It is that time of the year when so many of us are reflecting on the past year and making plans for this brand new year.
We admit that it has not been a smooth journey for us but we will strive to continue to educate, entertain, bring a smile to your faces and in some instances vex you with what we have dubbed the ‘Culture Box.’
This opinion column has been around for more than five years and we had difficult years but the last year has been one that really put our mettle to the test so to speak. There were a few weeks when this column did not appear.
During the 12 months of last year we lost two of our more prolific Culture Box writers, which, for want of a better word, placed us in a bind. But we have managed to keep going. We would like to take this opportunity to publicly salute Iana Seales and Sara Bharrat. We at The Scene say thank you and good luck in your future endeavours.
Now as we reflect, let’s look at some of the fine pieces we have had in 2011. One that immediately comes to mind was our advice to the political leaders in the lead up to the November 28 elections. We just could not stand the ‘cuss outs’ anymore and we know you couldn’t either. We certainly were not amused!
And you remember ‘Road Hogs’? Yea in that piece we discussed the madness that happens on the roads; it’s a wonder that we don’t have more deaths on our roadways when one observes what happens every second on these roads.
Here is what we had to say: “Nearly every other person who travels in minibuses has a story to tell- the ones who survive the madness that is. More often than not it’s a horror story of a near miss; or of offensive music or language in an overfilled bus or something like that.”
We are sure many of you Shaggy fans enjoyed our tribute to the great, sexy Jamaican singer.
And what then there was the ‘The truth about beauty pageants’? Big up to the new Miss Universe, Leila Lopes of Angola for copping the crown recently. But as our piece had pointed out it is not all glitz and glamour when 80+ young women come together for one coveted crown.
“Put 80-something people together for a week in a competition – any gender, any competition – and there’s bound to be hostility. They will not all get along. Put 80-something beautiful women together who each believe they have the right to win the Miss Universe title… it can’t be all sweetness and light. These women, as Miss France said, work hard to get to the world stage and once there they work even harder. They must ensure that they are noticed by photographers, the international press, the scouts looking for models, in short anyone or anything that will put them out there; give them the edge over their peers. Oh yes, they will appear to be all smiling and getting along. But the fact is that these hard workers — particularly those from countries that would have won before – and who feel pressured to win or at least give a good showing, are going to put niceness second and themselves first. Why do you think pageants give an award for congeniality? It’s difficult to come by.” Truer words have not been written.
And there was ‘A blast of culture’ where we spoke about a stroll in the Stabroek Market. Remember the smelly junkie and those sweaty vendors and prospective customers who all hustled about achieving their day’s goal? But it was not the ‘stinky’ environment that eventually kept us from having a meal in one of the many ‘cook shops’ in the market but rather it was that vendor selling not so fresh shrimps. Eww!
And what about that powerful piece ‘Random thoughts’? Those thoughts were really not random as we think they were rather powerful thoughts. That piece sadly indicated how many of our youths were not really interested in our elections even though they are the future of this country.
“I registered for the elections and I’m eager to vote because that much is guaranteed in a democracy right – the power to elect our government – yet many people my age seem to think it isn’t. The folks I know are busy chatting on Facebook.
“If ever there was a time to follow current events it’s now, and I’m not going to argue that social media isn’t changing the way people access news and how quickly, but let’s be honest: Social media is just a place to grow egos, be narcissistic and frankly, talk trash for a bunch of young folks in this country.” These were the words of one of our writers.
The less we say about that piece titled ‘Weird quirks and couples’ the better.
SMH (Shaking my head) spoke of how many persons put their private business out there on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. It is not right and many learnt the hard way how wrong it is, let’s hope for 2012 we act so much wiser when we put our fingers to keyboard to put up a status message.
Then there were those pieces where we reviewed past and ongoing events. We are happy to report that Brandon Harding did win the English segment of the GT&T jingle competition as we had predicted. And it was ‘Wotless’-ness for the organizers to have Kes and his band (famous for their Wotless piece) perform in soggy condition at the Pegasus.
These are just a few of the many thought provoking pieces we put out; there are many others: ‘Remembering Amy Winehouse’, ‘Strange encounter on Regent Street’, ‘Technology for dummies’ and ‘Excuse me while I light my spiff’ among others. If you have missed them we encourage you to read up, they are worth reading.
Happy New Year to you our readers and watch this box for your filled of thought provoking columns in 2012.
(thescene@stabroeknews.com)
