Friday, January 28, 2011

January 2011 Wrap Up

What a month!
January is notorious for being the month when most people refrain from spending money...folks usually scrape and somehow hold on till January's pay day after getting paid early in December and having to last at least 5 weeks on salary that is usually budgetted to only(barely) cover 4 weeks. And yes folks, those 7 extra days can be painful and tight!

So what's been different for January 2011? Plenty.

  • Trinis found $1000 to buy TRIBE season passes...all sold out now eh! They went on sale in December, so to be fair you could have purchased your pass then, or asked really nicely and gotten one for your Christmas gift :-)
  • Trinis also found WELL over the $150 stated price to party at TRIBE's Insane Cooler Experience. People were paying almost $1000 for entry to a cooler fete?! What madness...but wait, things get better...read on!
  • Then came IP's Yeah (Amnesia rebranded?!). Prices started at $350 and $650. Last I heard tickets were selling at $500/$695 legitimately...and God alone knows what to scalpers.
  • and now we get to ONE fete. These tickets apparently started at $650 very very limited quantity at that price. Then it went to $700, and before yuh could blink $800 and $850 right after. Last night I heard that tickets now cost $1000...with scalpers selling tickets for $1200 to $1500. Scalpers on the Friday BEFORE the Sunday that the fete is supposed to take place mind you! Sooo people carrying yuh in the fete, pouring alcho down yuh throat, feeding yuh and using the bathroom fuh yuh after all dat or something??? Doh mean to be a lil gross but yuh talking $1200 for a single ticket, that's giving someone $400 profit...enough to go a cheaper all-inclusives/semi-inclusive .(Thanks for that album by the way Sauce!) 
My point after that little rant? With people showing their willingness to pay almost anything to attend a particular fete, what will fete prices start at for 2012?! 

*ok off my soapbox now*

On to better/happier news.
Got this in my inbox today. Similar to Sauce's BLISS update, but for TRIBE. 
FURTHER PAYMENTS
The deadline for costume payments is Friday 4th Feb 2011. 
  • Online: Credit Card Only (VISA & Mastercard)
  • Mas Camp:  No cheques or credit cards accepted
Paying via Credit Card?  
Go to http://registration.carnivaltribe.com to login to your account. 
If you require your login information, please send the request to info@carnivaltribe.com  
Our website is open for payments*, Monday - Friday, 5pm - 12 noon of the following day, and 24 hours on weekends and public holidays.
*Please note that ALL credit card transactions are billed in US$. The conversion amount will be determined by your bank or credit card provider at the time of billing. This amount will be reflected in your credit card statement. Some banks/credit card providers may charge an additional convenience fee.

After Friday 4th Feb:  Any outstanding balances can be paid during costume distribution at Cascadia Hotel
  • No cheques or credit cards will be accepted at distribution

COSTUME DISTRIBUTION
Fast Track Costume Collection
To qualify for our Fast Track costume collection, your costume must be paid off in full prior to distribution.
Our costume distribution is scheduled to begin in late February.
The costume distribution schedule will be released via e-mail, newspapers, our website and our social media outlets by early February.
All masqueraders must present a picture ID to collect their costume.

COSTUME RE-SALES/ COLLECTION
There will be no costume transfers.
If you have purchased a costume from someone OR you are collecting a costume for someone, please ensure that you walk with:
  •  A letter signed by the costume owner authorizing you to collect.
  •  A copy of costume owner's picture ID.
Costumes will not be released to persons without these documents.



COSTUME DELIVERY
The deadline for Costume Delivery requests has been extended to this MONDAY 31st JANUARY.
If you would like to request the Costume Delivery Service, please send an email to sales@carnivaltribe.com with the subject "REQUEST DEL" by 5pm on Mon 31st Jan. This email must contain you delivery address and contact information.

Delivery Available to:
  • POS & environs - TT$150
  • Outside POS (East to Arima/South to San Fernando) - TT$200

If you have already requested and paid for the Costume Delivery Service, please send an email tosales@carnivaltribe.com with the subject  "2011 COST DEL"  to confirm your delivery address and contact information.
Please Note: Costumes must be paid in full to qualify for this service

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Review 2011 - YEAH!

My first fete of the 2011 Carnival Season
My rating scale: 0 to 5. 0 means not ever to be repeated EVER! 5 means best ever!

