#chanting: Butch March! Butch March!

[dedicated-to-all]

Someone is doing the Lord's work

[lgbtawarenessproject]

Part 1: USA

Hello everyone! Happy pride month!

Last month I stated that coming June I would post about historical queer events around the world. This is part 1 of North America. Later today I will post parts 2 & 3, Belize and Greenland. The pride month calendar can be seen in our pinned post!

That being said, I'm excited to show you what I've been working on. (Also thanks Mom for helping me edit this)

-Soul

Stonewall Inn was one of many bars in Greenwich Village, New York City. It, just like many others, was owned by the Genovese crime family, the local mafia. The family thought it would be profitable to cater towards the gay citizens, shunned by most every other bar and person. Police had been bribed to ignore it, and on the occasions that they did raid the bar, ‘dirty’ cops would send a tip.

June 28th 1969, Stonewall Inn had just experienced a routine raid a couple days before. Officers burst in carrying a warrant, and arrested thirteen people. In order to check if they were truly ‘cross-dressing’, female officers would take them into the bathroom and have them strip

Usually when this happened everyone would let it go, they’d be mad, but they wouldn’t do anything. This time, however, an officer had hit a butch lesbian(widely assumed to be Stormé DeLarverie), in the head with a baton while getting her into the car. She yelled for the onlookers to act, and they did. Bottles, stones, pennies, and other things were thrown at the police. Among the first to throw them were two trans lesbians of color, Sylvia Rivera and Marsha Johnshon. The officers boarded themselves in the Inn, but the crowd had begun setting it on fire. Not long later, the firemen and riot control came and took control of the situation.

This event may be the one we are most familiar with, but it’s not the only thing that happened. Here are some links to other events that happened shortly before and after.

Before Stonewall

After Stonewall

Sources 1 2 3

Back in 1987, the AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) epidemic had just been labeled an epidemic. There were very few treatments, and only one FDA approved one. This treatment, called AZT (zidovudine) , was only manufactured by one company. Burroughs Wellcome, a pharmaceutical company, had made the drug nigh inaccessible. The price was so high, that very few people could afford it. 

ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), was created in response to this. Larry Kramer was among the ones to originate this movement. The activist groups scheduled a march on Wall Street in 1987, scheduled to disrupt traffic during the morning rush hour. Activists laid in the street and held signs, chanting phrases like “We are angry, we want action”, and “Release those drugs.” Seventeen activists were arrested, but shortly afterwards the FDA announced it would lower the required time for drugs to be approved from nine years, to seven. 

Sources 1 2

In June of 2015, gay marriage was legalized by the supreme court in the landmark case Obergefell v. Hodges, forcing fourteen states to legalize same-sex marriage.

The case started in 2013, when James Obergefell and his husband John Arthur James, filed a lawsuit in Ohio when they realized that their marriage would not be recognized on Arthur's death certificate.  During the lawsuit, Arthur, who had a terminal illness, passed.

Plaintiffs told Obergefell that state officials were not going to approve his name being on Arthur’s death certificate, but filed the complaint anyway. The judge the case went to, Judge Timothy Black, granted Obergefell a temporary order that would allow Arthur to be marked as wed. 

The plaintiffs and Judge Black were not happy with this however, and the plaintiffs amended their complaint, adding two more plaintiffs. They asked that Ohio declare that their refusal to honor out of state marriages on death certificates, was unconstitutional and asked that they would fix it. Judge Black also declared it unconstitutional and banned the state from enforcing it upon the plaintiffs.

The department of health director Wymyslo appealed this, but was unable to see the case through. As was his successor Lance Himes. Himes’ successor Hodges was the one to finally see the case in court, where it was appealed. 

Obergefell filed a petition for a Writ of Certiorari with the supreme court, in 2014. In January of 2015, the Supreme Court granted it, allowing the case to be heard. The Supreme Court, decided after much deliberation, to recognize same-sex marriage as a right under the fourteenth amendment.

Sources 1 2

Additional things that I wanted to share about, but cannot do justice for.

Intersex Awareness 1 2 3 4 5

Two-Spirit 1 2 3

Please support our project by taking this survey if you haven't already done so!

-> Part 2

[rotationalsymmetry]

More trans march moments:

Music from the stage in Spanish. My body is mine.

A black person (trans masc? butch?) wearing pants with several inches of boxer shorts showing over the top. There may well have been other examples of non-white gender stuff, but this is one that I caught.

"Palestinian liberation IS Jewish liberation"

Chanting during the march: who keeps us safe/we keep us safe" (presumably as in, the cops don't)

A trans flag with the hammer and sickle on it (a classic)

Someone infinitely cooler than I am walking down the street in nothing but boots, a trans pride colored thong, a bandana tied around one leg (possibly a hanky code thing?) and a lot of bruising on their ass.

A fair bit of toplessness, not all of it by people with flat chests.

A trans pride flag made into a dress with a corset-like bodice with lacing

A black pleated skirt with trans pride colors showing in between the pleats

A patchwork pair of pants blatantly in ace pride colors, and another person wearing a dress that I'm pretty sure was intentionally ace colors as well.

Multiple people on roller skates or roller blades

A banner advocating for decriminalizing sex work

One person holding a leash attached to another person, presumably their partner. (They didn't especially seem to be seeking attention, nor did they get it. Sometimes this is what kink at pride events is, just...people doing their own thing for their own reasons, in an environment that lets them do it for once, and it's not a big deal.)

A trans flag with a crocodile or alligator (can I tell? no) on it with the words "fuck around and find out"

The float at the front of the march that's for people at the march who aren't up for walking it (or rolling it.)

[cynosurus]

My goals for this year's International Workers' Day march are only:

Wear a suit (be the butch in a suit you want to see in this world).

Get there.

Get there a little bit on time or at least not terribly late.

Be there.

Stay away from ppl chanting slogans and avoid getting noise overload generally.

Speak to that cute girl I've seen around!

Leave before the speeches. (Speeches are boring. Plus I'll be too tired.)

Happy International Workers' Day!

[lacefuneral]

btw the pride i went to kind of. sucked? i mean it was exhilarating to be there but there was no food. no artists selling their crafts. no guys in leather. no tough butches. no shirtless people. it was all very tame and lackluster

it was the first year it was held. i'll cut it slack for that reason. but i felt... cheated. most of the booths were corporate. only one booth was a small business. granted, many of them were for important things like STI testing and LGBT medical care and public transportation, unionization, etc. - which is great! don't change that. but others seemed completely unnecessary.

i feel like the pride i had wasn't... a real pride? i didn't make any friends. there wasn't much in the way of activities.

the only Real part was the march. because we were chanting about police abolition and trans rights and black lives matter. that was real. i almost started crying (in a good way) during the march. it was an actual protest and not just like, people blasting pop music (although there was a little bit of that)

and it's like. i want a pride that combines the aspect of a Genuine Protest March as well as the community-building aspect. because there was no community building. no places to sit, no shade, no activities. there were some musical guests but that was it. i was really, really hoping to speak to some artisans. join some queer clubs. sit down next to a stranger and just chat.

and that didn't happen. and what i didn't know is that there was another pride event happening in my city the same day in a different region that DID have artisans, DID have activities. and i wish i knew about that so i could have popped over there too

so i think i'll make plans for next year. do the march, but search elsewhere for community building and history n'at. i didn't experience that yesterday

[chiseler]

The House of D

As one of his final acts in office, Mayor Jimmy Walker broke ground in 1932 for the New York City House of Detention for Women, built on the site of the old Jefferson Market jail in Greenwich Village and colloquially known as the House of D. According to sociologist Sara Harris’ Hellhole (on John Waters’ list of recommended reading), It was intended as a model of prison reform. Opened in 1934, the twelve-story monolith of brownish brick with art deco flourishes loomed behind the old Jefferson Market courthouse on Sixth Avenue, looking more like a stylish if somewhat cheerless apartment building than a prison. Windows were meshed instead of barred, and the one sign on its exterior merely gave the address, “Number Ten Greenwich Avenue.” There were toilets and hot and cold running water in all four hundred cells, and it was going to focus on rehabilitating its inmates – prostitutes, vagrants, alcoholics and/or drug addicts – rather than merely punishing them. From the start the reality was at variance with the intentions, and the facility quickly became infamous as a combination of Bedlam and Bastille. Within a decade it was chronically overcrowded with a volatile mix of inmates: women who couldn’t make bail awaiting trials that were sometimes months off, women already convicted and serving time, alcoholics and addicts, the mentally ill, violent lesbian tops, street gang girls, hookers and other lifelong multiple offenders, and teenagers spending their first nights behind bars. Tougher, more experienced prisoners brutalized and sexually assaulted the weak and inexperienced. So, of course, did the staff. The halls rang with the howls of inmates suffering the agonies of drug or alcohol withdrawal. There were cockroaches and mice in the cells and worms in the food. Village lesbians called it the Country Club and the Snake Pit. The IWW organizer Elizabeth Gurley Flynn did time in the House of D, as did accused spy Ethel Rosenberg and Warhol shooter Valerie Solanas. In 1957, Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker movement, spent thirty days there for staying on the street during a civil defense air raid drill. Her ban-the-bomb supporters picketed outside every day from noon to two; the Times called them “possibly the most peaceful pickets in the city.”

Despite its bland exterior, the House of D made its presence very known in the neighborhood through the daily ritual of inmates yelling out the windows or down from the exercise area on the roof to the boyfriends, girlfriends, dealers and pimps perpetually loitering on the Greenwich Avenue sidewalk – a carnivalesque Village tradition for almost forty years. Waters first caught the spectacle in the early 1960s. “It was amazing. No one can ever imagine what that was like. All the hookers would be screaming out the windows, ‘Hey Jimbo!’ And all the pimps would be down on the sidewalk yelling stuff.” Writer and film producer Jeremiah Newton initially encountered it at around the same time. “It was this huge, monolithic building, looking like the building the Morlocks dragged the Time Machine into, and the girls were always yelling down, screaming obscenities and throwing things out the window. It was the biggest building there. I sat on a stoop watching the people walk by. I’d never seen anything quite like it before.” The Village writer Grace Paley lived near the facility in the 1950s and 1960s, and walked her kids past it regularly. She wrote that “we would often have to thread our way through whole families calling up – bellowing, screaming up to the third, seventh, tenth floor, to figures, shadows behind bars and screened windows, How you feeling? Here’s Glena. She got big. Mami mami, you like my dress? We gettin you out baby. New lawyer come by.”

