tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50675152377524172512024-03-21T03:14:41.014-04:00DCARNIVALBABYDCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.comBlogger940125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-45718476644850500072023-10-11T12:00:00.009-04:002023-10-11T12:00:00.144-04:00BIG BIG NEWS! I've been holding this for so long and I've FINALLY been given permission to share!!<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">BUBBLES N BRUNCH IS BACK BITCHES!!!!</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>For those of us who live for Bubbles N Brunch, I'm sure you noticed that our beloved Bubbles N Brunch was missing this spring. By putting two an four together, I imagine that with Trinidad and Jamaica carnivals, UberSoca Cruise adding a 3rd sailing and then the Easter holiday.... Bubbles n Brunch (although a great success for patrons) probably wasn't making too much sense for the hosts. The only way to continue having this staple event was to find a perfect time on the carnival/fete calendar that worked for all. </div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Thanksgiving Saturday! </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmeFyTL7FaYEkx_0nN7SYsndM_lhFoLgDBsFYCpjtTqVPvMDIO7oRzhjNQUoE-yKNHAxYdWIpzwxR01Cpy5FVF-KHZo_vbIWEtK1sSrsW5YDwFRBMl6DawBlNPLBGM0dI46zze8OXdvZmqsh3dNtICHGG-MueWEPf-xlCRKcB9YC69faPj8pJ3FmDuvfg/s900/BUBBLES%20N%20BRUNCH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmeFyTL7FaYEkx_0nN7SYsndM_lhFoLgDBsFYCpjtTqVPvMDIO7oRzhjNQUoE-yKNHAxYdWIpzwxR01Cpy5FVF-KHZo_vbIWEtK1sSrsW5YDwFRBMl6DawBlNPLBGM0dI46zze8OXdvZmqsh3dNtICHGG-MueWEPf-xlCRKcB9YC69faPj8pJ3FmDuvfg/s320/BUBBLES%20N%20BRUNCH.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></span></div></div><div>From inception, Bubbles n Brunch has had a special place in my heart and attending is a must! Now for price and theme. You know how much D'CarnivalBaby <b><i>loves </i></b>(and sticks to) a theme! </div><div><br /></div><div>From the flyer alone, can you guess what the theme for this year will be?</div><div style="text-align: center;">No?</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;">Then you're not thinking hard enough.</div><div style="text-align: right;">Ciao</div><div style="text-align: right;"><i><b>D'CarnivalBaby</b></i></div>DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-76087046297050259212023-09-28T09:00:00.027-04:002023-10-02T10:08:44.886-04:00SO ABOUT HUSH..<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmtjbZt32l1KADsgFz_Bba1GGIjL9eYDB4p9nB64IFkgw8f5JCUjZ_XaxUx0_YHUMRcDE444qgOkeXfZsBEZBl6_vrz5gKz1dLBhmKZpxWFIeMVw8TZ8NY_dV5lEOlav5Mv7lHE80w_M-hD9Y1N0LDlxqBEwllcOh3H-okreY3uAmTw0bcCzWBkdch-so/s1079/HUSH.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1071" data-original-width="1079" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmtjbZt32l1KADsgFz_Bba1GGIjL9eYDB4p9nB64IFkgw8f5JCUjZ_XaxUx0_YHUMRcDE444qgOkeXfZsBEZBl6_vrz5gKz1dLBhmKZpxWFIeMVw8TZ8NY_dV5lEOlav5Mv7lHE80w_M-hD9Y1N0LDlxqBEwllcOh3H-okreY3uAmTw0bcCzWBkdch-so/w400-h398/HUSH.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Letting this Island Girl set her own stage..</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's HUSH....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's a SECRET....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's on 12/23/23</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There's no ticket, but there is a cost.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There's no address, but there is a venue....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's Hush....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's a secret!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Don't let anyone know you're calling for info...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">954.699.3136</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Regards,</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">IGM</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><b>Got your attention yet?</b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">HUSH started off in the VA/DMV area from a woman who wanted to have a memorable event annually. Picture it. She rented a beautiful venue but no one knew where the venue was until the day before the event. To gain access to the event you had to pay to get an access code. This code is the ONLY way to enter the event. If you give your code to someone else, they will now have access to the event and you won't. Everyone is given a code specific to them and will not be allowed access without it. Each code works only once.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Take all your pictures prior to entering because once you have reached the secret location, your phone and car keys are tagged and bagged. What happens as HUSH stays at HUSH. Trust me though, this is not Trapeze lol. The reason for the cellphone to be taken is that she is expecting a time to be had and memories to be created. To not spend the entire time on social media and more like the days of old. Car keys are taken because she wants to see the condition of the people leaving the event to ensure safety. So designate a driver or call an Uber.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I can not spill too much of the tea but at present the event costs $50 to gain access. It is a food inclusive. The foods will be Caribbean driven. Things only made or served during Christmas-time and there will be 2 DJ's which in my opinion, is enough. HUSH is the love child of a speak easy and music fest. The music will be diverse. I wished that I can tell you more but I've been sworn to secrecy. I can't wait for you to enjoy this one! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Step 1: </b>Call 954.699.3136 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Step 2: </b>Receive your QR Code for payment</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Step 3: </b>Wait for your access code. DO NOT SHARE IT! What you CAN share is the QR code for your <span> </span><span> </span>friends and loved ones to get their own access codes</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Step 4: </b>Get your all black attire together</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Step 5: </b>Receive your venue location the day before the event</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Step 6: </b>HAVE A TIME!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><i><b>D'CarnivalBaby</b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p>DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-81502729069881619582023-09-27T11:59:00.039-04:002023-09-27T11:59:00.162-04:00HUSH! THE SECRET'S ALMOST OUT THE BAG<p>Good day, good day. I will start by <b>briefly</b> saying this.</p><p>I've generated hundreds of thousands of views and readers from all over the world because I gave my uncut/raw opinion. I didn't care whether it hurt people's feelings or not because I told the truth and was always cautious with my delivery regardless of whether I liked the entity or not (except for that one time lol). It was my reputation and integrity on the line. However, when I started receiving the fake love and comps to go to people's events only because they wanted me to give favorable blog posts became annoying. I wasn't able to be myself. After it happened for a second time, I was done. I can not be bought. I am not one of the women that allyuh does talk 'bout out there that can only go "outside" once given a free ticket. Yes, that was shade. Be advised, I work! Although comps have always been and will always be appreciated, please don't get it twisted. I can afford to buy my own ticket. </p><p>That felt like a huge weight has been lifted. </p><p>It's been a very long time that I've wanted to get that off my chest. </p><p>Now that that's done, I'm moving on to the true purpose of my blog today.</p><p>I find myself along with others not too much caring about the Floridian night life because in many cases it's redundant and frankly a huge waste of time, energy, gas and most importantly MONEY. <b>Fetes are BORING!</b> DJ's are playing the exact same set that they played last week an the week before that. You can literally stand up in a fete and call out what the DJ is about to play (and say) and when a crowd can do that during your set, you're washed. Sorry. Not sorry. Who paying money for that? Not the grown folk that know the value of their dollar and working hard for it.</p><p>So guys, please. I'm begging. Stop looking to make a quick buck and focus on the <i><b>quality</b></i> of your events! Think of our patrons. Most importantly, think of how it can stay fresh because the generation that isn't thinking before buying your fete tickets has the attention span of a pea and will soon get bored and tired of standing on ridiculously long lines to get into your fete for free. </p><p>With that being said, I have a little secret for you.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxj4u0lj9oO9vhTusN52POLC2J8yDNHVrcztL4D5AufxeqULpAZV2b2z_ikHlUzKwptXFWsSVLykp0-LwjyvD-9-CSApuZjfY3RP8IhoZvIFACgMplUlmGO9-ZCYFntF9l4KvpY52Ng2XkslJTj7yWWu5Amb2LxbHxnjR82EU_VpMfcZ3-CeoVO8iTDI/s1079/HUSH.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1071" data-original-width="1079" height="635" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxj4u0lj9oO9vhTusN52POLC2J8yDNHVrcztL4D5AufxeqULpAZV2b2z_ikHlUzKwptXFWsSVLykp0-LwjyvD-9-CSApuZjfY3RP8IhoZvIFACgMplUlmGO9-ZCYFntF9l4KvpY52Ng2XkslJTj7yWWu5Amb2LxbHxnjR82EU_VpMfcZ3-CeoVO8iTDI/w640-h635/HUSH.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b>(Call 954.699.3136 for more info)</b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">OR you can wait for me to drop more info tomorrow 9.28.2023</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><i>Stay tuned. There's another big announcement to be made soon for all you Brunchers!</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><i>I'm kinda back bitches.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><i><b>D'CarnivalBaby</b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-56283943691206880622021-10-28T08:00:00.007-04:002022-05-17T23:54:31.035-04:00THE RELEASE ~ PRINCESS MIYA<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUp7Uun5tKXvl-K7I6m6lm1gVhjIUS81Bx-BXaXhbzZMggVJWfYbtQGUqR5dPK95OvKfUxWkEK1IU4QZcFsJGBuGpO8NGfAFPRXxJuf47iosdOG33_nz4sxs4fMDeWhR7P5tTQ-XYinK4/s576/The+Release.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="574" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUp7Uun5tKXvl-K7I6m6lm1gVhjIUS81Bx-BXaXhbzZMggVJWfYbtQGUqR5dPK95OvKfUxWkEK1IU4QZcFsJGBuGpO8NGfAFPRXxJuf47iosdOG33_nz4sxs4fMDeWhR7P5tTQ-XYinK4/w399-h400/The+Release.jpg" width="399" /></a>I've been stumped. </div><p></p><p>With everything surrounding The Miami Carnival, there was no way that I could continue blogging about my experiences without mentioning Princess Miya. The most fitting way that I saw fit was to get this information out about what will be her legacy. </p><p><a href="https://miyamarcanofdn.com/" target="_blank">The Miya Marcano Foundation</a> has been formed and can be found as <a href="https://www.instagram.com/miyamarcanofdn/" target="_blank">@miyamarcanofdn</a> on Instagram, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Miya-Marcano-Foundation-106920955100960" target="_blank">Miya Marcano Foundation</a> on Facebook and <a href="https://twitter.com/MiyaMarcanoFdn" target="_blank">Miya Marcano Fdn</a> on Twitter. </p><p>The Miya Marcano Foundation would like to announce its first official sanctioned fundraising event: </p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: x-large;">“The Release - Fly High, Princess Miya!”</span></b> </p><p>Please join us in honoring our precious Miya on Friday, November 5, 2021 at 4:26 PM in the Memorial Garden of Flanagan High School. </p><p>Purchase a Butterfly to be released on your behalf. </p><p>All proceeds will benefit <a href="https://miyamarcanofdn.com/" target="_blank">The Miya Marcano Foundation</a>. Please visit the link in the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/miyamarcanofdn/" target="_blank">Instagram Bio</a> to purchase and help them reach their goal of releasing 1900 butterflies. </p><p>Live performances, special dedications & a tree planting ceremony are also part of this inaugural event. We kindly ask for those in attendance to wear blue.</p><p>The number ‘19’ is a demonstration of Miya’s age and the time of the scheduled event (4:26) is a reflection of her birthday. </p><p>We thank you for your continued love and support and look forward to seeing you next week!</p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: medium;"><b>#MiyaMarcano </b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">#MiyaMarcanoFdn</span> </span> </b></p>DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-40959184297882765352021-10-19T08:00:00.053-04:002021-10-19T09:27:48.281-04:00PCR TESTING AND REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CARNIVAL<p>The Miami Broward Carnival Committee announced that there will be a carnival in Miami for 2021 and the world went crazy! After we, the masqueraders haven't had a carnival in what felt like forever we were all here for it. Along with the carnival there were two stipulations put in place that <b>I</b> think were necessary to have a safe and healthy carnival season. Although the intentions were good, I don't think it was foolproof. I mean, nothing ever is but it was executed poorly. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2_ezN2LoN1FLFjx-bXka8UYfTDDNt-u87ao0AvM6hCliEMuJiYjpvOibNI3oKP0FZCQueR7BIYj2wHb_9H4Sm2HKmC8eRy-GoQD-VS0YG_16iRkl388Myhe861jk9pxy2lUg6j2t_dOM/s319/NO+MASK+NO+MAS.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="319" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2_ezN2LoN1FLFjx-bXka8UYfTDDNt-u87ao0AvM6hCliEMuJiYjpvOibNI3oKP0FZCQueR7BIYj2wHb_9H4Sm2HKmC8eRy-GoQD-VS0YG_16iRkl388Myhe861jk9pxy2lUg6j2t_dOM/w400-h397/NO+MASK+NO+MAS.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>The idea of "no mask, no mas" <i>sounded</i> nice. I'll leave that right there and move on. Attendees of anything related to the events held by the Miami Broward Carnival Committee was to have proof of a negative Covid test. Tests were to have been taken no later than the 7th of October and all entrance points would have only accepted a PCR test. </p><p>Again, in a perfect world this would have been ideal but in a perfect world we are not. To be able to make it to the first event which was Panorama, you would have had to take and receive your negative PCR test by October 8th which in some cases was not enough time. Although many of us do enjoy the Pan Finals competition, with the mele of the PCR test, the untimely death of dear Miya Marcano in addition to the drive to Doral, many of us decided to skip it this year.</p><p>Now, I do think it was a great plan but just wasn't executed well.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBtler_5dSxtTJ2R8b9HTNCevqgQTjFGPo0Zija_SnAUCBm_tNsstu4uatX_SUH9miCBchdJGJERh4QKQfCvq30WUH8GPdB_j0bYvpeft4CAsP-C-CBfTkVf1BY-O-3JYdciVYps5tRLw/s960/PCR+TESTING.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBtler_5dSxtTJ2R8b9HTNCevqgQTjFGPo0Zija_SnAUCBm_tNsstu4uatX_SUH9miCBchdJGJERh4QKQfCvq30WUH8GPdB_j0bYvpeft4CAsP-C-CBfTkVf1BY-O-3JYdciVYps5tRLw/w400-h266/PCR+TESTING.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> <b>*****POSITIVES</b>*****</span></div><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The carnival committee did post as much as they could on their website and social media. Both Instagram and Facebook. </li><li>There was MAJOR help getting the word out from the South Florida Carnival Band Leaders Association Committee. Some (myself included) would say that they have done even more in getting the word out than the Carnival Committee seeing as they are a younger group of individuals who are more connected with social media and did an amazing job at getting the word out to 'the people'. They actively and consistently answered questions on Facebook and Instagram lives that gave people a better idea of what to expect and what to do closer to when the time came.</li><li>There were multiple ways for 'the checkers' to check PCR results. Whether it be by email, numerous telephone applications and checking ID's against printed results.</li><li>If negative PCR tests couldn't be retrieved in time for an event, there were Rapid Covid tests readily available on site.</li></ul><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">*****NEGATIVES***** </span></b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I felt as though the committee could have done more in every aspect. There was no reason that another group of people should have been more active than the committee itself. IMO, that's wrong because this is your event and they, just like you only do it for the love of the carnival culture. That IS why you're doing it right?</li><li>Although there were many ways of checking PCR results, there was no way to accurately check any of them. There was no one who was trained to handle the multiple ways for the amount of people on top of the scammers. (The scammers were not only ready to scam the mas bands and event organizers/promoters but that's another blog post).</li><li>I can not speak on the entry for Panorama nor Jouvert as I did not go but can speak from what I KNOW of the carnival. Attendees fought tooth and nail to get PCR tests done in time to attend. Many hadn't been checked by security. I would say maybe 10 (if so much) out of 100 people that were granted entrance to the park were being checked for their test results. Personally, I wasn't asked for a paper, an email, an app, a nothing. </li><li>The personal hand sanitizer that was to be given out, was nonexistent.</li><li>The committee requested that no test be done prior to the 7th of October. That's when many people were flying in and it had MANY of them who tested on that day who received their results the day<b> after</b> the carnival. Yes, on Monday and some even Tuesday. I know of one case that the person has yet to receive anything. </li><li>If PCR tests were mandatory, why were they accepting Rapid Tests onsite? Guess that was more of one of my many unanswered questions...</li></ul><div>The point of this particular blog post isn't to bash ANY side, group or organization so I will stop there because it has many more negatives that I could have listed. What I am trying to say is that the committee tried. The South Florida Carnival Band Leaders Association Committee also tried. They had things in place but again, we are not in a perfect world. Everyone was in the spirit of GLAD an were just happy to be really outside. Many of the people I know who went to a particular location that I will not mention on Thursday night <b>were compliant</b> but what is one to do when they believe that they are doing the right thing but the staff of the testing at that particular site didn't have a quick enough turn-around time? Would you forfeit all monies spent on your jouvert or carnival mas costume? Now, if you were following the rules and the guidelines, your answer should have been yes BUT I know my people. I know myself. I know what those who didn't get their tests back would have done or did do. Now, can you imagine going through all of this and when you get to the gate NO ONE IS EVEN CHECKING YOUR NEGATIVE PCR TEST? Real or not...</div></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>*****MY $0.02*****</b></div><div>When coming to the negative PCR tests... I believe that that responsibility should fall on the mas bands. This way the Carnival association is still in compliance with the CDC guidelines and all attendees affiliated with a mas band are complying with the Miami Broward Carnival guidelines/stipulations. This year there were a few bands (maybe two *that I know of) that did that but <b>I</b> believe that <b>every <i>masquerader</i>, every <i>band member</i>, all <i>security</i> and <i>staff member</i> should be screened</b> <b>by their band/section leader.