Ancient Al amazed that pictures can now be taken in colour 

My Name feature prominently in Al Gilkes Nation newspaper column last weekend,
Al wrote that Peter Boyce was one of the first people to publicly state he had to be close to be 100 years old based on the length of time he had been around.
Al is so amazing I dedicated a whole post to him last year entitled “Al Gilkes eats Conch”.
At Al’s age to be using a computer and still having the alacrity of mind to write a weekly column is pretty amazing. He should be in Ripley’s Believe It or Not…

One of the things that is amazing about Al is he still continues to be a significant player in the entertainment business as a promoter.
He is partner in F.A.S Entertainment which produces the phenomenally successful “Barbados Reggae Festival” which comes off here later this month.
This festival features a series of events with some of the biggest Jamaican acts which people pack venues at phenomenal prices to see.

Big names like Taurus Riley, Capelton, Jah Cure, Sizzla Kololji, TOK, Baby Sham and more.
Quite an impressive line up being put together by a man who also promoted shows with Jackie Opel and buddy boy Vic Brewster, I am surprised Al doesn’t think a “Jah Cure” is some sort of bush tea.

Even in his column last week Al gave a list of his favorite movies that he actually saw in the cinema when they first came out, and they were a list of ancient ones we now see on Turner Classics TV channel…
Al does not let the challenges of age deter him as he continues to set a set a positive example for current promoters like my self, Richard Haynes, Phil Philips and others to follow.
I hope I can be just as active when I get to Al’s age, in fact I would settle just to GET to his age…

P.S; I am not forgetting the role Freddie Hill plays in organizing the Reggae Festival, Al needs some one to remind him to take his pills…

Wow! Talk about lucky, I went to the beach yesterday for my daily run, and happened to butt up on a photo shoot featuring not one, not two, but five beautiful curvaceous female models.
The photographer was there clicking away and the make up guy was running in “happily” adding finishing touches to the girls.
The make up guy is my subject here; he seemed to be gay, as usual.
Why do make up men always seem to be gay? All the productions I have been involved in when ever a make up person is involved and it’s a man it always seems to be a gay man.
Even when you are watching an international modeling show on TV, and the make up man is featured he always seem to be a bubbly happy “gay” kinda girl …. Sorry I meant guy.

I know you will start saying how I can look at some body and say they are Gay, if you can’t observe when a person seems to have an extra gay pep in their step and touch of femininity in their vocal variety that’s your business.
I don’t get the impression they are trying to hide it any way.

Is it that when you fill out a form to do a cosmetic course there is a question asking “are you gay?” And if you tick no they turn you down?

How do they go about enforcing a criteria where mostly gay people end up in a profession then?

Notice the bangle the make up guy is wearing? I rest my case

To summarize my point for the purposes of clarity; I am not saying ALL make up men are gay; I am just saying that MOST SEEM to be…
I get the impression they prefer gay people around the models so the girls would be safe… maybe that’s so…

I am not telling you to go out and start attacking make up people either and talk bout Boyce Voice encourage you cause you would be an ass, oops that might attract some people…. But really you would be a major jack ass! What people do in the privacy of their bedroom home and M.L cars is their own business.

I simply made an observation, I hope the cosmetic people out there reading this don’t get offended, next time you see me on TV and face looks off, it will be the make up guy getting back at me..

P.S: you always put on make up when you go on TV so don’t think nothing funny…

.

Boyce Voice mentioned Mr Antonio ” Boo” Rudder yesterday and as if on cue I looked in the newspaper and see him associated with an interesting entertainment development.
“Rudder heads new Copyright Group” stated the headline, the article announced a new copyright organization had been formed entitled the “Barbados Copyright Industry” (BCI).
The list of directors were given and the fact it had been incorporated since December 19th 2007.
The formation of this new copyright group makes interesting food for thought, most performers and song writers are already members of the long standing rights collection agency in Barbados COSCAP (Copyright Society of Composers Authors and Publishers Inc)

Does this new entity BCI compete against COSCAP?

Maybe COSCAP CEO Erica Smith and staff Gail and Paulette are quaking in their boots? (Not that I have seen them wearing boots that’s just an expression, I would like to see Erica in boots though those tall black ones that…. sorry I digress, lets get back to the point..)

