Pink Rhinos, Blue Devils, Silver Coins

Close, so very close. Kickoff is drawing near. Have you bought your tickets, booked your hotel rooms, prepared your excuses for when you ditch work or school and, of course, acquired your Official [Enter Team Name Here] Memorabilia?

Everywhere you look, there will be tshirts, scarves, hats, posters and really gaudy laptops.

Keen to get in on the World Cup Warrior action, the T&T Central Bank has issued two commemorative coins. The front features our national instrument - the steelpan - and the back that chirpy WC/Germany 2006 logo$10 coin is a gold-plated alloy, and the $100 coin is sterling silver.

A slightly heftier tribute to the Warriors is to be found in Dortmund, Germany. This western German town has been invaded by a herd of rhinoceroses. I kid you not. Alright, they’re plastic. Word is that our rhino is painted pink and emblazoned with blue devils, a creature that belongs to the pantheon of traditional Trinidadian Carnival. Trinidadian artist Che Lovelace is responsible for this piece of cultural goodness.

There’s a very cool podcast on the subject of the bedevilled rhino - and a documentary about the Soca Warriors which is currently in the works - over at Caribbean Free Radio. Check it out - and see if you can read what’s written on the rhino.