Ash Wednesday and Duct Tape 2012

Today Wednesday, 22 February 2012  is Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of the faithful as a sign of repentance. The ashes used are gathered after the Palm Crosses from the previous year's Palm Sunday are burned. In the liturgical practice of some churches, the ashes are mixed with the Oil of the Catechumens (one of the sacred oils) used to anoint those about to be baptized, though some churches use ordinary oil. This paste is used by the priest who presides at the service to make the sign of the cross first upon his own forehead and then on each of those present who kneel before him. We don't kneel at the altar rail - there isn't room - those days have long gone.

The priest or minister says one of the following when applying the ashes: "Remember, O man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return. (Book of Genesis)
"Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel." (Gospel of St Mark)
"Repent, and hear the good news." (Gospel of St Mark)          

So Lent is a time for reflection, repentance and reconciliation for believers. I'll be off to receive my ashes this evening in the hope of getting my Lent off to a good start. In my case it also means duct tape because keeping my mouth shut when certain untoward things happen is difficult. During Lent I make an even more concerted effort to try to be a better person which of course, doesn't always work and one of the ways I do that is by keeping my mouth shut if I haven't got anything good to say.

 

Anyone who has been following me for at least a couple of years knows that for Lent,  I always ask for plenty of  duct tape - wholesale!

 

 

 

 

J'Ouvert Tridad & Tobago 2012

It's 1.50am Monday 20 February 2012 and my daughter has just left with a group of friends to go and play J'Ouvert, the event that starts Carnival proper.  I am posting  a very old photo of her and a one time friend (they are still friends but they don't 'move' together any more).  It's the only photo I have of her playing J'Ouvert and for those of you who have seen recent pictures of her, you'll realize she's somewhat older now.

So we are are last moving into Carnival countdown in  Trinidad . The Soca Monarch Finals were the night before last, (many us believe the outcome was rigged! the parties continue and the Dimanche Gras Show which will determine this year's Calypso Monarch is still in progress.  The end of the show will lead us into J'ouvert which starts in a couple of hours at 4am.  That will be followed by the greatest show on earth, the street party that is Carnival Monday and Tuesday.

J'ouvert is the raw heart of Trinidad Carnival. It is a massive, night-time street party and procession which crystallizes in central Port of Spain in the early hours of Lundi Gras, before the daytime carnival parades. It is a continuation of the season’s 'fetes', parties of the night before as tens of thousands of revellers spill out onto the streets looking for more fun. They dance till dawn and beyond - chipping to steel bands and to the latest  music  live coming from dee jays pumping it out from 40 - 50 foot 'music' trucks.  The local trucking companies make a fortune at this time of the years.  J'ouvert  (pronounced jouvay) has evolved and it is is a creole corruption of the French jour ouvert meaning day break or morning and signals the start of the bacchanalia that is Carnival.

J’ouvert is full of symbols of culture and heritage. It is steeped in tradition and playing mud mas involves participants known as Jab Jabs covering themselves from head to toe and others in paint, chocolate, mud, white powder or just about anything that sticks. It is J’ouvert custom that no one is clean and a common sight is a being hugged by a muddy revelers.

This traditional part of Carnival starts at around four in the morning and finishes after sunrise. Calypso and Soca music are the dominating sounds of J’ouvert in Trinidad and the mass of revellers take the street party wining and chipping their way to the Savannah in Port of Spain in the early hours of Lundi Gras, before the daytime carnival parades.

The roots of J’ouvert in Trinidad go back 200 years, with the arrival of French plantation owners. The French never colonized Trinidad but elements of their culture remained. J’Ouvert evolved from the Canboulay festivals in the 1800’s, which were night time celebrations where the landowners dressed up and imitated the negres jardins (garden slaves). Following emancipation, the newly freed slaves took over Canboulay, now imitating their former masters imitating them.

Canboulay revellers, who carried lighted cane torches, were seen as a potential risk by the authorities and the tension mounted leading to the Canboulay riots. It was eventually banned, and then was re established as J’ouvert. The Canboulay Riots are now acted out in the streets during the week leading up to Carnival.

