MacDonnell, vice president of Food and Beverage Administration at Atlantis, said this event was created with the purpose of utilising music and art to inspire individuals. In addition to the music, partygoers can experience colourful attire, henna artists, face painting and hair braiding.

“Our stage will be 36 feet wide by 24 feet deep with go-go dancers and headliners all playing their part of an unforgettable experience. Our goal is to ultimately provide a platform for our guests to immerse themselves in as we continually reinvent ourselves year after year. This is our first year of collaborating with SKAM Artist

to showcase some of the world’s hottest DJs here at Atlantis,” he said.

“In 2019, we had this idea to conceptualise this mega production effort LIL Jon and needed the right partners to team up with on the talent side and the social side. We aimed to partner up with a group of individuals who understood the overall goal... it was important that we not rush into this production and get it right opposed to the opposite.

We worked on building our relationship with SKAM Artist and TIC (This Is College) talent managers for the past year to ensure we have partners in the game with us,” he said.

“Sensation is really important for us as we embark on the mission to produce this event annually. It’s important we make a statement our first year out of the gate. It’s equally important that each year we go bigger and bigger. We are only as good as our last performance; each one needs to be better than the one before,” said Mr MacDonnell.

He emphasised that the safety of attendees is of the highest importance. Therefore, he said, patrons can look forward to numerous security on the premises of Sensation, BRANDI CYRUS, actress, singer and DJ, and a controlled crowd in a safe and sister of Miley Cyrus environment.

LOUD LUXURY, a Canadian music production and DJ duo

BROOKE EVERS, Australian television personality and DJ

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pageants TOP model Mia Carey

Bahamian top models prepare to take on London

By ALESHA CADET | Tribune Features writer acadet@tribunemedia.net

A

fter charming both the judges and the audience, two models, Mia Carey and Elkym Bowe, managed to snag the top spots in the first Top Model Worldwide Bahamas competition.

Mia and Elkym beat out the other 17 finalists – five male models and 12 female models – competing for the chance to represent their country in the upcoming Top Model Worldwide UK, scheduled to be held on March 28 at the Amba Hotel in London.

“I was beyond ecstatic when receiving the news that I would get the opportunity to participate in London because this is a once-in-a-life time opportunity for me. With this I have the great responsibility of

representing my country and making everyone around me proud. This is the first year Top Model has been introduced to the Bahamas and I am grateful that the opportunity was given to me,” said 17-year-old Mia. Top Model Bahamas Director Bernadette Robinson told Tribune Weekend that Top Model Worldwide Bahamas’ mission is specifically geared towards giving local models the opportunity to walk the runways of London. As a former model herself, Ms Robinson knows first-hand how hard it is to break into the fashion industry, which is the reason why she decided to put together a new the event to give young, aspiring models a chance to shine and show the world what they have to offer.

“Opportunities in this country are limited for models to travel and get on the world’s stage, so I just wanted to open a door to give them that opportunity,” she said.

For winner Elkym Bowe, the best part of the competition was the haute couture segment, because he said it was exciting to be able to incorporate his own personal style of fashion. He hopes this is just the first step to gaining international acclaim as a male model.

“I was very thrilled to learn that the winners from this competition would be nominated to participate in London’s Fashion Week, because I’ve always wanted to be recognised as an international model. I am looking forward to visiting a city that I always dreamed about visiting; exploring, visiting Big Ben, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, and maybe Stonehenge. I want to try the local food and I’m looking forward to the exposure that this opportunity will bring for me. I hope to be successful in winning the title,” said the 30-year-old health and fitness enthusiast.

Mia is also looking forward to doing amazing things in the Top Model Worldwide competition and visiting London, as this will be her first time in the UK. “This is an opportunity to visit one of the most exciting cities in the world and one of the top fashion cities in the world. Three things I hope to accomplish as title holder is to: do extraordinarily well in the Top Model UK competition; I hope to increase my exposure as a model in the Bahamas, land huge jobs, and I hope to become a role model to other young ladies who are shy and want to enter competitions such as this one. I hope they would look at me and say, ‘Wow, I want to be just like her’,” said the the University

of the Bahamas student.

Ms Robinson said the upcoming UK competition will have five categories: Editorial, Commercial, Over 25s, Male, and International Worldwide. She said each of the five categories will have different qualifying criteria TOP model Elkym Bowe with a variety of looks and styles.

“You can see their devel“During the build-up to the opment from the day they show finals, the Top Model attended the casting call to the finalists will receive profesnight on stage. There is a huge sional coaching from industry difference in their personality experts and mentors. They will and their confidence, and I attend fittings and rehearscouldn’t be more proud,” she als where they work with the said. show’s designers and senior In the meantime, Ms show team. There will be over Robinson and her team are 40 main awards and titles also beginning preparations up for grabs in London. Our for season two of Top Model two Bahamian delegates are Worldwide Bahamas, set for required to be in London two this April. to three days before the final.

“We look forward to They will leave on leave on accepting a whole new slew Sunday, March 22,” she said. of wonderful and excited new Ms Robinson said she is finalists to our Top Model excited to take these two family,” she said.

Readers can keep up to date Bahamian models to London with Mia and Elkym’s journey to compete, knowing they to London via the Top Model will do well. She believes Bahamas Facebook page, and they have already achieved so on Twitter and Instagram. much in such a short time.

