Once again, in a period much too short for my liking or comfort, I write with a sad and heavy heart. Media and culture lost a stalwart soldier last Monday with the passing of David "Heshimu" Graham, 49, one of my closest homeys in the business. Heshimu's death comes in the wake of the recent deaths of actress Mairoon Ali and cultural icon Roland Gordon. One of the most likeable and affable media practitioners I've known, Heshimu died from a heart condition and related complications. Just last Saturday, a mammoth benefit was held for him at TCL Group Skiffle Bunch pan theatre on Coffee Street, San Fernando.
One of the most avid calypso and pan lovers you'd ever meet, professionally Heshimu was a frontline presenter at WACK 90.1FM radio station, based in the southland, and hosted the very popular Pan in yuh Pweffen programme on the airwaves. A resident of Bay Road, Marabella, all his life, Heshimu leaves to mourn his four children (Derrie, Deena, Ariel, Ashleigh); and, Alicia and Debbie Graham. The baby of the Graham clan, he was the brother of Carol, Pat, Peter, Rosemarie, Vaughn, Phyllis-Ann, Claire, and Michael (deceased). Today I also mourn the passing of two friends, namely Tim Nafziger and Choy Aming, the latter , a premier Caribbean promoter, dying Wednesday morning.
No weekend water taxi?
Today, my question is a very simple one. Can somebody tell me why the authorities do not operate the Water Taxi on weekends? One would think that there's a captive market to be exploited during this period, as it's when children are home from school and most people are looking for leisure activities to share with the little ones.
Last weekend, it was a double-whammy for me as, not only was I unable to ride the Water Taxi to San San Fernando, but there was also no access to the new Port-of-Spain-San Fernando De Luxe bus service, supposedly introduced on March 1.
What I did learn though is that this new service will not operate from the City Gate terminal on South Quay, but from some special terminal, only listed in the glossy pamphlet as being sited on Lower St Vincent Street. Well, on Saturday, in the scorching midday sun, I traversed the length and breadth of Lower St Vincent and never located said terminal. Even more ludicrous was the fact that a couple of PTSC employees at the City Gate facility were not even aware that the De Luxe service had supposedly been inaugurated.
Mommy's advice
I'm not just saying this because she was my mother, but my deceased mom was a very wise woman, with the most quaint of sayings. Coming from a mix of Bajan-Trini stock, she was never short of quips to suit any situation, like: "follow fashion does kill monkey dog."
Never could figure that one out. I allude to that adage today as I contemplate the current ongoing debate on same-sex marriage being legalised in T&T. All I have to say on that issue, Patrick Manning style, is that God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. This country, in its manic quest to achieve First World status by 2020, seems to adopt a lot of the negative mores of so-called first world nations. Look at our out-of-control, spiralling crime rate, for instance. So, my advice to the legislators is let's leave the sacred institution of marriage as a union of man and woman. As my mom also used to say, "Gopaul luck ent Seepaul luck."