This new agency BCI deals ONLY with the collection of reproductive rights as it pertains to books and other publications.
COSCAP is known for collection of music royalties but by virtue of the “authors and publishers” in their name I would assume maybe they collect for books too, of course “I could be wrong and I usually am” (Quote from COSCAP director Smokey Burke)
So poet khaidji should be looking to join up and collect some royalties on those excellent pieces he has written, Asiba writes some pretty long comments he could publish them as a book.
It also still means that maybe Boyce can join and benefit as I write, see what you are reading here…? That’s writing yuh idiot, therefore I can de deemed a writer.
Hence when I am finish here I will print off a couple stories from Boyce Voice staple them together  mek a book and bram! I joining up.
Question is as a writer which organization do I join, COSCAP or the new collection kid on the block BCI ?

Yesterday I blogged about “Nothing” today it is “Something”.
The challenge of finding “something” new….

This is a Herculean challenge that our tent managers and calypsonians face on a yearly basis, producing new material in order to feed that voracious entertainment monster we call Crop Over.
Krosfyah releases a great album this year and regardless of how good it is by the next Crop Over it is expected that they go back into the studio and release “something” new. In contrast our international counterparts would release an Album and then over a period of the next 2 to 3 years release several singles from that same album, giving the material more longevity.

Let’s look at shows, Bacchanal Time produces a quality show with dancers and special effects etc and by the end of Crop Over regardless of its excellence it is deemed dead and we must go back to the drawing board and produce ’something” new.

“Cats opened on Broadway in 1982 had 7485 performances and closed in 2002

Internationally now, we have Broadway musical shows that have been running for years.
Productions like “Grease” “Cats” Phantom of the Opera” and the longest running production ever “Les Miserables”, this production has been running for 21 years and is still going.

So all like now we should still be running our 1995 Bacchanal Time featuring triple crown winner Edwin doing his “Obadele” song.

But no, Crop over is again upon us and the question people are asking is “when you gun bring something new?”

So Edwin RPB Kidsite, Asiba and Bacchanal Time are all busy trying to find “something” new to be readily consumed by the coming 2008 Crop Over monster.

Now that’s “Something”!

“Why are we allowing our young event planners and tent managers to hit a glass ceiling because government wants to manage Crop Over events…
When we can contract them out and demand what we want in return and also earn something from them and give them the opportunity to be involved in large event management.
we need to give those persons with ideas in our cultural industries an opportunity to execute them”

Those are the words of Prime Minister David Thompson when he debated in parliament last week, they lifted the spirits of this event planner and tent manager aka P.Boyce, and indeed all of cultural industries should rejoice and embrace the PM’s comments.

Finally a Prime Minister who speaks of truly developing the industry and creating opportunities for us instead if the flawed exploitive policy which was transmitted from the previous administration.

I am not saying so just because government has changed, I have expounded this criticism of the BLP government several times in this blog when they were in power.
That’s one of the reasons why Boyce or Madd Entertainment was never given work from the previous Government and why our entrepreneurial efforts to do our own projects i.e. “Euphoria” were always met with opposition from the authorities.

I have always remembered ex PM Arthur making the statement at a consultation I attended, “there is nothing wrong with the government being entrepreneurial!” indicating how it was the prime objective of the government to make money “off” of the cultural industries.
In contrast to that flawed Arthur statement, we should be elated to hear the words of PM David speaking of removing the “glass ceiling” that stood in our way, now giving entertainment entrepreneurs the opportunity not only to make a tangible contribution to our national festival Crop Over also but to benefit from that contribution.

I am really looking forward to the Gale Theatre of London and Barbados production of Macbeth opening next month, like Lil Rick I “cann wait”.

From the time I studied Macbeth at Combermere School it was one of my favorite books.
I started out forcing my self to like Macbeth because I needed it to pass my CXC exam and ended up loving it.
So much that since I left school I have read it several times.

I love the story of the rise Macbeth and the part Lady Macbeth played in his quest to be king and his ultimate demise, there is a lesson to be learned in this play for each of us.

When you hear me expounding quotes like “there’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face” and “life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury” people mistake me for being intelligent and say “ooh so you read Shakespeare” the truth is I have only read one book, I just make good use of it.

