Friday, December 21, 2018
art books film fashion music history gardening food puzzles
Weekend
12-HOUR PARTY Page 17
Santa’s secrets Have you been naughty or nice? pages 4 & 5
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Friday, December 21, 2018
holidays
Dreaming of a green Christmas those who use organic or recycled base products. Have a book lover on your list? Consider an e-book or audio book as their present. Other great gifts that aren’t physical are memberships or donations in the recipient’s name.
By CARA HUNT Tribune Features Writer cbrennen@tribunemedia.net
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hristmas is usually a time of excess. And while it’s fun to go all out for the holidays, it can take a major toll on the environment, not to mention, your wallet. And so, if you are dreaming of a green rather than white Christmas, here are a few ways to ensure that you have a holiday that’s merry and bright, and eco-friendly. . Send electronic Christmas greetings and gift certificates Thanks to the internet it is easy to send beautiful electronic holiday messages to family and friends all over the world. Just find a cute pic and a sentimental greeting and press send – no stamps or paper required. Purchasing gifts for loved ones living away can be a challenge. Not only do you have to select the item but then you have to factor in the cost of shipping and delivery dates. Minimise the carbon footprint and stress and just send a gift certificate they can redeem at a local venue, such as a restaurant or entertainment hotspot, or at popular online retailers. . O artificial Christmas tree, how lovely are thy branches Nothing really beats the smell of a real Christmas tree, but it can be an expensive annual purchase. To save the forest and your pennies, purchase a quality artificial tree that you can reuse for years to come. Still longing for that scent of pine? Try burning pine-scented candles or spraying an air-freshener; or just get a few real branches to place under your man-made tree, . That’s a creative wrap Think of all the wrapping and tissue paper, gift boxes, ribbons, bows and gift tags for everyone on your list and you quickly come to the conclusion that you are using a lot of paper products that will be quickly discarded one a gift is unwrapped. To make your wrapping less wasteful, try to use paper that can be
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. One man’s trash is another’s treasure As we approach the year’s end, it’s a great time to declutter your home. Clothes that no longer fit, toys that no longer played with or unused items just taking up space can be a blessing to other people. Even old furniture and appliances can find a new lease of life with
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Consider wrapping your presents with recyclable materials.
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Electronic gift certificates waste no paper.
Santa sacks are a fun alternative to traditionally wrapped gifts.
recycled after opening, or skip the gift tags altogether (just write the name on the gift itself.) Choose boxes made from recycled products or consider
placing smaller items in containers that can be reused, for example small lidded baskets or gift bags. Another great idea is putting gifts in cute Santa sacks made from cloth that can be used every year. Rather than paper bows, consider cloth ribbons which are more likely to be used again. . Gift wisely Consider purchasing your gift from companies known to have an environmental conscience, such as
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someone who can repurpose them. . Focus on family and friends Yes, it’s lovely to have a decorated home with beautifully wrapped presents, but remember the reason for the season. Be sure to focus on bonding with family – playing board games, watching movies together rather than everyone being on their personal devices. This may save electricity as well as foster family relations.
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Friday, December 21, 2018
Inside Weekend
My perfect Bahamian weekend Della Darville Legal secretary Q: Go to Junkanoo, watch it at home, or ignore it altogether?
Interview 4-5 Santa Claus talks coolest toys and strangest requests Food 7 - 9 How to cook the perfect turkey, plus the Bahamian Club gets an update with something old and something new Books 10 Bahamian author wins readers’ attention with ‘dark and delicious’ tales Music 11 - 12 Sasha Dunn and Dru242 take on the New World, plus The Music Project kids urged to set their sights higher Fashion 13 Sparkle this season with Tabitha Jacynth Art 14 - 15 Ninth annual national exhibition explores art from the seed to the fruit Entertainment 17 Party into the ‘13th Hour’ at this year’s Blackout Science 18 Explaining the Star of Bethlehem Gardening 19 The secret to growing onions Literary Lives 22 - 24 Sir Christopher Ondaatje’s Christmas crisis Forgotten Facts 25 Paul C Aranha on the roads of New Providence Puzzles 26 Animals 27 Kim Aranha on what not to gift, plus Pet of the Week Cover | Shawn Hanna
“Go to Junkanoo. Christmas isn’t Christmas without Junkanoo. It gives me that awesome rush feeling with a twist of excitement and fun.”
Q: Fruitcake, rum cake or guava duff? “Fruitcake. Guava duff and rum cakes are around all year long. It’s sort of tradition to have fruitcake with Christmas dinner.”
Q: When it comes to holiday spirit, are you Santa Claus or Ebenezer Scrooge? “I’m Santa Claus. I find
happiness in making others smile. I’m all about the holiday cheer I love giving gifts, and getting gifts, too!”
Q: Eggnog, mulled wine or apple cider? “Definitely eggnog. Just like fruitcake, Christmas dinner isn’t complete without it.”
Q: If Santa could bring you anything in the world, what would you wish for?
“I would absolutely love an all-inclusive trip to Las Vegas with lots of naughty fun-filled parties...’what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’... and a shopping spree in California.”
Things 2 Do this weekend Friday • Hillside’s Holiday Party Time: 10am - 4 pm Venue: Antonius Roberts Studio and Gallery You are invited to join Hillside House as they celebrate a year of art, culture and creativity. Pop into the gallery and view the Yin exhibition or relax in the courtyard with some conch fritters and bush tea. • Bahamas Bowl Time: 12.30 pm Venue: Thomas A Robinson National Stadium The fifth annual Bahamas Bowl will feature a match-up between the FIU Panthers and the FIU Toledo Rockets and will be broadcast on ESPN. • A Season at Fiona’s Theatre presents Jazz Etc Time: 7.30 pm Venue: National Art Gallery of the Bahamas Visit Fiona’s Theatre and enjoy holiday classics and more with a jazzy twist. Guests will also receive a complimentary glass of wine courtesy of Bahama Barrels. Tickets are $18 for single tickets and $30 for couples. • Anti-Office Christmas Party Time: 6.30pm Venue: Venture Coworking
For those who work for themselves and have no colleagues, for those who don’t want to spend extra time with their co-workers, or for those who just love chill vibes and shenanigans, this is the party for you. Tickets are $10 per person.
Saturday • Let’s Connect Christmas Shopping Expo Time: 11am Venue: St Gregory’s Parish Hall “Shop and save” this Christmas with one of the biggest expos of the year. A variety of products will be on display, with gift wrapping readily available. There will be a kiddie corner to keep the kids occupied while the grown-ups shop. • Night Lights at Ardastra Time: 6pm Venue: Ardastra Gardens Take a break from the hustle and bustle, and bring your blankets and pillows to watch “The Polar Express”. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for kids and members. • Nassau Night Market Time 9pm Venue: #5 Horseshoe Drive (opposite the straw market) The Nassau Night Market promises great food, a safe environment, chill people and live performances by bands like Nuvera Era. The entrance fee is $3.
• The Current Holiday Party Time: 9pm Venue: The Current at Baha Mar Get charged up at The Current’s annual holiday party – a night filled with art, culture and good vibes. Featuring music by DJ Saffire. Free admission and cash bar available
Sunday • Twas Two Nights Before Christmas Time: 6pm Venue: Adrastra Gardens Bring your children dressed in their PJs for a holiday zoo adventure. They’ll listen to a story read by Mrs Claus, take selfies with Santa, play reindeer games and make a special treat to leave for Santa’s reindeer. Admission: $10 for children / $5 for adults and members. • A Night of Christmas Music Time: 7pm Venue: Abundant Life Bible Church Enjoy an evening of Christmas songs. Featuring the Abundant Life Chapel Singers, praise choir, youth choir, the Deaf Ministry, Rose Richardson, Walton Bain. Dellareese Edgecombe, Inspired, Purpose and Blessed. Light treats will be served following the event.
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Friday, December 21, 2018
interview The jolly bearded man himself took time out of his busy schedule to talk to Cara Hunt about what makes Bahamian kids unique, the number one requested toys of the year, and the most unusual wishes he has received over the years.
Santa Claus
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t is the merriest time of the year, but for Santa Claus it is definitely the busiest. Despite his hectic schedule back at the North Pole, Santa could not forget all the boys and girls as well as some grown-ups in these islands who really wanted the opportunity to give him their wish list in person and pose for a special Christmas photo. Of course, escaping the freezing North Pole for our lovely island weather was an added bonus, even if
it does leave Mrs Claus and the elves feeling a bit envious. Tribune Weekend caught up with Santa just before he started his day meeting kids in the centre court of the Mall at Marathon on Tuesday. He usually begins his holiday stint the Saturday after Thanksgiving and stays until it’s time to grab the reindeer crew to begin his trek around the world on Christmas Eve. During his time here, he usually meets thousands of kids and those who are kids at heart.
