6 minute read
2 3
from 10092020 WEEKEND
by tribune242
Weekend Inside
2 Photography
Advertisement
Beaches whose beauty is worth saving
4-5 Interview
Digital nomad Antoinette Butler-Smith
6 Puzzles 7 Food
School bus converted into restaurant
8-9 Entertainment
Where in the world is Wally returns
10 Culture
Big Bruh wants to take back the blocks
11 Gardening
Water matters
12-13 Literary Lives
The novelist who defined an American era
14 Forgotten Facts
Abaco parrots
15 Animals Hidden treasures
16 Art
Young artist catching the eye
07
My perfect Bahamian weekend
Anna Lewis Author
Q. What will you be binge watching?
“Lately I’ve been enjoying the Marvel Series ‘Luke Cage’ so I’ll be between that and ‘Blindspot’, Netflix and chill kinda weekend.”
Q. What’s your favourite weekend menu?
“Friday and Saturday are usually dubbed take-out days so we’ll probably order pizza or fish/conch snack. Now on Sunday we do the typical Bahamian Sunday meal, Fried Fish, Baked Pork Chops, Crab and rice, macaroni and Cole slaw, yes we make up for Friday and Saturday lol.”
Q. If you had to be quarantined with a celebrity who would it be and why?
“If I had to be quarantined with a celebrity it would be Michelle Obama because I would be delighted to finally speak with her on her experiences in her role as First Lady in the White house being a black woman especially given the times that we are in racially.”
Q. What do you miss most because of social distancing?
“I truly miss being able to travel freely especially on vacation without all of the COVID testing, masks wearing and social distancing. As a Bahamian, I consider our nationality very sociable, so not being able to embrace or even shake the hands of a stranger will take some getting use to.”
Q. If you could go anywhere in the world for a COVIDfree weekend where would it be and why?
“The perfect weekend for me not having to worry about COVID would be right here in the 242. I love my Bahamas. It’s Truly Better in The Bahamas.”
AKIA CAN’T STOP THE MUSIC
By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net
DISTANCE has no bearing on artists coming together to create hits. Bahamian artists Akia Knowles, who lives in Hong Kong, and Sketch Carey are proving this, having recently joined forces on the new sultry single “I Can’t Stop”.
Since the release of her Christmas EP, “Christmas at The Langham”, in 2018, Akia has been hard at work in the studio working on new music. The new song is a smooth R&B/Soul duet that captures the essence of love at first sight. “The story behind this song was inspired by my first love. I could not stop thinking about him. I could not eat. I could not sleep. I did not want to be away from him. He was constantly coaster. You will feel happy, sad, crazy, on my mind and I knew a lot of angry, resentment, hurt, closure, etc. people could relate to that feeling. “I bared my soul in this series,
“The giddiness and excitement that and you’ll understand the emotion of you experience where you cannot the love story I’m conveying.” stop thinking about them Akia is no stranger to working or cannot stop playing with producer Sketch as the fool for them is the they both collaborated in feeling,” she said. 2015 for her smash single
It is this concept “Broken Hearted”. and feeling the song “Sketch is always fun communicates that to collaborate with. I Akia believes makes ‘I Can’t Stop’ universal. AKIA Knowles have been working with him for over five years now.
“I think they can appreciate Every time we work together this single simply because it is so something magical happens. He is relatable. There are three more volumes quite the creative and great producer. to be released after ‘I Can’t Stop’. With It’s really good working with someone each volume, the idea behind it was to show the various emotions that were experienced in my personal story. I did not want to create a fairytale love story, because real life there are ups and downs, hurt, happiness, excitement, and pain. ‘Stories of Love’ in a nutshell is an emotional roller who pulls the best out of you.” Akia moved to Hong Kong earlier his year after residing in China where she was the resident singer at the Langham Hotel in Shanghai. Now she is carving her own path in Hong Kong in spite of the pandemic-induced lull in the industry. “Honestly because of COVID, it (musical scene in Hong Kong) is slightly non-existent right now. However, this worked out in my favour because it is boosted my popularity. I am one of the few artists that are doing live performances and that is only because of my ability to perform without a band. I am super grateful my mom forced me to play the piano. It has been my saving grace,” she said.
Adjusting to life in Hong Kong has been a walk in the park for the singer. “I look at Hong Kong as the perfect blend of The Bahamas and China. I use that analogy because I still get to experience island life (because Hong Kong is an Island) with beaches, shorts, and slippers yet I still have that metropolitan city living,” she said.
As for where the road leads her next, she said: “Time will tell.”
The new single is available on all music platforms. For more information, contact Edgy Management at
edgymanagementbahamas@ gmail.com or 813-8397.
Antoinette Butler-Smith
When the pandemic hit and forced people around the world to find a new way of working, Antoinette Butler-Smith was ahead of the game. She talks to Cara Hunt about her life as a digital nomad - and the health challenges that prompted her to find a new lifestyle.
SELF-proclaimed digital nomad Antoinette Butler-Smith was already a step ahead when it came to working remotely as the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
For the past eight years, she has worked as crypotrader and owner of a drop shipping company.
She also inspires others to lose weight through her healthy lifestyle programme.
And she has done it all from the comfort of her home and her laptop.
“I was definitely prepared for the challenges that people are now facing, because everything I do, I can do remotely from anywhere in the world and make a living doing it,” she told Tribune Weekend.
Antoinette has a business degree and worked at the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce for many years helping small businesses secure grants and funding and expanding the organisation’s membership.
It was a challenging career which she enjoyed, but unfortunately beneath the surface her health had started to deteriorate.
“I was overweight and I had developed what I thought were hemorrhoids but were actual anal fissures,” she explained.
“I had to have a surgery to remove them and my doctor explained that I had to make some changes if I wanted to be healthy. My mother had died from breast cancer in her 50s and so I knew that I had to make the changes,” she said.
And change she did - first her diet and then adding exercise to her daily routine.
Not only did she change her physical life she also changed her professional life as well.
When her contract with the Chamber was up, she decided to follow her passion for investment trading.
“I knew that I wanted a career that would be challenging, but at the same time would be recession proof and a career that would allow me freedom and flexibility while I did it,” she explained.
She educated herself on the topic and today is an active trader of cryptocurrency and stocks. She owns stocks in major companies such as Tesla, Facebook and Amazon, precious metal and oil.
Her job has allowed her the flexibility and opportunity to travel to more than 35 countries around the world.
Another income for her is her drop shipping company.
