03292018 weekend

Thursday, March 29, 2018

books culture history weddings film fashion music travel food

Weekend

EASTER HATS Page 9

A triple threat to obesity Meet the expert with the new approach Interview, 4 & 5

02 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, March 29, 2018

entertainment

Boogie the night away!

By ALESHA CADET Tribune Features Writer acadet@tribunemedia.net

I

t’s time to don your swanky 70s attire, rock that afro and boogie to funky grooves wearing your platform boots, as the ladies of Style Social present the third instalment of the popular All Night Disco Party.

The Courtyard Marriott will be the place to be next Saturday when the disco balls start turning and the DJs start spinning.

The Style Social brand has always sought to create events that restore a sense of community. Organisers said they enjoy putting on parties that recall the days where friends were treated like family and people simply enjoyed one another.

This is the life’s mission of Valencia Glinton, Judith Smith, Mycquel Glinton, Nishan Patton and Anthia Butler, the women behind Style Social.

Each event, they said, is uniquely curated and designed with the intent of adding something of value to the community. From dance parties to shopping sprees, the events hosted often feature an element of nostalgia which allows guests to reunite with the people with whom they share great memories and those who may shape their tomorrow.

Previous Style Social ventures have included Style Stories, a personal shopping club with a focus on wardrobe planning, and ‘She Shall Be Called Woman’, a series of stage shows that combine poetry, storytelling, dramatisation, dance, music, fashion, pop culture, and the theme of Eve – the first woman.

“Social consciousness plays a large role in the work that we do, and proceeds from all hosted events are used to aid our sister ventures as well as non-profit organisations that we colead and support,” Anthia Butler told Tribune Woman.

“The All Night Disco Party is back by popular demand, and this will be our third time hosting the signature event. We have had countless requests over the last four years for the return

Groovy styles at the last All Night Disco Party.

of what some of our guests have dubbed the best disco party ever.”

For her and the team, it is exciting to honour these requests and work collectively as a group to determine how to exceed the already high expectations of their clientele.

“Every single element of the party, including the arrival experience, state-of-the-art décor, luxury prizes and giveaways, our premier DJ, and our surprise mouth-watering food and beverage experience was meticulously developed to create a multi-sensory

environment for our guests. We will have competitions throughout the night, namely our Best Dressed Male and Female, Best Male and Female Dance Instructor and Best Soul Train performance. And our luxury prizes like Kate Spade, Tom Ford and Jo Malone are always coveted items,” said Anthia.

Highlights will also include a signature candy buffet to feature an assortment of retro candies like Red Hots, rock candy, ring pops, Crybabies, and Sugar Daddy bars. The group’s

biggest treat will be the Style Social Chicken Shack, offering a late-night old school chicken-in-da-bag with wax paper.

“If you don’t feel as though you’ve just left Club Pastiche and walked straight to Dirty’s or Keith’s as you did back in the day, we haven’t done our jobs,” said Anthia.

Following the All Night Disco Party, Style Social will this year introduce “Through Her Eyes”, an organisation that will encompass the overall vision of all that they do.

“While Style Social will continue to focus on larger scale parties and social gatherings for a mixed audience, ‘Through Her Eyes’ will host a number of experiential dining, social and art events specifically for women. There of course will be some events to which men and children are invited,” said Anthia.

‘Through Her Eyes’ (THE) will host its launch event in May. Style Social will also be hosting a Summer kick-off party.

“We will remain actively involved in the lives of women and young girls.

There is also a poetry club for young girls and a product line in the pipeline,” said Anthia.

For all interested persons, the All Night Disco Party is set to start at 8pm.

Tickets are $40 in advance and $45 at the door. Call 817-9569 for more information.

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Thursday, March 29, 2018

Inside Weekend

My perfect Bahamian weekend Erica Wells-Cox President of Hands for Hunger

Interview 4-5

Cara Hunt talks to health coach Ethan Quant about going from weighing 300 pounds to becoming a body builder

Food 7 The Batter Girls hit a home run with fritters, seafood and more

Fashion 8 - 9 The fascination for fascinators continues this Easter, plus a high schooler turned designer makes some major moves

Culture 10 - 11 New blog re-imagines and presents the Bahamas through artistic lens

Travel 19 New transport service launches in Florida with all Bahamian drivers

Music 13 Wendi Lewis gets into the Carnival spirit with ‘Attitude’

Weddings 14 - 15 Three American couples ‘say yes’ in surprise proposals staged in paradise

Film 17 Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” reviewed

Gardening 19 Jack Hardy is preparing for summer

Literary Lives 20 - 23 The Blues of Lady Day

Forgotten Facts 25 Paul Aranha recalls a time when more people lived in the Out Islands

Puzzles 26

Animals 27 Kim Aranha on displays of kindness vs ugly actions, plus Pet of the Week

Cover | Shawn Hanna

Q: Saturday breakfast or Sunday lunch?

“A big Sunday lunch. I have wonderful childhood memories associated with this Bahamian tradition; lots of good food shared with family and friends.”

Q: Wine, rum, cocktail or Kalik?

“Neither. I prefer The Macallan.

Those who know will understand.”

Q: Beach or sofa?

“Beach – under a cool tree with a good book.”

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

“Books, newspapers and magazines – lots of them!”

Q: Weekend away, where would you go?

“Harbour Island, Eleuthera. It’s one of my favourite places on earth.”

Things 2 Do this weekend Friday

• Flow CARIFTA Games Bahamas 2018

Time: 9am-12pm, 4pm-9pm (until April 2) Venue: Thomas A Robinson National Stadium The 2018 CARIFTA Games are expected to offer stunning display of ability by young athletes from all across the region.

• Good Friday Supper Sale

Time: 12noon Venue: Evangelistic Temple, Collins Avenue The sale is being hosted by the Royal Rangers

• Zion Baptist Church Fish Fry

Time: 2pm Venue: Zion Baptist Church

Meals of fried fish served with hot cross buns and corn on the cob will be on sale. Tickets are available from any church member or the Usher Board. Or call 325-3556 during normal office hours.

• National Call to Prayer

by Women in White

Time: 7pm Venue: Clifford Park Nassau

Calling all women in the Bahamas to intercede for the nation.

Saturday

• First Annual Souse Fest and Bahamian Trade Show

Time: 7am - midnight Venue: Fort Charlotte

242 Small Businesses is celebrating the country’s rich culture. There will be live entertainment by up and coming artists, a kiddie corner, prizes and giveaways all day. Admission is free.

• Egg-citing Egg & Bunny Making Workshop

Time: 10am Venue: National Art Gallery of the Bahamas

Children can experiment with fun and creative activities during the egg and bunny-making workshop, then search for and gather as many of our 700 hidden eggs as they can find. To register, contact asmith@nagb.org.bs.

• Party on the Weekend by Moby Dick Potter’s Cay

Time: 3pm Venue: Moby Dick, Potter’s Cay Dock

This holiday weekend marks the launch of “Party on the Weekend”, which will be held every Saturday from now on. Music will be provided by Nassau’s hottest DJs.

• Movies at Ardastra

Time: 6pm Venue: Adrastra Gardens

Watch the hit animated movie “Zootopia” under stars. Eats and drinks will be on sale. Blankets and pillows are welcome. Tickets are $10.

• Double Foosball Tournament

Time: 7pm Venue: The Crew Pub, East Street Join the team at The Crew Pub, Nassau’s premier Foosball destination, for an exciting doubles tournament.

Sunday

• Easter Brunch at Sapodilla’s

Time: 11am Venue: Sapodilla Restaurant, West Bay Street

Enjoy live music and an expansive buffet selection. Take a stroll through the property’s wetlands; feed the ducks, turtles and fish.

RSVP at 327-2161 or e-mail reservations@sapodillabahamas.com.

• Easter Brunch at Baha Mar

Time: 1pm Venue: Regatta Food Hall

The brunch buffet includes family favourites and specialties such as Bahamian shrimp and grits, BBQ ribs, eggs Benedict, grilled lobster and freshly made pizza. Reservations are required. Call 788-7382.

• Easter Concert

Time: 6pm Venue: Calvary Bible Church

Featuring selections from CBC’s multi-generation choir, musicians and singers.

• The Glory of Easter Production

Time: 6.30pm Venue: Evangelistic Temple

Join the church for its annual Easter presentation.

Monday • 8 Weeks to Wellness Fun Run/Walk

Time: 6.30am Start: Arawak Cay

The route goes from Arawak Cay to Goodman’s Bay and back. Free fruit and water for everyone. A vegetarian breakfast will be on sale for $5.

• Easter Monday Funday

Time: 11am Venue: Adventure Learning Centre Fun for the entire family; Easter egg hunts and more.

• Easter Zoo-Mania

Time: 11am Venue: Adrastra Gardens

There will be games, crafts, vendors and more. Egg hunts are at 1pm and 3pm. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for kids.

04 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, March 29, 2018

interview He went from weighing more than 300 pounds to having one of the best bodies in the Caribbean. Today, working as a health coach, he tells Cara Hunt how he wants to help battle the Bahamas’ obesity problem with an individualised approach and promote a culture of wellness.

Ethan Quant

I

t was a photo taken at a friend’s wedding that served as the catalyst Ethan Quant needed to change his life.

“I was 306 pounds, but when I saw the photo of myself and I saw how big I was it made me really depressed and made me want to change my life.

I wanted to have a six-pack and that photo served as my motivation to get started,” he said.

Like most people, Ethan took to the internet, hoping Google would help him find quick weight-loss measures.