Women arrested at antiwar rallies during the Vietnam era found themselves locked up in the House of D with the hookers, junkies, crazies and butch lesbians. On Saturday, February 20 1965, two eighteen-year-old college students, Lisa Goldrosen of Bard and Andrea Dworkin of Bennington, were arrested during an antiwar protest at the UN and sent to the House of D. There, they later testified, they were brutally mistreated and humiliated by male doctors “examining” them for venereal diseases, and forced constantly to fend off the rough advances of other inmates. They were not allowed to use a telephone until Monday. That March, the New York Post ran an exposé based on their testimony. They didn’t experience anything other women hadn’t for thirty years by then, but in the 1960s those other inmates were overwhelmingly poor black and Hispanic women. Dworkin and Goldrosen were white, middle-class college coeds. As so often happens, that’s what it took to generate public outrage.

When Grace Paley herself was arrested at another war protest some months later, she was detained in the facility. Conditions had slightly improved in light of the outcry the Post had stirred up. Paley had been arrested before at antiwar protests, but it had always resulted in at worst overnight stays. This time a judge threw the book at her and gave her six days. “He thought I was old enough to know better,” she later wrote, “a forty-five year old woman, a mother and teacher. I ought to be too busy to waste time on causes I couldn’t possibly understand.” At least she could look out her cell window and watch her kids walking to school.

In October 1970, Angela Davis was arrested in the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge at Eighth Avenue and Fifty-First Street and taken to the House of D. It was not her first time in Greenwich Village. She was born in 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama, where her father was a car mechanic and her mother was a teacher and a civil rights activist. They lived in a black neighborhood called Dynamite Hill because the Klan had firebombed so many homes there. With help from the American Friends, she and her mother moved to New York, where her mother studied for her Masters at NYU while Angela attended Elisabeth Irwin High School in the Village. She went on to study philosophy at Brandeis, the Sorbonne, and at the University of California, earning her Ph.D. One of her teachers was Herbert Marcuse. By the late 1960s she was an avowed Communist, a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and affiliated with the Black Panthers. She lectured in philosophy at UCLA until 1969, when her Communist and radical affiliations got her fired.

In August of 1970 a black teen named Jonathan Jackson took over a Marin County courtroom and demanded the release of his older brother, Panther member George Jackson, from nearby Soledad prison. He took the judge, the district attorney and three jurors hostage. In the attempted getaway, Jackson, the judge and one other person were shot and killed. When police discovered that Davis, who knew George Jackson, was the registered owner of Jonathan’s weapon, she was charged as an accomplice to murder, a capital crime in California. She fled the state, which put her on the FBI’s most wanted list. A beautiful twenty-six-year-old with a huge and magnificent Afro, she became a global pop star of the revolution a la Che Guevara. When the FBI arrested her she’d spent a few days walking openly in Times Square, unrecognized because she’d slicked down the Afro and dressed like an office worker.

Within thirty minutes of her being locked up in the House of D a crowd of protesters began to gather outside the monolith, chanting; prisoners stood in their windows and chanted along, their fists raised. The NYPD sent a Tactical Defense Force unit – riot police – and House of D officials turned off all the lights inside, hoping to quiet things down. Instead, women set small fires in their cells, and demonstrators cheered the flickerings in the windows. They dispersed without major incident. Placed in isolation, Davis went on a ten-day hunger strike. She spent nine weeks in the facility while fighting extradition to California, where, she was quite convinced, she’d be convicted and put to death. In fact she would be acquitted of all charges in a San Francisco courtroom in 1972, after spending eighteen months behind bars.

Davis was the facility’s last celebrity tenant. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Greenwich Village civic and neighborhood groups had constantly called for the facility to be removed to some location more appropriate, which is to say far away from where they lived and walked their children to school. More liberal souls in the neighborhood thought it should stay, fearing that if the women were shifted to some more isolated location they might be all the more easily mistreated. Before he wrote the hit Broadway musicals Hello, Dolly! and La Cage aux Folles, Villager Jerry Herman wrote a satirical revue called Parade, which included a song about the House of D controversy:

Don’t tear down the House of Detention

Keep her and shield her from all who wish her harm

Don’t tear down the House of Detention

Cornerstone of Greenwich Village charm…

So I say fie, fie to the cynic

Know that there’s love in these hallowed walls of brown

There’s love in the laundry, there’s love in the showers,

There’s love in the clinic

'Twas built with love, my lovely house in town

Save the tramp, the pusher and the souse

Would you trade love for an apartment house?

Dworkin and Goldrosen’s testimony before a commission studying conditions at the House of D helped lead to its being shut down in 1971. Inmates were moved to a new facility on Rikers Island. After some debate about possible new uses for the Village monolith, it was simply torn down in 1973. The site is now a small, fenced-in garden. In 1974 Tom Eyen’s spoofy play Women Behind Bars, set in the House of D in the 1950s, premiered. John Waters’ star Divine performed in a later production.

by John Strausbaugh

[harryglom]

Happy Pride and Pride Firsts

Happy not-pride Pride people!

It's sad that this year so many firsts will be missed. That first year you were ready to go. That first dabbling with face paint or makeup or something that made you stand out. Mine was a top from Glee that says "LIKES BOYS" which really hasn't aged well, but hey I was fifteen! That search for an entrance into the parade because you didn't know you had to register with a group to march. That sweet parting of the crowd by the BBC building where the sun hits the glass and speckles down onto the sequins of a 6'6" drag queen who wants you to "BRING THAT ENERGY!"

That first feeling of true belonging, of hope for the future, of glancing through a crowded dreamscape street illuminated by a universal smile. That feeling for all the bullshit in our culture, we deserve this.

That first Pride for so many quiet someones.

He or she or they who are young and middle aged and old and in drag and in leather and in their band t-shirt and in their butch gear and their most feminine dress and waving their flag. That person whose mind will rocket through a world that is more plural, colourful and sudden than it has ever seemed before. That person who will learn the chants and cheer timid at first, who will be dancing by the day's end. That person who will have turned words that once made them feel naked into a suit of armour.

These firsts do not just belong to them. They belong to all of us who have once been lucky enough to have received them and now are honoured with the chance to give them to someone else. From that first so many of us spark into colour, bloom, atomise into the crowd, for in this community to be unique is to play your part. You'll learn to drink enough water, to talk to anybody you like the look of, to have your middle finger primed for the doomsday nutters on the corner by Nelson's Column and he or she or they will see you. For that reason, every Pride, in some small way, is always as special as the first.

We'll make it twice as beautiful next year.

[homosociallyyours]

My friend just sent me a link to an article with unseen pics from 1977 nyc pride, and I'm fucking crying imagining my ot5 dykes from The Changer and The Changed out there in the streets...Harry smiling with Lou by her side, Liam and Zayn so proud and in love, and gruff butch Niall, secretly getting a little misty when the crowds chant because it's in memory of a night she was part of. A visceral reminder that our bodies and our histories matter.

I watched the trans march in SF today, swells of people that just kept coming: trans people on bikes leading the way, marchers with signs about keeping cops out of pride and uplifting trans voices, and children yelling that the first pride was a riot.

The world continues to be mostly awful, as usual. We keep fighting to survive. And I have to believe we make a difference.

[kowboykiller]

this was from the dyke march but it’s pride 2 so you’re gonna get these photos anyway

the protest group that was there at the beginning of the parade was chanting “cops are not queer, cops are not dykes, fascists take a fucking hike”

and i don’t know much about the group protesting, but what i do know is that people have been characterizing them as violent and all sorts of other words, but the reality is that i saw butches getting yanked off their bikes by cops for “disturbing the peace.” i saw cops harassing two young trans women. all of the cops i saw there were men, almost all of them were white. the protesters had every damn right to scream and call them fascists.

[edwardnashtons]

A Seal Upon Your Heart

Chapter 13

Lee and Edward have a long talk about Oswald. 3k. SFW. Read on AO3.

Lee returned a moment later, dragging Cherry by her hair. The crowd had begun trickling back in after Firefly left, taking most of the danger with her. Lee marched into the ring, Cherry cursing and screaming behind her as she was forcibly thrown into the ring.

“Cherry informed on Ed,” Lee said, and the crowd immediately began booing her.

“Code of the Narrows!” a woman shouted.

“Code of the Narrows,” the crowd echoed. “Code of the Narrows!”

“Ed?” Lee asked, beckoning him into the ring. He ducked through the ropes, Grundy following.

“In the Narrows, they don’t talk to cops, and they definitely don’t like answering to crime lords. She broke the code when she snitched on me to Oswald,” Edward explained.

“Make her fight!” someone exclaimed, “That’s the code!”

“Fight to the death,” Edward interpreted for Lee. “If Cherry wins she walks, if she doesn’t… well.”

“I can’t condone that,” Lee said.

“Damn right you can’t,” Cherry hissed, turning to address the crowd. “This is my turf! I can do whatever I want, and you scum can’t do shit about it. If Penguin wants Ed, then one way or another, he’s gonna have him!” A shot rang out, and Cherry fell to the floor of the ring.

“Fuck that!” someone yelled, and the crowd roared in delight.

“Holy shit,” Lee said. She dropped down and looked for a pulse, but Cherry was already gone.

“That works too,” Edward said, laughing at the absurd situation.

“Doc!” a voice shouted from the crowd. “Doc! Doc! Doc! Doc!”

“What are they doing?” Lee said, turning to Edward and raising her voice over the shouting.

“Lee,” Edward said, with a note of disappointment at her lack of deductive reasoning. “You’re in charge now.”

“Why me?” Lee said, looking over the crowd. Perhaps she couldn’t yet fathom being a leader, Edward supposed. Regardless, she’d be a natural.

“You’re practically their patron saint,” Edward said. “Healing the sick, helping the poor, overthrowing a corrupt ruler. Don’t question it. Just accept it, and do something that will let them know their support is not misplaced.” Lee looked over the chanting crowd, and Edward could practically see the gears turning.

“Drinks on the house!” Lee proclaimed, and it was good.

