T&T in Germany Web Log

T&T athletes to train in Germany for ‘worlds’

TT athletes to train in Germany for ‘worlds’
T&T Newsday.

GERMAN Ambassador Dr Ernst Martens will host a reception tonight to mark the Caribbean Athletics Federations Seminar in preparation for the 12th World Championships in Athletics in Berlin 2009.

For athletes around the globe and their fans the 2009 Berlin World Championships in Athletics will be the highlight of the year. The whole world will be watching as the German capital plays host to the event from August 15 to 23, with its Olympic Stadium in the centre of attention as 2,000 athletes will be competing for titles and medals in 47 competitions.

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Steinway of steelpan makes debut

Anne Hilton reports in T&T's Newsday:

WITHOUT DOUBT the talking point of the Cross Cultural Experience with the Carsten Daerr Trio and Michael Boothman and Friends, under the aegis of German Ambassador Dr Ernst Martens in the Simon Bolivar Auditorium, Venezuelan Embassy last Wednesday, was the debut of the Percussive Harmonic Instrument (PHI), the gleaming, black and white Steinway of Pan — or so the spanking new instrument appears to one who prefers classics to jazz.

The PHI (pronounced, so the website www.panadigm.com informs us, “Fie” — as in Fee Fie Fo Fum) was developed in the Steelpan Research Laboratory in UWI. The Cross Cultural Night was the new instrument’s first official outing. Readers who wish to know more about PHI can check out chapter and verse on the website.

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Cross Cultural Experience at the Simon Bolivar Auditorium

Following the successful cooperation of last year’s Kite Duo Franz Bauer and Dirk Strakhof from Germany with renowned local artists like Clive Zanda, Mikhail Salcedo, Donald Jnr. Noel and many others, the German Embassy is proud to be able to host another cross cultural experience in Port of Spain.

Trinidad will be the last stop of the successful German Carsten Daerr Trio on their tour through the Caribbean and Central America.

The Carsten Daerr Trio will perform at the Simon Bolivar Auditorium of the Venezuelan Embassy on 11 March, 2009 at 7 p.m., also featuring local Jazz icon Michael Boothman.

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Trini mas stirs up storm at Germany Carnival

From the Trinidad Guardian by Indra Dwarka-Koch:

Long worn Trinidad costumes made their revival at a famous and historical German Carnival Fancy Dress Ball last month, coinciding with T&T Carnival. These costumes may have been old for a Trini to wear for C2K9 but not so for Alexandra Carolin Koch and her friends. With much hard work new costumes were created and designed, old ones repaired. These costume pieces, were either collected on the streets or handed down from masquerades from award winning bands in earlier Trinidad Carnivals.

Alexandra and her fun-loving “posse” ventured into the cold and wintry February evening and attended the Prinzengarde Fancy Dress Ball in the city of Mainz, one of the strongholds of the German Carnival. The Mainzer Prinzengarde guild has a tradition of 125 years and they gave Mainz the fame of being an El Dorado for the big carnival ballroom dance with fancy dress. With this year’s event marking its 125th anniversary, the organisers went out their way to make 2009 a special one.

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Abraham, Steinweg clash in Newsday 30-lap grind

Abraham and Steinweg in 2007

From T&T Newsday:

Abraham, German clash in Newsday 30-lap grind
By Walter Alibey

THE NEWSDAY-sponsored Republic Day Cycle Classic and 5K Run and Walk will have an international flavour today.

It will also present an opportunity for local road champion Emile Abraham to renew rivalry with Stefan Steinweg of Germany in the feature 30-lap event.

This will get underway soon after the run and walk from 3 pm at King George V Park, St Clair.

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Scorpions Rock Port of Spain Tonight

The venerable heavy metal act from Hanover, Germany, which has toured the world over for more than 30 years, will at last make it's first stop in the Caribbean region. The Scorpions perform in the Queen's Park Savannah in Port of Spain this evening. Local metal act Orange Sky will open the show. More information available at Star Events, Ltd., promoters of the show.

Henig Remembers Tobago

The 2007 Classic Winner relives his experience
Three German teams confirmed for 2008

From the Guardian Arena magazine:

“My best memory of Tobago was ‘winning the race’ !!!!! It was my biggest win of my career. I was happy we came for two weeks so we had plenty of time to go site seeing on our bikes all over the island, get a nice tan and enjoyed many different local foods and drinks.

The organisers of the race made sure we were all comfortable and happy all the time and we also had lots of fun in the glass bottom boat trip to Nylon Pool and Buccoo Reef with all the teams and officials.

The Saturday evening party festival with steel band music and DJ Michael Baker was so much fun. The weather was super perfect and I made some nice friends in Tobago....These memories will always remain with me!”

