Most folks probably think of rum as the liquor you shoot on a dock while eating cracked conch, pour into vats with fruit juice, or watch getting mixed at one of those bars with the spinning daiquiri machines. And then there’s a rum like St. Lucia Distillers Chairman’s Reserve Rum.
.
First off, we should mention that our bottle came gratis from Artisan Brands, which dropped off a box of liquor at the New Times office today. Artisan is one of the liquor distributors for New Times‘ Pairings event, and we’ll sample a few of their offerings in the coming days.
.
The offer of free rum had called most of our office over to the bottle. Truth is, we had few rum drinkers in the group, but the whiskey and scotch drinkers were quick converts. One mixed it with a can of Pepsi, but it was damn fine simply over ice.
.
Chairman’s Reserve looks as dark as a bourbon, with an amber color approaching a port. Like most rums, it doesn’t have much of a nose beyond, well, rum. But the taste is complex, and unlike a fine whiskey or scotch, the flavors are up front. There’s vanilla and fruit and spice, and definitely vanilla from that oak that it was aged in. It’s sweet too — it’s fermented from molasses, after all.

.

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/cleanplatecharlie/2010/09/st_lucia_chairmans_reserve_rum.php

The most anticipated of pageants on the island, the Miss St Lucia World competition unfolds at the Indies Night Club tomorrow (Sunday) July 25. This week we decided to compile a few questions that will help you get to know the four aspiring queens who’re going to compete for the prestigious title. The winner of Miss St Lucia World will go on to represent the island at the Miss World pageant on October 30 in China.

.

Twenty-year-old Tahnee Hippolyte is of St Lucian parentage but was born in the United Kingdom. She’s proud of her St Lucian heritage and linkages and says she’s got what it takes to do St Lucia proud!

STAR: Why did you decide to take part in this competition?
Tahnee: I decided to take part in this pageant to hopefully become an identifiable ambassador to the island of St Lucia where I can hopefully be a positive role model for both young adults and children.

.

STAR: Have you taken part in other pageants before?
Tahnee: I took part in the Miss London 2008 ‘Miss Photogenic’ and went on to ‘Miss London’ then onto the ‘Miss England Finals.’ Last but not least the ‘Miss St Lucia UK World’ where I was crowned Queen.

.

Even as the youngest contestant 17-year-old Aiasha Tierra Gustave is not one to fade into the background with her lively personality and tickling sense of humour.

STAR: Why did you decide to take part in this pageant?
Aiasha: I’ve done modeling and shows but never a pageant. After I was approached to enter the 2010 Miss St Lucia World Pageant, I thought this could actually be a great experience and open many doors of opportunities for me in the future.

.

STAR: What do you enjoy doing?
Aiasha: I am a very art oriented person and so I love drawing, painting, writing (poems and songs), going to studio and recording music, ballet dance and being among family and friends.

.

Twenty-two-year-old Thresher M Prescott is all about change and challenging herself. She sees the Miss St Lucia World pageant as a great opportunity to be an ambassador for her country.

STAR: What makes you stand out?
Tresher: My unique appearance along with my humble personality. I am very down to earth once you get to know me.

.

STAR: Why do you think you should be Miss St Lucia world?
Tresher: Any one who shows determination and is goal oriented is destined for success and I am that person. I believe that I possess the qualities necessary to hold such a title and to be a great ambassador to St Lucia.

.

Twenty-year-old Crystal Forde is an optimist, ever positive and filled with smiles. To those who know her, she’s the down to earth persona who goes out of her way to make others feel comfortable. To Crystal, Miss St Lucia World is more than just a title. It’s a push to accomplish her dreams of assisting the youth, especially those born to disadvantaged families.

STAR: Why did you decide to take part in this pageant?
Crystal: What reason is there not to? I have a voice that I need people to listen to, in order to achieve my goal of elevating the youth, through the implementation of educational programs and creating an avenue for self-expression through art.

.

STAR: What do you enjoy doing?
Crystal: I’m fascinated by most art forms and always eager to experience something new. I love fashion designing, writing poetry, reading a good suspense or thriller novel and laughing. Laughing is always good.

