Decision on Tobago Mas By Month End

A decision on whether there will be an October Carnival in Tobago will be finalised by the end of this month, Arts and Multiculturalism Minister, Winston “Gypsy” Peters said yesterday. He was speaking at the end of a 90-minute meeting a team from his ministry had with Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Orville London and an assembly team at the Calder Hall Administrative Complex, Tobago. At the meeting the minister presented a proposal for the Tobago Carnival while the THA presented its proposal for an activity.

Peters said while no name had been given for the activity, technical teams have been put in place from “both sides of the spectrum to try to iron out the chinks and to ensure that whatever we propose to use to go forward, whatever name, whatever activity we propose to have will be done” when they meet on April 28. He will then meet with London shortly after in Tobago to finalise the decision of the technocrats. Peters described the meeting as very cordial and professional, adding:

“I think that from the last time to now we have gotten much further in terms of where we should be and by the end of the month we should have some kind of a decision on the way forward.” Peters and London previously met on February 28 to discuss the issue.

London said the meeting was very productive. He added that it was agreed that from a Tobago perspective there was a trough in the tourism sector between early September and the end of November and the THA, the TDC and the Central Government had been working to see how they could treat with that trough to increase visitor arrivals. He said it also was agreed that one of the ways to treat with that trough was to have various types of activities. London said the Tobago sub-committee had indicated there were some concerns, among them the branding of Tobago, the levels of inconvenience and the problems and challenges of security.He said the ministry brought a proposal about the type of Carnival activity it would like to see in Tobago.

Since it was the first time the THA team was seeing the proposal it was decided a joint technical team from the THA and the ministry would meet in Trinidad to see whether there could be a marriage between the proposals and the concerns raised by the assembly. London said coming out of that meeting a decision would be made about an activity. He added: “I think the discussions were quite professional, quite cordial and quite productive and I think we have reached a point where the THA will be in a position very close to making a decision on the issue. “I have a commitment from the minister that outside of the elections we will work together as a team.”

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I really hope we get this Tobago Carnival this year, and that it is planned and executedly properly. I do not want some thrown together affair.

Now that talks are officially underway I wonder how the existing bands will tackle this. Bring your 2K11 costume, pay a lil $500 maybe and jump? Or would they do separate costumes mayb t shirts and shorts? Would they even allow these private bands or instead, would they just have one huge People's Band :S . For me at least I do believe if I take my Amazon costume back on the road I will be naked at the end of the day based on the rate at which it was falling apart. Regardless, I am very interested in this new venture and hope they have more news for us come April 28th!

Frugalista Fashion

Its not easy being a shopaholic on a student income so I've found little tips and tricks to help me get what I need at the lowest cost possible.

Exhibit A:Perfume
I looooooove wearing perfume, but can never commit to just one scent. For example at the moment my go-to daytime perfumes are Marc Jacobs' Daisy and DKNY's Be Delicious while I prefer to wear Versus by Versace and Givenchy's Very Irresistable at night. Now this could very well run me over $200 easy, as the average cost of the regular sizes these are roughly between $40 to $72USD.

Enter The Rollerball and cue the start of my love affair with Sephora! For just $20 I can have the rollerball in almost any perfume I want and as an added bonus for the lil miss frequent flyer that I am, they are small enough to fit in my makeup bag and can fit in my handbag without making it bulky. Sephora also runs specials on them occasionally, such as the one I listed below which you can get right now.

SIDENOTE: Was inspired to write this blog after my regular sized $60-something-more-than-half-full DKNY Be Delicious decided to start smelling funky after only having it for a couple of years. Ideally perfume should last between 5-7 years but I guess it got too much sun exposure (I sat it on my windowsill)...such a waste and all the more reason to stick to my minis as I have yet to finish a regular sized bottle of perfume. They ALWAYS go bad b4 that can happen.

