Babash

Yikes, I recently read an interview conducted by the Trinidad Express with the head of GOPIO (Global Organization of People of Indian Origin) and was appalled by the tone and direction of the interviewer. The Trinidad Express should know better and that interview was an attack on the Organization and person interviewed.  http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161331742.

Dr. Selwyn Cudjoe also has an organization that promotes the welfare of people of African origin and I am sure that the very same types of questions were never asked of the esteemed Dr. Cudjoe.

The interviewer seemed hell bent of characterizing Gopio as a racist  organization (looks like that was his theme for the interview) – people have a right to organize and promote themselves even in a cosmopolitan society like Trinidad. This is done all over the world and is seen here in NYC with the many ethnic parades that are an intrinsic part of the Manhattan Parade scene.

Now getting back to the Indian Arrival Day Holiday that just passed – everyone (except the Indo Trinidadians) wants to change the name to Arrival Day. Now just remember this Holiday is now part of the Parliamentary process that enacted it into law – yes it is a legal Holiday! This day was dedicated to the arrival of the East Indians to Trinidad. There are many holidays in Trinidad that are dedicated to various groups and races. As an example, Emancipation Day and Spiritual Baptists Day are dedicated to our Afro citizens but the problem with the Indian Arrival Day is the use of the word “Indian” – that is the issue/the problem! So much has changed yet so many things remain the same!

WACK radio had a unique take on the holiday. This was a classic in your face “take that” attitude that said we celebrate the holiday “but we play it (in reference to Chutney music) because we could but not for them (yikes for them!)” – who said that? If you were listening you would have heard it but probably not cared. Deso (one of my favorite WACKologists) played one Rikki Jai track that I could recall. Just remember this holiday was enacted to celebrate the arrival/the impact of Indo Trinidadians on the fabric of ‘Trini Culture’ but instead WACK radio decided that it was a good day to play Retro hits! However, it was all Kaiso and Soca with token Chutney airplay. Lord Shorty (an Afro Trinidadian and the creator of Chutney music) must have steuped at WACK radio from his grave.

I heard a friend from Boston call into Damion’s show bemoaning the lack of Chutney music and especially on a day that should celebrate this type of music. She had to back down quickly and said that “ah just arrived” and did not hear what was played before (not much mind you). WACK radio really does not give a damn about Chutney music (someone even remarked that the lyrics are a bunch of nonsense (sheesh), for arguments sake let's say that is so, now what... you see, no one can deny that the music is indeed more infectious than some of the traditional music, ent). The station only gives token airplay to the musical genre - the truth and nothing but the truth (and it shall set you free my friend).  Just imagine a radio station broadcasting from the hive of the East Indian center in the country ignores the musical genre (token airplay does not mean that you address the art form). WACK is losing big time on a vast resource of advertising – just listen to Masala radio and the deluge of advertising compared to the miserly advertising on WACK (Cepep and Swimcol and Kenny’ new club Bleu, bush doctors selling bush medicine that would bring your 'tookolooks' back to life, a drug store and a shoe store) – somebody is not doing their job.  Kenny Philips the CEO of WACK jokingly asked, “is it a holiday in Trinidad?” – there yuh go!

To be of East Indian decent means that you must ‘know your place’ – what a bunch of crap and horse doo doo. Is it not time that we liberate ourselves from this mental slavery?

Just not feeling great these days...taking a break!

May 08, 2K8

In your estimation, what is the most popular radio station streaming service from Trinidad and Tobago via the World Wide Web? Just keep in mind that there are more than thirty stations at home with just about 20 streaming service via the World Wide Web - there is much to choose from with every taste satisfied!

Of course every station caters to a different audience and some have a mix that just may appeal to your highly sensitive listening preferences. Some may choose a station because of the amount of local content played; others may gravitate to a station because of the topics discussed as is the case with many of the talk radio services provided. 

Again others may be drawn to a station because it plays the music of a subculture of our very cosmopolitan society. Whatever drives you to listen a station may make it your favorite but that does not mean that a certain station can be deemed the best or the most commercially successful in the Twin Island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago? How can we determine that is very speculative at best?

