Bagay Lakay
Welcome to Bagay Lakay!
One of the primary purposes behind this blog is to create an Haitian Online Destination both significant and useful. We intend to make ‘Bagay Lakay’ one of the premier Haiti-oriented destinations on the Web. ‘Bagay Lakay’ is Where our past and our present meet! Where our memories come alive! Here, our proverbs, our idioms, our commercials, our art, our music, our savoir-faire, in other words ‘Our Culture’ will be seen in a better light.
The main section will bring you daily or weekly posts in three different categories:
Souvni Lakay
Tout souvni nou, soti nan timoun rive nan granmoun.
Remembrances of things past, from childhood to adulthood.
This is a series of original blog posts dealing with ‘remembrances of things past’. (i.e. aprann monte bekàn, rache dan, pran piki, ti Janvye, mès minui, koupe panzou, fè chenè…)
Linguistic & Cultural Pearls
Here, you will find Linguistic and Cultural Pearls…
Bèl pèl m rekòlte pou nou…
Weekly posting of commentaries on linguistic and cultural ‘pearls’ collected from different sources: the streets, the schools, the bodegas, the Haitian radios broadcasting on the internet, etc. The focus being on the ‘instrumentalization’ of the language.
Gen tande. Gen koute. Ou ka tande san ou pa ap koute. Men si n vle pran bon son, fò nou mete zòrèy nou an twonpèt pou nou koute byen. Se on aktivite m eseye fè souvan. Kòm rezilta, sa pèmèt mwen rekòlte kèk bèl ti pèl, bèl ti bijou pawoli pou m pataje avèk nou.
Dèyè Pawòl, Gen Pawòl
“Dèyè Pawòl Gen Pawòl” conjures up the idea expressed by the proverb “Dèyè mòn, gen mòn”. In short, it will be a weekly investigation into our logomachy, the words we use–words of the day, words from the past, words in synchrony, words in diachrony, all words that purport to convey some meaning about us…
Help Haiti
‘Help Haiti’ is another very important section . This category features a List of Organizations, Individuals or other Entities who are selfishly helping our country and its people. We are counting on your participation and contribution towards the building of this important resource.
Please, give a little of your time and make a difference. Find pockets of inadequacy, lack, poverty, illiteracy, etc… In other words, find a need and fill it! Pick an organization from this list and contact them. See how you can help further their cause or mission. Offer to do Translations, Proofreading, Website Makeover, Research, etc. Those of you who are good at Fundraising, please, do provide your help where it’s needed.
Haiti Chérie
This is another pet project of ours. We want to create a List of all the Cities, Towns, Villages, Bourgs and other Places in Haiti, with Pictures of all their Landmarks. There are so many beautiful pictures of Monuments, Municipal Buildings, Schools, Churches, Beaches and others, scattered all over the web. This is the place to find the link to all these pictorial references.
Here is an example of what an entry about the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, would look like:
National Palace, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
‘Palais National!’ How many memories! Among others, I remember the day when I drank water from a firefighter’s helmet. It was Flag Day, and as usual, all school childrenhad to be present for the festivities and the ever present presidential speech. It was a very hot day, and I made the mistake to enter the front yard. When the President was ready to start speaking, the gates got closed! Here we were, hot and sweating, dying of thirts and hunger. Once again, the firefighters came to the rescue! I never made that mistake again. As soon as the accompanying teacher finshed his roll call, we (students of PSCSM: Petit Séminaire Collège Saint Martial) disappeared through the crowd…
But, we want more! Instead of just links, we would like to see a Native (natifnatal, pitit tè ya!) of a particular Area in Haiti, create a page like this one.
Anybody, Haitian or Foreigner, whether he/she is a native or not, would be able to find relevant information about the selected place. Furthemore, they could help in the Projects targeting said area.
It is not too hard to make a page like this. There are tons of online resources you can use to achieve this goal: Free web pages, Free Blogs, etc. You can also find Free Help in Html, CSS, etc. And if you really have to, (I mean really!), you may contact us for help. We are no Web Design experts, but we do know a thing or two. At the very least, we can point you to the right direction.
The idea for this list came to me after reading this page. She is right. We need to stop wasting our time and do something benficial to our country and its people.
