by Craig Butler
When I lived in England in the early 1990s, the queen gave a speech describing one of those years as an "annus horribilis"" - Latin for horrible year.
Whilst I am thankful for the fact that I am alive, in relatively good health and surrounded by family and friends, 2007 has been a particularly trying year for me.
It has tested my faith in God, but thankfully I am stronger for it. On April 14 after waiting for so long to have a child we were blessed with a beautiful baby girl whom we named Jade. But in His infinite wisdom, God allowed her to spend only two days, eight hours and ten minutes on this earth before he took her back home.
I can truly say that I have never experienced such a joyous high or so painful a low in such a short period of time. And even today, after some months, to see others with their little ones causes a great sadness to envelope me as I dream about what could have been.
The loss of a loved one - especially a child - is enough heartache for any one year, but Murphy’s Law came crashing down and in September my father fell ill requiring me to fly him by air ambulance to Houston for emergency surgery.
At the time I thought he was going to move on to a better place. Fortunately he made it through, but since that time it has been touch and go and he has been in hospital frequently. Consequently our family has been on an emotional roller coaster.
To top it off, personal family problems have been sensationalized in the tabloid press, adding insult to injury. But I have learned not to lend credence to malicious lies by responding to them despite how much they may hurt. I guess what does not kill you only makes you stronger. So I am better off today than yesterday.
As for the significant events that took place in the country, first and foremost must be the outrageous amount of people that have been murdered with police officer Ramos Williams being the latest victim.
The second most significant event was the crushing defeat dealt of the PLP at the polls. This was a loss that was preventable and one that will apparently result in the party undergoing some major changes.
Next is the polarization that has existed in the country since the May 2 general election. We need to come together as a nation to fight our problems as a united people rather than a divided force.
On the world front we have the ever increasing violence in the Middle East culminating in the senseless assassination of Benazir Bhutto the former prime minister of Pakistan last week. Many expected her to regain the reigns of power in the upcoming elections in that country. So to say that the ruling party was fortunate is somewhat of an understatement.
Connected with this violence is the rising price of crude oil which is hovering around the $100 per barrel price mark. Yet the world refuses to embrace alternative forms of energy.
The greenhouse effect is real, although politicians have managed to confuse everybody by lining up scientists to argue that we have nothing to worry about.
A black man has a real chance of becoming the next president of the United States if racists don’t find a way of killing him first.
My wish for the Bahamas and the world for 2008 is peace on earth and good will to all.
Christmas Junkanoo.
I am angry and disturbed at what I see as a loss of our cultural identity through the adoption of a carnival mentality. I say this because of the abundance of feathers and sequins being deployed on junkanoo costumes lately. And please - I don’t want to hear about advancement because that does not amount to an advance.
The colours may have been bright and beautiful, but if you are real with yourself you would have to say that this is not what you would classically identify as junkanoo. There was no difference from that which you can see in Trinidad.
I mean we have already adopted the practice of clothing the dancers in leotards and the leaders in outfits that are made of satin. And to get a bigger sound we have added all sorts of other instruments - so much so that all I am waiting for is a group to come out with an electric guitar hooked into a portable amp.
What’s more disturbing than the bastardization of the costumes are the constant lies and the cheating by the judges. I say their explanation as to why they couldn’t produce immediate scores amounts to hogwash. In this technological age, only God knows why we can’t develop a hand-held system linked into a computer to tabulate scores.
Our failure to do so leads to only one conclusion - there is some form of collusion going on.
video.google.com and search for high school marching bands from around the globe....most of what I've heard sounds better than anything that came out of my tv on boxing day or new years. I think many groups would have been better off with ONLY goat skin drums, whistles, horns, and cowbells. Their horrible attempts to play trumpets, trombones, tubas, snare drums and whatever else was below even amateur quality. Stick to what you KNOW how to play WELL.
I knew some people who signed up for a junkanoo judge training program 2 or 3 years ago. If they were any indication, half the judged don't give a crap and are just going to award points to their favourite group. The other half don't even know how to judge and are just going to award points to their favourite group.
Posted by: one | January 03, 2008 at 02:24 AM
Hey Craig,
I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your daughter. You know reading that does put things in perspective for people who often compalin about nothing. The truth of the matter is that there is so much to give thanks for when you look at the struggles and trials that others are facing. I am defineltly keeping you in my prayers. I saw your dad last year summer. Whenever I come home I try to make an effort to see him. I credit him for helping to make me the successful person that I am today. Give him along and your mother my love. Keep writing also. You help me keep up with what is going at home. Love always...Sean
Posted by: Dr. Sean W. Strachan | January 13, 2008 at 08:02 PM