Crop Mongoose here, peoples, ready fuh Crop-Over 2008.
An' what a Crop-Over! Tell de trut', I had was to ask my edduh mongoose friends iffin it was really Crop-Over, causin' I wasn't hearing all the arguing and big noise dat does come every single festival season. But more 'bout dat later.
First, I got to ask all o' wunnuh how wunnuh deal wid dat earfquake. Iffin wunnuh feel it was bad, t'ink how it was for we mongooses dat so close to de groun'. T'ing, it did dread. According to dah man Contone, de earf start shakin', de earf start shakin'.
Lissen, when I first start to feel dis t'ing I couldn' figure out wuh was happenin'. I t'ought at first it did Pumpy from Spin Pooch Ink wukkin up in de cane groun', causin' dah man does do a number.
When I check, doh, I hear it was a earfquake. Wuh next? Hail an' snow in Buhbaydus? Wuhever come, doh, wunnuh could bet dis mongoose gine be ready. Iffin I could survive Crop-Over, I could survive a earfquake, wuh you say?
But back to de festival, doh. Nuhbody can' complain dat music din' out early this year. From early o'clock songs did out pun de radia. One o' my mongoose friends tell me I should say "recordings" an' not songs cause some uh wuh he hearin' ent songs but I ent getting in dat, boh.
Wunnuh notice how quiet t'ings is, doh? Lookuh, by dis time for the past few years Peter Boyce an' de NCF did at one anedduh throat. Yuh did hearin' nuff tough talk an' nuhbody di'n backin' down. People did backraisin' one anedduh bad, bad, bad. It did a scramble to see which artistes would be appearin' wid who, shows did clashin', bare bacchanal.
Not dis year', bosie. Um is sweetness and light everywhere. Boyce, who did in charge o' de cavalcades, say he en got nothin' to quarrel bout dis year. Everyt'ing sweet. Buh lookuh life, doh, nuh. As my ol' mongoose mother used to say, wuh en' ketch yuh en pass yuh yet.
But it sweeter dan dat. Far from any clash of events dis year, Boyce say he workin' with Government to mek sure dey en gine be nuh clash between Cohobblopot and Euphoria, de show he had for the past few years. Ent life sweet, doh?
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Don' beat up pun Kid, yuh site?
I don' see why people should rejoice causin de man in misfortune. Nuhbody don' know wuh tomorruh might bring, hear? But den again I's only a mongoose.
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Not a cent after singin' hearts out
Lissen, it does hurt my mongoose heart when I hear de stories bout de calypsonians and de musicians dat don' get pay, year after year. Some o' dese "managers" will be as bol' as to tell yuh: "I does pay my bandsmen. De calypsonians got to try to bring people in de tent if duh want to get pay!"
Over de years, I hear summuch stories bout "managers" dat does collec' de subvention money from de NCF but people in duh tents does still be suckin' salt.
People is don' understand dat sometimes calypsonians does end up payin' to sing, when yuh realise hummuch duh does got to spen' pun arrangements an' clothes.
Dat is why I does respeck de calypsonians, and mark yuh, I say calypsonians, not some o' dem clowns dat does be pun de radia.
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A whol' pot of confusion
First ting, Cranston Browne get an say duh en gine got nuh non-Bajan acks in Cohobblopot, barrin' iffin it go to a private promoter. He explain it by sayin' de NCF did want to see iffin it mek sense to spen' a washpan o' money pun a non-Bajan ack when de same number o' people woulda turn up if jus' Bajan acks did dey. Dah mek sense to me.
Hey, nex' ti'ng yuh hear is dat de NCF doin' de show, not nuh private promoter, Machel Montano (HD if yuh please) gettin' pay US$30 000 to bring he show hey fuh Cohobblopot and de minister did sayin' dat "somebody mis-spoke".
Look, I en nuh big brain but somet'ing gine on dey. Wuh happen? Is it dat somebody already had Machel book fuh dis year Cohobblopot and couldn' get out uh de arrangement?
Peoples, I feelin jus' like Gorg – tipsy. Tummuch sugar from de canefields which part I does hide out. Look, de judgin' start. Wuh you waitin fuh? Go and support de tents, man.
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