</b> Unfortunately, this isn't foolproof either BUT once you prove to be Covid negative, you get your CDC wristband <b>PLACED ON YOUR HAND <i>ONE TIME </i>WITH NO EXCEPTIONS!</b> This way Liz can't give hers to Kim and John can't sell his to Paul. Let's be real, it has multiple people who actively work in multiple bands. Once the wristband is placed on the hand, HONEST PEOPLE will not need a second one to sell or give away. Let the people who are non masqueraders or who do not belong beat up at the gate. This is something I'd consider a luxury that we paid for. Let the anxiety end for masqueraders once they receive their costumes as well as their CDC clearance and be done with that. This wristband should be something readily available to mas bands straight from the Miami Broward Carnival Committee once the band leaders collect their bands from them. Once you've paid for 100 masqueraders, you should receive 200 bands. One to get into the park and the other is the CDC band. An because I know the tricks of the trade, do one color for carnival and one for jouvert. If necessary, one color clearance for each event. Did you understand that? Does that make sense? If not, maybe that's why I'm not on the committee.</div><div><br /></div><div>All in all, my wish is that all who attended the carnival whether you flew in or not has gotten home safely and Covid free. My belief is that it we all would like to see another carnival in Miami. Let's do better as a people. Let's try abiding by the people rules so we can have years of carnivals to come even in a pandemic because Covid is very much real. Miami Broward Carnival Committee, you need to help us help you because believe it or not, both sides of the coin want a fun, safe and effortless carnival.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;">Now to gather my thoughts on some of these fetes.</div><div style="text-align: right;"> Bless.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQucOBTgHEmF5C1mCvmRsrZ2SK7vRABaA_zYxiloNdpvuStBg3CP8q34jg2rA-qV4wqZVPpUhkPJQkuFnAw-FBBzaVcz-BOx84IHZIIzCmISin8S-UwjKZJyGsdv8hFbvsCwCr9aQ6yw/s960/DCARNIVALBABY+LOGO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="960" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQucOBTgHEmF5C1mCvmRsrZ2SK7vRABaA_zYxiloNdpvuStBg3CP8q34jg2rA-qV4wqZVPpUhkPJQkuFnAw-FBBzaVcz-BOx84IHZIIzCmISin8S-UwjKZJyGsdv8hFbvsCwCr9aQ6yw/s320/DCARNIVALBABY+LOGO.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><p></p>DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-10099017951625128952021-10-18T08:00:00.014-04:002021-10-18T08:00:00.184-04:00LOOKS LIKE WE MADE IT!<p>And just like that, the most anticipated carnival in the world for 2021 has painfully come and gone. Everyone needs to give themselves a round of applause because at the end of the day... despite the highs, lows, ups and downs... </p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">WE MADE IT!</span></b></p><p>2021 has been a very trying year but to make matters worse, it was the deaths leading up to the carnival that made the Miami carnival exceptionally emotional and darn right hard for many of us.</p><p>There are numerous topics in which I need to discuss/address. So much that I'd need to break my Miami carnival thoughts into separate blog topics because one blog post would be an hour read and seeing that we don't want that, I'd need you all to have a little patience with me as I drop these blogs separately. </p><p>Thank you in advance, I greatly appreciate it. 😊</p><p>As I prepare for blog post number one, hold this.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgQc8hN2YhSY7Z2YLaHSXSW7pS27UoAXMyp7FfYz-C4iNAb4XcgsV2wl5nO3uo-s0yoIEVbfo8sUQEjdCjbs9EmF62JWWZhyxqoTHHOfXC4Yk5wr3f6lUnNq48N5BvFVwn2CDHWeQ6rs/s1082/Save+The+Date.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="1076" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgQc8hN2YhSY7Z2YLaHSXSW7pS27UoAXMyp7FfYz-C4iNAb4XcgsV2wl5nO3uo-s0yoIEVbfo8sUQEjdCjbs9EmF62JWWZhyxqoTHHOfXC4Yk5wr3f6lUnNq48N5BvFVwn2CDHWeQ6rs/w398-h400/Save+The+Date.jpg" width="398" /></a></div><div style="text-align: right;">Plan accordingly,</div><div style="text-align: right;">D'CARNIVALBABY</div><p><br /></p>DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-13452759773138997482021-06-24T07:00:00.008-04:002023-09-27T01:32:36.370-04:00WELCOME BACK, OR NOT... HOW'VE YOU BEEN?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0dWLqs1gZhbcyZpfK-FG5y2YIFkJr6AllSoa5FKhDHecsi6jVsCi6F_HDKK8TUrqN-Ds4M1iLGfnPAX5P2j2MW4xRXsVPphZeFHh7KE8U1S0StuKmDbNKvb9PR9XC8KdxN-tqgNlilY/s459/WELCOME+BACK.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="459" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0dWLqs1gZhbcyZpfK-FG5y2YIFkJr6AllSoa5FKhDHecsi6jVsCi6F_HDKK8TUrqN-Ds4M1iLGfnPAX5P2j2MW4xRXsVPphZeFHh7KE8U1S0StuKmDbNKvb9PR9XC8KdxN-tqgNlilY/w400-h343/WELCOME+BACK.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>HEY EVERYBOOODYYYYY!!</b></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>IT'S BEEN QUITE SOME TIME HUH?</i></b></span></p><p>Since the last time I've written on this platform we've had a whole pandemic and I think I've gained about 10 pounds! We as a people have learned quite a few things in the last what.... year and a half? I've learned to make every day and every single person count. *The one's who've proven themselves to be decent human beings anyway. I've learned to live in the moment but definitely prepare for uncertain times, to further appreciate what I have and work hard for the things I do not (if wanted). I've seen many people struggle in silence and I've seen people win. I commend those who took their Covid time to rehumanize.... to those who used their time wisely to start a business. Last year has been the highest of Small Business openings and many of them were black/brown owned. All we needed was time to think and limitless opportunity and Covid gave us just that! Big ups to those who used Covid time wisely by investing in themselves, rebranding and coming out to kick ass for 2021 and beyond!!! </p><p>To the fallen soldiers, smh. We will sincerely miss you and as cliche as it sounds, they truly are in a better place and my prayer is that we make them proud.</p><p> Now for the reason I am here.</p><p>After making a conscious decision to walk away from Trinidad and Tobago carnival for personal reasons and what seemed like 10 years, a team of us were fortunate enough to experience the last Trinidad and Tobago carnival pre-serious Covid in 2020. Then came the shut down...</p><p>I vowed that when the world did open back up, I was going to play mas WHEREVER I could then boom! Without warning, came good old Miami. The first in the shits. As promised, I will play mas but I'd like to hear some thoughts. As the first major city to bring back their carnival, what are your thoughts on it? Will you be in attendance? Is it too soon? Will you be going to any fetes? Will you go to all the ones you normally go to or just a select few? Which ones are they? Will you play mas with your new Covid bodies or sitting this one out? What do you think of the pricing of some of these 2021 costumes?</p><p>Hopefully I get the urge to consistantly write again. With everyone able to sit home and restrategize, I feel like the world will be bigger and badder. Along with bigger and badder, comes new material... </p><p style="text-align: center;">Due to this, </p><p style="text-align: center;">the jumbie raise.</p><p style="text-align: center;">😈</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4UEVP-lkH2H9wb4fgGYonzCHOlDF8ilcw6Au5-I9lNeLOcEEyb03Tpsgzn1GI3qxw1NoMZLRKwOXYdJM475QxcfHh5VOG5JFD8S9B6mEM9QiX6tAIN5TPzjggrhvi8fnx_SxGwJBDhJw/s960/DCARNIVALBABY+LOGO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="960" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4UEVP-lkH2H9wb4fgGYonzCHOlDF8ilcw6Au5-I9lNeLOcEEyb03Tpsgzn1GI3qxw1NoMZLRKwOXYdJM475QxcfHh5VOG5JFD8S9B6mEM9QiX6tAIN5TPzjggrhvi8fnx_SxGwJBDhJw/w400-h226/DCARNIVALBABY+LOGO.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-29654429136369912852019-12-27T07:00:00.000-05:002019-12-27T14:39:14.067-05:00SORREL 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When the flyer for Sorrel came out, I was interested as I saw some of my favorite Christmastime delicacies and thought it would be a nice Christmas party to go to.<br />
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The event was scheduled from 11-5 so figured 1pm would be an ideal time to arrive. This gives me time to eat without rushing and another 4/5 hours to party and drink. Driving up, the parking looked sketchy but there was a parking lot right across the street and it was free. Double win!<br />
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After the short walk from the parking garage to what looked like a little clubhouse that we'd have to fight one another for breathing room, we walked right in. Inside was beautifully decorated. Not too much, not too little and gave me a very different look than what I initially thought from outside. Inside was very spacious and I was pleasantly surprised. Once ticked and given a band, to the immediate left was where I could have stayed. It was the food station. The first thing I saw were the cheese paste sandwiches. There was bread, I could also tell that the bread was homemade. There were cupcakes, cake, sweet bread, eggs and my favorite, HAM! Listen, I have no shame in saying that I think I <b>singlehandedly</b> ate all of the cheese paste sandwiches as I stayed in that little room stuffing my face for about an hour. *rolls eyes cause I don't care.<br />
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Once I ate til my belly nearly buss, it was time to attend to my drinks. The bartenders were very attentive and weren't overwhelmed. There were just the right amount of bartenders to keep the crowd flowing and they made the drinks very well. I actually tasted the alcohol and they didn't put too much ice the way many of these bartenders like to do. That was appreciated and encouraged me to purchase more. I felt like it was worth it.<br />
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So now I'm set. Walking into where the party was actually taking place... the atmosphere was different. There were large white curtains that separated the eating/social area from what I call the party area. CinCity had a large, single white table set up (which I called the V.I.P. because some very important people sat there) and many standing tables which were on two ends of the 'dancefloor'. The set up was dimly lit with red lighting. I must say, there was certainly a 'mood'. Throughout the party, people complained that the a/c gave out and that they were hot but I was quite comfortable and glad that I didn't experience that. It could also be because I was never stationed indoors throughout the event and kept making trips outside.<br />
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The music took me on a musical journey. There was parang, old school and new music of all genres which I also appreciated. We even got some Whitney Houston and New Edition!<br />
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This Sorrel will be an annual event brought to us by CinCity Entertainment and although this was only the 2nd Sorrel, I see this being one of the events that you can not miss once you're in South Florida for Christmas. It was an amazing event and I have no complaints.<br />
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The food was finger licking worthy *and I did lick my fingers, the drinks and bar service was A-1 and we all know how I feel about music. If the music isn't right, I am sour. Man, we even got a sexy Santa. Man an woman alike sat on Santa's lap! He was one of the Sorrel highlights.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">the cheese paste</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">)</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i>(more treats)</i></b></span></div>
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Not one of the best pictures as lighting was dim but one of the most talked about 'things' at Sorrel. Santa look like he could break me in two right?!<br />
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Should you be interested in having your next event catered by the catering service that catered Sorrel, you can call or message Tieesha from <a href="https://www.instagram.com/not_a_tie_catering/" target="_blank">Not A Tie Catering</a> food is ALWAYS on point! Click the link to check out the IG page or just take my word for it (cause I'm a little fatty) and call direct 305.724.4971.</div>
DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-23431181023849164622019-10-18T07:00:00.000-04:002019-10-18T07:00:04.430-04:00MIAMI BROWARD JR CARNIVAL 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I'd love to think that it was solely my opinion on last years Junior carnival that prompted the 2019 band leaders to show out this year but it's safer to say that it was just that more people felt the same way I did. This year we had (in no specific order):<br />
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<li>BREAK AWAE KRU</li>
<li>CHINA KIDS</li>
<li>D'JUNCTION MAS JR.</li>
<li>EUPHORIA MINIS</li>
<li>FUN GENERATION TOO </li>
<li>LA FAMILIA </li>
<li>MAJOR PLAYERS INC.</li>
<li>NATURAL DISASTERS</li>
<li>PARTY ROOM SQUAD </li>
<li>ROYALTY KIDS and</li>
<li>WASSI BABES and </li>
</ul>
That was quite the improvement! Cause last year, I was too ashamed to post a list.<br />
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We got to Broward Regional Park around 3:20 but between the car line, finding a place to park and walking to the entrance I walked into the park after 4pm. This was still a good time as my son's band was band number last. (That's been the running joke all day because we have yet to know what the numeric number was). </div>
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Walking in looked strange.<br />
There were no children.<br />
<b>None. </b><br />
After asking security, I was told that the children were all the way in the back. After walking toward the back, I found them all. I didn't understand whey none of the trucks were moving. Nor do I know the time they actually started the parade but I was already annoyed.<br />
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After finding Wassi Babes we began to enjoy ourselves.<br />
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Overall, I liked the costumes on the road. What can I say...it was Kiddies Carnival and I enjoyed it.<br />
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Looking into the stands, I was impressed as there were more people to support the children than last year and although it rained, they stayed. This year, unlike any other year (that I've attended) it rained cats and dogs on those children. Wassi Babes took that rain like little bosses. Because of when the rain fell, I know that other children were in it as well BUT I can only speak of the babies I was with. They were band number last and understood that they had to stay in that rain to STILL wait to cross the stage. None of them complained nor cried. The rain did ease up but guess when it rained again.... Just as they were to cross the stage. The <i><b>excitement </b></i>on their young faces and the <b><i>ENERGY</i></b> that they crossed the stage with made me cry. My heart was so full! My son, who vowed the entire time that he would not dance on stage, was one of the most energetic children on that stage. <br />
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The time, the energy and love that the Wassi Babes Team put into those children Saturday was worth it. I did nothing but show up and I felt overwhelmed with emotion. I can imagine how that team felt! That feeling is what this Junior Carnival is all about. That feeling is what each and every child should experience and every adult should feel proud the same way. This is what makes the children fall in love with carnival, that feeling is what makes them yearn for more. For the sake of the culture, I hope we, the parents continue to put the same energy into these children as they did on Saturday.<br />
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It starts with us.<br />
Pass the torch.<br />
Teach them while they are willing and their minds can be easily molded.<br />
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As for the Miami Broward Carnival Association: I have one major issue. Is there are valid reason the carnival started and ended so late? Please understand, more than half of these children are young. There is absolutely NO REASON to have those children out there in the hot sun (and this year in the rain) for so long. I find that the carnival is dragged out unnecessarily and lots of what is done, doesn't need to be. Aside from the long waits caused by the constant stopping, I have no complaints.<br />
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Let's keep this going.<br />
Please and thanks!<br />
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DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com0Central Broward Park & Broward County Stadium, 3700 NW 11th Pl, Lauderhill, FL 33311, USA26.139978 -80.198734-2.109071 -121.5073305 54.389027 -38.8901375tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-62077734669941174942019-09-30T12:30:00.000-04:002019-12-27T13:54:56.990-05:00SOCA BRUNCH REVIEW<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>DISCLAIMER: I love a good brunch which is what peaked my interest in it. (As well as the unlimited food). So the day came. I've made it no secret that I am a part of the SocaDemons family but this blog will be the real, how I've always done in the past and will continue to do once God gives me health and strength and I do hope that everyone can/will respect that.</b><br />
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<b>ARRIVAL:</b><br />
A friend and I got to the venue around 1:50pm. Parking was a breeze and right on the side of the venue but it wasn't free. For the 7 hours that I put on the parking app, I'd say the parking was very affordable. It was $10.83. There was no line by the time we finished with parking and walked to the event. By now it was about 2pm. Got inside and it was a little empty. I won't lie, it wasn't what I was expecting. I expected to see tables set with knives and forks, signature glasses and some type of decor that screamed BRUNCH but it didn't. However, there were tables set up in the middle for people to sit down and enjoy their food.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCb2FSx28lrm2JUE2pCA9aoWdwuztWrUHurGo2lc3nsKYbw5WPv-8CRSUyQDHWom3zqrLeD-jZVGhwMyJgcXjQgjY1dsCljGRpbX8zN6roTPxoWRhLWzWLJoVQ8GrRa_f7vl41JVqbuI/s1600/Mimosa.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCb2FSx28lrm2JUE2pCA9aoWdwuztWrUHurGo2lc3nsKYbw5WPv-8CRSUyQDHWom3zqrLeD-jZVGhwMyJgcXjQgjY1dsCljGRpbX8zN6roTPxoWRhLWzWLJoVQ8GrRa_f7vl41JVqbuI/s400/Mimosa.JPG" width="225" /></a></div>
<b>BAR:</b><br />
It was early, I know... but am I not to take advantage of the unlimited Mimosa's? We got white tickets that said "Mimosa" and this is what we were to use until the official Mimosa bands came. The bartender saw that it was 3 of us who had the tickets but she brought us 1 pitcher. She allowed all three of us to drink from the one pitcher which made no sense as we ran through that one pitcher quickly. It was later when one of my friends had to tell her that we EACH had unlimited drinks and he'd like for us each to have our own pitchers which only made sense rather than us having to call her every 15 minutes. I thought the Mimosa's were tasty, I had no complaints and by the time we were on pitcher number 2 our wristbands came. To now get a wristband, we had to surrender our Mimosa ticket. I can tell this was an unforseen hiccup but it was handled quickly enough so that once others came they would not have known. It's not always the hiccup but how it is handled that I pay attention to.<br />
