Machel to perform at White House

Link to article below
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/featured-news/Machel_to_perform_at_the_White_House-124472059.html

Nice to see that all of this is cleared up and I'm extremely proud of Machel...this is a huge accomplishment! I can't help but wonder how this performance is going to go down tho....am I the only one picturing Machel and Brittany dancing to 'Bend Over' in front of the Obamas? lol!


So far DC Carnival is shaping up to be ...okay. Wednesday night I attended the Launch party at Bar 7, last night One at Club Muse and tonight which is my last night of partying I will be at DC Star for Machel's performance :D I really hope that tonight is great as the events thus far have been decent but not as good as years past. My experience this year has actually made me pretty sure that unless these promoters and the DCCC get it together next year, DC Carnival will not be on my list of events to attend.

At the last minute the Saturday event got switched up and they basically changed the focus and headliner acts from the whole bag of artists they had listed initially (and their emphasis on Kes) to just Blaxx and Benjai -_-. They then put Kes onto the Friday party so it went from hosted by to performance by. Now what if as intended I had already bought my ticket for Sat so I could see Kes perform? I would have been PISSED! Thankfully I am Ms Last Minute and kept stickin with that and now Saturday night will meet me in my bed.

Allegedly one of the promoters for the Saturday event got shortchanged in the mix-up. The Saturday event was their only fete for the weekend, unlike the other promoters and now they stand to lose revenue due to the recent changes. This is because of course Benjai and Blaxx will not pull the same crowd as Kes. Talk about taking the L.

Thats all the updates I have for now, now excuse me while I go nurse my mini hangover, Long Island Iced Teas are my kryptonite! :S

Update on Cuba Carnival

Taken from today's Express

Trinidad may miss own party
By Wayne Bowman wayne.bowman@trinidadexpress.com


The 31st Caribbean Music Festival, also known as the Fiesta del Fuego Caribbean Festival, taking place in Santiago de Cuba next month, is dedicated to the arts and culture of Trinidad and Tobago, but there may be no Trinbago culture at the festival.

Locals with interest in the festival, scheduled to come off from July 2 to 10, said the Ministry of the Arts and Multiculturalism failed to fulfill its commitment toward supporting a local contingent participating in the festival.

A source from the Ministry denied this, saying the Ministry paid for two representatives from the festival producers, Casa del Caribe and the Cuban Ministry of Culture to come to T&T and stay at the Chancellor Hotel, St Ann's, for several days for the purpose of working out plans for Trinbago's participation in the festival.

There were, however, never any meetings between the Ministry and the Cubans, who left without accomplishing anything, a source connected to the Cuban organisers told the Express. The source said with the knowledge of the Ministry, a local travel agent placed on offer two charters providing about 160 seats each.

There were also 200 rooms pre-booked at two hotels, one a three-star the other a five-star for Trinidadians expected to attend and participate. Those rooms were released from the pre-booking last week after there was no definitive confirmation from Trinidad, the source said.

The Ministry source said the Multiculturalism Ministry did express that it will support the participation of Trinbago in the festival, but there were certain concerns that needed to be addressed before any investment into the venture could be made.

The Express was told that either Minister Winston "Gypsy" Peters or Permanent Secretary Vel Lewis would contact us yesterday afternoon to explain what was taking place, but up to press time, no one from the Ministry had contacted us. The Cuban Embassy also declined comment on the issue.

The Caribbean Music Festival is an academic and cultural space for debate on the history and culture of the Caribbean peoples. The festival also provides an opportunity to appreciate the region's rich cultural heritage through dance, music, painting, visual arts, theatre and literature.

The festival is therefore a platform for solidarity, diversity, friendship and hope for peoples sharing a common destiny despite speaking different languages.

The charter flight and hotel accommodation package is being offered by Naipaul's Travel Service.



Funny how the Ministry of Arts and Multiculturalism puts so much emphasis on wanting to see Carnival expand and for Trinidad to 'own' Carnival then they drag their feet on opportunities like this. SMH.