Just keep in mind that most of the stations streaming their service on the World Wide Web may only have a community license and may not be able to cover the entire Island with their signal. That means that some people may have heard of a particular station at home but may not be able to tune in to the frequency (Trinidad and Tobago).  The internet gives these stations an equal base to start - "a level playing field" where the advertising revenue has not been a factor to date. As a matter of fact most of the businesses and radio stations (at home) have not figured a way to capitalize on this aspect of programming to date. Some have provided Web sites that sell items but haven't really earned advertising dollars from the programming as it relates to the international community.  

This question that is asked here is geared towards people listening to the stations via the World Wide Web. In this case people will listen to the station simply because of the format provided and maybe because they want to hold on to something relating to the homeland – music, news, talk, politics or simply to keep in step with that which is going on at home.

Some people listening via the web live in communities where there are not many Trinidadians to interact with during the course of the day and to come home and listen to a familiar voice or Trini English can be a very relaxing experience.  Whatever your reasons are just leave a comment saying which station that you enjoy listening too – just the station and a short note why you love listening to the station.

Support your station – let’s see which is the most listened to station on the World Wide Web streaming service from Trinidad and Tobago.

Oh here are my favorites (looks like I’m into the ***.1 FM Frequencies):

Talkcity 91.1 FM (Great Talk, Sports News, Community information, Tips for living, local music)

Wack 90.1 FM (Mostly Soca & Calypso with a sprinkling of other local music genres)

Masala 101.1 FM (Mostly Chutney, Soca, World Beat)

Addendum:

Next 99.1 FM (Soca City) Can someone provide some feedback regarding this radio station? The DJ sounds American (or is he Bajan?) trying to sound like a Trini (1:51 pm Wednesday May 08, 08).  Is this station based in Trinidad or simply a US online station masquerading under the red white and black banner? The station goes by the name Soca City but I only heard Usher for quite some time - yikes!

May 06, 2K8

Those who forget their past experiences (Point Fortin celebration), or choose to ignore it, could live (and did) to regret the consequences of their ignorance and blatant disrespect for the stated goal of the celebration. Once again the Point Fortin Borough anniversary celebration of the birth of the community as a Borough came and went. Once again the same problems reared its ugly head to the dismay of radio personalities who have complained about the same thing over and over again. What really happened and who is to blame?

OK, let’s take a look at what happened – simply put, disrespect!  It is apparent that Trinidadians have a great desire not to promote and enjoy that which is their own. In this case many of the DJ’s and those willing to capitalize on the whims and fancies of that which is perceived as the music of the youth movement chose to play heavy Jamaican Dub.  Many persons were even appalled that the DJ’s drowned out steel band music that was being played as the bands passed the area where the DJ’s were playing.  I guess all the Trinis to the Marrow remained at home for the celebration in Point but the entire area was deluged with Trinis looking to have a good time – a good time listening and promoting that which is not their own.  This is an old story and the situation is the same – Soca and Kaiso is not cool or sexy enough for the youth – Bennie Man is the rave that the youth crave.  There is but one Bunji Garlin and most of the other Calypsonians are not young people or don’t make music that appeals to the youth that determine that which is hot on the street.  If you can figure that one out then calypsonians would become just as successful year round.

Who is to blame? This is an easy one to answer (a common sense response).  Let's start here – on a National level everyone is to blame (indeed we must learn to appreciate and promote our own - if we don't care, who will?). But... And pay attention now, the Point Fortin Borough Corporation that organized the festival has to take the blame for this situation. Yes they are the ones to blame!They always had and still can for future events set the standard for future cultural events (music and dance entertainment). 