— Andreas Henig

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'Caribbean Summer' In Dortmund

The inaugural edition of 'Caribbean Summer' took place in Dortmund this past weekend. Several thousands showed up in Westfalenpark to enjoy the festivities on Saturday evening. There were a number of steel bands on hand comprised of 180 musicians including a local band from Dortmund's Pan Kultur, Bäng Bäng, also Delaware Steel from the USA, and Ebony from London.

On Sunday there were workshops for kids and a carnival style parade through the park. Steely Wonder, another steel band from Finland also made an appearance.

This edition of Caribbean Summer was sponsored by the tourist board of the Bahamas. It is hoped that this festival will become an annual event.

A full report in German from Ruhr Nachrichten follows after the YouTube clip. Go directly to their website for promotional photos and pictures from the event itself.

Here's a clip of a performance by PanGang, the youth pan orchestra of Pan Kultur:

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Predators Get Football Gear

On July 2 T&T Newsday reports:

MEMBERS of the Predators Football Club of Cunupia proudly wearing the jerseys adorned in the Deutschland colours handed over by the German Ambassador

Predators Get Football Gear

PREDATORS Football Club recently received football equipment and uniforms courtesy the German Ambassador, Ernst Martens.

The German handed over the equipment to club president Krishna Murity Ramjit, last Thursday at their ground in Cunupia, central Trinidad.

Predators FC, a Cunupia-based team was founded in May 2001 and joined the Central Football Association (CFA) Football League.

The side, formerly known as the Cunupia International All-Stars FC provides a facility by which youths in the community can play and enjoy football as well as develop their skills and technical abilities.

Currently there are 25 members of the team which are training for the 2008/2009 edition of the CFA Football League and preparations are being made for the Predators FC 2008 Youth Camp. The donation by the German Ambassador was made available in the framework of the Sports Promotion Programme of the German Foreign Office. And it coincides with the 2008 European Football Championship — UEFA EURO 2008 — held in the Alpine countries of Austria and Switzerland in which Germany finished second, losing to Spain in the final 1-0 courtesy a Fernando Torres strike.

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Mama Ist Aus Kuba

Lord Melody's Mama Look A Booboo is perhaps one of the most recorded calypsos ever. One version was even recorded in German by Swedish singer Alice Babs. The lyrics, however, have been changed to protect the ugly daddy. Instead, the song's more innocuous wording written by Hans Bradke tells of a happy Caribbean family whose mother is Cuban and father is Jamaican, and who sing cheerful music together as father sails off in his banana boat. It is rather typical of the popularized calypso genre of 1957 and even references Belafonte's singing voice.

To have a listen pop over to the the music page. (Also recently added is another football classic: Lancelot Layne's Target from 1989.)

The lyrics follow below:

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Jewelry Designer Monika Schenkel

The Trinidad Express Women's Magazine profiles a German jewelry designer who landed in Tobago.

Some Girls Have Other Best Friends
By Cedriann J Martin

Show me your accessories and I'll tell who you are.

Monika Schenkel isn't your delicate gold necklace or diamond solitaire type. As a girl she was fixated with stones on beaches and river banks. A fashion design degree notwithstanding, she made an early exit from the cut-throat industry. ("I didn't like the competitiveness," she drawls. "And money was not my main interest.") Though originally from Germany, she detests the cold. She was once a global nomad, chasing sunshine and culture everywhere from Africa to the Arab word. The steel pan lured her to Trinidad.

18 years ago, when her three-year-old flopped onto a bed in a Tobago fishing village and declared 'mummy, this feels like home' Schenkel readily agreed.

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Soca Twins Nominated Once Again

The Soca Twins of Berlin have been nominated for the third year in a row at the International Soca Awards 2008. They are once again up for category 13, International Soca DJ of the year, and their mix CD, Addicted 2 Soca, is up for category 28, Best DJ Soca Mix CD of the Year. In the past two years they were denied a win, but possibly the third time is the charm. You can vote for them and all other categories here.

The sixth annual International Soca Awards are going to be presented live from St. Kitts this year on October 18th. The awards ceremony will be available online at socatvonline.com.

Soca Soars In Germany

From the Trinidad Express:

Soca Soars In Germany
By Wayne Bowman

When Bunji Garlin and Fayann Lyons set off on their recent promotional tour of Europe they were not seeking to conquer new territories solely for their benefit. The artistes, who are these days referred to as the royal couple of soca, desired to open doors for all up and coming artistes out of Trinidad and Tobago.

Judging from the response of the thousands of Europeans who flocked to the concerts to see Garlin and Lyons in action, we can safely say that local artistes will have good ground to tread upon on that continent.

