Thursday, April 18, 2019
art books theatre film fashion music gardening puzzles history
Weekend
‘FRIENDS
WITH BENEFITS’ Page 2
Hatching plans for Easter All the hats, flowers and baskets for the holiday
02 | The Tribune | Weekend
Thursday, April 18, 2019
theatre
Hit play ‘Friends with Benefits’ comes to Nassau
“Friends with Benefits” has enjoyed nine sold-out shows in Freeport.
Production handles risqué topic with success By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer | jgibson@tribunemedia.net
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f defining one’s relationship were the subject of a multiple choice questionnaire, the box next to the “friends with benefits” answer would be checked by umpteen Bahamian. And because this culture is so prevalent in the Bahamas today, well-known playwright Gea Pierre has decided to make it the subject of her latest production, succinctly called “Friends of the Benefits”, which is set to debut in Nassau at the University of the Bahamas Performing Arts Centre on April 26. In a typical “FWB” arrangement, friends can enjoy a sexual relationship with one another. Outside of the bedroom, however, their situation remains strictly platonic and either party has the freedom to date others. In theory, this type of relationship ends with little to no emotional fallout when one of the friends decides to move on. But in real life this is far from how the story often unfolds. “Upon my return from college back in 2010 I was surprised to see how our open our culture was in relation to open relationships, where in some cases it was known from the onset that
the connection was just for the physical meeting of certain needs,” said Gea. “I saw many individuals getting hurt when feelings got involved, even though it was made clear what they had entered into. As a writer who uses her gift to entertain people but also to make them reconsider their actions and attitudes, Gea hopes this play will perhaps make audience members take another look at their reasons for entering into relationships. “It’s a stage play that explores relationships on various levels. Essentially, the misconceptions, the multiplicity of reasons people enter relationships and the games that people play in relationships...all with an outcome of self-gratification and most times at the expense of their partner/s. “Our goal is to have our audience think about their motives when it comes to relationships and to recognise the signs that may be detrimental to positive results in relationships,” she said. “Friends With Benefits” has already had nine sold-out shows in Freeport. Past productions by Gea include the hit plays “Crazy Love 1, 2 and 3”.
The series earned two Bahamian Icon Awards for Best Live Ensemble. What continues to be the key to success for her productions is their ability to deliver critical messages in a humorous way. “In previous productions I have always walked a fine line so as to not be offensive or abrasive. Although we are neither in this production, we are a little more cutting edge and hardhitting,” she said. “Opening night was an experiment in nerve control. It was particularly nerve-racking awaiting the audiences responses to certain scenes that we knew would draw strong reactions as this show borders on risqué. All in all we realised that once things are tactfully and tastefully (presented), people don’t mind hard-hitting,” she said. “Friends with Benefits” is directed by Patrice Johnson and produced by Mark Gardiner.
The cast of “Friends with Benefits” Remardo Russell Shorrell Dames Desiree Joseph Evan Williams Miesha Mortimer Ontario Richardson Lisa Turnquest Tempestt Bullard Truman Cooper Jill Lightbourne Reginald Simmons Fiona Daniels Fenrick Russell
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Inside Weekend Interview 4-5 Artist Spurgeonique Morley talks about becoming bolder and more unapologetic about her body and her work Holidays 7 Putting together Easter baskets for the entire family Jewellery 8 - 9 Designer Ryan Dean finds new uses for discarded items from the sea Music 10 Nassau’s ‘Trap Mogul’ plans to drop hip hop album with a twist Awards 11 A new event to honour local entertainment and fashion icons Film 12, 23 US audience goes hog wild for ‘Pigs in Paradise’, plus ‘Little’ heralds arrival of a new young star Fashion 13 - 15 Be ‘Klassy’ with these on-trend Easter hats, plus the latest bridal styles from New York Books 17 Jojo Moyes’ latest book reminds us to live in the now, plus a new ‘gorgeous’ novel explores adopting a foster child Gardening 19 Jack Hardy explores the abundance of Easter flowers Literary Lives 20 - 21 Sir Christopher Ondaatje on the father of modern fairy tales Television 22 A look beyond ‘Game of Thrones’; and maybe back to a prequel
Forgotten Facts 25
New discoveries at a Central Bank exhibition Puzzles 26 Animals 27 The lost and found, plus Pet of the Week
My perfect Bahamian weekend Jamal Petty Professional chef Q: Saturday breakfast or Sunday brunch? “Sunday is a brunch day for me. So I’ll go with Saturday breakfast, which for me would be my first rendezvous to kick off a flavorful weekend my taste buds have been longing for.” Q: Wine, rum, cocktail or Kalik? “Wine. Primarily because it’s kind of a chameleon; it sometimes changes the taste of food and other times it allows food to change its taste. Its multilayered in its experiences and can fit into any occasion.”
Q: Beach or sofa? “I actually love both. Being at the beach reminds me that
I live in paradise. I fantasise about capturing a mermaid, or sailing around the world, and other times I just remain still as my mind and body absorbs the beauty of nature around me.” Q: What is the one thing that you can’t live without? “The ability to give and receive love. I love loving and being loved. It wakes me up, motivates my decisions, and constrains me when necessary. The greatest treasure is truly love.” Q: Weekend away, where would you go? “A weekend for me represents a delicious exploration. I would go to one or two of the Bahama islands. I would do this primarily to explore the unique flavours and taste of each island.”
Things 2 Do this weekend Friday
• Poley’s Playhouse Baby Shark Show
Time: 1pm (encore on Easter Monday) Venue: Poley’s Playhouse, Madeira Street
Experience the phenomenon that is ‘Baby Shark’ love. This event is perfect for the whole family. There is a $5 entrance fee. • Easter Events at Atlantis Photos with the Easter Bunny
Time: 5pm - 8pm (check for times for Saturday and Sunday) Venue: The Royal Lobby Full Moon Party Time: 8pm - 1am Venue: Never Say Never Again Bar and Grill A Patron party to kick-start the Easter weekend. Sip and enjoy tequila shots, cocktails and margarita specials with music by live deejays.
Saturday
• Egg-ercise Hunt
Time: 9am - 10.30am Venue: Evolve Bahamas
Families can enjoy different fitness challenges together to earn their Easter eggs. • NAGB Easter ARTernoon: Egg Mania
Time: 10am Venue: National Art Gallery
A fun, creative, exciting morning
of art, crafts and egg hunting. All of this Easter fun is divided into two sessions – 10 am-11.30am: 2 yrs – 7 yrs; and 11.30 am-1 pm: 8 yrs and up. Snacks are provided and children must be accompanied by an adult. Tickets are $12 and include food and drinks. • Marathon’s Easter Egg Hunt
Time: 10 am - 1pm Venue: The Mall at Marathon The hunt starts at 10am and there will be games, treats and eats for all ages. Bring the family for a fun-filled day. • Sip n’ Canvas
Time: 6pm - 8pm Venue: Café Madeleine, Baha Mar
Guest artist Lamero Wright will facilitate the class and guide you in painting your very own Easter masterpieces. Enjoy two hours of painting and bottomless champagne for $50 per person.
Sunday
• Easter Brunch Tour
Time: 1pm Venue: Goombay House
A one-of-a kind brunch marathon: three restaurant stops, four tastings, and a brunch cooking class. Participation is $99 per person. • Easter Eggstravaganza
Time: 1pm - 7pm Venue: University of the Bahamas PLAY Entertainment is hosting an exciting and fun-filled event
for adults and children. There will be entertainment, food and drinks to cater to all ages.
Monday
• Nick Jr and Friends Family Fun Day
Time: 12noon Venue: Botanical Gardens
See some of your favourite characters like Dora the Explorer, Sponge Bob, Peppa Pig and the Minions at this family fun day with food, balloons and face painting. • Easter Monday Fun Day
Time: 11am - 6pm Venue: Adventure Learning Centre
Touted as the “ultimate Easter Monday family event”, the fun day with is both a celebration of Easter and of Earth Day. Support our ministry as they celebrate 25 years in grand style with food, fun and lots of activities. • Easter Zoo Mania
Time: 12noon Venue: Ardastra Gardens
Free treat bags for the first 150 children, as well as photos with the Easter Bunny, a magician, face painting, crafts, games, snow cones, cotton candy, popcorn, conch fritters, chicken wings, and cake...all this awaits at the zoo and conservation centre. There will also be an adult corner where the grownups can chill while the staff entertains the kids. Egg hunts are at 1pm and 3pm. Admission is $5.