“Do we really need to do this now?” Edward said, settling into his usual seat across from Lee in her office. “You must have more responsibilities now.”

“You’re not skipping out on this, especially not after what happened yesterday,” Lee said, taking hold of her notes. And what a day it had been. The bullet Edward had pulled out of Cherry’s skull was sitting shiny and polished on Lee’s desk. A souvenir. “We left off with the issues in your relationship with Isabella. Is there anything else you want to talk about regarding that?”

“No,” Edward said. He was still unhappy with Lee for her part in making him question their relationship, and the worst part was that he knew she was right. Edward was no happier to talk about Oswald today, and he’d been hoping to weasel out of it somehow.

“You said that Oswald killed her, can you explain what happened?” Edward detailed everything for her. The call he’s gotten the next morning, after Isabella had left for her conference, after things were finally right between them. Identifying her body in the morgue; Oswald comforting him, all the while knowing that he was the cause of Edward’s pain. His subsequent grief and attempt to say goodbye, only to stumble upon a blind man with some very helpful information that led to his discovery of Isabella’s severed brake lines. He told Lee about going to Oswald for help, barely holding it together knowing that Isabella’s killer was out there. Oswald’s seemingly sincere promise to help him catch the perpetrator, and Edward’s gratitude toward his friend for being there for him.

“I went after Butch and Tabitha, with Oswald’s support. I tortured Butch, trying to get him to confess to the crime, but of course now I know that he was never guilty. I offered them both a deal. If Tabitha allowed her hand to be cut off and proved her love, I’d let them both go. If not, Butch would be killed by an electric shock. Tabitha dropped the switch and let it happen, and a few moments later Barbara came in. I was humiliated. I gave up searching; it could have been any one of Oswald’s enemies. That’s where Barbara came in.”

She’d told Edward that Oswald was in love with him, and he hadn’t believed her. Couldn’t believe her. But he owed it to Isabella find out, and oh, but he had. He described his revenge upon Oswald, the meaning behind each action: humiliating Oswald as Oswald had humiliated him, and then forcing him to view his dead loved one just as Oswald had arranged for him to see Isabella. He described his further plot to prove that Oswald didn’t love him, and the surprising twist it had taken.

“So, let me get this straight,” Lee interrupted. “He was actually willing to die for you.”

“Yes,” Edward said.

“And then what?”

“I took him to the pier, and I shot him,” Edward bluntly stated.

“Why?” Lee asked.

“Because he killed her!” Edward exclaimed. “Why is that so hard to understand?”

“You gave him an out, just like you gave Butch and Tabitha,” Lee said. “A way to live if he proved that his love was good like Tabitha had. Why didn’t you follow through?”

“I didn’t make a deal with him,” Edward snapped. “His fate was sealed the moment he killed her!”

“Then why bother?” Lee asked. “Why bother having him prove he really loved you?”

“I wanted to prove that he didn’t,” Edward said. “That he was incapable of love.”

“But he passed your test,” Lee said. “He proved that he loved you, Edward. Did you even process what that meant before you went through with killing him?”

“No… I didn’t— I didn’t know what it meant. I didn’t want to. If I allowed myself to dwell on it he might have… he might have been able to sway me from my task, and I could not let that happen.”

“Why not?” Lee asked.

“Because he killed her, therefore he had to die. I couldn’t permit myself to let him go unpunished,” Edward said, leaning forward in his chair. He wanted Lee to understand.

“You could have, though,” Lee argued. “What would that have meant?”

“If I had just done nothing about it?” Edward exclaimed. Lee nodded. “That would be like saying that I hadn’t cared for Isabella at all, that it was okay for Oswald to hurt me, to manipulate me, and to humiliate me.”

“You didn’t have to kill him to demonstrate that what he did to you wasn’t right. It seems to me that Oswald realized he was wrong about whether or not he’d truly loved you when he went ahead with his plan to kill Isabella.”

“He still didn’t learn,” Edward stated. “Before I shot him he insulted me, took credit for everything I’d accomplished, everything I’d become… And he never once apologized for what he did.” Lee pursed her lips.

“Alright,” she said, conceding the point. “What happened afterwards, when you saw your hallucination of him?”

“I had to take over Oswald’s duties as mayor. I was struggling to keep up, and I asked Barbara to bring me some uppers. I saw Oswald for the first time a day later.”

“What was he like?” Lee asked. “You mentioned that he looked good when he was singing to you.” Edward shook his head.

“That was the only time he looked like that. The rest of the time… He was dead. He looked like he’d been dragged up from the bottom of the river, with a crustacean to match every now and again.”

“Now and again?” Lee asked, most likely attempting to quantify the number of instances.

“I… conversed with him on six occasions,” Edward clarified.

“You continued taking the pills Barbara had given you after the first time?” Lee asked.

“Yes, I— after a while it was less about their effect on me physically, and more about being able to see Oswald again,” Edward admitted.

“Why did you need to see him?” Lee asked.

“I needed to know what he was to me. I needed to deal with that. I didn’t know it at the time, but after… I realized it had been about saying goodbye,” Edward explained. “At first, I was looking for a mentor. Someone who could be to me what Oswald had been. After going through six potential candidates, I realized that what all great villains need is a nemesis. My first choice was Jim, but then Lucius Fox solved my first clue… and it all happened from there.”

“I asked you to think about this during the week, but I’ll say it again. You saw Miss Kringle because she was there to voice your inner fears. What do you think the purpose of seeing Oswald was?”

“Why does there have to be a purpose?” Edward grumbled. Lee looked sympathetic.

“You mentioned that it was about saying goodbye… but was there anything else you realized? The first time we talked about this, you said that he forced you to admit something to yourself. I didn’t want to push then, because I assumed you were only ever having drug-induced hallucinations, but I think this is important for you to process,” Lee said, her tone inviting and persuasive.

“He made me admit that… that killing him killed a part of me,” Edward recalled. “After everything that happened with Lucius, after he was able to solve one of my riddles, I realized that the point hadn’t been finding a nemesis. It had been about distracting myself from missing Oswald. I only switched from looking for a mentor to looking for a nemesis because I realized that I could never replace him. And if I couldn’t replace him, the next best thing would be to distract myself. When I was able to admit how much he’d meant to me—when I could admit to myself just how much I’d cared about him— I was finally able to let go of him. I realized the whole debacle had just been a way of holding onto Oswald a little bit longer.” Edward sighed.

“The last time I used, I went back to the pier where I shot him. I was able to put him to rest, not out of hatred and vengeance like I had the first time but out of… friendship. Affection. I don’t know that there’s a word to describe the bond that was between us. I told him that I—” his face felt wet, but he ignored it. This was important. “I cared about him, and I missed him. Because that was the truth. I threw away the rest of the pills and then he was gone. I left.”

“When he sang for you,” Lee reminded him, “Do you know what he was trying to get you to admit?”

“That was the um… ‘killing him killed a part of me’ thing,” Edward said, blushing despite himself at the memory.

“There wasn’t… anything else?” Lee pressed.

“I— I might have been actively trying to ignore the fact that I found Oswald attractive for some time,” Edward confessed. “But that was before I met Isabella! I think a part of me felt… guilt, for having been attracted to the man that killed her. After I realized that he had killed Isabella, it was easier to deny that I had ever wanted him in that way than to deal with the… dissonance those feelings created. I think his appearance was to… remind me of that attraction and help me accept it,” Edward said, blushing furiously all the while and refusing to look at Lee.

“I was easier to pretend you had never wanted Oswald than to deal with the guilt of finding your lover’s killer desirable?” Lee restated.

“Well��� yes,” Edward said. “Technically. But I stopped thinking of Oswald that way when I met Isabella, and afterwards. I thought he’d made it pretty clear to me that my… feelings weren’t reciprocated. I was wrong about that.”

“How did knowing that Oswald was attracted to you affect your reaction?” Lee asked.

“I don’t think it changed much,” Edward contemplated. “He was still my best friend, and knowing that someone I cared for had done something so horrible to me… that was enough on its own. How he felt for me didn’t change what he did, and if he loved me at all it wouldn’t have happened.”

“I should have been more specific,” Lee said. “Did finding out that the attraction was mutual alter your feelings, not your decisions?” Edward was quiet for a moment.

“It made me wonder what it could be like between Oswald and I,” Edward quietly admitted. “The dirt on Isabella’s grave was still fresh, and there I was: contemplating shacking up with her murderer. If I’d felt guilt for being attracted to him, it was even worse knowing that he’d killed her out of some twisted love for me that I hadn’t noticed. I should have noticed. I felt guilt over wanting him, but being too much of a coward to say it outright in the first place, and for not seeing that he felt the same way in time to save Isabella.”

“What did it mean for your relationship when you were able to acknowledge that he really loved you?” Lee asked.

“Well I… I haven’t had much of a chance to think about it. I didn’t really believe it until after I’d shot him. I couldn’t reconcile that someone who’d done what he did to me could also truly love me. Before, the ideas had been mutually exclusive in my mind. Those feelings and those actions were irreconcilable. When I finally accepted that he’d genuinely loved me… it was hard.”

“Why was it hard?” Lee urged.

“Because it means that to this day, Oswald is the only person who has seen the very worst of me and still loves me unconditionally.” Lee sat back in her seat, and Edward sighed, feeling like the physical weight of that bombshell was finally off of his shoulders.

“What did you two talk about, in the Lounge?” Lee asked.

“He apologized to me,” Edward said. “He even apologized for killing Isabella. So… now I don’t know what to think.” Before, the only thing he’d held on to was that Oswald had never been sorry for what he did, only that Edward had found out. Now Oswald was sorry, and still loved him, leaving Edward at a loss for how to proceed.

“I have to wonder, why did you poke at your truce with Oswald by mocking him? What was the point?” Edward’s first instinct was to lie, to protect what little dignity he had left, but…

What would be the point? Lee had already seen him cry, seen him weak. There was no reason to put on airs around her.

“I… may have been hoping he would show up himself.” Lee’s eyes widened.

“Edward… what were you hoping for?”

“What do you want me to say?” Edward said, tone acerbic. “That I wanted him to fight for me, to tell me he loved me? It was never going to happen.”

“But you wanted it to,” Lee gently stated, her pen going flat against the clipboard.