“I went on Goggle and I think I tried every diet on the internet. I also tried Weight Watchers and Fat Burners, and a whole bunch of other things. I did lose about 60 pounds, but the minute I stopped doing them, the weight came right back. I realised that if I was going to really lose the weight and keep it off, I had to go about it the right way.”

“If I have a client who can only spare five minutes in a day, then we do five minutes, because five minutes is better than no minutes... I may be a health coach, but you are the expert in your life and the aim is to have a sustained weight loss and a healthy life.”

PHOTO/

SHAWN

HANNA

Ethan had grown up around the gym. His uncles were power lifters, and although he would say he was never an athlete, he knew that exercise would have to play a major role in his weightloss journey.

“I had always been intimidated by the gym because I was self-conscious of my size and being the fattest person in the gym.”

He partnered with a friend who offered him a deal he couldn’t pass up.

“The deal was that I would attend his group fitness classes and I would help him with some of the business side of things.”

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Thursday, March 29, 2018

It was a deal that ended up paying off. Ethan stuck with it and got in such good shape that he was able to run and complete a half marathon during the Marathon Bahamas Weekend in 2012.

“It was a major milestone for me,” he said.

But Ethan was about to take his fitness adventure a step further. That same year he attended a body building show in Grand Bahama and what he witnessed there had a profound impact on him.

“I was amazed at what I saw. I didn’t know that Bahamians had bodies like that.”

He then set another goal for himself: to become a competitive body builder.

“I first competed in a competition in Florida in November of 2012. I came fifth out of of six and I was thrilled because I had achieved my goal of not being the fattest guy on the stage.

In 2013, I competed in a competition where I came second, and then in 2014 I won Mr Bahamas 2014 after losing 110 pounds,” he said.

Ethan went on to place seventh in the Central American and Caribbean Body Building and Fitness Championships.

“So I like to say that at one point I had the seventh best body in the region,” he said.

While he celebrated his weight loss, the experience was also bittersweet for him.

“When I started training I was 280 pounds and my brother was 265 pounds. He was 35. It was the classic story: he had hypertension and ended up having an aortic dissection (a tear in the wall of the major artery out of the heart).

“He had a seizure and had to be rushed to surgery and he died. We had had a bet about who was going to have the better body. It always bothered me, he would lose the weight and then some event would make him fall off the wagon and I just wondered if I could have done more to encourage him, but I had to learn that it was not my fault,” he said.

Ethan started Elite Wellness Solutions in 2013, determined to honour his brother and to use his own weight loss to inspire and motivate others, not just to lose weight, but to have a more wellness-based approach to life.

Elite Wellness Solutions began with a focus on exercise and meal planning, and in 2015 the company expanded to include corporate wellness as well.

‘We work with corporations to help improve the wealth of their employees.

Before and after – Ethan Quant lost 110 pounds before winning the title of Mr Bahamas in 2014.

So we will set up health screenings, education programmes, sports days and workshops – things that are specifically tailored to the needs of those employees,” he explained.

The benefit to the employer is that healthy employees mean increases in productivity and reduced absenteeism.

Ethan said the company has been successful because he is a triple threat: “I have a unique perspective, because one, I have been obese and went through the cycle of weight loss and weight gain; two, I have been in the fitness world, and three, now I am a health coach so I am in the position where I can meet people where they are.”

He emphasised that everyone is different, which is why individualised health coaching is so important.

“If I have a client who can only spare five minutes in a day, then we do five minutes, because five minutes is better than no minutes. I had a client tell me that she hated running and liked to eat, and other people had told her if she didn’t exercise a certain way that she wasn’t serious. But she liked to dance and she was a Junkanoo dancer, and so we started there because why would I make someone run if that is not what they want to do. I may be a health coach, but you are the expert in your life and the aim is to have a sustained weight loss and a healthy life.”

Ethan also hopes to tackle the larger problem of the obesity epidemic affecting the Bahamas and the rest of the world.

“We need to have a culture of wellness,” he said, “not only in our schools – helping parents get healthy school lunch choices – but in our government, private corporations and the entire community. We need to have the infrastructure in place to help promote exercise, because you can’t ask people to get out and walk if they feel that there is no where safe for them to go.

“And we need to understand and be more sensitive to those people who are fighting obesity. We also have to change the perception of size and being healthy, because it sometimes is not mutually exclusive.”

These issues are among the many topics Ethan hopes to raise when he begins his new column in the Tribune’s Health section next month “I feel that everything that I have been through my life has prepared me to be a leading voice in this issue,” he said.

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Thursday, March 29, 2018

section

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Thursday, March 29, 2018

food

Batter Girls hit a home run

By CARA HUNT cbrennen@tribunemedia.net

A

nyone who frequents Nassau’s festival and fair scene is probably familiar with the Batter Girls’ stall.

As one of the most popular vendors at any event, this stall always tends to have the longest lines, which is probably due to their famous fritters and seafood baskets that beckon customers to seek them out time and time again.

The Batter Girls business is a true family affair, consisting of three sisters and two daughters.

“The Batter Girls are Sharon, Antoinette and Vansharee, and Sharon’s daughters Tonya and Tara,” they told Tribune Weekend.

“We started in 2010. We were always making conch fritters for everyone and everyone told us how good they were and that we should sell them, and finally we decided to give it a try,” said Antoinette and Tonya said.

The Batter Girls had their debut at the popular Little Pink Party at Collins House in 2010.

“We then noticed that the Ministry of Tourism was always having festivals and events and we started going to them and then we would get invited to more and more events,” they said.

Eventually, business took off and soon the Batter Girls were also adding private parties to their list of events.

“Our first private event was a Scotiabank Christmas party at Harry’s Haven, which turned out pretty well.”

Originally, the Batter Girls only provided conch fritters, but as demand grew, so did their menu.

“A couple years ago we had someone who was a Seventh-day Adventist ask us if we could do something other than the conch and shrimp fritters we were doing, and so we decided that we would do corn fritters. They were a huge hit,” said Antoinette and Tonya.

They also do specialty seafood baskets with fried lobster or shrimp, and their signature seasoned Cajun fries.

They also introduced another family favourite to the menu – their cinnamon cranberry iced tea, which again has proven to be a crowd-pleaser.

The ladies say that the secret to their success is the love that goes into their

cooking and the detail which they put into the preparation of the food.

“We always ensure that the quality is the same all the time, and presentation is very important. We always decorate our stall in a unique way and even our containers are different,” they said.

Additionally, the Batter Girls say they always try to make their customers feel welcome and appreciated.

“The lines can be long and it can take a while, because you are cooking fritters, but Antoinette is the face that the customers see and when there are irate customers she tries to put them at ease and make them feel better by chatting with them or offering them some complimentary cinnamon cranberry iced tea,” said Tonya.

Sometimes, the long lines can be their own advertisement “We once had a tourist come to us at a festival and say he knew why he had to come to our stall. We said, ‘How did you hear about us?’ And he said that when it comes to food, you always go to the stall with the longest line.”

Consistent good taste is also important, they added.

“We were challenged recently by the shortage of conch, which affected our ability to get enough conch for our batter, and the one thing that we didn’t want to do is try to stretch the batter because we did not want to have any decline in our product. People have come to expect conchy conch fritters from the Batter Girls.”

They are proud of how a family idea has taken off.

“We have come a very long way, from the days when we had just one deep fat fryer. We had to invest in our tools and now we have five deep fat fryers and a kitchen and a store room,” they said.

Earlier this year, they also reached another milestone, being able to manufacture and sell their fritter batter in two local grocery stores – JD Seafood and the Parkgate Marketplace.

“We know offer a 30oz bag of conch fritter batter and we have included the nutritional information on the label, and the response has been overwhelming,” they said.

08 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, March 29, 2018

fashion

Young designer makes major moves

By ALESHA CADET Tribune Features Writer acadet@tribunemedia.net

S

INCE making her debut as a junior designer at Bahamas Fashion Week last October, things have definitely been looking up for Arielle Rolle.

In addition to the attention she received from industry professionals and fashion lovers, she has now secured at spot at one the US’ most prestigious art and design schools.

The 12th grade Queen’s College student said while she has always been passionate about designing, she never envisioned actually presenting her creations to the public.

But that all changed when she showcased at Bahamas Fashion Week (BFW), attracting a lot positive attention for her “Aribah” collection.

“I usually get great feedback from fellow Bahamians concerning my creations and often encouraging words to continue in my career path, because it is not a very common career in the Bahamas. These persons would love to see me, a young passion-driven Bahamian, go very far in life,” said Arielle.

Working alongside noted Bahamian designers such as Theodore Elyett and Cardell McClam also made a great impact on her, and she used material from this mentorship programme as part of her entry interview for the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Georgia.

“After a successful interview I was accepted for enrolment into the Bachelor of Fine Arts programme in Fashion for Fall 2018 at the Savannah campus. I was also awarded an academic scholarship. At the moment I am hoping to receive an achievement scholarship, based off my fashion portfolio. I was very excited when I got accepted and received a scholarship because I felt this is another step in the right path towards making my dreams a reality,” said Arielle.

Recalling her start of what may now become a future career, Arielle said

Designer Arielle Rolle shows off fun and playful creations.

she enjoyed learning how to successfully complete hand stitches from her grandmother, then later on learning how to crochet. It was after receiving a sewing machine as a Christmas present that Arielle spent days at a time making small clothing items.

“I also enhanced my sewing skills in school through home economics classes and at home by making clothing for myself. At this stage of my business I sell crochet bikinis that are handmade by me. My business is also home-based at the moment. In the future, I have plans to expand the variety of products I sell including blouses, pants, skirts and dresses. I also plan on offering design services,” she said.