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Thursday, April 18, 2019
interview
She is not afraid to be big, bold and beautiful; not in her life and definitely not in her art. A teacher by profession, she tells Cara Hunt how black, strong, confident and full-figured women inspire her unique work.
Spurgeonique Morley
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purgeonique Morley’s art is not just pretty to look at; it’s a bold statement encouraging everyone to celebrate the beauty within themselves. Spurgeonique is a 27-year-old art teacher at C H Reeves. However, she admitted to Tribune Weekend that the journey to that particular profession took a few detours along the way. Although she always been interested in the arts, a disappointing result in her BJC exams made her think she wasn’t good enough to be an artist. “I used to participate in those Dunkin’ Donuts colouring competitions which used to be in the newspaper I have always loved colouring and drawing and stuff. I took the BJC and got a ‘C’, which made me feel like maybe I was not good enough, so I sort of slowed down in art,” she told Tribune Weekend. While she knew that she wanted to be an educator, she initially majored in Biology Education. “One of my friends got me started back up into drawing and then I took an art theory course for four years into the Biology Education programme and after the art theory course I switched my major and switched into Art Education. That art theory course really shifted what I was doing at college.” It was a decision she has never regretted. Spurgeonique says education, no matter the subject one teaches, is very similar to being artist. “The same creativity and thought process that you need to put into your artwork is what you need to put into teaching; how to keep your kids’
“This woman looks like me, she could be me, and she feels beautiful.”
motivation and how to get them to understand the concepts you are doing and the varying processes.” Spurgeonique’s work has always been inspired by strong black women like her mother, grandmother and aunts. “The female figure – black, strong women – that is what inspires me; women who have confidence and fullfigured women. The women who have
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Thursday, April 18, 2019
influenced my life have been strong women; that is what I gravitate to.” It is also the message that resurfaces in her work time and again. “My work has always been centered around loving and accepting yourself the way that you are...from 2015, when I first entered Transforming Spaces with my ceramic pieces, ‘Just Cause She Fat’ series,” she said. “I would describe my work as captivating; it really grabs people’s attention. “I love colour and most of (my work) is detailed and intricate with very deep stories behind it. (The paintings) grab your attention; you want to go closer to look at them.” She especially loves collages because she can convey a lot of emotion and meaning through them. Spurgeonique explained that as her own confidence and self-esteem developed, so did her art. “(My paintings) have always been centered around that particular aspect, but they have (evolved) from that and they are currently more confident; there is more boldness and being unapologetic about your body type and about accepting what you have, and not letting other people’s opinions and what they deem is right or how you should feel about yourself, not letting those things weigh you down,” she said. “So my growth with that topic has been manifested in my work.” Her latest work, a series of portraits inspired by a photo of a woman called Kayla Graham she saw on Instagram (@crownedneptune), highlights this. The series of six paintings was a part of the “Likeness of Being” exhibit shown at the D’Aguilar Art Foundation during the recent Transforming Spaces art tour. The exhibition featured portraits by five Bahamian artists: Keith Thompson, Kachelle Knowles, Gio Swaby, Allan Wallace and Spurgeonique. Each of their works explored the themes of preserving the body – specifically the black body – as it navigates the natural and social environments around them. Spurgeonique’s paintings of a woman in lingerie shows someone who is unashamedly sensual and at the same time vulnerable. She uses mermaid scales and curly blue hair to make her subject look like a creature of folklore. “This woman looks like me, she could be me, and she feels beautiful. When you look at that you can see that, and that is what I wanted to convey,” she told participants in the Transforming Spaces tour. Even before the exhibition, the entire series had been sold. “I was so shocked about the pieces going as well as they did, especially them being sold. I was really excited about the reaction and the feedback that I got about the body of work because it was near to my heart and it was something that I felt a lot of people could relate to and grow from,” she told Tribune Weekend. “What I gathered and what was said to me was that they got it and they appreciated it and they
“The women who have influenced my life have been strong women; that is what I gravitate to.” were thankful for it. They appreciated me unapologetically showing this message. I was very happy about that and that was the main thing I hoped the audience gathered from it. When people admire your work enough to actually pay for it, it is also a blessing.” The success of the paintings has inspired her to consider being her own muse. “I am at a place where I am more confident to do selfportraits. My muse (from Instagram) looks like me; she was relatable to me, so I can see me doing more self-portrait work,” she said. “I have done it with my face, but my actual body, I’m opening myself to actually do that work more.”
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Thursday, April 18, 2019
holidays
Easter baskets for the entire family
By CARA HUNT Tribune Features writer | cbrennen@tribunemedia.net
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aster baskets are generally considered a treat for children to enjoy during the holiday weekend. But with all the giftgiving options out there, and using just a spark of creativity, there is no reason they can’t be fun for the entire family. After all, who doesn’t love an excuse dig through a basket to find delicious chocolates, Easter candy like jelly beans or Peeps, and maybe even some surprises. For the younger members of the families and the babies who obviously don’t eat chocolate or candies, a great idea that would fit inside a plastic egg are cute hair accessories for girls and socks for both boys and girls. Add a small plush bunny or chick and some goldfish (the cracker kind) or some other baby snack and a cute bib or onesie, and you have a practical and appropriate gift that is perfect for the season. When it comes to older children, a great option is to place their items in a container that they can use all year round. Save the Easter vibe for the contents and select holding items such as handbags or hair containers (remember those caboodle containers from the 90s? They are making a comeback.) Boys may love a toy dump truck filled with treats they can enjoy for
months after the Easter bunny is long gone. Fill it with the candies and chocolates of their choice and then select a few items specific to their interest, maybe Pokémon cards or Hot Wheels cars, or perhaps baseball caps and sunglasses for those “cool kids”. For girls, LOL Surprise! Dolls are a great fit because they already kind of look like Easter eggs. Barbie and other doll accessories are a great add-in and fashion items like bags, hair decorations, glitter nail polish and lip gloss will make them feel quite grown. Buying for adults can be just as fun. The drinkers in your life will enjoy a bottle of their favourite wine or cognac. For men, consider a beer and pretzel themed basket with paraphernalia from his favourite team. Or it can be “rosé all day” for the women in your life with a nice wine bottle, a personalised glass and some fancy candy or chocolate. Other items to include in adult baskets are perfume/colognes, fine cheeses and deli meats. A great final gift: through in some gift certificates. Think spa days, movie passes, dinner treats or passes to places like Ardastra Gardens. We hope these ideas are enough to help you fill any basket for your loved ones that they can enjoy this Easter and beyond.
An Easter basket can include anything you can imagine.
