Remember when we took a look at how certain Bajans are popping up on the net faster than newborn rabbits? There have been some more again… A few have lofty ideals and others, well, they are there on the net taking up bandwidth, ahem!

One set of marketing I witnessed made me sorry I did not have my camera ready, there were some guys and girls in the City by BNB on Broad Street, they were wearing black T-shirts with white lettering in lower-case saying “barmuvinjam.com” – so I said I will memorise that to look up later, and this is what I found…

It is a Flash site, and if I am not mistaken Richard Haynes Jr from the erstwhile Bowie-Cross advertising seems to be either a member or involved or even both!

Here is part of the credos for BarMuVinJam –

OUR MISSION

We seek to provide young professionals with consistent, inexpensive, high quality social events. We aim to provide a safe and exciting alternative to the norm, which drives otherwise lively socialites to stay at home. Participation is key, as we feel the guests are the ones that create the experience.

ABOUT US

BARMUVINJAM (BMVJ) is a word derived from melding our nationalities (Barbados, Bermuda, St.Vincent & Jamaica) into an all-encompassing identity which uniquely integrates the member’s backgrounds and expresses the diversity of our patrons. At first, we were a small band of friends playing dominoes on a regular basis who decided that we wanted a place to party that was free of violence; a place where we could enjoy ourselves without having to worry about an ugly scene breaking out at any given moment. We decided to have a Barbecue and invite a few friends, who were mostly professionals and played dominoes, of course! Everyone enjoyed the function so much that we had another and another, until the ‘events‘ became annual.

We quickly realized that there were lots of people, just like us, looking for the same thing. Rather than continue to complain about over-priced, stand around, pretentious parties, we decided to do something about it. We began to entertain ourselves the way we knew how, and figured whoever liked it would join. We knew if we continued to set a high standard, party promoters would raise their game, and the club scene would benefit. Don’t be fooled by the shirts and ties; many of our members have diverse backgrounds and appreciate what a good party is supposed to be.

We are not profit driven, as witnessed by the reasonable prices of the parties. Thus far, more than half of the profits made have been donated to charity, and this is a commitment which will continue. We believe in providing value to our guests, and leaving them wanting more each time.

It is a good concept, but they obviously do not update their site that often – there’s a party listed there from since May 24th! There is some indication that membership requires a fee, if you lose your card you pay 15$ and they don’t indicate if that’s US, BDS or J’can!

Another local website starting now is De Watering Hole, which is out to compete with things like the Scandal INstitute or Club Xtreme‘s chat section – the difference is that it seems to encourage blogging and is also trying to match-make members and therefore discourages anonymity by urging users to post their real pics of themselves.

To look at or do anything you MUST be a member and that means registration, am part of so many cat and dog-fights I really couldn’t be bored, if you can’t give me a peek as to why I’d willingly register then forget it! Plus, in addition to having topics from 2006 and few current items, most of the blogs available seem self–pitying…

Peter Boyce from Madd comedians has a piece of the Matrix so he can perpetuate his rant against the NCF, it’s called, guess what? boycevoice, where he lists no other blogs he reads and offers no viable alternative to the Nat’l Cultural Foundation. This is what I hated the other day when Rawle Brancker and Joel “Big Bird” Garner were railing against the the West Indies Cricket Board, not their cries over the dismal track record of the WICB – the fact that no viable alternative was offered!

Anyone can tear apart an entity or individual, but it takes guts and insight, be you right or wrong, to offer a different way to accomplish a goal!

….the NCF instead of seeing what needs to be done for culture spends its time pleasing itself. The NCF therefore can be said to engage in a form of ?cultural masturbation?!

The result of their self pleasuring activities can be blantantly seen in the performer producer contract which is currently being issued by them. Like the self pleasing exclusivity clause where the artist is now restricted from performing at another event the same time of Calvacades.

This clause also impacts negatively on any event that competes against Cavalcades as the artistes would be prevented from going to Tim?s or the same tents that are NCF registered.

The contract says you must ask NCF for permission to perform some place else, you could imagine you spend thousands of dollars producing a song and for a stinking $300 you have to ask for permission to do your own song some place else? You would have to be a c____*

The contract also contains c____ * like you must sign over all the rights in your song to them.

Oh, and the clause that says you can?t talk publicly about the contract or what they do with your song. That?s usually what an abuser tells a victim ?don?t tell any one what I did to you?

We must congratulate the NCF in their efforts to please them selves, they have got to be the best cultural masturbators ever. You know they say, that makes you blind. I guess that?s why they wear glasses!

You can see where Peter Boyce is objecting and why, but he has not suggested any compromise – in this sense, to me, he and the NCF are opposite sides of the same coin. My way or the highway!

Those are the Caribbean or Bajan contributors to cyber-space, but there’s a very intriguing UK site, they want to see the Concorde fly again!

According to their President, Paul James, a former passenger –

Their contention to justify such a venture is that a plane used in WW2 is still flown not as commercial but as a heritage craft –

Their goal is lofty, maybe even sci-fi level …. but a noble cause, at least the membership is cheap for Brits! Ten quid gets you lifetime membership, this could be better for the craft than gathering dust in a museum here while it may be hit by a hurricane again!