Stories about Caribbean from October, 2006
Guadeloupe: New Travel and Tourism Site
InternetRapide.com announces (Fr) the launch of www.guadeloupe.fr a new travel information portal dedicated to promoting Guadeloupe as a vacation destination.
Barbados: Who's your First World daddy?
Barbados Free Press takes issue with Barbados Labour Party strategists’ designation of Prime Minister Owen Arthur as the “Father of First World Barbados”.
Guyana: Celebrity culture
When Guyana finally develops a celebrity culture, who will qualify? wonders MediaCritic, offering some suggestions as to who might occupy the A-, B- and C-lists.
Guyana: The generator did it
Guyana-Gyal is “reduced to the lowest common denominator” by a noisy generator.
Trinidad & Tobago: Halloween
At Halloween, “not a tradition associated with the English-speaking Caribbean,” Trinidadians seem happy to mimic the styles coming out of North America, observes Laura at the Caribbean Beat weblog, but perhaps that's merely a symptom of some of the country's other positive attributes.
Haiti: Circles of Change
A recently posted YouTube video (in kwéyol with English subtitles) introduces a programme in Haiti called Circles of Change, which seeks to empower individuals by developing their sense of personal responsibility and their ability to “teach themselves”. “Can hungry people think,” asks one of the participants. “Can poor people exercise...
Jamaica: Mediocrity
“We are the people of the plateau—we work as much as is necessary to reach a flat, safe place,” says Jamaican novelist Marlon James of his compatriots. “Then we stay there for thirty years.“
Jamaica: Striking it rich
Francis Wade considers what could happen if Jamaica were suddenly to strike it rich.
Bermuda: Dr. Brown's opportunity
Valentine Michael Smith leaves aside satire for a moment and considers the opportunity that lies before Bermuda's newly elected Premier, Dr. Ewart Brown.
Belize: Dangriga Town
Nyasha Lang reports on a visit to Dangriga Town, Belize, where she visits a radio station run by a Garifuna perfomer and learns how easy it is to fall into the habit of wearing several hats.
Jamaica, UK: Bob lived here
JT at the Caribbean Beat weblog notes the addition of a plaque honouring reggae superstar Bob Marley to London's list of blue plaques designating landmarks associated with well-known figures: “It's been an interesting week for reggae in London, as officialdom takes a sudden new interest in the music. On Wednesday,...
Bermuda: PLP Election
GS at Pondblog offers an assessment of the results of last night's Progressive Labour Party election in Bermuda, in which Premier Alex Scott was beaten by Ewart Brown: “It wasn't a surprising outcome – Scott is an odd, dithering sort of man who ruled the roost, according to party insiders,...
Bermuda: Cold front
As a cold front passes Bermuda, Shawn and Sue comment on Bermudians’ and their own attitudes towards cold weather: “Every year you are here I think you get “wussier” with respect to the cold.“
Barbados: Sensationalism
Eemanee criticises Barbados Free Press for demonstrating a “knack for sensationalism” in calling the Chairman of the Barbados Family Planning Association an “abortions provider”: “Let's not forget that the BFPA provides a range of needed services, such as pap smears, men's health services as well as Room 246, a drop-in...
Guadeloupe/Martinique, France: Zouk Nostalgia
Reminiscing Martiniquan/Guadeloupean group Kassav's song “Zouk la se sel medikaman nou ni” [” Zouk is our only medicine”], France-based Oliviermr2 posts a graphic depicting a couple dancing zouk and writes (Fr): “With how cold it is right now, that would be very welcome.”
Guyana: A tale of Eid and ice
Guyana-Gyal tells a story involving and Eid-Ul-Fitr dinner, a lost cell phone and a bag of party ice.
Jamaica: Five Questions with Marlon James
The latest installment in Geoffrey Philp's “Five Questions” series is an interview with Jamaican novelist Marlon James.
Dominica, UK: Jean Rhys
Jeremy Taylor's dislike of the new BBC dramatisation of Dominican novelist Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea leads him to consider, among other things, Rhys's struggle to reconcile “her creole and European selves” and the British reception of her work.
Jamaica: Butterflies
Flickr user Honey Monster has a lovely photoset featuring Jamaica butterflies.
Dominica: Independence
On the occasion of Dominica's independence, Kenny Green affirms the strength of the island's culture while sounding a warning: “Dominica has some major questions to ask itself about independence. Most of our income was from a protected relationship with Europe which we scream to regain, brokered by England. Our current...
Trinidad & Tobago: Rock band offers free downloads
Christopher Yee Mon reports that Trinidadian rock band Tripped and Fallen is offering their latest album as a free download.