The young designer also enjoys the fact that she can earn money from something she wholeheartedly loves doing.

“What I like most about being a fashion designer is watching my creations come to life and how I am able to express myself through my designs,” she said.

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Thursday, March 29, 2018

fashion

Easter hats on parade

By CARA HUNT cbrennen@tribunemedia.net

T

Hat selections from Home Fabrics PHOTOS/SHAWN HANNA

his Easter weekend it’s all about the hats. And with all the extra church services, tea parties, Easter egg hunts and other events to attend, Tribune Weekend visited Home Fabrics on Madeira Street to find out about the popular headwear choices for the holiday weekend.

The tradition of wearing hats during Easter time goes hand in hand with the custom of wearing new clothes in harmony with the renewal of the year, a custom that goes back at least to the 16th century.

At the end of the the Great Depression in the late 1930s it was considered a luxury to be able to buy a new Easter hat.

The new Easter hat, or rather ‘Easter bonnet’, forever made its mark thanks to Irving Berlin’s song “Easter Parade”. In the movie by the same name, Fred Astaire sings: “In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it, you’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade.”

While today we still enjoy those frills, trends have somewhat changed since Astaire’s time.

Laura Pinder, the buyer at Home Fabrics, explained that this holiday the fascination with fascinators continues.

Fascinators remain a popular choice for young ladies who want to add a little drama to their outfits but perhaps feel that a full hat may be too mature or large for them.

“It is all about the fascinators. They are still trendy, and women of all ages are coming in and purchasing them,” said Ms Pinder.

Another big trend is colour, she explained.

“For Good Friday it is traditional to wear the colours of mourning, so people are of course buying black and navy blue, and then for Easter a lot of women still want the traditional white. But on the other side of the scale, ladies are also wanting to wear really bright vibrant colours – a lot of yellow and Kelly green, and that rose pink colour is also really popular.”

Style watchers are also advising women to celebrate the Spring season with colour, and light and frothy materials.

10 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, March 29, 2018

culture

Re-imagining the Bahamas New blog presents the islands through artistic lens

By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net

G

OING beyond creating “unforgettable, worry-free, sophisticated experiences” for both visitors and locals, Cacique International has extended its storytelling endeavour to a new blog.

The Just Imagine blog was launched by the Destination Management Company (DMC) to give travellers a greater insight into the art, culinary offerings and history of the country.

The site highlights various types of art and design, food, musicians, architecture, and more.

Cacique serves three key markets, striving to offer extensive knowledge and experience in event management, hospitality design and culinary experiences.

The company recently expanded its portfolio to include ‘Events Design at Sea’, an extension of its brand through which Cacique provides bespoke event experiences aboard private yachts, luxury charters and cruise ships.

“We design and curate special events, incentive trips, meetings, conferences and events for international corporate groups, associations, et cetera. We produce and curate special events for discerning local corporations and individuals,” said Shawn Sawyer, president and creative director of Cacique.

Shawn was a successful convention services manager at the former Crystal Palace Resort & Casino in Nassau before he opened Cacique International in 1997. There, he developed an eye for detail, a passion for creating and managing seamless experiences, and a deep understanding of what visitors want when they travel for

The sun casts light through the Hog Island Lighthouse, one of the historic experiences shared through the blog. (Photo/David WJ Lee)

Self-trained Bahamian trumpet player Giveton Gelin, photographed by Alessandro Sarno, was also featured in the blog’s “Artist in the Spotlight” series.

incentive trips, meetings, conferences, events or simply for leisure.

Some of these unique and creative experiences are highlighted in a blog which seeks to offer visitors to the Bahamas a unique look at the spirit of the country, but through a creative lens.

By putting the spotlight on the incredible places and talented people, would-be visitors get a new view of the destination.

“Our professional services are only a small part of what we offer. What really makes our brand distinctive is our desire to truly use our imaginations to create anything that a client could think would be possible. We are inspired by new ideas, by seeing things from different perspectives and imagining what they could be instead of simply leaving them to chance,” Shawn told Tribune Weekend.

“We know that there are many other Bahamian artists and creators who are challenging the status quo. We wanted to take a journey into that realm to fuel our creative spirit and to inspire others.

Shawn M Sawyer, president and creative director We also wanted to give our repeat of Cacique International, incentive industry and group customers more to consider when they think about pictured with Bahamian the Bahamas.” artist Lynn Parotti, who And anyone with an interest in art, was featured in the blog’s “Artist in the Spotlight” history, architecture and design will find series. the blog appealing, he added. Those

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Thursday, March 29, 2018

The Eleutheran Breeze, created with Kyle Jones of Young’s Fine Wine, is a Bahamian version of the classic Gin-Gin Mule cocktail. (Photo/ Blue Orchid)

“We want our visitors to see another side of our destination – a unique place with a rich, diverse, artistic landscape, full of inspiring creatives and places.”

Cacique International was nominated for an international destination who do not have the luxury of calling the Bahamas management award for innovation for design of their home get to visit through this platform. this client event. (Photo/ “Our aim is to keep our audience abreast of Christina Ysaguirre) what’s old, new and next on the Bahamian art scene, while highlighting some of the most incredible artwork and people in the world. We want our visitors to see another side of our destination – a unique place with a rich, diverse, artistic landscape, full of inspiring creatives and places,” said Shawn.

Some of the artists featured are on the blog are those whose works have been collected by Shawn and partners, who have collaborated with Cacique on creative or design projects.

“Some are simply people who have sparked the interest of the local community through their art who we think people would love to get to know,” he said.

As Shawn is also inspired by architecture, and a recent confirmed member of the Historic Bahamas Foundation, the blog also features some of the most interesting and historically relevant buildings across the country.

For more information, visit www.caciqueinternational.com/blog.

A TRULY Bahamianinspired event produced and designed by Cacique International at Kamalame Cay. (Photo/ Christina Ysaguirre)

12 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, March 29, 2018

travel

Get you a ‘Homeboy’ Bahamian driver service launches in Florida

By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net

T

RANSPORTATION services like Uber have made finding a ride while visiting a new place rather easy, especially for novice travellers.

To fulfil the transportation needs of Bahamian travellers, in particular, a new company called the Homeboy Club has launched its services in Florida.

With a cadre of all Bahamian drivers, Homeboy Club stands ready to help locals navigate their way through the Sunshine State, be it for shopping, entertainment or business.

According to its operators, HomeboyClub242.com is a “Uber-like” platform that allows Bahamians to support each other while overseas.

The service centers around Bahamians providing transportation services for fellow Bahamians.

The Homeboy Club boasts Bahamian drivers that are able to provide this service in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. It is expected to expand to cities like West Palm Beach, Orlando and Atlanta, Georgia, very soon.

The Homeboy Club is the brainchild of Jermaine Watkins, who was born in Nassau and raised in Freeport. He is a graduate of Sunland High School and completed studies in Florida, Georgia, and more recently, in South Carolina.

He, along with his wife and two kids, currently reside in South Carolina. However, prior to moving there five years ago, Jermaine served as a pastor in Nassau.

“Even though I’ve lived in South Carolina for the past five years, my

heart has always been home for the Bahamas. I wanted to find a unique way to bridge the gap between the States and the Bahamas. Also, I wanted to find ways to empower Bahamians that live abroad and encourage them to stay connected to home. We as Bahamians are stronger together no matter where we live. HomeboyClub.com is the first of several platforms that our team will be launching,” he told Tribune Weekend.

To get started with the Homeboy Club, customers have to set up an account before scheduling a ride.

Once booked, a ‘Homeboy’ will be there to pick up riders.

“When we had the idea to create Homeboy we pitched the concept to several family members and close associates. Everyone was excited about it and a few of them decided that they wanted to be a part of the business by investing in it. Currently we have a team of seven individuals from a management and operations standpoint. Our team is comprised completely of Bahamians – that’s the way we wanted it – that live in Nassau and across the States.

Our team on the ground is lead

by Rodney Collie, who serves as the chief operation officer,” said Jermaine.

“Wherever Bahamians are and Bahamians go, that is where we will be as well. We are Bahamians supporting Bahamians.”

Jermaine said they tried to make the process as simple and easy as possible to encourage Bahamians who may have limited travel experience to go where they want and have no concerns.

“Our services are for Bahamians that may have difficulty getting around when they travel or are unfamiliar with the States. Whether it is for a doctor’s visit or just to go shopping, Bahamians travel to the States frequently. We are well aware that many Bahamians do not drive when they come to the States. For years we’ve heard of people paying for someone’s airline ticket just to travel with them and drive. We are not doing anything new; Bahamians have been supporting each other

Operators of the Homeboy Club, Rodney Collie and Jermaine Watkins. in this way for years. What we have done is organised it and created a platform to facilitate such a service,” he said.

But one of the main things that makes Homeboy Club unique is that it is completely Bahamian.

“Meaning, when Bahamians choose our services, they are supporting other Bahamians.

Unlike Uber, Homeboy rides are scheduled in advance.

Basically, when you book your flight, you can book your Homeboy at the same time. What this does is provide confidence in travel, knowing in advance that those arrangements have been taken care of,” said Jermaine.

“There is peace of mind knowing that our drivers have been fully vetted and passed a background check as well. They will be able to get acquainted with their driver prior to travel. Another unique aspect of Homeboy is that you can pay for blocks of time. Passengers can book for a full day, half a day or even just a pick-up and drop=off.

We also offer package pick up and delivery.”

Travellers can book a Bahamian driver for select Florida cities.