16 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, March 6, 2020

CELEBRITY With Karin Herig and Cara Hunt

HIT

FAIL

SPLIT

FAIL

Janelle Monáe ”Antebellum”

Ashley Benson ”Pretty Little Liars”

Shailene Woodley ”Big Little Lies”

Karin says: “I know she’s basically wearing two hats on top of another, but I still love this look. It’s Victorian traditional meets modern eccentricity, and signature Janelle. I also like the incongruous choice of black latex boots.”

Cara says: “I love how Janelle makes such a statement with her outfits. She doesn’t just get dressed; she tells the story of the occasion she is at. This is another great fun look. And while it wouldn’t work for everyone, it really does work on her.”

Karin says: “Attending all the different fashion shows seems to be her new profession. I kinda like the idea of high-waisted pants with a flimsy white lace top, but I’m not so sure the execution works. I know it’s trying to be different, but I would have preferred the ruffle in its traditional place: around the shoulders.”

Cara says: “Whatever ruffle mess she has going on across her chest, yeah, that just doesn’t work. Black and white is such an easy combo to nail, I really don’t know how she managed to just mess it up so badly. That top is just hideous.”

Karin says: “I guess this is the sexy nerd/school teacher look. I don’t mind it. I even like the high boots with the short (very short) tartan skirt. The pullover, however, looks like it was made following one of those DIY knitting books, plus it looks dated, not to mention, itchy.”

Cara says: “I think this outfit is what a school teacher in the North Pole would wear. I see what she was trying to do, but she just looks hot and itchy.

I am not loving this look at all. There are much better ways to execute this concept.”

Margaret Qualley ”One Upon a Time...in Hollywood” Karin says: “I guess it’s supposed to be too big on her by design, but it just looks like it’s hanging on her frame. It’s not flattering; it just makes her look like a little girl who’s playing dress-up with her famous mom’s (Andie MacDowell) Chanel wardrobe.”

Cara says: “Which unfortunate matron did Margaret borrow this outfit from? I refuse to accept it was Andie. It’s so old-fashioned and shapeless. It does her absolutely no favours at all. And the sad ponytail and ugly shoes are the icing on this ‘fashion don’t’ cake.”

AP Photos

The Weekend Fashion Report Fall/Winter 2020/21 Paris Fashion

The Tribune | Weekend |17

Friday, March 6, 2020

community

Notable Bahamian women honoured as Zonta celebrates 100 years

By FELICITY DARVILLE

O

utstanding women in the community will be honoured during a special event commemorating 100 years of Zonta International. The Zonta Club of Nassau saw it fitting to honour these women on the occasion of their grand centennial celebrations because of the high level of commitment and purpose they display on a national level.

Among the honorees are Dr Mildred Hall-Watson, president of the Senate; E’Thegra Symonette, head of the Department of Law and Government at the University of The Bahamas; Tracey DL Rahming, 40-year veteran social worker; Vylma Thompson-Curling, veteran educator of more than 50 years, administrator and Justice of the Peace, and Judy Munroe, OBE, who has a national award in business and is a former president of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce.

The centennial celebrations will be held this Sunday, March 8, for International Women’s Day at the Balmoral Club on Sanford Drive from 3pm to 5pm.

“We will be awarding champions in our community,” said Latoya Johnson, Zonta Club of Nassau’s president. “These champions are the unsung heroes that have made commitments to work in the community and support women and girls.”

Zonta International is a worldwide organisation that has empowered women and girls through service

TRACEY DL RAHMING, 40-year veteran social worker

JUDY MUNROE, OBE

VYLMA THOMPSON-CURLING, veteran educator

DR MILDRED HALL-WATSON, president of the Senate

and advocacy for 100 years. It was founded in 1919 in Buffalo, New York, by a group of forward-thinking women who were not satisfied with the predominantly social nature of many women’s organisations.

Instead, Zonta’s founders envisioned

a women’s service organisation that would advocate for laws and policies that ensure gender equality and help every woman and girl realise her full potential. Through continuous engagement over almost 10 decades, Zonta International has become a

respected and reliable agent of civil society. Zonta International is a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

The more than 30,000 professional women worldwide promote and strive to protect the human rights of all women and girls and reduce the incidences of violence against them.

Since 1923, Zonta has provided more than US$40.9 million to empower women and expand their access to education, health care, economic opportunities and safe living conditions. Zonta’s nearly 1,200 clubs support local and regional initiatives in 63 countries worldwide.

Three high school girls will also receive awards during the Centennial Awards Ceremony. They are the winners of the 2020 United Nations Essay Competition on the theme: “Making an Impact to Create a Gender Equal World”. The competition is to bring awareness to high school students about International Women’s Day. Started by the Suffragettes in the early 1900s, the first International Women’s Day was celebrated in 1911. P’Ante Rolle, a 12th grader at Queen’s College won the competition. Sierra Ferguson, a 12th grader at Aquinas placed second and Brigitte Cumberbatch, also a 12th grader of Queen’s College placed third.

The event promises to be filled with fun and entertainment in addition to honouring notable women.

The Zonta Club of Nassau has been involved in many local service projects including the AIDS Foundation, the PACE School, the Bahamas Crisis Centre. Tickets are $100. For more information, e-mail zontaclubofnassau@hotmail.com or call 807-3021.

18 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, March 6, 2020

entertainment

Local background players and musicians needed for new show

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

I

| Tribune Features Writer | jgibson@tribunemedia.net

nternational acting agent Pat Jarosz is returning to the Bahamas this month to teach more about characterisation, the business of acting and voice-over work, as well as scout for acting and musical talent while here.

Those looking to break into showbiz are encouraged to participate in the workshop that will be held at the Lyford Cay International School March 21 and 22.

