12242020 WEEKEND

Thursday, December 24, 2020

photography culture gardening history entertainment puzzles animals

Weekend

Festive treats

MEET THE GOOGLE DOODLER Page 12 + 13

Movies, books and more for Christmas

02 | The Tribune | Weekend

photography

A Rose-Coloured Lens A Bahamian Christmas greeting

B

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

Sadly, we cannot experience Junkanoo live and in person this year, but let’s remember the glorious sights and sounds of the parades and look forward to enjoying them once again in future.

Thursday, December 24, 2020

The Tribune | Weekend | 03

Thursday, December 24, 2020

Weekend Inside

Interview 4 – 5

plus Netflix’s best Christmas movies

A teen swimming champion develops her own hair brushes

Forgotten Facts 19

Germany takes note of the Bahamian sponge

Puzzles 6

Literary Lives 20 – 22

Community 7, 24

Counting your blessings in this tumultuous time, plus HeadKnowles helps those in need

Books 8

A transgender pioneer blazes a trail around the world

Animals 23

All about love, plus Pet of the Week

Fay Knowles shares thought-provoking tales, plus top 10 books of the week

Culture 9

Q: Real Christmas tree or an artificial one?

“I love a real tree, but could settle for a not so real tree…plus a decorator.”

The borrowed customs and traditions of Christmas celebrations

Art 10 - 13

Bahamian artist gets to be a Google Doodler, plus be wowed by laser-cut engravings and homemade resin ornaments

Q: Fruit cake or rum cake?

“Definitely fruit cake… could do with the extra upliftment.”

Gardening 14

A wonderful time of the year for growing

Music 15

Dyson Knight helps fill the void of this year’s cancelled Junkanoo parades with a new song celebrating the culture

Entertainment 16 – 18

2020’s pop culture highlights, “Wonder Woman 1984” and “Soul” come to streaming,

THIS WEEKEND IN HISTORY December 24

• In 1814, the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812 following ratification by both the British Parliament and the U.S. Senate.

• In 1865, several veterans of the Confederate Army formed a private social club in Pulaski, Tennessee, that was the original version of the Ku Klux Klan.

• In 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts, orbiting the moon, read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve telecast.

Today’s birthdays: Federal health official Dr Anthony S Fauci is 80.

Singer Ricky Martin is 49. Author

My perfect Bahamian Christmas

12+13

Stephenie Meyer is 47. TV personality Ryan Seacrest is 46. Rock singer Louis Tomlinson (One Direction) is 29.

December 25

• In AD 336, the first known commemoration of Christmas took place in Rome.

• In 1818, “Silent Night (Stille Nacht)” was publicly performed for the first time during the Christmas Midnight Mass at the Church of St Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.

• In 1990, the World Wide Web, the system providing quick access to websites over the Internet, was born in Geneva, Switzerland, as computer scientists Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau created the world’s first hyperlinked webpage.

Today’s birthdays: Singer Jimmy Buffett is 74. Actor Sissy Spacek is 71.

Singer Annie Lennox is 66. Reggae singer-musician Robin Campbell (UB40) is 66. Canadian Prime Minister Justin

Q: If you could have Christmas dinner with a celebrity family, which one would it be?

“Not too fond of celebrities, but would choose Rihanna…down to earth and someone

Glen Major Educator

who hasn’t lost focus.”

Q: What will you miss the most this Christmas due to COVID-19?

“I will miss travelling to another climate and the option of not being alone.”

Q: Other than home, where would you most like to spend Christmas?

“I would spend the holidays in Europe where the experience of a real Christmas can be found.

The old, the new and the indifferent experiences are sacred to me.”

Trudeau is 49. Singer Dido is 49.

is 41. Actor Kit Harington is 34

December 26

December 27

• In 1908, Jack Johnson became the first African-American boxer to win the world heavyweight championship as he defeated Canadian Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia.

• In 1996, six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family’s home in Boulder, Colorado. (To date, the slaying remains unsolved.)

• In 2004, more than 230,000 people, mostly in southern Asia, were killed by a 100-foot-high tsunami triggered by a 9.1-magnitude earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean.

Today’s birthdays: R&B singer Abdul “Duke” Fakir (The Four Tops) is 85. “America’s Most Wanted” host John Walsh is 75. Humorist David Sedaris is 64. Actor-singer Jared Leto is 49. Rock singer Chris Daughtry

• In 1822, scientist Louis Pasteur was born in Dole, France. He was a French biologist, microbiologist, and chemist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurisation.

• In 1945, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund were formally established.

• In 2016, actor Carrie Fisher died in a hospital four days after suffering a medical emergency aboard a flight to Los Angeles; she was 60.

Today’s birthdays: Actor John Amos (“Good Times”, “Roots”) is 81.

Actor Gerard Depardieu is Actor Eva

LaRue is 54. Actor Emilie de Ravin is 39. Actor Jay Ellis is 39. Singer Hayley Williams (Paramore) is 32.

Actor Timothee Chalamet is 25.

- The Associated Press

04 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, December 24, 2020

interview

TiaIsabella Adderley To help you make sure your edges are laid and your hair remains healthy, this teenager decided to develop and sell her own special brushes. The 13-year-old swimming champion tells Cara Hunt she hopes her invention will change the way people care for their hair.

S

he may be only 13 years old, but Tia-Isabella Adderley has already proven that she is the epitome of the “girl boss”.

As if being a champion competitive swimmer and philanthropist was not enough, she recently decided to add inventor and entrepreneur to her list of accomplishments as well.

The teen recently launched the Bella Collection of haircare brushes designed to make it easier to maintain beautiful hair.

“I decided this was something I wanted to do after coming home

from swimming every day and being frustrated with how tangled my hair would be on a daily basis,” she told Tribune Weekend.

“My hair started to matte and break a whole lot because it was always so tangled. I tried many brushes and they didn’t work. It was then I decided that I needed to come up with a formulated brush that would make clearing out hair much easier.”

She said that it took her about a year to develop the design for the brush from concept to execution.

“My inspiration was drawn from trying to save my hair from breaking.

“My hair started to matte and break a whole lot because it was always so tangled. I tried many brushes and they didn’t work. It was then I decided that I needed to come up with a formulated brush that would make clearing out hair much easier.”

My edge brushes were just an add-on because I love to see edges fixed so neatly. I introduced a three-way edge brush that had a comb to first comb the edges, a brush part to shape the edges, and the other end was a parting comb to part the hair if needed,” she explained.

Tia-Isabella said her mother, Dania, helped with the design of the brush and truly inspired and motivated her to start her own business.

Once she had figured out the brush, she also had the foresight to add several other items that could accompany the brushes.

Thursday, December 24, 2020

“I also decided to add terry cloth head bands to my collection, not only for fashion, but to allow persons to keep their hair secured when washing their face and also to keep their edges laid,” she said.

Tia-Isabella said she hopes that her detangling brushes will change the way people care for their hair.

“I would hope they have a pleasant experience when clearing out their hair. I also hope that they are able to create slayed edges. A challenge I realised many adults and children were experiencing was the difficulty to keep their hair tangle free with little or no discomfort. My brush now solves that problem.”

While the design solution for the brushes was finally found, there were still some challenges in store for the extremely busy teen when it came to getting the product out there.

“A huge challenge I had to overcome was identifying the right brush. Another challenge was to overcome the obstacles with COVID. When I was ready to launch initially, the country went on lockdown, so I had to speak to my suppliers about putting my idea on hold,” she said.

“As a 13-year-old teenager it was and still is a challenge to juggle my new business in quarantine. I am a Principal’s List student, a national swimmer for the Bahamas, and the founder of Tia’ s Swim Dreams, which is a charity to help less fortunate kids.

“Both my studies and swimming take a lot of time to be successful. Normally, I would have to stay up late to ensure that I’m packing customers’ orders, working on my website, speaking with my suppliers and updating my sales in Excel.”