The perfect beauty basket by Martha Stewart
A basket for baby
Choose deli meats and specialty cheeses for a gourmet Easter basket
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jewellery
Diving deep for inspiration By ALESHA CADET | Tribune Features writer | acadet@tribunemedia.net
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elieve it or not, but it was an unusually large crawfish head left over from a meal that inspired Ryan Dean to finally start his own jewellery-making business. Now, the father-of-one often uses materials that others discard, mostly from the sea, to make unique necklaces and other accessories. Ryan has always had an artistic side that came out to play every once in a while; whether it was drawing, painting or simply taking photographs of people in his spare time, With no training apart from an elective class taken in high school, Ryan’s creative skills nevertheless advanced over the years. A progression that eventually led to his establishing the jewellery company Ry’lani Designs. “When I started the jewellery side of things the response I got pushed me to really make an actual business of it because of the uniqueness of
the work and the quality. So with the some help and encouragement I put my mind to it and it came to life,” Ryan told Tribune Weekend. A combination of his and his daughter’s middle name, Leilani, Ryan came up with the perfect name for his brand. As for choosing his signature style for the design of his Ry’lani pieces, Ryan said his love of seafood had something to do with it. It was after eating a crawfish dish that he decided to keep the crawfish head, as it was huge. “Looking at it one day I figured there had to be something I can do with it and I just started cutting pieces off and letting the flow go, and soon enough I had a necklace and earrings. And from there it was just me wondering what else I could use to create. I went through a coconut shell phase, sea glass, conch shell, and then the conch claw and other pieces. When starting with the conch claws, they were actually collected
Thursday, April 18, 2019
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from garbage cans and discarded areas at Potter’s Cay Dock,” said Ryan. With the help and connections of local conch stalls, Ryan was able to get more raw material for his work. Soon he was participating in his first public event, the Tru Tru Bahamian Festival in 2018, to showcase his designs. The reception at the festival, he said, was amazing, and really assured him that he was on the right track. Today, Ry’lani Designs offers handmade, personalised necklaces for men and women. Also offered are various sets, bracelets, rings, cufflinks men, lapel pieces for both men and women, hair pieces, keychains and tie pins. All pieces can be customised per a client’s request. “If they see a design they like but want the wire wrapping to be done in a different colour or something, it can be done. Also, if someone has an idea of something they want, I can also collaborate with them and design a piece specifically for them. Most of the time the feedback is shock and surprise. I think because there are so many jewellery designers in the market, sometimes people think that if you see one, you’ve seen all, because all are the same. But when people actually look a bit harder, they do a double take and always say, ‘Wow, this is different’ and say they never knew you could use the materials I use in such a beautiful way. It really does depict the beauty of the Bahamas and the talent and drive that is present in so many,” said Ryan. He continues to be inspired by his environment, and by his threeyear-old daughter Aria. “Even though there have been a lot of struggles in my life and parts that I wish could be redone or never happened, (Aria) is one blessing that has kept me here and going. She gives me the reason and motivation to continue to grow and improve and be better, not only as an artist, but to develop as a man and a father,” said Ryan. RyLani Designs is expected to make appearances at Summerfication, the Agri-fest, the Junkanoo Summer Fest, Jollification, and various other pop-up events.
“As I confirm, I will put the info up on my Instagram page @rylanidesigns. This is also where persons can see updated designs and contact me for any inquiries or design options. Or they can e-mail me at rylanidesigns@gmail. com,” he said.
Jewellery inspired by the sea from RyLani Designs
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Thursday, April 18, 2019
music
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HILE many of us will be hitting the gym and doing weights to get that perfect beach body, Bahamian rapper Rashad Germain will be doing a different type of heavy lifting in preparation for the season. He is currently busy dropping as many bars in the studio as he can for his upcoming album, expected to debut in mid-Summer. Creating musical content for “The Imperial Island” album is the top priority for Rashad, also known as S B Dread. The inspiration behind the record, he said, is New Providence itself and he will give his unique perspective on life on this island. “It’s based on my experiences on this rock and how they shaped me into the person I am today,” he told Tribune Weekend. “It’s going to feature a handful of different sounds. I experimented with and tried to fuse traditional Bahamian music, dancehall and kompa into some of the songs. I want the project to sound like Nassau from my perspective. I hope that makes sense to people.” So far Rashad has released three singles from the project, including “Permanent Muse”, “God Spare Life” and “Bub”. They are all currently gaining traction on various local radio stations. He has also been collaborating with other local talent to help make
The ‘Trap Mogul’
prepares to drop hip hop album with a twist
By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer | jgibson@tribunemedia.net the album materialise in the way he envisions. “All of those records were done by local producers. ‘Permanent Muse’ was produced by PC & Freddie GotStykz, ‘God Spare Life’ was produced PC, and ‘Bub’ was done by T Rexx,” he said. And he has received a resounding positive response from his listeners. “I’ve had people reach out to me just to tell me they love what I’m doing with my music and to keep going. I’ve had people sharing my music on social
envisions as much more than just clothing line, but a movement of sorts. Officially launched in 2014, the street wear brand’s major inspiration has been hip hop culture. From a very young age, Rashad said he has been interested in all things hip hop, including the music, fashion and movies. He said he tried to find out what brands his favourite rappers were wearing with the hope of purchasing the same clothing. However, being just a teenager at the time, he was not able to afford the clothes his stars were donning, so he started his own designs. Today, he continues to let hip hop culture inspired both this fashion and his music. “The main thing that’s up next for me is dropping my album. But in the meantime I have a few dope things lined up, like a YouTube web series that’s going to help promote the project, vlogs, and getting some merch done to go along with the album around the time of its release,” he said.
media, streaming it on the different streaming platforms, and even purchasing songs on iTunes,” he said. “The group of supporters that I’ve been able to gain might not be as big as some of the other more well-known acts, but all the love that they’ve shown my music at this point is truly appreciated.” Rashad has always had a deepseated fascination for all things hip hop. Several years ago he started the Trap Mogul fashion brand, which he
The cover art for the single “Permanent Muse”.
man, Rashad Ger ad re D B S a ak
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awards
Fashion and entertainment greats to be honoured with
new event
Media personality Clint Watson
Designer Charlene Elliot
Photographer Donald Knowles
Model Melisha
Make-up artist Italia Wilson
Model Jordan Simmons
By ALESHA CADET Tribune Features writer | acadet@tribunemedia.net
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ahamian fashion entrepreneur and instructor Oilinsha Coakley is presenting the first Grand Fashion Icon Achievers Awards on April 28 at the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas. For years, Mr Coakley has hosted a fashion show experience under the name Xzotica Fashion Weekend as a part of his Supermodel of the Bahamas and Super Talent of the Bahamas brands. Over the years, the event became a platform for aspiring artists, designers, models and creatives to showcase their work for both local and international patrons. He was able to gain international recognition for his organisation through worldwide networking. So this year, he is turning his fourth annual Xzotica Fashion Weekend into an awards show to honour those he considers Bahamian fashion and entertainment icons. The event will recognise one fashion designer, one fashion photographer, one makeup artist, one hair stylist, one media anchor, and one beauty queen who has excelled in their craft for more than 20 years. Honorees will include media personality Clint Watson, photographer
Donald Knowles, make-up artist Italia Wilson, community leader Bishop Lawrence Rolle, and others. These top achievers will receive awards in recognition of their work and professionalism. “Each year, attendees look forward to the ever popular event inspired to by those who have been trendsetters; who have led the way for contemporary artists in their respective fields. It’s this edge that persons have come to expect from our annual production. This is the country’s first fashion award show that honours legends as well as movers and shakers in the fashion, art and entertainment industries,” said Mr Coakley. Highlights of the evening will include special guests and international model appearances as a part of a networking opportunity for Bahamian talent participating in the Xzotica extravaganza. Additionally, well-known designers such as such Charlene Elliot and Sabrina Francis will also be taking part. For more information, contact 525-2986 or check out the Facebook page at Xzotica Fashion Weekend Fashion Icon Achievers Award.
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film
Crowds go hog wild for ‘Pigs in Paradise’ Exclusive US premiere receives rave reviews
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ort Lauderdale, Florida – The swimming pigs were front and centre recently when a film on the global phenomenon screened at the Savor Cinema event to a sold-out crowd. A bucket list sensation known around the world, these famous pigs inhabit their own island in the Exumas. And now, they have their very own full-length film, “Pigs of Paradise”, based on a book by author T R Todd. Fort Lauderdale’s finest packed Savor Cinema for the exclusive US premiere, featuring pigtini-themed cocktails by Touch Vodka, rum tastings with the Island Rum Company, designer limited edition Minuty Rose, Squealing Pig wines from New Zealand, decadent appetisers by Andy’s Live Fire Grill and pink cupcake towers by Sweeter Days. Guests also engaged in an intimate Q&A with the both the director of the film and the book’s author. Both luxurious and light-hearted, the evening’s tone was set early on when Petunia the Pig, from Marando Farms & Ranch, walked the red carpet with local businessman and philanthropist, Steve Savor.
“Such a fabulous event,” said Beatriz Miniaci, who was one of around 200 people at the premiere. “I learned so much about Exuma from the movie. It was very well done.” The film, by Bahamian-American director Charlie Smith, sheds lights on an attraction that has captured the imagination of millions of people worldwide. From appearances in magazines, to television shows, to newspapers, to countless social media posts, the swimming pigs of the Bahamas continue to captivate the imagination and be seen a converted experience in one of the most pristine and beautiful places in the world. “One of my goals for the film was to take it beyond just the swimming pigs,” said Ms Smith. “I wanted to tell the full story of their origins, and how these amazing creatures, started completely by accident, became such a globally known tourism attraction. Beyond that, my goal was to really give the audience a flavour of the people and these islands, how they lived back then versus today, and really show off the island’s beauty.” After a successful screening in Fort Lauderdale, the film will now tour around the United States, Canada
and Europe at select film festivals and events. Gregory von Hausch, president and CEO of the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival (FLIFF), called the screening a “huge success”. The film is also expected to screen at the actual festival this coming November. “I am also excited to announce that there is a FLIFF on location being planned for Exuma this summer, at Grand Isle Resort,” said Mr von Hausch. “We hope to make a formal announcement very soon.”
