Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson greets Sinead O'Connor (left) at the Independence Gala in celebration of Jamaica's 43rd year of independence, held at Jamaica House on Saturday. Rita Marley, widow of this year's honouree Bob Marley, shares the occasion. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
AND SO, on Wednesday, the fabulous twins celebrated their birthday with an intimate dinner shared with family and friends.
Dears, suffice it to say, it was all that, and then some!
Also celebrating on Wednesday - and this was the big one - was my dear friend and brother, Richard Francis, who marked this special milestone in rather muted tones. His very charming wife, Karen, and their daughters made it a family affair, as they celebrated at their Montego Bay home.
Guardsman Group's Financial Director, Vinay Walia, is celebrating his birthday today, the party to follow tomorrow.
On Sunday, however, Norma Soas and Shirley Golding will be the toasts of their respective families as both will be celebrating their special day.
Next week Saturday, the fabulous style doyenne Marilyn Bennett of J. Wray and Nephew; JPSCo's Charles Matthews; husband and wife duo Major Hugh Blake and his wife Judith Forth-Blake, will be blowing out the candles on their birthday cakes. They all share the same birth date.
Champagne wishes and Beluga dreams all around.
BIG ONE COMING
And speaking of birthdays, dears, wait for this one as it's all systems go for the big birthday celebration of the fabulous Carol Bourke, manager over there at the Wyndham Rose Hall near Montego Bay, as she marks a very special milestone later this year. Dears, it promises to be one shindig and then some, but for now it's all hush-hush, so more anon.
And the buzz in Upper St. Andrew is all about the many invitees who avoided last Saturday's Independence celebrations at Jamaica House in order to escape the latest stench from the scandal-plagued P.J. Patterson administration.
And, dears, there's at least one party that was planned for the end of September that has been postponed, as it seems events have overtaken the planners and have left them with no option but to announce a postponement.
And sadly, as it was a party long overdue and this here scribe was looking forward to attending. Alas, we will have to wait.
A FLUX
But dears, the news that the Prime Minister will be seeking re-election to his party's presidency at their September annual conference, and not going into retirement as was anticipated, has left quite a number of people, including a number of party bigwigs, in quite a state of flux.
Luvs, the buzz is for years now, there has been a growing number of political insiders who have funded the Opposition in the hope of seeing the back of the Prime Minister.
Cronyism and seeming unending spate of scandals have been the hallmark of his administration and left many seeing red (as in bankruptcy
and/or near bankruptcy), which has had stranglehold on the nation's coffers through contracts, etc., so much so, that this state of affairs has led to the decline and demise of many an independent contractor and service provider.
With this in mind, dearhearts, these long-suffering 'comrades' were all set to throw a big bash to celebrate Mr. Patterson's retirement from active party politics at the end of September.
Luvs, there were many who thought that the long-announced deferred retirement would actually be realised round about the time of the annual party conference, and so the celebratory bash was planned to coincide with the anticipated retirement.
Now, imagine the absolute dismay and frustration that visited itself upon these would-be revellers, as the shelving of Mr. Patterson's retirement plans has put paid to their planned revelry.
Mind y'all, with Mr. Patterson's announcement of his 'impending retirement' making him some kind of ineffectual 'lame duck', one has got to wonder what indeed could have persuaded him to continue beyond the PNP's annual conference.
NOT SITTING WELL
Anyway, the news is not sitting well at all in some PNP quarters, as at least one insider was overheard reeling off reams of choice Jamaican fabric, as the news of the deferred retirement reached him and his friends at their weekly 'watering hole'.
Children, when it was all over the place was 'dark', as the main speaker was very clear in stating that P.J. Patterson's continued leadership of the PNP does more harm to the party's chances at the next polls, than good, and he should go while people are still inclined to be kind.
"And, after all, Peter, Portia or Omar could not do any worse than him!"
Now, this here scribe was not at the 'watering hole' for this 'live and direct exchange' but was definitely on the guest list for the farewell September do, and it was armed with this knowledge that a dear comrade called and shared this latest bon mot.
And dears, things did not get any better for one of the chief organisers of the said do, as his attendance last Saturday at Jamaica House, for the annual Independence do, cause him and a number of others to be champing at the bit and leaving the venue fuming, and then some!
Dears, this card-carrying party member was decidedly not a happy camper, as he and his family are still at odds with reconciling the appearance of Sinead O'Connor - the self-confessed lesbian - who is a fabulous performer and singer, but rose to international notoriety by destroying a picture of the late Pope John Paul at one of her performances.
Sweet-things, this appearance did not go down well at all and has left some questioning the wisdom of the Prime Minister and/or his advisers, who talk about values and attitudes, and still reeking from the stench emanating from the NSWMA reports.
To have a performer who tore up a picture of the worldwide head of the Roman Catholic Church before an audience performing at Jamaica's Independence celebrations!
Daahlings, y'all can read whatever y'all want in this one, but it must be abundantly clear that the Patterson-led Jamaica House has not got a clue, and then some. What were they thinking?
Now, y'all ever see my trial! No wonder some members of the PNP hierarchy are this nigh to open revolt.
Dears, more anon. But then again, why bother, as my relatives used to say "Them shame tree done dead already."
SMASHERONI PARTY
Last Saturday was not a total lost, however, as businessman and restaurateur Rajiv Bakshi and his wonderful companion, Dorothea Gordon-Smith, threw an absolute smasheroni of a party at their upper St. Andrew residence, that was so fab, people are still going ga-ga and then some, as the buzz is it was one fab-fest and nothing but!
Also buzzing last weekend, and particularly last Saturday, was the now annual Independence weekend jerk-fest, hosted by Kevin Levee and his affable staffers over there at Hedonism III in Runaway Bay, near Salem in St. Ann.
Pumpkins, it was all that, with plans afoot make next year's staging of the event a cultural and culinary celebration of all things Jamaican. Dears, let's wait for this one.
