Over the past year, from Bermuda and the Bahamas to Ireland and Orkney, hundreds of pairs of unworn shoes have washed up on beaches. But how did they get there, and why are scientists so interested in where they are being found?
The island has a population of a little over 65,000 but with an expanded World Cup in 2026, qualification for the tournament is not out of the question!
Bermuda, with a population of just over 65,000, will be the smallest nation outside of Oceania to ever compete in a senior men’s Confederation championship. That figure is smaller than combined capacities of the three stadiums it will play in during the group stage. Though the country has less than one-fifth the population of Iceland, Bermudan FA resident Mark Wade said he thinks the program can follow in Iceland’s footsteps and use the Gold Cup as a starting point for an eventual berth in the World Cup.
Welcome to my Kickstarter campaign. I’m so glad you’re here to join me in the making of my 7th full length studio album, This Love.
The writing and recording of This Love has led me to a deeper engagement with myself and with my singer/songwriter roots: Through this process has come a full, fresh immersion in the authentic feel of the music – both for me playing the songs, and for you, my listeners and friends.
You’ll hear lyric driven melodies backed by raw acoustic guitar and sparse but focused studio instrumentation and sound.
This album is an intimate meditation on life, destiny, loss, forgiveness, renewal. Above all, it’s a celebration of love.
The release of This Love will also mark the 20 year anniversary of my 1999 debut album. And the sound of this new album is reminiscent of that first album in the acoustic nature of the songs. So, it truly is a reflection on all the years gone by: of living, of loving becoming a father and a husband traveling the world meeting the most amazing people everywhere that the music has taken me, making friends and playing with great musicians
There have been a few sad goodbyes along the way but essentially it has been a journey of adventure and gratitude.
At the heart of it, I’m still A Guy With a Guitar and I am still here singing these songs for you. I am so grateful to be able to share this inspiration with you.
I am pleased to invite you all to be an integral part of the making of This Love.
Scroll down below to find lots of different ways in which you can dynamically contribute and support the release of This Love into the world.
Thank you for all the support and love over the years. I give you This Love in heartfelt return.
Risks and challenges
Over the past few years we have learned much about the challenges associated with crowdfunding campaigns and how unexpected bumps in the road can lead to poor supporter experiences.
With This Love, the risk reduction strategy started with the demo process. This time I have really slowed the music marination down, not rushed, not settled for ‘good enough’. Musically, I gave myself the time to thoroughly test a few different approaches to the writing process. Songs you believe in is half the battle in this game.
With the benefit of a solid local team and Garage Band, our demo and pre-production costs have also been close to zero, which helps a lot. We are recording at home here on Maui and mixing and mastering in Australia with the best in the business so I’m 100% confident the product will be quality. We have been far more proactive with our rewards fulfilment strategy and have resisted offering items that we will later come to regret.
We have also taken time to build the right partner network. My biggest partners in promotion, live performance, streaming are signed onto be part of the project team and will ensure we get our message in front of more than just my followers.
Of course, the main risk is that we just don’t make it.
But we’ve done it before and we’re doing it again.
PGA TOUR professionals who don’t qualify for this year’s World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions event in China will have an appealing alternative: a trip to Bermuda.
The Bermuda Championship is a new addition to the 2019-20 PGA TOUR schedule, set for Oct. 31 to Nov. 3 at the Port Royal Golf Course in Southampton, a Robert Trent Jones-designed layout that hosted the PGA Grand Slam for golf’s major champions from 2009 through 2014. This will be the first official annual event on the island, as the Bermuda Tourism Authority signed a five-year agreement through 2023 as the title sponsor … read full article here
… In addition to four days of coverage on Golf Channel, the Bermuda Championship will be broadcast in 226 countries and territories as part of the tour’s international broadcast agreements.
0:00 – Bank (feat. B Young & Russ) 3:23 – Love & Reggae 6:56 – Legal Now 10:12 – Bounce It (feat. Stonebwoy) 13:20 – Show Love 16:32 Callaloo (ft. Dizzy Wright) 19:30 The Feeling (ft. Johnny Cosmic) 23:02 Everything Blessed (ft. Tech Nine) 25:31 Love Is Life 28:06 Time Flies (ft. Russ)
Hybrid is Collie Buddz’s third full length album. The album is fully produced by Buddz and features two tracks with Russ, as well as tracks with Tech N9ne, B Young, Stonebwoy, Dizzy Wright, and Johnny Cosmic. The first five songs on the album have been released and highly praised as singles. The FADER called “Love & Reggae” a “quintessential reggae jam,” and Billboard praised “Bank” feat. Russ & B Young, claiming “Buddz effortlessly [flowed] on the self-produced melody.” Meanwhile, “Bounce It” featuring Ghanian Grammy nominee Stonebwoy has gotten radio play around the world including on Sirius XM Pitbull’s Globalization channel, and Buddz’s latest single “Show Love” has quickly earned radio play on Sirius XM The Joint and was added to Spotify’s elite New Music Friday playlist.