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<b>THE FOOD:</b><br />
The food was served in portions. I was under the impresson that we would be eating everything as we walked through the door but there was a little more order to it. To start, there was pholourie, accra (fish cake), pone, a sauce for both the pholourie and accra, coconut bake, fried bake and saltfish buljol. I didn't see them advertise pone on the flyer but I was appreciative. I took a plate of only accra and the sauce for myself and my friend took pholourie and accra. I didn't care for the accra. Although it was flavorful, they were really hard. I want to believe that is was because of the size and maybe if they were bigger they would have been softer. My friend said that he didn't care for neither the pholourie nor the accra for the same reason as I. By now I'm panicked because after all, this is a brunch and this was the first thing we were tasting. Because of that, I didn't bother with any of the bake or buljol. I stuck to drinking. After becoming hungry (because before I was just going to eat for the hell of it/ greed), I got some fried rice, Chinese styled chicken, potato salad, Creole shrimp and some type of chicken. It looked like a barbeque but I wasn't sure, I had to taste it. EVERYTHING was ON POINT! The chicken that I didn't recognize turned out to actually be a sesame barbeque but it had a Chinese finish to it. I don't know what it was exactly because this was the only thing I saw that I wasn't expecting and it was a pleasant surprise. The Creole shrimp was cooked to perfection. Shrimp has to be cooked perfectly (like most seafood) and usually never is. This is something that's just accepted as most people don't know how to properly cook seafood but that shrimp, was very very well done. Kudos. The Chinese chicken didn't have the oyster sauce that I am accustomed to. It was a sauce that looked kind of redish. Because I'm a creature of habit, I put the sauce to the side. When I dipped the chicken into the sauce it didn't taste aweful but I rather oyster sauce BUT the chicken without sauce was actually a win so I was good. The picture quality was not of the best because Kona Lounge was dimly lit and flash would have ruined the entire thing.<br />
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<b>ENTERTAINMENT:</b><br />
As usual, once I'm entertained I don't really know who is playing. It's when I don't like musical selections or how songs are being mixed that I make it my business to know who's on the 1's and 2's. There were a handful of DJ's and they did their thing. ALL OF THEM! There was no pause inbetween, there was no unnecessary chatter on the mic, most genres were played, tunes from 'way back when' brought right up to today. Hearing songs that made my pores raise is a wonderful night for Kim. I was enjoying myself so much that I didn't realize just how many people ended up inside Kona Lounge. The turnout was amazing! Big up to all the DJ's..... there was DJ Exquisite, DJ J Rocca, DJ Mistic and DJ GlamaaFyah. Job VERY well done guys!<br />
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I mixed and mingled with so many different people at the SocaDemons Brunch. I met people I've never seen before and seeing faces that I haven't seen in a while was refreshing. The crowd was mature, not old and everyone was there to have a good time. There were no stush vibes and I lived for every minute of it. Hopefully there will be others and I won't have to wait around until Bubbles n Brunch.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i>(The Kisha and The Kischa)</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i>(DJ Exquisite)</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i>(Army Boyz Clem)</i></b></span></div>
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DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-85616670211342358472019-09-23T21:11:00.001-04:002019-09-30T13:40:11.573-04:00WIN A FREE UBERSOCA CRUISE SUITE!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>YES, YOU READ RIGHT! </b></span></div>
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This Saturday, there will be a lucky winner of the SocaDemons Raffle off for an UberSoca Cruise experience! The best soca experience beyond the music! All you have to do is purchase a raffle ticket for $20. Whether you purchase the ticket over the phone or get one from a SocaDemon associate in person, you'd be covered.<br />
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Should you elect to purchase your ticket over the phone, your name and phone number would be written on the back of the bottom portion of the ticket and kept for the drawing. Should you come to the SocaDemons Brunch, you can purchase tickets there or prepurchase raffle tickets by calling (954) 805-1410 or (954) 681-8394.<br />
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Although this is a SOLD OUT event, you still have a chance to board the boat! Here are a few of the questions asked of this raffle.<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Is this for real? YES!</li>
<li>Do I have to pay ANYTHING? No. NOTHING is due once you claim your winning ticket.</li>
<li>Would I have to pay taxes? No. NOTHING is due once you claim your winning ticket.</li>
<li>Would I have to pay to change a name? Only if you want to change the name <b><i>after</i></b> you've submitted your name to SD Promotions (SocaDemons Promotions). </li>
<li>What is this room worth? Over $3,000! IT'S A SUITE!</li>
<li>What boat is it? It's on boat 1.</li>
<li>Can I bring a friend? No. This raffle is only for single occupancy.</li>
<li>Will airfare be included? No.</li>
<li>Will hotel be included? No.</li>
<li>Are there any age restrictions? Yes, winner/person winner elects to use the wining ticket must be 18 years and over.</li>
<li>Will WiFi be included? No but can be included before boarding the boat or on the boat.</li>
</ul>
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The winner would be getting the full experience of the UberSoca Cruise for the whopping price of $20. You can't beat it. Get your raffle ticket now and hope for the best!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>GOOD LUCK!</b></span></div>
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DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-87445531084499213372019-09-16T07:00:00.000-04:002019-12-27T14:02:03.166-05:00ABOUT BONJOUR....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Initially, some friends and I were going to Bonjour just to see what it was all about. We liked the idea of partying on an island because it seems that the soca community had outgrown the majority of venues on the mainland. Then boom, the team gets an official invitation to attend. How can we NOT go?<br />
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So yeah.... This is me publicly saying that I am a proud member of the SocaDemons but that in itself is another blog.<br />
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The big day gets here. The plan was on getting down to the docks for 1 am. This was when the shuttles were to start shuttling people over to the island. Knowing my people the way I do, I agreed to 1am expecting it to be 2am. As expected, we got to the shuttle line at exactly 1:43. The amount of people waiting to get a shuttle ride was ridiculous. After asking security, I found out why. The shuttle held 12 people at a time. There were over 200 people waiting and the line just wasn't moving. The panic set in when we started to see that we were sinking. The water started to come on the platform that we were on and everyone started to make noise and move closer toward the middle. Just after this we made it to the front but then heard an announcement at 2:17am. The announcement was that if you had a a physical or electronic ticket, we could get our tickets scanned and walk over. After leaving that line and reaching to the front, we were then told (at 2:19) that we had a cabana and those in cabanas were actually NOT allowed to walk over and had to get back in the line that we just left.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>TALK BOUT PISSED!</b></span><br />
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At this point, the people who have now moved up would not want to hear that a team of our size were now coming to skip them, so it was to the back of the line we had to go. Now, some of the team weren't registered as being in the cabana, so they elected to walk as it would be a 10 minute walk. We made it back to the front of the line where we got drinking cups, meal chits and cabana wristbands. The time was now 2:23.<br />
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We got on the boat FINALLY and I happened to watch the time. It was now 3:10am. So in total, we waited approximately an hour and a half to get into this party. The saving grace at this point was that the party was not going to be over at the normal 4am and we still had a significant amount of time to enjoy ourselves.<br />
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So, after making it to the island, we found the rest of the team, got the cabana and bottles. This was done fairly easy and quickly. The part of our team who walked over saw our drinking cups and wanted to know where we got them. Appararently those who didn't wait, never got cups or meal chits when they entered the party which I didn't find to be fair at all. Although they didn't wait as long as we, they still paid their money but that was not my position so I continued to mind my business.<br />
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I won't get into the how's or why's but I had about 8 meal chits. All of you ( friends and loyal readers) know that I'm always about my belly so the second order of business was to get food. I asked which booth honored the meal chit and I was directed to Soca Ranch. When you got to Soca Ranch's booth, there was a menu that I forgot to take a picture of. There was bake, buljol, tomato choka, bhaji, eggs, turkey bacon and ham. Again, because I think of only my belly at times I didn't think to capture photos until we were already eating but everything tasted great. I appreciate that the eggs weren't just scrambled but had sweet peppers in it just as if you'd make at home. It made me feel like they actually cared about what they were giving people to eat and not just giving food to us to say they fed us. The turkey sausage was actually the only thing I didn't care for and that's just a personal preference.<br />
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Since we're on the food, I can say that I went back multiple times. No questions asked. Once I gave my chit, I got how much ever I wanted. When I went for my last sets of food (I wasn't only feeding myself, others who walked over were able to eat off those meal chits. I'm not THAT greedy) I noticed the time. It was around 6:30am. On the way, I rememer thinking that nah.....the food would be finished but no. They still had food serving. They were properly prepared for the amount of people coming, the staff changed a little with each visit but Camilla and her huband Jerrod were always there. They served with smiles and had slight humor. It was a pleasure.<br />
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I can't speak on each DJ separately as the blog would be too long but the music was good and I enjoyed every bit of that fete. As promised, the fete finished well after the sun raised and I want to believe it was around 8am. What more could a party pyoung want? I think they did an amazing job.<br />
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Click <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20src=%22https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FDCARNIVALBABY%2Fvideos%2F10157443408988389%2F&show_text=0&width=267%22%20width=%22267%22%20height=%22476%22%20style=%22border:none;overflow:hidden%22%20scrolling=%22no%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowTransparency=%22true%22%20allowFullScreen=%22true%22%3E%3C/iframe%3E" style="color: red;" target="_blank">HERE</a> for one of my live videos.</div>
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The ONLY changes I would make would be to get at least 3 shuttles. The amount of people waiting for that shuttle service was overbearing and I may add not pleasant to we short people who's noses are right at people's armpits. In the future, something should be put in place on the island for cabana ticketed people and have the same things distributed to those who choose to walk ie: drinking cups and meal chits. The crowd was a little younger than I'm used to partying with BUT it worked (for me) because there was enough space for everyone to have their own space (excluding the cabana areas) and once your team is ready to fete, how can you not have a good time.<br />
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How good of a time do you think we had? A pair of shoes were lost. Not <b>a shoe</b> was lost. Not <b>a shoe </b>got broken or destroyed but <b>A PAIR OF SHOES </b>were lost. Would I do this party again. HELL YES!<br />
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And a special shout out to Sinistar for inviting us. I will be back!<br />
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It would be even MORE AMAZING if you gave me a call. I THINK YOU FOUND MY KEYS! </div>
DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-23210312462449100982019-08-11T13:00:00.000-04:002019-09-27T08:53:29.941-04:00LALLO'S MAKES THE PAPERS FOR NOT PAYING THEIR WORKERS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUaDHJmy84QL3NFIcR7zhUvJF04_QNJCNNjZtaQM4UMzX0R0xPEy3IGfMPDxNM1QLBEa8kk_tSb2O8uUt2_B9uLSgZc33-8sdcRgCm0NgVhg0tHc1xyN66R3dRpePiYH-ZZY2kHJEVmwg/s1600/Lallo%2527s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUaDHJmy84QL3NFIcR7zhUvJF04_QNJCNNjZtaQM4UMzX0R0xPEy3IGfMPDxNM1QLBEa8kk_tSb2O8uUt2_B9uLSgZc33-8sdcRgCm0NgVhg0tHc1xyN66R3dRpePiYH-ZZY2kHJEVmwg/s400/Lallo%2527s.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "spectral" , serif; font-size: 40px; letter-spacing: -2px; text-align: left;">"Broward restaurants paying thousands of dollars for failing to pay workers minimum wage, overtime"</span></div>
I promise, I was minding my own business this morning when a little birdie sent me the above article dated August 9th, 2019. Imagine my surprise and how big my eyes got because the last time I spoke about Lallo's on this blog was when I got food poisening<span style="color: red;"> <a href="http://www.dcarnivalbaby.com/2017/11/lets-talk-lallos.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a></span>. But this? It's 2019, the year of #TimesUp and #MeToo. No one is taking anything lying down but apparently Lallo's didn't get the memo. Big television commercial advertisement and you can't pay your workers what they deserve? Shame on you. Don't worry, I've captured the link for you all so you don't have to go searching. The article can read <a href="https://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-bz-cooper-city-restaurant-ordered-to-pay-back-wages-20190809-mxvmcx3uhvc5bg6no33ypxhx7e-story.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">RIGHT HERE</span></a>.<br />
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Hope you have a good read.<br />
Enjoy your Sunday and stay blessed.</div>
DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com01400 N State Rd 7, Lauderhill, FL 33313, USA26.1432527 -80.20230210.62121570000000048 -121.51089859999999 51.6652897 -38.8937056tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-86294462954816564812019-08-08T15:30:00.000-04:002019-12-27T13:54:33.475-05:00INTERNATIONAL SOCA AWARDS: VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBYFukhPud-ScA9o_qv9aQqt_tLt5FiHThVdAsx2tfkGU-HPERz_vHqfxjtJrx7uC0HT9U6JLkPQ-W328TUwkLF4tUJQp5EkQvYOIy9TPktBEOos_lRc7NZ8hnRDP5BrPnreMX5szeF-k/s1600/2019+International+Soca+Awards.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="360" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBYFukhPud-ScA9o_qv9aQqt_tLt5FiHThVdAsx2tfkGU-HPERz_vHqfxjtJrx7uC0HT9U6JLkPQ-W328TUwkLF4tUJQp5EkQvYOIy9TPktBEOos_lRc7NZ8hnRDP5BrPnreMX5szeF-k/s400/2019+International+Soca+Awards.webp" width="400" /></a></div>
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On Thursday October 10th <b>South Florida </b>will be hosting the 2019 International Soca Awards!!!! It will be held at The Lauderhill Perfoming Arts Center at 7pm. You know, the building that people seldom notice because they're too excited as they pass it straight heading inside the park for the Miami Carnival Jouvert..... That one. Excitements!<br />
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I'm sure this hositng is no surprise to the ones of us who live in the South Florida area but did you know that this year's special category is "Florida's Soca Artist of the Year"? Did you also know that one of the nominations in this category is of our very own Sizwe C? His nomination is #11 of 19 and the song he was nominated for was "Brasse". Ladies and gentlemen, please vote. Let your voices be heard in the International Soca Awards. You don't have to go anywhere to do it, can click the link right <a href="https://socaawards.com/vote" target="_blank">HERE</a>!<br />
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Lastly, the best thing after voting that you can actually do is physically come out and support ALL of the artists. Show your support for their contribution to the culture and purchase tickets by clicking <a href="https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe.c/10417315" target="_blank">HERE</a>.<br />
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I hope your favorite artists wins and I really hope we see you there!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC2c6lzVy_8jkcRamIT8K2Yn26Rsv3_2JJQNbV39vZYnQPPJQE3UfAZmNBqQfmKqWsUdCk5nEE1WyW_sx3ZsI1owjfHdJz_JERVejW4udIJZXkr3T6VVZmK5gnKynh31SjdXqFytLKJ8A/s1600/Brasse+Sizwe+C+%2526+Deshav.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC2c6lzVy_8jkcRamIT8K2Yn26Rsv3_2JJQNbV39vZYnQPPJQE3UfAZmNBqQfmKqWsUdCk5nEE1WyW_sx3ZsI1owjfHdJz_JERVejW4udIJZXkr3T6VVZmK5gnKynh31SjdXqFytLKJ8A/s400/Brasse+Sizwe+C+%2526+Deshav.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>GO VOTE!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>BUY YOUR TICKETS!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>#SupportLocal</b></span></div>
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DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com0Lauderhill, FL, USA26.1403635 -80.21338079999998226.0263435 -80.37474229999998 26.2543835 -80.052019299999984tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-30123822251164568662019-08-04T11:00:00.000-04:002019-12-27T13:55:18.660-05:00THE PEOPLE'S JOUVERT! MY WEST PALM BEACH JOUVERT EXPERIENCE......<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh10M1woOgfec6bey0IozjD8HoL2yRpZvhCBsER58QNgKRFlc7R-ZWY9Yt8wyIAUXDEaUiWmHf2DuSBhe37QSq5YRh73BU5Zb2p9dsNek6AQCNzhO2CfUMQESY7YaYR6OYJpMBNk6loesY/s1600/The+People%2527s+Jouvert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="742" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh10M1woOgfec6bey0IozjD8HoL2yRpZvhCBsER58QNgKRFlc7R-ZWY9Yt8wyIAUXDEaUiWmHf2DuSBhe37QSq5YRh73BU5Zb2p9dsNek6AQCNzhO2CfUMQESY7YaYR6OYJpMBNk6loesY/s320/The+People%2527s+Jouvert.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