But she said she remains focused and offers this advice to her other young people who have dreams they want to achieve.

“Any advice I would give to anyone starting is to always put God first and to never give up, even when things get rough or seem impossible.

I would also advise them to save in order to make their first purchase and also to be able to purchase inventory in the future to expand the business,” she said.

So far, this approach has worked excellently for the teen.

“My initial set of brushes are a limited addition with my name, Tia-Isabella. I decided to use my name because I wanted persons to know the name, but now that I’m expanding, I have branded my brand as The Bella Collection,” she said.

“I feel humbled, grateful and blessed beyond measure about the response I have received so far. I had a soft launch with only advertising on my Snap and my mom posted it on her WhatsApp status and I sold 100 plus brushes in a little under two weeks.

“My edge brushes, which were introduced less than a week ago, are selling very well and my headbands are almost sold out. It also feels good to get so much positive feedback on the look and performance of the Tia-Isabella

The Tribune | Weekend | 05

detangling brush and the rest of the (products) in The Bella Collection.”

She added: “I’m excited that The Bella Collection is expanding so quickly and I will be bringing something in for the guys very soon. After this, I will expand to bring in many different tools for hair and haircare.

After this, I will introduce a full line of hair products to assist with creating manageable hair and hair growth.

My overall goal is to change the way persons care for their hair. My goal is to make them have the most amazing haircare experience ever. “

way - concealed (7) 28 Husband raves about the first crop (7)

06 | 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.

22 Vulgar when not fully 7 Righteousness; dry (5) 12 Spectrum; 13 Linctus; Thursday, December 24 Stop hiding scripture 15 Unlock; 18 Addle; lessons in19 shrub (5) Weep.

Aom i P t Enm

● The Target uses words in the main body of Chambers 21st Century Dictionary (1999 edition)

HOW many words of four letters or more can you make from the letters shown here? in making a word, each letter may be used once only. Each must contain the centre letter and there must be at least one nine-letter word. no plurals or verb forms ending in “s”.

TODAY’S TARGET Good 25; very good 37; excellent 49 (or more). Solution tomorrow

Yesterday’s call 0907 181 2585 Sudoku Answer for today’s target solution *Calls cost 80p per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge.

BATTLESHIPS CRYPTIC PUZZLE Down 1 A spot of wet weather (8) 2 Unusually cruel set of criticisms (8) 3 Is not any faster at splitting points (4) 5 Direct speech? (8,4) 6 Make little progress in church (4) 7 It’s just one view of a situation (6) 8 Bury Ben in style without Tom (6) 11 He isn’t a good forecaster (7,2,3) 15 Port one gets in casks (5) 16 Stick no label upside-down (5) 18 First class student? (8) 19 Unauthorised demand for suspension (5,3) 21 Communist holding out though badly beaten (6) 22 We slid around before finding controls (6) 26 Part of the modern PolishGerman border (4) 27 Occupy residence having central heating? (4)

Across 1 Wave put in the hair (6) 4 May be carelessly dropped in the middle of nowhere (8) 9 Encourage a sound location for a pub (6) 10 Shot drug-crazy man (8) 12 Market’s worst seller (4) 13 It may be used to measure a diamond in a ring perhaps (5) 14 Chinese capital lies in total waste (4) 17 What the crafty bounder kept? (3,4,5) 20 As a film it was unspeakably funny (6,6) 23 Forget I’m to about turn (4) 24 Posh vehicle for baker’s deliveries? (5) 25 Is entertained by current record (4) 28 Be patronising in speech and overbearing in argument (4,4) 29 Volume of praise (6) 30 Didn’t stay uninhabited (8) 31 Wild herb we brought back from Israel (6)

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Yesterday’s Easy Solution Across: 1 Camel, 4 Chiffon, 8 Pen, 9 Champagne, 10 Babylon, 11 Enjoy, 13 Elapse, 15 Dynamo, 18 Lucky, 19 Out loud, 21 Notre dame, 23 Air, 24 Honesty, 25 Decry.

Down: 1 Capable, 2 Mont Blanc, 3 Local, 4 Cranny, 5 Impiety, 6 Fig, 7 Needy, 12 Joan of Arc, 14 Shyness, 16 Orderly, 17 Rotary, 18 Lynch, 20 Tread, 22 Tan.

Yesterday’s Cryptic Solution Across: 1 Trail, 4 Cockpit, 8 Cut, 9 Vindicate, 10 Inquest, 11 Icons, 13 Graves, 15 Ignore, 18 Layer, 19 Tenders, 21 Offensive, 23 Ice, 24 Exposes, 25 Stern.

Down: 1 Tacking, 2 Antiquary, 3 Levee, 4 Canute, 5 Ceiling, 6 Pea, 7 Teens, 12 On one side, 14 Errands, 16 Eastern, 17 Ethics, 18 Loose, 20 Needs, 22 Fop.

EASY PUZZLE

Across 1 Capital of Portugal (6) 4 Nearby (8) 9 To damage (6) 10 Minutely (2,6) 12 Empty (4) 13 Place of refuge (5) 14 Blood vessel (4) 17 Be in control (4,3,5) 20 Prove the truth of (12) 23 In excess (4) 24 Cloth made of flax (5) 25 Gather as harvest (4) 28 Amount of business done (8) 29 Regain consciousness (4,2) 30 Napoleon’s last battle (8) 31 Persuade by argument (6)

Down 1 Easy-going (4-4) 2 In magnificent style (8) 3 Northeastern US state (4) 5 A stupid person (12) 6 Culminating point (4) 7 Exultant (6) 8 Special aptitude (6) 11 Gain liking for (4,1,5,2) 15 Vigorous (5) 16 Specify (5) 18 Without foundation (8) 19 Hold in subjection (4,4) 21 Show obsequious deference (6) 22 Feel repentance over (6) 26 Rise dramatically (4) 27 Tedious matter (4)

FIND where the fleet of ships shown is hidden in the grid. The numbers to the right of and below the grid indicate how many of the squares in that row are filled in with ships or parts of ships. The ships do not touch each other, even diagonally. Some squares have been filled in to start you off.

Solution tomorrow 1

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U N R T O W

I C E A H R

A D O R H G

THE ALPHABEATE

TARGET 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

S D O G T J A C 24,C2020 I N E S R I R H Z F Y L G L Q

2

1 x Battleship

3 x Destroyer

2 x cruiser

4 x submarine

4

targEt cAn you crack the Alphabeater? EachthE grid alpE number represents a letter – or black across: square. Spatu jollifiEd 0 Asdeli in Alphapuzzle, letter alphabet (D Rememb dill field file every filed fill filleof the Song, eac is used.

But you have to complete the grid too!

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Solution tomorrow A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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Kakuro Answer 10 31 25 3 40

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● Alternatively, for six Extra Letter clues to y text DXBEAT to 84901. Texts cost £1 plus your us

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The Tribune | Weekend | 07

Thursday, December 24, 2020

community

Counting your blessings in this tumultuous time

By CARA HUNT | Tribune Features Writer | cbrennen@tribunemedia.net

I

t’s been quite a year, and despite the numerous challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, most Bahamians have tried to remain positive and look for the silver lining in 2020.

As the “longest year ever” finally draws to a close, Tribune Weekend asked several of our readers what they considered a blessing this year.

Laynette said that 2020 will always be special to her because it’s the year she and her husband conceived their first child.

“I guess all that lockdown really paid off. We had been trying to have a baby for about seven or eight months and we found out in August that I was pregnant so we should welcome our baby sometime in March or early April,” she said.

“So that definitely was a bright spot in the year and working from home helped me with my morning sickness in the beginning.”

Maliya said one of the things she is grateful for is that weekend lockdowns allowed her to tackle many of the projects she had put off for a long time.