.

http://stluciastar.com/content/archives/14808

St. Lucia’s Claudia “The Diva” Edwards to appear on BET’s Centric

Local St. Lucian singer Claudia “The Diva” Edward is getting ready to deliver a coup for the island later this month when she appears on the magazine type show Splash on Centric TV, formerly BET.

.

Hot on the heels of the release of her third CD “Mic Check” and music video “Hey Boy” Claudia will debut on the Centric network this Saturday April 24, during Splash, at 8:00am with a repeat on Sunday April 25 at 2:00 pm.

.

Splash! features cuisine, hotels, fashion, people and music. It is currently one of the only portals for Caribbean Music and talent to receive exposure on North American Cable.

.

The video Hey Boy also features the voice of local talent Valentine “Mubarak” Moise.

.

Meanwhile, Claudia’s interview with Centric conducted and filmed at her CD launch earlier this month will debut May 15th at the same times.

.

Centric has a distribution of 47 Million households through MTV
& BET networks, and reaches another 16 million homes across the
Caribbean. Splash is also syndicated in over 20 African markets.

.

Claudia’s music video is already showing on rotation on Tempo and will also debut on the Florida-based Caribbean music show Caribbean Sound Track in coming weeks.

.

Since the local and regional release of her CD Mic Check, Claudia has been absorbed in a bevy of PR activity, being interviewed on radio and television stations across the Caribbean and in Miami. The CD is set to be released in the United States and Canada later this month.

.

Solidifying her presence as a force to be reckoned with Claudia will be performing at St. Lucia Jazz mainstage on May 8 at the Pigeon Island National Landmark.

.

The singer who has over ten years of performing in St. Lucia and other Caribbean islands and whose signature voice has also been featured in plays by Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott, is promising patrons of St. Lucia Jazz a show they will never forget! Claudia will be performing an all original slate of songs at Saturday Jazz some of which are featured on her new album. The album Mic Check is now available at several record stores island wide.

.

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978193682

We wrote about Taj Weekes playing up in Vermont, USA for a reggae festival to end the ski season recently.  He’s a reggae artist from St Lucia that’s really starting to make a name for himself around the world.  Below is a great article from Houston, which shows you how far he’s reaching with his music.

.

Taj Weekes breaks the reggae music mold

By ANDREW DANSBY Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle

April 21, 2010, 10:41AM

Scott Evans

Taj Weekes is from St. Lucia and developed his style of reggae after listening to many types of music.

TAJ WEEKES

• When: 2 p.m. Saturday.(iFest runs noon-10 p.m. Saturday and noon-8 p.m. Sunday)

• Where: Houston International Festival, downtown Houston

• Tickets: $17, $3 for children 3-12 at the gate, H-E-B stores or www.ifest.org.

.

When Sunday morning comes down in St. Lucia, one might hear Johnny Cash on the radio, according to Taj Weekes, a reggae superstar from the Caribbean island.

.

Weekes said a typical morning might include songs by Jim Reeves, Merle Haggard and Hank Williams. The radio isn’t formatted, so there’s also calypso, some classical pieces and maybe some Elton John.

.

“I think it’s healthier for us, rather than having one genre on a station every day of the year,” he says. “It leaves you feeling refreshed, and you get this rich musical education.”

.

Such a varied education is at least partially responsible for Weekes’ status as the most interesting roots reggae singer to come along in a generation. There are no gimmicks in Weekes’ music: no hip-hop, no party anthems, no visual shtick, crutches that have made dancehall a profitable, if shallow, permutation of reggae’s history. Weekes sings in a high, brittle and otherworldly voice. But he’s a songwriter first. His songs play out vibrantly with a band, but strip them down to just voice and guitar and they remain smart and melodic.

.

Weekes bristles at the notion that reggae must come from Jamaica. Though he heard a lot of calypso growing up, reggae is what carried his attention.

.

“But they’re similar,” he says, “both followed the same tradition of telling stories. That’s where dancehall has let us down; it’s like they’ve forgotten about the message and the music. It’s about affluence and things that don’t matter. It moved away from telling a story into being about material things along the way.”

.

Weekes is less interested in the acquired things that make us different, which is why he titled his new album Deidem, which translates “all of us.”

.