When I first saw this event advertised, I wasn't going. I didn't feel to drive 45 minutes to an hour for a jouvert that hasn't been established. It was the first of what I understood to be an annual event and with many firsts, there is always good and bad. The good is that there's usually LOTS of funding and everything is always on point and is given to patrons in abundance. The bad is that this is normally where lots of the hiccups happen and they learn for future events. So with that being said, I will get into the reason you tuned in.<br />
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Trudy of Carnival Faces enlightened me to her involvement in the #ThePeoplesJouvert movement and that automatically peaked my interest. Not only because she is one of the few that is trying to preserve the culture but she is one that I truly consider a friend. Fast foward to collection. As media, I had no collecting to do but my team was able to conveniently collect. There was no line, mishaps or headaches.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh66xzW-3AJlSrf2bZhsCXH6sjynV_XwkwfUKHqfaCHR8EjGS0ULyAwsvBf3sMitboknA4Lv0mjiVtUV8AJpRTg88o0ez8oHGtpNqlaMHHuYj7SEHHtdVjRhVgwBNPR44vB5gMPyozX1N4/s1600/The+People%2527s+Jouvert+Bag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1600" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh66xzW-3AJlSrf2bZhsCXH6sjynV_XwkwfUKHqfaCHR8EjGS0ULyAwsvBf3sMitboknA4Lv0mjiVtUV8AJpRTg88o0ez8oHGtpNqlaMHHuYj7SEHHtdVjRhVgwBNPR44vB5gMPyozX1N4/s400/The+People%2527s+Jouvert+Bag.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Not too bad. </div>
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The packages included:</div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A drawstring bag to fit everything into </li>
<li>A checklist</li>
<li>A plastic bag which had your powder</li>
<li>Your teeshirt/bodysuit</li>
<li>Reject linen *the orange bag you see</li>
<li>A whistle</li>
<li>A mask</li>
<li>Meal chit</li>
<li>Cup</li>
<li>Telephone case</li>
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About this package. It was decent enough, no real complaints but a few observations.</div>
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<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li> The bag was decent enough.</li>
<li> The reject linen idea. I appreciated not having to take one of my heavy duty black garbage bags to sit on afterward and that they actually thought of masqueraders here. LOVE.</li>
<li>The bodysuit snapped in the crutch. Those who planned on wearing stockings had to either not wear it or come up with another option. One of my friends ripped it and sew it back together and the other just didn't wear it. Thing is, it snags the stockings. Personally, I don't wear stockings on the road whether jourvert or carnival so I was good.</li>
<li>The meal chit given was made of paper. Paper anything at a jouvert doesn't mix. By the time I was ready to eat my chit was destroyed by water and paint and was in pieces. </li>
<li>The cup was "moody". It changed color by temperature. That wasn't expected and was a pleasant surprise. It's the little things with me. Best of all, the cup was covered. This jouvert I didn't have to fight with the paint or the powder while having my drink.</li>
<li>We expected the telephone case to be one of those plastic waterproof cases but it was actually a sealed plastic bag courtesy of Great Value. Hear nah, we all laughed! BUT that is actually the best thing to protect your phone while at a jouvert after those waterproof cases. Telephone cameras work excellent while in them. It was just the shock factor of what we were expecting vs what we got....</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKkdmdEOlfck5I0etWFNENhW1NQiEH6Bj8YApH42xSEvDI_KpAuKhMHtUMpDzS4-x2KMVA9fk0kg5sw508NnGzEkFsnHHOO1GvQxhMQ0XfIbKeRQVK5Sx2UVIRzseFDB4ABUvgn9xFxU/s1600/Phone+Case.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="846" data-original-width="748" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKkdmdEOlfck5I0etWFNENhW1NQiEH6Bj8YApH42xSEvDI_KpAuKhMHtUMpDzS4-x2KMVA9fk0kg5sw508NnGzEkFsnHHOO1GvQxhMQ0XfIbKeRQVK5Sx2UVIRzseFDB4ABUvgn9xFxU/s320/Phone+Case.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
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Small thing. Jouvert is not a fashion show. We go with the intention of getting dirty but it was worth mentioning.</div>
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On to the event itself.</div>
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I can't remember the time we got to the venue but the sun was up. I want to believe we got there around 7:30 and hung out drinking and talking a bit and walked in around 8. For 3 of us on the team, there was a problem with the green wristbands for the drinks. They weren't snapping closed propertly. The solution was to give us a yellow wristband for our writsts, tie the green wristband somewhere on our person and keep our cups. Sounded good to me. </div>
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As we walked in, we were greeted by a paint station. </div>
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Here you picked your color poison. There was just enough water in the paint to not make it stick (or smell, thank God). We made several trips to this station. </div>
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When I saw the size of the bar, I figured that within the next hour or two that it would be a problem getting a drink but it never was. As soon as I approached the bar, I was attended to immediately. There was honestly NEVER a line. Whenever there was a crowd at the bar, you came to quickly realize that the crowd was just liming there and not waiting to be served. </div>
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I am not sure of all the DJ's as I only got there by 8 or so but I got there in time to hear Jay Dot, Rocksteady, DJ Bonez, House Arrest and DJ J Rocca.</div>
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The DJ who played the rap/hip hop is the only one that I could have gone without hearing. Don't know who exactly it was but he played rap and slow songs and said it was "for the ladies". Hear nah, I'm a lady and had no desire to hear the slow songs. I patronized the rap/hip hop but that too I could have done without. This is JOUVERT and no matter how you'd like to spin in, JOUVERT is a Caribbean event and we want to hear CARIBBEAN music. Period. There were those that fully enjoyed it but for me personally, I did not. Then there was the neverending struggle for DJ's. DJ House Arrest had to keep the crowd's attention when newer soca selections were being played so he had to resort to the commercial songs but I understood that it had to be done as he learned the crowd. I thank God that he didn't have to go so deep to play "Palance". In closing, when the truck began to move DJ J Rocca was playing and as it was near to the end, he let loose on the newer songs. The song that mash up the place <b>for me</b> was:<br />
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CLICK <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN1AsWOMGR8" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a> TO LISTEN!</div>
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All in all, The People's Jouvert in West Palm Beach was great. West Palm Beach Police said that "this was the easiest festival" they've had to manage. Job well done guys, you get an 9 out of 10 (from me). The event was SAFE and without incident or injury. I thought this was going to be an annual thing but the birdies have told me that it will be twice a year and not trying in any way to compete with the Miami Carnival jouvert in October. This is just something to scratch the jouvert itch that many of us have. I plan on being there for the rest. West Palm Beach, I didn't know allyuh had it in yuh!!!! </div>
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DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com05444 Haverhill Rd, West Palm Beach, FL 33407, USA26.7552653 -80.1170746999999891.2332283000000004 -121.42567119999998 52.2773023 -38.808478199999989tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-16854980570509414372019-07-31T07:00:00.000-04:002019-09-27T08:53:58.312-04:00LOOKS LIKE ADONIS INTENDS ON SHAKING THINGS UP IN SOUTH FLORIDA!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Looks like Adonis Entertainment Group has acquired some local talent!</div>
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Two of South Florida's own DJ's have joined the cast.<br />
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First we have the humble beast DJ Exquisite who is new to the DJ scene but is far from being new to music. DJ Exquisite is not just a pretty face (as a majority of female DJ's are believed to be) but her love for music shows through her musical selections and her versatility is remarkable! I am proud that we have a female DJ here in South Florida that can rock with and do better than many of the male DJ's out here. The buzz and demand for DJ Exquisite has gone on to international platforms from her debut to now. Many have yet to accomplish this in years yet she's done it in 7 months! This alone can tell you how good she is.<br />
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Then we have DJ J Rocca. I have had my eye on this DJ from when I first got a listen to him on Team Soca. At that time, he was based in Orlando. Since his relocation to South Florida, it's been a bit rocky in terms of bookings (from what I saw). I've noticed in South Florida that great talents, don't get bookings based on raw talent. It's about who you know and lots to do with your "following" and in my humble opinion, talent is usually last but that's another blog. Others just don't have the talent. Plain talk, bad manners. DJ J Rocca though, does have the talent. I've said from day one privately and publicly on this blog that in addition to the fight down in South Florida, I felt that his prior management had a part to play in that but nevertheless, there's nowhere to go but UP from here and I am extremely proud of them both!<br />
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Adonis Entertainment Group is an entertainment managing agency from parent company Adonis Events Inc., owned by Nichole Williams. Adonis Talent Marketing Agency (ATMA) was first opened to showcase fresh and new talent of models, singers, dancers, etc which have led her talents to having sold out events in diverse settings within the entertainment industry which is not only inclusive to Caribbean events. Nichole's promise is to take each of her talents to the 'next level' and has stepped out of the box which she has always been comfortable doing and and so far, she has delivered on her word.<br />
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For bookings for any of your entertainment needs, you can contact Adonis Entertainment Group at adonistalentmarketingagency@gmail.com or go to <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.adonistalentmarketing.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Adonis Talent Marketing's Website</span></a> </span>and browse. You never know, you too can unleash that inner model!<br />
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You can follow each on IG:<br />
<b>Adonis:</b> @AdonisEntertainmentGroup<br />
<b>DJ Exquisite:</b> @DJ_Exquisite<br />
<b>DJ J Rocca:</b> @JRoccaTheDJ</div>
DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-27140595192812411752019-07-01T09:00:00.000-04:002019-07-02T00:13:07.990-04:00TO COME BACK OR NOT TO COME BACK, THAT IS THE QUESTION.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In the words of my darling Sheran, writing "is my passion" and I've been displaced for quite some time because I wasn't able to do so.<br />
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I've had many problems but I'll write about the couple that really pushed me over the edge and caused me to stop writing. There is 1. Everything seems so damn repetitive within my little community that writing about those same repetitive things became boring. Not only has writing about these events become boring but I too have become bored out there and decided to just drop off the radar. Aside from doing that out of boredom, every now and again for your own peace of mind and the protection of your energy one should fall back from the drinking and the excessive partying. Let people miss you sometimes.... Anyway....<br />
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Luckily I am outgoing enough to try different things with different people, by myself or with strangers. Yes, I've gone out by my lonesome and have met and gotten along rather well with STRANGERS. It's not as bad as one may think. Anyway, I'm straying. Secondly, I needed to stop being so familiar with people/events I was writing about. I found it hard to just come out with the cold truth and felt the responsibility of having to explain first to people I had to disappoint. I would soften the blow to these friends so that my reviews didn't come as a shock to them. Hi. Hello. THAT WAS DRAINING!!!!!<br />
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Third turn off. Band launches were the most draining and that was the time I was my busiest. I think the last time I was genuinely excited about a launch was Euphoria Mas' band launch of 2014, 15 or 16. I don't remember the theme or year right now because my memory is that of a 44 year old BUT it was a theme of birds. Every, single section was true to theme. Every single section portrayed a bird perfectly! They nailed it. After that high, band launch experiences went downhill because not even them have been able to do that again. As far as mas portrayal, I am old school. I believe that a band should have a theme and all sections within the band should portray THAT theme. No generic themes. No generalizations. Then they does want to buss big price! My lackluster attitude toward mas right now goes hand in hand with the feathers dragging on our floors and the stones being shoved down our necks in a variety of color and calling it mas. I too am guilty of this but let's save that for another blog. *Not even I am safe.<br />
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What I've decided to do, is get back to basics and end the way I started. I will explore different things and will still show up to some of my older and more familiar events and live to blog about it. <b>I will still</b> be doing no favors, if yuh event was shit I won't write that your event was shit but I will write that it was tata. People will get the point. <br />
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There have been some amazing things that I have gotten into, I will be sure to share.<br />
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So from the tone of this blog if you're guessing that I'm back you are guessing right however it will not be of the same things I've been writing about previously. It will be on new things. Things to make you want to go out and live a little and stop being so predictable. So NO, I won't be posting daily but when I feel something is blog worthy. <br />
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Hope you read soon!<br />
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D'CARNIVALBABY<br />
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DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-55908169290864866042018-11-16T10:00:00.000-05:002018-12-13T09:14:41.988-05:00MY UBER SOCA CRUISE REVIEW<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Good day all!<br />
Now that both Boat 1 and 2 are back and everyone is back into their normal groove of things, I will try my best to give you <b>my </b>experience on Boat 1 of the UberSoca Cruise.<br />
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<b><u>BOOKING</u>:</b><br />
This process was a complete mess for people who didn't know how to plan and who were not pre-registered in the D.A.M.M. (<b>D</b>at <b>A</b>in't <b>M</b>issin' <b>M</b>e) program. I had a bittersweet experience with it and that's partially because I was enrolled. This is a program that allows you guaranteed sailing for the following cruise before knowing dates, the ship to be sailed on or the destination. D.A.M.M. members are people willing to take that risk and decide to go on the cruise no matter what. In my humble opinion, this is a huge leap of faith for the patrons and the benefits (for them/us) is minimal to none and there is no discount. I however have decided to do it again for 2019 because the good (on the cruise, not the program) outweighs the bad.<br />
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(<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">Package collected at the USC customer care center</i>)</span></div>
This package was given on the ship at the V.I.P. Party on the first day. We were given specialty boarding, VIP access during jouvert, free entry to the V.I.P. party, first dibs on cabin registration and an opportunity to get a free costume in Carnival Rogue (a band in the Trinidad and Tobago's carnival). Booking (for me) was a breeze, however I was a part of a team of about 40 people plus who planned on traveling together and that was a task. Only a few of us were in the D.A.M.M. program. Those who weren't were not given an opportunity to book (which was expected). After the D.A.M.M. members booked, there was an R.S.V.P. crew. The R.S.V.P. ticketed people basically booked the majority of cabins which left friends wanting to sail with me out in the cold. It wasn't until all R.S.V.P.'s were booked did they advise to John Public that they were offering a second sailing. Unfortunately, this made groups of people separate. Including mine. Boat 1 registrants were not allowed to choose Boat 2 and it was being advertised that Boat 1 was completely sold out. What a dilemma! This pissed me off for a couple reasons. Two days before we set sail friends of mine were permitted to purchase cabins for $500 for Boat 1. Which equates to $250 a person to sail on a boat that was "completely sold out"! I had friends that would have cut both arms and legs to come on Boat 1 with me and were willing to pay full price yet they 'gave away cabins' at the last hour. Some felt bullied into Boat 2 just to have the UberSoca Cruise experience. Boat 2 was never their 'choice' and they weren't given an option. To then later see cabin giveaways at $250? These cabin giveaways, they enjoyed the same cruise as I for a more than discounted price meanwhile we as D.A.M.M. members got nothing. I'm not hating because I love to see people win but the UberSoca team needs to do more for their loyalists because as of now, MANY of us feel that D.A.M.M. is a rip off. What D.A.M.M. is; is UberSoca team's way of pregaming. Allowing them to know who will be not only GOING on the following cruise but who will be PAYING for their ship! Yeah, I said it. D.A.M.M. needs to be reconfigured so it better benefits their members.<br />
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<b><u>PREPARATION</u>:</b><br />
There was none. Only because of the first two cruises had I known what to prepare for. Things like the obvious All White Party, my carnival costume for Midnight Mas and a pair of pajamas, lounge pants or onesie for the pajama party. Low and behold, we were sent a "what to pack list". I actually thought that this was dope and liked the suspense of it all BUT too much suspense can be a killjoy.<br />
