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Resurrection:The Mas - The Aftermath

Usually nothing can get me out of my sweet comfy bed early on a Sunday morning, but with Brain Mac Farlane's launch scheduled to be held in Tobago (which I had been eagerly looking forward to all week), I made sure to get up, get dressed and was out of the house by 6:15am and on my way to the airport.

After a minor mix up with my photographer's (hubby) name, we checked in, boarded the plane and started our journey.

Almost immediately on landing, we were whisked off in the chartered coaches to Pigeon Point Heritage Park where we had some light refreshments of coconut water, fruit and vegetable quiche.

With our bellies filled the rest of the festivities began with the bele dancers and drummers making their way to the pier, and the media to the awaiting boats where we were told we would be ferried over to the Buccoo Reef sandbar.

The boat ride was nice, smooth sailing under the warmth of the sun.

As we approached what appeared to be an outcropping of rocks, the boats began to slow and as we got even closer, we saw something gold glittering in the sun among the rocks.

As we got even closer, it seemed as though the rocks began moving.

Closer still and we realise that it is not rocks but people in costumes lying down on the sandbar.

Very close the sandbar now and a drum beat rings out over the ocean and a jab jab gets up and cracks his whip in the air. *CRACK*

*CRACK*

The drum beat gets faster now and more of the 'rocks' begin to reveal themselves.

We see a gold sequined bat, baby dolls, pierrot grenades, minstrels, sailors and a midnight robber (Mac Farlane) in the mix all decked off in varying shades of bronze, gold and cream.

The drum beat break out into a full riddim section now and all hell breaks loose on the sandbar and is level jamming!

The media go paparazzi on us and start taking pictures like crazy! (Myself included)

While all the jamming is happening on the sandbar the intrepid cameraman and his accompanying reporter Roger Dwarika, who were on our boat, jump into the water to be part of the action!

Dat is journalism for yuh money...go where de story is!

After getting their shots (and nearly getting left back as the performance was finished), they get back on the boat and all the boats headed back to the Pigeon Point jetty, and everyone is talking about how amazing the experience was.

There was a bit of a mixup when we got back to Pigeon Point as we were supposed to have been taken to Buccoo. So we jumped back on the boat that took us to Buccoo and the villa where, according to the itinerary, we would get some refreshments, see the costumes and get the opportunity to speak with the man himself, Brian Mac Farlane.

As we appraoched the villa, someone said that this was the very same villa that the Real World/Road Rules MTV people used for The Gauntlet 2 which was filmed in Tobago.

We were greeted with at the entrance of the villa to some delicious fruit and rum punches, pan music and the trademark Mac Farlane framed prints of his costumes.

The food provided was extremely tasty and we had a wide array to choose from including samosas, stuffed crab shells, shrimp, fried plantain (one of my faves), kibbi and so much more. At this point in time and because of the mix up with the boats that occured earlier we were running behind schedule.

When all of the coaches arrived at the villa, Mac Farlane took the opportunity to address his audience. He spoke of his reasons behind selecting Buccoo Reef for the staging of his presentation as the destruciton of the reef symbolised the destruction of the mas, hence the need for the ressurection of the mas.

Mac Farlane also took the opportunity to thank the persons involved, including his brother Jeffery, who allowed him use of the Pigeon Point Heritage Park, the Buccoo Reef at no extra cost, as well as the owner of the villa Keith, who he also presented with a token of appreciation.

At this point in time we were running WAY behind schedule and hastily made our way to the awaiting coaches to be shuttled back to the airport and head back to Trinidad.

I did take the opportunity to purchase the requisite red mango/tambran/pawpaw balls ans sugarcake, which btw is now a hefty $8 each! More on that robbery a next time.

The plane was noticeably missing journalists as I think some ofthem took the opportunity to extend their half day to a full one in Tobago.

Kudos to the Mango Media team who organised the entire day!

Overall, this launch was one of THE BEST launches I have ever been to, form amazing start to amazing finish, and I am already looking forward to see what he comes up with next year!

