Both sides claim to SO LOVE THE PAN!!! This is the time to put LOVE FOR THE PAN above embedded hostilities and work as a team to move the MUSIC forward. If the gap can be bridged, the potential for contribution to the GREATER PAN CAUSE could be unlimited.
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A guy from Trinidad came on this forum once (I forgot his name) and he got run off pretty quickly. I thought that he was one of the most intriguing characters to post on the site and I would have enjoyed developing a dialogue and some banter with him to see where he was really coming from because he was really in no rush to turn up his cards. Much like Rudy Randall in a way but different.
However, before he left he made one brilliant observation about the forum. He pointed out that everybody came on the forum everyday (slight exaggeration) and talked about how much THEY LOVE THE PAN but when you read the pages of the forum is criticism and criticism and more criticism. As Lord Melody asks in CRAZY LOVE: Darling what kinda love is dis?
The fact remains the only the power brokers in the Mecca could affect real change in what we have today, Expats and Locals could talk till they blue in the face ain't nothing happening. So what do we do? we let them know we are holding them responsible for this vital part of our culture, Government and big business all have a hand in making sure the Steelband flourish, especially in the land that has given birth to it.
We have to also put on blast all the intellectuals in the Mecca who have witness the fall of the Steelband and remain silent over the years.
Cecil: Once you mention the government you have gone off-track. If the government gives PANTRINBAGO $20,000,000 tomorrow it will be gone in a year and it will be back to begging. Secondly: Intellectuals intellectualize. So bring them in you will only get a set of books and proposals and nomenclature written and nothing will be accomplished. You need some retire business men to step in to the picture. And they will have to be courted and convinced to join the movement. Not sure if the Trinidad society has evolved to that stage of philanthropy as yet. The government is not the answer.
And all XL is trying to do is to produce ONE SHOW. I think they can accomplish that as a starting point to bigger things.
Great post Claude,
“This is the time to put LOVE FOR THE PAN above embedded hostilities and work as a team to move the MUSIC forward” I’m reminded of Chalkdust calypso Just Soo when he said…“Ah Trini will love a woman from head to toe, marry she and tell she till death he won’t part you know. And next day kick she, hit she two slap, burn down the house and go…Juss soo culture.
How do you define “embedded hostilities?” I understand the big picture thinking and team work at least I’m not thinking of packaging Pan Man and Woman at the $price of sacrificing their musical integrity. No bigger pimping. I respectfully differ with your point of view.
odw: Yuh never sit down with (or had email exchanges with) some LOCALS and end up discussing the attitude issues observed from both sides of the fence?
Claude, thanks for enlightening me, I don’t do fb, emails, or trolling. I still hold the view that this is an open forum and people make choices based on what’s important to them, if you don’t like what you hear or feel a perceived attitude, as a independent thinker they can choose to opt out or seek clarification.
This is not about winning a likability contest, massaging egos or image building. A good debate can sometimes present very insightful view points for everyone to consider. Your opinions, the facts and its accuracy are all part of the equation, perceived attitudes are subject to interpretation.
You asked me to define what I meant by "embedded hostilities" (I am sure that most people could guess what I was implying given the context) and I barely introduced my answer giving you a Trinidad style introduction -- and you switched to some totally disconnected response.
The Steelpan was invented by working class people and they have managed to bring it to where it is today, but at this point the Government of the day has to realize that they are the true custodians of the steelpan on behalf of it's citizens and as such responsible for it's growth and development, the same as they for the Oil and Gas.
What's needed is involvement of the most brilliant minds in the land with a mandate to solve the problems facing the Steelband, From standardization of instruments to it's mobility to it's involvement in Carnival, gone are the days of guess-work.
Funding Panorama did nothing much for the growth of the steelband, as a matter of fact it did more negative than positive. Steelbands struggle all over the world but this should not be the case in the Mecca, the ruling Governing Body has reach their limit so a new structure is needed to take it over the top.
There is nothing wrong with Expats and Locals having a dialogue, but it's the Locals that has to solve the problems. The whole Carnival is falling apart in the Macca, over the years we have taken out and no one was putting back so now we are running on empty.
Attitudes have to change toward the steelband in the Mecca, contrary to what a lot of people may think we must find a way to restore the Steelband to what it was.
Yes Claude!! And a group of Xpats should be on the ground in foreign working it as we here are doing as the locals in Trinidad. NO MORE EXCUSES! Now is the time to DO SOMETHING! Correct,collectively there are no limits to where this effort could go!