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If you noticed, this initial "What To Pack" list was missing an all white outfit for their All White Party which UberSoca Cruise veterans were used to and expecting. There were many complaints while others welcomed the change. About a week or two before Boat 1 sailed, there was an "updated packing list" which included an all white outfit for the 'newly added' All White Party. </div>
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I am unsure of what caused this sudden change. Maybe it was the outcry of the feterans or it could have been that this event was just assumed then in turn forgotten to be added to the original pack list but it made lots of people happy. After this, we were given the itinerary for all cruising days. Although it was very late, this is what I was waiting for to start my packing. Why most wait on the itinerary is because it helps one plan what to wear, when to wear it and where. If there are two things happening at the same time, the itinerary can help in the decision making and know what doesn't have to be packed.</div>
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Once we boarded the ship everyone mingled a little, had some drinks, found their cabins located friends and so forth. This year the safety drill was taken a lot more serious so there was no drinking in the cabin like last year. Reluctantly, we participated in the safety drill. The crew of folks with me were already tun up so I heard none of it. I enjoyed myself at the sail away party and appreciated music from the late Mighty Shadow. This year, I left the sail away party to attend the VIP Party (only because I enjoyed it last year). This too turned out to be good but the complementary cocktails had me a little buzzed so I didn't stay late and completely missed the D.A.M.M./V.I.P. package distribution. There was no announcement or note left in the cabins for us so I didn't look out for it. I left to get ready for the All White Party. The All White Party, is what it is. Pace. No complaints. After party. Sleep.</div>
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<b><u>THE FOOD</u>: </b></div>
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If you read this blog regularly, you would know that I don't play with the belly. I woke up extremely hungry and made a dash to the 11th floor dining room. None of the ones for additional payment but the buffet styled food that was free. Ah done pay over eleven hundred dollars per person to be on the people ship, I was eating what they gave me with a smile! There were some complaints about the food but <b>I </b>had NONE. I mean, we as Caribbean people/ people of color already have our preconceived notions on what food should look, smell and taste like. So whyyyy go on the people ship to complain bout things like doubles? If something doesn't look right, move on. It has doubles right here in South Florida, in Brooklyn and hell, TRINIDAD SELF that don't taste good so it's on a ship that you're expecting a bess doubles? I've heard horror stories from people about how tasteless the food was, fights for pizza, etc. I was quite pleased with the food on the 11th floor and whoever didn't, poor you. Should you see a line that is too long for your liking, come back later or choose something else. I would never fight over pizza especially pizza I hear wasn't even giving you lives, it just tasted good.... I had the pleasure of stuffing my face 3 times a day with the main courses, had couple snacks in between, fruits, salad, every nature of bread and desserts. Hell, I ate more than I drank on that boat and NEVER missed a meal. I was one of the fortunate ones to get some macaroni pie, rice and peas, callaloo, stew oxtail and stew pork for Sunday lunch AND HAD SECONDS! I did as everyone on the boat should have done. I know it is VERY easy to mess up a callaloo, so I tasted a small portion of it and once it passed, I went in! To the ones who complained about the food, I believe they came on the cruise expecting to nyam caviar and lobster. Food on the UberSoca Cruise (in my opinion) is what most people eat to prevent drunkenness or nurse hangovers so it should be appreciated that they went out of their way to accommodate us with traditional dishes and not the bland stuff that I KNOW the normal cruise lines gives. I've never had Haitian food but the day we were in Haiti, I heard that the food was spot on as if it was made in a Haitian kitchen. So what are we complaining about again?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2Pr816wYrFMo4jP6G8oLv0ZC8HBoNv3JZfdQ8e3OLB9JWAOd8e3EegMNg8GCJFAt1V15HRXExamkhPmMxkmc2h9-93PCRUB-xOWSoYQ9et4zV2m4hpuI0SFsEmCMqg9qWoC7ex-v_0I/s1600/USC+Friday+Itinerary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2Pr816wYrFMo4jP6G8oLv0ZC8HBoNv3JZfdQ8e3OLB9JWAOd8e3EegMNg8GCJFAt1V15HRXExamkhPmMxkmc2h9-93PCRUB-xOWSoYQ9et4zV2m4hpuI0SFsEmCMqg9qWoC7ex-v_0I/s400/USC+Friday+Itinerary.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Each event today was better than the last because everyone was still getting used to their environment on Thursday. I want to believe that Boat 1 was full of newbies to UberSoca Cruise and was a little stuck in their social shells on Thursday evening but after the after party, they learned! Everything was enjoyable and I enjoyed the UberSoca on Ice the most on this ship. I believe that it was because my husband almost killed himself as he tried to skate while intoxicated and I almost died from laughter.</div>
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After all the laughter from the ice skating and eating, we slept straight through the Game Of Thrones comedy show. From those who attended, I heard that it was extremely funny and Majah Hype wasn't missed. It was said that the full comedy show would be televised (on ship tv) but no one (that I knew of) stayed in their rooms long enough to ever catch it. Back to preparation, reasons like this is why we need the itinerary at the very least two weeks in advance. I'd be ecstatic if we got a month. Due to the itinerary, I packed something just IN CASE I made it to the comedy show. The lack of interest was solely because of the Game of Thrones theme. I've never seen the show and didn't want to feel out of place. The Game Of Thrones after party I did attend and that was great and so was the after after party. I think the after parties were when people REALLY misbehaved.</div>
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So now we're in Haiti. We made it. While on the deck, I looked over to see how beautiful the island was. It was really peaceful and serene then the thoughts of what we came to the island to do started to creep in. It was almost a shame how we deliberately came to the people good good island to mash it up and that we did. </div>
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Leaving the ship we took some amazing pictures and video footage. To get to the jouvert we could have walked for about 20/25 minutes or be driven in what looked like an extended golf cart for about 5. We took the ride. </div>
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As we walked into the jouvert we did a quick scan for the complementary rum punch they distributed for years one and two but was told that it was done. </div>
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I'm sorry, it was what? Maybe I couldn't hear with all the noise. So I leaned in.</div>
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I heard right. The people say done.</div>
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Done as in finished. Complete. No more. All gone. Vanish. </div>
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Very bothered, I had to suck on a watered down Hennessy and pineapple with a splash of cranberry served in a pineapple...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7WzkA8uO5ZzETojWUfYIrnyUfibTn0cIwo0Lyi7nF7FtI0ThVVX4ePV15LwDAefDcd79ROGTu4BOPDwrKz8yHh-0ohl8RMQ_tv4sz4vm5AKvtOjbxM6ZOHsj6RvFMRB_3JuVITzTjgtg/s1600/IMG_20181116_075344_945.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="578" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7WzkA8uO5ZzETojWUfYIrnyUfibTn0cIwo0Lyi7nF7FtI0ThVVX4ePV15LwDAefDcd79ROGTu4BOPDwrKz8yHh-0ohl8RMQ_tv4sz4vm5AKvtOjbxM6ZOHsj6RvFMRB_3JuVITzTjgtg/s400/IMG_20181116_075344_945.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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At this point I was dumbfounded. </div>
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I'm an intricate planner. I planned to get to the jouvert early enough so I can tun up and return to the ship before everyone else to selfishly eat and enjoy the Wi-Fi. The switch up was disappointing and I call it a switch up because the first two years the rum punch lasted for a very long time. It felt like the rum punch was catered for 1,000 people. 1500 tops! And we all know that the ship (Boat 1 anyway) had 3/4,000 people! Although I enjoyed the jouvert, I couldn't get past the rum punch fiasco and stayed back stage for the rest of the day where I enjoyed taking pics and drinking with Soca music's royalty. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZqmDZGLI5rNkSDzZEUPy9CLnZUJo8JOw_ETue6ssDhuwxmSDThCnJ4jVZOrteG_6kDs5dypH4PBP_1lp31yqdodPOHdHNJc8EiywYmfzi7br-SybNFKHx-8GXwxPslPF7j1TXwwLO9k/s1600/20181103_161903.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZqmDZGLI5rNkSDzZEUPy9CLnZUJo8JOw_ETue6ssDhuwxmSDThCnJ4jVZOrteG_6kDs5dypH4PBP_1lp31yqdodPOHdHNJc8EiywYmfzi7br-SybNFKHx-8GXwxPslPF7j1TXwwLO9k/s400/20181103_161903.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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As KES The Band was singing, I got the "lehwe go" nudge from the hubby. We walked back to the ship, enjoyed some smoking hot Wi-Fi and ate like pigs. The itis kicked in so we took a small nap before the Midnight Mas party. This too went well and I'm glad more people showed up than last year which I believe has to do with the missing rum punch at the jouvert. Last year was a scene and my hubby to this day believes that some people were left in Mexico. I skipped all after parties this night because I didn't feel like partying with my wings. There was absolutely no room this time around.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i>(costume: Wassi Ones)</i></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSpa9erLEKb75tD52ZHcLrWveCyQ1FMawHQKuAqHnNF1BXrOnsJ9RNnt3zcayWtM-yzAVv_5j-_7f-tRiyZXHlJ0ipfXecTMGayVWHEZuV3RvXkVnr3FYc8YVUzgXvxDsnb2ufAGqlio/s1600/USC+Sunday+Itinerary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSpa9erLEKb75tD52ZHcLrWveCyQ1FMawHQKuAqHnNF1BXrOnsJ9RNnt3zcayWtM-yzAVv_5j-_7f-tRiyZXHlJ0ipfXecTMGayVWHEZuV3RvXkVnr3FYc8YVUzgXvxDsnb2ufAGqlio/s400/USC+Sunday+Itinerary.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Sunday was filled with mixed feelings. We gained an hour from the previous night yet somehow still woke up feeling drained. Dressed for the 50 Shades of Pink Brunch and waiting for the crowd to gather, I murdered some people <i>for hours</i> in All Fours (card game that I believe only Trini's play). Mariano of Euphoria Mas was my partner. I never left the table because I just wasn't feeling the vibes and I was content listening to the music as I looked on to the people alongside us. The attendance for this event was pretty low.</div>
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The Wakanda Ball went well. Everyone came out in their African attire and stuck to theme. There were more people than expected. The dining room was gorgeous! If I counted correctly, there were three floors to dine on. People on the floor above were able to look down at the one/ones below. The problem I had was that there were so many people to feed that it took a very long time to get our dinners. I ended up having to take mine to go. When we got back to the room there was yet another "costume change" as I called them. We had to get into our pajamas for the Pajama Party. Both The Pajama Party and the after party on the promenade were LIT! I already over love both Bunji and Fayann but if you didn't before that finale performance, something is wrong with you. I refuse to explain it. Next time, just be there. Then that damn after party.... I don't know.... It's as if everyone was just waiting until the last night of the cruise to literally do EVERYTHING crazy. Lord it was pace! I saw women being carried across the promenade over men backs like cave women. There were people dragged across the floor on chairs while sitting. Then there was someone who was sitting in a chair who was carried IN THE AIR across the floor. There was an #SSS ritual done on the boat which is called a baptism. You would have to attend an SSS baptism done on land to understand the level of crazy experienced on the people good boat that night and although the baptism's are done to a certain person in particular at these events, this baptism was done to any and all who got wet with the people champagne. That after party was a true finale.</div>
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<b><u>MY OVERALL VIEW</u>:</b></div>
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My view is that the UberSoca Cruise team is between a rock and a hard place. It's unfortunate to say but when dealing with the masses especially our own people no one will ever be pleased. I will admit, I boarded the ship being very upset with the UberSoca Cruise team but I understand that there are things that they just can not control yet there are things that they could have.</div>
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<li>It upset me that I wasn't given an opportunity to pre purchase bottles of liquor <b>or water</b> from Royal Caribbean. I rather a cup of water over juice any day and we were given glasses of water and juice that were prepoured and the drinks sat there until someone came to drink them. For sanitary reasons, I didn't trust it and rather have bottles of water to pour myself. Just like the drinks. I know how I like my drinks made and if I had my own liquor, I would have made the drinks to my liking. With each drink purchase I made, the drinks were watered down. Just like the prepoured ones in the dining hall. </li>
<li>The two boats. Although it was an overall success, stick to one boat. I would have liked for year three to have the exact experience for all. There were different people (including artists) on Boat 1 and Boat 2. Take for instance the rum punch for jouvert. The rum punch ran out before I stepped foot into the jouvert (Boat 1) and was flowing all throughout the Boat 2 jouvert. As I looked at footage from Boat 2, it was a noticeably smaller crowd than Boat 1 and that alone showed that it was a more intimate setting and that in itself made me think that Boat 2 would have been the better boat for me. Never have your patrons feeling regretful. </li>
<li>Overpricing/ overcharging. Two beer buckets cost $95. A mixed drink of Hennessy with cranberry and pineapple was $18 and I almost died at the price of bottled of water. For the regular Joe Shmoe, that would have been fine but on a normal day I chug a gallon of water easily. It's my drink of choice.</li>
<li>It's understandable why cruise lines do not allow irons but to not have at least ONE iron on board per floor was madness. If anything needed to be ironed, you had to have guest services wash/iron it for you. We get it. This is a business but some things were just outrageous and felt like robbery. </li>
</ul>
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All in all, I had an amazing time but have come to realize that all my real complaints had very little to do with the UberSoca Cruise team. Once God spare life, I will be back for UberSoca Cruise 2019. Hopefully on the next go round I will be able to cruise with ALL my friends and we can afford to pre-purchase bottles of liquor AND WATER. I hope the food is just as good as it was this year or better. The special prayer is they do something more for the patrons with the current D.A.M.M. program that they currently have and they communicate more with their patrons. Give up on even mentioning the Rogue costume. By that time, all who are going to Trinidad for carnival and plan on playing mas ALREADY HAVE A COSTUME and not everyone is interested in going to Trinidad for carnival. </div>
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UberSoca team, I applaud you. It's not an easy task pulling together something as wonderful as this and you've successfully done so for 3 years with 4 sailings. Keep up the good work!<br />
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For my 2017 experience, you can click <a href="http://www.dcarnivalbaby.com/2017/11/uber-soca-cruise-2017-death-via-mexico.html?m=1" target="_blank">HERE</a></div>
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DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-87675649177969176872018-11-01T12:21:00.000-04:002019-09-27T08:56:14.202-04:00KEY WEST AND IT'S PHUCKRY!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This blog like many others was written from the heart but I had two minds about posting it because of the backlash that I will receive once it's posted.... but I've never backed down from a fight so I decided to publicize the post but chicken out and post it once I've boarded the ship and having a great time on the UberSoca Cruise. I'll be enjoying myself and will be unavailable, so allyuh could beat up yourselves.<br />
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This blog post will be the good, the bad, the ugly and the phenomenal that involved MY Fantasy Fest experience heading to Key West.<br />
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Saturday began like prior years. I woke up just in time to message Semone telling her that I am on my way and to make sure it had food for me. After all, my belly is always my main concern. Once I arrived at the destination, the choices were roast bake with either saltfish or omelette. Coffee, tea and hot chocolate was available to me and seeing as that is what I wanted, I didn't check for anything cold. After reserving my food, I took a couple bags to secure 10 seats on the bus.<br />
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It was now time to go. The bus was packed with last minute food, snacks and costumes then<br />
we took off. I had no concept of time at this point because we were having such a good time as<br />
the vibes started shortly after the music turned on and it was smooth sailing. Somewhere<br />
south we stopped which I found odd because it was too soon for a pit stop. Found out<br />
that we were picking up two passengers who lived close to Kendall. Customer service at it's<br />
finest because the bus departed from Lauderhill. After the two passengers boarded the bus,<br />
Semone said a prayer (seeing as the bus was NOW complete) and we took off again.<br />
<br />
I can honestly say that his year was the most set of bacchanal on that bus. And seeing as #TeamKelz<br />
swore us to secrecy, what happened on the bus, had to stay on that bus BUT there are a couple<br />
