Random Stuff

I was going through some old emails the other day and found this gem

...thought I'd share it with you folks.

Enjoy!

WORDS OF ADVICE

Don't date because you are desperate.

Don't marry because you are miserable.

Don't have kids because you think your genes are superior.

Don't philander because you think you are irresistible.

Don't associate with people you can't trust.

Don't cheat. Don't lie. Don't pretend.

Don't dictate because you are smarter.

Don't demand because you are stronger.

Don't sleep around because you think you are old enough and know

better.

Don't hurt your kids because loving them is harder.

Don't sell yourself, your family, or your ideals.

Don't stagnate.

Don't regress.

Don't live in the past. Time can't bring anything or anyone back.

Don't put your life on hold for possibly Mr/Mrs. Right.

Don't throw your life away on absolutely Mr Wrong because your

biological clock is ticking.

Learn a new skill.

Find a new friend.

Sometimes, there is no race to be won;

Only a price to be paid for some of life's more hasty decisions.

To make yourself happy, pursue your passions and be the best of

what you can be.

Simplify your life. Take away the clutter.

Get rid of destructive elements: abusive friends, nasty habits,

And dangerous liaisons.

Don't abandon your responsibilities but don't overdose on duty.

Don't live life recklessly without thought and feeling for your

family.

Be true to yourself.

Don't commit when you are not ready.

Don't keep others waiting needlessly.

Go on that trip. Don't postpone it.

Say those words. Don't let the moment pass.

Do what you have to, even at society's scorn .

Write poetry.

Love Deeply.

Walk barefoot.

Dance with wild abandon.

Cry at the movies.

Take care of yourself.

Don't wait for someone to take care of you.

You light up your life.

You drive yourself to your destination.

No one completes you - except YOU.

It is true that life does not get easier with age.

It only gets more challenging.

Don't be afraid.

Don't lose your capacity to love.

Pursue your passions.

Live your dreams.

Don't lose faith in God.

Don't grow old.

Just grow YOU!

Anya for Project Runway Fan Favourite

Once you've been following Project Runway Season 9, you would know that Anya has been in the lead more or less since episode 1.

She is now no longer in the lead...some of us have our theories on why, but no matter.

Getting her back in the lead is easy.

I'm not gonna type it all over...click on Saucy's most recent post for instructions.

Basically, type #pr9anya at the end of each and EVERY tweet, every 5 minutes...that is all!

Keep voting!

"Nirvana - Dare to Dream" - the review

Feting in June.

A reminder: The rating scale goes from: 0 to 5. 0 means not ever to be repeated EVER, 5 means best ever!

Anyways here goes. Fete details:

• Fete: Nirvana - Dare to Dream
• Promoter: The event page on FB listed names, but not an actual committee.
• Fete Type: Premium Drinks inclusive
• Date: June 22nd 2011
• Time: 10pm to 4am
• Venue: The Stage

The flyers:

My sis and her friends were the ones who told me about this fete. Night before the holiday, free drinks, ON THE STAGE?! What was there not to entice me...sooo here goes the review.