“I think we’re more alike than we are different,” he says. “We really need to pay attention to this, only way to truly understand each other is to sit and talk. We’re too caught up in preconceived ideas about who people are and what they are. At the end of the day, I’ve never seen anybody with three feet and four eyes.”

.

For all of Weekes’ one-world talk, Deidem actually started with a period of self-involved contemplation. Both of his parents had recently died and Weekes wrote seven songs “about my sorrowful state of mind.”

.

His mood shifted while watching Hotel Rwanda. “It got me thinking that my parents had lived to a good old age,” he says. “My dad died at 80, meanwhile there were children dying and being killed through no fault of their own.”

.

Weekes looked outward and came up with Orphans Cry, the first song that he’d include on Deidem. He scrapped the seven he’d already written and began work on songs like Angry Language, Propaganda War and Dark Clouds, which fit with reggae’s storied tradition of documenting dark times and demanding change. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina inspired Louisiana, a stripped down and ghostly lament.

.

Weekes’ previous album was titled Hope and Doubt, which says much about his world view. He says he’s always heartened by immediate outreach after disasters, but then is outraged by the “deadly silence” that ensues weeks later. “I can’t build infrastructure in Haiti,” he says, “but I am going down there with 5,000 pairs of shoes.” He’s been collecting them while on tour.

.

Weekes plays the Houston International Festival on Saturday, where he’ll sing about hope and doubt in a reggae style that relies more on the varied roots music he grew up with than modern vogue fusions.

.

“The good thing about hope and doubt is that they complement each other,” he says. “That’s the beautiful thing, we should most of the time be doing some sort of balancing act between them.”

andrew.dansby@chron.com

.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/6968658.html

St Lucia isn’t Just the most beautiful, and most romantic island in the Caribbean, it’s also easy and economical to get here!  Check out this fare finder that will take you from anywhere in the US and land you here on the cheap!

.

Nestled in the Caribbean between Barbados and Martinique, you will find the tropical isle of St. Lucia, with its siren-like beaches and water-oriented activities. American’s sale features travel to St. Lucia’s Vieux Fort airport from $159 one-way or $318 round-trip.

.

Travel through mid-November, but book fares by the end of April. See the Fare Details below for specific travel dates and restrictions pertaining to your desired destination.

.

Read more about St. Lucia—and how to find cheap flights to the destination—in SmarterTravel’s 10 Best Budget Islands in the Caribbean.

.

http://www.smartertravel.com/airfare/american-sale-to-st-lucia.html?id=4631870

Acclaimed Nobel Poet Laureate and St Lucia native, Derek Wolcott will be reading selections from his writings in Chicago.

.

It’s not everyday you get to see a Nobel Laureate read his work, and for some Derek Walcott’s reading tomorrow is the type of rare opportunity that pulls them to Chicago in the first place. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992, Walcott (now 80) has taken the light shed upon his native Caribbean sea as a new telling of old myths, framing his own experiences in the many cultures that have flooded it’s waters for hundreds of years.
.
Born and raised in Saint Lucia, a Caribbean island passed from French and British colonization for hundreds of years before it’s full independence in 1979, Walcott’s heritage and language reflects the effects of colonization on the Caribbean Islands, throwing those islands at the western tradition with the same wash of water that brought ships of foreign lands to its shores.
.
After studying in St. Lucia and Jamaica during the late forties and early fifties, he’s lived between Trinidad, St. Lucia and the States, founded The Trinidad Theater Workshop, The Boston Playwrights’ Theater, and received several awards including The MacArthur Foundation Genius Award. He is the author of several plays and collections of poems, including Omeros, the poetic interpretation of Odysseus’s return home set in St. Lucia that won him the Nobel Prize. Currently he is releasing his 22 collection of poetry, White Egrets.
.
Derek Walcott will be reading selections of his work Thursday, April 1, at Fullerton Hall of The Art Institute Of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Ave. at 6:00 pm, with a book signing to follow. Admission is free.

http://www.examiner.com/x-41541-Chicago-Poetry-Examiner~y2010m3d30-Derek-Walcott-Gusts-Words-Into-Sails-at-The-Art-Institute

This article has everything.. including a recipe for some good banana nut bread!

.

.

Introduction

.

St. Lucia is a windward island in the Lesser Antilles.  It is very tourist oriented and has few exporting industries, some being banana, textile and other vegetables of the sort.  The main language spoken is English, but there is also a French Creole called patois.