Bits and Pieces

Well first off does Machel Montano know yesterday was not April Fools? Everyone was going crazy yesterday over his announcement that he would be performing at the White House. I refrained from posting anything because honestly well...I didn't believe it. I googled and binged and wikipedia'd and nowhere could i find any original US government source to support this claim. I followed the link posted by The Sweet 7 that led to this page. Note no mention of Machel there. I guess we will eventually get the behind the scenes story from his camp, and hopefully sooner than later. Maybe it was a joke that went a lil too far?

Still undecided on what I'll be doing for DC Carnival....got all excited about the Machel concert on Friday but I'm now rethinking it. I mean what if like the White House performance this doesn't get off the ground? I have also never heard of these promoters which makes me even more hesitant. If one more DC promoter has a performer-less party after falsely advertising the opposite I WILL trip so maybe I should just avoid this one lol

In other news TRIBE launches on July 23rd, first said by my friend then confirmed by Saucy. So yes folks its time to get that deposit money ready and your committee link on speed dial lol. I'm thinking of doing frontline this year but that depends on how much progress i make in the gym. I'm also still hoping for huge Victoria Secret wings but we'll see....Hope they put out another teaser video as well!

One can always hope right?!

DC Carnival Party Woes

Brace yourselves, its gonna be a long post!


I've put off blogging about this for some time now in hopes that how I felt would change. I really hate to have to be negative about a promoter that has done such a great job in the past but I feel strongly about the situation.

According to one of my friends I am the DC Carnival financial analyst.

Last DC Carnival I had a blast! I went to Machel the friday ($50 approx), jumped with the mud band Saturday ($15 because I only paid for the tshirt) and Indigo the Sunday ($40).. Now mind you Machel performed for a pretty long while complete with Patrice and Nappy, I heard everything from 'Stalker' to 'Music Farm' to his most recent hits. The vibe was bess and food and drinks just flowed. I 100% got my money's worth and then some. Indigo was undoubtedly hands down one of the best fetes I've been to in a really long while, so much so that this year I said I would prob just go to one party for the weekend and Indigo was it. The crowd kept it fun but classy and it was the perfect end to my carnival weekend.

Fast forward to this year and lets see how much this same weekend would cost me now. Friday 'concert' with Kees ($55.), mud band ($35), Indigo ($70). Yes I said it..SEVENTY DOLLARS USD! Now the mud band is getting left out because honestly that is and has been for some years now the price of their real package which includes t shirt, breakfast and non alcoholic drinks. BUT as for the other two. First off to all you folks getting hype off of seeing Kees perform please take another look at the flyer and note that it says HOSTED BY Kees. Nowhere on the flyer does it say prformance by! So more than likely I would be paying $55 dollars to watch Kees be a mic man and if I'm lucky maybe he'll sing a verse off one of his songs. Yeh. Not happening. I'm sorry but if I spent the same amt to see Machel do everything but back flip off the stage there is no way I'm going to spend that amount this year for a regular party. ESPECIALLY when the Saturday night will have legit performances and its only $35.

Then Indigo...sigh. where to start. I mean its true that it comes down to "Supply & Demand. they can charge what we will pay...." as @cropover123 tweeted to me but jeez a $30 jump with nothing to show for it? Alyuh have no shame? Despite the pressure of my presumably richer? friends I have decided not to bother 'submitting my ticket request for review' this year because honestly its just not worth it.
1)No performance
2)The crowd is already pretty much as bougie as it could get...there was not a single person at that party last year that was remotely hood or grassroots or however you want to say it. So basically there's no room for improvement here in my opinion as Gresham Ent was already doing a good job of crowd selection.
3)Drinks menu looks pretty much the same as does the dj lineup except there's no Private Ryan :(

I mean really..you expect me to pay more to go to a party with the same djs, same drinks, same crowd? Negative!

So my DC party plans are now pretty much up in the air...who knows, maybe I'll just sit this year out at home...or take that $150 and go buy myself a Longchamp lol

FINALLY!