“I have wanted to clean out my closets and cabinets and sort out and paint and do all those things that you hardly have time to do, and since

we were stuck home, I was able to take my time and get so much done that by the time I decorated for Christmas my house was nice and fresh,” she said. “It’s nice to go into a new year with that accomplished.”

Sandy achieved a similar goal, although her focus was the front of her home.

“My husband and I have wanted our house to have some more curb appeal for a few years now, but somehow life always happens and the money you think you will put towards it goes somewhere else. We usually have a vacation fund, and with travel not happening this year we decided let’s just fix up and get it done. We really like the way it turned out and we are glad it’s finished,” she said.

For Taylor, lockdown became family time.

“You know, it was rough being stuck home and my kids drove me up the wall, but if I say what the silver lining is, is that we got to spend a lot of time together. Instead of rushing around on weekends we cooked and played games and watched movies.

2020 gave us some much needed family bonding time, although we can all agree it’s been enough family bonding now,” he said.

08 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, December 24, 2020

books

Dive into some provocative reading this Christmas

Top 10 Apple Books

I

f you are in need of some entertainment over the Christmas season, “Moonbeams from The Soul: A Collection of Fourteen Provocative Short Stories” by local author Fay Knowles might just do the trick. From wild temptations to dangerous decisions, it’s an eclectic assortment of thought-provoking tales.

Many of Fay’s short stories have appeared in the UK’s The Lady magazine. As New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman once said: “Short stories are tiny windows into other worlds and other minds and other dreams. They are journeys you can make to the far side of the universe and still be back in time for dinner.”

Some excerpts from the short stories in “Moonbeams from the Soul”: “Although she expected it, the sight of the devil’s mask made her gasp.

The man had a whistle in his mouth and carried cowbells and maracas.

She led the man across the room....” The Merry Widow.

“I knew it was a mistake. I don’t know why I did it. Well, actually, I do know why. I’m no different from the other girls in my graduating class of that year....” - Love Made Me Do It. “She wore shorts and a sleeveless top. Her hair gleamed in the sunshine.

To him, at that moment, she looked even more beautiful in the daytime than she had in the moonlight....” Queen Bee. “The moles stared at me from some kind of solution in the jar!

They looked like shrivelled raisons.

I couldn’t drink any more coffee!” The Palms Fay has lived in the Bahamas since 1965, apart from two stints in the UK with her family. She is married to Long Islander Erskine Knowles.

In addition to “Moonbeams”, she has written two novels, a collection of romantic short stories, a writer’s guide and a mini-memoir, all available on Amazon as e-books and in paperback. She is currently working on her third novel, which is Book 3 in her “Buchanan Mystery Romance Series”. Check her out on her blog, fayknowles.blogspot.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

. NYPD Red 6 by James Patterson & Marshall Karp . Daylight by David Baldacci

. Dream Chaser by Kristen Ashley . Deadly Cross by James Patterson

. A Promised Land by Barack Obama .The Last Flight by Julie Clark

. A Time for Mercy by John Grisham .The Law of Innocence by Michael

.The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett . Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

FAY knowles

- The Associated Press

The Tribune | Weekend | 09

Thursday, December 24, 2020

culture

The borrowed customs and traditions of Christmas celebrations

By Lorna Piatti-Farnell | Professor of Popular Culture, Auckland University of Technology (THE CONVERSATION) - Not long to go now before many of us get to spread some good tidings and joy as we celebrate Christmas.

The main ways we understand and mark the occasion seem to be rather similar across the world. It’s about time with community, family, food-sharing, gift-giving and overall merry festivities.

But while Christmas is ostensibly a Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus, many of the rituals and customs come from other traditions, both spiritual and secular.

But even the figure of Santa Claus is evidence of the constant mixture and mingling of traditions, customs and representations.

Santa’s evolution carries echoes of not only Odin, but also historical figures such as Saint Nicholas of Myra — a fourth-century bishop known for his charitable work — and the legendary Dutch figure of Sinterklaas that derived from it.

Christmas down under in the summer

The first Christmas

The journey of Christmas into the celebration we know and recognise today is not a straight line.

The first Christmas celebrations were recorded in Ancient Rome in the fourth century. Christmas was placed in December, around the time of the northern winter solstice.

It is not difficult to spot the similarities between our now long-standing Christmas traditions and the Roman festival of Saturnalia, which was also celebrated in December and co-existed with Christian belief for a period of time.

Saturnalia placed an emphasis on the sharing of food and drink, and spending time with loved ones as the colder winter period arrived. There is even evidence that the Romans exchanged little gifts of food to mark the occasion.

As Christianity took greater hold in the Roman world and the old polytheistic religion was left behind, we can see the cultural imprint of Saturnalia traditions in the ways in which our well-known Christmas celebrations established themselves across the board.

A Yule celebration

Turning an eye to the Germanic-Scandinavian context also provides intriguing connections. In the Norse religion, Yule was a winter festival celebrated during the period we now roughly associate with December.

The beginning of Yule was marked by the arrival of the Wild Hunt, a spiritual occurrence when the Norse god Odin would ride across the sky on his eight-legged white horse.

While the hunt was a frightening sight to behold, it also brought excitement for families, and especially children, as Odin was known to leave little gifts at each household as he rode past.

Like the Roman Saturnalia, Yule was a time of drawing in for the winter months, during which copious amounts of food and drink would be consumed.

The Yule festivities included bringing tree branches inside the home and decorating them with food and trinkets, likely opening the way for the Christmas tree as we know it today.

QUEEN VICTORIA, Prince Albert and their children admire the royal Christmas tree, December 1848.

The influence of Yule on the festive season of Northern European countries is still evident in linguistic expression too, with “Jul” being the word for Christmas in Danish and Norwegian. The English language also maintains this connection, by referring to the Christmas period as “Yuletide”.

Here comes Santa

Through the idea of gift-giving, we see the obvious connections between Odin and Santa Claus, even though the latter is somewhat of a popular culture invention, as put forward by the famous poem A Visit from St Nicholas (also known as The Night Before Christmas), attributed to American poet Clement Clarke Moore in 1837 (although debate continues over who actually wrote the poem).

The poem was very well-received and its popularity spread immediately, going well beyond the American context and reaching global fame. The poem gave us much of the staple imagery we associate with Santa today, including the first ever mention of his reindeer.

The idea of connecting Christmas to winter festivals and drawing in customs makes the most sense in the colder months of the Northern hemisphere.

In the Southern hemisphere, in countries such as New Zealand and Australia, the traditional Christmas celebrations have evolved into their own specific brand, which is much more suited to the warmer summer months.

Christmas is an imported event in these areas and acts as a constant reminder of the spread of European colonialism in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Celebrating Christmas still carries the influence of European contexts, being a time for merriment, giftgiving and community spirit.

Even some of the traditional foods of the season here are still indebted to Euro-British traditions, with turkey and ham taking centre stage.

All the same, as Christmas falls in the summer down under, there are also different ways to celebrate it in New Zealand and other regions that clearly have nothing to do with winter festivals.

Barbecues and beach days are prominent new traditions, as borrowed practices co-exist with novel ways of adapting the event to a different context.

The wintery Christmas puddings are often exchanged for more summery pavlovas, whose fresh fruit toppings and meringue base certainly befit the warmer season to a greater extent.

The transition to outdoor Christmas celebrations in the Southern hemisphere is obviously locked in common sense because of the warmer weather.

Nonetheless, it also shows how both cultural and geographical drivers can influence the evolution of celebrating important festivals. And if you really want to experience a cold Christmas down under, there is always a mid-year Christmas in July to look forward to.

• This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.

Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com.

10 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, December 24, 2020

art

An engineer’s laser focus on creative innovation

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

K

evin Moxey is an engineer by profession, and while it’s a very practical calling, it doesn’t mean you can’t add some flair to your skills.