Resurrection: The Mas Band Launch - Pics

The Event - The Aftermath

Here is just a peek at some of the happenings at The Event created by Brian Mac Farlane which was held last night at the Carlton Savannah.

More videos, pics and the review to come.

IP: Killing You Softly With Service...

This afternoon I finally paid a visit to the Island People mas camp to have a look at the costumes for their 2010 presentation Kutchela.

As stated before by many who visited, the service at the mas camp is pretty decent. Before you even walk into the gate, the security is there and there are lots of staff dressed in IP Kuchela jerseys.

I saw the elusive Dane Ignoringandneveransweringyourletters Lewis at the entrance and made my way inside. (I had the boys with me and wasn't feeling confrontational).

The placed is decked out just bordering on tacky and all that jazz, but overall while I think the theme has been interpreted nicely, nothing blows me away.

If I were to play with IP, I would play in Bindi FL with the backpack despite the fact that it reminds me of Kaotic's Beau Jolais of 2009, same colour, same feathers.

The other section that I would play in is the Chutney Baav (wings option only) and Morgandani (wings option only) and I would still probably make changes to those costumes.

Sonia Mack STILL has no costume in the mascamp, and it doesn't look like the diva will have any costumes there, as this greeted me when I went there this afternoon:

Let's hope that the same service continues from registration to costume collection to on the road. Best of luck to the IP masqueraders!

Stranded in Toco...

Last weekend found me and the family and the family and the family (a total of 36) headed to Toco for a mini family vacation. Most of the family went up early on Friday morning, with the balance of us heading to Toco after work.

I was initially hesitant about going to Toco for a couple of reasons, one of them being that I was going to miss Island People's Launch, which I got over when I figured I could just carry a laptop and watch it "live' on Triniscene like I did with TRIBE.

Only to find out that the place we were staying in Toco had NO internet access. None! That meant no live launch, no Maccobook, no Trinidad Carnival Diary for the weekend!!

I wondered what hell I had signed up for. *sigh*

I was mildly pacified by the fact that there was no "live" IP launch and I could possibly pick up The Blog (TCD) via my uncle's Blackberry. So on Friday evening after work I bid the peeps on Facbook and the cbox farewell and went off into the wilderness.

Just before leaving, my Facebook status read "*** is heading to an internet-less Toco this weekend, which means I'll miss the IP launch online."

FRIDAY
We left home just after 4pm and with not much traffic as I expected, we arrived at the Jammev Beach Resort around 7pm. The family took up all of the main building.

I was a bit underwhelmed, but thought maybe it was because we got up there in the dark that I wasn't overly impressed. I took a dip in the semi-infinity pool and after some delicious fish broth and ole talk, I found my way to my bed just after midnight. Attempts at viewing the IP launch pics on Saucy's Blog on the Blackberry proved to be futile.

What a lame start to my weekend I thought, it cyar get worse than this!

Eh heh? Well who tell me say dat?!

SATURDAY

*yawn*

I wake up to realise that the place still underwhelming and maybe even more so in the daylight. While the landscape is lovely, the "resort" itself looks as if it was built/designed by a blind man, with rooms and bathrooms placed all over the place and even a Queen sized bed in the kitchen. I kid you not! More like a kitchenette really. Cause there was no full kitchen in the resort/house.

So shortly after bathing and having a delicious meal of roast coconut bake and cheese, I grab my book to have a read, cause it's raining. Not any torrential showers, but a steady drizzle that hampers the kids from going into the pool.

Just after lunch time, we got news from the caretaker of the property that the Balandra bridge had collapsed while a crane was attempting to go over the bridge. :|

WHAT?! This HAD to be a joke!

So now it's no internet, it's raining and the bridge has collapsed cutting us off from the rest of Trinidad!

Of course being Trinis...we went to macco the scene with the bridge. It was bad. It wasn't a partway/half way thing...the bridge just GONE and is a one way in one way out scene. *sigh*

Well it cannot get worse than being stranded in Toco.