The Tribune | Weekend | 13

Thursday, March 29, 2018

music

Show dem ya ‘Attitude’ Wendi Lewis gears up for Carnival

By ALESHA CADET Tribune Features Writer acadet@tribunemedia.net

S

ongbird Wendi Lewis is back on the scene with yet another colourful and exciting music video, this time for the popular single “Attitude.”

Written by the newlyweds Wendi Lewis and Dyson Knight as part of the Sky Juice Riddim project, the song serves as Wendi’s second release for the 2018 Bahamas Carnival season. The singer hopes the track will have people of all nationalities dancing and stomping with pride.

In the very first verse, Wendi sets the tone, asking listeners to “show our pedigree” by reconnecting with their African heritage.

“The music video is shot by newcomers Jiggy Productions and the look of the video is hip, pop and modern AfroCaribbean with lots of dance, vibrant colours and a great party atmosphere,” Wendi told Tribune Weekend.

Having come this far in her career, Wendi said it feels incredible to still be able to set trends and reach new heights. After all these years, she said she is still constantly trying to top her last project and is fortunate that so many people support her.

“I love that Bahamians are creating so much new music from all genres such as hip hop, R&B, rock, soul,

rake n’ scrape and soca. It all just feels like such a creatively charged environment. My only hope is that it continues. I have been busy promoting both ‘Attitude’ and another song called ‘Book Smart’, as well as creating a new show and prepping even more new music to be released this year,” the singer said.

‘Book Smart’, Wendi said, is her first duet with husband Dyson since their game-changing “Happy Hour” hit. The track can be found on the “Hips Sing Riddim” collection, which also features international artists such as RDX, Elephant Man, Skinny Fabulous, and others.

“Both ‘Attitude’ and ‘Book Smart’ actually debuted in Trinidad and Tobago during their 2018 Carnival season and have been well received.

Our music blared through the airwaves on Fantastic Friday, which is the biggest and most popular Friday during the Carnival season, and the music played on the road on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. Here in the Bahamas, the buzz is building, and building quickly, so we are excited to continue performing and pushing the new music,” said Wendi.

Fans are encouraged to keep up to date with new music via iTunes, or any other digital download portal, as well as via Wendi’s social media pages on Facebook and Instagram at wendi242, and her YouTube channel, wendi242.

“I hope to have a tremendous response and viewership for my new music videos ‘Attitude’ as well as ‘Book Smart’, ‘Down Home Party’ and ‘Take A Wine’. I am gearing up to perform at various events around the country as well as abroad and I hope to expand my audience and demographic to the entire region,” said Wendi.

“I love that Bahamians are creating so much new music from all genres such as hip hop, R&B, rock, soul, rake n’ scrape and soca. It all just feels like such a creatively charged environment.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt’s perform their charity single “Found/Tonight” for the March For Our Lives movement.

The top 10 songs and albums on the iTunes Store iTunes Official Music Charts for the week ending March 22, 2018:

Top Songs 1. Found/Tonight, Ben Platt & Lin-Manuel Miranda 2. God’s Plan, Drake 3. Freaky Friday (featuring Chris Brown), Lil Dicky 4. Meant to Be (featuring Florida Georgia Line), Bebe Rexha 5. Whatever It Takes, Imagine Dragons 6. The Middle, Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey 7. In My Blood, Shawn Mendes 8. I Can Only Imagine, MercyMe 9. Zombie, Bad Wolves 10. You Make It Easy, Jason Aldean

Top Albums 1. ?, XXXTENTACION 2. Seasons Change, Scotty McCreery 3. The Greatest Showman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Various Artists 4. I’ll Be Your Girl, The Decemberists 5. AmerAcal, Adam Calhoun 6. PRhyme 2, PRhyme 7. Stone Temple Pilots (2018), Stone Temple Pilots 8. Bobby Tarantino II, Logic 9. Hamilton, Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton 10. Love, Simon (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Various Artists

By The Associated Press

16 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, March 29, 2018

celebrity

The Weekend Fashion Report

SPLIT

SPLIT

FAIL

SPLIT

Drew Barrymore ”Santa Clarita Diet”

Blake Lively ”Final Portrait”

Bella Thorne ”Midnight Sun”

Paris Hilton, socialite

Karin says: “It’s a red circus tent...or a red nun’s habit, I can’t decide. Yes, that bright shade of red looks great on her. And yes, I appreciate the turquoise accessories, but it doesn’t change the fact that this is a big circus tent.”

Cara says: “I love this look. It just looks so comfortable yet chic and I love that colour on her. I also really like how she added some turquoise with her bracelet and earrings. That tiny pop went a long way.”

Karin says: “Talk about beige and boring. I’m not totally against the plaid pattern for the dress, or how it’s cut...although it does seem to sit a bit awkwardly on her, especially at the shoulder. No, it’s more the styling.

The drab long hair does nothing for this ensemble, neither does her pained look.”

Cara says: “This dress is really different and in a good way. It looks really fun and stylish and I am loving the cute shoes. It’s definitely a ‘yes’ for me. Good choice, Blake!”

Karin says: “Ah...the confused ‘It girl’.

Just as confused as her outfit, which is basically an oversized track suit jacket in bright pink. I suppose it could be ‘high fashion’ that most of us simply do not understand...or maybe it’s just bad taste.”

Cara says: “So this looks really comfy... you know, in that snuggly-bathrobejust-out-the-bath kind of way. It’s just not go-out-in-public attire. But I will give her props for the cute shoes and the cute handbag.”

Karin says: “Annnd Paris is my best dressed of the week. Who knew? Yes, it’s a bit Joseph’s coat of many colours, but it works for me. This is how you do stylish yet comfy. I could see her waltzing into an afternoon party in Ibiza wearing this. I like it.”

Cara says: “Yes, so this is definitely very ‘Joseph’ inspired. I like the jacket and pants, although I feel it would have looked better on an older person with a regular top underneath. I don’t know, I am just not liking the bra top with the outfit.”

AP PHOTOS

With Karin Herig and Cara Hunt

The Tribune | Weekend | 17

Thursday, March 29, 2018

film

review

‘Ready Player One’ Review: Spielberg goes back to the future READY PLAYER ONE RUNNING TIME: 140 MINS

“W

hy can’t we go backward for once?” wonders the protagonist of “Ready Player One” shortly before gunning his “Back to the Future” DeLorean in reverse. “Really put the pedal to the metal.”

Pressing rewind is, if anything, an understandable desire these days. But in today’s reboot, remake-mad movies, it’s not exactly swimming against the tide. Yet Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One,” a rollicking virtual-world geekfest flooded by ‘80s ephemera, doesn’t just want to wade back into the past. For those who get their fix through pop nostalgia, “Ready Player One” is — for better or worse — an indulgent, dizzying overdose.

In a dystopian 2045 where the world looks mostly like a trash heap, teenager Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) lives in “The Stacks” — not aisles of books but towering piles of mobile homes — in Columbus, Ohio, with his aunt.

“These days,” he narrates, “reality’s a bummer.” With bleakness all around, seemingly everyone is addicted to strapping on a headset and entering the virtual-reality landscape of the OASIS. There, an individual can transform into a digital avatar — live-action or animated, human or extraterrestrial, Sonny or Cher — and do basically anything.

It’s been five years since the death of OASIS creator James Halliday (Mark Rylance), a fizzy-haired Steve

Tye Sheridan as virtual reality gamer Wade Watts/Parzival (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP) Jobs-meets-Willy Wonka nerd deity who left behind a trio of Easter Eggs — hidden clues — in his game. The first one to find the keys and follow them to the end will win the rights to the trillion-dollar company. Wade, who goes by Parzival inside OASIS, is among the competitors still trying to crack the first challenge — a blistering melee through New York City streets where racers must evade, among other things, King Kong and the T-Rex from “Jurassic Park.”

At the film’s SXSW premiere, Spielberg introduced “Ready Player One,” based on Ernest Cline’s 2011 bestseller, as a “movie,” not a “film.”

The funny, sometimes awkward irony of “Ready Player One” is that Spielberg isn’t just making a movie like his old movies; he’s making a movie awash with his old movies.

The universe of “Ready Player One” remains a loving, fanboy homage to the escapist entertainments Spielberg did more than anyone to create. “Ready Player One” could conceivably be titled “Spielberg: The Remix.”

It’s also an opportunity for one of cinema’s most absurdly skilled and most insanely popular directors to reckon with both his blockbuster legacy and the more digitally versed generations of fantasy-seekers that have followed him. In the OASIS, there are solo players called “gunters” like Parzival and his VR-crush Art3mis (Olivia Cooke), who believe deeply in the game and its maker. And there are companies, specifically one called Innovative Online Industries led by a slick suit named Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), who sends armies of players into battle in hopes of

capturing the lucrative company and — in the most sinister of anti-nerd plots — open up OASIS to advertising.

When it’s not careening through ‘80s references from Tootsie Roll Pop commercials to Buckaroo Banzai, “Ready Player One” is an Internet parable.

There’s mention of prior “bandwidth riots” ahead of this battle over keeping OASIS an open playground to all.

As eye-popping as is the kaleidoscopic OASIS — a shinier, bigger-budget, less funny pop-culture soup than the one stirred in “The Lego Movie” — “Ready Player One” is best when it keeps a foot in to the real world. That’s clearly where Spielberg’s heart is, and it’s where, you can feel, he longs to lead his film. (Sorry, “movie.”)

Still, Spielberg shows that he’s just as capable as he ever was in making a rip-roaring spectacle. The momentum is headlong, the visual fireworks are brilliant and despite all the realityflipping, every scene is perfectly staged.

For a backward-looking movie, it’s incredibly forward-moving. Spielberg makes this stuff look easier, and register more clearly, than anyone else in blockbuster-making.