Here is my rationale:

In order to participate in the festival every band, every truck, every music truck, every DJ on the corner, every person selling food or whatever had to have been registered to participate – that is in the interest of the community, the health services and the police services. The authorities should have known who, what, when, where and why? If they did not start there then shame and blame starts right at this point.  This festival is growing bigger every year and needs to be regulated. Now after the registration process here is where the authorities could and should have shaped the festival to promote and highlight the community.  The rules should have spelt out the 'dos and don’ts' for the celebration.  Let it be known that it is a promotion of the Point Fortin Borough and that the culture of the community and nation is going to be celebrated.  Celebrants (masqueraders, revellers etc) should promote the culture of the people and the music played should only be that of the national community (any local music should be acceptable - it should not only be about Calypso and Soca but anything local). 

Any promoter coming in must pay the relevant fees and must abide by the rules listed by the Borough Corporation for the festival – that means local music only.  Pan performances should be allowed to take place (this should be a priority because they are not amplified) and DJ’s should shut down when the Pan playing groups go by.  That is a start. If any DJ breaks the rules then that DJ should know that he (his group or organization) will be shut down without a refund of the money paid to participate in the event.

It is time to  start planning for next year. Start early by advising anyone willing to participate in the celebration that it is "a local culture only celebration"!

May 02, 2K8

Visual radio – have you ever heard the term before, maybe from another local station streaming audio from Trinidad? So what is visual radio and is it something that you would be interested in experiencing? Well maybe…

A DJ sitting at a console playing music/the interaction with his/her audience may not sound sexy or even appealing for radio. I mean we already have something similar to that and it has been around for some time now; do you know what it is called? If you guessed Television, then you are correct. Indeed the DJ has morphed to the VJ - do you think that the Trinidad DJ's can make the transition from DJ to VJ? Some will do a good job and others will leave you wondering and even embarrassed for the person put in that position.

Ok let's take a look; it is something that some enterprising executives are looking at to tap into(yeah you guessed right, finance)– they hope that the interaction that takes place in chat boxes will spill over and the people chatting in the box, who interact with the DJ’s on-line, would want to see the DJ/on air personalities to make the session somewhat more interesting. This is an interesting concept that could take off but then again this will be a one way street where the DJ does his thing and you simply watch. Then again it could turn out to be very boring after a while and the DJ's job will change from simply doing his regular MC duties to now becoming an entertainer - not everyone can handle that scenario.

Here is another situation/scenario that comes to you as a question: Are you willing to pay for this feature? Now take into consideration that you already receive most Internet audio feeds from radio stations free and the small fee that you pay (if you accept this Mission Mr. Phelps) will help finance the internet effort of the station in question (do you know one that is venturing in this area?). Most stations cover the cost to stream the feed with the advertising finances that they receive/earn during the daily broadcasts. So why would a station want to do this if it is going to add to their operational costs (and will certainly burden their bandwidth feed)? Simple - it could bring in income for a service already provided (audio feed) that they don't earn income from. This service would be ideal if people are interested in seeing interviews as they take place especially if it is a celebrity being interviewed and they can ask questions and interact with the staff. Then again how often will this be done to warrant paying for such a service?  If there is a fee and it is only to see the DJ in the station then most people will not want to pay for that.

At this time, are there any radio stations streaming audio from Trinidad also streaming video on their webpage? WACK radio 90.1 FM did several test streams and calls their offering WACK TV (several pay per view shows were provided for the 2008 Carnival season). There is an announcement on the main site’s webpage regarding WACK TV on demand – a pay per view/monthly fee for service to see special events and or the DJ on air.  

Did you know that such a service already exists from one of the radio stations streaming their service out of Trinidad. Well, if you simply want to see the DJ in the studio doing his thing then you have a free option at http://www.city94fm.com/ aka 94.1 Rhythm City. Rhythm City gives you two small windows/two views of the on air personalities (on the microphone) and the DJ handling the playing of the music. This is a free service and yes it is cool at first but you cannot interact with the persons in the video feed. Obviously the small screens don’t take up too much space and it is a strain to clearly see any additional persons in the studio during an interview however, this is just gravy on the plate because it does not cost the site visitor anything to see their favorite jocks do their thing. 

