Welcome

(Note: I was live-updating this blog until the hotel internet finally gave way under the Carnival rush pouring in, and caught up after I returned home.  I adjusted the posting dates to get them to appear in chronological order, please click through 'Older Posts' at the bottom of each page to continue.  Links to each post are available on the right panel, and you can click on photos to enlarge, though the captions aren't shown in that larger view.  Thanks, and enjoy!)


Hello everyone!

As any steel pan player does once they learn about Carnival in Trinidad, and the Panorama steel band competition that happens during it, I have long dreamed about attending and living the spectacle in person.  A week ago, I was presented with a surprise opportunity to do so, along with two long time friends from the steel band I've been playing in for 15+ years.

I'm not sure I'll believe it until we hit the tarmac in Port of Spain, but with a sudden windfall like this, I feel like I have to share the experience.  So, I hope you enjoy seeing Trinidad through the eyes of a first-timer whose only knowledge of the island and culture comes from decades of obsessive listening and playing of calypso, soca, and steel pan music.

In addition to describing me, the title of this blog comes from one of my favorite albums by the great calypsonian Lord Kitchener, coincidentally released in the year of my birth.