At the same time, Ms Jarosz, who has over 40 years of experience in the business, will also be scouting for talent for the upcoming “The Magic of ChickCharney” series. The show’s pilot promo was recently shot in Nassau.

“It is currently in post production – editing, colour and audio correcting. It is about a group of children and teens who are gifted with special magical sight. Folklore and fairy tales are real,” she told Tribune Weekend.

At the moment she is looking for extras to appear in the background of scenes.

“They are not really recognisable. If they are recognisable for consecutive seconds, they are upgraded to another category and paid more money. It could be sitting on the beach, walking on the beach, diners at the Tiki Bikini Hut, walking down the street, sitting in a school classroom, et cetera,” she said.

These roles require no specific skills other than “arriving on time.”

Ms Jarosz said these spots that need to be filled can range well into the hundreds. Individuals of all ages are welcome.

And while being a background performer requires no special skill, she said it offers a unique and educational experience.

“Being on set is a great education, (a glimpse) into the industry. If the person has interest in set design, makeup, cinematography, any production aspect, they actually see what each job entails and have professionals to speak to for guidance,” she said.

A PROMO for the upcoming TV show “The Magic of ChickCharney” was recently shot in Nassau “As far as acting goes, there is always a possibility of being upgraded from background to a day performer that is recognised. There is also the opportunity for actors booked for one episode to be used in further episodes. The production team consists

of industry professionals that could be working on other series or films.

Making connections is amazing.”

Many of the background roles are needed for multiple days for continuity, she said. Those extras do not need to have any acting abilities or training;

they just need to take part in a brief on-set behaviour class.

Ms Jarosz and executive producers Stephanie Nihon and Amanda Ferguson are excited to be able to create jobs in this industry for Bahamians.

Ms Jarosz created the series after teaching a characterisation workshop last June at Choice Model Management. There, she found new actors for all the lead roles.

The series is also looking for local music to be featured in every episode.

“We call on all, whether you have any experience or not. There will be mentors to work with new singers and/ or songwriters to create the music that will be used in the series. We want some with an island feel. We also need music that will denote a specific fairy tale, could be a pirate, a water spirit et cetera,” she said.

“Their music will be heard. They own it and are paid when it is used.

The writer, singer and musicians are paid when a song is used in a production.”

The Tribune | Weekend |19

Friday, March 6, 2020

FRIDAY 3/6 • Happy Hour with The Batter Girls Time: 5pm - 10pm Venue: 1er Cru, Gladstone Road Unwind to start off the weekend with The Batter Girls, who boast of making the “conchiest” conch fritters in the Bahamas.

• Historical Society Lecture: 75 years after WWII Time: 6.15pm Venue: Bahamas Historical Society, Elizabeth Avenue Dirk Wouters, the nonresident Ambassador of Belgium to the Bahamas, will reflect on the impact of the Second World War on Europe and the world 75 years on. Parking for this free talk is available at the CIBC First Caribbean Bank.

• DK Nation 2020 Time: 7pm boarding

The Tribune Established 1903

Venue: Blackbeard’s Revenge, Pioneer’s Dock This year’s Dyson Knight “DKNation” event is the fourth annual party for mature, working class, Caribbean music lovers, ages 18 plus and beyond. Performers will include Wendi, Rik Carey, Julien Believe, Bodine, Patrice Murrell, and others. General admission is $20 and VIP is $30 VIP. The theme is “Ocean”. Parking will be available.

SATURDAY 3/7

• International Women’s Day Expo for Women & Girls Time: 10am - 2pm Venue: Dundas Centre for Performing Arts

|100 Jamz | Y98

What's going on this Being Bound To Swear To The Dogmas Of No Master

weekend

Equality Bahamas’ second annual Expo for Women & Girls starts with the Tiny Talks speaker series. Hear from organisations, experts and practitioners about what they do, why, and how they can help you. Then the workshops begin with a variety of options from yoga and art session to eating well on a budget and condom demonstrations.

There will also have free rapid HIV testing on-site.

Gain practical skills, knowledge you can share with family members and loved ones, and a better idea of the resources available to you here in the Bahamas.

This is a family-friendly event, and intentionally centers on women and girls.

• Blood Drive Time: 11am - 3pm Venue: The Mall at Marathon Give the gift of life from your heart. One pint can save three lives. Hosted

by Hosted by Rotaract Club of Nassau Sunset and Rotary Club of Nassau Sunrise, and the Toastmasters Healing communicators.

• “Live Differently!”

Book Launch Time: 11am - 2pm

Editior’s Voice

SATURDAY • Family Talks: Common Cold vs Influenza in Children Time: 3pm Venue: Sandbox, Harbour Bay ‘Common Cold vs Influenza in Children’ is the topic during this edition of Family Talks with Dr Charneca Knowles-Demeritte, a paediatrician from Precious Posterity Paediatric Centre. For the kids, there will be face painting and balloon animals, as well as giveaways and refreshments.

Venue: Logos Bookstore Katina R Seymour presents her self-book, “10 Ways to Model Excellence”, a framework for what excellence could look like in a succinct, practical and powerful way. It has pertinent quotes to consider, habits of mind and anecdotes of the author’s life, and a section for introspection.

• SoundWaves XIV Time: 7pm - 11pm Venue: Pompey Square There will be music and poetry from 12 different acts, as well as artwork on display from several artists, including Durelle Williams who will be creating a live painting. Sip on beverages served up by the Tipsea Bar and enjoy food from one of the many stalls from the Nassau Night Market. The event to support local art is free.