In the end everyone is attempting to corner the market and gain a bigger share of the online listeners with the hope that it would generate income some time soon. It would be interesting to see how many of the faithful Shout Box fanatics who like to brag and boast about WACK radio and who don't want to hear about any other stations streaming audio out of Trinidad support the station in this regard.

Good luck to everyone attempting to innovate and set the standard for the local stations.

May 02, 2K8

Last night the Point Fortin Borough celebrations (28th.year as a Borough) continued with the presentation of a host of calypsonians who entertained the people past midnight - it was like Dimanche Gras night.  It felt like the run up to Carnival with Talk City 91.1 FM and Wack 90.1 FM streaming the show 'live' (as it happens) via the World Wide Web.

Carnival out of season is the really what this celebration has morphed into. In a sense it has taken a life of its own and seems to be getting bigger and better ever year. Now don’t expect to go to Point Fortin and expect to see Carnival Tuesday on display – eh eh, it is not like that. Instead you will see Carnival in it raw and unfettered form. We are talking about a J’ouvert style of Carnival with mud mass, revelry, pan on the road, rhythm sections (can you handle ah good hub?), and people like ants simply ‘liming and having ah time’.

Now noting that I mentioned that it is Carnival in its purest form this does not mean that there isn’t a major financial boom that obviously plays into the scenario. Yes it is also becoming a money generator.  Band are forming with a simple colorful tee shirt with the name of the sponsor of the ban on it and some ‘war paint’ and short shorts for the girls ranging in prices upwards TT$300.00 – I guess it is the price of progress and it you want to brag that you played with so and so then you have to fork out some dollars for the memories. The Borough has organized many shows and there are even boat rides (more like fete rides) to capitalize on festive nature Trinis at play. The food vendors will also get an opportunity to earn some extra dollars during the celebrations. It would be interesting to get the report on the amount of extra money that is pumped into the Borough because of this Mini Carnival that is disguised as a celebration of the Borough becoming a Borough.

People living overseas have made plans to travel to Trinidad for the celebration months in advance. Many are at home already.  Many whom were unable to attend the National Carnival celebrations earlier this year now feel like their Carnival vibe is fulfilled with the continuing celebration bringing the same feel of the National celebration. 

Yes, indeed it is bacchanal this weekend with people pressure mad, mad, and mad; pressure and pleasure in musical madness and ecstasy in dance on the streets of Point Fortin. If you are unable to attend the festivities at least one can follow the festivities on Talk City and WACK radio. Log on to one of the streams and delve into the madness.  Wack radio is presenting a J’ouvert  ‘band’ that would be the place that most of the Shout Box (lacouray chat on the website)  visitors would be parading and getting on bad to the music provided by  the station’s DJ’s.

Yes, once again, it is celebration time and all roads lead to Point – Point Fortin to be exact. So make it a point to get to Point this weekend because it is Mass is May – 'dis is madness oui boi!'

Dear readers do yourselves a favor and listen to Talk City 91.1 FM @  one of the following sites beneath:

http://www.ctntworld.com/carnival2008/talkcity91_stream.html

http://islandlinks.50megs.com/streams/trinidad/talkcitywma.html

http://www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/streams/

Talk City is a member of the Caribbean New Media Group. As a result they get their news from C News but they put their own twist on things - just check out "The Daily Review" and the hilarious "My Take".

"The Caribbean New Media Group is a state-run media company in Trinidad and Tobago. The company operates three radio stations: Sweet 100.1 Next 99.1 and "Talk City 91.1", as well as a television station CNMG-TV. Plans are afoot to launch an internet portal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_New_Media_Group."

Make an effort to listen to the Daily Review you will thoroughly enjoy the delivery of the material that is serious and extremely funny at the same time. I listened to Talk City from the time I came to work this morning until I signed off at 5:45 pm.

The morning show was conducted in a very relaxed mode that was in tune with my work schedule today; the afternoon session had a few very interesting interviews leading to my favorite segment for the day - "THE DAILY REVIEW!" This segment takes a look at articles in the daily newspapers - I totally enjoyed this segment.