FLIFF served as a key partner among more than a dozen local and international sponsors. The event was also hosted and supported by the Bahamas Consul General of Miami and the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism. Proceeds from the screening will benefit FLIFF and a new scholarship fund for a Bahamian student to study at Nova Southeastern University’s Guy Harvey Oceanographic Centre.
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fashion
Highlights from NY bridal fashion week
AP Photos/Frank Franklin II
Ines Di Santo
Reem Acra
Vera Wang
Vera Wang
Reem Acra
Reem Acra
NEW YORK (AP) — There was a church wedding with a Madonna soundtrack, a sit-down tea at a fancy Midtown hotel, and yards and yards of tulle and trains at April bridal fashion week in New York. Several dozen designers hosted the media and buyers for appointments or put together runway shows and presentations for the twice-yearly celebration of bridal dressing, this time featuring looks for spring 2020.
Reem Acra
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Thursday, April 18, 2019
celebrity
“Little” Premiere
With Karin Herig and Cara Hunt
HIT
FAIL
SPLIT
SPLIT
FAIL
Marsai Martin
Regina Hall
Issa Rae
Skai Jackson
Janelle Monae
Karin says: “Just 14 and already so stylish. The flamingo pink is gorgeous on her and makes up for any failings the dress has, such as the severe high-low cut and the overabundance of chiffon tiers...there is is just a lil’ too much going on. But she looks confident and pulls it off.” Cara says: “I have to disagree with Karin, I really love it. It’s youthful and fun enough that she can pull it off with aplomb. I think a wee problem is that the bodice is too baggy; it should have been fitted to her waist a bit more. But I think it’s cute and I love her young but big girl ponytail.”
Karin says: “She looks good, but in the end it’s just a pretty robe she’s wearing. Sure, it’s probably comfy, but it also seems a bit lazy. The gold and silver pattern is nice, but I hate those micro pleats on the skirt. All in all it’s just not that thrilling.” Cara says: “The best part of this dress is the fact that the fabric is really pretty. Honestly, I think celebs just think a plunging neckline is enough to make up for lack of style and effort, because this dress is just boring and hanging on her.”
Karin says: “I like the makeup and her unusual braid situation. The dress... well, it kinda works as a look. It seems she was going for a cosplay of a character; maybe an 80s movie android á la Rachel in ‘Blade Runner’.” Cara says: “Those sleeves are saying something...I’ve not figured out what exactly, but it’s a look. I’m on the fence here. I don’t hate it. As for her hair, I would have to see it from the back to determine if I like it, because those stray braids look a bit weird from the front.”
Karin says: “I’m really not a fan of these dresses that just have these huge flower-esque ruffles on them, taking up 90 percent of the dress, especially not in this cheap looking material. It shouldn’t really work, but she does look cute. I think the bright green colour has a lot to do with it.” Cara says: “This dress has several things wrong with it. One, it’s a vomit green colour. Two, it’s a very cheap looking fabric. And three, the proportions. The ruffles are too big for her and the dress is too short; it misses the mark completely.”
Karin says: “Looks like Janelle was feeling her own ‘Little’ fantasy and going back to school with this outfit. It’s cute and all, but I think she’s just a tad bit too mature to properly pull it off. In general, I’m not a fan of grown women imitating the school girl uniform look, even if they are as stylish as Janelle.” Cara says: “It’s a bit circus ringmaster meets school girl, isn’t it? I’m not a huge fan of this look. It’s just a bit of a costume rather than a style statement. It doesn’t quite come together for me. This time around Janelle has actually disappointed me.”
PHOTOS/RICHARD SHOTWELL/INVISION/AP)
The Weekend Fashion Report
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books
Review:
‘The Peacock Emporium’ reminds us to live in the now
S
uzanna Peacock’s marriage can only be described as stagnant. After financial troubles require her and her husband to move back to her hometown, she welcomes a much needed distraction by opening up a shop in the busy marketplace. It is here that Jojo Moyes sets the stage for an array of colourful characters to
Review: Gorgeous novel explores adopting a foster child With breathtaking brevity, Rachel Howard’s debut novel, “The Risk of Us,” illuminates the joys, challenges, fears and frustrations of adopting a foster child. And while she delves into the minutiae of “the system” and the differences of opinion about
impact Suzanna’s life in “The Peacock Emporium.” Athene Forster is a beautiful, rich, wild child who never met a challenge she didn’t accept or a rule she didn’t break. Known as “the last deb,” Athene takes great pleasure in toying with the emotions of her many suitors, but only one is deemed lucky enough
to finally catch the eye of the illustrious Athene. Douglas Fairley-Hulme considered himself the happiest man on the earth when Athene agreed to be his bride. But two years into their marriage, Athene leaves Douglas on a whim, ultimately sending him into a deep depression after hearing the news of her death. parenting styles, her deceptively thin volume is about much more than plunging into parenthood. Howard masterfully illuminates how parenthood manages to bend even the most solid of marriages and expose insecurities about past relationships, including those from childhood. In “The Risk of Us,” the unnamed narrator and her husband, Sebastian, choose sevenyear-old, Maresa, “a brown-haired gremlin with arms flung like she could fly off the page” from a binder labelled “Children Available.” They spend the next year learning about Maresa, themselves and each other as well as the clearly dysfunctional foster care system in California. Howard’s first book was a memoir, which isn’t surprising given the pages of her novel brim with emotion and vulnerability. She and her husband also are the adoptive parents of a former foster child.
Three decades later, Athene’s daughter Suzanna stares at the portrait of her mother that sits against a wall in The Peacock Emporium. It’s a constant reminder that she doesn’t fully belong to her family, even though her father and his wife love her dearly. Instead of processing through these complicated emotions, Suzanna throws herself into the shop, intently listening as her employee Jessie delights customers with her charm and wit. Although she keeps a low profile, there is one who sees straight through Suzanna. Alejandro’s sensitive personality makes it easy for Suzanna to open up without even trying. She confides in her new friend about her need to be independent, her desire for “something” to change, and the heaviness she feels caused by her late mother’s shadow. “The Peacock Emporium” is full of unexpected twists and turns that prompt the reader consider his or her own past. Whatever challenges you may have experienced, the details of that time do not have to dictate the present. Remember what happened, but more importantly, live in the now. LINCEE RAY Associated Press Howard’s writing has a unique rhythm that feels choppy, even disjointed at first, but as the reader adjusts, her phrasing and word choices make each page sing. Not a single word is wasted here. There’s no bloat. Her writing is spare and elegant, yet it beautifully conveys intensity and emotional depth. When the narrator comforts her husband: “My lamb. Salty wet face, closed eyes. Writhing side to side... And then his chest is heaving against my cheek, and the sound we are making is called a sob.” When Maresa throws a tantrum: “I am not baffled by this screaming girl, but my comprehension is no help. She is retching, she is shaking, she is spitting up bile.” The only misstep comes near the end of the novel after what’s called “the day of the policeman” and the parents reconsider adopting Maresa. But it’s a small lapse in a simply gorgeous novel. KIM CURTIS Associated Press
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lifestyle
A dive in to the mermaid community TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Last year, Shir Katzenell made a drastic life change, leaving a prestigious job in the Israeli army to pursue a childhood dream: becoming a mermaid. Ever since getting hooked on Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” as a kid, Katzenell confided, she has longed to turn into one. While her friends moved on, Katzenell’s enchantment with mermaids endured. She fantasised about swimming underwater alongside fish in a 10-pound tail and sequined bikini. Then she actually gave it a try. As it turns out, she’s not the only one. Together with a friend and fellow mermaid-fan, Michelle Koretsky, she started an unlikely social scene: a group of aspiring mermaids in Israel, which has grown on Facebook to nearly 1,000 members. It’s the Israeli pocket of a worldwide community that she claims is gaining prominence. “It was a crazy revelation,” said Katzenell. “I realised I was part of something big.” Now, as a 34-year-old “full-time mermaid,” she sells brightly-coloured tails, some with dizzying $800 price tags, and teaches people the skill of swimming in them. The tail-clad group convenes regularly to romp in public pools across the country and participate in demonstrations to raise awareness about ocean preservation. “Some come because they’re just interested or feel a special connection to the water. Others because they really dream of becoming mermaids,” Katzenell said. “They’ve often been embarrassed, told they were weird or
crazy. But here they can find people who understand them.” On a recent night at a Tel Aviv pool, dozens of mermaid enthusiasts slipped on their shimmering skin. Huddled on deck, they chatted about the latest developments in mermaid culture, including “The Little Mermaid” remake release date, silicone tail costs and relevant book recommendations. They glided through the water and splashed around, their glittery tails slapping against the surface. One of the clan’s few mer-men, Yuval Avrami, marvelled at how his fabric fin flitted in the water, describing it as a “dream come true.” He said he learned about the trend through transgender friends and became fascinated by “the transition from one species to another, the ability to inhabit a new, magical identity.” Another member, an aerobics instructor named Udi Frige, said he had been swimming in the sea with his legs pressed together for decades, imitating mermaid choreography from the hit movie “Splash.” Frige, 39, compared confessing his mermaid obsession to coming out in the LGBT community. “It’s my thing, it’s unique, it’s who I am,” he said. “It requires lots of difficult explanation, especially if people don’t know me.” For others, it’s just a source of innocent joy. “When I’m flying through the water with my tail, I forget all my worries,” said Koretsky, the community coleader. “For that second, I’m a child again. I’m free.” ODED BALILTY and ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press
Michelle Koretsky, a member of the Israeli mermaid community, poses for a portrait as she wears a mermaid tail at her home in Ra’anana, Israel. (AP Photos/Oded Balilty)
Shir Katzenell and her son Erez at their home in Or Akiva, Israel.