• Conversations while Cooking

Time: 6.30pm - 9.30pm Venue: Goombay House, Queen Street Celebrate International Women’s Day with dynamic and fabulous women like singer Wendi Knight, former FNM leader Loretta Butle-Turner, ‘mommy mogul’ Lashanta Smith, and host Ashley Swaby for an interactive, unfiltered, candid and empowering evening – engaging in lively thought-provoking conversations, good food, and uninhabited laughter.

Tickets are $50.

• Warm up!

Time: 9pm Venue: Pirates of Nassau Get ready for the road with this pre-Carnival season event. Warm up and train those waistlines for Road Feer with more drinks, more dancehall and more soca

SUNDAY 3/8

• Disney & Friends Family Fun Day Time: 12noon - 6pm Venue: Sunken Gardens, Botanical Gardens The Playground Bahamas presents Frozen’s Anna and Elsa, Dora the Explora, Moana, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, Simba the Lion King, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, the Minions, Peppa Pig, Baby Shark, and more. Hosted

by Peter Pan’s Tinker Bell, the event will feature snow cones, cotton candy, face painting, hoopla, bouncing castle, pony rides, and a performance by the Urban Renewal Band followed by a Junkanoo rush-out and kids’ karaoke.

20 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, March 6, 2020

literary lives

A 'Naive' tiger in the jungles of Paris Sir Christopher Ondaatje recounts with awe the unusual life of the French postimpressionist painter whose primitive works came to be recognised as creations of high artistic quality influencing generations of avant-garde artists.

H

enri Rousseau was born in Laval, Mayenne, France on May 21, 1844 into a family of tinsmiths.

He attended Laval High School as a boarder when his parents had increasing debt problems and

HENRI Rousseau (1844 – 1910)

“The Dream” (1910) was Rousseau’s last completed work

their home was seized by creditors. After school he worked for a lawyer and then in the French army for four years. When his father died in 1863 he returned to Paris and took work as a government employee to help support his destitute mother. In 1868 he married Clémence Boitard, his landlord’s 15-year-old daughter, with whom he had six children – only one of whom survived.

In 1871 he got a job collecting taxes on goods entering Paris. His wife

died in 1888 and he married Josephine Noury in 1898.

Rousseau had an extraordinary start to his artistic career. He dabbled in primitive jungle scenes and was completely self-taught. Although he never left France his creations were all of foreign locales and wild animals inspired mostly from illustrations in children’s books. But he studied the botanical gardens in Paris, mounted animal heads in museums, and listened in awe to stories of soldiers who had travelled to Mexico and other exotic sub-tropical countries. Late in life he told the French critic Arsène Alexandre: “When I go into the glass houses and I see the strange plants of exotic lands, it seems to me that I enter into a dream.”

Although involved in tax-collecting, he painted in his spare time – not only exotic scenes, but isolated parts of the city into which he would insert a person in the foreground. He was intrigued with the bizarre, and looked for unusual situations which he created with invented people or animals. He had a wild imagination.

Despite his flat, childlike style he exhibited his unique creations in the Salon des Indépendents from 1886, and although not displayed prominently his paintings drew a curious and increasing following.

“Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!)” was one of Rousseau’s first “jungle” paintings exhibited in 1891.

The young artist Félix Vallotton wrote about the painting:

“His tiger surprising its prey ought not to be missed; it’s the alpha and omega of painting.”

Nevertheless it was not for another 10 years that Rousseau returned to painting his jungle scenes.

In 1893 Rousseau moved to a studio in Montparnasse where he lived and worked until he died in 1910. “La Bohémienne endormie” (The Sleeping Gypsy) (1897) was one of the most famous of Rousseau’s paintings produced in that year.

The Tribune | Weekend | 21

Friday, March 6, 2020

In 1905 Rousseau’s large jungle scene “The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope” was exhibited at the Salon des Indépendents alongside paintings by the avant-garde artist Henri Matisse in an exhibition titled “The Fauves”. Two years later he was commissioned by the artist Robert Delauney’s mother, Berthe, Comtesse de Delaunay, to paint “The Snake Charmer” – another of Rousseau’s best-known creations.

Curiously, while Pablo Picasso was strolling along the Left Bank in Paris, he came upon a discarded canvas

by Henri Rousseau – for sale – to be painted over. Picasso instantly recognised the artist’s genius and went to meet him. That year, 1908, Picasso then held a half serious, half burlesque banquet in his studio at Le Bateau-Lavoir in Rousseau’s honour.

Le Banquet Rousseau became one of the most famous social events of the 20th century. It was neither an orgiastic occasion nor even an opulent one – but its fame grew because of its timing and because the so-called banquet was held at a moment when the revolutionary art movement was attended by people whose influence had a marked effect on the future of the art world. Guests included Guillaume Apollinaire, Jean Metzinger, Juan Gris, Max Jacob, Marie Laurencin, André Salmon, Maurice Raynal, Daniel-Henri Kahnweiler, Leo Stein, Gertrude Stein, and of course the host, Pablo Picasso.

“Here the nights of the Blue Period passed ... here the days of the Rose Period flowered ... here the Demoiselles d’Avignon halted in their dance to regroup themselves in accordance with the golden number and the secret of the fourth dimension ... here fraternised the poets elevated by serious criticism into the School of the Rue Ravignan ... here in these shadowy corridors lived the true worshippers of fire ... here one evening in the year 1908 unrolled the pageantry of the first and last banquet offered by his admirers to the painter Henri Rousseau called the Douanier.”

– André Salmon (1881-1969), French poet, art critic and writer.