Of course, according Santa, Christmas is simply the most wonderful time of the year. “Being at the mall can be tiring. There are long hours, because I know there are so many people who want to see me, but at that the same time people just tend to be nicer to each other at Christmas; it’s nice to see,” said Santa. While he has sometimes seen crying babies and kicking children elsewhere around the world, Santa noted that Bahamian children are a bit better behaved. “That has not happened to me,” he said, referring to being kicked or attacked, “but there was this one time
when a group of pranksters ran up to me and tried to pull off my hat and beard.” Another thing Santa does not take for granted is that people see him as someone with whom they can share their deepest wishes and emotions, whether it be a simple dream toy or something with more meaning. “The saddest request I’ve ever had was from a young lady who was being abused by her boyfriend and she asked me to change him. That was rough,” he admitted. Despite the myth that grown-ups stop believing in him, Santa said over the years many of them have paid him
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Friday, December 21, 2018
a visit with special wish lists of their own. “I get a lot or requests for husbands and wives. I’d say my number one request is from people wanting a good man or woman.” And if you think asking Santa for a partner is a weird request, said that honour actually goes to the child who one year requested a stone polisher. “I guess that he was really into sculpture, but that was what he wanted,” he said. Santa is of course hip to all the coolest toys of 2019 and said they are all being packed by his elves to be ready to greet children on Christmas Day. “The number one request that I have gotten from girls this year is the Barbie Dream House. For boys, it’s a Nerf gun or any type of remote control vehicle,” he noted. We had to stop chatting at this point as Santa’s first visitors of the day arrived. Four-year-old twins Celeste and Celine Miller were thrilled to be able to give Santa their wish list. The girls requested Doc McStuffins dolls and LOL Surprise! dolls. And of course, as Santa reminds all the kids who visit him, he told them that they should be sure to be good so that they are definitely on the nice side when he checks his list twice. Santa Claus got his start in Western Christian culture. He is also known as Saint Nicholas, Kris Kringle or Father Christmas, depending on different cultures around the world. In the United States, Canada and the Bahamas, children traditionally leave Santa a glass of milk and a plate of cookies. In Britain and Australia, he is sometimes given sherry or beer and mince pies instead. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden, it is common for children to leave him rice porridge with cinnamon sugar. In Ireland, it is popular to give him Guinness or milk, along with Christmas pudding or mince pies. In Hungary, St Nicolaus (Mikulás) comes on the night of December 5 and the children get their gifts the next morning. They get sweets in a bag if they were good, and a golden coloured birch switch if not. On Christmas Eve, “Little Jesus” comes and gives gifts for everyone. Germany has similar traditions. On December 6, kids celebrate
Santa with four-year-old twins Celeste and Celine Miller
Santa Claus meet kids at the Mall at Marathon.
High-fiving Santa
Santa checks who’s been naughty or nice Nikolaus Day; they receive sweets and small gifts if they were good. If not, it’s the switch applied by Knecht Ruprecht/Krampus...but not really. Then, on Christmas Eve, the Jesus child – or sometimes the ‘Weihnachtsmann’ (Christmas man) brings the big gifts. In Slovenia, Saint Nicholas (Miklavž) also brings small gifts for good children on the eve of December 6. Božiček (Christmas Man) brings gifts on the Eve of December 25, and Dedek Mraz (Grandfather Frost) brings gifts on the evening of December 31 to be opened on New Year’s Day. Kids from New Zealand, Australia, Britain, Ireland, Canada and North America also sometimes leave a carrot for Santa’s reindeer, while children following the Dutch custom for Sinterklaas will “put out their shoe” (leave hay and a carrot for his horse in a shoe before going to bed, sometimes weeks before the Sinterklaas Avond). The next morning they will find the hay and carrot replaced by a gift; often, this is a marzipan figurine. Other Christmas Eve traditions in this part of the world include reading “A Visit from St Nicholas” or other tales about Santa Claus, watching a Santa or Christmas-related animated programme on television, such as “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, and singing Santa Claus songs like “Here Comes Santa Claus” and “Up on the House Top”. Last-minute rituals for children before going to bed include hanging stockings on the mantelpiece or another place where Santa cannot fail to see them, and glancing out a window one more time to scan the skies for Santa’s sleigh.
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Friday, December 21, 2018
food
How to cook the perfect Christmas turkey By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
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he holidays are right around the corner and many Bahamians will be busy planning and purchasing the right ingredients to make this Christmas feast a memorable. And Tribune Weekend is here to make the process a little easier. Earlier, we reached out to Alberto Ramirez, a chef at The Swimming Pig restaurant at Baha Mar, to find how he makes the perfect Christmas turkey. Chef Ramirez explained that there are a variety of ways to prepare a turkey, including the different seasonings a person may choose to use. Still, he insisted one can’t go wrong using a simple recipe. He said for his turkeys, he uses salt, thyme, peppercorn and red wine. “If you don’t have homemade spices you can use tropical seasonings to make a homemade rub. So you can mix oregano with the Old Bay seasoning, and can put some olive oil along with black pepper,” he said. After the rub is spread over the turkey evenly and given some time to marinate, the bird is then placed in a pan for baking. “Normally I cook the turkey for five hours...you need to cook it well covered; in that way it’s not going to get dry,” he advised. Chef Ramirez added while he prefers to bake turkey at 190 degrees, the temperature does vary depending on the type of oven you have at home. Nevertheless, he said the usual temperature ranges between 170 and 190 degrees. “The first three hours (the turkey) is going to be covered and then for the two hours left you’re going to uncover it and you’re going to cook it with less heat,” he explained.
Speaking about cranberry sauce, Chef Ramirez said the consistency tends to be heavier. “You’re going to put some cranberry juice and dried cranberries (into a pot) and cook it for like 15 minutes so that it’s going to have a nice flavour in the sauce,” he said,
“So if you’re cooking it in 190 degrees, you’re going to cook it in 170 even less slow to make it like a nice roast (so that it has) a nice crunchy skin.” Chef Ramirez said a golden brown skin is a good indicator of a finished turkey. The trick, he added, is to bake the turkey with heat and a “little bit of steam” to avoid the meat drying up. He noted that the turkey should be “more than 70 degrees inside” when you measure it with a thermometer. While some people might think the easiest option is to purchase pre-made sauces from the store, Chef Ramirez’s homemade recipe for turkey gravy proves just as simple. “In a pot you need to mix flour with butter. When you’re cooking the butter with the flour you’re going to make a little small base. That base is going to give you the colour,” he said. “Later you can make a nice stock with beef stock to add to it, and the consistency of the butter with the flour is going to make a creamy, heavy (texture).” Chef Ramirez said he personally prefers using beef bones for his stock along with carrots, celery, thyme, salt and pepper, to get a rich flavour. Once you have a nice beef stock you mix it with the base to make a nice gravy.
To maximise taste, Chef Ramirez said: “Let it take all the flavour of the dried cranberries.” Christmas in the Bahamas means festivals, family and food, and using this simple turkey recipe is a one way to make your holidays even more delicious.
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Friday, December 21, 2018
food
Historic restaurant gets revitalised while
preserving traditions Atlantis’ Bahamian Club refines ‘London grill’ concept By ALESHA CADET Tribune Features Writer acadet@tribunemedia.net
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s part of a revitalised approach to all their food and beverage offerings, at Atlantis is also revamping some of the old favourites. One of these favourites is the historic Bahamian Club located in the Royal Towers. Under the leadership of Head Chef Iesha Henfield, an 18-year veteran chef at Atlantis, Bahamian Club was recently transformed into a classic English grill with Bahamian influences, featuring tableside carving trolleys and traditional meat cuts. In a one-on-one interview with Tribune Weekend, Iesha spoke in depth of the menu, of its growth and evolution over the years. And the biggest hit among the new additions, she noted, is undoubtedly the prime rib trolley. “Here you have our prime rib trolley which is a new introduction to the Atlantis; it has never been here before. This is definitely something new that persons enjoy,” she said. “A lot of the guests are surprised to see it here in the Caribbean, as it is so internationally known.”
Chef Henfield said all the meats used at the restaurant are fresh and not frozen to ensure top quality. Sean O’Connell, general manager and vice president of Culinary Operations at Atlantis, added: “We used to have prime rib trolleys here at Bahamian Club before and they went by the wayside 15 years ago. So we just had this custom trolley made for us, and we source some really great prime rib from upstate New York City that is hand-selected for us and slow-roasted in a new oven that we brought in and it is carved tableside for you,” he said. He believers guests will really appreciate the old style British cuts: the princess cut, which is two thin slices; and the queen cut, which is served with the bone and with a Yorkshire pudding – a pudding that is cooked in batches throughout the night, making it authentic.
Friday, December 21, 2018
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“I
t is just a great dish that you really can’t get anymore around here. Another example of we are doing here is offering salmon from northern Scotland, pairing it with really excellent conch. We are also bringing in the best beef from North America and we are trying to really balance the techniques of old school England with the freshness of the ingredients here in the Bahamas. We have crab, some really nice grouper, some snapper, and more. We try to bring into the specials, what is coming in from the outer Family Islands as far as fish goes,” said Mr O’Connell. The Bahamian Club has a 35-year plus history in the Bahamas, and Mr O’Connell said the goal is to preserve that history while at the same time “freshening” things up a bit. “How are we doing that? We are redefining what the concept is, and the concept is an old style London grill with just really great ingredients simply prepared. It is about sourcing great ingredients and using
those simple techniques that bring out the best flavours and textures so you can just have a simple, elegant dinner. Since we are moving in this direction, the restaurant is full again, we are getting a lot of great feedback,” said Mr O’Connell. Speaking highly of Chef Iesha, Mr O’Connell said it has been great to see her growth. Prior to her appointment at the Bahamian Club she was a sous chef at Atlantis’ Seafire Steakhouse. “We were able to promote her as the head chef at Bahamian Club, and to see her bring this back to life and be a catalyst of change is really exciting for me,” he said. “One of the reasons why I joined Atlantis was to continue developing the iconic property, but also nurturing the talent that we have here on property.”
