... the King wears Bermuda shorts ...

... a casual linear approach to directions can locate everywhere east of west, and north of what's to the south, on this spherical planet ... 'til you actually come full circle ... therefore, all points on the globe, save both absolute poles, are co-ordinates of those four cardinal points, North, South, East and West ...

... I've just returned from the only place I can think of right now which to tends to defy this imperative, as it has popularly come to be regarded in terms of only three ... sitting in mid-Atlantic isolation is the anomalous island of Bermuda, the apex of a fabled triangulation of marine mystery ... culturally, this land is a tryptych of sorts, drawing with almost equal weight from cultures to its east, west and south, a trident of British, American and Caribbean sensibilities blending into a unique identity ...

... like other island societies, survival in the swim of world dynamics hinges on external lifelines, and more than most, Bermudian experience reflects a binding assuredness instead of centrifugal fractiousness ... to my eye, the monarchic allegiances of Bermuda's colonial heritage and the New England habitude of North American privilege sits in relatively comfortable co-existence with the influence of Afro-indenture that gives these parts so much of its color ... the sum of such parts is invariably greater than the whole and modern Bermuda stands on this platform, a remnant outpost of empire owning its strands of history and despite size, unapologetically claiming nationhood ...

... every year for the past fourteen, Bermuda has hosted BIFF, an International Film Festival welcoming cinematic expression from every worldwide source, in programmes reflective of a diversity beyond the primary trifecta of their own cultural wellspring ...

... it doesn't feel as long, but it's been three years since the 11th annual BIFF when Frances-Anne Solomon screened her film A Winter Tale to a rapt full house at Speciality Cinema in Hamilton, and now I find myself invited to serve as a juror ... BIFF 2011's cadre of short films, numbering thirty-two in all, was the largest selected for competition at this small yet important contributing festival for the gran'daddy Academy Award in this eclectic category ...

... our panel of jurors represented various perspectives and areas of expertise ... working with them was a pleasure, effectively lowering my degrees of separation vis-a-vis prominent names like Scorsese and Tarantino and projects like "48 Hours", "The King's Speech" and "Inglourious Basterds"... we divided handily into groups focussed on documentaries, features and short films, the latter category becoming the purview of publicist, producer and performer, an eager troika charged with watching all competition shorts to choose one for the jury prize ...
 

... as to be expected, or hoped for, the creativity in competition was broad in scope, artistic in presentation, tantalising to the imagination and culturally inclusive, with a dizzying array of footage all seeking to be memorable in abbreviated time ... extensive deliberation and democratic decision-making awarded the prize to super-concise storytelling in the form of a clever four minute Spanish film by Albertto Dorado called "Lost" featuring a Somalian plotline, an eight year old boy and music-over-the-credits from hot Somali-Canadian rapper K'naan ...

... there could only be one winner but in a dream world I would be King and decree all who deserve a prize to receive one ... Carlos Castineira, also of Spain, should hold on to hope for his powerful film "Easy Money" in case I ascend to the throne, as should Italy's Massimo Cappelli for his classy "41" ... two efforts out of the U.K., Peter Cattaneo's charming "Capturing Santa" and a sexy fifteen minute romp entitled "An Act of Love" by Edward Dick, would be rewarded for levity amid the de rigeur darker themed offerings of necrophilia and pedophilia ... and, were it not for a brief moment of confusion near the end, which I'm willing to consider was my own dim-switch kicking in, I might have pushed harder for Pierre Ferriere's watchable leading actress in "The Story of My Life", a riveting six minute French film ...

... this jewel of a Film Festival keeps a down-to-earth profile, not to suggest a paucity of boozy parties and hors d'ouvres between programming ... you may assume that ... but I saw cool features and documentaries, met some fascinating folks-in-flicks and had a heartfelt reunion with an old high-school friend who will henceforth lead the campaign for my coronation and act as aide de camp cum Lionel Logue ... for return payment in kind ...

