I am alive!

This is a short post to state: I AM ALIVE!
Didn't realise that I'd gone more than a month without posting, how remiss of me.
My apologies... Sorry!

Quick update:
1. Following my Carnival 2011 experience I am positive that once health and finances permit, I will be on the road again for Carnival 2012. Band to be determined, i'm not a Tribe loyalist like some believe I am. I play where I am comfortable, where the costume calls and mainly where my Carnival road crew is.
2. I am back in the gym. Signed up for the full works, personal trainer and all. It's been about a month so far, give or take a day. My abdominal muscles hurt like shit when I laugh, sneeze, cough, pretty much do anything... Things better be happening under that fat layer!
3. I took part in a 5k. Walking, before I enrolled in the gym. I finished, that's all that needs to be said.

Think that's it for now.

Band launchings begin month after next... Should be on vacation then hopefuLly, cross your fingers for me.

Carnival 2011 Review - TRIBE 'The Way of the Warrior'

Ah it's all over, my shoulders are sunburnt, once again I have a rash from exposure to people and all that dust, not nearly as bad as it was in previous years though...but I had a blast on the road with TRIBE once again.

Let's see on to my review:
COLLECTION
As always this was a breeze, made even faster by the fact that this year I went the Fas Track route. The entire collection time from time that I parked in Cascadia to the time I got back to my car was about half an hour...no wait to go inside. I was ushered in to the ballroom to the Fas Track station where they verified my payments and printed out my receipt. Went to the collection area and a very very enthusiastic customer service representative reviewed my receipt, and went off to locate my costume. She brought everything back, checked off everything whilst showing me each item, did a mini demo of how the bra for my costume is to be worn and was bubbling and dancing all through the entire process. I did not catch your name, but you did well.
Mind you, I collected the same day as a couple people in YUMA. I had time drop them to Movietowne, get to Cascadia, collect my costume, get back from Cascadia to Movietowne and still had at least a half hour to kill..not cool!
MONDAY EXPERIENCE
Food - No problems getting lunch at all. I was among the second wave of masqueraders that got to the lunch stop and had from the Food Etcetera tent. Food was good, and for those that know me, yes I actually ate cassava, it tasted that good! A couple friends had food from Pollo Tropical and their reviews were all positive.
Drinks - I started my day with lots and lots of Gatorade, water and coconut water. I was nursing the remnants of a headache caused by lack of sleep. By about 3pm I'd moved on to Uncle Johnny and coconut water...ahhh my day was going good. Some of the trucks had slow servers whilst others were ultra-efficient, forgot to take note of which were the slow trucks...oh and the pace of the trucks, drivers, drivers remember people trying to place orders and collect drinks so please slow down a bit.
On the road - Met the band around noon, took the shuttle to the band which was on Frederick St by then, close to the museum. Lost the first crew I was with by the time we got to Memorial Park, met up with the next crew and limed, chipped, wined onto the greens then waited to cross the Savannah stage. Ohhh the stage, the stage, the stage! It was bittersweet seeing that stage. Bitter 'cause of the usual looong wait and total chaos about waiting to enter the Savannah (oh BTW whose bright idea was it to have drinks trucks turn off and leave the band by Keate Street?! Masqueraders were left with the option of either loading up on water/gatorade and hope it was enough to last till you cross OR patronise those vendors along Memorial or along the greens...and doh give me no talks about small man making money, they made nuff money ok wonder if it was a conspiracy...charging $10 for a small bottle of water wtf!!!) Anyways the sweet of the stage: the vibrations under yuh feet whilst waiting, the build up by the DJs, then the release of actually being let onto the stage that pulsated and vibrated under your feet. I stamped, stomped and advantaged that stage...the soles of my feet felt like they were on fire! We crossed and then headed to the lunch stop. From the lunch stop we headed down to Tragarete Road, turned left and continued on to Stanmore...TRIBE was done by about 6:30ish on Monday night.
Other - Truck movement was on the fast side...WHY?! Bathroom facilities at the lunch stop were efficient. Security was on point, but they were not nearly as strict as past years 'cause I saw several non-masqueraders in the midst of the band at several points during the day.
TUESDAY EXPERIENCE
Food - Got to the band around 8am, I'd eaten breakfast at home, so did not partake of TRIBE's breakfast offerings. From the reviews I heard it was aight. I was among the third or fourth wave of masqueraders that got to the lunch stop and this time I took Pollo Tropical...yumm yumm! Saw lollies and yogurt being distributed as well. Later on we got chips from the various bar trucks and when the band got closer to Stanmore got my Marios pizza slice. All in all quite decent food experience.
Drinks - Started off with gatorade and water again and by about 11am was onto Uncle Johnny and coconut water alternating with gatorade and water. No complaints this time, I'd found the truck with efficient service and decent pace.

