Museum of Illusions

 This is one cool place.

Omg. My head on a platter?😭

When you come to Orlando you automatically think of Disney, but Icon Park is a wonderful place to relax and take the kids, as it has a lot of really great stuff.

They even have early Christmas.

And looks what's beside it!

That is where Madame Tussauds is too and there are lots of food and souvenir places. But my favorite place is the Museum of Illusions.

We sure had fun there.

At some angles you see a face

Yup. Enjoying my  second childhood.😁

A night to remember

It was truly a night to remember.

It was the celebration of another year in the life of  the preeminent  Dr. Christine Edwards/Smith, maternal/fetal specialist in 

Coral Springs, Florida.

 

Friends and family came from all over to celebrate with her.

 

The birthday girl

Her proud mom Miss Vie, (Joan, my views: Search results for violet edwards (joan-myviews.blogspot.com) didn't miss a beat.

Ms. Violet Edwards

 Neither did her loving husband, noted attorney Everett Smith.

It was a wonderful night. Everything went well from the valet parking, the beautifully decorated venue, the hors d'oeuvre, the delicious meal, the entertainment to the spirits that flowed all night.

For me, the best thing of all was seeing so many family members whom I hadn't seen for years and meeting many others for the first time.

This will be a more wonderful Christmas, given this great start!

Memories.

                

The couple being serenaded

A.J delivered! 💓

The reason why I attended the advertised Christmas concert at the Redeeming Word Christian Center, was because the great A. J Brown was advertised as a performer!

And boy did he ever deliver!

                                        

The audience was so overwhelmed, that he had to do an immediate encore.

For the benefit of those who don't know of him, A.J. Brown is Jamaicans greatest tenor.

He started his career from the ninteen eighties as a cabaret singer at a few hotels on Jamaica's north coast. I don't know if he is properly appreciated in Jamaica, but he is so well known in classical music circles, that he spent five years performing on the famous Las Vegas strip.

About ten years ago, he released a classic C.D. with about eight great songs which had been made made famous by the three tenors, Jose Carreras, Luciano Pavarotti, and Placido Domingo. He sang in Italian, and If you closed your eyes, you would not have been able to distinguish him from any of them!

He is cooling down a bit now, as he is singing with Third World, a popular reggae/ pop band. 

While on stage with them recently however, he shocked the crowd by doing "Time to Say Goodbye"  from that album and in Italian too! 

He sang it last night and immediately elicited an encore. He obliged and I got goose bumps throughout! 

This was not a well organized affair though as it was advertised as a Christmas Concert when apparently the main purpose was to raise funds to buy sneakers for children in Jamaica who are still walking/ running barefooted in Jamaica in 2023.

 In true Jamaican bad planning style too, it started 45 minutes late😡.

It was a worthwhile fund raiser though but the main goal was in such small print at the bottom that I suspect, only the members of the church where it wasn't held knew what it was about.

Incidentally, the organizer who was introduced as Mr. Grange, said he is the brother of Jamaica's current Minister of Culture, the accomplished Olivia Gange, fondly called, Babsy.

At this concert, they also launched a go fund me  and took up contributions for a young man who was shot, while walking on the street.

These are really worthwhile projects, but not properly advertised. 

You can still donate to both by contacting  the organizers featured on the flyer above, though.

But back to the concert itself.

Consul General Mair with backup singers!

 It was held under the aegis of the Consul General of Jamaica. 

The incumbent, Oliver Mair is an outstanding thespian in his own right. 

He on several occasions last night, when we were getting a bit bored, took the stage and woke up the audience with his excellent comedy and general performance.

Consul General Oliver Mair, joins a performer on stage

Another star performer who was advertised was the once-great Pluto Shervington. I had no idea he was not well and had virtually lost his voice.   

Pluto had to sit on a stool

They played his hits in the background while he courageously attempted to recapture his luster.

My heart goes to him as he was once among the most prominent entertainers that Jamaica produced.

Listen to his monster hit, " Ram Goat Liver" here on You tube:

https://youtu.be/92etuOM3QrI?si=A1xg95W4xcadSmTn.

Incidentally, Ernie Smith, another great performer was there, but he was not asked to perform, so I suspect he may not be well either.

                                      

       The Cross family had good vibes.

Such a pity, as most as what is being produced as music in Jamaica these days, is not up to any standard!

With my friends Carol and Judy

Snippets from other performances.

An amusing skit was performed by Maxine Osborne and  her nephew Elijah.

Empress  Unique was excellent 

Garvey Museum at last?

Am I dreaming or are we finally going to get a Garvey Museum at his birthplace in St. Ann?

My reason for hope is coming from an article I read in the Gleaner of 22^nd December 2022, entitled “Sisters receive houses to make way for Garvey’s museum”.

According to the report, “Sisters Jacinth and Carla Johnson were overcome with emotion when they received the keys to their new houses in Seville Heights, St Ann, from Prime Minister Andrew Holness, just in time for Christmas.”

These sisters had occupied the house in which Garvey was born, for years. 

It was a squabble about relocating them which had been given as the excuse by succesive governments for years, as the  reason why the museum could not be built there. 

Many years ago, I had visited the location in the middle of St. Ann, where Garvey was born and the sign demarking te property is extremely visible at the bottom of the steps of this humble home.

For years after that, I kept asking on Facebook what happened to the promised Museum (last post May 2020!) but could get no progress report. Then I was informed that the project was delayed because of financial wrangling with the current residents.

Well apparently, this has been now rectified which paves the way for the construction of the museum to honor of our first national hero.

While in Jamaica, there are normally years if not decades between when announcements are made and action taken, I hope this will not be the case in giving Garvey the honor he deserves by making his boyhood home a museum where we can all go and be reminded of his struggles and gifts to the world. 

For as the prime minister said at the handing over ceremony, “….Marcus Garvey’s philosophy, work and fight for equality helped pave the way for the liberation of an entire race worldwide, and in that regard his legacy deserved to be monumentalized.

He emphasized; “In any other country, a figure like Marcus Garvey, whose work, philosophy and leadership contributed significantly to the liberation of an entire race of people, his boyhood home would be a Mecca, a place where people from all over the world, particularly people of African descent, would come to see where it is that he drank water, mixed with the people, had the culture infused, and the life experiences from which he was able to generate with great eloquence and clarity of thought.”

My problem is though that we Jamaicans do not have much of a tradition of embracing the important symbols of our heroes.

Bogle's monument at Stony Gut is rundown and virtually abandoned

Take for example, the monument to National Hero Paul Bogle, in St. Thomas. 

Bogle was a leader of the 1865 Morant Bay protesters, who marched for justice and fair treatment for all the people in Jamaica. After leading the Morant Bay rebellion,  he was captured, tried and convicted by the colonial government (who had declared martial law), and hanged on 24 October 1865 in the Morant Bay court house.

But you would never know it if you visited his monument in Stony Gut or anywhere in St. Thomas. Joan, my views: Reggae Falls and Barren Monuments (joan-myviews.blogspot.com)

Even the home of the late, National Hero Norman which was extensively and expensively refurbished, remains a virtually empty and rarely visited monument in Manchester.

Yes, we pay lip service to our heroes and even spend money making memorials, but what publicity is given regularly to encourage our citizens to visit these places and appreciate our history?

None in my book. 

Not even the age-old custom of introducing kids to these historically significant sites by organizing school trips, seems to be done anymore.😡

Let’s hope that if and when the museum in St. Ann’s Bay is constructed, it will not be similarly ignored, for you could hardly ask for a more central location than this could you?