And that is just what Kevin has done with his laser engraving - something that started out as a hobby but has now turned into a business.

He first received attention for his hobby when he created an engraved wooden piece for his aunt’s birthday.

The reactions he got from family and friends inspired him turn his hobby into something more.

He then posted a few of his creations on Facebook and everything took off from there.

Amaz’Engrave is Mr Moxey’s creative brand that specialises in custom wood engraving and laser cutting services, with each piece being uniquely tailored to a client’s specifications.

As an engineer, he said he at home in the medium. And he makes everything from portraits, wall art, coasters and ornaments, to invitations and menus, business cards, and more.

“We begin with a consultation with clients via telephone or sometimes in person, which allows for us to find out what it is expected. We would then sketch a few samples and options for approval, then begin the creation process.

The process includes a combination of different software (programmes) that aid in providing us with an awesome end product. I think it goes far beyond the personalisation. It’s the fact that you can feel every single detail in the pieces that really makes them so unique and creates the perfect memory for individuals and families,” said Mr Moxey.

With Amaz’Engrave, he said, he can afford to fail with confidence, because with each mistake

provides him with an opportunity to learn and hone his craft.

“Along the way I’ve had so many influential people in my life that helped in shaping me into who I am today. They’ve all impacted my life in so many different ways that I can never repay. My clients (also) help with keeping me encouraged through their kind words and expressions. The ability to be a part of creating special memories and moments for them does just that for me. The feedback has been unbelievably amazing. It’s such a humbling experience and I am ever so grateful for such positive feedback. Ultimately, it is my goal to continue helping persons celebrate meaningful moments through the introduction of new products as well as creating modern solutions to things that are already in place,” said Mr Moxey.

The Tribune | Weekend | 11

Thursday, December 24, 2020

art

Let Christmas resonate with handmade décor items

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

M

ost of us have spent a considerable amount of time in our homes this year as the coronavirus raged all over the world.

Artist and crafter Nicollette Pratt knows that creating a beautiful and

comfortable environment is now more important than ever before. And this goal can be achieved with just a few touches, she said.

“We have spent most of the year in our homes, so home décor items have been a great addition to make staying home a little more bearable,” said Ms Pratt as she spoke about her new business, Resonate Accessories & Décor.

As she stared unemployment in the face due to the pandemic, she decided to explore various new options as a means of making an earning.

As she had always been interested in crafts, as well as decorating small spaces, she decided to use her creative talents to her advantage.

Resonate Accessories & Décor was formed together with her business partner and sister-inlaw, Deanna Pratt. At Resonate, the Pratt ladies specialise in creating handmade resin accessories and home décor items that will add a touch of elegance and art to a person’s home.

From elegantly designed trays and coaster sets which can be used in a variety of ways, to trinket dishes, bowls, customised domino sets, key chains, signs, Christmas tree ornaments and acrylic pour art with a resin finish, the two women do not like to limit themselves when it comes to being creative.

“Each piece is unique, made to order and designed with detail in mind and are fully customisable to the wishes of the client. Items made from resin offer the look of glass but have the durability of plastic. Our pieces are gorgeous to place within your homes without having to worry about them breaking if dropped and can be used for multiple occasions,” said Ms Pratt.

Explaining the process of creating their unique merchandise, she said: “Everything is handcrafted to the liking of each customer. The customer is involved in the process by choosing their colours and their design if they choose to.

The process and time that goes into making one piece is a beautiful thing within itself.

“The process…usually takes about a few days to start and complete a piece. After we confirm with the customer the type of piece, the colours, the size and the design, we can begin the creation process. The team will then brainstorm the exact approach on the design and come to an understanding as to who will complete a specific task.

We would then prepare all the tools necessary and begin pouring our piece. The initial part of the process can take about 45 minutes to an hour

to complete a pour, but it can take a few days to fully cure and dry. Upon purchasing, our clients are then notified of the turnaround times of two to five days for smaller items and seven to 15 business days for larger items.”

She said social distancing has not significantly restricted her business, as she solely uses social media platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp to communicate with customers and soon intends to launch products on Facebook as well.

“What keeps us encouraged are our amazing customers who always leave a lasting impression on us. Their positive feedback helps to give us the motivation and encouragement we need to continue creating new pieces for everyone to experience. We especially love the customers who challenge us with their colour patterns and their ‘out of the box’ design ideas,” said Ms Pratt.

14 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, December 24, 2020

gardening

Flowers and vegetables – it’s a wonderful time of year!

GROW your vegetables and herbs in pots

G

ood day gardeners! The winter solstice has just passed, and that means that the days will be getting longer already. This year has flown past like no other in my memory. Short days are a trigger for all that seasonal colour that I have discussed over the last few weeks, and the cooler evenings allow us to grow tender greens and it also triggers flowering on plants like Schlumbergera (Christmas cactus). Very few plants enter dormancy stages here during the shorter days, but grape vine is one of those and my mature vines have dropped about half their leaf so far and will continue to do so.

I am continuing to battle with aphids on the cabbages. So far this season I have had one failure and that is with Chinese cabbage. They flopped for me. This seems to have been because I was not able to control the aphids well enough, and maybe the soil was a bit too “rich” and held too much moisture. I am having good success with all other Brassica family. I see lots of backyard farmers harvesting peppers of all sorts in the last few weeks, and all that dedication and the give and take with the whitefly is paying off for some of you! To grow a successful vegetable crop is challenging at times, and I applaud you all who have shown much success. It is all about timing, and control of nutrients, water, and pests.

Tomato plants are giving or are about to give their first rounds of crops. One thing to consider before choosing which tomato to grow is the choice between determinate and indeterminate types, and the amount of space you have available in the space chosen for them. Determinate types are bushier, and indeterminate are more vine like in their growth habits. Patio and San Marzano are two types of determinate tomatoes, and Big Boy, Early Girl, or Cherokee Purple are examples of indeterminate tomatoes. Both types

A CHRISTMAS cactus will benefit from some pruning. Top pruning is good for bush types to keep them full and selecting one or two main leaders is best for vining types. Some folks suggest removing sucker growth from down low on the plant, and I usually do prune tomato, top pruning when young to create two leaders instead of one, or to allow for more low growth on bush type. There are many methods, and everyone will come up with something slightly different that works for them. Keep tomato plants off the ground to reduce chances of disease and blights.

Tomato cages, trellises, or some other form of support is always recommended. Be careful to not water late in the evening, but if you must, try to

not get the foliage wet as this too can increase the chance of disease and leaf spot. Some prefer liquid fertilizers, and some prefer granule. So often it is up to each of us through trial and error to find what works for us, individually. Full sun or part shade is best for tomatoes.

Carrots - I am about to transplant my first batch of carrots into larger pots. I prefer large pots, as the ground tends to be a bit hard and compact (unless you have a raised bed or have taken time to break up the ground and add lots of organic material to lighten it up). I typically prefer large pots for growing any veg as I find it is much easier to control nutrients, pests, and growth as they are a bit easier to reach, and I can use potting medias that are light and porous to encourage the best root development. Large pots also allow for me to scout a bit closer and to notice larvae of beneficial insects to be aware of when spraying, without having to get down to the ground level. Raised beds allow for the same benefits. Too much bending in the garden leads to the occupational hazard of knee and back issues!

Whatever you are growing, I hope that you can enjoy it over the Christmas weekend, whether it is flowering or edible, here is to your gardening success. Maybe some of the dedication that has been needed to keep some things growing well will be on your table this weekend! Take care, one and all, and I wish you all the best of the season, though undoubtedly this has been a challenging year for so many of us, there are better days ahead, and the garden is a wonderful place to enjoy the fruits of our labors and the wonders and joys of life! Peace, and as always, happy gardening!

• Adam Boorman is the nursery manager at the Fox Hill Nursery. You can contact him with any questions you may have, or topics you would like to see discussed, at gardening242@gmail.com.