The spectacular costumes represent characters and events from the history and folklore. Moko Jumbie Bats, Bookmen, Baby dolls, jab molassie, devil mas are all traditional Carnival characters that capture the elements of the past, and continue to tell the story.

So here we go again, when crime will be at an all time low between Monday and Tuesday, when the unions have stopped fighting the management of the national oil company because the government gave in to their pay increase demand at the11th hour, when the government today gave in to the calypsonians upping the prize money to one million dollars for fear of them boycotting tonight's show as they had threatened,  when people have spent thousands of dollars on costumes they can't afford, when there will be integration of all the races that make up Trinidad and Tobago without any trouble (by Ash Wednesday they will be ignoring or fighting with one another again!), when non-stop music will fill the air and when visitors from all over the world  will come and spend their US dollars much to the delight of the Trinidad and Tobago government.



And as I write I can hear the music trucks beginning to gear up bringing the very sound of soca into my living room.

Here's to a safe Carnival 2012.

Fantasy

Mag 104 

 

Image by Christophe Gilbert

Photograph courtesy Tess Kinkaid, Magpie Tales 

 

Now I lay me down to sleep

Wondering who my soul shall keep

Will it be the one above

Or those here of  imagined love

 

If I should  die before I wake

Praying Lord my soul will take

If I wake before I die

An erotic fantasy I cannot lie 

Barbara M Lake

©

February 2012

Trinidad WI

 

 

Dreamland

MAGPIE 101

 

Photograph courtesy Tess Kinkaid, Magpie Tales

All wrapped up

With nowhere to go

Except to sleep

Barbara M Lake  ©

Trinidad, WI
January 2012 

It Is Dark

 MAGPIE 97

image:  Bert Stern

 Photograph courtesy Tess Kinkaid, Magpie Tales

It’s dark

Very, very dark

Let me sleep

Let me sleep

Off the pain

The feeling of gloom

Of hopelessness

That embraces me

It’s light

Very, very light

Let me sleep

Continue to sleep

To stave off

The pain the doom

The hopelessness

Still embracing me

The dark

Of the night

Brings no peace

The light

Of the day

Is not enough

To quell

My uneasy spirit

In the dark

Should I sleep

And hope for

Dreamless peace?

In the light

Should I wake

And hope for

Soothing calm?




Barbara M Lake
Trinidad W1 
10 June 2009

To Those Who Thought of Me in 2011, Thank You.

As 2012 opens, I'd like to send my heartfelt appreciation to all of you who during 2011 took the time and trouble to help me to feel safe, secure, blessed, and wealthy via 'advice' e mails.

Extra thanks to whoever sent me the one about rat poop in the glue on envelopes 'cause I now have to go get a wet towel every time I need to seal an envelope. Also, I scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains. I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put "Under God" on their cans.

I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone might drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from nor send packages by UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan.

I no longer eat KFC because their "chickens" are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.

I no longer have any sneakers -- but that will change once I receive my free replacement pair from Nike.

I no longer have to buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.

I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.

I no longer worry about my soul because at last count I have 363,214 angels looking out for me.

Thanks to you, I have learned that God only answers my prayers if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl who is about to die in the hospital (for the 1,387,258th time)

I no longer have any money at all - but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special email program.

Yes, I want to thank you so much for looking out for me that I will now return the favor!

If you don't pass on this message, preferably in an e-mail, to

at least 144,000 people as soon as you have read it, a large pigeon with a wicked case of diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM (CDT) this afternoon. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next-door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician.

Happy New Year 2012

I know that we are already on the 3 January but I haven't been near a computer for days.  I am sending warm wishes to all my friends on Blogger and the visitors who pop in at various times.

May 2012 be a wonderful year in many ways  for each and everyone of you. I wish you all a year filled with good things including love, joy, peace, good health and prosperity together with abundant blessings.