“I don’t want this truce,” Edward said. “The only reason we have one is because I’m too stupid to match him. It’s a reminder of how little I matter to him now, that I’m not even worthy of being a threat to him anymore. I’m nothing to him. I mean nothing. He used to want to love me, now he can’t get rid of me soon enough. And what’s worse is that I care so much about it, I’ll do something stupid like baiting him, and he won’t even deign to show up. He actually wants to forget about me, and I—” Edward abruptly cut himself off.

“You can’t forget about him?” Lee asked, growing sympathy on her tone.

“I meant to tell you,” Edward said, abruptly changing tone. “I admired your attitude towards Jim, after Pyg. You two were the dream couple. Going to get married, have a child together… and you didn’t even give him the time of day.”

“Jim and I had a chance to be together, and it didn’t work out. I think part of what makes your situation with Oswald so difficult is that you never even got the chance to be together before things got so messy.” Edward was momentarily stunned. Why did that make so much sense? Why was it that the possibility he’d lost hurt almost as much as the loss itself? It had been the same with Kristen, with Isabella. Edward had seen the potential he and Oswald had when they were working together, and it was perhaps the sheer magnitude of that potential that made losing Oswald his greatest loss of all.

“I’m so sick,” Edward said, Owen’s voice echoing in his head. “I shouldn’t want to mean anything him; he killed Isabella. He shouldn’t matter to me.”

“But you still love him,” Lee said, her voice oh-so-understanding. Edward wanted to yell at her not to encourage him, to help him get back to his senses and forget all about Oswald Cobblepot. He realized then that perhaps she could relate, and decided to answer her honestly.

“I don’t know. Oswald was a part of me, of who I am. I can’t tell if I love him objectively,” he argued, trying to avoid the question.

“No one loves objectively. It’s a fool’s errand to try and determine whether you love someone… logically.” Edward’s head swam as Lee unknowingly echoed Isabella’s advice to him. Love wasn’t something he could determine experimentally; there was no litmus test for love. It was a feeling.

“Edward… why don’t you try saying it? See how it feels,” Lee suggested, smiling sympathetically at him.

“You want me to say that I love him?” Edward said, his lip curling in distaste. He’d never admitted it aloud, not even to himself.

“Why not, it doesn’t have to mean anything. They’re just words,” Lee said. Well, she did have a point, but…

“I would much rather you be telling me that it’s okay to say that I hate him, after everything he’s done,” Edward argued.

“I know that’s not true,” Lee said, her tone no-nonsense. “You can’t help how you feel. The first step is to accept your true feelings for him, whatever they may be. Then I can help you decide what you do or do not want to do about them, okay?” Edward considered her proposal it for a moment.

There was a possibility that he loved Oswald, or that he had at some point. Doing this would help him confirm or deny whether ‘love’ felt like the right term to apply to his feelings for Oswald, which was what he needed be focusing on if he wanted to move forward. And he wanted a way forward very, very badly. What would be the harm, anyways? No one would hear him apart from Lee, and she had already acknowledged that she knew it didn’t necessarily mean anything for him to say it.

“Okay,” Edward hesitantly agreed.

“Try saying it,” Lee encouraged when Edward remained silent. He took a deep breath.

“I… I love him,” Edward said, feeling like he was doing a lot more than merely letting go of air to produce a sound.

“I love him.” His chest hurt, like a heart attack. Or acid reflux. Was this nausea? Disgust? It was painful, whatever it was.

“I love him.” Eyes watering, he let the tears that had pooled in his eyes due to the sudden pain in his chest fall.

“How do you feel about saying that?” Oh dear. It wasn’t disgust he was feeling.

“It hurts,” Edward said, gasping for air and dragging the back of his forearm under his eyes.

“Why?” Lee pressed.

“Because it’s true.”

[mitch-3]

...Butch...Patagonie...#3...

Je marche dans le quartier de San Telmo, je marche sur les pavés placés en forme d’arc. Il fait chaud à présent, je me dirige vers le point de rendez-vous, il faut absolument que j’informe Juan à propos de l’enlèvement, que j’en sache plus sur cette mission. J’écoute le chant des oiseaux provenant des arbres. Ces arbres qui apportent de l’ombre et de la fraîcheur. San Telmo a un air de Paris où est ce Paris qui a un air de Buenos Aires. Je marche vers le point de rencontre. J’arrive au coin des calles Chile et Bolivar. J’attends, j’observe, il ne se passe rien. Je ne veux pas trop me faire remarquer. J’avance sur le trottoir, je passe devant une étale de livre. Un homme cheveux grisonnant tenant une tasse a maté m’interpelle: « Señor, seriez vous interressé par une jolie montre d’époque. Entrez donc, simplement pour les yeux. J’entre, il me fait signe de l’accompagner dans l’arrière boutique, referme la porte derrière lui. Il me dit: « Miguel », j’acquiesse, « installé vous dans ce fauteuil que je vous explique ce dont il s’agit ». Il me parle d’une lettre reçu de la petite nièce d’une amie à Butch Cassidy, celle ci est à présent en maison de retraite, sa santé se dégrade. Elle fait état d’un objet d’une valeur inestimable ayant appartenu à Butch. La vente de celui-ci apporterai des fonds pour le MIRPA ( Mouvement Indépendant pour la Reconnaissance du Peuple Amérindien). La lettre est accompagnée d’une montre à gousset et à l’arrière de celle ci est gravée une carte avec un point géographique. Donc, me dit Juan: « Miguel, ta mission est de partir à la recherche de cet objet. Si tu acceptes, bien entendu. La tâche ne va pas être simple, le MPTP ( Milice des Propriétaires Terriens de Patagonie) ne voit pas ça d’un bon œil. Cela peut s’avérer dangereux, ils sont adepte de la cravate colombienne. Je ne te fais pas un dessin c’est plutôt trash». Je réfléchis, dans ces instants on est toujours partagé par l’excitation d’une nouvelle mission et d’une inquiétude, celle de l’inconnu. Bien entendu, j’accepte, c’est l’aventure, c’est aussi partir sur les traces de Butch Cassidy, du Kid et de Etta Place, ça ne se refuse pas et de surcroît pour une cause qui semble juste. Je quitte Juan, il me remet la lettre et la montre, je lui remet le cliché numérique afin qu’il puisse retrouver la jeune femme de type amérindienne, leur partenaire. Elle se nomme Anouska, elle est originaire de la « Tierra del Fuego ». Je marche dans San Telmo, je suis songeur. Je m’installe à la terrasse du café « Via Via », Juanita, la serveuse m’apporte un gâteau nappé de « Dulce de Lèche ». J’observe la carte gravée à l’arrière de la montre. C’est pas gagné tout ça, me dis-je, peu d’indices. Mais pour l’instant je vais découvrir Buenos Aires. Je découpe une part de gâteau que je porte à ma bouche, au bordel, un délice ce « Dulce de Lèche »...

[topfygad]

10 Things Foreigners Should Know About Trinidad and Tobago – I am Aileen

In all honesty… I didn’t know anything at all about Trinidad and Tobago — well, except for that fact that they are islands in the Caribbean.

So when Stacia volunteered to write about it for this monthly series of ‘Fun Facts from Locals Around the World‘, I was delighted because I wanted to know more about this country that I have been somewhat ignorant about.

After I read through her 10 points, you bet that I was intrigued. I then set off on a research and I realized that Trinidad and Tobago may not be a common destination for tourists in the Caribbean region (except for when it’s carnival season); but as a result, this makes them hold such an unspoiled beauty amidst its industrial scene. Plus, with a rightful mix of rainforested hills and white sand beaches, it can attract travelers that are looking for a serene getaway on such a location that is on the northeastern coast of Venezuela.

Now, I won’t take the limelight away so here goes some of the 10 fun and interesting facts about Trinidad and Tobago from Stacia, a local! .

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My name is Stacia Yearwood and I am a Trinbagonian writer, filmmaker and educator with a penchant for literary and literal rambling.

Unabashedly curious, I have had a passion for travel since a child and attempted my first unchaperoned “trip” at the tender age of two!! I have since lived on 3 continents and had my work published in a variety of journals such as the Beltway Poetry Quarterly and Bellevue Literary Review. Currently, I am the curator of Paper Passages.

My home country. The very things that make the beautiful twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago stand out from amongst its worldly peers are the very things that make it an uncommon and unparalleled travel destination.

Whether you are a cultural enthusiast, one who gallivants for gastronomical experiences, or a dedicated eco-traveller, you can find your travel niche on one or both of these magnificent isles!

As a start though, here are the top 10 things that you should know about Trinidad and Tobago: .

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10 Things Foreigners Should Know About Trinidad and Tobago

#1: Birthplace of the Steelpan

Photo by Eric Parker / CC The Steelpan is the only acoustic instrument to be invented and accepted worldwide in the 20th century and it originated in Trinidad and Tobago. The steelpan is also, quite possibly, the only instrument to be built from industrial waste: starting in the 1930s, discarded oil drums were successfully tuned! How’s that for Trinbagonian inventiveness?

You may treat yourself to entire steelpan orchestras during the Carnival season’s Panorama extravaganza or visit smaller pan yards throughout the year as they prepare for the yearly festivities.

#2: Home of Carnival — The Greatest Show on Earth

Trinidad and Tobago Carnival has been consistently ranked as one of the top 10 Carnival celebrations in the world. It is popularly known as “The Greatest Show on Earth” and is a tradition that began in the 18th century when African slaves created a parallel celebration to the French plantation owners’ masquerades.

For two days, usually in February or early March, the air thrums with frivolity and the earth pulsates to the pressure of prancing feet as revelers “play mas.”

Be forewarned: if you visit during Carnival, you may never leave! Many have started their careers as expats on these shores!

#3: Home of the world’s largest traffic roundabout

Trinidad and Tobago is home to the world’s largest traffic roundabout around the Queen’s Park Savannah (at about 260 acres). Pictured is one small section of the savannah with poui trees in full bloom and the Northern Range in the background.

Around the savannah are the “Magnificent Seven”, a cluster of beautifully ornate colonial buildings constructed in the early 20th century. Additionally, if you would like to indulge in local musical and theatrical performances, visit the Queen’s Hall and National Academy for the Performing Arts for tickets and a show!