Rousseau continued to work as a tax collector until 1893 – when he retired. After this he was given a small pension which he supplemented with part-time jobs and work. He played a violin in the streets, and also worked briefly at Le Petit Journal producing a number of its covers. He continued to paint, and his last painting The

“Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!)” (1891)

“The Sleeping Gypsy” (1897)

“The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope” (1905)

Dream was exhibited at the Salon des Indépendents.

In 1910, also in March, Rousseau suffered a phlegmon in his leg (inflammation of the soft tissues that spreads under the skin) – which he ignored. In August he was admitted to the Necker Hospital in Paris where he was found to have gangrene in his leg. After an operation he died from a blood clot on September 2, 1910.

Seven of his friends stood at his grave during his funeral: the painters Paul Signac and Manuel Ortiz de Zárate, the artist couple Robert Delaunay and Sonia Terk, the sculptor Brâncusi, Rousseau’s landlord Armand Queval, and Guillaume Apollinaire who wrote the epitaph Brâncusi engraved on his tombstone:

We salute you Gentle Rousseau you can hear us.

Delaunay, his wife, Monsieur Queval and myself.

Let our luggage pass duty free through the gates of heaven.

We will bring our brushes, paints and canvas.

That you may spend your sacred leisure in the light and Truth of Painting.

As you once did my portrait facing the stars, lion and the gypsy.

The American poet Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) was a great admirer of Henri Rousseau and drew inspiration from his works in her poetry. Her poem “Yadwigha, on a Red Couch, Among Lilies” (1958) is based on his painting “The Dream”, whilst the poem “Snakecharmer” (1957) is based on his painting “The Snake Charmer”.

The song “The Jungle Line” (1975), by Joni Mitchell, is based on a Rousseau painting.

In November 2005 a major exhibition of Rousseau’s work, “Henri Rousseau: Jungles in Paris”, was shown at the Tate Modern in London, organised by the Tate and Musée d’Orsay in Paris, where the show also appeared.

NEXT WEEK: A primary figure of the “Beat Generation” who had a major influence on postmodernist literature and culture.

• Sir Christopher Ondaatje is the author of “The Last Colonial”.

He acknowledges that he has quoted liberally from Wikipedia; “Henri Rousseau: Jungles in Paris” (The Tate Gallery); and “Henri Rousseau”, 1984 (the Museum of Modern Art, New York)

22 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, March 6, 2020

BOOKS

New releases hitting shelves this week • The Two Lives of Lydia Bird

by Josie Silver (romance) Lydia and Freddie. Freddie and Lydia. They’d been together for more than a decade, and Lydia thought their love was indestructible. But she was wrong. On her 28th birthday, Freddie died in a car accident.

So now it’s just Lydia, and all she wants to do is hide indoors and sob until her eyes fall out. But Lydia knows that Freddie would want her to try to live fully, happily, even without him. So, enlisting the help of his best friend, Jonah, and her sister, Elle, she takes her first tentative steps into the world, open to life – and perhaps even love – again.

But then something inexplicable happens that gives her another chance at her old life with Freddie. A life where none of the tragic events of the past few months have happened. Lydia is pulled again and again across the doorway of her past, living two lives, impossibly, at once. But there’s an emotional toll to returning to a world where Freddie, alive, still owns her heart. Because there’s someone in her new life, her real life, who wants her to stay.

• The Companions by Katie M Flynn (sci-fi) In the wake of a highly contagious virus, California is under quarantine.

Sequestered in high rise towers, the living can’t go out, but the dead can come in—and they come in all forms, from sad rolling cans to manufactured bodies that can pass for human. Wealthy participants in the “companionship” programme choose to upload their consciousness before dying, so they can stay in the custody of their families. The less fortunate are rented out to strangers upon their death, but all companions become the intellectual property of Metis Corporation, creating a new class of people—a command-driven product-class without legal rights or true free will.

Sixteen-year-old Lilac is one of the less fortunate, leased to a family of strangers. But when she realises she’s able to defy commands, she throws off the shackles of servitude and runs away, searching for the woman who

killed her. Lilac’s act of rebellion sets off a chain of events that sweeps from San Francisco to Siberia to the very tip of South America.

• The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu (young adult) Two siblings. Two brilliant talents.

But only one Mozart.

Born with a gift for music, Nannerl Mozart has just one wish – to be remembered forever. But even as she delights audiences with her masterful playing, she has little hope she’ll ever become the acclaimed composer she longs to be. She is a young woman in 18th century Europe, and that means composing is forbidden to her. She will perform only until she reaches a marriageable age – her tyrannical father has made that much clear.

And as Nannerl’s hope grows dimmer with each passing year, the talents of her beloved younger brother, Wolfgang, only seem to shine brighter. His brilliance begins to eclipse her own, until one day a mysterious stranger from a magical land appears with an irresistible offer. He has the power to make her wish come true – but his help may cost her everything.

• The Rumi Prescription: How an Ancient Mystic Poet Changed My Modern Manic Life by Melody Moezzi (self-help) Rumi’s inspiring and deceptively simple poems have been called ecstatic, mystical, and devotional. To writer and activist Melody Moezzi, they became a lifeline. In The Rumi Prescription, we follow her path of discovery as she translates Rumi’s works for herself – to gain wisdom and insight in the face of a creative and spiritual roadblock. With the help of her father, who is a lifelong fan of Rumi’s poetry, she immerses herself in this rich body of work, and discovers a 13th-century prescription for modern life.

Addressing isolation, distraction, depression, fear, and other everyday challenges we face, the book offers a roadmap for living with intention and ease, and embracing love at every turn – despite our deeply divided and chaotic times.

