The GOVERNMENT doh have no big set ah handouts to GIMME GIMME this 2018 PANORAMA. And by the time DIAZ and FORTEAU and JOSEPH bite up the lion's share, there will be very little left to share among the PAN PLAYERS.
Prime Minister Keith Rowley warned them yesterday that oil revenue plummeted from a high of $19.4 billion in 2014 to a meagre $2.1 billion this year. So we might be looking at a $20,000,000 allocation for PANORAMA 2018 if we are lucky.
Looking down the road at this MASSIVE PUSH to get ELECTRIC CARS on the ROAD, any breakthrough in BATTERY RESEARCH could deal the TRINIDAD ECONOMY a crippling long term blow. So maybe with all the OLE TALK about PAN and PAN MUSIC being a BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY, people should start CRANKING UP PRODUCTION in those two areas instead of fighting to RUN PAN TRINBAGO.
The biggest irony for me is that ME and KEITH DIAZ came up with almost the EXACT GAME PLAN to ramp up PAN PRODUCTION and EXPORTS that could have the ONE BILLION in US DOLLARS floating in to Trinidad in the next 5 years. Of course my version is a little more draconian than that of the MOST HONOURABLE KEITH DIAZ. But the PARLIAMENT will have to wake up and say: We are an independent nation and we could do what is best for Trinidad because our economy is on the verge of collapse.
I will let KEITH DIAZ run the PAN PRODUCTION part of the program but I want to handle the MUSIC PRODUCTION for the GLOBAL MARKETPLACE ... FIVE YEARS DOWN THE ROAD both ah we driving BMW and AUDI up and down the roads of Trinidad; it eh have NO CRIME IN THE LAND; and it have ah CHICKEN IN EVERY POT (curry or stew) across the MECCA.
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Claude, the points you have made are very well taken. We seem however to be caught-up and stuck in a dialogue that is failing to advance T&T's musical steel industry, while amazing marketing opportunities are not being addressed in a meaningful way. Allow me to share one idea which might have been previously considered. I offer the suggestion that the time has come to establish a Trinidad and Tobago National Steel Orchestra. Embarking on such an adventure will require sustained concerted strategic thinking and action. Part of the strategic development process could focus on how T&T's musical steel instrument should be organized, produced and marketed to maximize its socioeconomic potential.
In pursuit of excellence, membership in T&T's National Steel Orchestra should represent the very best of panists from every orchestral category and a few places reserved for panist from other countries.
Among its primary purpose, T&T's National Steel Orchestra would focus primarily on marketing its music to the global community. Imagine the pride and benefit of traveling and performing on some of the world's most prestigious musical stages in countries such as Canada, England, Vienna, Russia and the USA. The possibilities are endless. I am hopeful that Trinidad and Tobago realizes the urgency of this opportunity and is wiling to boldly champion the next steps in marketing its steel orchestral music. Together, lets chart a course that would bring to reality musical experiences reflective of the breadth and depth of musical excellence in Trinidad and Tobago. This is a time for brave, innovative, possibility thinkers who will not allow themselves to be deterred or constrained by the current drama and intrigue surrounding management of the musical steel industry in T&T.
Lean panorama? How 'bout NO panorama a la WIADCA and Brooklyn?
NAH, Mercer: There will be a PANORAMA!!! KIETH DIAZ going and put dem PAN MEN to sit down in a meeting and tell dem ALLYUH HAVE TO PLAY FOR PANORAMA -- end of discussion. And doh ask meh how much allyuh getting, because allyuh will take WHAT I GIVE ALLYUH.
Ah see dey building ah new HIGHWAY down in Trinidad and they calling it NEPOTISM HIGHWAY ... ah going and check the dictionary and find out what that mean!!!
Yuh mixing meh up with Cecil Hinkson and the PUSHING PAN ON THE ROAD THING. I like meh PAN on dem BIG TRUCKS -- ah find that the SOUND WAVES does float around better from the BIG TRUCK ... or maybe is just the CALIFORNIA MEDICAL MARIJUANA distorting my view of reality. Now RENO (NEVADA) gone and LEGALIZE also. Ah have to drive up there and compare STATES and how it affects my appreciation of PAN ON TRUCKS.
Trinidad should LEGALIZE and collect all dem TAXES. Tourists go be flying in from all over the world to SMOKE POT and listen to PAN ON TRUCKS. Foreign Exchange like rain!!!
I could understand the legalization of the ting, but, PAN ON TRUCKS? Nah, let's get back down to EARTH.