Country Information

• Geographic Facts.

Here are three geographic facts about St. Lucia:

.

1.  St. Lucia is a small island South of Martinique, North of St. Vincent and North-west of Barbados. It’s 27 miles long and 14 miles wide. It easily fits in Lake Pontchartrain with room to spare.

.

2.  St. Lucia has a very mountainous interior with the tallest point at Mount Gimie which is 3,120 feet above sea level. It is surrounded by plentiful beaches and cliffs, and the Caribbean Sea to the West of the island and the Atlantic Ocean to the East.

.

3.  St. Lucia is a volcanic island, with potential to produce geothermal energy.  The Pitons, St. Lucia’s most famous landmark, are a result of the last volcanic eruption. They are located mid-way between 2 Southern districts known as Soufriere and Choiseul.

• 3 “Serious” Facts

.

1.  St. Lucia was 7 times French and 7 times British.  Britain prevailed and St. Lucia was a British colony until February 22nd, 1979.

.

2.   We use a Westminster-style parliamentary democracy system and have 2 major political parties which are the St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) and the United Workers Party (UWP).  The entire island is separated into 17 electoral districts.

.

3. The estimated population from a 2005 census is 166,312, 90% of African descent, 6% mixed, 3% East Indian, and 1% white. The largest religious beliefs are 68% Roman Catholic, followed by Seven Days Adventist with 8.5%.

.

• 3 “Fun” Facts

.

Here are three serious facts about St. Lucia:

.

1. St. Lucia has been the home of 2 Nobel Laureates, Sir Arthur Lewis won the Nobel Prize in Economics, and Derek Walcott won in Literature. It has the highest ratio for Nobel Laureates with respect of the island total population.

.

2. The St. Lucia Jazz Festival is held in May every year, where numerous famous artists come and perform. People come from all over the world to partake in the festivities.

.

3. St. Lucia has 2 seasons, the wet season from May to November and the dry season from December to May. Its hurricane season coincides with Louisiana’s hurricane season, but the last hurricane St. Lucia saw was Hurricane Allen in 1981.

• A “Potpourri” Item

Here is an unusual fact about St. Lucia:

.

1.  St. Lucia boasts the only drive in volcano in the world. It’s possible after a part of the caldera formed from the last eruption eroded and made a valley which a road was easily built. You can go there and take pictures of the sulphur springs or even go swim in them in certain areas where the water is warm.

Food Information

• Recipe from St. Lucia

1/3 cup margarine

½ cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

½ cup walnuts

1 1/3 cups sifted flour

½ tsp salt

1 cup mashed bananas

2 tsp vanilla essence

Directions:

1.      Cream together margarine and sugar

2.      Add eggs. Beat well. Add nuts

3.      Sift flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a separate bowl.

4.      Add powder mixture to the cream mixture gradually, alternating between the mashed bananas and the powder mixture. Beating well with each addition.

5.      Pour into well greased 8-9″ loaf pan

6.      Bake at 350F for 1 hour or until done.

• My Kitchen Story

.

This recipe was relatively straight-forward and simple.  The brunt of the work is mixing the ingredients together. But once in the oven, you can set it and forget it. You’ll know when it’s ready because you can smell it and if when you check it you are unsure whether it’s ready you can test by sticking a sharp object in it and make sure it comes out clean. This would be the first time that I have made this dish, and I would have to say it tastes good. It was a fun experience, and I enjoyed it.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We can’t seem to get rid of the Amy Gossip here in St Lucia, so I feel obligated to post it up every now and then.  I can’t say I’ve seen her wedding party around any time recently, but you never know:

.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/01/10/isle-wed-blake-in-st-lucia-115875-21955171/

This report came out a little while ago and I can’t say I can confirm it as of yet.  By confirm it, I mean I haven’t seen her stumbling down the streets of gros islet being held up by giant body guards, as was the norm the last time she was in town. FireFly does exist though, so that part I can say has a chance at being true. Enjoy the link!

.