I was a bit perplexed when the assignment first came through. A mountain biking shoot in Bermuda? Based as I am in the Rockies, I didn’t even know there were “mountains” in Bermuda (there’s not, really.) There are plenty of trails and more importantly a community of riders that is wildly enthusiastic about mountain biking, trail riding, and off-pavement adventures. The thought of getting to photograph bikers in an area that had probably never been shot for publication was also very enticing.
So the plan was solidified. My self and the writer, Brigid Mander, would fly to Bermuda and …
Singer and producer, Clinark has remixed his Lovers Rock song “Angel Eyes” for release this Christmas 2018. The original song “Angel Eyes” was released on the “Journey to Foreign” album in 2008. It is a love song in a Lovers Rock Reggae style. It was co-written by Clinark Dill & J. Edwards and produced by producers Mafia & Fluxy and vocals by Kofi and Barbara Napp.
I was looking for a song that was warm for the season and Angel Eyes is a popular favorite among my fans. As it’s a great love song, I thought it would be good to remix the track and vocals and reintroduce it to a new audience – Clinark
Credit’s: “Angel Eyes Remix” (c) (2018) lead & Back Vocals & Producer (C.Dill), Backing Vocalists: Kofi & Barbara Knapp, Composers: C. Dill & J L Edwards, Nurture Projects Music.
“Angel Eyes” (2008) from the Journey To Foreign Album, Original Credits: Executive Producer: Clinark (C. Dill), Producers: Leroy ‘Mafia’ Heywood’ & Dave ‘Fluxy’ Heywood, Production/Mixing Engineer: Carl ‘Dillie’ McLeod Recorded At Stingray Studios, London, UK, Recording Engineer (Tracks): Gussie P, Recorded At Mafia & Fluxy Studios, London, UK, Keyboards & Bass Guitar: Leroy ‘Mafia’ Heywood, Drums & Percussions: Dave ‘Fluxy’ Heywood. Riddim & Lead Guitar: Stanley Andrew, Backing Vocalists: Kofi & Barbara Napp
Sea Venture was a seventeenth-century English sailing ship, part of the Third Supply mission to the Jamestown Colony, that was wrecked in Bermuda in 1609.
Painting by Christopher Grimes, Bermuda
She was the 300 ton purpose-built flagship of the London Company and a highly unusual vessel for her day, given that she was the first single timbered, merchantman built in England, and also the first dedicated emigration ship. Sea Venture‘s wreck is widely thought to have been the inspiration for Shakespeare’s play The Tempest …
Stephen HOPKINS was the only Mayflower passenger who had previously been to the New World. His adventures included surviving a the Sea Venture’s 1609 shipwreck [ including being pardoned for mutiny!] in Bermuda and working from 1610–14 in Jamestown as well as knowing the legendary Pocahontas, who married John Rolfe, a fellow Bermuda castaway. Some Shakespearean scholars believe he was the model for the rogue Stephano in the Tempest.
On Jun 2 1609, the Sea Venture, under the command of Sir George Somers, admiral of the fleet, with Christopher Newport as captain and Sir Thomas Gates, Governor of the colony, departed from Plymouth, England followed by the rest of the Virginia Company’s fleet, the Falcon,Diamond, Swallow, Unity, Blessing, Lion, and two smaller ships.
Hodges writes,
“For seven weeks the ships stayed within sight of each other, often within earshot, and captains called to one another by way of trumpets. On the Sea Venture all was peaceful. Morning and evening, Chaplain Buck and Clerk Hopkins gathered the passengers and crew on deck for prayers and the singing of a psalm.”
The ships were only eight days from the coast of Virginia, when they were suddenly caught in a hurricane, and the Sea Venture became separated from the rest of the fleet …
Bermuda Lawyer Mark Pettingill talks about Same Sex Marriage and the legal fight for Equality in Bermuda
… Shawn Crockwell put it best when he said “You cannot Cherry Pick on discrimination”
The Simple Truth: Discrimination is Discrimination – A Reflection with Mark Pettingill
“You cannot cherry-pick on discrimination,” says Shawn Crockwell, and it’s a sentiment that resonates deeply with his partner, Mark Pettingill. The conversation surrounding equal rights, particularly in the context of marriage, often gets tangled in complex legal jargon and nuanced arguments. But at its core, the issue is remarkably straightforward: everyone deserves the same fundamental rights.