Anyways here goes. Fete details:

  • Fete: YEAH/Amnesia Evolved.
  • Promoter: Island People
  • Fete Type: All-Inclusive (inclusive and hyper-inclusive options)
  • Date: January 22nd 2011
  • Time: 7pm to 2am
  • Venue: Mobs2 redesigned
The flyers:


Bought the 'inclusive' tickets at 450, no hyper-inclusive for me...ah going with budget-friendly where possible this season. Got down to that hole called Chaguaramas peninsula around 8ish, no real traffic to get there. Rounded the final bend approaching Mobs2 and lights, lights everywhere! And lots and lots of cars. People took that 7pm start time literally apparently. 
  • First things first: where to park? On the road heading to MOBS2? In the car-park near that yacht place? The decision was made for me when the 'parking attendants' announced "$50 to park babes...we go be here all night...make sure yuh car nice and safe!". Pay $50 to 'sprangers' when it have security patrolling all up and down the road? Oh hells, no!! We drove up to Anchorage, turned back and parked just off the road a little ways up from the venue. Rating: 3
  • Entrance: nicely signed entrances for inclusive vs. hyper-inclusive. Walked up the little bridge thing, and felt like I was on a cat-walk. Models sporting IPs costumes lined the entrance like living statues...that Lunar Cycle Individual costume looks real good up close, and the blue of Nebular Hypnosis is gorgeous!! Oh and a photographer taking pics as you walk along the bridge just added to the catwalk feel. Got a bmobile mug and rag on entry. Rating: 4
  • Layout: inclusive to the left and along the slope, hyper-inclusive straight ahead and on the slightly elevated portion to the right of the venue. Both sections allowed patrons to get up close to the stage if so desired. There was a gigantic screen for those who stayed up in the back. Rating: 3
  • Performances
    • Dil-e-Nadan was up first. They.are.never.ever.ever.to.perform.in.a.fete.EVER!!! It's not that they can't perform...they can. But it's flicking Carnival! I doh want to hear Black Eye Peas, I doh want to hear Lady Gaga, no dub, no rock...no! Unless is a lil sample of a song that yuh throw in to flavour yuh soca performance...your entire performance should be soca!!! Rating: 1
    • The 'slap chop' guy came on after them. Didn't see his performance, cause I'd gotten fed up of Dil-e-nadan. He didn't stay long though. Heard there were some models on stage as well...did not bother with that. I was busy trying out the shots and lubricating my palate with Hennessy, Baileys, Jagger shots OH MY!...yum, yum! Rating: n/a
    • Denise 'Saucy Wow' was up next in all here glory. yep, she still got it! People were focused on that stage for her entire performance. Rating: 4
    • Next up, KES the band! They were fabulous...Kes says he going up for Groovy Soca Monarch, and yuh know what? He could easily win it...He had the crowd eating out of his hands. Nadia Batson came on about half-way through the performance. Tallpree came on as well, did not really appreciate his performance 'cause he sounded a tad garbled, I could not make out a word that he was singing. Rating: 4.5
    • Shal, Screws: wildness...they can hype a crowd all by themselves. And with a crowd that's already hyped they held their own. Looking forward to seeing more of them as the season progresses. Rating: 3
    • Machel HD: the man has returned. I could not care less bout the rest of them, but to be fair let's go through them. Patrice - she has improved. She is a lot more comfortable on stage, and confident. The outfits WOW!!! Lace tights/stocking with nothing below them...uhmmm wow is all I can say! (I heard other opinions on her choice of dress and nope I will not post that at all!) Zan and Nappy: not bad, kinda blended together a bit, but decent. Then the man himself....HE.HAS.RETURNED! He came out with an attitiude, the HD attitude and energy that was felt and blew the crowd away. He did his old songs, he did some of more recent stuff...he performed 'illegal' and 'bend ova'...his dancers dread! Yuh need to see the dancers do 'bend ova', 'illegal' and 'hard wuk' in person, no words can describe that. If yuh plan on trying that I suggest pilates and yoga classes... stretch those hamstrings, make sure you work on your flexibility eh! Rating: 4
  • Food: uhm inclsuvie options were corn soup, doubles. Then jerk stuff that had to be purchased. Rating: 2
  • Drinks: Inclusive options were: Baileys, Hynotiq, Hennessy, Jagermeister in both shot form and Jager bombs, Tequila (sans lime or salt...ick!), cocktails. At the bar was rum, scotch (B&W), beers, and lots of soft options. Rating - 2.5
Fete rating: 3

So what's next? Not sure yet...but I'm gonna try to rate all that I do end up attending.
Carnival 2011 has begun with a bang!

Friday, January 14, 2011

OMG!

Like fuh real this happened???
People popping ecstacy with dey vitamins or what?

Read about the trini retelling of the story here ...or read the original story here
..in a bar dread?! A flicking bar??

smh!

Thursday, January 06, 2011

Blog Statistics

I'm admitting now that I've never checked the statistics on my blog.
Sooo I was browsing the stats for the first time ever and lo and behold, here's what I discovered:

Firstly, thank you to all who've linked to this blog. Thank you, thank you
... and to all who got to my blog via whatever site: I extend an official WELCOME!

Quite an interesting spread of viewing countries there as well.
Who found this site out there in Russia, in Belgium? 


Guess I'll be checking those stats at least once a year to see what's been happening there.



Sunday, January 02, 2011

New Year Greetings

Happy Happy New Year fellow bloggers and all my readers.
All the best for 2011...bring on Carnival 2011!

Here are some New Year images that I like ...hope you enjoy them too.