The popular Cabbie Chronicles joined the Christmas festivities in an interesting way this year, as Jamaica’s Gleaner reports.

The short, played on FlowonDemand, came out this weekend with an episode entitled ‘Greetings from Yaad’.

The episode features ‘Lena British’, interviewing taxi operators and ‘hustlers’ at a taxi stand, which forms the backdrop for many of the episodes in the series.

Interestingly, for this episode, the main ‘cabbie’ is at home watching ‘Greetings From Yaad’ in his living room.

Cuddling with his wife, Delly is embarrassed by the shenanigans of his colleagues on the taxi stand.

In one scene, his wife is given a ‘big up’ by one of the regulars at the stand, her nephew.

Cabbie is not happy. “A jus’ true mi married to yuh innuh,” he says.

The episode is also the precursor of what is to come in January, as the ‘Cabbie Chronicles’ franchise has also expanded. www.cabbiechronicles.com  will be launched on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2012, and all are invited to take a look.

The episode speaks about a number of issues in the Jamaican context in a very short period of time, one of the pluses of all the episodes in the series. In this particular short, the issue of migration and the fact that many Jamaicans have family overseas are brought out quite clearly. What is just as clear is the fact that many Jamaicans see remittances from overseas friends and family as a lifeline in tough economic times.

Though a serious issue, the elements are played out in a humorous fashion.

‘Fluffaton’, a fairly large ‘brownin’ played by Alison Latchman, spoke about how long it has been since she was sent a new fur coat from a benefactor abroad, bringing home the point.

The team

Latchman, her husband Aneiph Latchman, and Marlo Scott make up the team that creates Cabbie Chronicles.

They are aided by performances from Cleo Walker, Noel Reid, Mario Hackett and Valton Craigie in this episode.

Hackett plays a reverend who, while admonishing the society for forgetting the meaning of Christmas, does not neglect to sneak in a plug in order to bring money to his church.

Reid is Uncle Delly, the cabbie who the series centres around, while Craigie plays Stoosh Puss, the overweight, goldchain-wearing, cab driver with an ear for the musical and an eye for the women.

“Mi love yuh accent,” he charmingly greets Lena British. There is a hint of the same rhythm behind Stoosh Puss’ popular line, “Fluffy empress, a love you wid you excess, yeah.”

Lena is smitten for a moment, though she has to get back to the serious business of getting people in Half-Way Tree to send greetings to their loved ones abroad.

A funny moment occurs when the greetings are interrupted by Rodfin, a crackhead related to Delly’s wife, ‘Eula’, who sends greetings from the background.

The scene points out that while there is good to be found among the ordinary man in the Jamaican society, not far away, there is also the underpinning problems of drug abuse and crime.

For the original report go to http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20111227/ent/ent1.html