Please, send us the links to all the relevant pictures you can find on the Online Photo Sharing Sites like: Flickr Photobucket Picasa , SmugMug , Webshots , and the Travel Sites such as: Virtual Tourist.
It does not matter if you own the copyright to these pictures. If you do, please send us an email authorizing us to use your picture(s). If you don’t own the right to the picture but still want to help us out, you could ask the owner and let him send us the permission lettter at this address. Otherwise, we will try and secure such authorization from the copyright’s owner ourselves.
If you are unable to build a page, find a picture you like and write an article about the place depicted. If you find a picture of a place you are familiar with, tell us about what it means to you. Share your memories and feelings. Tell us what you think will the future hold for the residents of the place.
Write anything! We will host the article on our blog. But, please, do contribute to this project. This list would be a very important resource for anybody interested in learning about Haiti. We thank you for your help in this matter.
Link of the Day
Every day, we will showcase a website, a set of webpages, an online document, or a piece of information about Haiti, that we deem worthy of consideration.
It can be one of our favorites destinations on the web, specially those outstanding Haitian sites. ‘Bagay Lakay’ will maintain an up-to-date list of all major Haitian websites and other web resources related to Haiti and Haitians. We will particularly include dead or dying Haitian sites we would like to revive or make over.
Some links will point to charitable organizations actively working in our country. Others will link to websites dealing with Graphic Design, Web Technologies, Hobbies, etc. They can also be just the links to our newest designs.
Please, provide us with similar links, and help us build a gallery of outstanding online destinations for the the Haitian Web Surfer, or anybody else interested in Haitian Affairs, Culture or History.
And, since Bagay Lakay is the sister site of Lakay Graphics, there is a Creative Graphic Design category comprising of three Graphics-related series:
- Design of the Week (Studies and Discussions on Design Principles and Methods.)
- Graphic Design Resources and Links (Tutorials, Books, Software, Mailing lists, Websites, etc.)
- Vintage Movie Posters and Signage (Studies and Discussions on Vintage Posters, Signs and Ads)
Creative Graphic Design
The purpose of this side of the blog is to take you along on a journey in the world of Creative Graphic Design. Primarily, I will be searching out and evaluating Tutorials and Articles on Graphic Design and related Software. I will point out the best resources for learning the principles of good design. Together we will peek into the the finest online portfolios. I want to learn all the Photoshop-style Text Effects in the world: the cheesier the better! Let’s master the art of Designing with Color. Let’s learn to create Logos and Layouts that deliver that knock out punch. Come along!
As far as modern design is concerned, I am practically a beginner. In fact I bring very little to the table: not a Photoshop User, not an Illustrator, not a Web 2.0 Geek, and boy, do I love Helvetica, Brushscript and Comic Sans! What I am is a fast learner, someone who understands that knowledge is key. Don’t be fooled though, I do know a few things about Color Masks, Layers and Merge Modes. I am a decent Layout Artist who also handpainted quite a few banners in his life. And somewhere in my background there is a lot Technical Drafting and Pen & Ink drawing. That should count for something, shouldn’t it?
One thing I will also be doing a lot of in this series of posts, is taking the other side of the debate by arguing against some of the current design trends and beliefs. Most professional Designers, Students and established Freelancers think they have the last word. Judge and Executioner? I think not!
I believe Graphic Design is also a means to create Art and in the field of Art Appreciation, I am as good as the next person, if not better (I cry at art shows, for God’s sake)! Art is about that soft spot way inside of us where feelings reside. The experts may have opinions about structure, form, usage, color compatibility, and all that mumbo jumbo. But in the end, what really matters is how a certain piece makes a certain person feel.
“Feelings are not Opinions!” is a common retort of mine, and this is so true, in this domain as everywhere else. The beauty and appropriateness of a Sign, Print or Logo, depends a lot more on the target audience than on the skills and opinion of the designer and his peers. Niche market, anybody?
So, let’s grab the gloves and head for the center of the ring. I have a feeling it will be an interesting bout.
Design of the Week
The Design of the Week feature is one of our favorite series from the Creative Graphic Design category. It’s a post where we pick one of our designs and find out if it works or not, and why. A kind of troubleshooting after the fact. At the same time we will be learning a few Principles of Layout, Typography, Beauty, Balance, etc.