Adi Kazav, left, and Lied Adi Hagbi pose for a portrait at their home in Netanya, Israel.
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gardening
Easter in bloom The Easter lily
There are lilies, orchids, and even cacti with which to celebrate and beautify the season, says Jack Hardy
D
id you start thinking Easter would never come this year? It has been a long school term for our children. Easter Sunday is calculated as the first Sunday after the first full moon
following the vernal equinox, which is usually March 21. If the vernal equinox occurs on a Saturday then the next day is Easter Sunday, so the earliest possible date for Easter is March 22. This year, a full moon occurred the day before the vernal equinox so we had a long wait. The latest date Easter can occur is April 25. The plant nurseries have had plenty of time to get their Eater stock in and the favourite every year is the Easter lily (Lillium longiflorum). These are borne from bulbs and have large trumpet-like flowers that stand at right angle to the stem and all face a different direction. The flowers are white with lemon interiors. If you buy these lilies as Easter plants you can put them into the ground when Easter has faded away and look forward to them reappearing next year and many subsequent years. Lots of plants have Easter as part of their name. The Easter lily vine (Beaumontia grandiflora) is a popular vine in the Bahamas and bears very similar trumpet-like flowers as the Easter lily and is probably the reason for its name. Beaumontia is a rampant vine that quickly covers walls and small buildings. The leaves are like those of frangipani, to which it
is related. The vine bear best during the summer months and can take full sun or light shade. The Easter tree (Holarrhena antidysenterica) is related to Beaumontia and bears five-petalled pure white flowers. The leaves clearly indicate that it is closely related to frangipani and it is a shrub rather than a tree. It bears its flowers over a long season. Remember the Christmas cactus? Guess what nurseries call it at Easter time? You got it. Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri usually comes in a small hanging basket because its short segmented branches tend to spill over the edge of any pot in a very attractive way. The traditional red flowers now come in many colours and I particularly like ivory. The Easter cactus is very easy to propagate. Nip off a branch of two or three segments and bury half the lower leaf in fine potting mix. Mist regularly at the early stage and you will soon have well rooted sturdy plants that may or may not decide to flower at a celebratory time of year. The Easter lily cactus (Echinopsis multiplex) is a small barrel cactus that produces flowering shoots that are held
The Easter orchid erect from the barrel. The flowers are whitish pink, each one half as long again as the parent plant, which is a native of Brazil. From Venezuela comes the Easter orchid (Cattleya mossiae) which is a classic cattleya with pink flowers, the central tip edged with yellow. In Venezuela it is called Flor de Mayo which suggests it blooms a little later than Eastertime. The association of Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia milii) with Easter is obvious. The rather droopy stems of the plant are thick with spines and produce inflorescences of red and pink flowers. A dwarf form is called Christ Thorn and is distinguished by the thorns on the stem being arranged in a spiral fashion. The Spanish colonisers of Central America were rather perplexed by the naughty local name given to passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) by the natives, and the priests accompanying the soldiers sought to find one that was more wholesome. They saw the corona as
the crown of thorns, the five stamens as Christ’s wounds, and the three styles as the nails of the cross. A little tenuous, but they were happy to call it passion flower and the name remains to this day. Passion flowers grow on rampant vines that can extend many tens of feet from the planting site. The vines tend to grow high into the bowers of nearby trees and the beautiful flowers give way to yellow or purple fruits that have a thick skin enclosing a mass of tasty seedy pulp. The fruits drop when ripe and are harvested from the ground. It is said that the pulp tastes best when the outer skin becomes slightly wrinkled. There are many types of Passiflora and the flowers can be marked in purple, blue, lavender, pink, and red. A single flower can be floated on a little water in a large cognac snifter for decoration at the table. • For queries and comments e-mail jacktribune242@gmail. com
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literary lives – hans christian andersen
Father of fairy tales Sir Christopher Ondaatje writes about the Danish author who wrote some of the most treasured stories of the past two centuries, and is best remembered for his fairy tales.
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ans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark, on April 2, 1805. He was the only son of a cobbler who introduced Andersen to literature, particularly the Arabian Nights. His mother was a washerwoman. “He was an awkward, dreary youth who imagined a theatrical career for himself and left home for Copenhagen when he was fourteen. He suffered a period of privation before being rescued by patrons who sponsored his education and allowed him to immerse
himself in two transformative activities: travel and writing. The latter brought him acclaim, first as a novelist and later, resoundingly and lastingly, as an author of tales for children, the first volume of which he published in 1835. – James Mustich, “1,000 Books to Read Before You Die” Andersen’s mother, Anne Marie Andersdatter, was an illiterate washerwoman. When her husband died in 1816, she remarried in 1818. She sent her son to a local school for poor children where he received a basic education, but had to support himself by working as an apprentice to a weaver and later to a tailor. He left for Copenhagen to seek employment as an actor. He had an excellent soprano voice and was accepted into the Royal Danish Theatre, but had to leave when his voice changed. However, Jonas Collin, director of the Royal Danish Theatre, sent Andersen to a grammar school in Slagelse, persuading King Frederick VI to pay part of his educational fees. He published his first story, “The Ghost at Painatoke’s Grave”, when he was 17. Later he was sent to a school in Elsinore, where he lived in the schoolmaster’s house. They were, he later said, the unhappiest of his life. It is probable that he was abused there. Another story, “The Tallow Candle”, was also written in the 1820s, about a candle that did not feel appreciated. It was only discovered in 2012 in a Danish archive. Andersen’s short story, “A Journey on Foot from Holmen’s Canal to the East Point of Amager”, was published in 1829 to some success. The story introduced the budding author’s fantasy for the first time – its protagonist meeting characters ranging from Saint Peter to a talking cat. However, his writing made him little money until he received a small grant from the King which enabled him to set out on the first of many journeys through Europe.