Just yesterday I was wondering about the lack of info on the DC Carnival fetes. Other than the smaller events I had heard nothing about the events on DC Carnival weekend. In fact, I was starting to wonder if maybe their short notice on the fact that there would be a DC Carnival this year interfered with planning. But thankfully and finally the website is up, so go on and click over to http://www.dccarnival.com/ for info on all the upcoming festivities!

I have noticed that there are some changes in the line up this year. For the first time in...well rel years there is no TRIBE IGNITE on the Thursday.....wonder why?

Also, typically there are two events on the Carnival Saturday, one hosted by Pumpstation Entertainment and the other hosted by Basement Knokers Ent, however this year it seems that they have joined forces. Hopefully this all works out as both these events are typically 'ram out' so it will be interesting to see if they can find a suitable venue for the large crowd or perhaps cut back on no of tickets sold.

Regardless of all the changes I am definitely looking forward to the weekend, especially seeing Kees perform :D. Also extremely pleased that the Friday night event has been moved even closer to DC proper, definitely makes it easier for people like me who don't own cars. The 'purchase tickets' link is not working yet but hopefully this gets sorted out soon. Can't wait to buy my tickets! (and I hope they don't sell out before I do).

CUBA CARNIVAL

Article taken from the Trinidad Express on May 23rd 2011

Cuba to host Trini-style carnival
Story Created: May 22, 2011 at 11:50 PM ECT


Cuba is paying tribute to the T&T Carnival

This year Cuba's "Fiesta del Fuego" (Fire Festival) or literally translated as the Festival of Fire, would be incorporating Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival in their annual parade, which takes place from July 3 to 9.

Derrick Lewis, founder of Island People, has already gathered 21 boxes of costumes and materials and would be formally presenting them to Humberto Rivero Rosario, Cuban Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, today. In advance of this last Friday, an informal presentation was made to representatives of the Cuban Embassy. The items are all locally made and include headpieces, costumes and fabric.

Lewis said he was "informally asked" to contribute to this year's Festival. Lewis said the opportunity to assist was an honour adding he was given short notice and was unable to contact most of the other bandleaders but hopes that they would also contribute.

Lewis said however he was not invited to be a part of the contingent heading to Cuba.

According to the website http://www.ehow.com the Fire Festival was created in the early 1980's as a theatre festival, with the intent of recognising the importance of various unique cultures. It expanded gradually to include elements of the greater American and African indigenous roots.

I would love to see how this turns out, and of course I also love that there's a potential new Carnival destination ;) I've noticed that of late Cuba has really been trying to make changes to their way of life so that they're not so isolated from the world and definitely working towards giving their citizens more freedom, choices and options. It's amazing that they have included expanding their Carnival with their other undoubtedly more pressing and 'serious' programs and I hope that their Carnival comes off spectacularly!

Power X 4 2011 CropOver Presentation

Earlier tonight Power x 4 emailed their 'special mailing list' which consists of their version of 'TLC Cardholders' (back when TLC meant something), a sneak preview of their 2011 presentation. When I first saw this email I did a double take, checked the date on the email, asked my Bajan friends if there was some mistake, because surely Px4 was not doing the same theme again. And of course even if they did more effort would be put into designing, rather than just putting different color beading on the same bra styles etc. But no...sadly this is the real 2011 presentation. Just to highlight the similarities I included some of the 2010 designs. Although the link did include pics of the headpieces, which are a step up from last year and the bikini bottoms, it was in flash player and I was unable to download the actual pics.




P.S. Early registration for PX4 starts on Monday May 16th.

2011 COSTUMES

2010 COSTUMES (Sample)

To say I am disappointed would be putting it mildly, I can't believe in this day and age when everyone else is trying to step their costume game up Power X 4 would engage in such lackadaisical designing. I mean how is it that St Lucia has a smaller Carnival yet the costumes from Red and Just 4 fun are far better than anything I've seen Power x 4 put out over the last three years?? Couple this with my less than stellar experience with them last year and I think I'm going to have to pass on playing with them again this year.