Spice Palance on Monday

This was probably the hottest carnival ever in Trinidad! But the weather never stopped the heavy palancing...for some reason I prefer being on the road Monday. I met the band at their QRC rest stop at lunch time right after they crossed the stage. Now, it is fair to say that the band has grown A LOT and we Spice veterans were not accustomed to these numbers. I waited about 15 minutes in one of the lunch lines until we were told that the lunches for that line were finished and more were coming from Long Circular Mall! I then opted for the Arabian meal; I'm not really fussy about food but this had to be driest meal ever. I'm a big fan of Arabian food and I know that it does not have gravy or sauces but this was not just dry but burnt. Because it was so hot my throat was already dry and this burnt, dry meal just made it worse; so I drank three cans of fruta and hoped that would help my hunger. According to one of the security guards, ah doh want no meat on no toothpick just geh meh some pelau!

Because there were so many people, we needed more seats at the rest stop or at least blankets for people to sit on. The seating space was obviously limited which forced people to sit on the dusty ground or stand and eat which was very uncomfortable. There were a lot of the portable toilets at the rest stop but no one bothered to replenish the toilet paper, clean them or even have soap at the sinks.

We were back on the road about half of an hour later, heading to Ariapita avenue. The music was excellent..good job Rapid Response! We got a mix of the old and new and Palance was saved for the stage.

Drinks were flowing and the bars were sufficient even though I could not reach any of them. The security personnel were out in their numbers and kept the outsiders at a distance. Kudos to Spice for providing very efficient security.

I really hope that Spice could provide Monday wear that consists of more that just hot shorts to ensure some uniformity in the band. The Spice tshirts could have been provided in colours that matched the sections so that they would have been more coordinated.

I left after the downtown stage around 6:00pm to prep for more Palancing the following day!

Big shout out the "girl" with the biggest batty in Spice..if yuh have it why cover it!!!!

Sunny Side Up Breakast Party

Àfter a severe case of heart burn and difficulties with waking up at 3am, I was on my way to the Sunny Side Up breakfast party in Petit Valley. This fete is a definite do again next year. I like that the crowd had good vibes and was within my age group.

The parking was a bit difficult so I would have to get there earlier next year. There were actually breakfast dishes such as bagels, pancakes, eggs and toast, sada and doubles. You could also get pelau, corn soup, seafood broth, fruits and cholcolate covered strawberries and marshmellows. Most of the major dishes were finished quickly but the drinks were endless.

On the music side of the fete, it is safe to say that Dil-e-Nadan has made a successful crossover from a soca-chutney band to a soca band. Raymond Ramnaraine, the band's leader once said that band is not Indian or African but Trinidadian; which is true. They had the crowd excited while they covered a lot of the popular soca and chutney songs. The band's vocalists meshed well and were genuinely enjoying themselves on stage. I'm really glad to see that Candy Hoyte can finally showcase herself as a frontline singer instead of providing back up for Shurwayne. Roy Cape with Blaxx, Olatunji and Rita Jones followed with a similar set. Big up to man like Roy Cape who re-hired Rita Jones after she bad talk the man in all the newspapers in Trinidad! But seriously, Blaxx, I know you all performed at three fetes earlier but you don't need to sound like it. Imagine Olatunji had more vibes singing back up to Blaxx Hunting than Blaxx did as the main vocalist. Eventually, Blaxx and band concluded the fete with an okay performance.

Did the organizers of Sunny Side Up get permission from WASA for their wet zone? The wet zone had a foam section and water being hosed seeing that there's a drought and all...

Some tips for attending a breakfast party:

• Get some sleep before the party


• Always set an alarm


• Don't wear too much clothes; it will get really hot once the sun comes up


• Be prepared to get wet so ensure that you have a zip lock bag for your camera and a change of clothes in the car


• Sunglasses are a must; trust me that sun is hell at that hour


• Ensure that you have reliable and safe driver


• Don't make any plans for the remainder of day; get some rest for J'ouvert!

I left about 10:45am and surprisingly I wasn't that tired even though I slept the entire day...but I will be watching the Dimanche Gras later...