He wrote “Agnete and the Merman” in Switzerland, and “The Bay of Fables” in the Italian seaside village of Sestri Levante. His first novel, a fictionalised autobiography “The Improvisatore” was published in 1835 and won him instant fame and did much to promote his literary career. “Despite his success as a writer, Andersen remained something of a social misfit with a gift for alienating even his friends, ... No doubt Andersen’s loneliness inspired the affection for outcasts and sorry souls that distinguished many of his beloved tales such as ‘The Ugly Ducking’, ‘The Little Match Girl’ and ‘The Steadfast Tin Soldier’.” Andersen’s first attempts at writing fairy tales were only revisions of stories that he had heard when he was a child. The first two instalments of his “Fairy Tales” were published in
Hans Christian Andersen in 1836
1835. More stories were published in 1837 and included “The Tinderbox”, “The Princess and the Pea”, “Thumbelina”, “The Little Mermaid” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. These stories did not sell well. He had more success with his two novels “OT” (1836) and “Only a Fiddler” (1837). Much of his work was influenced by the Bible – an important element in Danish culture. In 1837, after a visit to Sweden, Andersen wrote a poem “Jeg er en Skandinav” (I am a Scandinavian) which captured the Nordic spirit of Swedes, Danes and Norwegians. Composer Otto Lindblad set the poem to music. He returned to publishing fairy tales in 1838 with “Fairy Tales Told for Children” which contained “The Daisy” and “The Wild Swans”. “New Fairy Tales” (1844) contained “The Nightingale” and “The Ugly Duckling”. This
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Some of Hans Christian Andersen’s most famous fairy tales. was followed by New Fairy Tales (1845) which included “The Snow Queen”. Four translations of Andersen’s fairy tales were published in England in 1845 – a huge breakthrough for him. “The Little Mermaid” was published in Bentley’s Miscellany, and a flattering review appeared in The Athenænum in 1846. Andersen continued to write fairy tales until 1872. It is estimated that 3,381 of his stories have been translated into more than 125 languages. His tales have inspired ballets, plays, and animated and live action films. He continued to travel widely and published several long travelogues combining documentary and descriptive accounts of the sights he saw which included philosophical passages, and even some fairy tales. There has always been speculation about Andersen’s private life. His early journals record his refusal to have sexual relations. He often fell in love with unattainable women. Riborg Voigt was the unrequited love of Andersen’s youth. A long letter from her was found in a small pouch on Andersen’s chest when he died. Other disappointments include Sophie Ørsted and Louise Collin, the daughter of his benefactor Jonas Collin. One of his stories, “The Nightingale”, was about his passion for Jenny Lind, the great soprano. However, she merely treated him as if he were a favoured brother. He also experienced same-sex love with Edvard Collin, Jonas Collin’s son, to whom he wrote: “I languish for you as for a pretty Calabrian wench ... The femininity of my nature and our friendship must remain a mystery.” Collin was unable to respond to Andersen’s passion. He was also infatuated with the Danish dancer Harald Scharff, as well as the young hereditary duke of Sax-Weimar-Eisenach – neither of which resulted in any relationship.
Anne Klara Bom and Anya Aarenstrup of the H C Andersen Centre of University of Southern Denmark have been quoted as saying: “It is correct to point to the very ambivalent (and also very traumatic) elements in Andersen’s emotional life concerning the sexual sphere, but it is decidedly just as wrong to describe him as homosexual and maintain that he had physical relationships with men. He did not. Indeed that would have been entirely contrary to his moral and religious ideas ... Many instead believe that rather than being heterosexual or homosexual, Andersen was bisexual, having romantic feeling for both sexes but most likely being celibate his whole life.” In the spring of 1872, Andersen fell out of his bed and was severely hurt. He never recovered. He also showed signs that he had liver cancer. He died in August 1875 in a house called Rolighed – the home of his close friends, the bankers Moritz Melchior and his wife. His body was interred in the Assistens Kirkegård in the Nørrebro area of Copenhagen. However his gravestone was moved to another cemetery known today as Frederiksbergs ældre Kirkegaard, where the younger Collin family members, Edvard Collin and Henrietta Collin, are buried. Their graves are unmarked. One of Copenhagen’s widest and busiest boulevards is named H C Andersen Boulevard. In 1952, the Hollywood film “Hans Christian Andersen” was made starring Danny Kaye – a romantic fantasy on the storyteller’s life. • Sir Christopher Ondaatje is the author of ‘The Last Colonial’. He acknowledges that he has quoted liberally from Wikipedia and ‘Hans Christian Andersen: The Life of a Storyteller’ by Jackie Wullschläger.
Photograph taken by Thora Hallager, 1869
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television LOS ANGELES (AP) — When the last drop — or gallon — of blood is shed and an exultant victor has ascended to the Iron Throne, viewers may be split over how HBO’s fantasy saga ended but they’ll be joined in deprivation. “What do you do without ‘Game of Thrones?’” will be the lament heard after the May 19 finale, said media industry analyst Larry Gerbrandt. The question is even more critical to the pay-cable channel, which soared on dragon’s wings with its hugely popular, eight-season adaptation of George R R Martin’s novels. Keeping subscribers on board means more than another hit, even one as globally dazzling as “Game of Thrones” proved to be. “I think they need a prestige show on this level to remain HBO,” Bill Carter, a media analyst for CNN and former reporter for The New York Times. But “more than ever, it’s really hard to find a hit show and to break through in this marketplace.” Sunday’s season premiere underscored the point, with “Game of Thrones” drawing a series-high record of 17.4 million viewers on TV and streaming . It set a streaming record for HBO and reinforced its standing as one of television’s most popular shows. The channel is well into the hunt for a worthy successor, with one possibility an untitled prequel to “Game of Thrones” created by Martin and Jane Goldman and starring Naomi Watts. Set to begin shooting a pilot in June, it’s among several potential “Thrones” spinoffs being weighed, with discussions at HBO about “how many is too many,” said programming chief Casey Bloys. “We have high hopes” for the pilot, he said. “But I want to be clear, nobody is going into this thinking that we’re going to do a prequel and all of a sudden everybody who automatically watched ‘Game of Thrones’ is going to watch this. ... It’ll have a different feel and different rhythm. We’re not trying to do the same show again.” That begs the question of what more HBO has to offer, he said. During a period in which “Game of Thrones” was off the air for scheduling reasons, series including “Westworld,” ‘‘Sharp Objects” and “Barry” proved strong draws, Bloys said. “I’m not going to argue that we won’t miss ‘Game of Thrones.’ It’s been a fantastic show for us, but life does go on,” he said. He points to a deep bench of returnees, including
With 17.4 million viewers, the first episode of the final season of “Game of Thrones” was a record-breaker for the series and HBO.
HBO looks beyond ‘Game of Thrones,’ maybe back to a prequel Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon’s “Big Little Lies,” and newcomers including the graphic novel-based “Watchmen” from “Lost” producer Damon Lindelof. One marquee series that’s also in its final season: the much-admired comedy “Veep,” with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. At the turn of the century, popculture sensations “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City” boosted the channel’s visibility and subscribers and made it a serious player for prestige awards. After the shows wrapped,
the channel moved nimbly on with audience-pleasers including “Six Feet Under” and “True Blood.” But that was then, and this is the time of streaming — or, in shorthand, Netflix, along with a growing host of others including Amazon and Hulu — and a shoulder-bumping rush for stars and showmakers to churn out more and more fare for outlets already awash in programming. “It’s a very different competitive landscape for HBO than it was when they launched ‘Game of Thrones,’ and
they realise that. That’s why you see them ratcheting up their investments in their programming,” Tuna Amobi, a media and entertainment analyst with investment firm CFRA. “Game of Thrones,” which debuted in 2011, has flourished despite the confounding number of small-screen choices. From its first-season average weekly tally of 9.3 million cumulative viewers, the series rose to a seventhseason high of 32.8 million across all HBO platforms, including the channel itself and streaming services HBO Go and HBO Now and over a period extending 30 days beyond the season’s end. It benefited from the devoted following for Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” clutch of novels. It was richly and painstakingly produced, filmed in 10 countries including Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Morocco, Iceland and Canada. Its appealing cast became household names, and the female characters that grew in stature and strength as the drama unfolded are routinely namechecked as part of the female-empowerment zeitgeist. “Game of Thrones” can boast of its Emmy dominance as well, with 47 trophies to date including three best drama series awards. LYNN ELBER AP Television Writer
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film
S
ince Hailee Steinfeld rode into town in “True Grit,” we’ve been fairly blessed by the big-screen breakthroughs of teenage actresses. To name just a few: Anya Taylor-Joy (”The Witch”), Amandla Stenberg (”The Hate U Give”), Elsie Fisher (”Eighth Grade”). Add Marsai Martin to the list. And at just 14-years-old — 13 when the cameras rolled — she’s one-upped them all. Along with starring in “Little,” Martin is also an executive producer, the youngest credited in Hollywood history. She is, quite literally, a boss. And Martin, a tiny tyrant beneath a Diana Ross-sized afro, is the number one reason to see “Little.” The movie, itself, is a middling “Big”-styled body-swap comedy. But it’s elevated considerably the verve and charisma of its cast, which also features Issa Rae and Regina Hall. But there’s a special pleasure in seeing someone front-and-centre for the first time that you know is going to hold the spotlight. Martin, the “blackish” star, helped conceive of “Little,” and the film, fittingly, is itself a kind of fable of self-empowerment. An enjoyably over-the-top Hall (playing a far crueller boss than her “Support the Girls” supervisor) stars as Jordan Sanders, a high-powered executive who runs her Atlanta tech company with a Scrooge-level degree of abuse for all who encounter her, including her many employees and, most of all, her assistant, April (Rae). When Jordan insults a wand-wielding young girl (”You chocolate Hogwart!”), a spell is cast, and the next morning Jordan awakes as her 13-year-old self (Martin). The premise is overly familiar (”Freaky Friday,” ‘‘13 Going on 30”), but there’s an obvious twist. After a panicked Jordan summons April to her high-rise apartment for help, April refutes the movie’s very premise: “But that’s for white people.” Looking for answers, she quickly googles “Female Gary Coleman disease.” They’re good lines in a movie that could have used more of them. Child services (Rachel Dratch) is called in. Jordan is sent back to her old school where, as seen in a flashback that opens the movie, she initially resolved to become the bully rather than the bullied. Jordan introduces herself as the “new alpha” and makes eyes at her teacher (Justin Hartley), purring, “Teach me somethin’.” Just as Jordan will have to learn to soften, April will have to toughen.