The Tribune | Weekend | 23

Friday, March 6, 2020

history

Best-selling author urges aspiring writers to 'think big'

By FAY KNOWLES

“I

always wanted to write a book!” This cry is often heard from aspiring writers and even from those who have never written a word in their life.

It might seem that writing a book – or writing anything for that matter – is far out of your reach, but best-selling and award-winning Bahamian author Tanya R Taylor has now launched “Think Big” to assist those needing help with writing projects.

“Never had the courage to do it before? Now is the time to tell your story. Writing and publishing services are here at your fingertips,” she said.

And she pointed out: “There is something in the editing field known as ‘near letter perfect’, so every

publication should meet a certain level of perfection.”

“Think Big” offers writing services for both small and large businesses, aspiring writers and anyone in need of assistance with fiction or non-fiction projects.

“This includes, but is not limited to book writing, speech preparation, proof reading and editing, manuscript critiquing, formatting, content writing/copy writing, book publication and marketing assistance, and online research,” said Ms Taylor.

Having written since she was “able to hold a pencil”, she has a wealth of experience in all of these aspects of writing and publishing.

Ms Taylor was born and raised in the Bahamas and is a graduate of Aquinas College, where she was invited to speak to their Creative Writing Club. She has a background in finance and business and took finance

AUTHOR Tanya R Taylor courses through Liberty University’s distance learning programme.

She published her first book, “A Killing Rage”, as a young adult. Now she has written more than 28 books.

Writing 5,000 to 6,000 words in a day is something she can do without trying.

“One day I wrote 9,000 words,” she said.

Ms Taylor writes in various genres, including paranormal romance, fantasy, science-fiction, mystery and suspense. Her book “Cornelius” (Book one in her “Cornelius Saga” series) climbed to number one in the Teen & YoungAdult Multi-Generational Family Fiction category on Amazon. It has also been on the Catholic Board of Education’s Summer reading list (grades 11 and 12) for the past four years.

“Cornelius” won the Readers’ Favourite 2019 International Silver Medal Book Award in the Young Adult – Paranormal Division. Ms Taylor’s supernatural, suspense/thrillers, “Cara” and “Infestation: A Small Town Nightmare”, are

international best-sellers.

Commenting on her book “Haunted Cruise: The Shakedown”, “America’s Most Haunted” tweeted: “Tanya R Taylor joins ranks of horror greats.”

She has attracted the attention of American media personalities and international book bloggers, providing several in-depth interviews.

As a seasoned ghostwriter, Ms Taylor’s clients have included insurance executives, CEOs and a world-renowned entertainer.

“I believe that the gift of creativity is one of the most beautiful things. I always encourage people to go full force after their dreams,” she said.

For more information, check out “tanyaRtaylorauthor” on Facebook, on the website www.tanya-r-taylor. com, or e-mail Thinkbig7@ yahoo.com.

24 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, March 6, 2020

history

THE LEISURE industry led one of many campaigns to free people from working on Saturday afternoons.

History of the two-day weekend offers lessons for today’s calls for a four-day week

By Brad Beaven Professor of Social and Cultural History, University of Portsmouth

(THE CONVERSATION) – The idea of reducing the working week from an average of five days to four is gaining traction around the world.

Businesses and politicians have been considering a switch to fewer, but more productive hours spent working. But the idea has also been derided.

As a historian of leisure, it strikes me that there are a number of parallels between debates today and those that took place in the 19th century

when the weekend as we now know it was first introduced. Having Saturdays as well as Sundays off work is actually a relatively modern phenomenon.

Throughout the 19th century, government legalisation reduced working hours in factories and prescribed regular breaks. But the weekend did not simply arise from government legislation – it was shaped by a combination of campaigns.

Some were led by half-day

holiday movements, others by trade unions, commercial leisure companies and employers themselves. The formation of the weekend in Britain was a piecemeal and uneven affair that had to overcome unofficial popular traditions that punctured the working week during the 19th century.

‘Saint Monday’ For much of the 19th century, for example, skilled artisan workers adopted their own work rhythms as they often hired workshop space and were responsible for producing items for their buyer on a weekly basis. This gave rise to the practice of “Saint Monday”. While Saint Monday mimicked the religious Saint Day holidays, it was in fact an entirely secular practice, instigated by workers to provide an extended break in the working week.

They worked intensively from Tuesday to finish products

by Saturday night so they could then enjoy Sunday as a legitimate holiday but also took Mondays off to recover from Saturday night and the previous day’s excesses. By the mid-19th century, Saint Monday was a popular institution in British society. So much

so that commercial leisure – like music halls, theatres and singing saloons – staged events on this unofficial holiday.

Workers in the early factory system also adopted the tradition of Saint Monday, despite manufacturers consistently opposing the practice, as it hurt productivity. But workers had a religious devotion to the unofficial holiday, which made it difficult for masters to break the habit. It continued to thrive into the 1870s and 1880s.

Nonetheless, religious bodies and trade unions were keen to instil a more formal holiday in the working week. Religious bodies argued that a break on Saturday would improve working class “mental and moral culture”.

Trade unions, meanwhile, wanted to secure a more formalised break in the working week that did not rely on custom. Indeed, the creation of the weekend is still cited as a proud achievement in trade union history.

In 1842 a campaign group called the Early Closing Association was formed. It lobbied government to keep Saturday afternoon free for worker leisure in return for a full day’s work on Monday.

The association established branches in key manufacturing towns and its membership was drawn from local civic elites, manufacturers and the clergy.