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Friday, December 21, 2018
books
‘Dark and delicious’
does it for Bahamian best-seller By FAY KNOWLES
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ust when it seems bestselling Bahamian author Tanya R. Taylor has reached the pinnacle of her publishing success, she surprises her fans with yet another of her gripping novels, the thriller “One Dead Politician”. Not only that, she has discovered a new talent – that of short story writing. Her poignant short story “The Visiting Fairy” was recently published in the UK’s “The Lady” magazine. “One Dead Politician”, Ms Taylor’s 23rd published book, to be released January 24, is available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple and Kobo. It is the sequel to “Hidden Sins Revealed” in her “Nick Myers” series. “ ‘Hidden Sins Revealed’ was so widely accepted that I decided to turn it into a series. I had to do “One Dead Politician” is the Bahaloads of research for that book and mian author’s latest book. even visited the local morgue,” said the author. only to the citizens of that developing Ms Taylor is the author of several nation, but also to him as a seasoned No 1 best-sellers across the various investigator.” Amazon Stores. All of her books have Fans of the author’s popular “Cormade Amazon Kindle’s Top 100 Paid nelius Saga Series” are also in for a Best-seller List in several categories. surprise. Of “One Dead Politician”, Ms “To put everyone’s concerns to rest, Taylor said: “This is quite an interestno, we have not reached the end of ing ride for shining star Detective ‘The Cornelius Saga’. There are many Nick Myers of the Los Angeles Police more adventures to come. The next Department. He is sent hundreds of one on the agenda (book 11) is called miles away to impart his specialised ‘Wicked Little Saints’, which is availtraining and modernised investigaable for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes tive techniques to the police force in a & Noble, Apple and Kobo,” said Ms small Caribbean nation off the Florida Taylor. “Wicked Little Saints” will be coast. He doesn’t imagine he’d find released on February 17, 2019. As himself entangled in political rifts that with many of my new titles, you may will ultimately result in a prominent reserve your copy at a special, low prepolitician losing his life. Myers’ experorder price before the cost goes up.” tise as a top detective will be put to the The summary for “Wicked Little test as he sets out to solve the mystery Saints” reads: “Not everything is as it behind who would want Jackson Cunappears to be in the sparsely popuningham dead - a man he’d met and lated town of Nirvana. Three years admired. What he discovers in the end will come as a complete surprise, not earlier, a bus full of middle grade
Author Tanya R Taylor
“Wicked Little Saints” will be released on February 17, 2019. school children went missing and none of the victims’ parents have ever seen or heard from their beloved child again. Rachelle Wigby has just had her second nervous breakdown due to the unknown whereabouts of her precious daughter, Priscilla. Dr Barns, Rachelle’s estranged brother, feels it’s time someone got to the bottom of what happened to his favourite niece. “Dr Mira Cullen is made aware of the plight of her boss’s family and feels compelled to help in any way she can. After embarking upon the investigation using nothing but the unusual gifts she’d been born with, will she bring satisfactory closure to the puzzling mystery or will she discover something involving the missing children that is most unfathomable and disturbing?” In celebration of the release of “The Disappearing House”, a cosy paranormal mystery, Ms Taylor’s 10th book in the ‘Cornelius’ series, she offered her
newsletter subscribers a chance to win an Amazon gift card. The lucky winner was selected on November 29. “I occasionally run these contests,” she said, “as a small way of giving back to my wonderful readers.” The cover of “The Disappearing House” reached No 1 in December’s “Cover of the Month” contest on AllAuthor. com. Ms Taylor continues to include newsletter birthday shout-outs for her fans around the world, who eagerly write to her. A reader recently posted on Goodreads about “The Groundskeeper”: “Loved this story. After graves are disturbed and the remains removed, the groundskeeper tells a spooky story to the police. Brilliant twist and turn plot. Great characters. A must read for fans of dark and delicious fiction!” For more information about Tanya R Taylor’s books, go to her Amazon author page at amazon.com/TanyaR.-Taylor/e/B00S5TF39G. Her website is tanya-r-taylor.com.
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Friday, December 21, 2018
music
Sasha Dunn, Dru242 take on the ‘New World’
Bahamian artists perform at Art Basel event
By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net
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HANKS to some good old-fashioned networking, Bahamian artist Sasha Dunn seized the opportunity to perform at Art Basel Miami this month – an event he has always admired from afar. Up-and-coming artist Dru242 was also extended an invitation to perform at the prestigious, star-studded event that celebrates art in all its forms. The duo were headliners of the third annual “In Living Colour NYC” celebration, a high-end party part of the bigger Art Basel event. The event was held at the historic Townhouse Hotel’s rooftop venue called The Cape. Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed international art fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland, Miami Beach, Florida, and Hong Kong, selling established and emerging artists. The commercial fairs also offer parallel programming produced in collaboration with the host city’s local institutions. While Art Basel provides a platform for galleries to show and sell their work to buyers, it also attracts a large international audience of art spectators and students. Art Basel has become a major draw for Miami, with parties, satellite fairs and major events being held in conjunction with the show. On the night of the event the venue was transformed into an amazing windswept scene with beautiful art and people mingling about. The mood was set by the sounds of DJ Trauma who seamlessly mixed his music through different genres. Different artists were featured in various sections with their visual arts on display. “For years I have watched Art Basel from a distance, appreciated what it stood for and always wanted to be part of it. My brethren, Makel, knew DJ Franchella, the host of ‘In Living
Colour NYC’. He sent her my music along with Dru242’s. She loved the sound and invited us down to perform,” Sasha told Tribune Weekend. During the high-energy event, both artists got the chance to connect with new audiences. Once on stage, Sasha introduced himself and his fellow Bahamian artists to the crowd. He told them that his team was “the new sound in music.” He proceeded to perform the song “Girls love Sasha”, which the crowd responded to enthusiastically.
Dru242 then made his way to the stage. His laid-back bass tracks laced with melodies were also well received, said Sasha. “The reception was amazing for both me and Dru242, so much so that after the performances a guy who owns an apparel company called Tornado Blades came up to me and said he loved the performances and he wanted to give us a gift. He brought back over a dozen hats made by his company,” he said. As to how much of an impact the performance might have had on his
reach, Sasha said: “The impact was small when you look at it from the point of view of the overall entertainment industry. But I look at me and my team as Columbus coming to the New World for the first time. It’s not the first trip that matters; it’s the ones that come after, that will allow us to build an empire.” For more information about the artists, visit Instagram @sashadunn242 and @dru242 or the Sasha Dunn channel on YouTube.
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Friday, December 21, 2018
music
Young musicians urged to set their sights higher Training sessions for third Music Project underway By FELICITY DARVILLE
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saiah Taylor, leader of the Grammy Award-winning band Baha Men, is calling on more musicians to take advantage of the vast opportunities available on the global stage and to stop settling and being content to play only local gigs. His comments came as he addressed young people preparing for the third round of The Music Project (TMP) competition. In the Bahamas today, he said, too many musicians are comfortable with just playing at home and making do; they do not broaden horizons and enhance their skills for the international market. He said he personally has witnessed occasions where there were opportunities for Bahamian bands to work in places like Japan and China. However, so far no band has been willing to leave the comforts of their island home to explore these new frontiers. He encouraged the up-andcoming professional musicians taking part in TMP to consider this and take advantage of the vast opportunities available to them in music today. Mr Taylor prefers to remain behind the scenes as the driving force behind the success of Baha Men. He usually sends another member of the group to make public appearances involving speeches. However, after witnessing TMP’s previous two years of success, he thought it important to step up this time and impart some of his more
than 40-years of experience as a Isaiah Taylor of the Baha Men speaks professional musician to the next words of encouragement to participants generation. in this year’s The Music Project. TMP brings public and private school bands together for months Records, are successful because of the of training leading up to a popular individual commitment and passion of band competition with prizes that each member brings to the group and students look forward to. Mr Taylor the pursuit of its goals. He called on was well received by the group of kids the youngsters to take time managewho attended the first set of trainment seriously and to stop relying on ing sessions for TMP as a part of the preparations for the competition which their phones to be successful in music, but rather to use their memory to help will be held in February. keep their minds sharp as they grow in He told the young band members their profession. that he absolutely loves his work, Singer Wendi Lewis, recent Hollybut it is not an easy calling; it is one wood Music in Media Award winner in which requires commitment at every Dance, hosted the first training session, hour of the day and all through the which was held at Atlantis. Facilitanight, and will also require one to tors encouraged the kids to note the travel and forego home commitments successes of musicians like Wendi to and comforts for a time. He said the motivate them to achieve their goals, Baha Men, who are signed to Sony
thinking beyond the context of the Bahamas alone. TMP’s founding president Andrew Gardiner said the project opens a world of possibilities for the students and gives them an outlet to express their talent outside of school settings. Raquel Pinder, also of TMP, proudly announced that once again this year the winning band will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the Berklee College of Music in Boston for a weeklong summer camp in which they can hone their personal skills as musicians as well as together as a band. This top prize, she said, has immeasurable benefits for the students. The second place band gets a $3,000 prize, while the third place winner gets $2,000. Meanwhile, Entertainer Bodine encouraged the kids with her presentation on branding yourself as an artist. She said everything from the colours you use, to your style of dress, to your lingo will define you as an artist, and is something that must be carefully considered. She also gave them a quick trip down memory lane as it concerns Bahamian music history. Anthony Coakley, better known as ‘AC in the AM’ of Y 98.7fm, challenged the students to be ready for the media appearances that are inevitable. He called them up and questioned them, just as he would do live on the air, to give them a feel of what they need to be ready for. Band coach Kerel Coleby of Queen’s College brought his team back for the third year to participate in a competition he firmly believes in. The band placed third in the first year, but won last year’s competition. Crystal Sweeting of GHS All-Star’s band believes that her school band has what it takes to win the top prize this year. Cyril Thompson of Nassau Christian Academy’s Mic Drop band said through diligence and a lot of practice, he feels his team will come out on top this year. Family Island bands are also a part of the competition. The sessions are taped so that the bands on the islands don’t miss out on any of the lessons being taught prior to them heading to the capital for the finale.