#4: First to set a public holiday commemorating abolition of slavery

Photo by Ali Starr / CC On August 1, 1985, Trinidad and Tobago became the world’s first country to declare a public holiday in commemoration of the abolition of slavery.

Every year, a joyful street parade is organized along with the opening of the Cultural Lidj Yasu Omowale Emancipation Village. The atmosphere is filled with the clapping of African drums, chants and exhibitions of African dance. Vendors sell traditional food and fare to patrons dressed in traditional African garb.

#5: Home to oldest rainforest reserve in the Western Hemisphere

The Main Ridge Reserve in Tobago is the oldest rainforest reserve in the Western Hemisphere. Trinidad and Tobago has over 400 species of birds, making it one of the most abundant birding countries per square mile on this side of the world!

The trails burst at the seams with copious varieties of flora and fauna. One may just run into exotic birds such as the Cocrico and Scarlet Ibis while being shaded by a tapestry of Poui, cocoa, and silk cotton trees. Bring your binoculars and prepared to be amazed!

#6: A rare Leatherback Turtle nesting ground

Photo by rustinpc / CC The Leatherback Turtle is the largest of all living turtles and can be differentiated from other sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell. Each year, more than 10,000 leatherback turtles make the treacherous journey across the Atlantic Ocean to nest on Trinidad’s eastern beaches. Matura is one of the safest nesting beaches for the leatherback, and one can witness the dramatic nesting rituals during the peak turtle-watching season between April and July.

Trinidad and Tobago is undoubtedly one of the most important leatherback nesting sites on the globe.

#7: Home of the world’s largest deposit of asphalt

Photo by r.lt / CC The La Brea Pitch Lake in South Trinidad is the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world. It is a 250-foot-deep, semi-liquid pool that’s both a site for asphalt mining and a healing site for its medicinal sulphur baths.

Scientists believe that the Pitch Lake is similar to the hydrocarbon lakes on Saturn’s moon, which could help answer whether they could support life.

#8: Home of the world’s largest brain coral

The Buccoo Reef is one of the most frequented coral reefs in the Caribbean. It was designated as a protected marine park in 1973 and is home to a mesmerizing and flamboyant ecosystem.

World-famous French oceanographer and explorer Jacques Cousteau visited Tobago’s Buccoo Reef and rated it as the third most spectacular reef in the world. Close by, and measuring 10 feet by 16 feet, is the world’s largest brain coral. It can be found at the popular diving and snorkeling spot off Speyside, Tobago.

#9: Home of the world’s hottest pepper

Photo by John Vonderlin / CC The Guinness Book of Records has officially ranked the Trinidad Moruga “Scorpion Butch” Pepper as the world’s hottest pepper.

UPDATE: Apparently in 2012, the Guinness World Records recognized the Carolina Reaper as the hottest in the world; still and the same, that makes the Scorpion Butch as the 2nd hottest — apart from it being the 1st in the world previously!

#10: One of the world’s sexiest accents

The Trinidad accent ranks 10th on CNN’s top ten sexiest accents in the world. Our “sing song” accent is so popular it has become the stuff of myth and the core of numerous comedy segments.

Pictured is Trinbago’s own dictionary – our language deserves its own tome! Look it up on Amazon to learn more!

.

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If you’re from Trinidad and Tobago like Stacia, do you agree with the 10 points that she wrote about? Maybe you have something to add too?

As for me, I am particularly intrigued not only with the islands’ famous carnival celebration but also with its rich flora and fauna. I can’t wait to see this destination with my own two eyes!

NOTE: This series will happen monthly so keep an eye out for the next country that I’ll be featuring!

What do you think about this blog series?

If you’re a Trinbagonian, do you agree with the points that Stacia made about Trinidad and Tobago? What else can you add?

If you’re a foreigner, what points do you find interesting or intriguing? Would you want to visit these islands?

Did you like this article? Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube and be notified about my newest posts and updates!

source http://cheaprtravels.com/10-things-foreigners-should-know-about-trinidad-and-tobago-i-am-aileen/

[junker-town]

The many twists and turns of Tennessee’s bananas coaching search, which ended with the Vols hiring Jeremy Pruitt after 25 days

Take a ride through the Vols’ roller coaster search.

I’m not sure how to really reconcile this, but Tennessee’s coaching search that was so wild for so long ended up coming to an end in the most normal way possible. Or, sort of. The Vols went and hired a Nick Saban assistant, in the form of Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt. Their 25-day hunt for a coach has ended.

Let’s take a walk down memory lane.

Our journey began on Nov. 12.

The inevitable finally happened, after months of fan calls like this one:

The fire Butch Jones sign made it to Monday Night Football. http://pic.twitter.com/kjAz09Drfl

— RockyTopTalk (@RockyTopTalk) October 17, 2017

That’s when Tennessee coach Butch Jones was mercifully fired by Tennessee. The end was ugly, with threats of a fan boycott among the more overt showings of discontent. Jones made his share PR faux pas and rarely won a game worth writing home about, but to his credit he did re-tool Tennessee’s roster and left it better than he found it.

That was not near enough to overcome a 34-17 record during his tenure, and a 50-17 loss to Missouri was the straw that officially broke the camel’s back. In Jones’ last game, Tennessee’s marching band played “Rocky Top” to celebrate a blocked extra point in the fourth quarter, while the Vols trailed 50-17.

Like always, Tennessee fans’ white whale was Jon Gruden.

From there, it was GRUMOR time. A near-decade long fever dream to bring Gruden to Knoxville kicked up into a whole new gear with reports of a $10 million offer to Gruden to unseat him from his Monday Night Football perch. There was also a Periscoped stake out of a Knoxville airport in which a Tennessee fan waited and hoped that Gruden would step off of a plane that 4,500 people watched at once.

The GRUMORS culminated with an erroneous report that the former Tampa Bay Bucs coach was dining across the street from Neyland Stadium on the night of a Vols game with Peyton Manning.

@VolRumorMill @Jon__Reed Is this Gruden with Peyton at Calhoun’s? http://pic.twitter.com/KECq8K48tc

— Brandon Darnell (@bdarnell) November 18, 2017

It wasn’t.

We’d like to take a moment to clear things up as well as apologize. We got excited- like everyone. Please read: http://pic.twitter.com/AIyVvmppKC

— Calhoun's (@calhouns) November 19, 2017

But don’t tell this guy who chased the athletic director (more on him shortly) through Neyland Stadium during a game that.

Look at his reaction to this. We got Gruden boys. http://pic.twitter.com/bOP563ESA3

— Titan Up (@RollTitanz) November 19, 2017

By the end, Gruden thought the search was taking forever, just like we all did.

“Hopefully will be a matter of time,” Gruden said during a Dec. 4 Monday Night Football broadcast he was working. “It’s been a long while since they solved that.”

So many other coaches were linked to this job at one time or another.

Below is a non-chronological list of just about every coach I could find even tangentially linked to the Vols job once Jones was canned (bear in mind that all of this was happening while Brady Hoke was Tennessee’s interim head coach).

Greg Schiano (we’ll come back to him, too)

Now-Florida coach Dan Mullen (who actually seemed pretty plausible)

Jets defensive coordinator Kasey Rogers (ok?)

Georgia defensive coordinator Mel Tucker (at least he got a trip to New York out of it)

Washington coach Chris Petersen (not a cultural fit at all)

Purdue coach Jeff Brohm (aight, maybe)

Now-UCLA coach Chip Kelly (lol)

FAU coach Lane Kiffin (who viciously owned UT on social media throughout the whole process)

Tennessee legend and USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin (when mama calls, as they say)

Duke coach David Cutcliffe (who would rather see things out in Durham)

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy (whom the Vols made a run at in 2012)

Former LSU coach Les Miles (have a nice day)

Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele (he was bad at Baylor)

Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables (I just needed an excuse to share this email I got from some random person that wasn’t remotely true but, whatever, it’s funny.)

Kevin Sumlin (seemed much better off unemployed than in Knoxville anyway)

NC State coach Dave Doeren (decided he’d rather stay in Raleigh)

Mike Leach (almost happened, reportedly, but did not)

The Rock, a Tennessee icon where students can write messages, became a hub for pro-Lane Kiffin messaging.

The Rock on campus today, prodigal son returning home? @Lane_Kiffin http://pic.twitter.com/kqMfeKZx37

— Joey Wallace (@JoeyWallace03) November 28, 2017

Vols fans had come a long way from this a few years earlier:

UT fans now begging Lane Kiffin to take the HC job... here was "The Rock" on campus when he left... Consistant bunch, ain't they... http://pic.twitter.com/q7ej9EHMvP

— SkyDog59 (@SkyDog_59) November 27, 2017

(Kiffin would’ve been a defensible hire, though an odd one given his UT past.)

The Rock was a popular spot throughout the search, actually.

Some other points made on it:

The Rock this morning ... http://pic.twitter.com/MOUgp3LguW

— Lauren Cash (@WVLTCash) November 27, 2017

What’s on the rock today? This. http://pic.twitter.com/AWDXsB7GiA

— Donovan Long (@WVLTDonovan) December 1, 2017

Schiano’s failed courting signaled the truly rarified air that this search was operating in.

Plenty of schools get turned down for their first choice and their second and their third. Plenty of schools get tantalizingly close to getting their man only to have things fall apart. Plenty of schools have fans unhappy with the new coach. Plenty of schools have people within the athletic department choosing sides during the search.

But what happened at Tennessee was on a different level.

First, there’s Greg Schiano. Schiano wasn’t just close to being Tennessee’s head coach. He’d signed a memorandum of understanding, arguably making him the coach.

That’s before a social media firestorm and public protest outside of school facilities forced Tennessee to go back on the deal to save face with its fanbase:

https://t.co/OpziFKo6Wn

— Jon Reed (@Jon__Reed) November 26, 2017

Former players:

I’m just going to say this if we hire Greg Schiano as our next head coach my options will be open to which college program I will Be donating my TIME and MONEY to. (No disrespect to GS) but if UT leaders don’t take football serious then I will find the program that will!!!

