Newsletter
for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas,
13 of August 2016 No. 771
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Dear Friends,
Relax and listen to Glen Evelyn playing the
electronic guitar.
Is the guitar one of his design?? Most
probably.
-------------------------------------------------------
ANTONI
MICKIEWICZ <amickiew@att.net>
To Nigel
Boos Kazim Abasali Ladislao Kertesz Glen Mckoy Don Mitchell CBE QC
Jul 30 at
12:39 PM
Hi Brothers....Came across this article on the
web.....but...George Austin is not in the current MSB database. Looks
like he may have attended toward the later years. The initiation practice
that he refers to was certainly not from my days ....1956 to 1962.....Bobo,
Rughead, et al, would have "killed" us for this practice......Enjoy
the weekend, George
--------------------------------------
Published:
Monday, June 22, 2015
My name is George Austin and I sell fresh
roses and gift baskets on the roadside twice a year.
I’m from Arima. I living there 30-something
years. And I reach quite West Mall twice a year, every year: before Mother’s
Day and before Valentine’s Day.
I grew up in Diego Martin, Sierra Leone Rd.
Must get sting by jep in Blue Basin. I had a chopper bicycle and, when rain
falling—those days, they didn’t have the highway—I’d head up through St Lucien
Rd and come through the back.
Me and Steve Nurse and them from St
Anthony’s had a chopper bike section. But I went Abbey School, Mt St Benedict.
(Dutch Catholic priest principal) Father Odo. I was with Waba and them. I was a
boarder but didn’t come home every weekend: I was always on detention!
I heard about Abbey School initiation in
Boogie & Them days but that was before my time. All the boarders would pee
in a garbage bin for a week and then, after school Friday night, you had to
stand under the light on the basketball court and they tip the bin from the top
and you can’t move until you see it coming.
Boogie & Them was from Barbados and used
to do they thing but I wasn’t in that stupidness. When you come in, as a
boarder, though, you must get initiated. They used to put soap in they socks
and beat you in the bed. Like prison licks. But I love Abbey School. I’s still
go up there. Not in the Rehab, in the church section.
Abbey School had the best food. Had a lady
called Miss Alleyne used to cook all kinda baked chicken, baked this, all kinda
thing. The priests used to make they bread real good. But then Fr Cuthbert
tried out yogurt and, oh geed, Boy! Now, it tasting good but, back then, they
was experimenting on them boarders.
I have one sister, she’s the elder. She
living Sweden. My four kids big. Huge. My last boy going Holy Cross, my eldest
is 36. She living in Texas. One of my boys working in the Newsday. I have one
grand, through my daughter.
I’m not married. Them days done! Even if I
selling roses for Valentine’s Day. Can’t live with them. They too commanding,
Boy! They always finding a fault in everything! I got married once. That only
lasted, say, ‘bout a year. Not me again. I’ll live with them. I lived with
five, six women, but never ever marrying again. Can’t handle that, Boy, you
mad?
My relaxation is Stag. I drink beers for my
fun.
You’s see some real kaka-dra drivers in
Trinidad. Them will see you coming and pull on you! Them don’t care ’bout you!
But to make your living, you have to drive on our roads.
I’m a Roman Catholic. Christened,
confirmation, went through all that stuffs. I believe there’s a God, even with
all the suffering. He does give them the freewill, nuh.
I lived in Tobago for seven years and I love
it. I’m really from “Trinbago.” Although the culture over there totally
different. Doubles only now reach Tobago—and they can’t make doubles! Tobago
have two real doubles man, one by the airport and one in Scarborough. All the
others only trying a thing but they not making. People from Tobago have to come
to Curepe for doubles. Or Arima. Under the Dial.
Twice a year I come out from the Friday
before Mother’s Day or Valentine’s. And just sell until the stock sell out.
Been doing it about seven years now. We sell bouquets for $200 and single roses
for $45. You could fluctuate the prices with the hampers, different things,
different prices.
The best part of the job isn’t the profit,
but the passion in seeing a woman pull up Valentine’s Day, she buy something
for her husband. Or a man, “Hey! Mother’s Day, Boy! Let me buy a little
something for my mother!” The consideration, y’understand? The bad part is the
hot sun and you have to watch for the bandit-them. We never get jumbie
though.
A Trini is the most happiest individual on
the face of the Earth.
Trinidad & Tobago means a whole lot to
me. No place like home. I’ll never leave!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
FILM
MAKER
Alex
de Verteuil is a 68 year-old documentary filmmaker from Trinidad who has been
producing work dealing with local issues for the past 25 years.
He
has many award-winning programmes to his credit that have been screened in a
large number of countries including the US, Israel, Nigeria, Finland the UK,
South Africa and Australia.
His work looks predominantly at local
cultural and environmental themes and is prompted by the desire to educate and
inform the people of his island.