As Mark Pettingill reflects on the legal battles fought alongside his close friend and partner, Shawn Crockwell, the absurdity of denying same-sex couples the right to marry is clear. While religious institutions have the protected right to define their own ceremonies, the legal institution of marriage should be accessible to all. The distinction between a religious ceremony and a contractual marriage is crucial. As Pettingill points out, the fight was always for the contractual right, not the imposition of a religious ceremony on unwilling institutions.
The creation of civil unions, while a step in the right direction, ultimately underscored the discriminatory nature of the system. By offering a similar legal framework but denying the title of “marriage,” the government essentially created a separate and unequal status. This echoes historical injustices based on race, religion, and sex.
Think about it: “You can’t do this because you are gay.” This statement, stripped of legal euphemisms, reveals the stark reality of discrimination. It’s the same logic that once justified denying women equal pay or segregating people based on their race.
Pettingill, alongside Crockwell, his close partner, who he describes as like a “Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid” partnership, are deeply involved in Bermudian politics and law. Their shared commitment to equality is a cornerstone of their work. Pettingill uses a powerful analogy: imagine a sign outside a bar reading, “No gay people allowed.” Most would immediately recognize this as blatant discrimination. Yet, denying same-sex couples the right to marry, a fundamental legal right, is often met with less outrage. Why?
The answer lies in the subtle ways discrimination can be packaged and presented. Legal complexities and “colorable artifice” can obscure the simple truth: denying a group of people a right afforded to others is discriminatory.
The fight for marriage equality isn’t about special rights or privileges. It’s about basic human dignity and the principle that everyone should be treated equally under the law. As Pettingill reflects on the words of his partner, Shawn Crockwell, “This has always been a very very simple case and still is a human issue where everybody should have the same entitlement and if they’re not is discriminatory end of story.”
Let’s remember that the fight for equality isn’t about abstract legal theories. It’s about real people, real lives, and the fundamental right to love and be recognized. It’s about dismantling the structures that perpetuate inequality and building a society where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.
Video Transcript
You know, my partner Shawn Crockwell put it best when he said, ‘You cannot cherry-pick on discrimination.’ Once you start defining rights based on whether someone is a human being, then, with the right balance, everyone has the same rights. As I’ve always said, I would have defended a church if a gay couple had tried to force them to perform a marriage ceremony against their doctrine or creed. Those protections, those religious freedoms, are protected by the Constitution, the Human Rights Act, and even, in my view, by the Marriage Act. The Marriage Act provides for both religious and civil marriage ceremonies. We were only arguing for the civil right to marry, not the religious right.
The government created a Civil Union Act, and the only real difference is the name. You can have a civil union, but you cannot get married. That’s what the act specifically states: you can do all these things, it’s called a civil union, but you cannot get married. Immediately, you’re discriminating against a class of people, denying them something everyone else can do, simply because they’re gay. You can dress it up with any kind of artifice to obscure the issue, but you’re still saying, ‘You cannot do this because you are gay.’
Historically, let’s think about that. ‘You can’t do this because of your religion, your sex, your race.’ The rhetorical question is, ‘Why shouldn’t women be happy with a job and getting paid less than a man?’ In modern terms, that’s a nonsensical argument. Of course, that’s wrong; it’s sexual discrimination, discriminating against women because of their sex. People don’t seem to grasp it. If we put up a sign in a bar saying, ‘No gay people allowed,’ I think people would understand that’s wrong. You’d be denying them the right to enter a place. People would rightly object and say that’s discriminatory. But they don’t seem to get it when you say, ‘Okay, you want to get married, but we’re not allowing you that.’ It’s like saying, ‘You have all these rights, but not this specific one.’ To me, this has always been a very simple case, and still is: a human rights issue where everyone should have the same entitlements. If they don’t, it’s discrimination, end of story.
The situation regarding same-sex marriage in Bermuda has been quite complex and has seen significant changes since 2018.
Here’s a summary of the key developments:
A Turbulent Legal History:
Bermuda has experienced a back-and-forth legal battle regarding same-sex marriage, with periods of legalization followed by reversals.1
In essence, same sex marriage was legal at times between 2017 and 2022.
However, in March 2022, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled against same-sex marriage, effectively banning it once again.2
Domestic Partnerships:
Bermuda has implemented domestic partnerships, which provide some legal rights to same-sex couples.3 However, these partnerships are distinct from marriage.
Public Opinion:
It’s important to note that public opinion in Bermuda has shown signs of shifting. Polls indicate increasing support for same-sex marriage, though legal challenges remain.
Key points to remember:
The legal landscape in Bermuda has been very dynamic.
Although same sex marriage is not currently legal, same sex marriages that were preformed in certain time periods are still considered valid.
There is still ongoing debate regarding this topic.
In essence, while progress has been made in terms of legal recognition of same-sex relationships, the right to marriage itself has been a subject of considerable legal contention in Bermuda.