The Tribune | Weekend | 15

Thursday, December 24, 2020

music

‘Give Me Celebrating

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

D

yson Knight’s new Junkanoo-inspired single may not be enough to fill the void Bahamians will be feeling this Boxing Day and New Year’s with no parades taking place down Bay Street. The song does, however, celebrate the colourful, joyful and almost spiritual event that is so deeply embedded in Bahamian culture.

“Give Me the Road” is the name of the recently released single which seeks to reach out to the people who view Junkanoo as a lifestyle. It recognises the recent passing of Junkanoo legend John “Chippy” Chipman as well as the hypnotic energy and seemingly inescapable grip Junkanoo has on the hearts of everyone it touches.

It speaks to those who embrace their cultural parades as a part of their being.

“This is the song that travels a road where the pandemic has no power that can match that of cultural music,” Dyson told Tribune Weekend.

“At the start of the pandemic related lockdowns, I failed at maintaining my creative flow. My busy body wife (singer Wendi) and her personality twin - our one-year-old daughter Zenndarah - took up almost all of my energy. I could only work from home and Zenn made that next to impossible. Wendi’s day job was essential work so it was full-time daddy duty for me.

I started staying up after bedtime to work on my ideas, but that ended up draining me since bedtime in the house was around 1am. I was a wreck,” the singer admitted.

After restrictions eased and lockdowns were lifted, Dyson found some pockets of opportunity to work on the new track.

“This gave us a window to hit the studio and work on pending projects.

This ‘Tamarind Riddim’ is one of them. Writing this song started as a protest. There was a good deal of lyrics that scream for freedom. I was going

the Road’ Junkanoo in song Tribune Features Writer | jgibson@tribunemedia.net pretty deep, too; things like removing statues and breaking away from the Queen were all in there. I realised that I was frustrated with pandemic life and my emotions were high, so I took a step back. I found balance in understanding that everyone was doing the best they knew how to do, so I decided to focus the song on cultural and emotional freedom,” he explained.

In stepping back, he said, the true spirit and essence of the song came to life. “ ‘Give Me the Road’ is meant to cut through our present reality and create a realisation that our parade is spiritual. This is why I wrote this song. I want to bring the magic of Junkanoo to Bahamians that need it and to everyone else that can use it. I believe that if there is one thing that would save the emotional state of the Bahamas as a whole, it would be Junkanoo… more so than money, which would be great for me to have after not working for a year… but Biggie Smallz said, ‘more money, more problems’. I say more music, less stress.”

Though for the first time in decades Bahamians will not have a chance to witness the beloved parades down Bay Street, Dyson wants this song to serve as a reminder of all the good things about Junkanoo.

“I want to remind people of their strength, their inner Junkanoo. There are people who became legendary through the soul of Junkanoo, like John ‘Chippie’ Chipman, whom I mention in the song. This sense of can-do, can succeed, can overcome is what I want everyone to get from ‘Give Me the Road’,” he said.

Beyond celebrating Junkanoo, what’s up next for the artist?

“Next for me is a lot of hard work. I have to figure out what space my brand is going to occupy in the new norm. I’ve been dabbling with photography, videography and streaming.

I may revitalise my vlog, ‘A Couple’s Views’, with Wendi. Digital performances will replace the DKNation event in 2021 for sure. I’ve also been working on a saxophone solo album with my dad. I fell off from that but I’m committed to completing it eventually. Sorry, dad,” he said.

“There are a few things brewing for Baha Men. Our most recent release is doing good so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for that.”

To keep up with Dyson Knight, visit www. dysonknight.com.

16 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, December 24, 2020

entertainment

Pop Culture in 2020, from the bizarre to the sublime

By JOCELYN NOVECK | AP National Writer

A

nd now, for our annual look at the year in pop culture…. Oh, wait. This was 2020. The year everything stopped cold.

Well, not really. Truth is, people turned to culture of all kinds in 2020 — highbrow and lowbrow — to satisfy varied and sometimes conflicting needs: Distraction, inspiration, consolation, escapism, hope. And those needs evolved: If we began lockdown in March by addictively binge-watching the darkly bizarre “Tiger King,” by early winter we were transfixed by a different sort of animal: the graceful octopod of “My Octopus Teacher,” extending her tentacles to make connections that seemed achingly poignant in a time when mere hugs between humans are taboo.

JANUARY

The year starts like any other ... as if! At the GOLDEN GLOBES, RICKY GERVAIS hosts for the fifth time and seems eager to get home.

MICHELLE WILLIAMS speaks passionately of a woman’s right to choose, PATRICIA ARQUETTE about voting, and JOAQUIN PHOENIX about … something. The world mourns the sudden loss of KOBE BRYANT, and ponders a royal first when HARRY and MEGHAN step back from their duties.

What will it all mean?

looks at the Vietnam War from the oft-ignored perspective of its Black soldiers.

JULY

The live-captured film version of Broadway smash “HAMILTON” is fast-tracked by more than a year to stream on Disney+. On a much smaller scale, ballet lovers are treated to a wildly inventive YouTube video featuring dancers across the globe performing “Swan Lake” in their bathtubs (Get it? Lakes?)

AUGUST

PEDESTRIANS look up at a mural of the late ‘Black Panther’ star Chadwick Boseman (AP Photo_Chris Pizzello)

SEPTEMBER

The EMMYS are virtual, but the awkward format can’t quash the ebullient celebration up in Canada for the zanily talented cast of “SCHITT’S CREEK.” Oh, and BRAD and JEN are back together! Just kidding! But they appear together in a Zoom reading of “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”

FEBRUARY

OCTOBER

And the Oscar goes to ... was that THIS year?

Yep, it was only months ago that “PARASITE” swept the Academy Awards, a historic moment for South Korea and director BONG JOON HO, clearly adored in Hollywood.

MARCH

In a landmark moment for the #MeToo movement, HARVEY WEINSTEIN is sentenced to 23 years in prison for sex crimes, the once-powerful mogul led away in handcuffs for what could be the rest of his life. Days later, the coronavirus shuts down much of life as we know it. Binge-watching reaches new heights. “TIGER KING” on Netflix, a story of very big cats and very strange people, becomes the thing everyone can’t look away from.

APRIL

Enough weirdness, anybody got some good news?

JOHN KRASINSKI’s feel-good web series named, yes, “SOME GOOD NEWS,” brings a “HAMILTON” cast reunion for a starstruck musical theatre fan and a prom for high-school seniors missing theirs, with musical guests like BILLIE EILISH.

MAY

Who’s that singing from the fifth-floor window?

Every night at 7pm as front-line workers are

Fans are gutted by the death of CHADWICK BOSEMAN, who achieved fame with a series of star-making performances as Jackie Robinson, James Brown and Thurgood Marshall, and as groundbreaking superhero “BLACK PANTHER.” Boseman dies at 43 of colon cancer, an illness he kept secret from almost everyone, making movies in between surgeries and treatments

KOBE BRYANT, the 18-time NBA All-Star, who won five championships, died alongside his daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash (AP Photo_Mark J Terrill, File) honoured with cheers and honking horns, a beautiful tenor is heard in upper Manhattan singing “The Impossible Dream”: It’s Tony winner BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL, just recovered from COVID19 himself, doing his signature song. Another artist making use of pandemic free time: MISTY COPELAND, American Ballet Theatre’s first Black female principal dancer, brings together 32 ballerinas from 14 countries, all dancing the famous “Dying Swan” in a video for “Swans for Relief,” a fundraiser for struggling dancers.

JUNE

A new SPIKE LEE joint arrives at the perfect time: In a year when Black Lives Matter is forcing a rethinking of so many things, “DA 5 BLOODS”

Oh hey, BORAT... Somehow when we weren’t looking, SACHA BARON COHEN was filming a sequel. It’s typically outrageous and features a scene with Trump lawyer RUDY GIULIANI for which the word “cringeworthy” just doesn’t cut it. Meanwhile @420doggface208, aka Nathan Apodaca of Idaho, peacefully skateboards on TikTok to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”, drinking Cran-Raspberry juice on the way to work — a thing we somehow never knew we wanted to do.