Amy Winehouse only lasted a month in England before being lured back to St Lucia where she spent 71 days over Christmas. Winehouse has reportedly taken a plane back to the Caribbean Island of St Lucia yesterday to focus on writing her highly anticipated 3rd album. She begins studio sessions next week with producer Salaam Remi, who masterminded her debut album Frank. And don’t expect her in the UK any time soon — the Back To Black singer told friends she wants to find a second home in St Lucia and will be viewing a property called Firefly Villa which boasts 2.4 acres of private land.

http://www.celebritygossipshow.com/2009/04/03/amy-winehouse-returns-to-st-lucia-to-work-on-3rd-album/

The art-form of ‘belly dancing’ takes center stage at an event organized in aid of Diabetes.

What’s the downside of leaving the island for family vacation?  Missing events like this! From the Star Newspaper:

Belly dancing? Here in Saint Lucia? For some the notion and the thought draw instant curiosity. For others, maybe a bit of a snicker, because at most cultural displays here, there is a bit of belly dancing, right? Well, not exactly. You see belly dancing is much more than casual gyrations or simulated exotic hip and waist movement.

.
“Belly dancing” I was informed on Tuesday by a local expert, who has studied the art-form in Miami, is actually a middle Eastern traditional dance in which the dancer utilizes lots of movement of the hips and abdomen. It is a Western term for a traditional Arab dance genre known as raqs sharqi (literally “oriental dance”) or sometimes raqs baladi (literally “dance of country”, and so “folk” dance).

.

Some say it is one of the oldest forms of dance predating biblical history and even finding its way into the lives of great men of the book. The dance is said to have roots in all ancient cultures from the orient to India to the mid-East. Contrary to the misconception, probably promoted again by Western culture and films, belly dancing was not created to entertain men. History will show that the dance was mainly a ritualized expression which has usually been performed for other women, generally during fertility rites or parties preparing a young woman for marriage.

.

So all of this to say what? Well as we started by saying Belly dancing is here in Saint Lucia and is being promoted by Jodi Lawrence who learnt the art-form while studying in Miami and is now a professional belly dancer. Upon returning to Saint Lucia Lawrence started teaching the art form and has her own group Sihan dance ensemble. Having maintained a network of dancers in the US, Lawrence contacted some friends about putting on a show here in Saint Lucia. She spoke to her dad about it and the event mushroomed into what it is today, a benefit for the Saint Lucia Diabetic and Hypertensive Association.

.

According to Gene Lawrence, who chairs a committee for the event after his daughter sold him on the idea, he quickly put a committee together. “It really is a pleasure to be involved in this event which is designed to raise some funds for the Saint Lucia Diabetic and Hypertensive Association. Through my daughter the dancers have agreed to come and perform for free, to assist with this project,” Lawrence said at a press conference at Cotton Bay Tuesday.

.
The event is being called “Un-belly-vable” and will be held this Saturday November 28 at the Gaiety on Rodney Bay. It will take the form of a buffet dinner, a fusion of Mediterranean and African Cuisine compliments the chefs of Cotton Bay and music by Gene Lawrence.

.

The show will feature Siham, International Belly Dancers and Laborde’s Esoteric Drumology. Then there is the after party with DJ music and an open bar.
Cotton Bay Village, through its CEO Michael Bryant is fully behind the project which he said is expected to be a wonderful event.
George Eugene, Executive Director of the SLDHA says he immediately jumped at the opportunity to get involved with the event, which is in aide of his organization.
“I am very pleased about this event, as you know the Saint Lucia Diabetic and Hypertensive Association is a non profit organization, we are struggling for financing and I am very excited about this event which hopefully will not be a one off event but an annual one,” Eugene says.
So far the response to Saturday’s event has been overwhelming the organizers say, with several corporate tables of ten being sold.
“The dancers are coming from different parts of the US and they will be using lots of props; swords, wings, costumes,” Lawrence says. Belly dancing often utilizes sahidi music and melody as well as colorful costumes, flowing garments, finger cymbals and exotic jewelry. Saturday’s show will feature all of the above and then some, plus a chance to win fabulous door prizes including airline tickets, stays at Cotton Bay and more. Sponsors include Star Publishing Company, American Airlines, Jet Blue, Scribble Design, Peter and Company Green Papaya, Brydens, Aqua Pur and Fancy Foods.

.

http://stluciastar.com/content/archives/9004