But if choosing between vintage Spielberg and meta Spielberg, I still — not to sound too fanboy-ish about it — prefer the genuine article.

JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer

18 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, March 29, 2018

books

‘Broken Girls’ mixes supernatural tale with gripping mystery

S

imone St James’ sixth standalone novel mixes a creepy supernatural tale, complete with ghosts and things that go bump in the night, with a gripping mystery.

“The Broken Girls” also works well as a story about unshakeable friendship, parenting issues, obsession and sexism folded into a satisfying plot that straddles two eras of time.

The broken girls are those who end up in Idlewild Hall, “the boarding school of last resort, where parents stashed their embarrassments, their failures, and their recalcitrant girls.”

Four of the girls who are roommates at Idlewild in 1950 — Katie, CeCe, Roberta and Sonia — refuse to be broken by the school’s strict rules and the abandonment of their families.

Located in “the backwoods of Vermont,” the castlelike fortress is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of Mary Hand, a young woman who once lived there.

In 2014, the now shuttered Idlewild haunts Vermont journalist Fiona Sheridan, whose sister’s body was found on the school’s grounds 20 years ago. Deb Sheridan’s boyfriend was convicted and he is still in prison for her murder.

But Fiona is obsessed with the murder and believes the truth didn’t come out in court. When a family with no local ties buys Idlewild, Fiona seizes on the chance to do a story on the school — and further investigate her sister’s murder. The story intensifies when the remains of another girl are found buried on the grounds.

“The Broken Girls” smoothly alternates between the two eras,

‘The Rising Sea’ is entertaining and diverting read KURT Austin heads the Special Assignment division of NUMA, the US National Underwater and Marine Agency. His latest mission has him exploring various glaciers as he attempts to determine why they are melting faster than expected. The answer should be climate change, but what he uncovers is something far more sinister and disturbing.

The ocean levels are increasing at a rate that doesn’t match his scientific calculations. When he presents the findings to the rest of his team, they soon learn of a mining operation in

the East China Sea that’s looking for a rare alloy, and the rapid methods used have caused catastrophic environmental issues as a result. The metal has indestructible properties, but obtaining it has the potential to raise the sea level so drastically that billions of people would be displaced if not outright killed.

Can Austin and his allies stop a man determined to win at all costs? Toss in a ruthless assassin so brutal in his methods that even his former employers, the Yakuza, have disavowed him. Sprinkle in major

action sequences involving the latest advances in the future of technology, and add missing Japanese samurai swords. The end result is “The Rising Sea,” another entertaining and diverting read from a true legend in the adventure business. Unlike the other series in the Cussler brand of novels, the NUMA Files runs the closest to invoking the classic feel of James Bond reimagined as an oceanographer.

By JEFF AYERS Associated Press

capturing the idiosyncrasies of each. Fear and distrust permeate the scenes of the 1950s, while Fiona’s terrors come from within her. The roommates’ bonds and strength serve these naive teens well, while Fiona’s support system is lacking.

St James blankets Idlewild with an evocative atmosphere that makes the appearance of a ghost seem real. The school’s abandoned rooms with rotting furniture, dripping water and a chill that permeates the building add to the deliciously creepy feeling.

Sure, these are cliches of supernatural and horror, but St. James makes the tropes seem fresh.

OLINE H COGDILL Associated Press

The Tribune | Weekend | 19

Thursday, March 29, 2018

gardening

Summer is a-coming in The hot season is almost upon us, and growing vegetables will become more challenging.

However, Jack Hardy says there are still several different types you can try your hand at nurturing.

E

aster is upon us and after this weekend many gardeners will be thinking about summer as the next station on the line. First of all, we gardeners need to decide whether we will be growing anything at all in the way of vegetables. Summer gardening is hard, the sun brutal. How nice it would be to take a few months off and start visiting the produce aisle at our favourite supermarket. Before we rest we can lay clear plastic on our vegetables gardens and help keep nematodes in check.

Like most passions, gardening is addictive. The idea of just mowing the lawn and tending the perennials,

Malabar spinach can be a wonderful summer crop. flowering shrubs and fruit trees leaves us with a sense of something missing.

Often enough we decide to just grow a small crop or two then find ourselves filling the yard with summer vegetables. The decision is yours. If you decide to grow, here are a few veggies that can take summer heat.

Okra is always the first summer crop to be mentioned. Although okra can grow year round it comes into its own during the summer months. Okra comes in bush and tall forms. If you just want a meal or three of okra now and then you will be better served by growing a bush variety. If you love okra and can eat it every day then you need to grow a tall variety. These take a little longer to bear fruit but are heavy bearers and live much longer.

Okras must be picked on a daily basis when they are just a few inches long in order to tender. Refrigerate the pods until you have enough for a meal.

If you on vacation for a long weekend and find a large number of okras have gone beyond the tender stage, all is not lost. The round white seeds can be extracted and cooked in salted water for a few minutes. These look like white baby peas and can be enjoyed by people who otherwise do not care for okra.

Collards also can be grown year round, but come into their own in summer. If the leaves are picked very early they provide the basis of a green salad. Left for the leaves to broaden

they can be cooked in olive oil or bacon fat as a spinach substitute.

Malabar spinach is a wonderful summer crop that needs some support in order to hold its leaves above ground. Individual plants can be grown in three-gallon pots and will climb porch railings or an inserted tomato tower. The small leaves can be used for salads and the boiled leaves have a true spinach taste. Your local nursery is unlikely to have Malabar spinach seeds so you might have to ask around your gardening friends.

Beans in general are warm weather lovers but most do best in spring and early summer. Cow peas and lima beans can take full summer heat.

Boiled lima beans cooled in a vinaigrette dressing make a lovely dish.

The king of summer beans is a truly tropical variety that is hard to grow in cool conditions. The biggest problem is the name. Colloquially they are called snake beans or yard-long beans but seed companies tend to use asparagus beans. Restaurants shun all these names and call them long beans. For this article I will call them snake beans.

Snake beans are fast growing and prolific. It is essential they be grown with substantial support and you may consider a chain link fence. I generally grow my snake beans in a 20-gallon container and allow the vines to grow over porch railings. In the open garden is use a 10-foot tepee frame of four fibreglass poles tied and duct-taped at the crux.

Snake beans are best picked at about 12-16 inches long though you can harvest them at the juvenile stage – the second or third day after they drop their flowers – and use them as for French filet beans. The 12-16 inch beans can be treated as cut snap beans, boiled and dressed, but the most interesting way to serve them is as quoits.

Take a 16-in bean and wind it around itself until you form a 5-6 inch circle.

Drop these quoits into a large pot of salted boiling water and cook for about five minutes. Two quoits is a regular serving as a vegetable side. Serve these to company and you are sure to have interesting comments. Restaurants take note.

Now I am going to suggest you grow a vegetable this summer that I have never tried to grow, but I feel confident it will produce. Kiwano is a cucurbit that produces spiky yellow-orange fruits. It originated in the Kalahari Desert region so I do not think heat will be a problem. I have been growing them since Christmas and am looking forward to seeing how their fare as a summer crop.

Kiwano melons are the latest health craze and are drunk rather than eaten.

When the leathery outer shell is cut longitudinally it exposes a mass of white seeds in a greenish aril. The seeds are both edible and nutritious but can be separated from the juice by using a wire sieve over a bowl and mashing with the back of a dessert spoon.

The taste of Kiwano melons is described as banana/lime/cucumber.

The juice can be added to gin and tonic in place of lime for an interesting refreshing variation. Usually the pulp and seeds are eaten from the halved shell with a spoon or sieved for a drink.

Summer is watermelon time. If you have sandy soil, water and fertilizer you have all you need. My favourite watermelon is Crimson Sweet but many gardeners swear by the old time standards like Charleston Gray, Congo and Jubilee.

These are some of your options.

Now you must consider: To grow or not to grow, that is the question…

• For questions and comments, e-mail gardenerjack@coralwave.com.

20 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, March 29, 2018

literary lives – billie holiday

The Blues of Lady Day Sir Christopher Ondaatje takes a look at the highs and lows of the legendary jazz singer who influenced many of today’s popular singers.

B

illie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915 in Philadelphia. She was the daughter of Sarah Julia “Sadie” Fagan and Clarence Holiday, an unmarried teenage couple. They did not live together.

Her father abandoned the family soon after she was born to pursue a career as a banjo and guitar player in jazz bands.

Her mother had moved to Philadelphia after she had been evicted from her parents’ home in Baltimore. With no financial support her mother gave the young Eleanora to her half-sister, Eva Miller.

Holiday had an unhappy and unsettled childhood. For 10 years she was raised first by Eva Miller’s motherin-law, Martha Miller, then returned to Sadie Fagan in Philadelphia when she married Philip Gough. But the marriage only lasted two years, leaving Holiday again with Martha Miller. Holiday frequently skipped school and her truancy brought her to juvenile court in January 1925 when she was nine years old. She was paroled after nine months and returned to her mother who had opened a restaurant grill where she and Holiday worked long hours. When she was 11 years old Holiday dropped out of school.

On December 24, 1926 Holiday’s mother returned home to find a

BILLIE Holiday (1915 - 1959)

neighbour, Wilbur Rich, attempting to rape her daughter. She fought him off but Holiday was placed in protective custody in the House of the Good Shepherd as a state witness in the rape case. She was released in February 1927 and found a job running errands in a brothel. It was there that she first heard the records of Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith. By the end of 1928 Holiday’s mother moved to Harlem and left Holiday again with Martha Miller.