Our society is varied and so too are the radio stations streaming audio on the World Wide Web.  Don't be fooled into thinking that Talk City is only about talk because you get music throughout the day. The focus of the station is that of providing information and stimulating chat.

Give the station a listen - you won't be disappointed!

This reply came as a result of being accused of writing an article about Pan in the 21 st Century that "reeked of politics" as opined by Trinidesperado who frequents the WACK  Radio 90.1 FM Shout Box.

 Please scroll down this page to see the article.

Tntdesperado you said, check the specs. Those were your choice of words, and more than likely, words that did not really impart the meaning (thought process) that you intended. Did you mean history/direction/development of the steel pan as a musical instrument?  Hmm, I ponder and wonder here-yonder.

What do you mean by check the specs, and may I add  specification of what? Oh shucks Smarty (not such a smartarse after all eh), didn't you get his drift? This was/is an Albot and Senseless moment...sigh. Ok let me expand here(this is where I exhale), when I mentioned the patent guys having the last laugh, that all has to do with the specification of design and implementation of a process to create and/or design the steel pan as a musical instrument. Voila (eureka), ENT that is true! You talk to me as if I don't understand something that I grew up in, tin pan (frico and klim pan competition in the pan yard and all - those were the good ole days and I experienced it all. I lived on the same street that the Arima Angel Harps orchestra is located (EM Rd & Olton Rd in Arima). Deceased Leslie Cumberbatch, my neighbor, was the captain of the band for years - I was always in the pan yard - ignorance in not one of my virtues dear reader.

Blame government, yes yuh damn right I will always speak out! When they screw up (whoever) they inherit the blame and just remember that they are put in place to seek the public interest... think for heaven's sake!

Show your passion with a post instead of sniping here. But then again these discussions are so much fun and, please feel free to continue to "explaciate yuhself" ... this is a very democratic blog - I won't delete your comments they are too precious...

The Prime Minister stated that Dr. Keith Rowley was fired for Hooligan behavior exhibited at a Cabinet meeting. He went on to state that Cabinet was aware of the plan to include a 60 room Hotel at the site of the Performing Arts Center since last year. He even produced a document showing that the Hotel was part and parcel of the Center and that Dr. Rowley should have known about these plans. Well the PM was literally caught with his pants down. The following paragraph was taken from Trinicenter.com; please read.

“The Prime Minister further rejected Rowley's claim of questionable financial dealings at UDECOTT and said that the state-owned company is being run quite efficiently. Manning said that cabinet had knowledge of this hotel since last year. He proceeded to show a plan and point out the area on it for the hotel of sixty rooms. Manning said the hotel was not put in surreptitiously by anybody; it was always part of the design. Manning further said that they had articulated to the public at some time that the Academy of the Performing Arts in Port of Spain had comprised a sixty room hotel.”
http://www.trinicenter.com/tnt/2008/250408.html

Ok now that you have read the paragraph please note that the original plans for the performing arts center submitted and approved by Town and Country planning never had a 60 room hotel as part of the plan. As a matter of fact no subsequent additional plans were ever submitted to Town and Country regarding the inclusion of a 60 room hotel for the Performing Arts Center.  Please read the following paragraph also taken from the Trinicenter article.

“TV6 later showed an official document that showed the hotel was not part of the plan for the Academy of the Performing Arts. Former NAR government minister Eden Shand showed documents that contradicted what Manning said. Shand said, "Last night I heard the news about a sixty room hotel, and I know the process in this country through which you can do that. The process was town and country planning approval; you can check with them if you have that, and certificate of environmental clearance. I went this morning to see whether in fact the sixty room hotel was part of the clearance. It is not."

http://www.trinicenter.com/tnt/2008/250408.html

Now we have these facts and as a result we now know that Dr. Rowley was speaking the truth regarding the inclusion of the hotel and that PM Manning was only providing information to mislead. The reasons given by the Prime Minister for firing Dr. Rowley looks very unfavorable on the part of the Prime Minister’s office and smells of impropriety at this time.

Get the latest information and quality audio from Miss Joanne "Tigress" Rowley at http://www.myspace.com/mersani