• First things first: where to park? No problem at all. The promoters sent this in an FB message "Hi everyone for Nirvana tonight it is very simple:
  your entering the Savannah from the South side/Grandstand entrance of the savannah. This entrance is directly opposite Ministry of Foreign Affairs and/or Chaud restaurant. Drive towards the grandstand and TURN RIGHT. DRIVE around the EASTERN side of the grand stand and proceed straight as you come around the corner. you will see the venue entrance as well as the carpark entrance there. NIRVANA carpark is situated were the NORTH STAND would normally exist for carnival. The entire area is paved so no need to worry about mud. SEE YOU THERE" Then to top it off, when we were actually driving in there were signs pointing you to where to park. Great touch, despite the awful spelling and grammar. Rating: 5
• Entrance: The entrance was draped in white, 'fog' was bubbling up from a mini-fountain, disco-spotlights were rotating and providing a funky lighting effect. Hosts/hostesses greeted you, put the usual band around your wrists and wished you 'have fun'...hope you designated a driver. Rating: 4
• Layout: This fete was held on the stage. Well to tell the truth it wasn't actually on the stage per se. The set up was just in front of the grand stand. Lets start with the bars, the many many bars, they didn't lie bout that nah. Hennessy was distributed from a booth just to the right of the entrance. Immediately to the right on entering was the food station and Tao Sushi. Just down from that was the normal bar. Beers, rum, soft-drinks, water etc were being served there. To the left was the Cold Stone booth, another general bar, then Johnny Green and Johnny Gold bars. These were followed by the Ciroc booth. In the middle was an elevated area about four/five steps up. The Stage. As you got up there you came face to face with the Jaggermeister booth, and at the other end was the Nuvo booth. The DJ, special effects, sound system, lighting were all in the middle of this stage. Bathrooms were to the back of the entire area...normal porta-potties, but with lots of attendants so they were kept relatively clean and decent smelling, with the stalls being stocked with TP regularly and running water and soap readily available. Yes these things matter lots to me! Rating: 4 
• Performances: No live performances. But the DJs oh the DJs...apart from a back in times set that went on for just a little bit too long, it was steady vibes. DJ Private Ryan was the main DJ and he was so hyped...people even continued partying in the drizzle and then in the downpour that came down around 3am. Rating: 4.5
• Food: Sushi, chicken and fries, bake and shark. I only had the sushi though. Rating: 4
• Drinks: For this I'll just list the drinks menu: Johnnie Walker Gold, Johnnie Walker Green, Johnnie Walker Double Black, Johnnie Walker Black, NUVO, Ciroc vodka, Belvedere vodka, Hennessey, Jagermeister, GoldSchlager, Two Fingers Tequila, Tanqueray gin, Angostura Single barrel, Baileys, Fernandes Black label, White Oak Rum, Carib Pilsner Light and a SHOTS BAR. I had Nuvo, Ciroc, Johnny Gold and water! Rating - 5

Fete rating: 4.5

This was a good one-off, free drinks fete...rain and all it was fabulous!

BTW: Five stairs to navigate after about 5 drinks meant there were many stumbles, no-one got hurt from my observations, but it seemed most ladies came prepared, heels were in the minority!

Carnival Saturday 2011

Masai Tribal Warrior
Courtesy: www.carnivaltribe.com 

It's the ending hours of Carnival Saturday 2011.

• Costume:
• Have you collected your costume? 
• How does it look? 
• How does it fit?
• Issues actual product vs. prototype?
• Issues with collection??
• Did you go to buy a costume today? Heard the camps were craziness...but that if you were patient, as in there at 8am and willing to wait, and wait, aaaaannnnnnndddddddddd wait, you would have been rewarded with a costume!
• Monday wear in gear?
• Who visited Wonderful World today to accessorize? 
• OMG that was a little bit of craziness. Women in every little nook and cranny of that store, jostling for space to pick up that nail polish, see that bit of body jewellery, see that earring up close, "...nah that not going with my costume...", "...this one too blah, will make mih costume look bland...". Noise and lots of people, but cool.
• My WW discount turned out to be a mere $20TT ...aww well, tis better than nothing eh. Someone in the store got quite a decent discount, 'cause folks were cheering, but I wasn't close enough to hear the actual amount.
• Have you been breaking in your boots?
• Mine are from last year. 
• Collected my newly decorated boots from Afro Chic earlier today........and they are gorgeous, even after the hiccup that occurred! They go perfectly with my costume, thank you, thank you Afro Chic :-)
• Who went Soca Monarch finals?
• I attended this competition for the first time last night. 
• The performers I picked won their respective categories. 
• Well done Kes...yuh Wotless all how! 
• To all the haters...LYRICS MACHEL!! 

Sooo I wait not so patiently for Carnival Monday to dawn...will be with TRIBE's 'The Way of the Warrior' on the road!

'Carnival Hot Sauce' - Tribute to Saucy Diva

Photo courtesy BitDepth by Mark Lyndersay

Well done Sauce. Over at Trinidad Guardian's BitDepth column , they did an article about the one, the only Saucy Diva.Great article....and some time ago there was an interview.

I've met Sauce in person on more than occasion, and she has always left me with the feeling that with or without readers she would still be blogging, it is about LOVE for Carnival. It continues to impresses me that despite being a part of the crowd in sooo many T&T Carnival events, and then blogging about them, that she has maintained her anonymity. Her blog was part of the inspiration for me to begin blogging...and most of the traffic to my own humble blog  comes from her site. She even has me listed on her 'Carnival Blog Roll'...an honour that boggles the mind sometimes.

Thank you once again Sauce for the dedication and hard-work that you put into doing that each and every day! Hope you keep doing what you've been doing for a long, long time to come.

uhm... Email received this morning.