NOVEMBER

The first post-election “SNL” ends with ALEC BALDWIN holding a sign that says “YOU’RE WELCOME!!!” -- a reference to his long-running Trump impersonation (and Trump’s loss).

BEYONCÉ, already the most nominated female artist in GRAMMY history, scores nine more, including for “Black Parade,” released on Juneteenth. In his final screen role, BOSEMAN fittingly soars in “MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM” with a searing performance as a troubled jazz trumpeter.

DECEMBER

“My name is Elliot.” ELLIOT PAGE, the Oscarnominated actor for “Juno,” announces he is trans, a landmark moment for Hollywood’s trans community.

The Tribune | Weekend | 17

Thursday, December 24, 2020

entertainment

New this week: ‘Soul’, ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ & ‘Bridgerton’ on TV

By The Associated Press

H

ere’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.

MOVIES

• Pete Docter’s “Soul,” the latest from Pixar, premieres Friday on Disney+. Unlike “Mulan,” “Soul” will be available to subscribers at no additional charge. It’s one of the best family films of the year, and a worthy metaphysical companion piece to Docter’s “Inside Out.” A middle-school band teacher and talented jazz musician (Jamie Foxx) gets the big break he’s always wanted, but fate intervenes, and “Soul” travels to both the afterlife and a “before” life to contemplate some very big questions about fulfillment and regret, while working in some terrific music scenes and a cat.

• Also arriving Christmas Day is “Wonder Woman 1984,” Patty Jenkins’ sequel to her barrierbreaking 2017 film. It premieres on HBO Max in the first of a parade of Warner Bros. films to stream through 2021. With Gal Gadot returning, “Wonder Woman 1984” fast-forwards from 1918 to the “greed is good” decade. The Associated Press called it “spirited, purposeful and blessedly lacking in grandiosity” in a sequel that again positions Wonder Woman as “a moral and muscular counterweight to ego-driven male misdirections, steering history through the repeating pitfalls of megalomaniacs intoxicated by power.”

SOUL by Pixar

- AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

TELEVISION • Shonda Rhimes’ first scripted series for Netflix is “Bridgerton” and its being described as if “Downton Abbey” mixed with “Gossip Girl.” Based on Julia Quinn’s romance novel series, it centers on the romantic entanglements of English society’s upper crust and has a multiethnic cast and an anonymous gossip columnist — voiced by none other than Julie Andrews. The first season debuts Friday.

• Gritty reboots of beloved kids’ literary characters takes another step with “The Hardy Boys.” The series follows brothers Joe (Alexander Elliot) and Frank Hardy (Rohan Campbell) as they spend the summer in a small town and looking into the suspicious circumstances around their mother’s death.

The TV-PG series comes on the heels of The CW’s “Riverdale” and “Nancy Drew.” “The Hardy Boys” began at the top of the month but it’s not too late to investigate.

- AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy

WONDER Woman 1984

SHONDA Rhimes’ “Bridgerton”

18 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, December 24, 2020

entertainment JINGLE JANGLE – A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY

Journey (1h 59m) Top 10 Netflix movies and shows in the Klaus (1h 38m) 2.

Bahamas

An imaginary world comes to life in a holiday tale of an eccentric toymaker, his adventurous granddaughter, and a magical invention that has the power to change their lives forever.

Starring Forest Whitaker, Keegan-Michael Key, Anika Noni Rose and Hugh Bonneville.

Christmas is going to be very different this year, and Bahamians will be spending more time at home over the holidays instead of attending large family gatherings and parties. So it’s time to turn to Netflix for some Yuletide entertainment. Here are 10 Christmas themed movies for the whole family to enjoy.

Jangle 1.Jingle – A Christmas

A simple act of kindness always sparks another, even in a frozen, faraway place. When Smeerensburg’s new postman, Jesper, befriends toymaker Klaus, their gifts melt an age-old feud and deliver a sleigh full of holiday traditions. This is an award-winning and Oscar nominated animated film.

3.

The Holiday Calendar (1h 35m)

A struggling but talented photographer inherits an antique holiday advent calendar, the contents of which seem to predict the future.

Will this magical calendar lead her to love this holiday season?

Starring Kat Graham, Quincy Brown and Ethan Peck.

Rush 4.Holiday (1h 34m)

After his sudden firing, a popular radio DJ moves in with his aunt, bringing along his four spoiled children, and a plan to return to the airwaves. Starring Sonequa Martin-Green, Romany Malco, La La Anthony and Darlene Love.

5.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1h 44m)

On the outskirts of Whoville lives a green, revenge-seeking Grinch who plans to ruin Christmas for all of the citizens of the town. Jim Carrey stars as the Grinch in this modern classic.

Christmas 6.Arthur (1h 37m) Santa’s clumsy son Arthur sets out on a mission with Grandsanta to give out a present they misplaced to a young girl in less than two hours. Starring James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy and Jim Broadwent as the voice actors of Aardman Animations production.

7.Pottersville (1h 25m)

The owner of a general store puts on a gorilla suit to woo his wife, only to be mistaken for Bigfoot, which leads to a monster-hunting reality show coming to town just in time for the holidays.

Starring Michael Shannon, Ron Perlman and Christina Hendricks.

8.The Star (1h 26m)

A small but brave donkey and his animal friends become the unsung heroes of the first Christmas in this animated holiday movie which features the voices of Keegan Michael-Key, Zachary Levi, Ving Rhames and Christopher Plummer.

Knight Before 9.The Christmas (1h 32m)

A medieval English knight is magically transported to present-day America where he falls for a high school science teacher who is disillusioned by love. Starring Vanessa Hudgens.

A California 10.Christmas (1h 47m) With his carefree lifestyle on the line, a wealthy charmer poses as a ranch hand to get a hardworking farmer to sell her family’s land before Christmas in this new Netflix movie.

The Tribune | Weekend | 19

Thursday, December 24, 2020

history

Germany takes note of the Bahamian sponge

By PAUL C ARANHA | Forgotten Facts I show here only the first page of this article, from a 1914 edition of the Berlin magazine DIE WELT (The World), but the following is a translation of the entire text: “Of the countless people who use a sponge to wash or take a bath, not too many have a clear understanding of what such a sponge really is; most of them, if they bother to think about it, would consider it a marine plant, a type of algae, or something similar. In reality, the sponge starts life as a multi-cell animal that looks like a plant, to be more precise, as a giant colony of such animals. While alive, such a sponge is filled with, and covered with, a soft, slimy substance, which is removed by kneading, washing and drying, so the entire organism disappears and can hardly be traced. While this kills the swamp creatures the skeleton becomes a multi-purpose bath sponge that can absorb more water than any artificial (rubber) sponge is able to.

Our finest bath sponges come from the Mediterranean, some from the Adriatic and some from the Greek islands, the Levant and Tunisian coasts, but thanks to strong demand and overharvesting, these fine sponges become more and more expensive so that, today, a fist-sized one costs 6 to 10 Marks and an extra-large, top quality, well-shaped sponge can fetch 50 to 100 Marks.

West Indian sponges from the Bahamas, although much cheaper, cannot compare with the quality of Mediterranean sponges; and, because of their coarseness and roughness they are not suitable for face-sponges, but for baths and industrial applications, they are much in demand.

Let’s take a look at this important branch of the industry in the Antilles, with a word about the area. The Bahamian archipelago is the most widely spread-out part of the West Indies and its 29 big islands and some thousands of small coral cays stretch from the Florida coast almost to Haiti.

Of course, they, like many other beautiful and valuable places in the world, belong to England.