videos circulating. Catch one.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The drinks continued to pour into signature cups given and the snacks began to share. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">#TeamKelz </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">served snacks that included homemade mango and pineapple chow, Trinidad style fudge, tamarind balls </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">and sweet bread from a bakery that I will not disclose. Next thing yuh know allyuh bus have we sweet </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">bread next year lol. I would say about an hour or two (because who knew at this point), while eating </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">some fudge, the bus made a screeching </span>halt<span style="font-family: inherit;">. No one thought nothing of the stop because we were </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">having a time but it was when we realized that the AC was off and we haven't moved in a while we realized </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">that the bus had shut down. The majority of the bus thought that this would have been a minor setback so </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">we got off to smoke and talk a little nonsense. It was while outside we realized just how serious it was. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The music truck for the entire "Caribbean Truck" was also shut down because they tried to jump the bus </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">with the music truck. So now, there is no bus to take us to Key West and there is also no music truck. This was </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">when the fellas decided to make some lemonade out of our lemons. They decided to mount music boxes on top of </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">the music truck and we started to jam on the people highway yes. Don't get me wrong, we were concerned </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">about reaching to Key West but at this point what exactly would we be missing? The music truck was stuck on the side of the highway right along with us.</span><br />
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Because of the fun that we were having, it didn't dawn on me until the late half just how many buses passed us straight. There were 8 to be exact. Of those buses, only ONE bus stopped and asked if we needed help. This bus was not a 'Caribbean bus', this bus was full of white people who weren't even going to Key West and were on their own beat but they were the only ones (on a bus) who willingly stopped to offer some sort of assistance. Imagine that. Of the 7 that were on their way to Key West, allyuh MUDDA CUNT! Phones were taken out, pictures were taken, videos were filmed and no one used their God given senses to see what was going on with your fellow brothers and sisters. It never occurred to anyone on either of those buses that THIS was the bus that they should help because THIS was the bus that was travelling with the music truck that they were all in a rush to jump up behind and that they were passing all of the equipment needed to jump up with.<br />
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Semone called "Mr B" for some assistance, he claimed that all his buses were full and that he could not assist however when she called Will (from D Junction) and Big Chris (who were one Batson buses) passed us already, THEY DECIDED to turn the bus around for us. You're reading correctly. They both (who were controlling Batson buses) decided among themselves to turn around and come for us! they advised Semone that although their buses were full, they would turn around for us and they can each take 15 passengers but her passengers would have to stand. She agreed. Mind you, these buses were ahead of us and were not a part of the 7 that passed us already. Semone, (let's just say Simi for short) told both Will and Chris that she would let her passengers know what the plan was and she would call them back. Simi had to first turn down the music to make her announcement. When she told us that 30 of us would have an opportunity to catch a ride on two buses, we ALL declined. We didn't plan it. We didn't have any group discussions about it. We just ALL looked at Simi like she was mad and told her that we were not leaving. Simi now had to call Will and Chris back to tell them not to turn around anymore because her bus load of people were willing to ride this out with her.<br />
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Just like that, my husband went to the bus driver and told him to just <i>try </i>starting the bus again and BOOM, the engine came on. As mysterious as the bus stopped, it was just as mysterious how it started back up again. The joy was a little short lived because it wasn't the same fate for the music truck. The music truck never restarted. At this point Simi and Kelz had to make a decision. They had to leave the music truck behind and continue on the road with the masqueraders. Kelz stayed behind with Kizzy (the MVP) and another person. The 3 of them were left behind with very little water and some leftover sweet bread because the rental company assured that they would be there shortly. Kelz and Kizzy put blue tarp on the highway and laid down like it was their bed as buses AGAIN passed them straight by. Kelz had a friend that had no intention on going to Key West who heard of the situation and managed to come from wherever he was, with a flat bed and picked them up. They made it to Key West in record speed but unfortunately, it was too late to be inspected on time therefore causing the band to not be able to register any of their masqueraders BUT Key West LOVES TeamKelz and worked it out.<br />
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Simi and Kelz communicated with one another that the flatbed truck would be allowed in the truck and to gather their masqueraders. We moved so fast, in unison, minimal words just action! PJ took off the music that he was playing for us alongside the masquerader bus, Darnell, Marvin and Folkesy assisted in getting the speakers on the bus, Will helped put the table under the bus and it was just a race! Chris and Fyah Truck were running with laptops and wires, meanwhile there was a crowd of feathers running behind them. There was a crowd of people running down the route of the parade with no direction, no lights, no music to follow but just the will to find that flat bed truck! The crowd (including my mother) disappeared from in front of us as they were chasing the truck and we were left behind trying to secure the bus and equipment. When we were finally finished, we walked the normal route of the parade. The locals of Key West saw our feathers and directed us to the truck. The sound of soca music was faint but we kept walking toward the sound of it and when we finally reached the truck, we could have cried. We ran up on the truck to hear "when ah dead, put jab jab on meh tombstone" and it was a joyful noise. My pores raised!<br />
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The people of Key West truly love the "Caribbean truck" that TeamKelz brings annually and did everything in their power to assist in getting it on the road. They bent so many of the rules and even broke some. Which brings me to this point. TeamKelz has to wait on an invitation from the mayor of Key West to participate in Fantasy Fest. No one is entitled to this. Key West banned the "Caribbean Truck" about 7 years ago! How many of you remember that? How many of you actually thank or at the very least show ANY appreciation to TeamKelz for taking the time to do a FULL presentation to the mayor of Key West to be allowed back? The deal is that they <b><u>ONLY</u></b> deal with TeamKelz and they have to wait for an invitation every year!<br />
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There is a DJ from Orlando named Smalley? No disrespect BUT, we understand that the Batson buses are doing this to keep the memory of Mrs Donna Batson alive but please understand, that is inclusive to only the Batson buses. Key West nor Fantasy Fest has nothing to do with her or Mr B's buses. You did give TeamKelz little shout outs on the mic but while crossing the stage where was the love? While crossing the stage, all we heard was shout outs to people who had absolutely nothing to do with the the "Caribbean Truck", nothing to do with it getting there, nothing to do with registrations and I can go on and on. The people that you were to big up ON STAGE, in the presence of the mayor and the television cameras you completely forgot. I don't know if word has gotten back to him but someone please give him a call because the director of the event was VERY DISTURBED and wanted to know who you were BY NAME and AGAIN, TeamKelz saved the day. It was noticed that people who were not designated to direct the truck were directing the truck to go the wrong way and there was lots of confusion. Do you understand that because no one registered (an get to jump in the band for free), therefore no one signed a waiver, therefore Key West and TeamKelz was responsible for EVERY SINGLE LIFE ON THAT ROAD?! The three people who tried to jump AN CUSS Simi, sorry to say, but you deserved the arrest that you got. To the man (I won't put any names) who seemed to have attitude asking "whey we truck" with the attitude, try looking for it 2 hours north on the highway! How much money did you give to assist with the trucks gas, the rental, the generator, the equipment, the time and monies spent attending meetings in Key West? Yuh lucky is Simi an Kelz people like you had to deal with because they choose to remain professional. People showed their ass on Saturday October 27th, 2018 in Key West and I was glad I witnessed it. I also witnessed all what it takes to get that truck on the road successfully. The videos posted, the negative remarks and the memes were distasteful and just think, the people responsible for all the negativity actually JUMP UP IN THE BAND FOR THE <i><b>WHOLE FREE</b></i>! It has those (and you know who you are) who stood up on the steps of their bus as they smiled and waved as we were broken down on the side of the road but you see, God is in control of everything. He is the boss! Everything happened the way it did to expose you all and trust me, it won't happen again. Everyone's eyes are wide open and woke. The public may believe the lies that come out of your mouths and you're good at 'cleaning up messes' but you know and so do we! This community as big as it may seem, is actually quite small an everything done in the dark doesn't take too long to get a spotlight especially when dealing with the pure in heart.<br />
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TeamKelz, I will always support your events once I can. I will always spread the word and once you stay true to self and remain that way, God will not only show up but he will show out the way he did for Key West's Fantasy Fest 2018. See you for 3, 2, 1 on New Years Eve!</div>
DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-17080266042296058472018-10-10T07:00:00.000-04:002018-10-10T08:23:59.653-04:00KIDDIES CARNIVAL IN "MIAMI" 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Blogging now just seems like rants so I've stopped doing it all together. There are some things that I do have to address just because I feel so strong about it. Kiddies Carnival 2018 at Broward Regional Park happens to be one of them.<br />
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Kiddies Carnival as we know it seems to be a thing of the past and it saddens me. I'm here to give you my thoughts and opinions. I also have a question or two.<br />
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My children played in Wassi Babes and prior to going into the park, I already knew that Wassi Babes would be last. I walked into the park and it was noticeably empty. My initial thought was that it was this empty because of the time but no, I got there much later than normal and if my memory serves me right, it was about 3/4 o'clock.<br />
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There were 4.....<br />
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FOUR bands for Kiddies Carnival.<br />
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<b>F-O-U-R</b>!<br />
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I think the amount of mas bands on the road is what bun me most. Why? Can anyone answer that for me? Is it that there's not enough money in it for band leaders? I understand that many get into the carnival business for only the money but it doesn't have anyone out there that would do it for the culture besides these four bands leaders?<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Natural Disasters</li>
<li>Party Room Squad</li>
<li>Royalty Kids and </li>
<li>Wassi Babes</li>
</ul>
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In my humble (but not humble) opinion, if these band leaders had a genuine love for the carnival and really felt that children had a rightful place in the carnival, they would have figured it out the same way they figure it out for the adult mas and the jouvert. If it's about funding, why not get your group of kids together and join a kiddies band that is already established? There were FOUR bands that they could have gone to to bring a section. Money would still make no? My guess is people want all or none... </div>
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It wasn't only the fault of the missing bands though. Where were the parents of all these missing children? Where were the aunties, uncles, siblings, grandparents and godparents who were to bring these children out to learn, enjoy, familiarize and embrace a little bit of their culture? Why are the parks filled for adult mas and jouvert but empty for panorama and kings and queens? Bad enough we get a partial carnival here in the states because there's no Soca Monarch, Chutney Soca Monarch, Dimanche Gras, Road March competition, etc. All of that to say that we have a condensed version of the real thing and we as people are doing a piss poor job of letting the little of the culture they allow us to have live on. In no way do I expect the numbers that the adult mas bring but there was almost no one there to cheer on the children who were!</div>
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The culture of a people lives on by allowing the children to grab the torch! It is supposed to be continuously handed down from one generation to the next. It all begins with Kiddies Carnival or The Junior Carnival as some prefer to call it. As a child, they fall in love with it and as they get older get to understand that carnival is actually a competition. By understanding that it's a competition, the children can/will learn how important it is to display a costume. Do a portrayal of whatever they are masquerading as. Let them know that carnival is not just about drinking, jooking and gyrating. Let them experience carnival and fall in love.<br />
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Miami's 2018 Kiddies Carnival was an embarrassment and a slap in the face to the culture and all those who are working diligently trying to preserve it.<br />
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As for the carnival itself, I understand that there is concert after the fact and artists are carded to perform at a certain time but I feel like the children suffer in that sweltering heat for hours unnecessarily. There were only four bands on 'the road', so why drag it out for so long unless they're trying to buy time? How are the children being considered? This happens annually with double if not triple the amount of bands, so what is the excuse when there were only four this year? There needs to be a serious Junior/ Kiddies Carnival revamp and if it can happen as soon as 2019, that would be greatly appreciated.<br />
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On a positive note, all the children looked too cute in their costumes, had broad smiles on their faces and seemed to be in very high spirits. I just wished that more people could have seen them. Whether they were playing mas or not, I would have loved to see a better turn out of children.<br />
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For God's sake, it's our children. Please, do better!<br />
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DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com0Central Broward Regional Park & Stadium, 3700 Northwest 11th Place, Lauderhill, FL 33311, USA26.139978 -80.198734-2.1084840000000007 -121.507328 54.38844 -38.89014tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-15001822988124629822018-04-23T01:39:00.001-04:002018-04-23T02:37:43.525-04:00JAMDONG JOUVERT BAND LAUNCH AND SECTION REVEAL!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This Miami Carnival Band launch season has taken me by surprise. I am used to D Junction Mas being the first to reveal their carnival theme and then Euphoria Mas. This year Jamdong Management has jumped the gun and buss the Band Launch cherry.<br />
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As per usual, the regulars of the WFYG Bandits attended!</div>
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When I showed up to Krave (this was the venue of the launch), there was no parking. I've gone to Krave a handful of times and I have never had trouble parking. I drove for a good 5 minutes before finding park and it may seem like nothing to some but South Florida parking is easy to come by so I got nervous because I just <i>had</i> to see what was going on with those costumes! I mean, what was soooo good that Jamdong Management couldn't wait to launch along with the rest of Euphoria Mas.<br />
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The front entrance was a breeze, there was no line and the process was hassle free. The first voice I heard was Giselle, The Wassi One and if SHE was on the mic, that means it was almost showtime. There was no time to get a drink or make proper greetings because now, it was time for the show and the place was packed!<br />
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There were two presentations. There was the entire jouvert band which is separate from Euphoria Mas' Dutty Pleasures and then there was the unveil of Jamdong Management's first ever mas costume as well as the 1st glimpse of Euphoria Mas' carnival band. Jamdong Management has dabbled in the jouvert, party promotion with SEV3N (the official Miami carnival fete) and a couple boat rides in Trinidad for the carnival season but never before 2018 have they come out with "pretty mas" for Miami Carnival. I am proud of them as a team.<br />
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I will show the jouvert sections along with names and the pretty mas last (just to make sure you watch and read everything) lol.<br />
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There were 6 jouvert sections shown but I caught 5 which were:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>EVOLUTION MAS</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdkYU9574gXP_-Dci0iGdS7gEcGcT50tDMJNnOct6UiUF6PBZpWG1FYAe1m-n8QCxN8sZTh0jKMqFuWswowsWCfO68G6XD1nrqPmh8wbcR_fDmQmZWX-aDdBZL1jgv1p-HDHIisCXEV5s/s1600/IMG-20180422-WA0045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdkYU9574gXP_-Dci0iGdS7gEcGcT50tDMJNnOct6UiUF6PBZpWG1FYAe1m-n8QCxN8sZTh0jKMqFuWswowsWCfO68G6XD1nrqPmh8wbcR_fDmQmZWX-aDdBZL1jgv1p-HDHIisCXEV5s/s400/IMG-20180422-WA0045.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><i>Front</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><i>Back</i></b></span></div>