On the road - Met the band around 8am, took the shuttle to the band which was partly on Frederick St with the rest of the band on Park St. Tried to walk back to see IP and YUMA who I'd heard were behind us, but after walking back and only seeing bits of IP around Globe I turned back and met up with my crew who were up near the Royal Jail. Saw a bunch of Gladiators in full garb, capes included. Again the journey to the stage along Memorial Park and then the greens. That was a looooong wait in noonday sun...we left the band, walked up and saw Oasis ahead of a us and another smallish band. Oasis looked good, but they were soooo small. Same feelings on seeing that stage, but this time I was in full costume, I crossed from the first section and went back and crossed again and again until Amazon or Mongol Fighters I think. Met up with the remainder of the crew after crossing, and then headed to the lunch stop. From the lunch stop we tried to keep up with the trucks only to realsie that they were headed into St. James...not a problem, we waited near the British Embassy, saw IP as they were headed to their lunch stop after crossing the stage and met back up with the band jsut as they were passing in front Fatima. At that point apparently a masquerader had climbed the railings outside the school, slipped and got impaled on the spikes. Blood everywhere... medics assisted him until an ambulance could get to the band. That was quite a sobering experience and I hope others keep that in mind. After that, the band moved on along Mucurapo onto Robert St at alternating brisk and slow pace depending on the amount of spectators in the area. The band continued chipping along eastwards till Carlos, turned north to get to Tragarate and then east till Stanmore. With it getting darker and darker, security was still in place, then they announced that masqueraders with bands were able to enjoy las lap in Jenny's car park...quite a sweet touch. All this time folks in YUMA were trying to get me, by then it was about 8:30ish sooo I left the band then and proceeded to the car park

Other - Bathroom facilities at the lunch stop were efficient, with foot massages and full body massages on offer if so desired. Clean facilities, wipes, mouthwash, body and feminine sprays, painkillers, hand soap and hand cream...yep usual bathroom amenities were in place. Security was on point, but they were not nearly as strict as past years 'cause I saw several non-masqueraders in the midst of the band at several points during the day and also in the park...though I did see more than one non-masquerader being removed from the lunch stop.

So my rating for TRIBE 2011 out of 10: 8.5, points lost for lapses in security and trucks leaving unannounced after the lunch stop.

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!

Distribution Schedules are OUT!!!

By now many of you would have received THAT email. Yuh know the email, the email that makes hearts leap...'cause even after yuh went thru the stress/bliss/trauma/begging/pleading/ease of registering to play in THAT section..it's when you check your inbox and that email is there, the one with the date to collect yuh costume....that's when the butterflies take flight, heart rate speeds up, and the adrenaline kicks in. Well that happened for me ok...even though I paid off mih costume already, that email is what brought it all home....gonna collect mih costume in the next few days...sigh

I am scheduled to collect my costume on Saturday February 26th 2011...yippeee!!!
Here's a compilation of the ones that I've seen so far:

  

Lovely...can't wait to collect!

Review 2011 - Panorama Semi-Finals

My rating scale: 0 to 5. 0 means not ever to be repeated EVER, 5 means best ever!

My first time attending Panorama semi-finals in the North Stand.