By early 1929, Holiday joined her mother in Harlem. Their landlady

was a nattily dressed woman named Florence Williams who ran a brothel at 151 West 140th Street. Holiday’s mother became a prostitute, and within a matter of days Holiday, who was still not yet 14, also became a prostitute at $5 a client. On May 2, 1929 the brothel was raided and Holiday and her mother were sent to prison. Her mother was released in July, but Holiday not until October.

As a young teenager Holiday, who had an ear for music, started singing in Harlem nightclubs. She took her name from the actress Billie Dove, and her

surname from Clarence Holiday, who was possibly her father.

She teamed up with a young saxophone player, Kenneth Hollan, and for two years they performed together in Harlem clubs. She sang with Hollan’s saxophone, learned breathing from him, and adapted her singing technique to phrase like a saxophone. It was a unique way to sing Blues and Holiday used this, together with delaying her words for half a beat, following the saxophone’s lead, for the rest of her life. Her reputation grew. The “King of Swing” Benny Goodman recalled

The Tribune | Weekend | 21

Thursday, March 29, 2018

hearing her in 1931 and John Hammond, the producer, was impressed enough to arrange her recording debut with Goodman.

Billie Holiday recorded two songs: “Your Mother’s Son-in-Law” and “Riffin’ the Scotch”, the latter being her first hit. Hammond also noticed the easy way she improvised jazz tunes – very similar to the young Louis Armstrong she had first heard in 1927 in the Philadelphia brothel. In 1935, Holiday was given a small role as a woman abused by her lover in Duke Ellington’s short “Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life”. Holiday sang “Saddest Tale”.

Hammond recognised Billie Holiday’s early genius and signed her to Brunswick Records to sing pop tunes accompanied by Teddy Wilson’s piano.

Again, her improvisation was revolutionary and included such standards as “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” and “Miss Brown to You”. They recorded under the Vocation label and, produced by Hammond and Bernie Hanighen, went on to make a series of now famous performances with the 1930 swing era’s best musicians. These tunes, made in the 1930s and 1940s, became jazz classics and are now an important part of jazz vocal history.

She was still only in her early twenties.

Another accompanist during those early days was the saxophone player Lester Young. Now, remembering her early relationship with Kenneth Hollan’s saxophone in Harlem, she developed another extraordinary relationship with Lester Young who, incidentally, had been a boarder in her mother’s house in 1934. If you listen carefully to the records they made it is sometimes difficult to separate the singing from the saxophone.

Lester Young is quoted as saying: “I think you can hear that on some of the old records, you know. Some time I’d sit down and listen to ‘em myself, and it sounds like two of the same voices, if you don’t be careful, you know, or the same mind, or something like that.”

Young named Holiday “Lady Day”, and the nickname stuck.

When Billie Holiday made the 1935-38 recordings for Brunswick Records with Teddy Wilson they were a bonanza for Brunswick, which at the time, was broke. Other musicians followed them into the record company, including Lester Young.

They performed without any musical arrangements, so the recordings were cheap. Holiday never received any

Holiday in 1917 royalties, being paid a flat fee, which also saved the company money. “I Cried for You” was one of the giant hits for Brunswick which helped the floundering record company to survive.

In 1937, Holiday was the vocalist with the Count Basie Band, and they performed in one-night stands across the country with little financial stability. She knew exactly what to sing and virtually arranged her own tunes.

Count Basie took her musical direction in his stride and commented: “When she rehearsed with the band, it was really just a matter of getting her tunes like she wanted them, because she knew how she wanted to sound, and you couldn’t tell her what to do.”

“Must Have That Man”, “I Can’t Get Started”, “Summertime”, and “They Can’t Take That Away From

Me” were all hits for Holiday with the Basie band. But then Basie fired her – probably for being temperamental and unreliable. She was anyway complaining about low pay and bad working conditions. A month later she was hired by Artie Shaw and became among the first black women to work for a white orchestra. She was also the first black singer to tour the segregated American South. But she was not allowed to sit on the bandstand with the white vocalists.

The Artie Shaw/Billie Holiday team put them in the spotlight. They were broadcast on WABC, the powerful radio station in New York, and the band won popularity battles with Tommy Dorsey, Red Norvo, and even Count Basie. However, by the end of 1938 the relationship with Shaw

disintegrated. She was a star and an attraction, but racial issues forced Holiday to leave the band.

“I was never allowed to visit the bar or the dining room as did other members of the band ... and I was made to leave and enter through the kitchen.”

Holiday had to use the service elevator in the Lincoln Hotel in New York instead of the passenger elevator – as the white patrons objected.

She was anyway by then an established attraction and “Easy Living” and “I’m Gonna Lock My Heart” were hits and imitated by other singers.

In 1939, Holiday was recording for Columbia Records when she was introduced to the song “Strange Fruit”, based on a macabre poem about black lynchings in the South. She performed it at Café Society, an integrated club in Greenwich Village, but feared retaliation because of its imagery and subject.

When the producers at Columbia found the song too distasteful and sensitive, Holiday recorded it on Commodore Records in April 1939.

“Strange Fruit” remained in her repertoire for 20 years and became one of her standards. She recorded it a second time for Verve Records. When Holiday sang it at the Café Society she made waiters silence the audience before the song began and during the long introduction the lights were dimmed and all movement had to cease. Only a small spotlight illuminated her face. On the final note, all lights went out, and when they came back on, Holiday had gone. She was a masterful dramatist and said the song reminded her of how her father had died and that she had to keep on singing it, not only because people asked for it, but because 20 years after her father had died, the brutal things that killed him were still happening in the South.

“Southern trees bear a strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees Pastoral scene of the gallant South The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth Scent of magnolias sweet and fresh Then the sudden smell of burning flesh Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck

Continued on page 22

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Thursday, March 29, 2018

Continued from page 23 For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck For the sun to rot, for the tree to drop Here is a strange and bitter crop.”

Holiday’s popularity increased enormously after “Strange Fruit”. When she first sang it as the Café Society she was a popular but a relatively unknown singer. When she left two years later she was a star. Her manager Joe Glaser managed to get much more money for her.

“I needed the prestige and the publicity all right, but you can’t pay rent with it.”

Back with Commodore Records she recorded “I Cover the Waterfront”, “I’ll Get By” and “He’s Funny That Way”. Her popularity and earnings increased. Her mother, Sadie Fagan, borrowed money from Holiday and opened a restaurant, Mom Holiday’s, which became popular with black musicians. But the restaurant needed funds to keep going and Holiday provided it.

Then in the early 1940s Holiday fell on hard times and begged her mother for money. She wouldn’t give her a cent.

They argued, and Holiday shouted angrily, “God bless the child that’s got his own” and stormed out. Still angry, she teamed with Arthur Herzog, Jr, a pianist, and wrote the song “God Bless the Child”, to which she added music.

“God Bless the Child” became Holiday’s most popular and coveted record.

It reached Number 25 in the charts in 1941, third in Billboard’s Songs of the Year, and sold over a million records.

Paul Whiteman invited her to record “Trav’lin’ Light” with him for Capitol Records, and in September 1943 Life magazine wrote: “She has the most distinct style of any popular vocalist, and is imitated by other vocalists.”

She went on to sign with Decca Records in 1944, and “Lover Man” became another of her big hits.

Holiday was busy performing and did not make any more records until 1945. “What Is This Thing Called Love?” was one of her bigger hits, and then the following year she recorded “Good Morning Heartache” – even today a popular Holiday standard.

A good looking woman, and always involved with men, some of whom abused her, in 1946 she was offered a part in her only major film New

Holiday performs with jazz legend Count Basie

Jazz royalty: Billie Holiday with Ella Fitzgerald Orleans, playing opposite Louis Armstrong and Woody Herman. The film’s production was plagued by racism and McCarthyism. Both the producer Jules Levey and the film’s script writer were pressured to minimise Holiday’s and Armstrong’s roles to avoid giving the impression that jazz was created by

black people. These attempts failed because Herbert Biberman was listed as one of the Hollywood Ten and sent to prison. Sadly, several scenes were cut from the film, thus not allowing us to see much of Holiday and Armstrong performing together.

“They had taken miles of footage and music and scenes – but none of it was left in the picture. And very damn little of me. I know I wore a white dress for a number I did ... and that was cut.”

One song that remained in the picture was “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?”

Another good Holiday standard.

Holiday’s battle with drugs and alcohol were becoming public knowledge.

At that time she was earning as much as a thousand dollars a week from night club appearances, but practically all this went on heroin. Holiday’s then lover was the drug dealer Joe Guy who travelled to Hollywood while she was filming. When Joe Glaser, her manager, found out, Guy was banned from the set. She continued to record but chose to sing slower sentimental ballads and her voice was wearing thin. It was beginning to be noticed on her recordings and the New York Herald Tribune reported that she had practically no variation in melody or change in tempo. She was still popular and probably at her commercial peak – earning $250,000 in the three years leading up to 1947.

On May 16, 1947 Holiday was arrested for possession of narcotics in

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Thursday, March 29, 2018

her New York apartment. Her lawyer refused to represent her.

“It was called the United States of America versus Billie Holiday ... and that’s just the way it felt. In plain English that meant that no one in the world was interested in looking out for me.”

Dehydrated and unable to hold down food, she pleaded guilty and asked to be sent to hospital. Instead she was sentenced and sent to Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia.

Holiday was released ten months later on March 16, 1948. A crowd gathered in Newark on her arrival there proving that she had retained her popularity. Less than two weeks later she played Carnegie Hall to a sell-out crowd. Some 2,700 tickets were sold in advance. She sang Cole Porter’s “Night and Day” and her 1930s hit “Strange Fruit”. In April she sang to another sell-out crowd on Broadway, but the show only lasted three weeks.