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Of the jouvert band itself, this was my favorite section. This section was displayed with a pitchfork. That pitchfork symbolizes <b><i>for me</i></b> the blue devil, the jab! I would play the shit out of this jouvert mas BUT that's only if it were to come with that pitchfork.... Moving along. </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Endless Wuk</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc3r1AruOYeq2Y-oM4PvaH7Omj0JLIh1Y4BjUEutUaJc12Sl9vxh_TcD2UW5c7Knec72pgU4tuP6hozhinUZU3d8sSaG5pOOGKWO6C7DUWhyphenhyphenE47qSGvffg_oGr6qhxBX86B4CCfz5HUeY/s1600/IMG-20180422-WA0043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="684" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc3r1AruOYeq2Y-oM4PvaH7Omj0JLIh1Y4BjUEutUaJc12Sl9vxh_TcD2UW5c7Knec72pgU4tuP6hozhinUZU3d8sSaG5pOOGKWO6C7DUWhyphenhyphenE47qSGvffg_oGr6qhxBX86B4CCfz5HUeY/s400/IMG-20180422-WA0043.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><i>Front</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYeYKpEG6kQ47UsNqnyJNxErN33FKv7sTbQ-XOXvDp-SoveeoZQFb1Rlz_yvrozIV6TchEmBC9ee47s0lm8oX5CPJUNZ0xMIGFKOZ7rYfUrbAwnr6AGrxEHNlIG7DZwPFxhAbUQb_gf0Q/s1600/IMG-20180422-WA0038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYeYKpEG6kQ47UsNqnyJNxErN33FKv7sTbQ-XOXvDp-SoveeoZQFb1Rlz_yvrozIV6TchEmBC9ee47s0lm8oX5CPJUNZ0xMIGFKOZ7rYfUrbAwnr6AGrxEHNlIG7DZwPFxhAbUQb_gf0Q/s400/IMG-20180422-WA0038.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><i>Back</i></b></span></div>
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This look like a good bacchanal section lol.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8klvL98Vm2btzlDB4iiSrAqx6pBN1vyE6yR5pN-sfx86AByiey6GEt0y46ChksgOiHmCzelgO67AqzGCPR1Efrbe2w0q_YYeZxMHmqf20o2Pg_hvI1TSliiBXeOq1TZUd4HvCg1QkOv4/s1600/IMG-20180422-WA0042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8klvL98Vm2btzlDB4iiSrAqx6pBN1vyE6yR5pN-sfx86AByiey6GEt0y46ChksgOiHmCzelgO67AqzGCPR1Efrbe2w0q_YYeZxMHmqf20o2Pg_hvI1TSliiBXeOq1TZUd4HvCg1QkOv4/s400/IMG-20180422-WA0042.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><i>One Piece/Bodysuit Option for Endless Wuk</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">MAIN SECTION</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">MUDD LIFE</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNU_cvVepif9stDoa_lTbWQ4CS4wXA5dwADng9RcJbtfYQyIvsg6bVSyq2kf7XRKeu9AHYlDJVExAU2y1NfbtGVjbGaVD5FS7nuGmwwMmYG7Fe562wQCmDquIOR7KT9O7eNn__Eir8jUs/s1600/IMG-20180422-WA0044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNU_cvVepif9stDoa_lTbWQ4CS4wXA5dwADng9RcJbtfYQyIvsg6bVSyq2kf7XRKeu9AHYlDJVExAU2y1NfbtGVjbGaVD5FS7nuGmwwMmYG7Fe562wQCmDquIOR7KT9O7eNn__Eir8jUs/s400/IMG-20180422-WA0044.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
This section also has a crop top and one piece/bodysuit option. Unfortunately the photos were sent to my telephone after the fact and wasn't able to be displayed at the launch. It would have made a killing.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>MUD WARRIORS</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWvG0L6Lo6t0H_IGSEKiRCdUXF02BMTvBOJrDnr5wh2IS0GMbeyWHWPESxEoMRgikXMFGxLnLO5l8q_5Wunj7Iy48I6LZTLvCRVkpqqLlOGWNwpLhWa-xBUmLjWffgyTYg4U_0xDa9Ocw/s1600/IMG-20180422-WA0041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWvG0L6Lo6t0H_IGSEKiRCdUXF02BMTvBOJrDnr5wh2IS0GMbeyWHWPESxEoMRgikXMFGxLnLO5l8q_5Wunj7Iy48I6LZTLvCRVkpqqLlOGWNwpLhWa-xBUmLjWffgyTYg4U_0xDa9Ocw/s400/IMG-20180422-WA0041.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
It seems that this section doesn't have a bottom option included but you can ask section leader the specifics of this section. It wasn't specified during the launch and with the models all having different bottoms that did not have a Jamdong Print or logo on them this was my assumption.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>JUMBIE ISLAND</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrkkvuC2L5YfJUQ73Nq4XyfQ4EHBMu_DQmThbgzSs16IOQNOotYN7lXIqCwxLBIgieMPk-uO96bpwUuGJDxGcBJjKGE9lwKAe_Zi5rs-4a8g_jBoD5uxvGQ3evgwtFGp_KFb1isQixiEo/s1600/IMG-20180422-WA0037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrkkvuC2L5YfJUQ73Nq4XyfQ4EHBMu_DQmThbgzSs16IOQNOotYN7lXIqCwxLBIgieMPk-uO96bpwUuGJDxGcBJjKGE9lwKAe_Zi5rs-4a8g_jBoD5uxvGQ3evgwtFGp_KFb1isQixiEo/s400/IMG-20180422-WA0037.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
These were the sections shown for the night. There are 9 sections being advertised for this band. In total they are<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>JAMDONG</li>
<li>MUD WARRIORS</li>
<li>XENOBIA EVENTS</li>
<li>EVOLUTION MAS</li>
<li>ZANDOLEE PAINT AND POWDER</li>
<li>LIZ BLIZ</li>
<li>PASSION</li>
<li>CHEZ ZEN MAS and </li>
<li>ZOMIE ISLAND</li>
</ul>
<div>
As for the mas...</div>
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The section is named "Animus - The Most Amazon Tribe". Seeing as I don't have a definitive theme for Euphoria Mas, I don't know exactly how or where that fits in but we shall see shortly as soon as Euphoria decides to unleash their theme.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSMkDpyGJhXggLper5qviS3TYSXM5ii8WfjE7ivdrkKkzF4al_pKPX1gyEzipI3hPL0KiuzmHBNWk-StIcJLBIEPL4dwFr9Y_ZCk61X0PVK37XJkrmq1v0fXrDZKX4FrqbnnjccJy8Yg/s1600/IMG-20180414-WA0011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSMkDpyGJhXggLper5qviS3TYSXM5ii8WfjE7ivdrkKkzF4al_pKPX1gyEzipI3hPL0KiuzmHBNWk-StIcJLBIEPL4dwFr9Y_ZCk61X0PVK37XJkrmq1v0fXrDZKX4FrqbnnjccJy8Yg/s400/IMG-20180414-WA0011.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><i>FRONTLINE</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBK_xp6LaJhC9GKM_a77MvDcwG7v3TM2dhJV9wt94EDmNbTa6HDmMkJdvDRYF1bZOcNb0xYD3Vp5rg6UL97uMJSLd7cC82qSF5DFYVV6k-HzaYs26q3RakMZsEo2Yj1FIl_mDbqJ8cmFc/s1600/IMG-20180422-WA0047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBK_xp6LaJhC9GKM_a77MvDcwG7v3TM2dhJV9wt94EDmNbTa6HDmMkJdvDRYF1bZOcNb0xYD3Vp5rg6UL97uMJSLd7cC82qSF5DFYVV6k-HzaYs26q3RakMZsEo2Yj1FIl_mDbqJ8cmFc/s400/IMG-20180422-WA0047.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><i>BACKLINE</i></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ1XQguOdbpa9I3DPj7AumrfinYP3YmwREfWcIhA6uJbSo4HvYR5nE2Vao4nvAGmPjHCkiPd7wGyvoXPdWGS5tw61zBakk_KCKixyujXWzZwjk0IX_07MJy6tyhZCiPvP1kCRk71LhHSw/s1600/IMG-20180414-WA0013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ1XQguOdbpa9I3DPj7AumrfinYP3YmwREfWcIhA6uJbSo4HvYR5nE2Vao4nvAGmPjHCkiPd7wGyvoXPdWGS5tw61zBakk_KCKixyujXWzZwjk0IX_07MJy6tyhZCiPvP1kCRk71LhHSw/s400/IMG-20180414-WA0013.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><i>BACKLINE, MALE AND FRONTLINE</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I could definitely see myself wearing any of these costimes. The bold colors, the generous feathers and they definitely brought the sexy without feeling overly naked! The frontline is gorgeous (as expected). Now a days all attention is spent on the frontlines, hardly anything is shared with the backline and if there is even a male option in the section, I feel like the males get nothing at all. </div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
As expected, the frontline is beautiful to watch in the front but I also loved the decoration in the back of the wings. They weren't left plain (as I've seen lots of) and the backline was not forgotten about this rounds. This backline actually gives the masquerader a realistic choice. There is a collar for the Backline Betty's that gives them feather glory without what they may think is overkill in the frontline. The leg pieces look as though some thought was actually put into the costume or the designer was a Backline Betty for far too long and designed to help the backliner live! The male however was left behind as most are. It's sad but the reality is that over 90% of men who play mas are doing it just to get a band so they can drink all day and wine on women without being thrown out the band. They tend to not care about what they look like while doing it. So if it works for you, it works for me.</div>
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All in all, this was a job well done and I wish you all the best Jamdong!</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
For any of you who would like to see the section in motion, there is a live 32 second video that you can view by clicking <span style="color: red;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/DCARNIVALBABY/videos/10156230478038389/UzpfSTEzNzk4Nzg5Mjk0MDIyMToxOTU4MTc3MTA0MjU0NjE1/">HERE</a></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
It's so strange, I can't even tell you what MAS band is up next. No one is announcing! Up next is RED ANTZ JOUVERT on our Jouvert Band Launch list on the 28th of April! </div>
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DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-18731669042590474722018-04-03T22:25:00.000-04:002018-11-15T15:20:37.742-05:00ARMYBOYZ' ANNUAL ARMY BOAT RIDE, THE AFTERMATH..<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i>YES CLEM, THE BOAT WAS RAM!</i></b></span></div>
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Good day all, I hope this blog post meets you in good health and strength and you've all had a blessed and eventful Easter weekend. Let me get into the first order or business. Those who know Clem personally already know that promotion for the next event begins from the time the last one has either sold out or has docked. He wastes no time in getting the next ride embedded in the craniums. Those who do not know him personally can pretty much attest to the same thing because he is on his social media, Whatsapp messages and flyers are fresh off the press and ready to replace the last ride (depending on the location). It is pretty safe to say that the man has his marketing down to a science. AND he's one man. So, this now leads me to once again question WHY ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH are people looking to purchase tickets and willing to pay almost double on the day of the boat ride?</div>
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We've already covered that the marketing is great. Your excuse for not knowing about one of these boat rides by now has to be that you are living under a rock. There is no way in the world you could not know so what's your excuse? I believe it's complacency. I think because everyone knows Clem, they feel that they can let this pay period pass. Then that pay period pass. Then just put it off until the very weekend of the event then vex when tickets sell out. These tend to be the very same people who like to complain bout this that and the other. HELLO? HI! HELLO.... It's the same funds that go toward the same amenities that you're complaining about. How do you expect things to be paid for if you self paid for your ticket while others are looking to board the boat. Any way, that's none of my business. Caribbean people late for everything...</div>
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As for the ride. I got nervous when I saw the rat race for tickets and how serious those messages were coming in that the boat would not be waiting for anyone, so I got to Miami in record speed to find that I was STILL early. I will never arrive late expecting the ride to leave late because that will be the time that it leaves as it's supposed to and I can be slapped with the disclaimer but I could have spent that extra time in my bed.</div>
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As per usual, there was a choice of chicken or fish, rice and salad. This time there was a yellow rice, what appeared to be fried chicken and I didn't see anyone with the fish so I couldn't tell you how it was prepared. </div>
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As I've said before to Clem, I feel he needs to give this particular boat a rest. The bottle service was the worst that the crew had ever encountered and it seems as though complaints are being made via Clem but the owner is doing nothing about the service. In fact, it seems to me like the complaints are falling on deaf ears because in his mind, "we must come back". Shit, I felt as if I was on the kiss meh ass Titanic! I never stay in one place. I speak to damn near everyone and lucky me, my friends are never together. Unfortunately I've had the opportunity to go from the right side of the boat to the left and there was a drastic difference. I felt the difference. The boat had a gangsta lean! The left side was visibly lower than the right and only a handful of people noticed it. The DJ did ask twice for people to move to the right side of the ship because the boat was leaning but no one budged. I mean why would they, no one was making it as big an issue as it really was. There is always something wrong with that boat and the excuses are weary. The safety of your passengers is paramount and I just feel like the captain nor the staff gave a rats ass. They were more interested in payment for bottle service that took up to 45 minutes to come. You know, that pay now and wait til I'm ready to serve you service.....</div>
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Patrons, I am going to ask you. Would you rather Clem and affiliates source a different boat for his boat rides? I believe you all will support them regardless but they wouldn't know if they're not told. If you and I alike are dissatisfied with The South Beach Lady, express those concerns! (Make sure to also express that you will continue to support him should he take that time out to source another boat). Closed mouths don't get fed and I for one am tired of just accepting everything shoved at me, especially once I'm paying. If nothing is said, no changes will be made. You can not just whisper amongst yourselves and expect changes to be made. Say something! I bet once as the bookings decrease the owner will make some noticeable changes...</div>
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Lastly, the entertainment.</div>
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This is kind of touchy. People like me who enjoy EVERY GENRE of music and takes the time to learn new music will always have a great time but as I've said before, South Florida on the whole is not so. There are some who were dissatisfied with the musical selections of some of the DJ's and I thought it was welcomed change. The first set of music was old school American music and I liked the change. I don't need to hear the Jason Benn every time a boat sets sail. I don't need to hear the same thing all the time. I don't care, I state my age all the time. I'm 43, how many boat rides do you think I've heard setting sail to any of the 'boat ride anthems'. Now how many can say that they have set sail on a Soca boat ride to Hues Corporation's "Rock The Boat"? *Google it. It's not to say that no one on the boat knew the song.. WE ALL KNEW IT and we all damn sure danced to it. The DJ that I am speaking of is the one I call my dad, DJ Survivor Int'l and I don't care what anyone says, it was a change that I welcomed. Everyone complains about the same thing over and over and when they get change, it's a set of complaints... Especially when they don't know the music smh. </div>
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I didn't hear any of <i>my </i>crew complain but some of the feedback given was that there were complaints about DJ J Rocca as well. Now, if it's one thing I do on this blog is tell the God's honest truth. I've never had any type of communication with this particular DJ. I simply do not know him. So for me to say that whoever had an issue with DJ J Rocca just don't know music. Believe me when I say, they don't know music OR they only listen to music from the top three (as they say). DJ J Rocca played music from Grenada, St Lucia, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad. There was a slight tour of the Caribbean lol. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i>*SOCA SAVES LIVES!!!!! #FACTS</i></b></span></div>
THE ONLY THING I can say is that he was "a little intoxicated" and his mixes were not as clean as normal but for someone to complain about his musical selection, I will repeat THEY DON'T KNOW MUSIC and need to download the Team Soca App immediately. Get familiar. I don't know when Rick the Ruler came off and when my darling House Arrest came on but it was a love for all DJ's. In my opinion all of the DJ's played well and I was entertained on the entire ride. I believe I heard "Hello" about three times on the boat ride BUT it was noted that "Palance" didn't so I'll let it slide. Thank God! I think I've typed enough, so I'm done. </div>
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An allyuh PLEASE, rather than message me personally.... please please please state your comments and opinions below in the "comments" section of the blog. Messaging me does nothing as I am no longer in the business of delivering messages. I only discuss MY qualms. </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">NEXT UP! </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">SOURSOP THIS SATURDAY!</span></b></div>
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DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-24659153991639599222018-03-23T07:00:00.000-04:002018-03-23T14:53:51.184-04:00BUBBLES N BRUNCH, DROP ANCHOR.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
For those of you who follow my blog posts, you know that there is usually a plan for each event I attend yet nothing goes according to plan... The plan for Bubbles N Brunch was to not only celebrate the birthday of my husband but to get him so intoxicated that he didn't know himself and last, to make it on time. None of the three happened.<br />
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I've learned from last year that I should arrive early and in regular Trini fashion, I arrived at 1pm (the brunch started at 10). 1pm was late. Driving to the venue was decent enough considering that it was the beginning of Spring Break. Parking was a bit challenging as there was no parking advertised but once we tried parking in a designated parking lot (that was full) we were instructed to go to the 2nd of the the 3 parking lots. Attendants of the parking lot we went to never advised that there was in fact a shuttle bus running... so we walked. The walk wasn't bad, especially since we had the original shit talker Folkesy walking with us. It felt like we got there in no time.<br />
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Once we got in, I immediately noticed that the venue of last year was more appealing and the music was extremely low. Figured I'd get the story on the unusually low volume later and attended to the first order of business. Getting my little mason jar filled and getting food!<br />
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Lines for food were great. I literally walked up to each station and got food with the exception of the bake and shark line. There were complaints about the long line but I didn't have that issue. I'm a woman... I made 'new friends' at the front and never waited. This was the case all three times I went. YES, I GOT THREE BAKE AND SHARK, sue me! I didn't taste everything as I felt time was against me so I tasted the pizza, bake and shark, pancakes and french toast. The pizza slices seemed small, so I requested a whole pie. It was the Hawaiian. They a made the pie in 10 minutes. In the meantime I got a couple servings of french toast and got my first bake and shark. I had more servings of the french toast than I did the bake and shark and feel that those two were the hit. That french toast was life and after seeing the condiments offered for the bake and shark, I was discouraged but in my opinion the bake and shark was better than bake and shark that I've had in Trinidad! I returned for the pizza by now and set up shop. The pizza was salty and the cheese never melted. I didn't enjoy it. It was salty and missing cheese. Aside from the pizza, I had no complaints. Friends enjoyed the jerk chicken but I didn't try it.<br />
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The little mason jars that were given upon entry seemed discouraging when I first got them but the size fooled me. The jars held the same amount of liquid as a drink in any given club. In a way, I'm grateful that they weren't larger because everyone was staggering while leaving. The women and the one man I saw serving drinks at the bar were always friendly, served with a smile and gave occasional jokes. The sun was scorching and the attitudes could have been very different but from beginning to end, I saw nor experienced none. I hope they were compensated well because that sun was nothing to play with. To the left is a picture just to give you a visual of the sized mason jar.<br />