— Albert Haynesworth (@haynesworthiii) November 26, 2017

And state politicians:

I have reached out to @John_Currie and others in administration at UT expressing that WE as a TN Community do not approve of Schiano. #higherstandards

— Rep. Jason Zachary (@JasonZacharyTN) November 26, 2017

Tennessee did not save face.

This was the start of a bad week for athletic director John Currie.

There were multiple sporting events in which dozens, if not hundreds, of people chanted for him to be fired. (It might’ve been even more than that. Who knows?)

Days later, Currie was pretty close to hiring Mike Leach ... until he wasn’t.

Sources: John Currie was prepared to hire Mike Leach but university officials wouldn’t allow him to do so. Phillip Fulmer has been sabotaging search process in hopes to become Tennessee’s AD

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 1, 2017

Currie’s failure to hire Leach was at least his third bungled hire in the last year. Add it to Schiano and the time Currie, at K-State, tried to hire respected defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt as coach-in-waiting behind Bill Snyder. The legendary Snyder reportedly nixed that hire because he preferred his son, Sean, to succeed him.

Professional wrestler Kane offered Currie one obvious solution.

This is him:

Good friend who works with @CoachLesMiles just told me that Les is extremely interested in UT position. He'd look great in Orange. #CallLes

— Glenn Jacobs (@GlennJacobsTN) November 30, 2017

Kane is is also a candidate for Knox County mayor. He’s one of a handful of elected officials and political candidates to have weighed in while the search was ongoing.

Former coach Phillip Fulmer took Currie’s job after reported sabotage.

Following Currie’s attempted Leach hire, the Vols did fire their AD. They replaced him with former coach Phillip Fulmer, which was interesting for two reasons:

1. Fulmer was a reported candidate for the job last winter, before Tennessee decided to hire Kansas State AD (and former Tennessee administrator) Currie to the job.

2. Fulmer staged a kind of palace coup to get Currie out:

Sources: John Currie was prepared to hire Mike Leach but university officials wouldn’t allow him to do so. Phillip Fulmer has been sabotaging search process in hopes to become Tennessee’s AD

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 1, 2017

Tennessee is on the hook for a combined $13 million-plus in buyout money to Jones and Currie, the AD who fired the coach and was supposed to replace him. Tennessee reportedly wants to fire Currie with cause and save on its $5.5 million buyout to him, but we’ll see how that goes. That’s on top of any potential dollars Tennessee might owe Schiano for backing out of his deal, plus a bunch of logistical costs.

To Fulmer’s credit, once he took control, things were fairly normal.

The Vols got some candidates, vetted them and interviewed them in a fairly timely and low-key manner. No fireworks, just a normal hiring process. Fulmer took the helm on Dec. 2, and Tennessee announced the Pruitt hire on Dec. 7.

This now ends one of two ways. Either Pruitt leads the Vols to the promised land, and Fulmer & Co. have the last laugh, or he’s unable to engineer success and we’ve got another Tennessee coaching search on our hands in a few years.

Relatively speaking, even hiring a Saban assistant was made weird.

For one thing, Pruitt did not know what asparagus was until 2005. We know this because Pruitt was an assistant at Hoover (Ala.) then, when the school was featured on MTV’s Two-A-Days. Pruitt clearly had no clue what this vegetable was at the time.

Also, there’s this point about Fulmer and Alabama:

Who would have ever thought that Phillip Fulmer, who reveled in beating Alabama and is despised by Alabama fans to this day, would turn to an Alabama native, Alabama grad and Alabama assistant coach to lead the Vols' program? Not sure this search could have a more fitting ending.

— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) December 7, 2017

Still, Pruitt’s the fourth Saban assistant with a current SEC head job.

He joins Kirby Smart at Georgia, Will Muschamp at South Carolina, and Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M. Hiring ex-Saban hands is something teams do.

It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Things were supposed to continue to hit the fan, and athletic director Phillip Fulmer was supposed to pull some wild rabbit out of a hat. But perhaps Tennessee just exhausted itself on all the wildness of the last month.

These nine FBS teams that completed an entire coaching change cycle between Tennessee’s official Jones firing and Pruitt hiring:

Arizona State (Todd Graham out, Herm Edwards in)

Arkansas (Bret Bielema out, Chad Morris in. And the Hogs carried out an entire athletic director search in this span, with an interim AD handling most of the Morris hiring process, despite having their own wild booster culture.)

Florida State (Jimbo Fisher out, Willie Taggart in)

Mississippi State (Dan Mullen out, Joe Moorhead in)

Nebraska (Mike Riley out, Scott Frost in)

Rice (David Baliff out, Mike Bloomgren in)

Texas A&M (Kevin Sumlin out, Jimbo Fisher in)

UCF (Scott Frost out, Josh Heupel in)

UCLA (Jim Mora out, Chip Kelly in)

UTEP parted with its coach on Oct. 1 and still doesn’t have a replacement, so Tennessee isn’t all the way at the bottom here.

Still, the Vols’ search was approximately 100 in coaching search years.

[atypical60]

I know. I’m late to the party.  But the sad truth is, I’ve been sick since Sunday evening with the worst stomach bug of all time. Ugh.  I only got to watch some of the Grammy’s because I was in the bathroom most of the night.

The only thing getting cuddled in Chateau Bonaparte was my stomach and the ceramic throne in the bathroom!

Honestly, it felt so good to kneel on the tiled floor and hug the cold ceramic of my toilet bowl when I wasn’t sitting on it. That outta give you an idea of how I spent the past couple of days!

Anyway, I just got back from the doctor. Bonaparte literally forced me to go. I think it was because he was tired of hearing me moan “Ohhhhhh. My stomach. I hope this isn’t serious!”

I mean that literally and figuratively!

Honest to God. The thought of eating is making me more ill thank I am, but the good doctor gave me a prescription to ward off the nausea so that I could keep something in my gut.  And the only food item I want right now is Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup.  It’s been my “sick” comfort food since I was a child.

I’m eating this as I write..

I’m getting off track here.

This is about Grammy. And not my Grammy.

My real-life Grammy. In her wedding dress. Beyonce could have worn my grandmother’s wedding headpiece and would have looked much better!

It’s about the Grammy Awards, which, in my opinion, could very well be the reason I was so sick!

Ugh. I believe that watching E!’s “On the Red Carpet” made me ill from the get go.  Kriss Jenner and that dumb butch hairdo of hers!  And that dress–it is absolutely awful! Why does Ryan Seacrest insist on having this doyenne of bad taste hosting a red carpet event?  Brad Goreski–I’m appalled that you would wear such a hideous jacket.  And Kristin Cavallari–one false move and your girls are going to escape big time!  

OK—so the music industry has a bit more creativity than, say the film or TV industries.  And I guess that’s why people who attend feel as though they have to dress a bit more eccentric or differently.

I get that. I really do.  But there is a fine line between dressing differently or more creatively and coming off as looking downright silly.  It’s about fit. It’s about what looks good or even great on you.

So, let’s just take a look at some of the fashions I happened to see when I wasn’t in the bathroom!

I had just exited the bathroom and Bonaparte was cleaning my glasses when Beyonce was doing her number.  I swear from far away I thought I was watching a Novena to the Blessed Mother.  I knelt down before the TV and started chanting “Oh Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee”.  Then Bonaparte gave me my glasses and I realized Queen Bee just wanted to look like the old-school Christmas tree toppers we had when we were kids! Who wore it best?  Why the cute little pug on the right! And speaking of JLo…

…she needs to come up with a new signature pose. I’m sick and tired of that dopey “come hither” look her face makes in every single pose. And you may want to change it up from the Angelina Jolie pose.   I swear JLo will be a wrinkly 80 year old with lips that sag down to her chest and she’ll still pose with that dopey face!

Shoes notwithstanding, Heidi Klum gets my vote for best dressed. Had two inches been added to the hem, and had she worn silver pointy-toed stilettos with toe cleavage, this would be my favorite red carpet look of all time!  I love the simple cut of the dress and I LOVE the length of the sleeves.Her earrings and makeup!  She rocked it!

Laverne Cox almost got it right!  The dress is a weird length. It should have been shorter. Just at the knees. She has great legs! And the cut-out sides give the dress a very rocker type vibe while still maintaining fashionable taste!  Her eye makeup is great too!  I love Laverne!

I was born in 1955.  In the early to mid-1960’s we practically lived on these Funny Face drinks. That’s probably one of the reasons I lost most of my hair. Anyway, all I could think of when I saw Taraji P. Henson in that getup was Goofy Grape!  Henson is cute as a button and she could have gone with something a little edgy without looking ridiculous. The dress doesn’t even fit! The fabric looks sloppy. When will these celebrities ever learn?

Rihanna. RiRi.  You are one of the most beautiful women in the world. You can wear just about anything. So then, can you explain just why you put on something that wore YOU?  I’ll admit, the black and orange put me in a very sentimental mood for those wax whistles that we used to get at Halloweeen time!  That skirt looks like the umbrella you sang about!

I actually loved the simple and streamlined cut of the suit that Chance the Rapper wore. But–did your mother ever tell you it was not proper to wear a hat indoors? Well, I’m telling you now. Get rid of the hat when you are inside a building!!!

I have no idea who this young woman is. But she has my vote as one of the Grammy Best Dressed!  Her gown is fresh and youthful and the color is gorgeous on her. In fact, if she was cross-eyed, she would remind me of a young ME! I can’t get enough of this dress! The dropped waist is so flattering! And she’s a bit modest on top without looking fundie!  Most of the celebrities at the Grammy’s could take a lesson from her!  Absolutely perfect!

Why did Beyonce and Jay Z take their daughter to the Grammy Awards!  I KNOW! I KNOW!  They didn’t want Solange to be their plus-one at the after parties so by bringing Blue Ivy, they had a great excuse for Solange to babysit! Poor Blue Ivy!   Mommy and Daddy should have dressed you in a blue suit..that pink looks like Pepto Bismol! Props to Mr. Carter for the way he looks so lovingly at his daughter!  It’s so sweet!

…speaking of Solange…she looked like….

The Golden Ticket from Willie Wonka!

Carrie Underwood needs a new stylist.  NOW!  It was bad enough she looked like chewed up bubble gum at the Golden Globes, but now she has a dress that not only looks like a newly used tampon, it is an old lady bar mitzvah dress. I don’t even think Joan Rivers would have worn it…

This is red done right! Faith Hill nailed another “Best Dressed”. It is a beautiful shade of red. The lines are simple and even with the little cut out, it was discreet. And the shoes! Oh God–I can’t even!  I WANT those shoes!  Well done Ms. Hill!