Holiday was arrested again on January 22, 1949 in San Francisco. She was finding it difficult to kick her habit. She had started using hard drugs in 1941 when she was married to the trombonist Jimmy Monroe. It was then that she became involved with Joe Guy, a trumpeter, while still married to Monroe.

Her popularity was beginning to slip, and by the late 1940s her records were not played on the radio because of her reputation. Holiday’s New York City Cabaret Card was revoked in 1949 because of her drug convictions. This prevented her from working anywhere that sold alcohol for the remaining 12 years of her life. The revoking of her Cabaret Card was a cruel blow. It was introduced to prevent people of “bad character” working on licenced premises, which of course were the highest paid in the country. Blacklisted performers could find little work. She appeared sometimes illegally – but at a much-reduced fee. The problem worsened when her records went out of print in the 1950s.

By then Holiday’s drug abuse, drinking, and relationships with abusive men had caused her health to deteriorate.

Her voice grew coarse and no longer projected her former vibrancy. She toured Europe in 1954. She still had a big name but some of her magic was gone. She made recordings, particularly for Verve Records, but her voice, although distinctive, had become fragile.

Holiday with Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong

Holiday with her third husband, Louis McKay, a Mafia enforcer Her biography, “Lady Sings the Blues”, published in 1956, was ghostwritten by William Dufty, a New York Post writer. The book contained a series of interviews with the singer in Dufty’s 93rd Street apartment in New York. It reveals all the ups and downs

of her tragic career. She also released an LP record “Lady Sings the Blues” to accompany her biography and included “Too Marvellous for Words”, “Willow Weep for Me”, “I Thought About You”, and new recordings of “Strange Fruit” and “God Bless the

Child”, but these did not have anything like the magic and intensity of her earlier recordings. She performed twice more at Carnegie Hall, and Verve Records issued recordings of the concerts. The Down Beat critic Nat Hentoff who attended the Carnegie Hall concerts wrote: “Billie was in superior form to what has sometimes been the case in the last years of her life. Not only was there assurance of phrasing and intonation; but there was also an outgoing warmth, a palpable eagerness to read and touch the audience. And there was mocking wit ... The beat flowed in her uniquely sinuous, supple way ... the words became her own experiences; and coursing through it all was Lady’s sound ... a voice that was almost unbearably wise in disillusion ...”

In 1959, Holiday was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. On doctors’ orders she had stopped drinking, but it was not long before she relapsed. By May 1959 she had lost 20 pounds. Joe Glaser, her manager, tried in vain to get her to hospital, but she refused. On May 21 she was forcibly taken to the Metropolitan Hospital in New York for treatment of liver and heart disease.

The Federal Bureau of Narcotics had been targeting Holiday since the late 1930s. She was arrested and handcuffed for drug possession as she lay dying. Her hospital room was raided and she was placed under police guard.

On July 15, 1959 she received the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church and died two days later, at the age of 44, at 3.10am.

In her last years she had been progressively swindled out of her earnings, and she died with $0.70 in the bank, and $750, which was a tabloid fee, on her person. The police guard had been removed by court order only a few hours before she died.

Billie Holiday, one of the greatest jazz blues singers in American history, had removed herself from the clutches and jurisdiction of any earthly court.

She is buried in Saint Raymond’s Cemetery in the Bronx.

NEXT WEEK: The extraordinary and true story of the White Crow.

• Sir Christopher Ondaatje is the author of “The Last Colonial”. He acknowledges that he has quoted liberally from Wikipedia; “Lady Sings the Blues” (1957) by Billie Holiday and William Dufty, and “Billie Holiday: The Musician” and “The Myth”, 2015, by John Szwed.

24 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, March 29, 2018

history

Enigmatic Dead Sea Scroll makes rare show in Jerusalem JERUSALEM (AP) — A fragment of an enigmatic Dead Sea Scroll has gone on public display at Jerusalem’s Israel Museum for the first time since its discovery 70 years ago.

The Genesis Apocryphon, the sole copy of an ancient Jewish text elaborating on stories from the first book of the Bible, dates to the first century BC and was among the first seven scrolls found in the Judean Desert in 1947. The Associated Press previewed the exhibit Tuesday.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of Jewish texts found in desert caves in the West Bank near Qumran in the 1940s and 1950s, date from the third century BC to the first century AD. They include the earliest known copies of biblical texts, documents outlining the beliefs of a little understood Jewish sect, as well as related texts like the Genesis Apocryphon.

“This is the only copy of this book on Earth,” said Adolfo Roitman, curator of the Israel Museum’s Shrine of the Book, where the scrolls are housed.

The Genesis Apocryphon’s Aramaic verses describe the lives of Noah, Abraham, Enoch and Lamech, characters in the book of Genesis, and are written in the first person. “In some way what we have are parallel stories that we don’t have in the Hebrew Bible in which the patriarchs are presented in different ways than the ways we have today in the Pentateuch,” he said.

The badly damaged snippet of the story going on display deals with Noah’s Ark alighting on the peaks of Mount Ararat after the fabled flood. Noah tells how he “atoned for all the earth in its entirety” by offering up various animal sacrifices.

The Genesis Apocryphon scroll was already in a precarious state when it was first discovered by Bedouin shepherds in 1947.

A rare recording of the shepherds, Muhammed edh-Dhib and Jum’a Muhammed, recounting their discovery is part of an accompanying exhibit about

some of the characters involved in finding and unlocking the Dead Sea Scrolls.

“It was dark at first, but when I could see before me, there were about 10 jars in the cave on both sides, and the jars in the middle were broken by some ruins falling from the top,” edh-Dhib, speaking in Arabic, says in a 1961 interview.

“There were three manuscripts in one covered jar only. Two of them were rolled in cloth and the other was not. And their color was greenish.”

The fragile Genesis Apocryphon manuscript remained unrolled until nearly a decade later, by which point it had been brought to New York, purchased by the State of Israel along with three other scrolls, and returned to Jerusalem.

Since then, only one section of the Genesis Apocryphon went on a brief public exhibition in the 1960s.

“It’s the first time the general public is seeing it,” said Israel Museum director Ido Bruno. “We have a window of opportunity today to see it for a few months and then it will go back to the cellars and will not see the light of day again for dozens of years.”

To protect the delicate parchment, the fragment is presented in a special “smart glass” vitrine inside the Shrine of the Book that prevents it from exposure to direct light. When visitors press a button, the opaque white glass becomes clear for 30 seconds, allowing viewers to study the ragged brown scrap before it is once again obscured.

“When you take a look at this manuscript, it’s not like taking a look at Botticelli,” Roitman, the exhibit curator said. “It doesn’t look very aesthetic, that’s not the point. The point is actually the kind of information in this document, as a lost tradition, that we didn’t know about before. It opens up a new perspective on ancient Jewish history and civilization.”

ILAN BEN ZION Associated Press

The Genesis Apocryphon, the sole copy of an ancient Jewish text elaborating on stories from the first book of the Bible, dates to the first century BCE. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

The Tribune | Weekend | 25

Thursday, March 29, 2018

history

When there were more people in the Out Islands Forgotten facts Paul C Aranha

T

oday, when we think of the Out Islands we might be tempted to think that the way they are now is the way they always were, with all of them together having far fewer inhabitants than New Providence. Several of them have fewer than 100 people, but before the 1930s, this was not the case.

Take a look at the population table, extracted from my father’s 1926 atlas, “Maps of the Bahamas”.

In 1926, the total population of the Bahamas was 53,031, of whom only 12,975 (24.5%) lived on New Providence.

Wallace Groves had not yet created Freeport, and Grand Bahama had only 1,695 (3.2%) inhabitants – putting it ninth on the list. There was no ‘Second City’ and West End was the ‘capital’.

Eleuthera came in second, with 7,547 (14.2%). Of these, 917 (1.7%) lived on Harbour Island and 582 (1.1%) in Spanish Wells. Governor’s Harbour accounted for 637 (1.2%) and Tarpum Bay was well up there, with 565 (1.1%).

In third place was Andros, with 6,976 (13.2%) people, and it is worthy of note that there were 1,150 (2.2%) on Mangrove Cay, making it the biggest settlement in the Out Islands – second in the Bahamas.

Long Island had 4,659 (8.8%), Deadman’s Cay having that island’s biggest population 719 (1.4%). Then came Cat Island, with 4,273 (8.1%), Abaco with 3,993 (7.5%), Hope Town leading, with 511 (1%).

Rolleville, with 561 (1%), was the biggest settlement in the Exumas.

Total for all those islands and cays

was 3,730 (7%). Further south, Acklins, Crooked Island and Long Cay were home to 3,458 (6.5%) inhabitants.

None of the other islands could boast of over 1,000 inhabitants, although Inagua came close, with 937 (1.8%). San Salvador, the Biminis, Mayaguana, Ragged Island, Rum Cay and the oft-forgotten Cay Sal and Cay Lobos, on the Cay Sal Bank accounted for 2,782 (5.2%) World War I played an important role in the decline of the Out Islands, and over the last 100 years, since that war ended, there has been only one outstanding reversal of the trend – Freeport.

In 1900, Rum Cay (about half the size of New Providence) had some 3,000 inhabitants.

Salt and agriculture were flourishing. Ragged Island, too, had a thriving salt industry. Ocean-going vessels would stop at such places to deliver cargoes ordered directly from England, including things like pianos and thoroughbred horses. If the salt pans at Duncan Town, Ragged Island were still operating at full capacity, they would probably be incapable of producing enough salt to fill the holds of one modern ocean-going salt-carrier. Inagua, a much larger island, has a much bigger production.

