Stuff

Sooo, have I mentioned how much I like to get emails from TRIBE?
Well, let me correct that now:
I love these little emails...make me smile almost always. First there's this one

About 2 weeks early, but much appreciated.
Also in that email was this lovely lovely little gem:

I doubt that I'll be paying off my costume before December 31st 2012 (Fast Track collection is sooo cool though), but WOW what incentive. That pass must be worth at least $1000, and the individual cost of tickets to those fetes could probably add up to about $1800 or so.
Siiigh...

btw I will be accepting Christmas gifts in cash if anyone was wondering :-)

Then I got this in email:
Blah, blah, blah gym* wishes to advise its members and the public that in addition to the Aerobic Class that will be held on Christmas Day at 10 a.m., there will also be a Spin Class at 10 a.m. 
Really? Like really?? People go to the gym on Christmas day - In Trinidad and Tobago?!!!! For a serious workout? Seriously????!!!
OH.MY.WOW!!!
Talk about dedication!


*gym name changed to protect the innocent

 Anyways...it's about 60-some odd days till Carnival.
Keep working out and preparing for the days 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.

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

Happenings for T&T's 2011 Carnival

Much has happened since my last post.

• A couple other bands have launched: D' Krewe, Legacy and others. (Check Saucy's blog for more links.)
• BLISS has finally indicated that they're fully sold out
• There apparently are male costumes STILL available in YUMA 
• IP is selling out... slowly but steadily. BTW Lunar Cycle - Male Captain option is sold out ok! (...yes ah waiting to see which body  is rocking that costume!!)

IP - Lunar Cycle (Male Captain)

• Oasis has at least one sold out option (Gilia Frontline)
• ..and Harts being Harts has quite a bit of sections sold out, or options sold out, including this number that was sooooo NOT my personal fave 

Harts - Goldstone

• Then came news of a stage  - backflips and happy dances all over the place! ....looking forward to parading across that stage again :-)
• and then to top it off a proposed "People's Band". I've commented on Sauce's post about this proposed free-for-all, but for the benefit of all I'll post my comment here "...uhmm just bring yuh costume and come...." First off I would say not a bad concept. However as some others mentioned before, who's dealing with the logistics of this? Who's the DJ? (Ah hope some form of tendering process is involved and is not somebody tanty, cousin, friend!) How would you know who in this band or not? ('cause if i was a band leader I would want to know so I could NOT be behind this band!...yuh could imagine chaos when dis band hit d stage...ah getting flashbacks of Poison and the 'sit-in'!!!)Sooo, I await the details of this 'Peoples Band'

Many things have happened...and I guess more will unfold as we get closer to T&T Carnival 2011.

Stay tuned...d bacchanal now start!

Carnival 2011 Plans - Update 1

Soo back in June I posted about possible 2011 Carnival plans
Then, last week i posted this about me being registered in TRIBE for 2011.

What does this all boil down to as it pertains to plans for our group for 2011?
Same damn thing that happened in 2010...crew split all how.
I have anti-TRIBE friends, I also have friends that are chronic stickers, last minute, indecisive so-an-so's ..deep breath...exhale! Anyways, the combination makes for extreme headaches when trying to plan anything. Sooo I went ahead and registered to play with TRIBE (with my usual gfs). Then heard that some of them gonna be playing with YUMA (anti-TRIBE folk included) and some STILL have not decided what they gonna do...smh

Whatever!

My my my...

...peeks, pics and other goodies!

In the past couple weeks we've seen

• Skullduggery's band launching, Woi Mas - Skullduggery The Dance Of Deceit
• Gem's "Conquest of Alexander" media launch
• Spice's media launch, and launch of their 'Signature Line'. And a review
• YUMA's media launch and another look 
• Oasis' band launch

...and only teasers (BLISS/TRIBE)from TRIBE and IP. 

Makes me very very antsy whilst waiting to see these presentations (BTW IP please pick a date 

July 24th is taking very very long to roll around!

Happenings

Hi folks, i've been m.i.a. for a while there...work stress, personal life stress, just STRESS all over! A couple weeks vacation should cure all that stress, at least that's what I'm hoping :-)
Anyways, in the midst of this silly season that is the run up to elections in Trinidad and Tobago, there have been a couple happenings in the Carnival world. I'll try to capture what I can and post links where more details are available.


New Bands
Yep, you read that right, there is a new band, or make that at least TWO new bands on the scene.Oasis Carnival and Skullduggery. Oasis seems to be Elements reborn if the info on their FB page is accurate, and Skullduggery well they seem to have their act in order to present something different for T&T Carnival 2011.


Existing Bands
Island People mas camp has moved. 
Our mas camp has now moved to 50 O'Connor Street in Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain, which is at the corner of O'Connor Street and Warren Street. Our new telephone numbers are: 622-8145 and 622-9857. For any enquiries, feel free to call us or email us at info@islandpeoplemas.com 
...oh and their theme for 2011: 'Shades of the Universe'
TRIBE sent out a survey a week or so ago. Interesting questions, hope the masqueraders who were so vocal on Carnival Monday and Tuesday filled out the survey and let their opinions be known.


Band Launching
If things go as they've been going for the past few years, band launching season will begin in about a month. Soooo who'll begin the season? TRIBE,  Harts...someone else? We wait and see...'cause so far only Skullduggery has made their launch date (July 4th) known.

Can we Wee?!

Oh yes we can! ...I soo could not resist :-)

Sauce beat me to it, but ah posting still.
The pending decision, as reported in the Guardian) has been made. Heard it live on CNews.

The Wee Wee trucks will be on the road, at least for Carnival 2010. They'll be in the middle of d band (how ewwww is that!), but at least they'll be with the band. 

Thank God good sense prevailed. I agree with Luis Hart...exactly which law was being broken by having the truck with the band?


p/s:- why in the middle of the band though??? 

People with waaaaay too much time on their hands...

A fake Facebook page for God circulated a couple months ago (it may have been circulated before but I got it in email then aight!).
Now the folk at Msn tech & gadgets have done fake pages for other people.

Check 'em out.

Next...

Carnival 2009 has come and gone.
Faye-Ann Lyons-Alvarez created history by winning both soca Monarch titles, the Peoples Choice award and the Road March crown all while eight months pregnant. She then went on to complete her eventful February by having her baby on the last day of the month, or was it on the first day of March? In either case, she has had a 2009 Carnival season that tops most everyone elses.

Soooo... what's next?
Well, I'm back in the gym from tomorrow.
Did not get to the gym nearly as often as I should have for all of 2008 into January 2009 and it showed. My apologies to all who had to look at my out of shapeness on Carnival Tuesday. I just did not bother any more. No excuses, nothing...will be dragging my a$$ to the gym and doing my absolute best to matinain a minimum three-day-a-week attendance for the remainder of 2009 (Will be monitoring this and reporting on my attendance...hopefully).

Other than that it's Carnival tabanca, and the patient wait till band-launching season.

It's done ...

Carnival 2009 is finsished. Over, completed, passed...sigh!

Had a blast on the road, both Monday and Tuesday.

Began developing issues with my toe nail on Monday, so ended up wearing totally different shoes on Tuesday. Have a least one blister from where the collar of my costume rubbed, and seems as though my skin has reacted to being exposed to people and their sweat. But all in all these aftereffects are tolerable.

Will do a more complete review some other time.

Looking forward to Carnival 2010.

Hopes dashed ...

My hopes for parading on the 'Big Stage' by d Queen's Park Savannah Carnival Monday and Tuesday have been dashed... *sigh*

*sniff, sniff* gonna go cry some some looong tears now, and then continue the mental and physical preparations for 2009 Carnival!