Employers were encouraged to establish half-day Saturdays as the Early Closing Association argued it would foster a sober and industrious workforce.

Trades unions and workers’ temperance groups also saw the half-day Saturday as a vehicle to advance working class respectability. It was hoped they would shun drunkenness and brutal sports like cock fighting, which had traditionally been associated with Saint Monday.

For these campaigners, Saturday afternoon was singled out as the day in which the working classes could enjoy “rational recreation”, a form of leisure designed to draw the worker from the public house and into elevating and educational pursuits.

Business opportunity Across the country a burgeoning leisure industry saw the new half-day Saturday as a business opportunity. Train operators embraced the idea, charging reduced fares for day-trippers to the countryside on Saturday afternoons. With increasing numbers of employers adopting the half-day Saturday, theatres and music halls also switched their star entertainment from a Monday to Saturday afternoon.

Perhaps the most influential leisure activity to help forge the modern week was the decision to stage football matches on Saturday afternoon. The “Football Craze”, as it was called, took off in the 1890s, just as the new working week was beginning to take shape. So Saturday afternoons became a very attractive holiday for workers, as it facilitated cheap excursions and new exciting forms of leisure.

The adoption of the modern weekend was neither swift nor uniform as, ultimately, the decision for a factory to adopt the half-day Saturday rested with the manufacturer. Campaigns for an established weekend had begun in the 1840s but it did not gain widespread adoption for another 50 years.

By the end of the 19th century, there was an irresistible pull towards marking out Saturday afternoon and Sunday as the weekend. While they had their different reasons, employers, religious groups, commercial leisure and workers all came to see Saturday afternoon as an advantageous break in the working week.

This laid the groundwork for the full 48-hour weekend as we now know it – although this was only established in the 1930s. Once again, it was embraced by employers who found that the full Saturday and Sunday break reduced absenteeism and improved efficiency.

• This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com.

The Tribune | Weekend | 25

Friday, March 6, 2020

FILM

Review: In ‘Onward,’ a weird but worthy Pixar magic act

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ONWARD | 103 minutes

or a revolutionary animation studio, Pixar has been surprisingly wary of advancing technology. The company may be at the forefront of digital animation, but for 25 years, its spiritual DNA has been decidedly nostalgic. It’s the old-school new school.

In “WALL-E,” high-tech humans have devolved into overweight TV addicts who need to be jarred out of their stupor. In “Monsters Inc.,” modern kids have grown too blase to be scared by monsters, prompting a scream shortage. “Cars” preached small-town, off-the-beaten-track values.

Pixar’s latest, “Onward,” goes even further. “Long ago, the world was full of wonder,” a narrator introduces.

There were magical creatures like trolls, gnomes, elves and dragons with special powers. But the drumbeat of progress, from light bulbs to airplanes to smart phones, has steadily sapped all the fantasy from life. In New Mushroomton, a Los Angeles-like sprawl of suburbs and freeways, those once magical creatures live an orderly and predicable life much like our own, just with unicorns always getting in the trash and pixies that ride in biker gangs.

The set-up is quintessentially Pixar, even if “Onward” — with its blueish, pointed-eared elves in flannel shirts and ‘70s-style anthems — nearly resembles Pixar’s answer to prog rock.

This is one of the studio’s odder looking films, one that owes much more to Dungeons & Dragons and the rockgeek exuberance of Jack Black than your typical animated feature.

“Onward,” written and directed by Dan Scanlon (“Monsters University”), may initially be a tough sell, and it’s not a movie likely to immediately rise to the top of everyone’s Pixar’s rankings. (“Ratatouille” forever.) But its eccentric odyssey of two brothers delving into a fantastical past to find their way through grief and self-doubt is a worthy addition to the studio’s canon. Its world is a little incongruous (one wants to unsee the centaur police

IAN Lightfoot (Tom Holland), a newly 16-year-old elf, yearns for the father he lost back before he was born.

BARLEY Lightfoot (Chris Pratt) is a big, burly and boisterous 19-year-old elf officer), and the movie’s depiction of death isn’t so well honed as it is in, say, “Up” or “Toy Story 3.” But “Onward” makes the most of its strange assemblage to tell a sweet and moving story — enough so to leave you yet again shaking your head at Pixar’s magic act.

Ian Lightfoot (voiced by Tom Holland) is an elf in high school with typical teenage problems. He’s turning 16, a passage into young adulthood that for Ian is filled with angst and anxiety. His lack of self confidence is only the more worrisome to him when he hears that his late father, whose death came before Ian was born, was an impressively “bold” man. Ian makes a “new me” list with the entry: “Be more like Dad.” He lives with his mother, Laurel (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and older brother, Barley (Chris Pratt). Barley

drives a beat-up purple van with a winged horse decal and a cassettetape deck; he’s nicknamed the van Guinevere. (You will leave “Onward” swearing that someone owes Jack Black money.) Clad in a denim vest and spiked wristband, Barley doesn’t appear headed toward grand success in life, but he’s an affectionately enthusiastic brother to Ian and a young man with passionate tastes. He’s an aficionado of the role-playing game Quest of Yore, and an ardent defender of artifacts from the past. To stymie developers, he melodramatically chains himself to magical relics.

The adventure of the movie kicks off when Ian opens a gift left for him by his father (voiced by Bryan Cranston): a staff and spell that will bring Ian’s dad back for a day. Ian only half finishes the trick: His father returns as

just a pair of slacks and dress shoes.

In a race to beat the next day’s sunset, the kids tow their half-formed father on an odyssey in search of a crystal for another chance at the spell.