... along the way I learned that the critical measure regarding Bermuda shorts is that they fall two inches above the knee ... someone should make a film about that ... I'd vote for it ...

... Pierre: une nouvelle famille Canadienne ...

... "Trudeau was like havin' an extra uncle," comes the sound of social worker Gene's voice rising off-screen over grainy film images of metropolitan Toronto in the poignant Canadian feature-film A Winter Tale ...

... I play the character Gene in the scene which involves reminiscence of a time when Canada opened up to an immigration increase from hitherto non-traditional feeder regions, including the island nations of the West Indies ...

... these substantial waves of immigration are commonly attributed to the leadership and vision of the late Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who passed away a decade ago, leading many to pin the hot-button topic of Canadian multiculturalism squarely on his often rose-adorned lapel ...

... the movie scene unfolds and my voice-over segues seamlessly from Gene's wistful memoir into a rallying manifesto from the man himself ..."Canada must be one, Canada must be progressive, and Canada must be a just society!" ... that particular speech being only one of the many memorable legacies of Canada's fifteenth Prime Minister ...

... Canada first came into my Jamaican consciousness in 1967 when my irrepressibly itinerant maternal grandmother felt the urge to get a window on the world by visiting Expo'67 in Montreal ... from then on Canada was on my radar ...

... this timing coincided with the emergence of Trudeau in national politics and pre-figured that fascinating union with the junior Margaret who boosted his fame and bore him three sons ...














... throughout the seventies that same consciousness was fed by a relationship between Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley and Pierre Trudeau who had developed a mutual respect at the influential London School of Economics ...

... both charismatic leaders managed to stake out middle-ground in the Cold War and were less confrontational with Cuban jefe Fidel Castro than the regional giant U.S.A. tended to be ...














... Canada's sense-of-self as a nation has always been linked, like the tides are to the moon, to the prevailing winds in America ...

... there's inevitability to that for multiple reasons, but Trudeau always felt strongly that differences between the two close friends should be as honored as the similarities ...

... many of us who became (new) Canadians during Trudeau's tenure understood and agreed, especially when, at times, interests seemed to conflict ...














... one of the enduring/endearing attributes Trudeau radiated was his moral certitude, he could never be called directionless ...

... that spirit, needless to say, is priceless in a politician ...

... when John Lennon (who'd be seventy today) said, "if all politicians were like Pierre Trudeau there would be world peace," one could appreciate the thinking behind this admittedly utopian pronouncement from the peacenik crusader ...













... Lennon himself, famous Beatle that he was, had his moments of fun-loving frivolity while simultaneously harboring keen social conscience ... Pierre too could play court-jester, adding levity to his day job in the serious world ...

... pirhouetting behind the Queen of England, sliding down bannisters, flashing mischievous middle-fingers or coining phrases like "fuddle duddle" are but a few examples ...

... to her credit, that same English monarch, not readily associated with  shenanigans or even amusement, didn't take the Pierre pirhouette as any sort of slight when she inked what was Trudeau's piece de resistance - the hard-fought-for 1982 patriation of The Canadian Constitution ...

... from London to Ottawa, with love ...

... it must be noted in any retrospective on Trudeau that there are those who bristle at the very mention of his name ... as with any politico there's the factor of polarisation to consider ...

... throughout Western Canada for instance, where there is deep-seated resentment at federal expenditure required to maintain official bilingualism, it's easy to spark a barroom brawl by defending Trudeau-era liberalism, and even the concept of hyphenated-nationality and multiculturalism ...

... additionally, in some quarters of Quebec, there is lingering distrust of the part of the Trudeau bloodline that is Anglo ...

... hmmm, maybe there's a lesson in this for Barack Obama ...

... or perhaps the lesson is for eldest son Justin (b. Xmas Day, 1971) now carving his own path in the world of Party Politics ...

