Reviews

1688 Orchestra delights

The 1688 Orchestra's 'Bajan Jazz' Album launch was held at the Walcott Warner Theatre of the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination

The 1688 Orchestra led by Artistic Director Stefan Walcott held their “Bajan Jazz” Album Launch at the Walcott Warner Theatre of the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination (EBCCI) on Thursday 22 March 2012. The ensemble comprised mainly of young adults aged 20 to 25 gave a delightful performance to a near capacity crowd at the venue.

With arrangements from individuals such as Nicholas Brancker and Andre Woodvine the audience was treated to a wonderful array of musical interpretations including pieces based and inspired by some of Barbados’ most popular and classic musical numbers. The result was a wonderful medley of rhythms and influences including those from the genre of jazz.

There is no doubt that there is an abundance of musical talent in Barbados and the 1688 Orchestra is another shining example of this fact.

For more information on the group visit their Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/1688-Orchestra-and-Collective/125141497586537

Bajan in 5 blog gives the ‘1688 Orchestra “Bajan Jazz” Album Launch event a 5 out of 5 “Green Coconut” rating.

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Barbados....the app

Last time we featured a Bajan lingo app for the Android OS platform. That app did a good job at presenting the information in a well-designed and pretty intuitive interface. The only major downside was a lack of audio capabilities in order to hear the pronunciation of the words and phrases.

This time around we review an app simply named ‘Barbados’. Developed by MF Productions the app promises to supply the user with the latest news, updates, photos and videos. Sounds good but did we mention there was a question mark at the end of their preview text? That should have raised an eyebrow! The creators self-describe it as the “Best Barbados App ever”….maybe they should be informed that it is best to let the public determine that. In any case there is really only one other Android based app they compete with.

A screenshot from the 'Barbados' Android app

As with just about every app on Google Play (formally Android Market) the installation process for the 'Barbados' app is simple and straightforward. That is the good part….now here comes the bad (we wish we could say "here comes the sun" but not even a bright sunshine day could save this app). To simply put it…this app needs help. It is poorly designed, lacks original content and is not intuitive or enjoyable to use. While the app does provide the user with access to content such as news, photos and videos, this is simply done via re-directing the user to another website, such as YouTube (as in the case of the videos). There is no basic background information on Barbados, its history or geography to be found within the app.  In fact there is no original content. While the lack of original content and basic background information is disappointing the user’s experience now turns to frustration when trying to navigate the clumsy interface.

At the end of the day the only good thing about this app is that it helps to put the name “Barbados” into the Google Play universe. At the same time it serves no real useful purpose on your mobile device.

Bajan in 5 blog gives the ‘Barbados’ app a 1 out of 5 “Green Coconut” rating.

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Bajan related apps 

The main screen for the Bajan Lingo Android OS app

Apps are the in thing when it comes to smart phones and tablets. Apple has its App Store, Blackberry has its Blackberry App world and Android has Google Play (formally the Android Market). Unfortunately application development has not been looked at a lot in Barbados. The Nation Publishing Company Ltd does have an application for the Blackberry platform available for download but this is one of the few locally developed apps.

The majority of smart phone users in Barbados are utilising the Blackberry platform and in terms of application development, apps developed for Blackberry are far fewer than those for market leading Apple OS and second place Android OS. While application development in Barbados is still in the infancy stage there have been Barbados related apps that have been developed in other countries.

Over the next few weeks the Bajan in 5 blog will look at some of the Barbados related apps which are available on Android’s Google Play.

The first is an app entitled “Bajan Lingo” which is developed by GCT Labs. This app is your portable source to Bajan sayings and phrases. Popular phrases such as “plaster for every sore (an excuse for every situation)” and “wha gine on? (a greeting saying how are you doing?)” are included in this app.

The app gives you access to Bajan words and phrases on the go

The app provides a Bajan word or phrase for the day and also allows users the option to look for words and phrases alphabetically by letter. It is a great little app to have on your phone and with it you can ensure you always have a piece of Barbadiana with you, even if you are “ova an’ away (overseas)”. Best of all, the app is free to download from Google Play.

A downside to this app is that unlike some translation apps, there is no audio option which would allow you to hear the words or phrases being pronounced. That would have been a great addition and hopefully a feature that would be added in any update that may be done.

Bajan in 5 blog gives the “Bajan Lingo” Google Play app 4 out of 5 'Green Coconut' rating

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Laff-it-Off 2012 - "Talk Cheap"

The team from Laff-it-off Productions Inc. is back again with another hilarious presentation on topical issues as it pertains to Barbados. The theme for this year’s production is ‘Talk Cheap’ and a variety of topics are covered ranging from the cost of living, politics, relationships and entertainment. In addition to the live performances on stage are a series of pre-recorded video clips. These videos combined with the live performances provide an evening of enjoyable entertainment.

Each year Laff-it-off presents a humorous look at issues in Barbados and this year is no exception. This production has been a staple of the local theatrical scene for years and continues to entertain audiences. For those in Barbados who have not seen this year’s show, this brief review will not seek to give too much information away but you can be assured you will be entertained.

For more information on Laff-it-off visit:  http://www.laffitoffbarbados.com

'Bajan in 5 blog' gives Laff-it-off 2012 a 4.5 out of 5 'Green Coconut' rating.