The capital, and only place of any importance, is the town with the German name Nassau, on the small island of New Providence. Nassau is a charming little town and, like the whole of the West Indies, inhabited mostly by Negroes, descendants of earlier slaves, but very orderly and clean and, because of its healthy sub-tropical climate, a favourite winter resort for wealthy Englishmen and Americans. Sponges and giant turtles are Nassau’s main export (4 to 5 million Marks a year). Both species thrive in the crystal-clear waters of coral lagoons and both are exported, mainly, to New York and to London. The sponges for external and the extraordinarily delicious turtle meat for internal use. (I am told, by my German son that this last sentence is ‘German

humour’.) The factories, where the sponges are prepared lie in Nassau, on the primitive-looking dock and receive their raw product directly from the boats of the sponge fishermen. Catching and preparing the sponges are surprisingly simple.

Sponges live in relatively shallow water, attached to the seabed, and the water is so clear that they are easy to see. One hauls them up with a purpose-designed fork (hook) then spreads them out to dry, causing the animal organisms to die and disappear. The brown sponges are cleaned in a hot solution of soda and the chalk residue with a weak solution of hydrochloric acid. Cheerful black women, whose mouths cannot stay shut for half a

minute, then take the sponges and cut off any unfit bits and sort the sponges by size and quality.

Now the work is finished and the sponges, packed like balls, are shipped around the world.

Our photographs (2 of their 4) give an idea of how many of this valuable product of tiny creatures are collected and how unusually big Bahamian sponges are. The biggest and best-shaped specimens are sold as bath sponges and fetch high prices, whereas the smaller ones find many industrial and household uses.”

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

20 | The Tribune | Weekend

Thursday, December 24, 2020

literary lives - Jan Morris

A transgender pioneer blazes a trail across the globe Sir Christopher Ondaatje tells the incredible story of the Welsh historian, author and travel writer who published under her birth name James Morris until 1972 when she had gender reassignment surgery.

“To me gender is not physical at all, but is altogether insubstantial. It is soul, perhaps, it is talent, it is taste, it is environment, it is how one feels, it is light and shade, it is inner music.”

- Jan Morris Conundrum, 1974 Jan Morris was born James Humphry Morris on December 2, 1926, to an English mother and Welsh father. Morris was a chorister in the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, while boarding at the Christ Church Cathedral School. Morris was then educated at Lancing College, returning to Christ Church, Oxford as an undergraduate. In the final stages of World War II Morris served in the 9th Queen’s Royal Lancers, and in 1945 was posted to the Free Territory of Trieste, during the joint British-American occupation.

After the war James Morris wrote for The Times, and in 1953 was the paper’s correspondent accompanying Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay – the first to climb Mount Everest. Morris reported the success of Hillary and Norgay in a coded message to the newspaper. The news was published in The Times on the morning of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Morris reported on the Suez Crisis for the Manchester Guardian in 1956; and on the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann.

Morris married Elizabeth Tuckniss in 1949 and had five children together – one of whom died in infancy. They lived together in the village of Llanystumdwy in North Wales for over 50 years until Morris’ death last month on November 20, 2020.

Morris began transitioning to life as a woman in 1964 – one of the first high profile people to do so.

In 1972 Morris travelled to Morocco to undergo sex reassignment surgery performed by surgeon Georges Burou, because doctors in Britain refused to allow the procedure unless Morris and Tuckniss divorced – which they were not prepared to do.

JAN Morris (1926 - 2020) They divorced later, but remained together and on May 14, 2008 were reunited into a civil partnership legally allowable. She wrote about her transition in Conundrum (1974), her first book under her new name, and one of the first autobiographies to write about personal gender reassignment.

“The more I was treated as a woman, the more woman I became. An adapted willy-nilly. If I was assumed to be incompetent at reversing cars, or opening bottles, oddly incompetent I found myself becoming. If a case was thought too heavy for me, inexplicably I found it so myself.”

- Jan Morris Conundrum, 1974

Morris’ best-selling autobiography Conundrum (1974) documented her transition and was compared to that of transgender pioneer Christine Jorgensen’s A Personal Autobiography. Late memoirs included Her Story and Pleasures of a Tangled Life. She also wrote many books on travel, particularly to Venice and Trieste. Her Pax Britannica trilogy (1968, 1973, 1978) covers the British Empire, from the earliest days of the East India Company to the troubled years of Independence and nineteen-sixties post colonialism. It received world-wide praise, and was published over a ten-year period beginning in 1968 with Pax Britannica: The Climax of Empire.

“Her ‘Pax Britannica’ trilogy endures because Jan embodied much of the curiosity and

The Tribune | Weekend | 21

Thursday, December 24, 2020

MORRIS on the Dick Cavett Show (May 16, 1974) “I think what comes through most in her writing is a feeling of magnanimity. You’re in the hands of a companion who’s gracious, self-effacing and above all kind. Compassion is a constant in her work. She can be waspish, but on the whole she resists the travel writer’s temptation of smart and cheap laughs. The virtues she cultivated instead – doubt, humility, complexity, ambivalence – give her work its sense of timelessness. Jan has always had another person in herself, undertaking outrageous enterprises – on Everest, in Morocco, from Venice and Manhattan to her beloved Wales ...’

- Rory MacLean Author, Stalin’s Nose

MORRIS (second from left) greets Sir Edmund Hillary on his return from the summit of Everest (Photo_ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY) erudition, the sympathy towards other cultures, that was the best part of Britain abroad; yet she never hesitated to expose Empire’s cruelties and hypocrisies. Her meditation on Trieste pierces because in this haunted, wistful place that doesn’t quite belong anywhere, she seemed to be giving us a glimpse of herself ...”

- Pico Iyer Author, Video Night in Kathmandu

based on her gender choices (and be something she would have equally hated). Morris was a writer who worked across many genres – history, biography, fiction and travel – and brought to all of them

Morris’ 1985 novel Last Letters from Hav – an imagined travelogue and political thriller – was shortlisted for that year’s Booker Prize.

In addition to Venice (1960), Farewell the Trumpets (1978), Among the Cities (1988), A Writer’s World (2003), and In My Mind’s Eye: A Thought Diary (2018) were among Jan Morris’ best known books.

“To limit Jan Morris to being a travel writer would be as reductive as making casual judgements

an infectious enthusiasm and mischievous wit.”

- Hugh Thomason Author, An Exploration of the Inca Heartland (2003)

I sat next to Jan Morris at a dinner at The Travellers Club in London celebrating the publication of Everest by George Band, and also the 50th anniversary of the successful expedition led by John Hunt in 1953 in which Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit. Morris, of course, then James Morris, had been on the expedition, as had George Band, and had reported on the first successful assault on the mountain. There were many speeches and congratulations. Morris was curiously non-committal and talked less about the expedition, and more about her forthcoming book A Writer’s World soon to be published that same year, 2003. She looked well for her 77 years and said it would be her last book. Of all her books it is my favourite, and is a hugely evocative collection of her travel writing and reportage from five decades. It is a unique portrait of the late twentieth century world and includes half a century of her contributions to publications on both sides of the Atlantic. There are elegiac accounts of postIndependence Sri Lanka, Singapore and India.

She was in her element talking to those who “stayed on” in the Indian hill-station of Darjeeling; describing the Barbados of the late 1950s; Havana before the revolution of 1959; the 1960

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Thursday, December 24, 2020

MORRIS with the Duke of Edinburgh, right, during a reception to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the ascent of Everest, at the Royal Geogra “In her compendium of essays, ‘A Writer’s World’, there is a magnificent section on the 1970s. This was when she was ‘reaching a solution of my lifelong sexual dilemma ... I was still accepting commissions from magazines, but I found reportage and travel writing metamorphosing more and more into impressionism – perhaps because nothing in world affairs seemed to me so clear cut as it used to be’ ...