The tour ended in Berlin on May 12 when Garlin and Lyons performed in that city's carnival, which is not fashioned after Trinidad's Carnival, but in fact brings elements of cultures from around the world together.

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12th Bielefelder Carnival, June 6 and 7

The twelfth annual Carnival der Kulturen in Bielefeld takes place on June 6 and 7. This year's theme is "Call of Nature". The parade will take place on at 3pm on Sunday the 7th beginning on Schloßhofstraße and ending in Ravensburger Park. At 5:30pm the parade participants will present themselves on the stage in the park. All other parties and activities surrounding the carnival are listed at carnival-bielefeld.de.

Some of the participants slated for this year include:

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Faluma Caribbean Music Store Back Online

The Faluma Caribbean Music Shop is back online after a two week hiatus with a new look. Faluma is Europe's specialist for soca and calypso CDs and vinyl. They are continuing to add new products to the new store front.

Heitersheim Celebrates First Caribbean Night

Heitersheim in Baden-Württemberg is celebrating its first Caribbean Night on Saturday, May 31. It is sponsored by the Männergesangverein (MGV), the men's choral association in town. The Caribbean Steelband from Rheinfelden will provide entertainment, along with Latin group, Blue Bananas. Doors open at 7pm and the show begins at 8pm. Cover is 7€.

Anprobe für die Parade

Caribbean Heatwave, a carnival band based in Germany participates in the Karneval Der Kulturen every year. Here is a peak at members Gail Edmund and Barbara Saltmann as they prepared for this year's parade, from Tagesspiegel:

Anprobe für die Parade
Von Annette Kögel

Vorbereitungen für den Umzug: Gail Edmund und Barbara Saltmann aus der Karibik sind zwei der 4500 Akteure, die beim Karnevalsumzug am Sonntag mittanzen.

Es lohnt sich doch immer wieder, hinter die Fassade zu schauen. Zum Beispiel in Nord-Neukölln, Rütlikiez, Weserstraße. Kaum öffnet Gail Edmund die Tür, tritt man ein in eine karibische Welt: Fotos von Palmen hängen an der Wand, im Hintergrund Soca-Musik und überall leuchten orangerote Flammen aus Stoff. Drei Monate lang designt und schneidert, klebt und verdrahtet die 42-jährige Schneiderin schon an den Kostümen zum Karneval. „Wir Ausländer bringen ein bisschen Salz und Pfeffer ins deutsche Leben“, sagt Konstümmodel Barbara Saltmann lachend. Vielleicht sieht man ihr deshalb ihre 55 Jahre nicht an.

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Marc Honore Stays With VfB Friedrichshafen

The volleyball fans in Friedrichshafen can look forward to more Caribbean flair in the next two seasons. Middle blocker Marc Honore extended his contract with VfB for two more years with the option of a third. "I'm staying because I enjoy being part of this team," he said, "I still want to learn a lot at VfB and to keep improving myself."

His coach, Stelian Moculecsu, is thrilled to keep him on the team. "I am very pleased with his development," he said, adding that Honore is a quick study and hard working. Even though there were a couple players ahead of him in the pecking order for the middle position the coach believes that as long as he keeps up his work rate he will be playing more next season: "Marc still has time and the perspective to play an important role for VfB."

Honore is the first player from Trinidad and Tobago to sign a professional volleyball contract and so is a bit of a star back home. He looks back on his first season in Friedrichshafen with satisfaction. "The season was great. We were very successful and our fans were always unbelievable. I'd like to thank them for that," he says, "I am happy that we were league champions and cup winners."

In the coming year the 2.04 meter tall giant wants not only to improve his German, but also, of course his playing skills. "My goal is to learn and become a better volleyball player. I hope that we will be just as successful as last season and that we manage to make the final round of the Champions League."

translated from volleyball.de:

Honore will weiter lernen – in Friedrichshafen

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Mas Camp for Berlin Karneval 2008

The mas camp in Yaam began on April 13 and is open Thursday to Saturday from 5pm. Entry is free except for Sunday Specials. Everyone is invited for the lime even if not working on a costume. Food is available at nominal prices along with appearances by various Soca DJ's from Berlin, bottle and spoon jams and just plain nice folks. "Carnival Fever" T-shirts will also be available.

The closing party is on May 5 at 8pm.

Bunji Garlin & Fay-Ann Lyons in Berlin

Bunji Garlin and Fay-Ann Lyons will perform on May 11 at the Glow Carnival Special at the Festsaal Kreuzburg in Berlin supported by the Soca Twins, Supersonic, Mash up Crew, and Barney Miller. The event begins at 10pm.