The Macbeth production will feature an impressive and diverse line up of stars Alison Sealy Smith, Varia Williams, Levi King, Jherad Allyene, Anderson Armstrong, Patrick Foster and top British actor Peter Temple as Macbeth.
The thought of seeing a quality production with these local thespians* bring the “political thriller” Macbeth to life at the Frank Collymore Hall next month, fills me with great anticipation…

”I Cann Wait, Cann Wait, Cann Wait!”

(Lyrics compliments Lil Rick)

*thespian; fancy word actors become when they start to appear in big up productions at Frank Collymore Hall, its like the differnce between a “movie” and a “film”

I always keep my promises except for when I don’t.
Last week I mentioned how lia deserved her own write up, and here it is.

                                    This is Lia

I first met Lia Gajadhar back in 2004 when Madd was working on a dance idea to the song “Hard Ears”.
It came to me that we could use an idea similar to “Thriller” with ghouls dancing with our lead singer Eric Lewis and choreographer Trevor Priddie recommended Lia and told me she was good, just returned from studying make up in the States.

So Lia came to the Madd office and told her I wanted her to make up dead people to dance with Eric, so she asked exactly how intense to I want them to be as she can do some pretty gruesome stuff.
And I was saying to my self “yeah right” who is this lil girl claiming she can do make up gross people out?”
Well I could not have been more wrong, look at this picture…

Here is Eric with the Trevor Priddie and his dancers made up by Lia, she did some make up that was so horrific that patrons actually scampered from the dancers in horror when they went into the audience.
Even Eric’s own daughters became afraid of him after seeing him performing with the “duppies”.

Lia used a technique where she started with one level of horror make up effects that intensified as the season progressed, so you ended up with the dancers looking like accident victims with chunks of flesh hanging from their body.

I remember once being back stage when lia was finished working on the “dead people” and they looked like bodies that had started to decompose. “It was freaked me out and I had to leave. It reminded me of seeing Ingrid with out make up once.
 

Because of the excellent make up effects from Lia and effective choreography by Trevor Priddie and his dancers “Hard Ears” became one of the most effective live presentations Madd has ever had in Bacchanal Time calypso tent, my only regret was that I was in it as an undertaker and didn’t get to sit in the audience and enjoy the spectacle of it.

Lia making up Soca Queen Alison Hinds

We are always talking about the front line performers and not enough on the talented people behind the scenes, Lia Gajadhar is one of those people.
The ultimate testimony to Lia’s talent how ever is what she did with Ingrid Holder, a make up person that can make Ingrid look beautiful has got to be good!

Boyce is leaving the computer before Ingrid finds me ….

Guyanese Timeka and our Rihanna in Jamaica

Here is a bio on Timeka Marshall hailing from Guyana, she is one on the artistes represented by Pyramid Entertainment which is managed by the irresistible Santia Bradshaw. With the coming of CSME we need to know about our regional neighbours, so read on, you are not busy ..

Who would have thought that a simple jingle for a local company would be the start of a music career that seems destined for success? Well that is exactly how young Guyanese singer Timeka Marshall got her break. In 2006
a local telecommunications company staged a competition for their new jingle. Timeka entered and won. This became the springboard for recording her first R&B Single “We Should Separate”, which was released and quickly followed by the music video. Produced by Muzikmedia and shot on location in Jamaica both the track and the video gained popularity on the Caribbean music scene and held their own in heavy rotation on radio and television stations across the region.

Yet there was much more to unearth in the way of Timeka’s talents. Timeka After performing “We Should Celebrate” on the Guyanese entertainment circuit to appreciative audiences,Timeka was keen to cultivate her songwriting talents and attended the Barbados Music seminar and Showcase in February 2007. There she blew regional and international music executives away with her obvious talent and enticing sensuality. With just one performance of the gritty dancehall track “Nothing At All”, Timeka was immediately signed to a developmental deal which would see her working with some of Jamaica’s top producers.Timeka’s commitment and hard work in the months she spent in Jamaica has paid off, with the release of two singles – “Free” and “Ice-cream Boy” (a fresh taste on a classic) produced by international reggae producer
Clive Hunt and his team of talented musicians. Her relationship with Jamaica and the treasure trove of musicians, directors and producers there continues to grow. As soon as the two singles were in heavy rotation on Guyana’s airwaves, Timeka returned to Jamaica to continue recording. This dedication is a clear indication of her intention
to take her music throughout the region and beyond and add to the growing list of Caribbean artistes who now rank among the international superstars of the entertainment industry.

