'Cabbie' heads to Portmore

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

The sometimes acidic, always analytical 'Cabbie' does not move from his armchair in 'Maskita Wan', the second episode of the Cabbie Chronicles series currently showing on Flow OnDemand. Still, he gets into the stinging business of mosquitoes in Portmore, St Catherine, via a report on 'CVJ' with reporter Michael Blunt.

Also involved in the Alycone Productions animated film are Portmore Shadow Mayor Verbz Kertail and Demetrius Williams, who heads up an organisation supporting mosquitoes' rights. Plus, of course, there are the mosquitoes themselves - lots of them, each with a very sharp proboscis.

So the names are corny, but the short film is not. And while there is loads of humour - Blunt reports on a tractor disappearing into thin air and then there is a scene of the mosquitoes teaming up to hoist and fly away with it - there is also a synopsis of the densely populated municipality.

Protesting mosquitoes

And a hot one it is, too! The ruddy complexioned Devil fanning away at a popular mall after Cabbie says: "I don't know how them manage over there. When is not mosquito is the heat".

After a shot of mosquitoes holding up protest placards, correct down to the incorrect spelling ('We Want Justis'), Williams outlines a development of Portmore, including Bridgeport, Waterford and Edgewater, that eventually infringes on the boundaries developers and the insects had agreed on.

Portmore's standout Shadow Mayor, Verbz Kertail, gets involved and Cabbie comments: "De bredda deh him neva black de odda day?". "A de soap!" is the response.

A good 'Maskita Wan' episode, which starts with the taxi drivers' dancehall ditty: "One, two, tree; me deh pon a journey/from Cross Roads go a Half-Way Tree", ends with the CVJ report being interrupted after the mosquitoes get angry and prepare to attack in painful formation.

Cabbie Chronicles is produced by Alison Tabois Latchman, Anieph Latchman and Marlo Scott.

Alison Latchman points out that while Cabbie is not mobile in this episode, it does not run against the series' format. "It is not about being in the taxi, it is about the character," she said. And Latchman emphasised "we are not trying to keep everything in the car."

The familiar voice of 'Michael Blunt' is indeed Michael Sharpe, the well-known television presenter.

Humorous film

Portmore's development and Cabbie's comment about the heat and mosquitoes are not incidental to the humorous film. According to Latchman: "Cabbie presents social commentary, not necessarily by saying it outright. You won't hear him preaching at you. He expresses it and the audience sees it."

Latchman says they plan to introduce a long-running character in each episode of Cabbie Chronicles and Stoosh Puss - Cabbie's friend - is slated for the next slot.

Alycone Productions does the series with a team of four to five people, so to extend it to half-hour would take between 20 and 25 persons to do the puppet style animation in which everything has to be drawn. They are hoping that Cabbie Chronicles will drive investors to put money where the art is.

"We have the people, we just need the money," Latchman said.