... today's landscape is different from his father's so he'll do well to recognize that Pierre-style insouciance may read differently to the contemporary electorate ...

... on the other hand, I suspect he'll also benefit from residual effects of name-association among those who thought fondly of his father and the generations of Canadian voters who are descended from them ...

... after all, if Pierre was like an "extra uncle," then by extension, that makes this guy "cousin" Justin ...

... karaoke and the cricket ...

... this is no secret or revelation ... most of us wish we could belt out a tune ... and, as we all know, there's an app for that! ... it's called karaoke, a word I don't recall hearing before it took the world by storm some decades ago ... everyone wants to be a SingStar ... take it from me, most actors would love to be singers ... in the same way that so many singers want to act ...


... often seen in a corny mood light, gifted pipes can turn karaoke into a fine art ...

... to others fantasy and fun is all that matters ...

... skip a few connecting thoughts with me as I leap from karaoke to the more crucial consideration of the sport known throughout the remains of the British Empire as ... cricket ...

... now, having alienated most of my readership with the very mention of these two scintillating topics ... in one devil-may-care post no less ... I continue in the knowledge that if you're still with me you've probably been to Barbados, know a few Bajans, or are from this reef-ringed, easternmost island of the Caribbean ... a place where karaoke enthusiasts abound and a constellation of cricketing superstars had their beginnings ...

... the Best Of Caribbean Tales Film Festival which opened with a screening of A Winter Tale attracted a vanguard of attendees to Barbados last week, surviving technical challenges to augur well for the future of filmmaking in the region ... those of us visiting couldn't miss the indelible nation-building stamp of larger-than-life players from the consecutive golden eras in West Indies Cricket history ...

... the triple-headed memorial to "The Three W's" (Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell, Clyde Leopold Walcott and Everton DeCourcy Weekes) at the UWI Cave Hill campus is a testament to favourite sons with great career stats, knighthood and a last initial in common ... when you add uber-cricketer Sir Garfield St. Aubyn Sobers, whose statue graces Bridgetown's showpiece Kensington Oval, and a host of other native greats you get the picture ... modestly put, this ground has been walked by some of the finest ...













... fast-forward to the present day and we find endemic underperformance within contemporary Caribbean cricket ... while listening to a shamefaced radio post-mortem of a Windies capitulation to unregarded Zimbabwe in a recent 20/20 match I was reminded of a standard Cowellian reproach to many an auditioner on American Idol ... "that sounded like karaoke," he's been known to say, when faced with soulless mimicry where authentic virtuosity is required ...

... in Barbados the pervasive pride in sporting achievement exists in tandem with respect for recreation ... typically, after a day of beach and required activities, we head out in search of food ... the colourful gazebo at the food village in Oistins is a popular spot which invariably has a karaoke set-up, complete with mellifluous DJ, interactive entertainment, good natured and light ... nary a boo nor bottle thrown ...














... a Wednesday night at Hal's Bar along the cosmopolitan St. Lawrence Gap strip provides unexpected entertainment ... there's Stevie Wonder, Sam Cooke, a superb Otis Redding, two Teddy Pendergrasses (Pendergrassi?) ... Marty Robbins, Waylon Jennings, all The Platters rolled into one man, some requisite rap-aoke ... and an unforgettable Tom Jones ...













... Bajans are also genuinely proud of their pop princess Rihanna ... right now she has many imitators-at-the-mic and may yet get a highway or round-about in her name ... might we even see her face on the money like the cricket gods? ...











... that's Sir Frank (who broke the colour barrier in 1958 to captain the West Indies team) on the fiver, partial and defaced to thwart counterfeiters ... but, the cricket world prays for current players to copy the example of excellence and translate it into something viable, in the tradition of the more interesting karaoke acts, who may lack in originality but can approximate or bring something bright to a performance ...

