Latest posts by Nicholas Laughlin from September, 2009
Barbados: journalist's “confession”
Barbados Free Press reacts to a newspaper journalist's “confession” that he posted anonymous comments on several Barbadian blogs — starting a discussion about “the limits of anonymous blogging.”
Barbados: listening to Chalkdust
The Bajan Reporter attends a lecture on “Calypso and Crime” by Trinidadian calypsonian Chalkdust, and files a report. “In the Question & Answer section, I got a chance to ask if Bloggers and Calypsonians serve the same purpose in showing problems and solutions few would dare touch normally.”
Barbados: Clean-Up Day
Living in Barbados reports on Barbados Clean-Up Day, when volunteers collected garbage from the island's beaches. “How many meals on plastic plates? How many cups of soda in plastic cups? … I have no idea what figures to put to these questions but they still went through my head as...
Trinidad and Tobago: “poor man's food”?
“Why are we so angry about the rise in the price of doubles?” Coffeewallah considers the popular Trinidadian street snack as an economic indicator. “The cost of living has increased for everyone, even your doubles vendor. They are really a barometer for society.”
Guyana: celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr
Lifespan of a Chennette describes her family's elaborate preparations for celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr in Guyana — complete with menus.
Guyana: images of Georgetown
Flickr user Nigel Durrant — a Jamaican living in Guyana — posts sets of images from two well-known public spaces in Georgetown: Bourda Market and National Park.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines: split electorate
Lullabies, Fairy Tales and Other Self-Delusions thinks about the referendum on a new constitution for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and what it reveals about the state of the country's politics: “a finely delineated system of prejudices based on which political party you support.”
Trinidad and Tobago: “appalling reporting”
The Liming House responds to a news report in the Trinidad Guardian newspaper suggesting that Trinidad and Tobago has a dangerously high rate of alcohol abuse. “There is no evidence in this story of either fact checking or even the most cursory editing.”
Dominican Republic: three poets
Repeating Islands features a new bilingual edition of poems by three women writers from the Dominican Republic: Aída Cartagena Portalatín, Angela Hernández Núñez, and Ylonka Nacidit-Perdomo. “Each of them addresses shared political and cultural issues, illuminating what it means to be a woman living in the modern day Dominican Republic.”
Trinidad and Tobago: pommecythere chow
Simply Trini shares a recipe for a Trinidadian speciality: pommecythere chow, i.e. a kind of spicy pickle made a with a fruit popular in the Caribbean (also know as golden apple or June plum).
Cuba: “mistreating social property”?
Octavo Cerco reports on a confrontation with a minor bureaucrat at a bus station in Cuba. “With these people things can get very serious, they earn a pittance for a salary but have absolute power over five square meters and they apply it with … irreverence, force and abuse of...
Bermuda: race and income
A recent report on income disparities between black and white employees in Bermuda triggers some statistical analysis by 21 Square. “The sad reality … is that white Bermudians are more likely to hold a higher level of education and thus are more likely to earn more.”
Guyana: the colour of beauty
Signifyin’ Guyana reflects on the troubling ideas about beauty that she and other dark-skinned Caribbean women encountered when they were growing up. “It took me a while to learn to ignore the inconsistencies from others and arrive at a healthy view of my skin color and facial features.”
Trinidad and Tobago: a tribute to Wayne Brown
B.C. Pires writes an eloquent tribute to the Trinidadian writer Wayne Brown, who died on 14 September, 2009. “Wayne’s greatest gift … was the illustration of the relationship between the artist and his work.”
Suriname: a vist to Marienburg
Flickr user SOG P posts a series of images documenting a visit to a former sugar factory in Marienburg, Suriname.
Barbados: Caribbean “hatchlings”
Barbadian artist Annalee Davis posts images of a new work at her blog, On the Map. Hatchlings: A Requiem uses painted eggs and a shredded copy of a regional integration treaty to comment on Caribbean insularity.
Trinidad and Tobago: public decency?
News of seven people murdered in a single incident in Trinidad prompts bitter reflections from B.C. Pires: “what Trinidad’s ‘leadership’ reveals, more and more plainly each day … is what little sense of public decency there is left in the place.”
Barbados: seven photographers
The Bajan Reporter files a story from the opening of an exhibition of seven pioneering photographers in Barbados. “The old time cameras meant you had to be able to get it right the first time.”
Trinidad and Tobago: who pays for justice?
Jumbie's Watch reacts to news of a huge apparent shortfall in funding for the judicial system in Trinidad and Tobago's national budget for the coming financial year.
Trinidad and Tobago: touring Chacachacare
In words and pictures, My Chutney Garden recounts the history of the former leprosarium on Chacachacare, an island off the northwest coast of Trinidad.
Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago: literary obituaries
Litblogger Geoffrey Philp posts short tributes to two Caribbean writers who have died within 24 hours of each other: Trinidadian Wayne Brown (1944-2009) and Jamaican Trevor Rhone (1940-2009).
