Yes I, this one came and *=§$% pass with more or less than our usual apocalyptic hopes being fulfilled. Same story again... and this time the big surprise was that there was no big surprise. The bug did not bite the millennium computers but 'I love you' sent files crashing out of order. It was a good year for reggae music but the players and singers still have a long way to go before any real changes can be seen. The usual big names did pass again and mash it an' crash it but the Berlin shows are always limited to large halls a la Columbia. No open green space to set up a decent festival in this city. Chiemsee and Dortmund always feature heavy-duty vibes in summer with the top boys.... then they take the berlin trip for the final attack...Beenie, Ziggy, Buju...all passed and delivered. Big crowd & big P.A. so you just have to imagine the rest. In the smaller Pfefferberg, nice vibes also flowed. JA independence celebrations were the usual mash up crowdwise, but the stage was not all that vibrant this year. Still, nuff raspect to 'Alfie' the long-time organizer of this event. A nice little scene was beginning to be set up once a week in 'Acud' in the East section of town. Nice reggae and jams used to be the order of Thursday nights until... Lord knows what happened...Tie Face (a local band) might have some answers. All year long the same question is being asked.... where is there good reggae tonight, or this weekend? And it's always the answer that cannot answer the question!! All in all it was not too bad a year for reggae and music and the Berlin vibes in general. The fact still remains that in spite of whatever ups and downs there are, the music continues to survive, even though for us over here it amounts to only two and a little more hours of contained bliss at a price that would make most Caribbean islanders shudder if they ever knew that it costs so much to be entertained. But we love it and I am sure that as soon as there is a next year, things will go on in a positive and fulfilling direction.

The same thing or what?

Yo.... one thing that we must all agree upon is that 'things are not the way they used to be'. An eternal truth, with which the invention of years and months comes a time when we see things different. We are now long past the days of 'wine and roses' and a different element now 'run things' in whatever section of society we look. Dubwise used to be heavy on the Bass and Drums but nowadays we hear about drum and bass and the pulsating trickno beats that pound away all night.... nonstop!!! Reggae bands tend to have a simple line-up that always includes Bass and Drums. How many keyboards and guitars always vary according to the rules of logistics and dollars. Recording is something else. What we hear, or are allowed to hear, depends mostly on lawyers and office people, not the artists themselves. In a fast moving world like ours, the next challenge will be to wonder if we are really seeing the artist or some cyber replica or clone, forever touring etc.; we will see by 3000.

We have already touched a little bit on the creole language in a former issue and to help those who have may missed out, it must be emphasised that this language is spoken in the French speaking islands of the Caribbean and Dominica.. Knowledge of this tongue is limited to the local and street area and is hardly ever spoken in official and / or Governmental circles. Nouns and verbs usually retain some of their original French pronunciations craftily put together in an Africanish way. In Kwéyòl the SUBJECT PRONOUNS are: mwen - I/me/my, ou-you (singular); I ("ee") - he/she/it, nou - we, zò - you (plural), yo - they. Sé - to be, is preceded by the subject pronoun: mwen sé - I am, ou sé - You are, I sé - he/she/it is, nou sé - we are, zò sé - you (plural) are, yo sé - they are. When there is a change in subject number, the form of Kwéyòl verb (sé) is not affected. Mwen sé Mawsel - I am Marcel. Ou sé Patrick - you are Patrick. Nou sé jan Hannover. We are Hannover folk. Zò sé jan Pawi. You are Paris folk. Yo sé jan Berlin. They are Berlin folk. Now for some common nouns...nonm - man, fanm - woman, gasson - boy, tifi - girl, doktè - doctor, lajan - money, pwéson - fish, légliz - church, koko - coconut, kai - house, fig - banana, zaboka - avocado. The indefinite article 'yon' precedes the noun. Yon nonm - a man. Mwen sé yon nonm - I am a man. I sé yon gasson - He is a boy. Yo sé doktè - They are doctors. The word for have is 'ni', hence mwen ni - I have, ou ni - you have, I ni - he/she/it has, nou ni - we have, etc. etc. We have a house - Nou ni you kai. I ni yon zaboka - He has an avocado. Yo ni yon bato - They have a boat. In negative sentences, the word 'pa' (not) is placed before the verb. Mwen pa ni lajan - I have no money. More next time, o.k.???

All over the world today there are people playing music that has been directly influenced by reggae. Some just admit it forthright and say that just want to play the music without getting too much involved in all the isms and shisms that came with reggae and its purveyors, Rasta...In America today, there are lots and lots of formations and the world famous RAW (Reggae Ambassadors World-wide) has its roots in the US. Jamaica is an English speaking country so there was no language barrier to prevent it making its way into North American ears. On this continent, only the British have the English for them. Lots of bands in Poland, Italy and elsewhere have recently 'taken up arms' and delved into the mystic riddims that reggae seeks to carry across the world. I have heard some crucial dubs coming outta Poland and the Reggae scene in Italy is as healthy as can be. Some bands just sing the straight original Bobs and some do have their own original tracks which their public know by heart and sing along merrily with. So it can be rightfully said that such an artform exists. Eureggae? Why not???