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I have no complaints aside from the sun and man has no control over that. In all fairness, the weather in South Florida is bipolar and cooler weather was expected. That sun felt like sun on a carnival Tuesday and some rain would have been appreciated.<br />
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As the day progressed I found out that the music was so low because residents across the street began to complain ever since the sound checks around 9am. What haters! The local police did work with the team and allowed the music to gradually raise until towards the end when they let it pump full force. By the end, I was so intoxicated I didn't even notice. The vibes were right, the company was great and I was loving it!<br />
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It isn't fair to compare Bubbles N Brunch 2018 with Bubbles N Brunch 2017 because they were completely different and so were the vibes. They were both great but in their own way. I can compile a list about a mile long of the differences but the end result was the same. It was one of the best experiences I've had in a fete. The goal was to cater to the patrons and I feel that was done. The advertised time for Bubbles N Brunch to end was 4 and we were staggering out after 5. Not a soul (that I knew) left sober. The food never stopped being served (which is always a plus in my book). The bar did stop opening bottles a little after 4 but for those who got there on time, it was fine. The air conditioned portable bathrooms that I didn't get to personally use were awesome and the scented soap was a thoughtful touch. It's the little things that makes us as patrons feel appreciated. The generous top shelf liquor, food variety and vibes.... Everyone had a grand time and out of everyone I knew, only 1 has decided not to go back.... She will be missed because everyone else will be.<br />
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All in all, Aurora's Bubbles N Brunch has made it's mark on South Florida and it is an event not to be missed. Even while still trying to catch ourselves or peeling from that sun, plans are already being made for Bubbles N Brunch 2019.<br />
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For Official Vibes' full gallery of Bubbles N Brunch, you can click<span style="color: red;"> <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://officialvibes.com/aurora-bubbles-n-brunch-3-18-2018/">HERE</a> </span> </span><br />
For UK Soca Scene's full gallery you can click <a href="http://www.uksocascene.com/soca-pictures/bubbles-n-brunch-2018/"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a><br />
For Island Box's full gallery, you can view them <span style="color: red;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/islandbox/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10155650890359576">HERE</a> </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">ONCE AGAIN </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TWO ORIGINALS</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">SIMONE, THE ORIGINAL ROLLY POLLY AN </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">THE ORIGINAL SHIT TALKER, MY HUBBY FOLKESY </span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>(Photo bombed by Ravi lol)</b></span></i></div>
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DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-76722900740877348982018-02-05T07:00:00.000-05:002018-04-04T00:08:24.996-04:00BUBBLES AND BRUNCH 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #76a5af; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>I HAVE TICKETS NOW!!!!</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #76a5af; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>CALL 9546873215</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #76a5af; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>FOR MORE INFO</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #76a5af;">I have waited <i>long</i> for this and not only am I going, I will be selling tickets to the EPIC Bubbles ~N~ Brunch. This year we have a nautical theme to prepare for. The nautical theme is both good and bad for me seeing as I've reserved an outfit since last year but seeing as it doesn't go with the nautical theme at all, changes will have to be made.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #76a5af;">What seems to have stayed the same was the drink selection. Again we will have Mimosas, Belinis, Daiquiris, Rum Punch, Aurora Specialty Drinks and Champagne. As for Premium liquors, there will be <b>VODKA:</b> Tito's, Ciroc (Peach, Green Apple, Coconut and Pineapple), <b>RUM: </b>English Harbor Rum (5 y/o and 10 y/o). <b>GIN: </b> Bombaby Saphire and Hendricks <b>TEQUILA: </b>Patron Silver. <b>WHISKEY: </b>Jack Daniels, Johnny Walker (Black Label) and <b>COGNAC: </b>Hennessy.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #76a5af;">Changes made this year starts with the DJ cast. I believe there is room for changes/additions as it's still early but the DJ's advertised will be LL COOL BLAZE, Silent Addy and Back 2 Basics. LIVE Steel Pan has also been added. The steel pan is a nice touch for those of us who love steel pan. All genres of music have been added. If I remember correctly, last year only had Caribbean music but don't quote me. The liquor is truly unlimited and you, (my dedicated readers) know that I have a two drink limit. So if anything other than Caribbean music was played, please excuse me. For our listening pleasure Top 40, Hip Hop, EDM, R&B, Latin and Disco will be played n addition to the Soca and Reggae norm. So far, I am still sold. It is sometimes refreshing to hear music outside the norm. Although the venue was perfect, the Aurora team aims to please and will try to out do last year's venue. I am excited to see if that is possible because the brows are already raised by the venue overlooking water.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #76a5af;">Although I wished the menu would have stayed the same because I'm a creature of habit and there was no fault with last year's menu. The menu has also changed. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><b>MENU: Which needed to be copied and pasted below.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #787d85; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"</span><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b>Italy, Rome</b></em></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Stone baked pizza</span>, prepared before your eyes in a traditional <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">wood fire oven</em>.</div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Frittata Di Zucchini</span>, sauted herbs with <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">zucchini</em> cooked gently with eggs till set.</div>
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<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b>France, Paris</b></em></div>
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A spin on the popular <span style="font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">French Toast</span>; French toast bites covered with creamy butter with a light dusting of <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">powdered sugar</em></div>
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Originating in Paris the light and fluffy <span style="font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Belgian waffle</span> drizzled with maple syrup</div>
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Quintessentially European <span style="font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Continental Breakfast</span> of croissants with Confectionaries, healthy <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">fruits and yogurts</em></div>
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Boudin noir a.k.a Blood Sausage a.k.a Black Pudding alyuh know what it is…</div>
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<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b>USA, Ft Lauderdale</b></em></div>
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<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Stacked </span><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Buttermilk pancakes</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> with pan fried sausage, </span><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">crispy bacon and golden potatoes</em><span style="font-style: normal;"> or opt out for the more traditionally simple maple syrup</span></em></div>
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<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b>Cuba, Havana</b></em></em></div>
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<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Lechón Asado</span><span style="font-style: normal;">, Feast on the Beast! Whole, </span><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">slow roasted suckling pig</em><span style="font-style: normal;"> marinated overnight in a Cuban Mojo of garlic and sour orange accompanied by </span><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Arroz Moro</em><span style="font-style: normal;"> (rice and beans) fried plantains and </span><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tostones</em></em></div>
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<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b>Jamaica, Montego Bay</b></em></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Salt fish and green banana</span>, <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">salted cod</em> sauted in garlic, onions, scotch bonnet peppers and tomatoes served on a bed of <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">boiled green bananas</em></div>
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<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Jerk chicken</span><span style="font-style: normal;">, </span><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">chicken</em><span style="font-style: normal;"> pieces marinated overnight in Jamaican </span><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Blue Mountain herbs</em><span style="font-style: normal;"> and slow smoked on the bone; buccaneer style coupled with </span><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">turmeric infused rice</em></em></div>
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<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b>Trinidad and Tobago, Maracas</b> </em></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Bake and shark</span>, light fried bread stuffed with chunks of <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">deep fried shark</em> marinated in garlic, corrianda and scotch bonnet peppers and garnished doused sweet <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">tamarind or mango sauce</em> and garnished with fresh salad</div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Corn soup</span>, a hearty combination of ground provisions, spices and herbs with fresh <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">corn on the cob<span style="color: #787d85;">".</span></em></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: large;">If you missed Bubbles ~N~ Brunch 2017, </span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: large;">feel free to recap </span><a href="http://www.dcarnivalbaby.com/2017/04/bubbles-n-brunchthe-aftermath.html" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>HERE</b></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;">Hope to see you there!</span></b></div>
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DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5067515237752417251.post-83092790902194542362018-01-28T08:29:00.000-05:002018-01-28T09:44:48.902-05:00FLIGHT 868, THE REVIEW<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ1xO8DCFycwuwYuTdH-e8_cYXjOnBt3TI_GscGRr5Y8BKc7rh6s38_gq-9nqpYH46_2Z_PfepmNnVM0oVhmiMV-pDh-g088Cx-s-_elTa4DEVhPjDH351gZ3ttcxVaZVc0g4wiKgIbCs/s1600/flight868.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="1158" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ1xO8DCFycwuwYuTdH-e8_cYXjOnBt3TI_GscGRr5Y8BKc7rh6s38_gq-9nqpYH46_2Z_PfepmNnVM0oVhmiMV-pDh-g088Cx-s-_elTa4DEVhPjDH351gZ3ttcxVaZVc0g4wiKgIbCs/s400/flight868.jpeg" width="317" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Flight 868</i></td></tr>
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The anticipation leading up to Flight 868 was sickening. I was so excited that I've literally lost sleep over it.. I mean who wasn't? Flight 868 is the first fete of the year and whether you're attending Trinidad & Tobago carnival or not, it's a big deal!<br />
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OK, I WAS LATE! The <i>planned </i>time of arrival was midnight but leave it to me to only be parking by minutes to 1am. Never the less, the line wasn't long and it was moving so technically I was on time.<br />
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Walking inside gave me hope. There were about three people outside which in my mind means everyone was inside jamming. When I got inside, that heat greeted me first but wasn't overbearing. I saw some familiar faces and did the normal meet and greet. The music playing was okay but it wasn't anything that would make me stop an buss a wine. The vibes just wasn't there but after all, it was within minutes of stepping in the place.<br />
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After finding my 'spot', one of the first things I noticed was the sound. The music sounded distorted. I'm not an expert, so I can not tell what the problem was but even I could tell that something was drastically wrong. When coming to a fete, the music system plays a major part in how we respond to the music. Take for instance, at Flight 868 The Return Fete last year many of the DJ's played on a system that wasn't tuned correctly yet when Miami's Dream Team came on to play, they immediately cranked up the volume (or whatever it was that they did) and the vibes turned up right along with it. Don't get me wrong, the <i>volume </i>was loud enough but it sounded bad.<br />
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Again listen, don't send me any emails or messages. I have nothing against any of the DJ's that were carded for the night. I actually showed up JUST for THEM but while I was in the fete, I didn't quite understand how it was a Flight to 868. Flight 868 as in Trinidad and Tobago right? Trinidad and Tobago CARNIVAL at that correct? I couldn't understand how the fete was to prepare me for Trinidad and Tobago carnival. I was confused. That confusion turned to extremely annoyed. There was a little back in time session that I partially enjoyed and that's only because of my love for soca music but let's not get it twisted, weren't we all at this fete to get familiar? At 3am there should be NO excuse as to why I haven't heard ONE SINGE, SOLITARY SOCA from 2018. What popped my lid off was the reggae. So that's what we're doing? We're going to Trinidad and Tobago..... For carnival...... Then we hear at the very least 40 minutes of reggae/dancehall music. Again, don't get me wrong. I'm a lover of Caribbean music but there is a time and place. This was NOT the time and Flight868 was NOT the place.<br />
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As previously stated, I know for a FACT that each of those DJ's have and know 2018 soca music the question is WHY wasn't it played? The other question is when it did play, why was it taken off so quickly? I can answer that question here and with a previous blog post written about a year and a half ago. You can catch that blog post by clicking <a href="http://www.dcarnivalbaby.com/2016/09/whos-to-blame-for-party-scene-in-south.html" style="color: red;">RIGHT HERE</a>. I've also been enlightened, it's not always how you think it is on the other side. When Infamous was discussing what should and should not be played that night, it was agreed upon that there should be new music played HOWEVER they also had to express to him that they DO have what he's looking for but they will have to feed off the feterans. As I've said they ALL have the new music but when anything new was dropped only a handful of us began to actually enjoy ourselves. I saw that because I was looking for it. I was looking at the crowd get happy to hear the new Kes, we all started to slow wine then rock an come een but after the 'commercial new songs' were done, so was the attention of the crowd. From the time a song that wasn't already into heavy rotation down here people LITERALLY stood up like statues. 1. It pissed me off because that is just disrespectful to one of the most talented LIVE DJ's on the planet. HE IS FIRE! Whether you like him as a person or not, he can be thrown into any musical realm an mash up the dance and 2. What the whole mudda ass they stood up waitin on PALANCE or FULL EXTREME?<br />
Of course they were.... and that was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. Freeze played maybe 5 new soca chunes and lost the crowd. I mean they were lost. At that point I was over it. My poor friend didn't want me to leave and even got me to wine low but after I came up, I cleared it. I was told that they eventually played the new Machel an Blue Boy (Super Blue) and I didn't care. I was still happy with my decision to leave.<br />
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Once you stay inside of The Warehouse, it is a sweat box and it was that night that Infamous made the decision to permanently move both his Send Off and Return of 868 to another venue. The party has become too big and has run it's course with the venue. An YES, I know it. The venue will be a much better fit than Warehouse but you will have to see for yourselves come February 24th which also happens to be <i>my birthdaaaaay!</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(THIS, was too much clothes to stay inside with all night)</span></i></td></tr>
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All in all.<br />
I was disappointed with Flight868. I've expressed my concerns with Infamous and I appreciate the fact that he not only took time to LISTEN to all concerns I addressed but was proactive! He was already able to tell me the changes put in place so that Flight868, The Return can be a success. My stance on South Florida fetes hasn't changed. It is the PEOPLE that make the party. If you aren't willing to accept change, you will be left in the cold. Each Caribbean nation that adds to the soca genre has approximately one years time with their music after that time is up, no it is not time to dash the songs away but when that year is up EXPECT to now hear new music. There is another year coming up! A new Soca Monarch. A new song for the Steel Pan players to pong and a new Road March. How can every other state and county get this but Florida? The ones who are closest to the Caribbean? At the rate South Florida going, promoters will have to either have age restrictions or just start throwing all inclusive events because no one is actually having a good time. While the true soca lovers appreciate it all, we understand that there is time and place and the younger ones want to hear the same 20/25 chunes over and over. </div>
DCARNIVALABYBABYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146879582559017388noreply@blogger.com1