Review:
‘Little’ heralds bigtime arrival of Marsai Martin Little | 109 minutes
Marsai Martin and Issa Rae in “Little”.
Marsai Martin as little Jordan Sanders When Jordan is small, April is thrust into running the company. While having as much of Rae, the gifted creator and star of “Insecure” is very welcome, director Tina Gordon Chism (screenwriter of “Drumline” and “What Men Want”), who co-wrote the film with Tracy Oliver, gets a little caught between story lines and tones. The comedy opportunities are riper for
“Little” in the classroom, but the movie ends up feeling more like a workplace comedy. Chism might have been better served daring more adult humour, or being content with the PG-13-rated “Little” as family entertainment. The pacing is sluggish when it should be quickening, and nothing in how “Little” turns out will surprise anyone. Yet the trio of Hall, Rae and Martin
makes “Little” a consistently pleasant experience. Martin isn’t just playing a version of her “black-ish” character, but is effectively channelling Hall’s performance in miniature. She’s going to be big. Rated PG-13. By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer
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history
Eight things you may not know about Leonardo da Vinci, on the 500th anniversary of his death (THE CONVERSATION) – This year marks the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death. Widely considered one of the greatest polymaths in human history, Leonardo was an inventor, artist, musician, architect, engineer, anatomist, botanist, geologist, historian and cartographer. Though his artistic output was small, Leonardo’s impact was great, reflecting his deep knowledge of the body, his extensive studies of light and the human face, and his sfumato (Italian for “smoky”) technique, which allowed for incredibly lifelike images. Leonardo regarded artists as divine apprentices, writing “We, by our arts, may be called the grandsons of God.” Twenty-first-century scholars at MIT ranked him the sixth most influential person who ever lived. Like Rembrandt and Michelangelo, he is so renowned that he is known by only his first name. Yet despite his fame, there are things about Leonardo that many people today find surprising. Shady parentage Leonardo was born out of wedlock on April 15, 1452. His father, Piero, was a wealthy notary, and his mother, Caterina, was a local peasant girl. Although the circumstances of his birth would place Leonardo at a disadvantage in terms of education and inheritance, biographer Walter Isaacson regards it as a terrific stroke of luck. Rather than being expected to become a notary like his father, Leonardo was instead free to develop the full range of his genius. People surmise that it also imbued him with a special sense of urgency to establish his own identity and prove himself. Physical beauty Leonardo created some of the world’s most beautiful works of art, including the “Last Supper” and the “Mona Lisa.” In his own day, he was known as an exceptionally attractive
person. One of Leonardo’s biographers describes him as a person of “outstanding physical beauty who displayed infinite grace in everything he did.” A contemporary described him as a “well proportioned, graceful, and goodlooking man” who “wore a rose-pink tunic” and had “beautiful curling hair, carefully styled, which came down to the middle of his chest.” Leonardo is thought to have entered into long-term and possibly sexual relationships with two of his pupils, both artists in their own right. From scraps to notebooks The paintings generally attributed to Leonardo number fewer than 20, while his notebooks contain over 7,000 pages. They’re the best source of knowledge about Leonardo, housed today in locations such as Windsor Castle, the Louvre and the Spanish National Library in Madrid. Their diverse content ranges across drawings – most famously, Vitruvian Man – notes of things he wanted to investigate, scientific and technical diagrams and shopping lists. They comprise perhaps the most remarkable monument to human curiosity and creativity ever produced by a single person. Yet when Leonardo penned them, they were just loose pieces of paper of different types and sizes. His friends bound them into “notebooks” only after his death. Outsider’s education As a result of his illegitimacy, Leonardo received a rather rudimentary formal education consisting primarily of business arithmetic. He never attended university and sometimes referred to himself as an “unlettered man.” Yet his lack of formal schooling also freed him from the constraints of tradition, helping to instill in him a determination to question authority and place greater reliance on his own experience than opinions expressed in books. As a result, he became a
firsthand observer and experimenter, uninterested in serving as a mouthpiece for the classics. Prolific procrastinator Although Leonardo’s mind was extraordinarily fertile, he was also an inveterate procrastinator and even quitter. He frequently took months or years to begin work on commissions, sometimes keeping patrons at bay with lofty pronouncements regarding his creative process. A giant equestrian statue for the duke of Milan, requiring 70 tonnes of bronze to cast, might have been his grandest work – if it had ever been completed. Yet a decade after the 1482 commission, Leonardo had produced only a clay model which was subsequently destroyed when invading French soldiers used it for target practice. Rivalrous motivations Leonardo’s life overlapped those of two other Renaissance giants – Michelangelo and Raphael – but it was Michelangelo who stoked an intense rivalry. The contrast between the two men could hardly have been sharper. Leonardo was elegant and evinced little interest in matters religious, while Michelangelo was deeply pious yet neglectful of his appearance and hygiene. Michelangelo created some of the greatest paintings in history, including the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and many considered his “David” the greatest sculpture ever produced, a triumph he lorded over his older rival. Royal admirer Soon after King Francis I of France captured Milan in 1516, Leonardo entered his service, spending the last years of his life in a house near the royal residence. When death came to Leonardo on May 2, 1519 at the age of 67, it is said that the king, who loved
to listen to Leonardo talk so much that he was hardly ever apart from him, cradled his head as he breathed his last. Years later, reflecting on his friendship with the great man, King Francis said, “No man possessed such a knowledge of painting, sculpture, or architecture as Leonardo, but the same goes for philosophy. He was a great philosopher.” Skyrocketing value In November 2017, one of the paintings attributed to Leonardo, “Salvator Mundi” (“Savior of the World”), set the record for the most expensive painting ever sold, fetching US$450 million. Painted in oil on walnut in about 1500, it depicts Jesus offering a benediction with his right hand while holding a crystalline orb that appears to represent the cosmos in his left. Just a half-century after Leonardo’s death, the biographer Vasari beautifully summed up his enduring significance: “In the normal course of events many men and women are born with remarkable talents; but occasionally, in a way that transcends nature, a single person is marvelously endowed by heaven with beauty, grace, and talent in such abundance that he leaves other men far behind, all his actions seem inspired, and indeed everything he does clearly comes from God rather than from human skill.” Five hundred years after Leonardo’s death, these words still ring true. • 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: http://theconversation.com. Richard Gunderman Indiana University
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history
New discoveries at Central Bank exhibit
R
ecently, I had the pleasure of meeting a young Bahamian who has a dream. He wants to establish a museum of all things Bahamian and he already has a refreshingly new collection of artefacts. Of course, this is right up my alley. The young man’s name is Israel Johnson and he is about to make a splash with an exhibition at the Central Bank of the Bahamas. I had hoped to participate in his exhibition, but I was unable to meet the deadline, because my wife and I are committed to attending the annual ‘All That Jazz’ festival in Eleuthera, which runs from April 10 through April 14. Israel’s exhibition is scheduled to open on April 15 and he hopes to have it open for one or two months. If you enjoy reading my weekly ‘Forgotten Facts’ articles, I’m sure you will enjoy the exhibition. I plan to be there as soon as I get back from Eleuthera.
