These are new pages to catalogue Nigel's "Updates" on life in Trindad - much appreciated by those of us far from home... They are a wonderful mixture of reportage and personal observation and I am really sorry I lost so many of them in a stupid software glitch last year!

I had saved the whole lot, right from the beginning of the Pointe-a-Pierre web site, so if anyone has any of those old ones and would like to email them to me, I'd be really happy! The ones below begin in 2001.

Nigel's own web site (from where these pages are taken) is @: http://www.papmemories.net/

Sunday, February 17, 2002 1:02 pm Subject: Carnival jump-up.

Hi All,

Little else to talk about this week except carnival....maaan!!! what a super party.......living in PoS sure opened up a lot of doors for us to see and do things we never did in South.

First of all I was happy to meet a number of visiting past-PaPierreians - Anthony "Zant" Abraham and daughter Rachel, Barbara Gillen (Davenport), Madeliene Miller and Steve ??, Alexa Orr, Mark Haskell, Clive Stead and Shannon, Dennis Rostant, and Lauritta Voss (Hawkins). I understand that there were many more but didn't get to meet them all.

We were supposed to meet for a Trini get together at Pelican that never came off.....heat of competing events and some breakdown in communications....all quite understandable given the pace of the time.......lot closer than last year so maybe we will make it next year.

Fetes - Only one real fete this year and that was the "blocko" known as Soca in Moca"....just that!....a fete in the wealthy Moca (Also known teasingly as "Moca Raton") housing development in one of their main roads that had been blocked off. Unlike the growing trend this was not an all inclusive fete and was crowded......wall to wall prancers and dancers.

Missed country Club Friday night but understand that it was one heck of a party.......we'll plan better next year for sure.

Pan Yards - Visited Phase II Pan Grove and Neal and Massy All Stars on their concert nights, and bp Renegades on the Friday before finals. Never made it down to hear Skiffle....did hear them in the tracks and on stage...sounded super but only could muster a 10th overall. Still feel that Skiffle has the best arrangements and is the most disciplined and practiced of the bands. The others are big band.....100 players.....man! even if you plug your ears the sound still gets to you through your chest. A measure of how well set up a big band is, is being able to stand anywhere relative to the band and still hear the band as one and not get hit by the nearest pan sets.....maaaan! the big bands were perfect....what power!! Pan has come a long way and a lot was done to create more enjoyable pan sessions and make them more accessible to a wide cross section of people.....super pan year! Very well organized....look forward to more improvement next year.

Just two quick statistics....one big band was asked "if you got rid of all the female players and fourteen year olds how many players would be left?"...answer 12. One Tobago band netted TT$11,000 on the night of the judging just from the bar, sale of food and jerseys! Panorama - Had a great time in the tracks for semis and went in to the North Stand for the finals.....hmmmmm!! Not sure if I really enjoyed listening to good pan through a DJ's sound system in the North Stand.......much prefer to feel and hear the pans and be among all the people.....at the end of the day it is the people that make it all worthwhile.....saw lots of great people in the NS and enjoyed it, especially when we looked out and saw that the tracks was absolutely crammed packed full, but the jury is still out for next year!!!

J'ouvert - The build-up to J'ouvert was spent with a group comprising Trevor Pollonais, Roger and Derek Rostant in their band yard known as "Jobers & Associates" after the founder Richard Jobity who is married to Trevor's wife's sister.....hmmmm?....husband of the sister-in-law......no status in English but Saru B'hai in Hindi. Went to two fund raising limes at their yard and had a ball....super nice bunch of people and got to hear their own rhythm section practicing....sounds great....keep practicing though! One the second night we were charmed and stimulated by a small steelband made up of under-privileged children from St.James....what a touching experience to see these kids put all their woes behind them and provide us with a mix of music that touched the heart and got our feet tapping....thanks to Roger Rostant for this lovely gesture and to the kids for giving us so much...good luck to you all. Hope to get pictures of all this up in the Carnival 2002 section soon.....the picture below is a teaser showing the Mudhouse Banner. I eventually played J'ouvert with Desert Rats since I got a free costume from my Mum-in-law and yielded to a request from Pat Stodart to go with herself and a friend visiting for the first time from conservative Charleston South Carolina.....great all night fete and crowded J'ouvert......playing mud next year. Trinidadians are real head yes....big fight in the J'ouvert band behind us and I noticed non-combatants pelting ice, water, soft drinks, beer, etc. and when I inquired why I was told "dem young boys (the fighters) too hot so we coolin' them dong".....love it. [TO SEE THE PIC PLEASE GO TO THE PaP SITE NEWSLETTER PAGE @ http://www.crosswinds.net/~nwent ]

Carnival Sunday - Sunday morning met the Dons and myself sitting on our porch ooohing and aaaahing about how lovely the weather was and what a lovely cool breeze was blowing, when it hit me........cool breeze...nice weather......arrrrgh! there must be something Carnivaly going on so I jumped in the car solo mio and made a rounds of St.James, Tragarete Road and Ariapita Avenue. Let me tell you there is a bunch of informal un-advertised stuff going-on on Sundays ........limes everywhere....outside of pubs, where people are setting up their street-side bars, where music truck are being built and sound systems tested out.......usual Trinidad fatigue and lots of good ole talk. There was a small pan side Woodbrook Playboyz under the tutelage of one of our top arrangers Len Boogsi Sharpe caressing their pans near the side walk and inviting people in to listen to sweet pan and enjoy a meal or cold drink, buy a printed jersey etc. In the half hour that I stayed with them, entranced by the lovely sound that can come out from a small side there was a constant trickle of roving tourist, and locals coming in for a squat, a cold drink and a good listen....seems like the informal but action packed Sunday is fast becoming an event of its own. Next year I'm gong to put a group together, get a Maxi and make the rounds.....great stuff....no pics of this impromptu event regrettably. [TO SEE THE PIC PLEASE GO TO THE PaP SITE NEWSLETTER PAGE @ http://www.crosswinds.net/~nwent ]

On The Road - The picture above of a truck with the banner "D" Wee Wee Truck is a teaser.....to see what it was all about you will have to wait until I get the full Carnival 2002 series up.....but wonderful innovation and worked well. The foursome of Dons, Paul and Heather Boyce and yours truly didn't play this year since among other things Heather is in a cast having broken her ankle and had to be pushed around in a wheelchair. Once again the best in Trinidadians came out. We were accommodated and infact given an unfair edge by everyone and everywhere we went especially the usually strict officialdom. People openly expressed their happiness that Heather had made the effort to come out and enjoy the Carnival. We moved around and saw a lot of great stuff, people, costumes, old friends, we saw the newly forming Trinidad discipline in action when on Tragarite Road one of the EHS trucks came screaming down under "hot" conditions and an oncoming band directly in their path reacted as the DJ shut down the music immediately and the people headed for the pavement on both sides so that the ambulance was able to go through completely unhindered .....great stuff.

Many less spectators this year but a lot more bands and from a mas player's standpoint seemed a far more relaxed time as the crush of the crowd was much less. [TO SEE THE PIC PLEASE GO TO THE PaP SITE NEWSLETTER PAGE@ http://www.crosswinds.net/~nwent ]

Who says that all the angels are in heaven....Andrew sleeping on Dad's tummy after a tiring dip in his inflatable pool........maaaan!......I'm in love bad!

Dry season is here and the bush fires have started. Southern Games weather is in the air and so far no camel droppings in the Sahara Dust.....no Sahara Dust yet.

Take care y'all. Nigel.