She may be “zuh gret-ess singuhr” but Ms. Dion is far from the greatest dresser. She’s only 48. She’s young. She looks older than me–and I’m old! She needs to wear her hair down and layered to soften her angular structure. The dress. It’s too low-cut for a flat-chested woman. What is WITH these low cut dresses anyway? And while I’m at it–what’s with the ankle strap shoes. Faith Hill is the only one to rock those ankle straps..Celine Dion looks more like a…

…glittery St. Patrick’s Day hat!  Save that shade o’ green for March 17th!

I love Adele.  And this pea-soup green frock did nothing to enhance her beautiful curves.  That waistband makes her titties look supersized and saggy. She needs a princess cut.  Slightly fitted.  She needs boning in the chest area to hold those ta-ta’s up.  The dress is too long–it looks sloppy.  Adele was meant for black dresses.  She needs a simple dress because that voice of her’s is what draws attention!  I”m glad she swept the Grammys!

 Chrissy Teigen.  No. This isn’t working. SHE is someone who needs to show a bit more skin! But not the way this dress shows it.  She looks like an extra from a vampire movie! I’m kind of surprised because she usually gets it right. Her makeup looks horrible too. What happened Chrissy?  You better look more like your fashionable self at the Oscars!

I’m guessing Cee Lo was channeling his inner Pussy Galore from Goldfinger. And this one in the middle. Wearing 45’s slogan? WTF?  THAT was what really made me sick.  Who is this Girl Crush on the far right?  That dress!  How the hell did she sit down or go to the bathroom?  Well, I can honestly say she has more balls than Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan!

What’s with the unbottoned shirt? What’s with the ill-fitting pj bottoms?  What’s with the awful sleeves?  I think this one was trying to channel her inner…

…..Sick Pense look!  Same color of blue. Same lousy fit!

I need to say something about this Tom Ford dress that Katy Perry wore. I KNOW this dress did not get a lot of love.  However, if you want to be edgy and different without looking clownish, THIS is the way to do it.  Naturally, I have a bit of commentary on this dress. *Sigh* sometimes I wish gay designers would be more in touch with their feminine sides. Why?  I’ll show you…

Katy Perry has the best set of Ta-ta’s on earth. In fact, if I ever hit it big in the lottery, I’m taking a photo of her in a low-cut dress to a plastic surgeon. I’m going to tell him that I want HER ta-tas!  They are spectacular and they are real!  Anyway, back to the dress. I would give her a ballet scooped neckline so that her cleavage would be a focal point.  Then I would cut the sleeves to a long short sleeve. Tom–are you listening?  Thank you! Might I also add, Katy Perry ALWAYS has THE best made-up face!  Her makeup is never less than perfect!

This is NOT good cleavage.  At all.  Lady Gaga looks like she wore the wrong sized bra and reached up to a top shelf to grab something. Girls–hasn’t that happened to you?  You know. You reach for something and your bra rides up in the front? Even for Lady Gaga who can basically get away with anything outrageous, the bottom tit look is just ugly!

Katy Perry sure knows how to show bosom!  They are the envy of us all!  Even though this suit DID remind me of piano keys!

That’s about it.  I ended up falling asleep because I was so violently ill.  I couldn’t even make it out of bed yesterday to write this so I know I’m getting much better!

Did you watch the Grammy Awards? Did you have a favorite look? Did you have a look that you thought was just awful.  Tell me!!

And…. HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!

One of my favorite songs about love. John Mayer with Katy Perry “Who You Love”.  (I hope they get back together!!!)

Atypical60 Takes a Look at Grammy Fashions! I know. I’m late to the party.  But the sad truth is, I’ve been sick since Sunday evening with…

[topfygad]

10 Things Foreigners Should Know About Trinidad and Tobago – I am Aileen

In all honesty… I didn’t know anything at all about Trinidad and Tobago — well, except for that fact that they are islands in the Caribbean.

So when Stacia volunteered to write about it for this monthly series of ‘Fun Facts from Locals Around the World‘, I was delighted because I wanted to know more about this country that I have been somewhat ignorant about.

After I read through her 10 points, you bet that I was intrigued. I then set off on a research and I realized that Trinidad and Tobago may not be a common destination for tourists in the Caribbean region (except for when it’s carnival season); but as a result, this makes them hold such an unspoiled beauty amidst its industrial scene. Plus, with a rightful mix of rainforested hills and white sand beaches, it can attract travelers that are looking for a serene getaway on such a location that is on the northeastern coast of Venezuela.

Now, I won’t take the limelight away so here goes some of the 10 fun and interesting facts about Trinidad and Tobago from Stacia, a local! .

<![CDATA[#bxtitle_1225781693.box-title.box-title-line-middle .title-bar:after, #bxtitle_1225781693.box-title.box-title-line-middle .title-bar:before, #bxtitle_1225781693.box-title.box-title-line-around .title-bar:after, #bxtitle_1225781693.box-title.box-title-line-around .title-bar:before, #bxtitle_1225781693.box-title.box-title-line-around h2 border-color: #ed2665 ]]>

My name is Stacia Yearwood and I am a Trinbagonian writer, filmmaker and educator with a penchant for literary and literal rambling.

Unabashedly curious, I have had a passion for travel since a child and attempted my first unchaperoned “trip” at the tender age of two!! I have since lived on 3 continents and had my work published in a variety of journals such as the Beltway Poetry Quarterly and Bellevue Literary Review. Currently, I am the curator of Paper Passages.

My home country. The very things that make the beautiful twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago stand out from amongst its worldly peers are the very things that make it an uncommon and unparalleled travel destination.

Whether you are a cultural enthusiast, one who gallivants for gastronomical experiences, or a dedicated eco-traveller, you can find your travel niche on one or both of these magnificent isles!

As a start though, here are the top 10 things that you should know about Trinidad and Tobago: .

<![CDATA[#bxtitle_591974900.box-title.box-title-line-middle .title-bar:after, #bxtitle_591974900.box-title.box-title-line-middle .title-bar:before, #bxtitle_591974900.box-title.box-title-line-around .title-bar:after, #bxtitle_591974900.box-title.box-title-line-around .title-bar:before, #bxtitle_591974900.box-title.box-title-line-around h2 border-color: #ed2665 ]]>

10 Things Foreigners Should Know About Trinidad and Tobago

#1: Birthplace of the Steelpan

Photo by Eric Parker / CC The Steelpan is the only acoustic instrument to be invented and accepted worldwide in the 20th century and it originated in Trinidad and Tobago. The steelpan is also, quite possibly, the only instrument to be built from industrial waste: starting in the 1930s, discarded oil drums were successfully tuned! How’s that for Trinbagonian inventiveness?

You may treat yourself to entire steelpan orchestras during the Carnival season’s Panorama extravaganza or visit smaller pan yards throughout the year as they prepare for the yearly festivities.

#2: Home of Carnival — The Greatest Show on Earth

Trinidad and Tobago Carnival has been consistently ranked as one of the top 10 Carnival celebrations in the world. It is popularly known as “The Greatest Show on Earth” and is a tradition that began in the 18th century when African slaves created a parallel celebration to the French plantation owners’ masquerades.

For two days, usually in February or early March, the air thrums with frivolity and the earth pulsates to the pressure of prancing feet as revelers “play mas.”

Be forewarned: if you visit during Carnival, you may never leave! Many have started their careers as expats on these shores!

#3: Home of the world’s largest traffic roundabout

Trinidad and Tobago is home to the world’s largest traffic roundabout around the Queen’s Park Savannah (at about 260 acres). Pictured is one small section of the savannah with poui trees in full bloom and the Northern Range in the background.

Around the savannah are the “Magnificent Seven”, a cluster of beautifully ornate colonial buildings constructed in the early 20th century. Additionally, if you would like to indulge in local musical and theatrical performances, visit the Queen’s Hall and National Academy for the Performing Arts for tickets and a show!

#4: First to set a public holiday commemorating abolition of slavery

Photo by Ali Starr / CC On August 1, 1985, Trinidad and Tobago became the world’s first country to declare a public holiday in commemoration of the abolition of slavery.

Every year, a joyful street parade is organized along with the opening of the Cultural Lidj Yasu Omowale Emancipation Village. The atmosphere is filled with the clapping of African drums, chants and exhibitions of African dance. Vendors sell traditional food and fare to patrons dressed in traditional African garb.

#5: Home to oldest rainforest reserve in the Western Hemisphere

The Main Ridge Reserve in Tobago is the oldest rainforest reserve in the Western Hemisphere. Trinidad and Tobago has over 400 species of birds, making it one of the most abundant birding countries per square mile on this side of the world!

The trails burst at the seams with copious varieties of flora and fauna. One may just run into exotic birds such as the Cocrico and Scarlet Ibis while being shaded by a tapestry of Poui, cocoa, and silk cotton trees. Bring your binoculars and prepared to be amazed!

#6: A rare Leatherback Turtle nesting ground

Photo by rustinpc / CC The Leatherback Turtle is the largest of all living turtles and can be differentiated from other sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell. Each year, more than 10,000 leatherback turtles make the treacherous journey across the Atlantic Ocean to nest on Trinidad’s eastern beaches. Matura is one of the safest nesting beaches for the leatherback, and one can witness the dramatic nesting rituals during the peak turtle-watching season between April and July.

Trinidad and Tobago is undoubtedly one of the most important leatherback nesting sites on the globe.

#7: Home of the world’s largest deposit of asphalt

Photo by r.lt / CC The La Brea Pitch Lake in South Trinidad is the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world. It is a 250-foot-deep, semi-liquid pool that’s both a site for asphalt mining and a healing site for its medicinal sulphur baths.

Scientists believe that the Pitch Lake is similar to the hydrocarbon lakes on Saturn’s moon, which could help answer whether they could support life.

#8: Home of the world’s largest brain coral

The Buccoo Reef is one of the most frequented coral reefs in the Caribbean. It was designated as a protected marine park in 1973 and is home to a mesmerizing and flamboyant ecosystem.