Got a notification stating that I had two new email messages. Checked, and wta?!!! How did these folks get my email addresses? Yes...this was sent to TWO of my email addresses. (I am not a Karma/Ravi B fan for the record ok)
Who has my email address on a list AND sold it or passed it on...cause I do not know this person's email  address natalie.ja.woods@gmail.com sending mail as 'Energy Entertainment Promotion.'  How, why, when...WTA?!!!
I have since replied, trying to find out how they got my email address in the first place, but take a read of the email that was sent in the meantime.


"hi everyone, the moment is here, the biggest moment of the year for chutney soca, this is YOur chance to see chutney soca continue growing. Is either we going forward to the future or we going backwards to where chutney soca was 2 years ago, if u want to see the future of chutney soca go forward in the hands of the only person in the finals who is actually taking chutney soca to the next level, the flag , the journey, the only person who gets up and get out there, seriously, who puts the image, his life and soul into the passion of chutney soca, SUPPORT RAVI B.

I RAVI B PLEDGE TO CARRY THE FLAG FOR ANOTHER YEAR 2011, OTHERS ONLY WANT THE MONEY AND THE FAME, BUT ASK YOURSELF THIS, CAN THEY CARRY THE RESPONSIBILITY, THE REPRESENTATION, THE PROFESSIONALISM, BEAR THE STRUGGLES THAT I WENT THROUGH,GIVE UP THEIR WHOLE LIFE TO CARRY THE FLAG, CONTINUE WHERE I LEFT OFF, OR WOULD THEY USE THE TITTLE WHEN THEY FEEL TO?

RAVI B BROKE BARRIERS, IN JAPAN, JAMAICA AND THE CARIBBEAN, GUYANA, NORTH AMERICA, EUROPE AND AFRICA, DO YOU THINK ANYONE ELSE CAN RISK ALL HIS LIFE SAVINGS JUST TO SEE CHUTNEY AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN? THAT SHOW IS COSTING 1.5 MILLION USD, DO U THINK ANYONE ELSE HAS THE RANK TO CARRY THIS TITTLE WITH CLASS, DISCIPLINE AND HONOR, RAVI B CARES ABOUT THE CHILDREN, HE IS ACTUALLY DOING A KIDS EVENT ON CARNIVAL SAT AT GUARAKARA PARK JUST SO THE KIDS CAN BE HAPPY TO SEE A CHUTNEY SOCA/ BOLLYWOOD EVENT.

RAVI B IS THE ONLY PERSON TO GO IN WASA FETE OR IN JAMAICA OR ANY PART OF THE WORLD AND REMEMBER TO DO HIS CHUTNEY SOCA SONGS AND BOLLYWOOD SONGS, RAVI B GAVE THE MOST CHARITY IN 2010 OUT OF ALL CHUTNEY SOCA ARTIST AND HAS BEEN GIVING ALL HIS LIFE, SOME WANT TO GIVE NOW, WHY? BECAUSE ITS 2 MIL?, HEY THE CHILDREN AND CANCER FOUNDATION NEEDED OUR HELP LONG TIME AND RAVI B GAVE HIS PERFORMANCES AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT ALL THE TIME, WHERE WERE EVERYONE ELSE? BUT NOW THEY WANT TO SAY THEY GIVING AFTER THE MONARCH.

ON SAT FEB, MAKE THE DIFFERENCE AND LETS CONTINUE TO SEE CHUTNEY SOCA GO FORWARD, THE PLANS FOR 2011 IS OUT OF THIS WORLD...TEXT RAV TO 7622, INTERNATIONALLY, TEXT RAV TO 78247 AND VOTE ONLINE ATWWW.CHUTNEYSOCAMONARCH.COM

THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT OVER THE YEARS, KEEP THE THING ON A RISE"

2011 Carnival Route

Found this on d 'Krewe FB page and decided to go look for a bigger version.

Lo and behold, it's on NCBA's website. They have a new website apparently www.NCBAtt.com, and via their Event Calendar link they have a list of dates for Carnival until 2030!

I'm liking the website and ease of navigation...
well done NCBA.

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

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!

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!

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:

• Total page views: approximately 2000
• Referring sites:
• TCD
• There's a Brown Girl in The Ring
• Haitian Queen
• Wining Kriminals
• Trini Angie
• Countries where my blog is read:
• Trinidad and Tobago - home sweet home :-)
• United States of America
• United Kingdom
• Canada
• Netherlands
• Jamaica
• Barbados
• Spain
• Antigua/Barbuda
• Belgium
• Russia

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.

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.