Barbados based company Pyramid Entertainment Management Inc. has once again created history during the festive period of Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival celebrations, by being the first foreign entity and entertainment company to put a music and performance truck on the road for T&T Carnival.

This comes following the successful 2007 venture between Pyramid Entertainment and Sesame Flyers International (New York’s largest Carnival mas band), when the Pyramid music truck was a very visible element in the New York Labour Day parade and celebrations.

In 2008, they aligned themselves with the big mas band Tribe, consisting of over 5,000 eager revelers to present the Pyramid “All Star” music truck. Complete with a performance stage, music by Dawg-E-Slaughter and Xcaliber and fully equipped by Tank Sound Systems, the truck was a literal media magnet, attracting not only spectators with cameras but also crews from local, regional and international media houses (who took opportunities to interview the truck’s featured artistes).

Pyramid had broken boundaries last Carnival when Biggie Irie (an artiste featured on their talent roster) became the first non-T&T national to win the International Groovy Soca Monarch Competition.

Biggie Irie was also a featured artiste on the 2008 “All Star” truck; along side 2007 Barbados Road March winner and peoples choice award winner Mr. Dale, 2007 Barbados Soca Monarch finalist Peter Ram and regional soca star Problem Child.

Also sending the crowd of masqueraders into frenzy were the performances by invited Trinidadian guests 2008 International Soca Monarch winner Bunji Garlin and his wife, the newly crowned 2008 T&T Road March winner Faye-Ann Lyons, as well as Road March contender Blaxx and Umi Marcano.

 Pyramid’s billboard in Trinidad…..Biggie Irie, Lil Rick, Peter Ram and Mr. Dale

In addition to the music truck, Pyramid Entertainment also made a promotional impact for their company, their artistes and for the general festival culture of Barbados by erecting a 20′ X 8″ double sided billboard on the east/west corridor of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway which reads “From Carnival to Crop Over” and features images of four of the Barbadian superstars on the Pyramid roster, Biggie Irie, Lil Rick, Mr. Dale and Peter Ram.

Pyramid Entertainment’s management team Santia Bradshaw and Ruel Ward, express their sincere gratitude to all of the artistes who performed on the truck, the radio stations which continue to promote the music of the Barbadian and regional artistes, the promoters who were responsible for booking the artistes over the Carnival season and the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA), whom they invited to come on board as a co-sponsor, in an effort to promote the Barbados Crop Over Festival and encourage the participants of T&T’s carnival experience, to join them in Barbados for their festival in August of 2008.

More Exclusive Pictures from T and T Carnival coming tomorrow 

It is hilarious! You will laugh till yuh we wee yuh self, which could be pretty embarrassing if you happen to have a date with you… What am I blogging about? Laff It Off 2008 “We Still Hey” comedy show now on every Saturday at St. Gabriel’s School. Laff It Off features stellar performances from Jherad Allyene, Simon Allyene and more.

You have got to see Chrispen Hackett as PM David Thompson and Marcia Burrowes as CBC’s Derri Bowen. Speaking of CBC, see Peta Allyene in her famous “Mia” role locking off the neck and sharing some blows in “Owen”. See the hilarious characters on David Estwick, Patricia Inniss and of course Clyde Mascol.

You have got to see the Barbados Top Model sketch. I especially liked the characterization of Ishiaka McNeil as judge Kingsley Thorne, it is to die for.

It would be remiss of me not to mention there seems to be a skit that features a little creative piece set in Roman times which mentions Boyceus and Estwickus. They seemed be referring to me Boyceus as a bulla. Ishiaka who played the bulla part already got in trouble for charactering a certain local singer in a gayfull manner last year, and the said singer had brief conversation with him and threatened to lick him up. Unfortunately for me I have no such skills but I do plan to call Cecily Spencer Cross the producer and buse her silly.

What is touching and effective is the footage of the late Wendell Smith doing some comedic scenes; he continues to make a contribution even though he has passed on.

So don’t miss Laff It Off 2008. Its so funny. You might experience some involuntary urination. It will not be so cool when your date sniffs and asks “wha is da that smell so pissy?” and you have to say it is you….