The first time I went to Ragged Island, the runway and the road connecting it to Duncan Town were so new that there were no

cars or trucks on the island.

My passengers (from the flying-doctor service) and I had to walk the one mile plus to the clinic, toting all their surgical gear in the hot sun, and walk back. My next flight was for the police, investigating a drowning, and we

were delighted to find a car that had been sent there by the MP, for Sir Milo Butler’s official visit, and allowed to remain. That car came in handy for transporting the corpse to the plane. The body was placed across the rear seat of the car and, with

both rear doors open, was driven to the airport – followed by the police, the pilot and the entire population of the island, some 100 people.

• For questions and comments, e-mail islandairman@gmail.com.

Friday’s solution: fLesH (across) HiLLs (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.

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

CRYPTIC PUZZLE Across 1 Possibly end a better woman - even a saint! (10) 6 Slice an approach shot (4) 10 Moments that can worry sheep and cattle (5) 11 Work of intelligence (9) 12 Sharp decline in air traffic (4-4) 13 Turn aside for inspiration (5) 15 Gets off with a slight dislocation (7) 17 Trying to interview royalty? (7) 19 Pull the girl back, one who’s falling behind (7) 21 Cut up a turnip for one who is strict (7) 22 One result of plotting (5) 24 They form some unit of the Canadian police (8) 27 From being in the red I possibly came into money (9) 28 A column seen in flight (5) 29 Rush off to get a little soda (4) 30 Moon starer extraordinary (10)

Down 1 Collectively neither one thing nor the other (4) 2 Thinking in a calculating way (9) 3 A tissue of lies divides the church (5) 4 They are raised up for anyone to see (7) 5 Advice on the favourites they’re worn out! (7) 7 He has a short way to pull (5) 8 Urge a chap to become a publicity man (5,5) 9 Bully one who works around a colliery (8) 14 A miller no doubt likes a rest from it! (5,5) 16 Is informed about the plants (8) 18 Engaged in current affairs? (2,3,4) 20 Acts in a degrading way (7) 21 Sack and what may be put in it (7) 23 He goes into a ship and remains (5) 25 A number holding no end of wood (5) 26 But it’s no aspersion on the score (4)

Yesterday’s Easy Solution Across: 1 Francis, 5 Defer, 8 Evergreen, 9 Rot, 10 Kale, 12 Cassette, 14 Latvia, 15 Kuwait, 17 Forsaken, 18 Pest, 21 Oil, 22 Tolerable, 24 Foyer, 25 Habitat.

Down: 1 Freak, 2 Age, 3 Cage, 4 Seesaw, 5 Dinosaur, 6 Firstrate, 7 Retreat, 11 Literally, 13 Disaster, 14 Lift-off, 16 Health, 19 Theft, 20 Drab, 23 But.

Yesterday’s Cryptic Solution Across: 1 Actuate, 5 Cider, 8 Nothing on, 9 Tip, 10 Ebbs, 12 Seaports, 14 Taurus, 15 Cruise, 17 Bewilder, 18 Perk, 21 Tea, 22 Erstwhile, 24 Niece, 25 Without.

Down: 1 Annie, 2 Tot, 3 Arid, 4 Eaglet, 5 Conspire, 6 Determine, 7 Riposte, 11 Blue whale, 13 Bull’s-eye, 14 Tibetan, 16 Seesaw, 19 Knelt, 20 Twit, 23 Ibo.

EASY PUZZLE

Across 1 Dilapidated (10) 6 Small amount (4) 10 Foundation (5) 11 Quick route to advancement (4,5) 12 Scholarly people (8) 13 A representative (5) 15 Pressing (7) 17 Place of concealment (7) 19 To lower in character (7) 21 Retributive justice (7) 22 Scoundrel (5) 24 Huge (8) 27 Cause to feel ashamed (9) 28 Arrive at (5) 29 Compassion (4) 30 Subsidence (10)

Down 1 Large brass instrument (4) 2 Feeling of doubt (9) 3 A cotton thread (5) 4 Boldly disobedient (7) 5 Spiteful (7) 7 Appropriate position (5) 8 To rebuke (4,2,4) 9 Haphazardly (2,6) 14 Ability to command (10) 16 In high spirits (8) 18 Stubborn (9) 20 Impress deeply (7) 21 Uncared-for state (7) 23 Full range (5) 25 Impudent assurance (5) 26 Attempt (4)

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The Tribune | Weekend | 27

Thursday, March 29, 2018

animals

The good and the bad

I

am constantly amazed by the enormous contradictions of humanity.

The extraordinary chasm between those who care and those who kill and hurt for fun is so apparent with the animal coverage on the television and on social media.

Over the past few days I have been watching the BBC and their extensive coverage of the large pod of pilot whales that beached themselves in Western Australia. There were about 150 short-finned pilot whales, many were already dead when their plight became known to the inhabitants of Hamelin Bay. People flocked to the beach where these poor animals lay stranded and dying. I was so taken with the footage; I was taken by how gently big strong men were patting down the whales with wet clothes and trying to keep them hydrated. I was taken by the gentleness and tenderness shown to these Goliaths of the ocean.

I admit, I took a few moments to ask myself how the people of the Bahamas would have reacted. Would we have thrown the dying animals back to the sea to be devoured by the sharks that had been attracted by the scent of lingering death? Would our population have seen sport in the strong killing the weak? I hate to say this, but I suspect some of the “macho” who say, “who cares, they are only animals” brigade may well have taken that tack.

An interesting point about this beaching is that it came exactly to the day 15 years after another mass beaching in the very same place. Scientists are examining weather, moon, tide and other astrological records to see if there is a common factor.

In the end, weary rescuers who had worked tirelessly for hours and throughout the night were only able to save seven whales. These swam away together to an audible sigh of relief from rescuers. However, three of the whales later returned to dry land and had to be euthanised, the Australian

A scruffy bundle of energy

By The Bahamas Humane Society

PET OF THE WEEK

“G

ood morning, Nassau! My name, well, not my name, but here at the Bahamas Humane Society they call me ‘Found Cable Beach’, because that’s where I was found by a kindly soul who brought me in to the BHS to keep me safe.

Sadly, my original family has not come looking for me, so I am now available for adoption. I’m about one year old and full of energy. I’ve been someone’s pet so I would make a great family dog. I get along well with other dogs, too!

Do you need me in your life? I know I need you! Come in to the BHS to meet me or call 323-5138 for more information. The BHS is a no-kill shelter so I can stay as long as I need to but I really want a home again.

Come and see me soon! Adoption hours are 11am to 4pm, Monday to

PATRICIA VAZQUEZ

Animal matters Kim Aranha

Friday, and 10am to 4pm on Saturday.

I look forward to meeting you!”

• The next Thrift Shop jewellery sale will be held Saturday, April 14, from 10am to 2pm As usual, there’s a wide selection and range of prices, and all proceeds go to the Bahamas Humane Society.

Only four of the 150 short-finned pilot whales who became beached in Western Australia could be saved. (AAP Image/WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Parks and Wildlife Service) Parks and Wildlife Service reported.

The remaining four have not been sighted, but there is a risk they could also return to beach themselves a second time.

Day after day we see clips on the morning news of brave and dedicated people risk their lives, literally, to save a deer, fawn, bear, dog, or some other creature stuck in the ice, or fallen into freezing water. These men and women give there absolute all and could easily end up wounded or dead, but they still go out to save an animal in distress.

Then we flip the page, to Sunday on Facebook, and there is a post of a splendid 14-foot giraffe lying stretched out on the red earth and a rather small, young, unattractive woman with one foot on the dead animal and her gun high in the air, in triumph. She is jubilant because she was the monster who pulled the trigger of a high velocity rifle and killed a magnificent, peaceful, tree-eating creature.

Well done, you coward! And what will you do with his remains? There is a special place in hell for people like

her and all the other trophy hunters. I personally am disgusted that the President of the United States has signed a law allowing the bounty from these unnecessary killings to be imported in to the States. I wonder if that had been a special gift to his sons who also enjoy taking part in the destruction and death of God’s most awesome and splendid of species.

A couple of weeks ago there was a video clip circulating in the Bahamas.

It was taken at a restaurant near the University of the Bahamas. It showed an elderly man with a small cat. He was clearly talking to somebody at the door, gesturing with the cat. He then went around the back of the restaurant with the cat. Many people believe he was selling the cat to be killed and cooked. There are lots of nations in the world who do eat cat and find it acceptable; we are not one of them.

However, is it possible that some individuals newly arrived in our country have brought with them their culinary habits and are there restaurants pandering to their requests? I suppose it is quite possible. It seams to me that we will do just about anything for money. Do not forget the turtle I wrote about last week.

So, once we get our minds around the possibility that people eat cat, and once we get our minds around the fact that there may be people willing to oblige them if the price is right… what do we do? And how do we stop it? Will the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of the Environment inspect these restaurants? I highly doubt it.

I have reported the most disgusting food provider more than once.

The filth and unsanitary conditions of the establishment I have reported is simply nauseating. I have seen rats galore, trash bins overflowing, faeces and dead rodents, at any given time.

I have reported it because I truly believe that it is a health hazard. My cries have gone ignored. I have never received the promised follow-up call and I am confident the same deplorable conditions exist. Nobody cares!

On one side of the coin we see kindness and compassion, on the other side we see wanton murder and questionable practices. I can’t help but feel that this unbalance is not what the world needs. I think that we absolutely have to be more like those amazing people in Australia and in the freezing States and Canada reaching out at their own peril to save, assist and rescue.

28 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, March 29, 2018