Anyways here goes.
 Fete/Event details:

• Event: Panorama semi-finals
• Promoter: Pantrinbago Inc.
• Fete/Event Type: Pan competition, semi-final leg, Savannah Party
• Date: February 20th 2011
• Time: 9am till the last band play!
• Venue: Queen's Park Savannah

The flyers: No official flyer, but there were many 'crew' flyers, here's a sample:

I was in North Stands. As mentioned, this was the first year that I've paid to go pan semis... My sis organised me with tickets and hooked me up with a crew. Trinidad Events' pan semis lime was my back-up in case things didn't come thru with my sis. I got there just about 1:30pm, had a little bit of hiccups with transport...but I made it :-)

• First things first: where to park? Did not drive ...roads were blocked off all around d Savannah...People were able to park around the Savannah and inside as well. Not sure what the price was if any, but things looked pretty organised. Rating: n/a
• Entrance: Big signs were posted here and there close to the entrances...BUT some signs directing folks to where things were would have been nice. E.g i entered the Savannah just north of TGI, so I knew I had a bit of a walk westwards and then north before I'd get to the North Stand entrance...but what about the foreigners, how were they to find their way about. Rating: 2.5 could do better
• Layout: I can only speak of the North Stand layout but for this Pantrinbago deserves some credit. I LOVED the layout. Stands, imposing North stands high above the grounds, positioned nicely directly opposite the Grand Stands, close to the stage. Then directly behind the stands was an area for the BIG crews like Bmobile, Red Ants, Suppligen, Caesar's Army etc etc yuh get my drift. Bmobile had a stage setup in d middle where different performers did their do from time to time...I saw Kes, and heard that others were there as well. Bmobile's stage had the Pandigm electric pan folks setup and they provided entertainment. There was also a mechanical bull for those brave enough, or those that had had enough alcohol to not give a crap, to try to hold on. In front Suppligen's tent there was a mini stage as well, Iwer performed there. Bathrooms at both ends of the 'greens'. Soo many tents to visit and crews scattered all over. LOVED LOVED the layout! Rating: 4.5 (0.5 points lost due to the height of the stands...that was a LOT of stairs to be traversing)
• Performances: Pan selections played by your favourite band, rhythm sections, live performances, music blasting from speakers all over ...oh gosh i'm surprised I can still hear at all! Rating: 4
• Food: The spread was never-ending.. crews had pelau, roti and curry, alloo pies, finger foods, wings, friend chicken, there was doubles, geera, snacks from Holiday Foods and others and of course KFC ... oh gosh ah getting hungry! Rating: 5
• Drinks: What wasn't available?! Carib had their Pilsner and Stag on tap, other crews had all kind of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks from johnny walker to rum, chasers like crazy, Tequila, even saw Champagne flowing! Rating - 4.5 
• The event itself: this felt like a party, competition, meeting up old friends, former co-workers, meeting new 'friends'..all rolled into one big picnic/lime/party. This was epicness on a whole other level, loved it! Rating: 4

Fete/event rating: 4.5!

If this is how pan semis continues then I will soooooo be there next year and the year after and the year after!

So what's next? Carnival has continued to develop nicely.

p/s:- I have a couple reviews to post from other events... hope to post those soon.

'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.

Seasons Greetings

Merry Christmas to all, and Happy Happy New Year!


No further posts between now and the New Year 2011!

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!

GEMS 2011 - Band Launch

Saturday night saw me at Gems band launch...one of the new bands on the block for 2011.
Venue was 'Callallo Mas Camp', Chaguaramas.

Now, i don't know if anyone has ever gone to an event being held there, but this venue in my experience does NOT bode well for the success of the event. Every single event that I've attended at that venue has failed, and failed badly. Sooo with that in mind as a warning, we went on down.