The back and front a metal badge that may have belonged to a free person of colour in the Bahamas. Its actual size 50mm x 38mm. Israel already has a number of old documents, old stamps and items from the days of slavery, and his collection seems to grow continuously, yet he
finds time to search for things that reflect my ancestors’ presence in the Bahamas.
Forgotten facts | Paul C Aranha Right now, we are working together on a metal “badge” from the days of slavery, hoping to identify its origins and, if we can find it, the name of its original owner. We don’t know whether this badge was used in the Bahamas, but Michael Craton and Dr Gail Saunders wrote: “Each eligible freedman, moreover, was to wear a special metal badge, on one side of which would be inscribed the word ‘Free’ and the date and, on the other side, the freedman’s name and militia number.” Whittington Johnson wrote: “Since all free people of colour were required to register before receiving badges, which they were required to wear, the Census Taker used to Police Book, in which this information was kept, to gather information on the number of free persons of colour.” It is likely that Bahamian badges were made of copper. We have not been able to track down the Police Book and it appears likely that it no longer exists. We wonder what else was recorded in that book. If anyone recognises the badge, or any similar badges that were used in the Bahamas, Israel and I ask that you share the information with me, at the e-mail address below. • For questions and comments, e-mail islandairman@gmail.com
New human species found in Philippines MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Archaeologists who discovered fossil bones and teeth of a previously unknown human species that thrived more than 50,000 years ago in the northern Philippines said Thursday they plan more diggings and called for better protection of the popular limestone cave complex where the remains were unearthed. Filipino archaeologist Armand Salvador Mijares said the discovery of the remains in Callao Cave in Cagayan province made the Philippines an important research ground on human evolution. The new species is called Homo Luzonensis after the main northern island of Luzon, where the
remains were dug up starting in 2007. Beaming with pride, Mijares displayed the six fragments of bones from the feet, hands and thigh and seven teeth of three individuals from that bygone era in a news conference at the state-run University of the Philippines. Tests showed two of the fossil fragments had minimum ages of 50,000 years and 67,000 years, according to a study published by the scientific journal Nature. “This puts the Philippines, our scientific community in the spotlight,” Mijares said. “Before, we were just peripheral in this debate of human evolution.”
Armand Salvador Mijares shows a femur bone belonging to a new species they called Homo Luzonensis. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Mijares, who led a small team of foreign and local archaeologists behind the rare discovery, said he plans to resume the diggings next year and hopes to find larger fossil bones, artefacts and possibly stone tools used by people in those times. Aside from
Callao Cave, human fossils have recently been found in another site in Bulacan province just north of the capital, Manila, Mijares said without elaborating. Another veteran Filipino archaeologist, Eusebio Dizon, said the human remains from
Callao were the oldest to be found in the Philippines, predating those discovered in Tabon Cave on the western island of Palawan by thousands of years. The main exodus of modern man’s own species from Africa that all of today’s non-African people are descended from took place around 60,000 years ago. Analysis of the bones from the Callao caves led the study authors to conclude they belonged to a previously unknown member of our “Homo” branch of the human family tree. One of the toe bones and the overall pattern of tooth shapes and sizes differ from what’s been seen before in the Homo family, the researchers said. JIM GOMEZ Associated Press
Excellent: 8 mins Yesterday’s solution: BoXer (across) arena (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
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The Tribune | Weekend | 27
Thursday, April 18, 2019
animals
Lost and found pets Animal matters | KIM ARANHA
A
pet of the week
lmost daily we have a case of a lost dog and frantic owners scrambling and searching tirelessly for their fur baby who has gone missing. Alternatively, and just as frequently, we have found dogs and the finders are at a loss as to how to effectively and quickly reunite the bewildered animal with its family. In essence, you really can’t have a found dog without having a lost dog. Many dogs (and a few cats) are brought to the shelter. They are found roaming around, seemingly lost and confused, some with collars, some with bits of rope still attached, many with nothing, but given their condition we figure that they must have belonged to somebody. We settle them into the shelter, the adoption coordinator puts their information up on Facebook when she has assessed the animal. Meanwhile, the finders frequently put the information on their personal Facebook pages and Instagram accounts, asking people to keep sharing with the hopes of reaching the pet’s family. However, you would be absolutely amazed at how many of these animals never leave us with their original families. We keep them for 10
Some dog collars can be customised to include your dog’s name and your phone number. days. We do our best to find out if anybody knows them. We ask the different vets and groomers if they recognise the animal, and then if nobody steps forward, they are put up for adoption. Just imagine how scary and confusing that must be for a pet who somehow gets out of his home or garden and then ends up at the shelter after perhaps being hit by a car. He encounters all sorts of new people, smells, noises,
Jaunty Jackie
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and other dogs at the shelter. After the ordeal of being lost they get adopted into a new home and have to start all over again. It must be very stressful. But you ask yourself, where did they come from in the first place? Were they perhaps turned loose or abandoned? We will never know. Just the other night a small “house dog” (as people like to refer to small breeds, though my house dogs are 87 pounds) was hit on the road
and a wonderful, kind young man stopped and picked the dog up and rushed her to the shelter where she received medical evaluation, food, water and was put in the safety of a holding cage to be evaluated further in the morning. She was obviously well cared for, was even wearing a doggie T-shirt and a collar, so we knew she must have a family out there. She spent the night in the shelter until a third party recognised her on Facebook and alerted the family that the dog had been hit by a car and was at the shelter. Poor pup! That must have been a stressful and scary night. So much of this could be avoided, and the time between being picked up and getting back home could be shortened if people were more tuned in to contacting the BHS as soon as their animal is missing, and have a phone number on the dog’s collar, either a tag or write it on the collar with a sharpie. If there is a number to call, the person who finds the dog could call direct and the dog would never have to be admitted to the shelter. Tags are not expensive and I am a real believer in having all your pets with a tag or number on their collar. Now, before I get any further, when I mentioned this to a fellow
animal lover I was raked over the coals for having a photo of my beloved Chief on Facebook with no collar on. Yes, alas, he was naked, his cone was on the floor beside me, as I had taken it off to give him a few minutes of freedom. He had to have it on because of his reaction to the radiation. That was very thoughtless of me. He was inside the house, the house was locked and I have a six-foot wall, but I understand that sent a very negative message, and I stand corrected. As requested, I have set record straight here in my article! If you loose or find a dog, please phone the BHS at 323-5138 immediately. That helps put us in a position to unite the two: the poor, invariably frightened and confused animal can get back home and into the arms of the human he loves all the faster. Please always be the hero who stops and helps a frightened and lost pet. Approach them carefully, because they might misunderstand your advances; always call the Humane Society. Owners, please write your number on their collars or purchase a tag for their collars. A collar is nice, but the phone number is what will reunite you the quickest.
By THE BAHAMAS HUMANE SOCIETY
oor Jackie arrived at the Bahamas Humane Society with his sister, Stacey, but Stacey has since been adopted so Jackie is still awaiting his forever home. He’s about one year old and has a very sassy and alert personality. He’s good with other dogs, not so good with cats, and will be fine in a home with children. He could use some training as he’s young and smart. Do you
have a place for Jackie? If so, come into the BHS to meet him or call 323-5138 for more information. Adoption hours are 11am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, and 10am to 4pm on Saturday. Jackie hopes to meet you soon! • Planning ahead: Quiz Night is scheduled for May 7 and Tea at Jacaranda is planned for May 26.
PHOTO/PATRICIA VAZQUEZ
28 | The Tribune | Weekend
Thursday, April 18, 2019