“Jan Morris will endure; she didn’t write self-indulgently about the ‘I’ in adventure. Her work was more far-ranging and searching than that ... she unshackled herself and everyone she influenced from the bounds of a genre so often relegated to something less important than other literary forms. She transcended the boundary of every expectation.”

- Sophy Roberts Author, “The Lost Pianos of Siberia”

JAN (then James) Morris before her transition during the Everest Expedition in 1953

(Photo_Fairfax Media Archives)

UN Conference in New York when Nikita Khruschev banged his shoe on the table to garner attention; Adolf Eichmann’s 1961 war-crimes trial in Jerusalem; the outwardly dull but efficient Switzerland; the earnest multicultural Toronto in 1960s Canada; and her favourite city Manhattan – soon to be ruptured by the assault on the World Trade Centre on September 11, 200l. I remember the evening and the conversation well.

Morris has been a matchless chronicler of our age. With over 40 books behind her she is rightly referred to as “the grand old dame of letters”. It is quite possible that she is the greatest travel writer of our age.

Jan Morris died on November 20, 2020 at Ysbyty Bryn Beryl (Bryn Beryl Hospital) in Pwllheli in North Wales. She was 94 years old.

• Sir Christopher Ondaatje is the author of The Last Colonial. The author acknowledges that he has quoted liberally from Wikipedia; Ariel: A Literary Life of Jan Morris (2016) by Derek Johns; and The Guardian, November 21, 2020.

The Tribune | Weekend | 23

Thursday, December 24, 2020

animals

All about love

By KIM ARANHA Animal Matters

L

ove, that’s what it is all about, isn’t it? I mean here we are just a few hours away from Christmas Day. The day the epitomises the love of creation and devotion.

We give gifts to people we love, we care and nurture those we love and care for, we hold them close to us; we do not turn away from them, all in the name of love.

Is love restricted to human-tohuman bonding? No, I emphatically do not believe that to be a fact. In actuality, I think humans have a lot to learn from companion animals about bonding and loyalty. All too frequently the human side of love and loyalty has caveats and conditions. Does an animal impose any conditions on the unfailing love he showers on his human? If you need me to answer that, then you have an awful lot to learn.

Humans are not very intuitive; it takes a human being much longer to “suss” things out. We humans have to dig deeply into our, fast disappearing, bag of senses to “feel” what and who people are. Frequently, I will meet people and not want to get to know them any better, and, equally frequently I will spend a limited amount time in somebody’s presence and feel I have known them for years and know that they are good people; it is intuition, some of us humans still have it….all animals have it.

It is my firm belief that the more “civilised” humans became, the more they lost their delicate intuitive senses.

It also appears to me that many humans have lost their ability to feel empathy for each other or animals.

One reads about a female dog that sheltered orphaned kittens during a snowstorm. It shows that the dog had a sense of compassion for the poor little babies who would have surely died if the dog had not come to their rescue.

Recently, a dolphin got caught in the moorings of a lobster pot in Miami. Two men, on a recreational ride on their jet skis, noticed the dolphin struggling. They got close

enough to the dolphin to see what the problem was. Thank goodness these men cared. One of them had a knife and was able to cut the rope away. The delighted dolphin swam away only to return with the entire pod and they swam around the two men several times. The men think they were saying thank you for rescuing one of the family. What do you think?

Recently, my darling boy Chief had an accident and I had to send him over to Florida for treatment.

It has been so heartening to see the

people who have reached out to me and written and phoned. I have had calls from all over -London, New York, Padova, Paris, Rome…. wonderful, special, loving friends who care. How blessed I personally am to have that kind of support.

The thing that is special about those people who have given me and Chiefie support is that they still have compassion and empathy.

All too often we see it lacking in those around us. Those people who bring their elderly dog to the shelter because he is too old and they want

pet of the week

a puppy. They do it to the dog, and they will probably do it to their mother too. Beware, a world without love is a terrible, cold and frightening place to be.

The simple emotion that is love at it’s purest is between a parent and their child and a human and their pet.

Love between two adult people becomes far too complicated and is anything but simple.

This article is to showcase the joys of the pure and unbiased love we get from our pets and that they give us. If we listen and watch how they respond to our kindness, we can appreciate how the simple gesture of kindness and love invariably promotes a response in kind.

It is that response that is the cue for a dog to reply and in no time at all a firm bond is created that will last for the entirety of that animal’s life provided the human keeps his side of the deal. So saying it is actually tragic to see how many dogs who are not loved try so hard to please their humans and sit patiently waiting for a signal that will indicate that they will be stroked and loved.

I know people who own dogs they do not touch, will not even allow on the patio furniture, to the extent that their porch is a visual disaster, just to block access to the porch sofa.

You reap what you sow in life and that applies to love too.

Merry Christmas to you and all those you love and who love you back.

By THE BAHAMAS HUMANE SOCIETY

and yard space, and just knowing I have a home of my own for the holidays. Are you that home? If so, please come to the Bahamas Humane Society to meet me, or call 323-5138 for more information. I look forward to shaking your paw!”

lease adopt me! Hi, I’m Garvin, Gavin, Gerhard, no... Gary!

I’m about one year old and I love attention. See how I’m looking at you begging you to take me home?

My long fluffy hair is sure to attract your attention! I’m young and playful and would love a home with another canine, but I’ll be fine on my own, too. I’d enjoy beach times

• BHS Raffle tickets are now available. The grand prize is $10,000 worth of groceries from Super Value, and the other prizes are amazingly useful coupons, too.

Tickets are $5 each or a book of 21 for $100. Pick yours up today at the BHS or at Fox Hill Nursery.

The drawing is December 29.

Needed: A home for Christmas

“P

PHOTO/Linda Gill-Aranha

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Thursday, December 24, 2020

community

Relief organisation goes ahead with helping those in need and preparing future hurricane bunkers

By CARA HUNT | Tribune Features Writer | cbrennen@tribunemedia.net

A

fter a year of pandemic turmoil, the HeadKnowles Foundation will turn its attention back to preparing for disasters that have affected the Bahamas for many years - hurricanes.

On Wednesday, volunteers handed out food boxes and other essential items such as diapers to ensure that Bahamians would be able to enjoy their Christmas holiday.

“The pandemic is not a typical disaster we could plan for, nor respond to, as we would normally do after a hurricane,” said Lana Lee-Brogdon, director and treasurer.

“As a result of COVID-19, many Bahamians are now in dire straits, unable to make ends meet, and we are so happy that we were able to assist in fulfilling some of their basic needs through our food distribution.”

Gina Knowles, Head Knowles, founder said that Wednesday’s distribution was just one of many such initiatives they have done throughout the year.

“We gave out food and supplies to the Family Islands for hurricane victims since Dorian hit. We also give to other NGOs that we know really feed people that need it most, such as Bahamas Feeding Network, Great Commissions, the Lord’s Kitchen, the Red Cross, many soups kitchen and churches,” she said.

“This year it has been challenging because of the pandemic, but we are still passionately fighting the fight. We are now finishing with food distribution and moving on to the next big project, which is the creation of hurricane bunkers. These will all be filled and placed on the Family Islands to now have us prepared for a disaster in advance. This has been a very close to my heart project and I can’t wait until you see the end product.”

Lana explained that the hurricane bunkers will have enough water and dry goods to sustain 300 people for up to three days, with the intention of keeping hurricane survivors alive until they can be rescued.

“We thank our national and international donors for working with and continuing to believe in HeadKnowles Foundation and making our vision reality.

“HeadKnowles Foundation, continues to work tirelessly with its passionately committed volunteers and local and international donors to provide stability for so many who are still impacted from Hurricane Dorian and the continued challenges that this year’s pandemic, COVID-19, has created. We thank everyone, near and far, for your kindness, your compassion and all of your efforts. We are humbled and forever grateful,” said. Krystynia Lee D’Arville, director and secretary.