World-famous French oceanographer and explorer Jacques Cousteau visited Tobago’s Buccoo Reef and rated it as the third most spectacular reef in the world. Close by, and measuring 10 feet by 16 feet, is the world’s largest brain coral. It can be found at the popular diving and snorkeling spot off Speyside, Tobago.

#9: Home of the world’s hottest pepper

Photo by John Vonderlin / CC The Guinness Book of Records has officially ranked the Trinidad Moruga “Scorpion Butch” Pepper as the world’s hottest pepper.

UPDATE: Apparently in 2012, the Guinness World Records recognized the Carolina Reaper as the hottest in the world; still and the same, that makes the Scorpion Butch as the 2nd hottest — apart from it being the 1st in the world previously!

#10: One of the world’s sexiest accents

The Trinidad accent ranks 10th on CNN’s top ten sexiest accents in the world. Our “sing song” accent is so popular it has become the stuff of myth and the core of numerous comedy segments.

Pictured is Trinbago’s own dictionary – our language deserves its own tome! Look it up on Amazon to learn more!

.

<![CDATA[#bxtitle_908658618.box-title.box-title-line-middle .title-bar:after, #bxtitle_908658618.box-title.box-title-line-middle .title-bar:before, #bxtitle_908658618.box-title.box-title-line-around .title-bar:after, #bxtitle_908658618.box-title.box-title-line-around .title-bar:before, #bxtitle_908658618.box-title.box-title-line-around h2 border-color: #ed2665 ]]>

If you’re from Trinidad and Tobago like Stacia, do you agree with the 10 points that she wrote about? Maybe you have something to add too?

As for me, I am particularly intrigued not only with the islands’ famous carnival celebration but also with its rich flora and fauna. I can’t wait to see this destination with my own two eyes!

NOTE: This series will happen monthly so keep an eye out for the next country that I’ll be featuring!

What do you think about this blog series?

If you’re a Trinbagonian, do you agree with the points that Stacia made about Trinidad and Tobago? What else can you add?

If you’re a foreigner, what points do you find interesting or intriguing? Would you want to visit these islands?

Did you like this article? Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube and be notified about my newest posts and updates!

from Cheapr Travels https://ift.tt/3eZi20U via https://ift.tt/2NIqXKN

[topfygad]

10 Things Foreigners Should Know About Trinidad and Tobago – I am Aileen

In all honesty… I didn’t know anything at all about Trinidad and Tobago — well, except for that fact that they are islands in the Caribbean.

So when Stacia volunteered to write about it for this monthly series of ‘Fun Facts from Locals Around the World‘, I was delighted because I wanted to know more about this country that I have been somewhat ignorant about.

After I read through her 10 points, you bet that I was intrigued. I then set off on a research and I realized that Trinidad and Tobago may not be a common destination for tourists in the Caribbean region (except for when it’s carnival season); but as a result, this makes them hold such an unspoiled beauty amidst its industrial scene. Plus, with a rightful mix of rainforested hills and white sand beaches, it can attract travelers that are looking for a serene getaway on such a location that is on the northeastern coast of Venezuela.

Now, I won’t take the limelight away so here goes some of the 10 fun and interesting facts about Trinidad and Tobago from Stacia, a local! .

<![CDATA[#bxtitle_1225781693.box-title.box-title-line-middle .title-bar:after, #bxtitle_1225781693.box-title.box-title-line-middle .title-bar:before, #bxtitle_1225781693.box-title.box-title-line-around .title-bar:after, #bxtitle_1225781693.box-title.box-title-line-around .title-bar:before, #bxtitle_1225781693.box-title.box-title-line-around h2 border-color: #ed2665 ]]>

My name is Stacia Yearwood and I am a Trinbagonian writer, filmmaker and educator with a penchant for literary and literal rambling.

Unabashedly curious, I have had a passion for travel since a child and attempted my first unchaperoned “trip” at the tender age of two!! I have since lived on 3 continents and had my work published in a variety of journals such as the Beltway Poetry Quarterly and Bellevue Literary Review. Currently, I am the curator of Paper Passages.

My home country. The very things that make the beautiful twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago stand out from amongst its worldly peers are the very things that make it an uncommon and unparalleled travel destination.

Whether you are a cultural enthusiast, one who gallivants for gastronomical experiences, or a dedicated eco-traveller, you can find your travel niche on one or both of these magnificent isles!

As a start though, here are the top 10 things that you should know about Trinidad and Tobago: .

<![CDATA[#bxtitle_591974900.box-title.box-title-line-middle .title-bar:after, #bxtitle_591974900.box-title.box-title-line-middle .title-bar:before, #bxtitle_591974900.box-title.box-title-line-around .title-bar:after, #bxtitle_591974900.box-title.box-title-line-around .title-bar:before, #bxtitle_591974900.box-title.box-title-line-around h2 border-color: #ed2665 ]]>

10 Things Foreigners Should Know About Trinidad and Tobago

#1: Birthplace of the Steelpan

Photo by Eric Parker / CC The Steelpan is the only acoustic instrument to be invented and accepted worldwide in the 20th century and it originated in Trinidad and Tobago. The steelpan is also, quite possibly, the only instrument to be built from industrial waste: starting in the 1930s, discarded oil drums were successfully tuned! How’s that for Trinbagonian inventiveness?

You may treat yourself to entire steelpan orchestras during the Carnival season’s Panorama extravaganza or visit smaller pan yards throughout the year as they prepare for the yearly festivities.

#2: Home of Carnival — The Greatest Show on Earth

Trinidad and Tobago Carnival has been consistently ranked as one of the top 10 Carnival celebrations in the world. It is popularly known as “The Greatest Show on Earth” and is a tradition that began in the 18th century when African slaves created a parallel celebration to the French plantation owners’ masquerades.

For two days, usually in February or early March, the air thrums with frivolity and the earth pulsates to the pressure of prancing feet as revelers “play mas.”

Be forewarned: if you visit during Carnival, you may never leave! Many have started their careers as expats on these shores!

#3: Home of the world’s largest traffic roundabout

Trinidad and Tobago is home to the world’s largest traffic roundabout around the Queen’s Park Savannah (at about 260 acres). Pictured is one small section of the savannah with poui trees in full bloom and the Northern Range in the background.

Around the savannah are the “Magnificent Seven”, a cluster of beautifully ornate colonial buildings constructed in the early 20th century. Additionally, if you would like to indulge in local musical and theatrical performances, visit the Queen’s Hall and National Academy for the Performing Arts for tickets and a show!

#4: First to set a public holiday commemorating abolition of slavery

Photo by Ali Starr / CC On August 1, 1985, Trinidad and Tobago became the world’s first country to declare a public holiday in commemoration of the abolition of slavery.

Every year, a joyful street parade is organized along with the opening of the Cultural Lidj Yasu Omowale Emancipation Village. The atmosphere is filled with the clapping of African drums, chants and exhibitions of African dance. Vendors sell traditional food and fare to patrons dressed in traditional African garb.

#5: Home to oldest rainforest reserve in the Western Hemisphere

The Main Ridge Reserve in Tobago is the oldest rainforest reserve in the Western Hemisphere. Trinidad and Tobago has over 400 species of birds, making it one of the most abundant birding countries per square mile on this side of the world!

The trails burst at the seams with copious varieties of flora and fauna. One may just run into exotic birds such as the Cocrico and Scarlet Ibis while being shaded by a tapestry of Poui, cocoa, and silk cotton trees. Bring your binoculars and prepared to be amazed!

#6: A rare Leatherback Turtle nesting ground

Photo by rustinpc / CC The Leatherback Turtle is the largest of all living turtles and can be differentiated from other sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell. Each year, more than 10,000 leatherback turtles make the treacherous journey across the Atlantic Ocean to nest on Trinidad’s eastern beaches. Matura is one of the safest nesting beaches for the leatherback, and one can witness the dramatic nesting rituals during the peak turtle-watching season between April and July.

Trinidad and Tobago is undoubtedly one of the most important leatherback nesting sites on the globe.

#7: Home of the world’s largest deposit of asphalt

Photo by r.lt / CC The La Brea Pitch Lake in South Trinidad is the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world. It is a 250-foot-deep, semi-liquid pool that’s both a site for asphalt mining and a healing site for its medicinal sulphur baths.

Scientists believe that the Pitch Lake is similar to the hydrocarbon lakes on Saturn’s moon, which could help answer whether they could support life.

#8: Home of the world’s largest brain coral

The Buccoo Reef is one of the most frequented coral reefs in the Caribbean. It was designated as a protected marine park in 1973 and is home to a mesmerizing and flamboyant ecosystem.

World-famous French oceanographer and explorer Jacques Cousteau visited Tobago’s Buccoo Reef and rated it as the third most spectacular reef in the world. Close by, and measuring 10 feet by 16 feet, is the world’s largest brain coral. It can be found at the popular diving and snorkeling spot off Speyside, Tobago.

#9: Home of the world’s hottest pepper

Photo by John Vonderlin / CC The Guinness Book of Records has officially ranked the Trinidad Moruga “Scorpion Butch” Pepper as the world’s hottest pepper.

UPDATE: Apparently in 2012, the Guinness World Records recognized the Carolina Reaper as the hottest in the world; still and the same, that makes the Scorpion Butch as the 2nd hottest — apart from it being the 1st in the world previously!

#10: One of the world’s sexiest accents

The Trinidad accent ranks 10th on CNN’s top ten sexiest accents in the world. Our “sing song” accent is so popular it has become the stuff of myth and the core of numerous comedy segments.

Pictured is Trinbago’s own dictionary – our language deserves its own tome! Look it up on Amazon to learn more!

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If you’re from Trinidad and Tobago like Stacia, do you agree with the 10 points that she wrote about? Maybe you have something to add too?

As for me, I am particularly intrigued not only with the islands’ famous carnival celebration but also with its rich flora and fauna. I can’t wait to see this destination with my own two eyes!

NOTE: This series will happen monthly so keep an eye out for the next country that I’ll be featuring!

What do you think about this blog series?

If you’re a Trinbagonian, do you agree with the points that Stacia made about Trinidad and Tobago? What else can you add?

If you’re a foreigner, what points do you find interesting or intriguing? Would you want to visit these islands?

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