· October, 2006

Stories about Jamaica from October, 2006

Jamaica: Mediocrity

  30 October 2006

“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, UK: Bob lived here

  28 October 2006

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,...

Jamaica: Firefox party

  26 October 2006

There'll be “Firefox parties” taking place throughout the world this weekend, reports Leon Robinson, including Jamaica.

Jamaica: When Prime Ministers doodle. . . .

  26 October 2006

Ria Bacon offers an update to an earlier post in which she discussed the matter of a close-up photograph of the Prime Minister's notepad taken during a debate on a no-confidence motion, and run on the front page of one of Jamaica's news dailies: “The upshot is that journalists will...

Jamaica: Chutzpah and politics

  25 October 2006

Jamaica-based Linguist Ria Bacon uses the example of the Jamaican Minister of Information's statements about a recent political scandal to demonstrate the meaning of the Yiddish word “chutzpah”.

Jamaica, Dominica: Jean Rhys's “remarkably screwed up life”

  25 October 2006

After seeing a play based on Dominican writer Jean Rhys's “remarkably screwed up life”, Jamaican novelist Marlon James wonders: “Must every great artist have a self hating streak? Didn't Jean Rhys transfer hers to writing and Naipaul to everybody just like him? Is happiness a false goal for an artist?“

Jamaica: Work with passion

  11 October 2006

“While our system of education has tragedy written into its script, with a 16 year old having to choose four subjects on which to “concentrate” to the exclusion of others, there is a wider travesty occurring daily in our societies,” writes Jamaica Francis Wade in a post exploring the effects...

Jamaica: The 1970s

  10 October 2006

“Before my ninth birthday I knew IMF was screwing up the economy, socialism was just an appetiser for the communist meal, gunmen would kill you for sporting the wrong colours and Reggae was the music of nasty people,” says Marlon James of growing up in Jamaica in the 1970s. “Still...

Jamaica: Opposition blunder

  6 October 2006

Xamayca outlines the details surrounding an incident involving an accusation of corruption made by Jamaica's leader of the opposition against the ruling party.

Jamaica: Belonging

  2 October 2006

“I love being honked at by people I barely know. I enjoy feeling that I belong to something even when the guy selling newspapers, and the one hawking hub-caps, and the nearby gardener all ask me for school-fee money for their kids,” writes Francis Wade of the daily interactions that...

Jamaica: Finding a balance

  2 October 2006

Geoffrey Philp touches upon the complicated relationship Jamaicans have with the land, and how it influences the country's ability to find a balance between “economic progress and a healthy ecology”.