Island People's Girl Power Fete

So many questions after Island People's Girl Power fete:

1. Why it had so much man?


2. Why the VIP was significantly larger than the General?


3. Why couldn't you buy less than $40 in chits in the General section?


4. How come the bartenders didn't know the prices of the drinks?


5. Who are the Girl Power dancers? And why were they necessary?


6. Did Island People limit their orders of rags and balloons?


7. Why don't they assign each island or country a designated space so that each performer will not have to ask "anybody from Barbados; anybody from Brooklyn; where my UK crew: anybody from Trinidad (not Tobago)?"
   Who taught the new guy in Imij to wine? He needs several follow up sessions.


8. Does Kees need a shirt-take-offer? (I'm available!)


9. Where was KARMA????


10. Most importantly where was the doubles man?

If you have answers to any of these questions, PLEASE leave a comment

Thailand: I am ready!

I got to Hilton around 2:45pm and was pleasantly surprised by the very spacious ballroom for the costume collection...a big improvement from last year. I must say that Spice stepped up big time in that area. There were a lot of Spice personnel collecting payment and distributing costumes. I guess i missed the rush because I didn't have to wait as only four other persons were collecting. Even some of the cashiers looked bored...but I'm not complaining. Our payments were finalized very quicky, although they gave us a 6:1 exchange rate on our US; so next time I will be paying in TT dollars.

I then got all my pieces which I fitted and had the belt adjusted and the corset strap shortened. While waiting on the adjustments, I helped myself to a complimentary Monster drink and a cup of water while skimming through an Ezone magazine (my boy Kees on the cover yes!). I love my costume for the most part but not very impressed with the corset. I feel very short changed with the beading on the corset....the bikini bra has so much gold beading that covers the entire cup whereas the corset only has 2 rows of beading...so much for my extra $500. The corset is also not yellow like the bikini top and is really beige which brings down the entire costume. This difference really shows that the costumes are designed with a bikini in mind and not the corset which is just an alternative but the truth is that I'm just glad that I have this option. Otherwise, the headpiece, belt, and accessories are all great and very much resemble the prototype. I just love this headpiece which is light and the yellow and gold are very vibrant.

Spice also had "souvenir" tshirts aka monday tshirts on sale for $100. Well everybody knows I love Spice and I want the world to know that I played in Spice so yes I bought one!

Now on to the recession goodie bag....where's my condom????? No condom in the female bags but the men got four...hello spice...women need condoms too!!! let's not leave it up to the men to guarantee protection, but we need to ensure that we are also always prepared.. no wonder women feel guilty to purchase condoms! Anyway, I already ate half the contents of the goodie bag and it's a really nice bag too so much that my mum already claimed ownership of the bag...

• Lays potato chips



• Honey Bunches of oats



• Club social biscuit



• Dove body wash



• 1 pack of Advil



• Monster rag



• Monster bracelet



• Thong panty liners



• Spice cup



• No Condoms...no sunblock!

My Road March Faves

I don't have a crystal ball but I'm really rooting for Faye Ann Lyons again for the Road March winner...I love True Lies and I'm really getting this vibes for the road. It's clearly a follow up to Meet Superblue and there's a catcy hook, if everything they say about me is true ...hear what to do.....That line is wicked. In my book Baby Blue can do no wrong and I will go a step further and name her winner for the Power Monarch! Here is a list of favourite songs this year:
Faye Ann Lyons - True Lies
Faye Ann Lyons- Start Wining
Zombie- Blaxx*
Hunting- Blaxx*
Road Show- Patrice Roberts
Palance- JW and Blaze

* Blaxx, I really hope that you hitting the gym and getting ready for the Soca Monarch; you don't want a repeat of 2008...

Why Am I in the Back Again!!!!

The line up for Spice was posted on facebook today:

Rubies of Mumbai
Imperium Romanum
Wings of Isis
Moroccan Heat
Merchants of Venice
Caspian Sea
Gate of Petra
Greece
Adulis
Ratnapura
Thailand
China

It's just my luck that Thailand gets the same position as Scotch Bonnet last year! These bands need to let us know the section line up during registration....

Thailand...ah soon come!

I'm so excited that I will be collecting my costume on Wednesday the 10th at the Hilton...I will have enough time to try it on and make any adjustments, and if all does well, my weekend will be free. This distribution schedule was sent by Spice today...watch me palancing!!!