Kootoo,
"King Devil" of rural Paramin is getting ready for Trinidad's famous
Carnival.
Every
year he and his brothers play 'jab'.
They become 'possessed', harassing
bystanders, ripping up banana trees, blowing fire.
But does Kootoo still have it in him to
retain his title, or with the younger Jabs be the better of him
With a CD-worthy soundtrack of traditional
Trinidadian folk-songs and calypsos, this exquisitely filmed documentary
provides an intimate and humorous portrait of a unique Trinidadian community.
This 46 minute documentary is set during the
build-up to Carnival in the mountain village of Paramin.
It tells the story of the Fatima Trace Blue
Devils, a band of brothers headed by Kootoo, the king devil, as they prepare
for the big Carnival Monday competition.
We follow their transformation from
ordinary, working members of the community into the outrageous, terrifying., mock-diabolic
creatures that are the blue devils or "jabs".
Known for his athletic prowess and his
dancing skills, the charismatic Kootoo must still work hard to win the prize
for the best devil band.
Told by the villagers themselves in their
own dialect, this entertaining story highlights the joyous heart of Paramin.
Director: Alex de Verteuil
Trinidad & Tobago,
2008. 46 min.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------.
Nigel P. Boos <nigelboos@eagles-wings.ca>
Saturday,
April 12, 2008 2:42:13 AM
Last night, we were
treated to a wonderful documentary presentation at the William Doo Auditorium
of the U. of Toronto. I was called "JAB", and was produced and
directed by Alex De Verteuil (MSB Class of '59). The story is based upon the
little village of Paramin in the hills above Port of Spain, in Maraval, where
people live in peace and tranquility, growing their vegetables and ground
provisions, and where Kootoo, the star of the film, is a local character
preparing to lead his merry band of local young men, disguised as
"Jabs" or Blue Devils into the city, for the Carnival celebrations.
I strongly encourage everyone to see this 46 minute film, as it
highlights an unknown cultural phenomenon of T&T which has been with us for
many years, but which is still not fully understood, not even by
Trinidadians.
Alex and his
Co-Producer, Elizabeth Topp, should be congratulated for his effort in
capturing the art form on film before, as seems inevitable, the progress of
modernism takes away the fun and excitement of Blue Devil 'Mas.
The flyer stated:
CARIBBEAN STUDIES,
NEW COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
and A DIFFERENT
BOOKLIST
INVITE YOU TO A
SPECIAL SCREENING OF
JAB: The Blue Devils
of Paramin
Followed by a Q
& A with Director/Producer Alex de Verteuil and
Co-Producer
Elizabeth Topp
WHERE: WILLIAM DOO
AUDITORIUM, 45 WILLCOCKS STREET (SOUTHEAST CORNER OF SPADINA AND WILLCOCKS, ONE
BLOCK SOUTH OF HARBORD AND SPADINA)
DATE: APRIL 11TH,
2008
TIME: 6:30 P.M.
ADMISSION: FREE
Isolated in the
mountains of Trinidad, the district of Paramin once a year at Carnival time
sheds its rural languor and erupts into an inferno of blue-painted ‘jabs’ or
devils. This 46-minute documentary, filmed in the two weeks leading up to
Carnival, follows Kootoo, King Devil, as he prepares with his three brothers to
once again win the village competition for the most convincing devil band.
Known for his athletic prowess, and given to extraordinary feats like ripping
up trees and scaling tall buildings, the charismatic Kootoo must still work
hard with his band of devils to win the prize in the face of serious
competition from a new generation of ‘jabs’. Will the brothers’ scheme to add a
new twist to the masquerade be enough for them to win?
Told by the villagers themselves, in their own dialect, this
entertaining story highlights the joyous heart of Paramin. With its CD-worthy
background music of folk-songs and calypsos, JAB sheds light on a Caribbean
culture that few visitors ever get to see.
Official selection: Inaugural Trinidad
and Tobago Film Festival, Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase ( Cuba ),
Cambridge Film Festival (U.K.), Africa World Festival of Documentary Films
(U.S.A.)
"..A spectacular
success. Some shots will take your breath away" (B.C. Pires, The Daily
Express, Port of Spain)
"Alex de
Verteuil's direction is serenely unobstrusive, letting the fascinating
micro-culture unfold before our eyes. I was captivated..." (Tim Harding,
Cambridge Film Festival)
------------------------------------------
EDITED
by Ladislao Kertesz, kertesz11@yahoo.com. If you would like to be in the circular’s
mailing list or any old boy that you would like to include.
PLEASE REVIEW THE PHOTOS AND SEND IN THE CORRECTIONS
-------------------------------------------
Photos:
16GA0001GAU,
George Austin
13LK9705FBACH,
Allan Chandler
56KA0014SCOUTS,
New Names to the photo
13AV0002ADVFILMFEST,
Alex de Verteuil
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