... we cling to the faith that a phenom or two will eventually come along, both in the music field and on the cricket pitch ... still, I know I'd be happy if in the meantime some young batsman/bowler/all-rounder could do a credible impression of Gordon Greenidge or Vanburn Holder or Keith Boyce, in the same way someone always does a spirited approximation of Billy Paul's "Me And Mrs. Jones" wherever there's karaoke ...

... well, why not? ... sure these are tough acts to follow ... but, as a case in point, there will always be Michael Jackson impersonators riffing on the Thriller's genius ... more often than not they'll be as blurry in their tribute as I am with my drive-by photography ... yet still, we do love 'em for trying ...

... Lioness On The Rise ...

... everywhere I turn these days someone is analyzing Jamaican Music, the entertainment industry it spearheads and the relationship it has with cultural forces of the day ... both in Jamaica and the wider world ... this isn't idle study, because despite technological adjustments, erratic sales and noticeable market marginalisation, Jamaican cultural expresssion continues to influence beyond local origins ... for better and for worse ...

... much is made of tuneless digi-beats ... aggressive hyper-hetero masculinity ... gunplay and war-worship ... crass content ... repetetive themes of fundamentalism and political entrenchment ... certainly there is enough to repel those who found the bubbling heartbeat and sincere songcraft of earlier eras so embraceable .. if .. it is accepted that the new has obliterated the old ... but Jamaican Music is a living continuum and the truth is more complex than that ...

... first and foremost it is important to recognize that dreck and drivel is not exclusive to current output ... there has always been forgettable music ... only the best survives to represent an era ... secondly it will surprise some and vindicate others to be reminded that the pedigree of musicianship and the power of invention that comes from poverty continues to translate into a tradition of gamechanging on the wide open playing field ...

... it's the time we live in that has changed ... the proverbial pie has effectively shrunken as more clamour for a share of it ... the standouts will include those with the maddest flex, the baddest gangsta gun, the lewdest act ... but also highlighted will be the artiste with the innovative incantation, the fresh lyrical flow or the expanded inspiration ... Jamaican Music has always reflected these and other dichotomies in the society ... if the listener is discerning (granted this can be difficult as it's the hype shit that gets the videolight) then revelation awaits ...

.... I'm a lifetime beneficiary of Jamaican Sound ... readers of Ackeelover Chronicles will come to know this ... there has always been music from the island and it's wider sphere of influence that "sweet me" ... at this point in my life there is enough variety to cater to all my instincts, including those times when I want to feel the high-drama excitement of the dancehall that causes so much hand-wringing and consternation, think Dutty Fridaze in Fletcher's Land Square ... for listening pleasure it's different vibes, all sorts of oldies, "pop-reggae" ... Virgin Islands reggae, Various Artist Samplers ... any Marley, Toots, Tarrus, Tanya, Prezident Brown, the list is virtually endless ... most performers have some superior material in their prolific catalogues ... Sizzla, for example, can sizzle and fizzle ... finding the hotta track is part of the addiction ...

... then, every so often there emerges an artiste who hits stride and produces work that is consistently a-cut-above ...

... several years ago I caught a Tony Rebel show at the venerable Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, Canada ... a great concert venue ... one favoured by reggae acts when they make it up the West Coast ... the Flames Label undercard featured a young Rebel protege who rocked the spring-loaded wooden dancefloor with a ska medley of her father's hits ... this year she released a CD of admirable quality ...

... the music speaks for istelf, diverse material showcasing strong vocal delivery both as a DJ chanter and a singer ... Queen Ifrica is one of the brightest lights on the scene and an obvious antidote to the prominent mediocrity and negativity... in the greater scheme of things it is important that positivity is uplifted in ways that will encourage emulation ... gratuitous Gully/Gaza/Daggering lyrics are primarily hype, by nature temporary, and it feeds critics a steady stream of ammunition ...

... solidly rooted in Rastafari this Queen is a winning personality with interests outside the world of music ... the "Fyah Muma," daughter of ska luminary Derrick Morgan, is also a film buff as she told me in the Carib Theatre foyer last year when she came to see A Winter Tale during the general release ...