And yes I am aware that I defined this blog as a 'carnival blog' but in my book Carnival is not just the costume and the bands but the makeup and accessories too, so expect to see blog posts on everything from monday wear and boots to makeup and eyelashes :)

Rollerball Collection For Her
$140 value for only $60!
Fragrance lovers can experience seven of Sephora's most coveted women's scents with this set of full-size rollerballs. Try them all at home, keep one or two in your purse, or give them away as a luxurious little gift.
This set includes seven full-size rollerballs:
- 0.34 oz Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gioa
- 0.2 oz Coach Poppy
- 0.34 oz CLEAN Shower Fresh
- 0.33 oz Hanae Mori Butterfly
- 0.25 oz Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy
- 0.32 oz LaVanila Vanilla Grapefruit
- 0.34 oz Paco Rabanne Lady Million

Its on! But Y No Machel?

The Six Flags caribbean Concert series is on again, and boasts most of my 2011 faves thus far, i.e. Iwer and Kees :D . So here I am all excited when I take a second glance at the list...buh wait..no Machel??? Not even a lil HD Family made the list, never mind that Patrice is starring in one of their homepage ads with a big 'ARTIST LINE-UP' next to her *side eye*. And yes I know Aaron Fresh is on there but I haven't yet accepted him as HD, I'm STILL not over his predecessor Umi leaving HD. I sure hope that this list of confirmed persons gets a lil longer in the near future, especially as i am still salty over missing Machel in MSG.


Confirmed Artists:
- 2011 Trinidad & Tobago Groovy Soca Monarch Champion – Kes The Band
- Def Jam Recording Artist – Aaron Fresh
- 2011 Trinidad & Tobago Soca Monarch Finalist – Iwer George
- 2010 St. Vincent Soca Monarch Champion – Skinny Fabolous
- 2011 Trinidad & Tobago Groovy Soca Monarch Finalist – Benjai
- 2011 Trinidad & Tobago Groovy Soca Monarch Finalist – Chucky

DATE: July 9th 2011
VENUE: Six Flags, Jackson, NJ

REDjet

As a relatively frequent flyer this airline seems to be the answer to my prayers. Island hopping, while fun, is costly and for me at least flying LIAT although cheaper than Caribbean Airlines is no longer an option. The first and last time I flew with them I prayed all the way from Barbados to Trinidad as I was sure that that rickety-vibrating-and-making-random-loud-noises-plane was only managed to get airborne by the grace of God.

Caribbean Airlines, while my airline of choice has been bussin price on me as late, as well as I have been having some serious customer service/flight booking issues over the last few months. Now while they have made me considerably richer in the world of flight vouchers, their overbooking/flight cancelling shenanigans have the potential to be quite inconvenient. As a matter of fact the universe knew what it was doing when I couldnt get Beachouse tickets, because thnx to Cbbean Airlines overbooking ALL their flights from JFK I was denied boarding to my original flight and placed on a later one that just barely got me home in time for TRIBE's Ignite.

Taken from their Facebook Fan Page:
REDjet is the first ever Caribbean Low Fares Airline. Unlike traditional airlines, low fare airlines cut out all unnecessary waste to keep fares low and passengers happy. REDjet operates a 'Pay for What You Use' policy meaning on top of your base fare you only pay for what you want including checked baggage, food and drinks and priority boarding.

Now while I try not to fly Spirit because of the same 'pay what you use policy' I really dont mind this approach for a regional airline.If I'm hopping over to another island all I need are bikinis and coverups and generally impy skimpy wear so one carry-on works fine for me. The flights would also obviously be shorter than international flights so I can also do without the airline offering a meal. REDjet has also claimed that they will fly non-stop which is something I would definitely appreciate. I really dislike having to stop on the way to my destination, flying from Trini to JA for example was particularly irritating as we made at least 3 stops on the way.

I really hope that REDjet successfully launches as I believe that this is exactly the competition we need for other airlines *cough*Caribbean Airlines*cough* to lower their fares. Which in turn might make my Cropover ticket this year a lil cheaper....one can hope right. With less than 24hours to go before their first tickets reportedly go on sale, I wish this new company all the best.