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Friday, December 21, 2018
fashion
Hold the Bahamas close to your heart ‘Da Rising Sun’ offers islandshaped charms By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net
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new brand of jewellery is inviting wearers to hold the Bahamas close to their hearts with specialty charms shaped like our famous family of islands. Willesha Burrows is the innovative designer behind “Da Rising Sun” line, launched early this Fall. It gives Bahamians and visitors alike the opportunity to wear the islands of the Bahamas around their necks in the form of gold-plated, stainless steel charms. Speaking with Tribune Weekend, Willesha said she was inspired to create the line of charms while visiting another country. “During a trip, I was souvenir shopping and stumbled over a basket of wooden necklaces in the shape of the country I was in and fell in love. Back home I was desperate to find something similar, but suited my modern taste,” she said. Willesha was left disappointed. There was no store in Nassau that sold what she was looking for. Being the innovator that she, is Willesha determined to solve the problem on her own. “I definitely realised that this was something that was missing, so I crossed my fingers, broke open my piggy bank and here we are,” the designer said. She spent a year researching how to make jewellery like she seen during her travels. Following a brief trial and error period, her very first chain featuring a New Providence shaped charm was made. So far her inventory includes charms representing New Providence, Grand Bahama, Andros, Long Island, and
Charms shaped like the islands of the Bahamas
recently just released, Eleuthera and Abaco. The first collection, featuring the New Providence and Grand Bahama charms, is available in mini and large sizes; Andros in mini and medium, as well as Eleuthera; Abaco comes in one size. All charms come with the choice of a free chain. “Long Island will be restocked, with the remaining major islands joining the line. The second collection coming January will be silver versions, with the addition of a very special pair of earrings. Later in 2019 the first already designed bracelet will be produced with a few other surprises,” she said. In the just three months she’s been business, Willesha said she has already received an overwhelming response
from customers. Those who have purchased charms have been sending her videos and photos of themselves wearing them. “To think that there’s someone wearing my island charms in the US, Canada, Trinidad, Jamaica and even Europe is mind-blowing.,” she said. Willesha was born in Nassau and has always had a passion for all things trendy and chic.
Although she has a full-time job, entrepreneurship has always been something she was interested in. And now it has become the reason she gets out of bed in the mornings. “Thinking about it, I really couldn’t escape it. Both of my parents and siblings are extremely creative and dabbled in just about every art form imaginable. In fact, my three sisters all have full-time jobs with two ‘side hustles’ – one makes jewellery – so I guess its in my blood,” she said. Although “Da Rising Sun” was officially launched in, the idea for it has been incubating since 2015, and the development phase started late 2016. There was one important aspect missing, however. “This was the hardest part about launching; everything was falling in place except the name,” she said. “Believe it or not, one random day I couldn’t remember the national anthem and I kept mumbling the first line, ‘Lift up your head to the rising sun’, until it clicked. To me there’s no greater symbol of patriotism than our anthem, and there’s pretty much nothing more beautiful than a Bahamian sunrise, which symbolises a fresh start. So ‘Da Rising Sun’ is about being proud and enjoying something brand new and beautiful that’s all about the Bahamas.”
16 | The Tribune | Weekend
Friday, December 21, 2018
celebrity The Weekend Fashion Report Billboard Women in Music 2018
With Karin Herig and Cara Hunt
SPLIT
SPLIT
FAIL
FAIL
Ariana Grande
Janelle Monae
Alicia Keys
Hayley Kiyoko
Karin says: “Enough with the floppy thigh-high boots! She wears them in every colour with almost every outfit. And this dress just looks like a misshapen prom gown...she even joked that she looked like she was attending her own quinceañera, never mind that she’s 25 not 15, and not a Latina.” Cara says: “This is such a little girl paying dress-up fantasy, and it’s quite a sweet shade of lavender/light pink. It’s definitely a look that she favours and I think she can pull it off... at least for a few more years.”
Karin says: “Yeah, I don’t know about this. What some might consider artistic, unusual cut-outs, to me just looks like she split her pants because they were too tight. It also seems like she is getting a bit desperate on ways how to reinvent the men’s suit.” Cara says: “Janelle has added a little bit of personality to the extremely popular menswear look with those amazing bell sleeves, which I really like. However, she lost those style points with whatever mess is happening around the crotch area.”
Karin says: “This girl is on fire in this bright red suit...only it’s the kinda fire you quickly want to put out. Is this a Catholic cardinal meets cowboy look? I’m confused. If she wanted to stand out, she accomplished that...it’s just not a very flattering look.” Cara says: “So I don’t like anything about this look. I’m getting some ‘Hand Maid’s Tale’ meets Reverend Run type vibes to be honest. It’s all just a bit weird to me; all a bit too much.”
Karin says: “This dress is terrible. It looks like something singer Charo would have worn in the 70s. It’s does her figure no favours. Considering how stylish Hayley normally looks in all of her videos makes me think she stumbled into someone else’s closet by mistake.” Cara says: “This is another no for me. It just looks tight and the buckle looks cheap. I also don’t like the ruffle at the bottom. There is nothing I really like about it. Probably the worst of the week.”
The Tribune | Weekend | 17
Friday, December 21, 2018
entertainment
Party into the ‘13th Hour’ at Blackout 2018
Dancehall star Konshens and DJ Puffy to perform By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net
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live performance from Jamaican dancehall artist Konshens will be the highlight of one of the biggest parties this holiday season. Blackout, presented by KO Productions, is back this weekend, this time around for 13 long hours. The epic party kicks off with a happy hour on Friday night at 7pm, going straight into Saturday morning with a breakfast fete. The event will be held at Fort Charlotte and concludes at 7am on Saturday. And at exactly 7.01am (the 13th hour) one lucky party-goer will be gifted with a new 2013 Ford Mustang. Additionally, there will be free drinks from 7pm to 9pm on Friday and giveaways to the first 500 women in attendance. A guest soca artist will also perform during the breakfast fete along with international disc jockey DJ Puffy from Barbados. Organisers are also promising an amazing line-up with DJs from Nassau, Freeport, Barbados and Trinidad. “The theme this year is the ‘13th Hour’. The reason, for the first time we want to see if you can party for 12 hours straight and survive the 13th hour,” said Jayde Knowles of KO Productions. As organisers of the highly anticipated event said KO Production’s main goal is to give people an opportunity to let loose and enjoy themselves this festive season.
KO Productions believes that a 13-hour event is most appropriate to celebrate the holidays. “What’s new is not only have we extended the time and included a breakfast fete this year, we have also eased away with black lounge this year and introduced the Meukow (Cognac) Lounge,” said Jayde. “We want everyone to vibe together and just ‘shell’ the entire place down. What’s also new is that we’ve included an artist this year to perform at Blackout; something we have never done. We want to make sure that each and every hour of Blackout this year our patrons enjoy and feel the excitement – that ‘I don’t want to go home’ type of excitement.” And there will be non-stop excitement, Jayde said, as guest artists will make an appearances throughout the night and morning. “People should come because no other event happens here where you get to drink free from 7pm to 9pm, get free gifts, have live performances by some of the Caribbean’s biggest artists and DJ... and you may get to drive away in a new car. And if you are having a staff party that night, no worries, because we are partying for 12 hours straight, so come after.” Tickets for this year’s Blackout are $25.