... the discussions will continue, talking points will invariably start with the sensational ... but after the brouhaha passes on to the next flashpoint we will still have the core of the music to provide continuity and anchor the soul ... Queen Ifrica is part of this core and it is heartening to see that she gives a good interview ... http://www.reggaenews.co.uk/interviews/queen_ifrica.asp  ... she is conscious of thought and accurately represents herself in song as a Lioness On The Rise ...

... welcome to Parkdale! ...

... I've had opportunities to be part of many different types of projects in my time as an actor ... I can attribute much of that blessing to a combination of good fortune, genetics and effort ...

... oftentimes I'm questioned as to whether I fear the dreaded "typecasting"... my responses alternate between the flippant "bring it on!," or a post-Jerry Maguire "show me the money!," and the quizzical, mild annoyance of a "whaddyamean, which type are you referring to?" ... I've come to believe this is related to my personal flava, hybrid accent and mannerisms ...

... y'see, my personal blend of youth and age, public and private schooling, urban and rural upbringings, "dread" and "baldhead" influences, Jamaican and Canadian world citizenships, isn't usually the character description in the casting breakdowns, yet happily, I've managed to play a few variations on this theme ...

... and then there are the rare, though not entirely unique, instances when a role gets crafted toward the mongrel in me ...









... the initial phone call was innocuous enough ...

... my friend Michele and her filmmaker cousin Frances-Anne had a really talented cast, a concept and a plan, plus the fortitude to combine them ... they proposed adding me to play the central character Gene Wright, a well-meaning social worker with challenges and shortcomings of his own ...

... the open aperture beckoned, and before long I was deep in development-workshops on the grittier end of Queen Street West, a place with notable population history and not enough to show for it ... welcome to Parkdale and long days spent brainstorming, improvising scenarios and bonding into a tight unit ... a workably representative cross-section of contemporary black Toronto ...







... collectively we evolved a living script ... the contribution from each player inhabits the textured nuances of the final product ...

... veteran turns from the remarkable Leonie Forbes, a versatile Jamaican treasure who had previously played my grandma in Soul Survivor (1995), and Dennis "Sprangalang" Hall - an avuncular Trini-icon, grounded the film in bridge-building territory by commanding respect up and down the English-speaking Caribbean and its extensive diaspora ...

... younger cast members, particularly the rising talent of Michael Miller, gave everything of themselves to infuse the piece with G.T.A. street-realism and anchor the story firmly in the context of urban North America ...





... the workshopping and rehearsal journey was rewarded by a sell-off, limited-run stage-production lauded for its intelligent use of minimal material resources ...

... the rich, sincere, non-sensational storytelling, around issues the Caribbean-Canadian family are only too familiar with, ensures the humanizing of every character and makes A Winter Tale compelling insight for broader audiences ...

... having engaged with focus-groups, community screening-forums, university and school groups of various ages, far-flung film festival folks, regular-release houses and even a non-West Indian audience at a police-sponsored showing in a charming Calgary, Alberta rep-house, I'm convinced Frances-Anne Solomon's direction accomplished its intent ... namely, a story reflective of social conscience and relevance, eschewing much of the self-consciousness sometimes found in this vein ...













... from this actor's p.o.v. there's no downside to socially-relevant credits on a resume ... I experienced a singularly organic process in making this film, binding camaraderie, splashy-bashy openings in Toronto, New York, Port Of Spain, St. John's, Antigua, and the particularly sweet irony of seeing my own largeness on the screen at the Carib Theatre in Kingston, Jamaica where I'd watched so many double-bills as a yout' ...

... A Winter Tale ... http://www.awintertale.ca/ ... has won some honors and much acclaim along the way, and if the award of recognition I was given at last year's Caribbean Tales Film Festival for my work is the result of some kind of typecasting, then so be it ... whosoever will may come ...