Eh heh? Well who tell me say dat!

We reach back to the house and I continue my reading when dry so, the fans stop blowing breeze. Current gone! At this point we could only laugh yes. And of course I foolishly thought the only thing worse go be if water go now!

Eh heh? Well who tell me say DAT?!

We get a message from the caretaker dat because electricity gone, the water pump cyar wuk! Well at this point I fraid to say or even think anything. But is good news cause we have a generator! Well finally, it look like things looking up!

Eh heh? Who tell me say dat?!

Yes we have a generator but the generator eh have enough diesel fuel to run, and when the caretaker went to get more diesel the gas station eh have none!

*sigh*

At this point I borrowed my uncle's Blackberry and changed my FB status to "***is in Toco on a borrowed BB with no electricity no water no diesel on the gas station for the generator and the Balandra bridge has collapsed! What a weekend..."

That night, the generator was put on for a two hour period so that we could bathe, cook and wash dishes. The men took the opportunity afterwards to visit a neighbouring bar that had electricity, while the ladies and the kids stayed at the house and played Charades and Balandra's Got Talent in the dark.

At night, with the lights out the place is pitch black...so dark that you could barely see your hand in front your face. The kids seemed not to be too bothered though as we had a few candles and a flashlight.

SUNDAY

We woke up with the promise of sun, still no electricity, but mysteriously during the night the water situation rectified itself.

FB status "*** is still in Toco...we have water and sun today,but still no electricity no pool and the bridge is still down".

Good news though, the caretaker agreed to put the generator on for a while so the pool could be filtered and the kids were happy. Just before the pool was ready however, electricity miraculously came back! It seems that it was a problem localised to our street only and someone from T&TEC came to sort it out. YAY!!

FB status "*** is still in Toco waiting for the bridge to be repaired, but at least we have electricity, water and the pool is back in service. Who say no work tomorrow?!"

We took the opportunity later that day to go visit the beach which was packed with people who had also been stranded. Some persons had been put up at the nearby schools including Toco Composite and Toco SDA School.

MONDAY

We were expecting that the bridge would have been repaired by midnight Sunday, but this was not the case and we resigned ourselves to spending yet ANOTHER night in Toco.

At this point we were asked to vacate the guest house as the owners were expecting guests (who had to cross the same bridge that had collapsed) and they had to clean to prepare the place. We ended up paying for the extra night and we got two available rooms, the gazebo and the open patio area that we could spend the night.

We spent what we hoped was our last day in Toco chilling in the pool and packing up and getting ready to go home.

Whilst playing in the pool during the day one of the young ladies in our party got struck in her face and we had to send her to the Toco District Hospital. When she got there they said she was okay, but still wanted to do some scans which could only be done in the Sangre Grande hospital. She and her mom were escorted out of Toco via ambulance over the pedestrian walk on the bridge across o the other side.

FB Status: *** still in Toco with the family, but we had an emergency and had to get *N* to Sangre Grande hospital. We have no more food, and we got thrown out of the guest house. Bridge should be open by midnight and we're outta here *fingers crossed*

At this point everyone was just ready to go home.

We took a trip to the lighthouse and got some lovely pics. A trip to the mini mart to get some stuff for our last meal...some good old dependable Crix and cheese. (The salad was a leftover from lunch). I doh know when last I got such a crispy Crix, nice and fresh! One of the aunts also made some delish mini fry bakes that went down really well with the cheese.

TUESDAY

After what felt like the quickest of sleeps, we were up bright and early at half 5.

The men went out on a reconnaissance mission and came back with the good news that the bridge was open and we had thankfully missed all of the traffic that had been lined up all weekend to leave Toco. We also got confirmation on the radio that the bridge was open, so we made haste and said goodbye to our guest house, the pool and headed out of there!

Crossing the Bailey Bridge to get out of Toco

FB status: *** has crossed the Balandra bridge and is back! :D WOOT!WOOT!

Click for more Balandra Bridge collapse stories.