DJ Puffy
Dancehall star Konshens
18 | The Tribune | Weekend
Friday, December 21, 2018
science
Can astronomy explain the biblical Star of Bethlehem? (THE CONVERSATION) – Bright stars top Christmas trees in Christian homes around much of the world. The faithful sing about the “Star of Wonder” that guided the wise men to a manger in the little town of Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. They’re commemorating the Star of Bethlehem described by the Evangelist Matthew in the New Testament. Is the star’s biblical description a pious fiction, or does it contain some astronomical truth? Puzzles for astronomy To understand the Star of Bethlehem, we need to think like the three wise men. Motivated by this “star in the east,” they first travelled to Jerusalem and told King Herod the prophecy that a new ruler of the people of Israel would be born. We also need to think like King Herod, who asked the wise men when the star had appeared, because he and his court, apparently, were unaware of any such star in the sky. These events present us with our first astronomy puzzle of the first Christmas: How could King Herod’s own advisors have been unaware of a star so bright and obvious that it could have led the wise men to Jerusalem? Next, in order to reach Bethlehem, the wise men had to travel directly south from Jerusalem; somehow that “star in the east” “went before them, ‘til it came and stood over where the young child was.” Now we have our second first-Christmas astronomy puzzle: how can a star “in the east” guide our wise men to the south? The north star guides lost hikers to the north, so shouldn’t a star in the east have led the wise men to the east? And we have yet a third firstChristmas astronomy puzzle: how does Matthew’s star move “before them,” like the taillights on the snowplow you might follow during a blizzard, and then stop and stand over the manger in Bethlehem, inside of which supposedly lies the infant Jesus? What could the ‘star in the east’ be?
The astronomer in me knows that no star can do these things, nor can a comet, or Jupiter, or a supernova, or a conjunction of planets or any other actual bright object in the nighttime sky. One can claim that Matthew’s words describe a miracle, something beyond the laws of physics. But Matthew chose his words carefully and wrote “star in the east” twice, which suggests that these words hold a specific importance for his readers. Can we find any other explanation, consistent with Matthew’s words, that doesn’t require that the laws of physics be violated and that has something to do with astronomy? The answer, amazingly, is yes. Astrological answers to astronomical puzzles Astronomer Michael Molnar points out that “in the east” is a literal translation of the Greek phrase “en te anatole”, which was a technical term used in Greek mathematical astrology 2,000 years ago. It described, very specifically, a planet that would rise above the eastern horizon just before the sun would appear. Then, just moments after the planet rises, it disappears in the bright glare of the sun in the morning sky. Except for a brief moment, no one can see this “star in the east.” We need a little bit of astronomy background here. In a human lifetime, virtually all the stars remain fixed in their places; the stars rise and set every night, but they do not move relative to each other. But the planets, the sun and the moon wander through the fixed stars; in fact, the word “planet” comes from the Greek word for wandering star. Though the planets, sun and moon move along approximately the same path through the background stars, they travel at different speeds, so they often lap each other. When the sun catches up with a planet, we can’t see the planet, but when the sun passes far enough beyond it, the planet reappears. And now we need a little bit of astrology background. When the
planet reappears again for the first time and rises in the morning sky just moments before the sun, for the first time in many months after having been hidden in the sun’s glare for those many months, that moment is known to astrologers as a heliacal rising. A heliacal rising, that special first reappearance of a planet, is what “en te anatole” referred to in ancient Greek astrology. In particular, the reappearance of a planet like Jupiter was thought by Greek astrologers to be symbolically significant for anyone born on that day. Thus, the “star in the east” refers to an astronomical event with supposed astrological significance in the context of ancient Greek astrology. What about the star parked directly above the first crèche? The word usually translated as “stood over” comes from the Greek word “epano”, which also had an important meaning in ancient astrology. It refers to a particular moment when a planet stops moving and changes apparent direction from westward to eastward motion. This occurs when the Earth, which orbits the sun more quickly than Mars or Jupiter or Saturn, catches up with, or laps, the other planet. Together, a rare combination of astrological events (the right planet rising before the sun; the sun being in the right constellation of the zodiac; plus a number of other combinations of planetary positions considered important by astrologers) would have suggested to ancient Greek astrologers a regal horoscope and a royal birth. Wise men looking to the skies Molnar believes that the wise men were, in fact, very wise and
mathematically adept astrologers. They also knew about the Old Testament prophecy that a new king would be born of the family of David. Most likely, they had been watching the heavens for years, waiting for alignments that would foretell the birth of this king. When they identified a powerful set of astrological portents, they decided the time was right to set out to find the prophesied leader. If Matthew’s wise men actually undertook a journey to search for a newborn king, the bright star didn’t guide them; it only told them when to set out. And they wouldn’t have found an infant swaddled in a manger. After all, the baby was already eight months old by the time they decoded the astrological message they believed predicted the birth of a future king. The portent began on April 17 of 6 BC (with the heliacal rising of Jupiter that morning, followed, at noon, by its lunar occultation in the constellation Aries) and lasted until December 19 of 6 BC (when Jupiter stopped moving to the west, stood still briefly, and began moving to the east, as compared with the fixed background stars). By the earliest time the men could have arrived in Bethlehem, the baby Jesus would likely have been at least a toddler. • This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Read the original article here: http://theconversation.com. David Weintraub Vanderbilt University
The Tribune | Weekend | 19
Friday, December 21, 2018
gardening
secret onions
The to growing Onions are easy to cultivate, says Jack Hardy, but require two important steps to make them to sprout
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nions are used as herbs and added to soups and stews for flavour as well as being sliced and added to salads. The Allium genus contains many variations from the plump giant white or salad onion to the diminutive pearl onion and the even smaller chive onion. Bulbing onions come in three shades: yellow (brown), red (purple) and white. Yellow onions can be intensely flavoured or very mild and sweet. The strong ones tend to be smaller than the sweet and have a much longer storage life. Red onions are sweet and are often sliced and sweated over low heat to produce an almost jam-like confection. White onions are usually very large and are used in Mexican cuisine and raw as a salad item. The growth of the lower part of an onion plant to form a bulb is predicated on the length of day. Onions that grow in northern locations that have 14+ hours of daylight in summer must be long day types or they will not produce bulbs. Short day onions
that are grown further south (and this includes The Bahamas) require 12 hours of daylight, so the first thing to establish before buying onion seeds is that you have a short day variety. If you make a mistake and try to grow long day onions locally you will end up with something resembling a demented leek. Onions are simple to grow but must be cultivated in two stages. First, sow the seeds in a prepared area ¼” deep until they are about 6” long. The seed bed should be quite sandy and have compost or compost tea added. The slips should then be transferred to the main growing area in rows or blocks 6” apart. Bury the slips to the halfway point in sandy loam. Farmers in Bermuda and Exuma have grown their prized onions in sand and composted seaweed for many years. The slips should be watered regularly until they are well rooted then allowed to grow in fairly dry conditions. In addition to the compost in the soil you can add compost tea as a refresher regularly. Compost tea is made by adding rainwater to compost. I use an old beer mug to dip out the tea and drizzle it around the juvenile onions. When the onions mature the foliage begins to wilt and turn brown. At this stage you should pull the onions, cut off the roots with scissors (or nip off with your thumbnail), and allow the onions to lie in the open for a week or so to harden, turning them every day. When the leaves are completely dry they are still quite strong and you can make hanging bunches by plaiting the leaves or by tying them with twine. These bunches should be about a dozen strong and can be hung on hooks in porch areas where they get plenty of breeze but no rain or direct sunlight. According to the variety of onion the bulbs can last for at least one month and maybe up to five months.
