Dear Nesta,

LOOKA WUH could happen, neh? A student could get marks fuh jes' writin two cuss-words 'pon a exam paper? An' in case yuh din hear 'bout it dah happen right up dey in dah country you live in.

Well, girl, when I read dah story in yesterduh paper, it had me limbless, wonderin' wuh really gine on in de worl' o' education nowadays . . . . Ness, you could imagine dat in answer to de question "Describe the room you are sitting in," de student write down "F . . . off"?

An' to t'ink he or she get two marks fuh dat because, 'cordin' to de examiner, dah better dan ef duh din write neffin a-tall! Den de said examiner had de righteous gall to say he woulda gi' de student a higher mark dan 2 out o' 27 ef de student did punctuate de obscenity! How yuh like dah, doh?

Girl, all I could say is dat poor Mr Brumley mussee skinnin' cuffins in 'e grave at dah story, faif! I hear some ridiccalus t'ings concernin' student' an' exams but dah one tek de cake, nuh joke. Dah examiner is somet'ing else, nuh maybes 'bout dat!

'E say de phrase de student write 'pon de exam paper express meanin' an' de spellin' was right. By de way, de student was a high-school student, ef yuh please, an' de examiner one Peter Buckroug, de story say – is no less dan a senior examiner fuh one o' de organisations dat does grade British high school exams. So put dat in yuh pipe an' smoke it!

'Pon de local scene, de West Indies get trounce by Orstralia, as expected – an' not only in de Test series yuh know . . . duh get lick-up in de One-Day Internationals, too.

Oh well, ef um is any consolation, at leas' de West Indies women doin' better 'cause dem recently beat Ireland in a One-Day series an' duh holdin' duh heads above water. Maybe some o' dem could go an' play fuh de official West Indies team, wuh yuh seh?

By de way, Crop-Over gettin' in full swing an' de firs' controversy brewin' cause one or two o' de calypsonians don' soun' too happy over de fack, dat some official tribute gine be paid to Red Plastic Bag at de openin' ceremony to observe he 25 years as a performer in de calypso competition.

Wuh de objectors arguin' is dat dah is de wrong time to pay a tribute to de Bag because 'e in de competition dis year, defennin' 'e crown an' fuh he to get pay a special tribute at dah partic'lar time en exackly fair to de ethuh calypsonians competin' wid Bag. In ethuh words, from wuh I onderstan', de gesture could gi' de Bag a kin' o' psychological advantage fuh de competition.

I feel duh got a p'int an' dat de special tribute to de Bag shoulda been timed different fuh true. So while I agree dat de Bag deserve mo' dan jes' a tribute, I could see de logic in de argument by Kid Site an' Black Pawn. De NCF was a li'l t'oughtless in duh timin' o' de tribute. But knowin' Buhbayduss, I doubt any change gine come about regards to dat.

Generally, de prediction is dat dis year, Crop-Over gine be perkin', but dat en neffin new 'cause dah is de expectation every year, anyhow. Time does really fly, doh, 'cause dis is July a'ready an' after Crop-Over, we'll soon be starin' Chris'mas in de face.

Anyway, dear-heart, I gone fuh now so keep de faif an' God bless.

Wid Luv,

Lou