A pair of elves with a half-resurrected dead dad is, unquestionably, esoteric territory for even Pixar. When Ian gives him a pillow torso, shirt and shades, the effect is a little like “Weekend at Bernie’s.” And yet, “Onward” still works. As they hunt from place to place, the elves’ quest reawakens long dormant pools of magic. Pressured by insurance companies and Yelp reviews, a manticore (Octavia Spencer) begins to question turning her lair into a TGI Fridays-like restaurant.

In a series of such encounters, Ian gradually grows more courageous; the movie isn’t as unconventional as it seems. But “Onward” pivots, movingly. It turns out to be more about brotherly love than anything else. As a Pixar entry, it may be the first to explicitly grapple with not the trials of childhood, but the fraught onset of adulthood. Either way, by the time “Onward” has wrapped its journey, it will probably be the only movie with a manticore to make you cry.

JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer

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The Tribune | Weekend | 27

Friday, March 6, 2020

animals

The forgotten victims of coronavirus Animal matters | KIM ARANHA

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he coronavirus has many of us sitting on the edge of our chairs as we watch the numbers climb and the restrictions increase.

I was shocked to hear that Delta Airlines has cancelled all flights to Milan, Italy, until the beginning of May. Further to that, I am hearing of friends who are cancelling their Italian Summer holiday plans for July and August. I would like to think that the coronavirus will be just a vague memory by then and we all would have returned to our normal way of life and will be free to visit our friends in Venice, Padua, Milan and points south.

Meanwhile in China, they are experiencing a dreadful trend of abandonment of dogs.

Animals whose owners have either turned them out, or are in hospital, or in quarantine, or worse, died. This is the Chinese New Year and apparently, traditionally the time that many pets are abandoned, but this year with the coronavirus all numbers have been dangerously surpassed.

The BBC wrote a very moving and factual article setting out the dire situation in Wuhan and other parts of the country.

The World Health Organisation has reassured owners that their pet cannot carry the coronavirus, however, in spite of that reassurance people all

DOGS found abandoned in a box in Wuhan, China by rescuers from Furry Angels Heaven. over China are dumping their pets and leaving them to fend for themselves.

There is a very active organisation in Wuhan called Furry Angels Heaven and they have reported being overwhelmed by the quantity of dogs needing rescue.

Some animal-loving people are harbouring as many as 35 dogs and 28 cats in their one apartment. Can you begin to imagine how difficult that must be? Just keeping everybody

clean and fed is a mammoth task, and they have to keep them quiet because the condo rules almost certainly do not allow that many animals in any one unit. One of the volunteers hiding these animals, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the big fear is that they might contract the virus themselves and then the animals could quite possibly be killed by the police. Meanwhile, at present, the police are being decent and when a

PET OF THE WEEEK | BASHFUL BRENT

By THE BAHAMAS HUMANE SOCIETY

B

rent looks a little worried here, but it’s only because he’s really hoping to find a new home soon. This five-month-old is usually quite playful and outgoing, as most puppies are. He’s smart and lovable and will fit in nicely to a home that will adore him for the handsome

fellow that he is. Are you that perfect fit? Come in and meet him today or call 323-5138 for more information.

Adoption hours are 11am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, and 10am to 4pm on Saturday. Brent looks forward to meeting you!

person is put into quarantine some of the policemen will take the pets to a shelter for their safety and well-being.

One of the biggest concerns is that funds for these small and very dedicated rescue centres dry up because of the economic impact that the coronavirus is having on the communities. Should the money dry up, then what happens to the animals?

Many residents of the Hubei Province were placed under travel restrictions and people could not get back to their pets that had been left in apartments with sufficient food for several days. The owners got caught up in the travel ban. What an unthinkable nightmare!

This drama unfolds all over China, not just Wuhan. The Animal Rescue Shanghai is operating their 120 capacity shelter with 350 resident dogs at present. There are animals everywhere needing help, starving because of human lethargy and lack of compassion.

It is a situation not far from what was encountered post Dorian. Dogs and cats left behind foraging for food and water, alone and hungry. Many of the animals were left behind here because we, in out total lack of wisdom, do not have pet-friendly shelters nor do we appear to have any interest in creating them.

They say that in China the animal volunteers have

stepped up and are doing as much as they can. The international support has been heartwarming, but the future is going to be an uphill struggle as more and more pets are left on their own.

Here is yet another wakeup call for our administration that we must include pets in the planning for any form of disaster preparedness. It does not change much if we prepare for a hurricane or an epidemic, pets must be considered as part of the family unit and procedures must include them.

Quite as to how pets got accused of carrying the virus I do not know. The information put out by the World Health Organisation states very clearly to the contrary.

I have read some reports that blame the coronavirus on bats. I don’t know if the consumption of bats, or perhaps the revolting habit of eating live baby rats, can lead to the spreading of such a disease. I am neither doctor nor scientist. I do know that some of these unnecessarily cruel culinary habits are very difficult for the Western world to understand and, no pun intended, swallow.

Our prayers go out to those noble and dedicated animal rescuers in Wuhan and their charges, as we share their pain and frustration having experienced similar problems under different circumstances in our own country after Dorian.

• Planning ahead – The BHS Thrift Shop Jewellery Sale is set for Saturday, March 28 from 10am to 2pm. There’s a wide variety at varying prices, so plan to be there. Find something shiny for that special someone or perhaps something sparkly for yourself. All proceeds go to the BHS.

(Photo/Patricia Vazquez)

28 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, March 6, 2020