Another way to preserve onions is to place them in a net bag and hang them. To do this you should remove the dried leaves but be careful to leave 2” of stem above the top of the onions. The top of the onion is the last area to become cured and if you cut the stem flush you will damage it and it may rot. If you use a net bag try to massage the onions regularly so those in the centre are moved to the outside to share the light and breeze. Another way to grow onions is to use sets. Sets are small onions plants that have been grown in soil containing little fertilizer. Rather like bonsai they stay small and when they begin to bulb they are pulled, trimmed and dried. When placed into fertile soil the next year they resume growing. It is very unlikely that any onion sets you have access to would be short day. You have probably seen net bags of small onions in the supermarket. Sometimes these are labelled as pearl onions, sometimes not. Pearl onions are not sets. They are at their largest
size when packaged for sale and will not grow bigger if planted. Some of the onion packages use the term ‘cocktail onions’ to indicate they are not pearl onions. Pearl onions are white and have a pink blush to the outer layer of skin when fresh, but this fades away when the skin dries. Non-pearl onions that are red or brown skinned are likely to grow larger if planted in the garden as sets but are very unlikely to be anywhere near as satisfactory as those grown from seed. A couple of years ago I grew Italian cipollini onions that were small and flattened. The beauty of onions that are 3 inches in diameter and one inch tall is they can be peeled and thrown into stews and remain in one piece. Also in the Allium genus are garlic, chives, leeks, scallions, Egyptian onions, and shallots. We will look at them next week. • For queries and comments e-mail jacktribune242@gmail.com
20 | The Tribune | Weekend
Friday, December 21, 2018
film
review
Jason Momoa swims but ‘Aquaman’ sinks AQUAMAN RUNNING TIME: 143 MINS
S
uperheroes who travel by sea horse never get any respect. Since Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger first dreamed him up in 1941, Aquaman’s fate has largely been as the Rodney Dangerfield of DC Comics — a regular punchline for his not-so-potent powers. Sure, he can talk underwater and brandishes a big fork for weapon. But like Luca Brasi, he sleeps with the fishes. Yet Aquaman’s day has finally arrived. And if there was one inspired stroke behind the first solo movie for the Atlantis hero, it was in casting Jason Momoa in the Justice League role, one he begun in 2016’s “Batman v Superman.” It’s almost a dare: Try telling this guy your Aquaman jokes. In James Wan’s waterlogged, fitfully entertaining “Aquaman,” a heavy metal guitar riff blares at our first close-up of the long-haired, muchtattooed, shirtless Momoa. “Permission to come aboard?” he says with a sly, over-the-shoulder grin. It’s a welcome arrival. As Momoa showed on his recent “Saturday Night Live” hosting gig, his charisma is as formidable as his brawn. So why is “Aquaman” so soggy with Atlantis mythology and drowning in special effects when all it really needs to do is let Momoa’s Aquaman rock? There are pleasures in Wan’s extravagant underwater pageant. It’s surely the only movie around where you can enjoy a floating Willem Dafoe (as Vulko, royal counsellor to Atlantis ruler Orm, played by Patrick Wilson), see a gladiatorial showdown sounded by an octopus on drums and, in one of the many scenes where water is
Jason Momoa as “Aquaman.” (Warner Bros Pictures via AP) weaponised, witness death by Chianti, in a tussle that tumbles into a Sicilian wine store. “Aquaman” weighs in somewhere between the lugubrious “Justice League” and the less leaden “Wonder Woman” on the uneven scales of recent DC films. To both the movie’s benefit and detriment, the seas here are choppier than in the predictably (and sometimes boringly) smooth sailing of a Marvel movie. But the bright spots (Momoa, that octopus) can be difficult to really relish amid the oceans of exposition and a typically pulverising, overelaborate screenplay. A war is brewing underwater, but David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall’s script takes a while to get us there. They have origin stories to map out, beginning with Atlanna, the banished Atlantis princess (Nicole Kidman, a screen goddess without the need to play an aquatic one), washing up on the rocky Maine shores of a lighthouse keeper (Temuera Morrison). They fall in love and have a child named Arthur (our Aquaman to be) before Atlanna is forced to return to the sea.
As an adult, Arthur — trained by Vulko as a kid — moonlights as a hero in between happy-hour trips to the bar. But he’s reluctantly drawn into a struggle for the throne of the seven seas with his younger brother Orm, who’s plotting a battle with “surface dwellers.” He regards Arthur as a “half-breed” not fit for the underwater kingdom he grew up outside of. The red-haired Xebel princess Mera (Amber Heard), herself a formidable fighter, joins with Arthur on a globetrotting mission to save Atlantis and prevent war by finding a sacred trident (oh, there is so very much trident action), with occasional, half-hearted gestures of romantic banter along the way. After centuries of invisibility and peace, Orm and his conspirators have had enough of the landlubbers above. (Why they weren’t earlier pushed over the edge by jet skis or, for that matter, “Baywatch,” is unclear.) In one tidal wave of vengeance, he washes the ocean’s garbage and warships onto beaches around the world. But “Aquaman” is too timid to take this thread seriously (or even
WILLEM Dafoe as royal counsellor Vulko to substantially include sea animals for Aquaman to, you know, talk to). Instead we have a tiresome tale of royal power struggle that could almost as easily happen on Krypton or in ancient Greece, albeit without the benefit of a floating Dafoe. Wan, the director of the “Saw” franchise and “Furious 7,” deserves both criticism for soaking the film so thoroughly in kitschy CGI and praise for the glowing synthetic beauty of Atlantis. The movie zips along too quickly before we get much more than a float-over view of Atlantis. The movie’s only truly visually stunning sequence is a deep-sea chase lit by a lone flare while hordes of frightful creatures close in. But both Wan and Momoa have a surprisingly firm grasp of who Aquaman is, and they ultimately — more than two hours later — steer their film toward sincerity and away from bombast. JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer
The Tribune | Weekend | 21
Friday, December 21, 2018
film
I
n the half-century since the original “Mary Poppins” debuted, we’ve learned a lot about refined sugar, frankly none of it good. Doctors tell us it can lead to obesity, heart disease and all sorts of other detriments to our health. But let’s face it, there are times when a little sugar — oh what the heck, let’s say a spoonful — is just what we need, if not for health then for happiness. So it’s sweet news indeed that “Mary Poppins Returns,” a sequel 54 years in coming, provides just that spoonful of happiness in the form of Emily Blunt, practically perfect in every way as the heir to Julie Andrews. “Spit spot!” ‘‘Pish Posh!” ‘‘Jigetty Jog!” (Did we spell that right?) These Poppins-isms slip effortlessly off Blunt’s tongue. It’s also no simple feat to gaze at one’s reflection and say “practically perfect in every way” and not seem egotistical, but Blunt’s easy warmth and charm shine through. Of course she can also sing, and dance, with partners both live and animated. And she’s funny — witness her priceless indignation when a child asks how much she weighs. But then she can spin on a dime and convey that steely Poppins nerve, that sense that in a crisis, she knows exactly what must be done, and everybody else had better stand aside. There’s further happy news here: It’s not just Blunt that’s at the top of her game in this thoroughly delightful enterprise by director Rob Marshall and a crack team of artists devoted to both honouring a time-worn classic and finding something new to say. The visuals are lovely, from the oil paintings in the opening credits to the balloon-filled spring fair at the end. And Sandy Powell’s costumes are fabulous, especially the reds and blues and stripes and polka dots that adorn Mary, from her straw-hatted head to her turned-out feet. And those candyhued clothes that Mary, Jack and the Banks kids wear in the centrepiece scene mixing live action and animation? They’re literally hand-painted, to delectable effect. Blunt’s star power is complemented here by appealing turns from Lin-Manuel Miranda as the afore-mentioned Jack, a kind-hearted lamplighter who once worked for Bert the chimney sweep (Dick Van Dyke); Ben Whisham and Emily Mortimer as the elder Banks children, a slimy Colin Firth as the bank chief, and, for icing on the cake, a flame-haired Meryl Streep as
EMILY Blunt as Mary Poppins
review
Spit spot! Blunt’s a practically perfect Poppins MARY POPPINS RUNNING TIME: 130 MINS
Mary’s vaguely Eastern European cousin Topsy (”Vat do you VANT?”). Then there’s the icing on the icing: a cameo by Van Dyke himself, still spry at 92, that is hands-down the emotional peak of the film — even before he starts to twinkle those toes. The setting is Depression-era London, where widowed Michael lives with his three young children at 17 Cherry Tree Lane, struggling to stay afloat. Sister Jane, a labour organiser, lives in a flat across town. As we begin, Michael learns he’s behind on loan payments, and the bank wants to take his house. He’s given five days to find proof that his father owned shares there, which could save the home. Searching desperately, he comes across an old kite but tosses it in the trash. Luckily it’s a windy day, and who flies in with that kite? Yep, Mary, emerging from the sky with her
bottomless bag and umbrella (If you’re crying already here, and you might be, you’re in trouble). “It’s wonderful to see you,” exclaim a shocked Michael and Jane. “Yes it is, isn’t it,” Mary replies. Just like that, Mary’s sliding up the bannister again. First order of business: the children’s bath, which turns into a wild adventure down the drain and into the colourful sea, flying dolphins and all. As for Lin-Manuel Miranda, though the role he’s given could have used more of a backstory, his presence injects a warm and sunny vibe into grey Depression-era London, and it’s totally infectious. His Cockney accent is better than his predecessor’s, too, and it’s nice that he gets to rap a bit in the animated fantasy sequence, as did Van Dyke (sort of) in the original. JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer
22 | The Tribune | Weekend
Friday, December 21, 2018
literary lives – philip van doren stern
A Christmas crisis
By popular demand, Sir Christopher Ondaatje remembers Philip Van Doren Stern, the American author, editor and Civil War historian whose short story “The Greatest Gift” inspired the enormously popular 1946 classic Christmas film “It’s a Wonderful Life”.
“F
rank, if you want to do a movie about me committing suicide, with an angel with no wings named Clarence, I’m your boy.” – James Stewart to Frank Capra, director of “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) Have you ever stayed alone at Christmas? I mean, absolutely alone? Well I have, and the experience changed my life, although not in quite the way I had intended. It was the Christmas of 1958 and the winter was extremely cold. Deep drifts of snow lay on the roads of Montreal, the ice on the pavements was treacherous,
and a bitter east wind was blowing across the city. I had just moved there from Toronto after chucking my stockbroking job in the accounts ‘cage’ at Burns Brothers. The job had been leading me nowhere for a couple of years. I knew I had somehow got to break away and start afresh – maybe in publishing. So I had given up $55 a week, collected together what little money I had (and it was very little), and grabbed the night train from Toronto’s Union Station. My sole introduction in Montreal was to a young man, Stuart Horne, who ran a boarding house on Côte des Neiges. This was called Amherst House and at one time it had been lived in by General Amherst, who commanded General Wolfe’s troops in Quebec in 1759. I’ve always liked history, but my immediate problem in the here and now was how to rustle up $150 in advance for the monthly rent at Amherst House. I simply didn’t have the money. So I pawned my typewriter for $200 and made
A snow-covered intersection at Côtes des Neiges in 1960s Montreal
The Tribune | Weekend | 23
Friday, December 21, 2018
my way to Côte des Neiges, where Stuart Horne gave me a single bed in the downstairs library. I felt really lucky to have anywhere at all to stay and silently praised myself for having got a good deal on my typewriter. There were only two people staying there, because every other resident had gone away to family or friends for the Christmas holidays. I remember the date of my arrival clearly: Monday, December 22, 1958. I had no job, knew no one, and had barely enough money to survive for a month.