Graphic Design Resources and Links
Here we will post articles and other resources about Graphic Design, with emphasis on learning. A great majority of these posts will be about our experiences, our views on design principles and practices, the various pieces of graphic sofware we like and currently use, etc. We will also provide links to our favorite Graphic Design sites and Forums. Please, send us your links for inclusion.
Click Here for All the Posts in this Series.
Vintage Movie Posters & Signage
I love Movie Posters the same way I do Antiques Signs. My goal is to study these posters, know the artists behind them; learn the styles, the trends, the printing methods used, etc. I want to find out why I love those posters so much. As a layout buff, I want to learn how these artists managed to possess such a command of layout, typography, color and balance.
We are fortunate to be able to browse through these priceless collections, from the comfort of our home. The Computer Industry, Libraries, Auctions Sites, Online Merchants, Private Collectors, Curators, etc, played an important part in this beautiful endeavor.
I am researching the subject for my own enjoyment and to help people like myself find valuable available resources in this area. This Category will be about Discussions on Graphic Design Styles and Techniques, and also about the Modern Methods of Reproduction. We will post links to the very few and important resources of vintage artwork.
Click Here for All the Posts in this Series.
Pran Gan Ou
This category is for the very controversial stuff. If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen! Coming Soon…
Tatán Uncovered
Who is Tatán? ‘Tatán’ happens to be my favorite nickname. My full name is Antoine Pierre-Paul. I have two other nicknames widly used among my peers.
‘Pepé‘, pronounced: ‘pepé’ (as in French or Spanish), came from the abbreviation of my last name: PP (French). This is the one that most of my classmates and friends from PSCSM (Petit Séminaire Collège Saint Martial) use. Classmates call each other by their last names. Other friends of mine who were of the same school age would call me this same name also.
‘Paulo‘ belongs to the college years. Everyone who knew me when I attended l’ Université d’ Etat d’ Haiti (the State University of Haiti) would call me ‘Paulo’. Later on, my co-workers at the Telecommunications of Haiti (TELECO) used this also.
‘Tatán‘, pronounced: tatán (as in Spanish) is what most babies and young ones call me. When they try to say ‘Antoine’, it comes out as ‘Tatán’. That is what my mother and my little brother called me also. This name is used by everyone who lived in the neighborhoods where I grew up. Most of my close and intimate friends would use this nickname. (But some of my closest friends, specially those from school, still prefer ‘Pepé’.)
This Category is about me. My likes and dislikes, my passions, my hobbies, etc. It will reveal the real me, the one who loves deeply, who sobs while listening to a certain type of music, who is very opinionated and controversial. Reader, beware! In the words of my very dear friend Judi, “I am not not too subtle!” I have very strong views on Politics and Religion, for example. This category is about what makes me click and also about what will tick me off!
For example, if you know me, you are aware of the fact that it’s dangerous to tell me: “Let’s agree to disagree!”. Because you know I will haunt you, I will follow you to the end of the world, I will pursue you to Hades if necessary. Because, someone will be proven wrong. TODAY! “Let’s agree to disagree!” “AAHHHRRRGGGHHHH! No! We will not do such thing! NO!
I eat a vegetarian diet. I jokingly refer to myself as a Vegan who loves cheese. In fact, I am a seventy-five percent Raw Vegan and Fruitarian. I am also a Yogi (not a Buddhist, not a Hindu! GTFT!) therefore, I do not believe in the Bible like the majority of self-proclaimed Christians do. (How about that for starters?) I also believe in Perfection. (Did I say I was controversial?)
But, believe it or not, this is the light stuff. I created another category for the really controversial topics. It’s called “Pran Gan Ou” which is Haitian Creole for “Put Your Boxing Gloves On!”. Because there will be a fight. No holds barred. Definitely NOT for the Softies!
You may find more information about me through the many profiles I have on the web. Or you can just google my name if you prefer!
Click Here for All the Posts in this Category.
We invite everyone to come and share their knowledge and views on Haitian culture, language, art, music, trends, current news, politics, graphics, etc. All will be able to talk openly and frankly about everything Haitian.
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