Parang, Parang!!!!

(destinationtnt.com)

         

Season's Greetings everyone!  Five more days til Christmas.  Hopefully, you all are finished with Christmas shopping and relaxing.  I have to admit, I do get homesick this time of year,  I thought I would enjoy a white Christmas since moving to Brooklyn but sadly, that was not the case anymore.  Still, it doesn't hurt to reminisce about a warm, Trini Christmas.  And speaking of Trini Christmas, there is one musical tradition that occurs every Christmas and that's parang.  Parang usually played around Christmas time, is a musical genre with Spanish influence.  Parang comes from the Spanish word, parranda, meaning "spree" or "fete."  Depending on the sources, the origins of the genre occurred when the Spanish colonists brought their music to Trinidad while ruling the island from 1498-1797 when it became a British colony.  In another theory, the cocoapanyols, a people of Spanish, Amerindian and African origin, brought parang to Trinidad in the 19th century from Venezuela while working on the cocoa plantations.  Nonetheless, parang became an important part of Trinbago's culture.  Normally, the parang season starts in October to early January but sometimes it can start as early as September these days.

Traditionally, musicians called "parranderos," go to various houses, entertaining, dancing and food is shared.  There is even a parang competition which is held in Lopinot, located in East Trinidad.  However, if you want the real deal, go to Paramin, located in the valleys of north Trinidad if you want to hear some authentic parang (destinationtnt.com).  

Paramin, Trinidad (pinterest)

Lopinot, Trinidad (destinationtnt.com)

Now parang would not be complete without the Parang Queen, Daisy Voisin.  Ms. Voisin was born in Erin, Trinidad in 1927 and began her career in parang in 1973.  With her band, La Divina Pastora Serenaders, Voisin took parang to new heights.  Unfortunately, she died in 1991 but her music still lives on.  You can still listen to her famous songs today, including, "Alegria, Alegria," and "Hooray, Hoorah," (wikipedia.com).  

 

Normally, parang is sung in Spanish but nowadays some parang songs are sung in English much to the chagrin of die-hards who believed that Parang should only be sung in Spanish.  Well, we Trinis love calypso and soca so we decided to add these elements to parang and soca parang was born.  Scrunter, Baron and Crazy among others, are calypsonians in their own right but they added their own spin to parang which became classic till this day.  No Trini Christmas would be complete without Scrunter's "I want a piece ah pork," Crazy's, "Yvonne," The late Lord Kitchener's "Drink ah Rum," and Machel Montano's, "Soca Santa." Parang is definitely unique to Trinidad and Tobago but thanks to the diaspora and technology, parang can be heard everywhere.  Hopefully next year, I can visit Trinidad to experience Trini Christmas and experience parang again.  You can't beat a warm Trini Christmas!  Merry Christmas everyone!!!

He-man and She-ra Christmas Special!

(syfy.com)

Hello, my lovelies! It's that time of the year again!!  Christmas season is upon us and you know all those Christmas songs will be playing non-stop, much to everyone's happiness or chagrin.  Cartoons, especially retro cartoons are no exceptions.  You can count on them to churn out a Christmas episode or two.  Well, Filmation did just that with the He-man and She-Ra Christmas Special which came out in December 1985.  

(Basementrejects.com)

*Spoilers ahead!! The show begins in the castle of Eternia, where the twins Adam and Adora are celebrating their birthday.  Do they have a Julian calendar in Eternia or a seven day week or something?  Well, it's a cartoon so anything goes!  Friends from Eternia and Etheria came to celebrate.  That dimensional gate must be really be working overtime!! Suddenly, Queen Marlena starts to reminisce about Christmas on Earth, in which her husband, King Randor asks, "What's that? An Earth holiday?" Of the queen replies, "a very special Earth holiday!"  Suddenly, everyone is in a Christmas mood, I'm telling you, they're using the Julian calendar or maybe the Eternian equivalent.  While everyone is celebrating, Man-at-Arms and Adam are working on some sort of ship. As usual, Orko, up to some mischief, slips into the machine.  Somehow, it ended up on Earth and transports Orko and his new friends Miguel and Alicia back to Eternia.  Add in the usual evil crew consisting of Skeletor and Hordak and their minions causing havoc on Eternia and Etheria, while the heroes try to get the children back to Earth. Growing up, I was very excited to see the show and finally got to see Eternians and Etherians together for a potluck and Christmas party!!!  Adora finally had a chance to come back to Eternia on such a rare occasion.  Adam also got to play Santa.  I also liked the fact that Skeletor actually had some good in him, after he saved the children from the Horde.  Much to his relief, it's only once a year!  He even smiled, which melted my heart!!  

(Pinterest)

I had to admit though that it was a cheesy show and some might call it stupid, especially this generation.  But who cares, it's a cheesy feel-good show, promoting the spirit of Christmas, not everything has to be about SJWs or other serious issues shows and cartoons today tend to promote.  So sit back, relax and watch the show in all its Christmas goodness!! Season's Greetings!!