Got there about 9.30 or so, chilled around outside for a few to collect our tickets and made our way in. The sign at the entrance, that proclaimed admission and registration at a special deal of $150, was my first sign.I should not have ignored that...and dammit I didn't take a pic of it...sigh!!
We went on in... and for something that had a listed start time of 8pm the place was EMPTY! Aight, we decided..time to look around scope the crowd, check the bar.
The bar, ohhh the bar...where do I start. No juices to go with the Vodka, no coconut water to go with the scotch, no water at all! Nope , we'll not dwell on the bar.
The food, there were options, but I'd eaten so did not partake...looked like sales were brisk though.
The presentation was originally scheduled to begin at 10pm. Then I heard 11pm, then 11:30pm...stopped checking the time after that. The pre-show included Synergy Soca Start contestants (that I'd never heard of from season 3 and 4) and Hunter. Then finally the presentation began, well one false start with the video clip being messed up...and THEN the presentation began. Made my way stage-side, met Carnival dude of Trinidad Events and took in the costumes up close. Check out the video clip on Trinidad Events(also available on Sauce's blog)
Here are pics that stood out to me

Merciless Macedonia

Granicus River

 Greek Guardians

I also liked 'India Punjabi Clan' and 'Pleasures of Babylon' but for some reason my pics of those sections are not uploading properly at all. 

All in all, the costumes aren't awful. The models all seemed to enjoy themselves parading in these costumes, one of them did not have on the bikini/thong and us in the front saw too much, the music that the djs played was appropriate...but oh gosh to have the mc come on right after the presentation and say that things have to shut down (at 1:30am!!!) not good, not good at all.

I wish them luck...especially after learning that another new band is struggling to sell costumes from a presentation of five (5) sections. Aww well, people must still think that they're just a reincarnation of a former venture. C'est la vie...

Good Luck Gems.

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!

Way of the Warrior - Registered

I posted in response to Sauce's roll call earlier...so now it will be here as well for all to see.

As of now, I am officially registered to play mas for 2011 in TRIBE's 'Way of the Warrior' presentation, in the fabulously regal 'Mayan Eagle' section. LOVED this section on sight at the launch, then the booklet sold it to me...then I got up close pics. Kept falling in love with it over and over and over again.

A few pics of the costume (all courtesy TRIBE's FB album)

the only other section that was even a consideration for me, after poring over pics like a gazillion times, was the uber skimpy Amazon!

Now: it's to get into the best shape of my life to rock that gorgeous costume...

Gmail's 'Call Phone' Feature

I LOOOOOVEEEE my Gmail account, and use it for almost all my email communication.

Then day before i noticed a green phone icon just above my contacts

...when I hovered the mouse pointer over it a pop-up stated it's a 'free-calls to US and Canada' feature.

What, what, what?!!!

Free calling...via your email client? uhhh...ok then

So, being me...I clicked with the intention of calling mih cuz in Canada.

(also being me, I could not remember d number..duh!)

...so ah decide to try a local number...and guess what...

it worked!!! 

dialed 1868#######...and it rang...and I spoke to friend-from the PC-from within Gmail

I am such a geek...but I loooovesssss my Gmail account even more now!

p/s:- a message came up stating that the call cost 10c...but ahm what account they charging that 10c to??

YUMA 2011 - Zodeak

I did not originally plan to go this launch...but I did.
Glad that I did. Went as a regular patron, not as a Carnival blogger like Sauce, Afro Chic and Carnival Jumbie.
...Ohhh and must not forget 'Scene!
Their reviews and pics are must views. Stop over at their blogs for in depth reviews and pics, pics and more pics.

Anyways, my take on YUMA is as follows:
I LOVE most of the frontlines, they look gorgeous. If I lived in the gym from now till Carnival 2011, and had a gracious sponsor and did the FL thing, then yep: I would absolutely, positively play in one of at least two..no three...of those eye-catching fantabulous costumes! BUT ..I have neither a sponsor (gracious or otherwise), nor do I usually play FL...not my thing.
The backlines that grabbed my attention were

Sagitarius

Aquarius

Pisces

and 

Taurus

Notice that my sign, Capricorn, has not been mentioned...it will NOT be mentioned again in relation to YUMA. There is the other thing of: I will have no company if I went YUMA...not one of my mas-playing friends has mentioned or even hinted that they would consider playing YUMA....sigh


Next up: IP on August 20th 2010