UPDATE: So this lil notice on their website will have me holding onto my money for a lil while longer, either til its resolved or their first flight happens, whichever comes first. Wasnt even aware it was legal/allowed for airlines to book flights before they have complete approval and permission to fly. Interesting.

Airone Ventures Ltd trading as REDjet has applied for a license under the Civil Aviation Regulations, 2007 for a Barbados Air Operators Certificate. The applications are currently being considered and the license and certificate status is pending.

O The Uncertainty! (and tonight's disappointment)

Doing some deeeep digging in an effort to determine whether or not the 2011 Crop Over parade will be a two day or one day affair. The Trinijunglejuice calendar says 2 days but the official Crop Over calendar that I previously posted said one. Today i found out that last year the government of Barbados actually switched their emancipation holiday to the Tuesday after Kadooment Day but...there was still only a one day jump up so thats apparently irrelevant. I sure wish they would issue something official sometime soon so I could start looking at dates and tickets.

**UPDATE: Trinijunglejuice is of the opinion that despite last year's announcement of a 2 day parade (and the dates on their calendar) there will be a one day jump up this year.

SIDENOTE: According to the Honorable Minister of Planning, Economic and Social Restructuring and Gender Affairs, Mary King tonight, costumes pieces should not be imported because they can be produced cheaper in trinidad. O really now? Now quality questions aside, if that was the case wouldn't the bands have been producing these pieces locally to save themselves some production costs? I was honestly looking forward to speaking with Mr. Winston Peters tonight, assuming that this forum would be similar to the one I attended last year. Turns out it wasn't and Mr. Peters didn't even show. So my questions on the logistics of where the manpower for this proposal will come from, the issue of the likelihood that any additional costs incurred will be passed on to the masqueraders etc will go unanswered, for now.

Whats poppin in the DMV??

April 9th

UMBC Carnival 2011

Venue: Center Road and Erikson Field

1000 Hilltop Circle

Baltimore, MD

12pm - 4pm

This is their first carnival parade, complete with paint, dj's, a road to chip on and a lil mini-savannah at the end of it.

April 17th

Annual I.C.E. Carnival Curry-Que Fundraiser

No Flyer Available

April 23rd

12 Hour Dance-a-thon and Annual Glorious Saturday Fete

Venue: TnT Clubhouse

Cost: $20

4pm - 4am

This event is geared towards raising funds for DC Canival so come out and give your support!

April 24th

KES 360

Venue: Amnesia (NYC)

4PM -10PM

Brought to us by ShorBlue Events and Big and Strong Entertainment this will be a full performance by Kes the Band.

DC Carnival is on? yes...maybe???

According to one of my fave blogs D.C carnival is apparently back on with the setting up of a payment plan to address the financial issues. I have googled and asked jeeves and all that jazz but am yet to find the original source for her info so for now i am going to just trust in whoever her source is and start getting my DC Fete budget ready lol. Not sure how and when I 'm going to have my personal launch...i.e. the first fete for the season but when I decide I'll let you guys know! the 'you guys' being the people I believe read this blog and just don't comment? Yes? Maybe? til nxt time!

Fete Fashion

In recent years as my love for and subsequent participation in Carnivals grew (also due in part to my love for Scorch fetes lol) I had to switch up my wardrobe a bit from more club based to easy-breezy-fete wear of the romper and beach cover-up persuasion. I have a few months to prepare for my next few Carnivals, as D.C. Carnival is in June..well hopefully, so I am taking this opportunity to gear up for the upcoming Carnivals via some retail therapy. My go-to website for sexy cover-ups is Victoria's Secret, but I have also found some gems in Forever 21.

V.Secret: $58. USD

V.Secret: $64. USD

Link to one of my fave rompers..could not post the pic because..well you'll see why lol
http://store.americanapparel.net/rsa0321s.html $38USD

F21: $19. USD

These are just a few ideas, and as you can see its easy to get what you need no matter your budget, prices of fete-type clothing can range anywhere from $10. USD, (i kid u not!) to $70. USD, and over of course but I really think anything over $60 is kind of pushing it. I'm still a college student after all...