I had made the right decision to break away and seek a new life in a new country. A new world lay at my feet.
hree days later, on Christmas Day, I was the only person in residence at Amherst House. The place was quiet – almost as quiet as a grave – and of course it was cold. General Amherst’s huge library windows, with their tattered curtains, hardly kept out the freezing winter draughts. But eventually I plucked up the courage to peel myself out of the narrow bed, shave, put on as many clothes as I physically could, then think about what I was going to do for my Christmas breakfast. Funnily enough, although my situation was miserable, I felt excited. For the first time ever I was totally alone. I knew then that whatever I would do in my life I would have to do for myself. There was no food in the house. I decided, just so as to fill the time, to walk all the way down Côte des Neiges to St Catherine’s Street and treat myself at one of the cafés to a big meal of bacon and eggs. I set out around ten o’clock. The walk down icy Côtes des Neiges was a long one. Although I had wrapped myself up as far as possible, my overcoat, muffler and woollen hat – pulled right over my ears – did not keep out the bitter wind, while the ice and snow soon soaked my thin leather shoes, making the journey even more uncomfortable. Many of the cafés and restaurants were closed, but eventually, after an hour’s walk, I found a tiny café on St Catherine’s Street. By this point I was far too cold to be hungry: more important than food was some warmth, away from the street. I decided to stay in the café for as long as they would allow me. Toast, two pats of butter, fried eggs, crisp bacon and a mug of piping hot coffee, then a second mug, filled my stomach. Life now wasn’t exactly wonderful, but neither was it all that bad. After breakfast, I would have liked to have gone to church, but I had no idea where to go. Moreover, my
clothes made me a little ashamed. So I trudged aimlessly further down St Catherine’s Street, braving the winter weather, looking at all the closed shops, including the windows of a department store. Practically no one else was walking, and there were very few cars on the slippery Montreal streets either. I had no idea what to do for the rest of the day. Past noon, I found myself in front of a tiny movie hall, the Bijou Cinema. But that too was closed and would not open until two o’clock. Still, here was an idea. If I went to the cinema I could spend the afternoon in comparative warmth. In the meantime I had about two hours to kill, so I continued to walk east, as far as St Lawrence Boulevard and then back again. Luckily the cinema opened half an hour early and there were a few other people buying tickets. The film was a fairly old one, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, which I had heard of but never seen. Seeing this film by sheer luck turned out to be the best Christmas present I could ever have imagined. “It’s a Wonderful Life”, based loosely on a short story “The Greatest Gift” – initially printed by the author Philip Van Doren Stern as a Christmas card to his friends in 1943 – was produced and directed by Frank Capra. It is a terrific film, now regarded as a classic, which the American Film Institute rates among the best 100 American films and number one on its list of the most inspirational American films of all time. But when it was made in 1946, it failed to win a single Oscar and was considered a commercial failure. The film’s setting is the fictional American small town of Bedford Falls, after the Second World War. It stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man whose imminent suicide on Christmas Eve attracts the attention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody, who is sent to help him in his
T
The character of George Pratt contemplates suicide at Christmas (Illustration by Finlay Cowan)
24 | The Tribune | Weekend
Friday, December 21, 2018
hour of need. Much of the film is told through flashbacks spanning George’s life, narrated by two unseen senior angels who are training Clarence for his earthly mission to save George and thereby earn his angel’s wings. In these flashbacks we see all the people whose lives have been touched by George and the difference he has made to the small-town community in which he has always lived.
the town. George Bailey realises that, despite some awful problems, his life really is wonderful. When I walked out of the Bijou Cinema in the late afternoon gloom of Christmas Day 1958, I felt as if I were walking on air. Despite the snow and the sleet and the wind, I no longer felt cold and my own problems seemed surmountable. I was alone but I knew that my family, though thousands of miles way in Ceylon and England, were all well and, I hoped, having a marvellous Christmas together. It made me feel better just to think of them. I had made the right decision to break away and seek a new life in a new country. A new world lay at my feet. There was opportunity around every corner, and everything was up to me. Life felt great. “It’s a Wonderful Life” remains a favourite film. Over the years since 1958 I have urged every member of my family to watch it – particularly at Christmas. I see it every year, and each time the film reminds me of my lonely first Christmas in Montreal. I can’t help wondering how things would have turned out for me if I hadn’t stumbled on it at this particular moment in my life. I also wonder how many lives of other people it has changed, even though, like me, they didn’t believe in angels. NEXT WEEK: Death in the land of gold
W
hen George was 12 years old, he rescued his younger brother from drowning after he fell through the ice on a pond. Later, as an errand boy in a pharmacy, he saved his boss from mistakenly filling a child’s prescription with poison. Later still, having married his childhood sweetheart Mary, on their way out of town for their honeymoon they witness a run on a bank that leaves the town’s Building and Loan Society in danger of collapse. George and Mary give the $2,000 they have saved for their honeymoon to the townspeople. But things go from bad to worse. George misplaces $5,000 he had to deposit in the Building and Loan Society. When he appeals for a loan from a powerful slum landlord, Henry Potter, to save the society, the Scrooge-like Potter refuses. In panic, George crashes his car into a tree during a snowstorm and runs to a nearby bridge to end his life. He is worth more dead than alive, he feels, because of his $15,000 life insurance policy. But George’s guardian angel intervenes and shows him a nightmare vision of what the town of Bedford Falls would have been like, had George and his good deeds never existed – a horrifying slum called Pottersville, with a main street dominated by pawn shops and sleazy bars. In the nightmare vision, his younger brother was drowned; his boss was convicted of manslaughter; and Mary, his wife, is a spinster librarian with failing eyesight and a broken heart because she didn’t marry George. In the end, George begs his guardian angel to let him live. His prayers are answered and he returns to Bedford Falls with a new outlook. He finds that his friends have raised a huge amount of money to rescue both him and the Building and Loan Society. At a party, his brother proposes a toast to George as ‘the richest man in town’, not only because of the many individuals he has helped but also because of the enormous difference he has made to
Philip Van Doren Stern (1900 – 1984), author of short story “The Greatest Gift”, which inspired the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”.
James Stewart stars in “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946)
• Sir Christopher Ondaatje is the author of The Last Colonial.
The Tribune | Weekend | 25
Friday, December 21, 2018
history
The roads of
R
New Providence
ecently, I had reason to go to Carmichael Road, so I drove the entire length of it, from where it starts at Carmichael Village all the way to where it ends, at Blue Hill Road. It was a trip down memory lane. At least, I wanted it to be, but virtually nothing about Carmichael Road bears any resemblance to the forest-lined roadway that I remember from the 1950s, and even earlier. Today, it seems to have replaced Bay Street as the commercial centre of the Bahamas. With a quick look at this 1950s map of New Providence, you see that there were few roads on this island and
almost no access to most of the southern shoreline. At the far left of the map, there is a short roadway, bent like a finger, that connects West Bay Street to Lyford Cay. This was before E P Taylor bought up all the real estate he could acquire and created the gated community that we know today. West Bay Street ran straight through what is now Lyford Cay’s security setup, though the 18-hole golf course, past this little turn-off (where there was an ancient well) and continued to Clifton. Clifton Pier is the only thing marked on the map, because there was nothing else to mark. Esso came later, as did
BEC, Shell and various other modernday eyesores. Here, the name of the road changes to South West Bay Road, until it gets to the turnoff into Adelaide, after which it becomes the Adelaide Road, until it gets to Carmichael Village. There were no such places as South Ocean, Albany and Coral Harbour. Apart from the turn-off into Adelaide, the first possible turn-off was the Gladstone Road, the straightest road on the island, with a fishhook road at its northern end. Of course, the word IMAX was not yet in any dictionary. Mermaid’s Pool and Harrold Pond were seldom talked about, and almost never visited.
On reaching Blue Hill Road, one could continue northwards along Blue Hill Road to the western end of Wulff Road – or one could choose Soldier Road, which curves its way to its junction with Wulff and Village Roads – but notice that there is virtually nothing showing to the south of Wulff Road. From the air, most of the island was strikingly green and the people of Adelaide and Carmichael still walked to town to sell their wares, and walked back home, too. • For questions and comments, e-mail islandairman@gmail.com
Excellent: 10 mins Yesterday’s solution: aGiLe, JUdGe (across or down)
26 | The Tribune | Weekend
Best described as a number crossword, the task in Kakuro is to fill all of the empty squares, using numbers 1 to 9, so the sum of each horizontal block equals the number to its left, and the sum of each vertical block equals the number on its top. No number may be used in the same block more than once. The difficulty level of the Conceptis Kakuro increases from Monday to Sunday.
Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so the each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday
CRYPTIC PUZZLE Across 1 Decline to leave rubbish for removal (6,2,2) 6 Counterfoil seen in the ashtray (4) 10 Her calling is a dangerous one (5) 11 Turns round and ejects a sailor (4,5) 12 In turn I’ve become idle (8) 13 He goes round a short way in a hurry (5) 15 Falling behind in providing winter insulation? (7) 17 Joined by a sailor - or the parson (7) 19 Enormous disaster struck it (7) 21 Contempt for a futile action (7) 22 Not left straight (5) 24 No varieties in the numbers crawling (3,5) 27 She makes hot claret (9) 28 Correct men in the finish (5) 29 In paradise this was the third son’s name (4) 30 Clearly determined to provide a good reception (7,3)
Down 1 No work remains (4) 2 Badly torn in a fray that lasts for days (9) 3 Sound of icons breaking (5) 4 Haute cuisine sauce? (7) 5 They carry away the waste from fish cleaners (7) 7 They may be used to make a stool (5) 8 Comparatively good times when gambling takes place? (6,4) 9 These priests may lead the masses (8) 14 Kitchen accessories subsequently put into bundles (5,5) 16 Any in let out, naturally (8) 18 Gloomy supporters will if their team’s doing badly (9) 20 Rattle made by vibrating teeth of ratchet (7) 21 They should know how to prepare a good meal (7) 23 General accord (5) 25 Entertainment means there’s a great time after work (5) 26 An entrance I’d turn in at (4)
Yesterday’s Easy Solution Across: 1 Respect, 5 Cedar, 8 Bombshell, 9 Vim, 10 Turn, 12 Goings-on, 14 Quiver, 15 Urbane, 17 Infra dig, 18 Zeus, 21 Bar, 22 At an angle, 24 Erect, 25 Expunge. Down: 1 Rebut, 2 Sum, 3 Easy, 4 Tremor, 5 Culinary, 6 Devastate, 7 Romance, 11 Reinforce, 13 Set apart, 14 Quibble, 16 Finale, 19 Suede, 20 Gasp, 23 Gin.
Yesterday’s Cryptic Solution Across: 1 Dessert, 5 Poses, 8 Freelance, 9 Rue, 10 Read, 12 Tenement, 14 Eroded, 15 Avenue, 17 Addition, 18 Isis, 21 Tub, 22 Transport, 24 Clear, 25 Endless. Down: 1 Defer, 2 Sue, 3 Eels, 4 Tandem, 5 Preserve, 6 Sergeants, 7 Sheathe, 11 Avoidable, 13 Testator, 14 Elastic, 16 Morale, 19 Sites, 20 Used, 23 Ode.
EASY PUZZLE
Across 1 Personal outlook (10) 6 Catch sight of (4) 10 Large enough (5) 11 Illicit activity (5,4) 12 Covertly (2,6) 13 English composer, d.1934 (5) 15 A public service (7) 17 Ask advice of (7) 19 Capital of Iraq (7) 21 A kind (7) 22 Kingly (5) 24 Boldly ambitious person (2-6) 27 Superior position (9) 28 Passage between rows (5) 29 Commit murder (4) 30 Commercially successful book (4,6)
Down 1 Highest point (4) 2 About to happen (9) 3 Extremely fat (5) 4 Tidy (7) 5 A nonconformist (7) 7 Roam as a predator (5) 8 To rebuke (4,2,4) 9 Fortuitously (2,6) 14 Logger (10) 16 Idle (8) 18 Occurring everywhere (9) 20 Reduce in status (7) 21 Give impression of (7) 23 Auctioneer’s hammer (5) 25 Barely detectable amount (5) 26 An equal (4)
E P n A G H
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call 0907 181 2585 for today’s target solution *Calls cost 80p per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge.
*SP: Spoke – Helpline 0333 202 3390
Beefy, Nick, Beau, Apex, Able, Apace, Ingrown, Justify, Whisk, Stage.
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0907 181 2560 (Deduct three minutes for each extra clue letter heard)
full solution
0907 181 2558
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The Tribune | Weekend | 27
Friday, December 21, 2018
animals
What not to gift
C
Animal matters | KIM ARANHA
hristmas is right around the corner and you are probably stressing over your gifts. I am still procrastinating over some of the more challenging people on my list. There are always people who present particular challenges, but somehow we manage to find something for everybody. The one thing you absolutely do not want to give anybody for Christmas is a living animal without clearing it with the individual first. Give your own child a pet, because after all, you will be the one in charge, but stay away from surprise gifting with others. It is essential to discuss it in depth with the adult in charge.
The Bahamas Humane Society is inundated with pets gifted or bought on a whim; after a few weeks the new owners do not want them. They are too much trouble, too much work, they chew or scratch (no kidding?), they bark; quite simply, they are animals. Once you do get permission to gift a pet, you need to decide what pet is the most appropriate for the home it will go to; pets are not just dogs or cats. There are birds, fish, hamsters, guinea pigs, and a variety of others. Puppies need the most attention of all because they need regular walks, as opposed to kittens that can learn to use the litter box so can be left in the house all day long. If you leave a puppy in the house all day you will most definitely come home to a mess. Puppies and kittens get bored, especially if they are left alone without
A cat for Christmas By THE BAHAMAS HUMANE SOCIETY
PHOTO/PATRICIA VAZQUEZ
“M
eowy Christmas to all and to all a good night! Dear Santa, for Christmas this year I would like a home of my very own, please. I don’t mind sharing space at the Bahamas Humane Society with about 40 other cats, but a cat likes to have his own space and his own place. Could you please find me an adopter who will appreciate my lovely ginger fur, who won’t mind that I’m no longer a kitten, who’ll snuggle up next to me in the evenings and maybe read a book or watch some TV? In return, I promise purrs and cuddles, and I could probably leave a cat treat for your reindeer. If you need more information about me, you can call 323-5138 or drop by the BHS during adoption hours: 11am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, and 10am to 4pm on Saturday. I’m sure they’ll be as happy to see you as I will be to have a new home!” – Love and whiskers, Alessandro. • Come out to the fourth annual Christmas Jewellery Sale at the Bahamas Humane Society Thrift Shop, Saturday, December 22, from 10am to 2pm. Find that last-minute
gift for someone special and maybe find something sparkly for yourself. The BHS raffle draw is December 28. Do you have your tickets yet? Tickets are $5 each or a book of 21 for $100, available at the shelter, from a board member, Windermere East and West, and the Fox Hill Nursery. The grand prize is $10,000 in groceries from Super Value.
a playmate. Alone, they will get into mischief; shoes are great for chewing, sofas great for scratching...they need a secure area to be left in and toys to play with, and shouldn’t be left alone for too long. Birds are more contained, though I really do not like seeing birds in cages. If you get a big cage it allows flying – and keep it airy but not in draughts – that is acceptable. Birds need fresh food daily, clean water, and you need to be sure rats are nowhere around (do not leave your bird outside at night). Most birds like to have a friend with them; a single bird can be a very lonely sight. Fish can be an interesting addition, but can be a lot of work. The water has to be kept clean (have a test kit to check water quality). Betta fish (Siamese fighting fish) are beautiful, elegant, and colourful, but you need to care for them properly. They have to be solitary or they will fight until one of them is dead. I had quite a few Betta fish, they can be engaging but are delicate. I hate to see them in those small jars or swimming aimlessly around a bunch of grubby plant roots. If you get a Betta fish, get a tank that is large enough for them to swim around in. Beware of overfeeding the Betta fish; they can die from it. Gold fish are another option, same as the Betta the water needs to stay clean, and regular feeding is essential with caution not to over feed. Guinea pigs and hamsters are very cute little rodents. The guinea pic is bigger than the hamster. The Bahamas Humane Society frequently ends up
with surplus guinea pigs and hamsters that can be adopted. They are nocturnal animals; children sometimes over-handle them or inadvertently squeeze them too strongly, resulting in heart attack and death. These little fellows need a cage with toys (tunnels and wheels); they like a variety of foods and need their cages cleaned on a regular basis. Terrapins (fresh water turtles): We have always had terrapins and when we got them they were tiny, today they are in a 500-gallon pond and are about the size of dinner plates. They love dried shrimp, turtle pellets and romaine lettuce. We feed them daily and clean their pond twice a month. When they are little, they can be prone to health problems, particularly respiratory issues. The bottom line to this is that all animals need care. They are living, breathing creatures; they feel pain and loneliness. All pets need attention and love; they crave interaction with their humans, especially cats and dogs, but the other pets, too. No animal can survive without proper care. If you or the recipient of your gift is not prepared to meet the requirements of the pet you choose, then do not buy one. I suggest you just go to a toy shop and buy a stuffed cuddly toy. Merry Christmas to all my readers! I love how you come up to me at parties and tell me you enjoy reading my articles and ask me how Chief is; he greatly enjoys his notoriety! XOXO
28 | The Tribune | Weekend
Friday, December 21, 2018