TIC 2009 - The Aftermath...

So I know I previously mentioned volunteering at TIC this week...being idle has never really been my thing, (even though I could spend all day playing Sims, after a while my mouse hand gets cramp and I am forced to take a break or stop) so after seeing the advert for TIC in the newspapers I decided to call and find out if they needed any volunteers.
It so happens that they did need just a couple more people and asked me to send in my resume and come in for some training.

Photo taken from TIC group on Facebook

FYI...TIC=Trade and Industry Convention and it's a business trade show that brings buyers, importers, exporters together and provides business opportunities to them. So let's say you have a small Carnival Boot Decorating business (I'm just saying) and you're looking for suppliers of bags or printing people or the best method to ship your boots to your very valued customers overseas, you could attend the TIC and speak with Ad Bags, Eniath's Printing and Fedex. (Again this is just a random example).

Anyhoo, I worked from Monday to Saturday from 7:30am to 7:00pm and even though the hours were long, the work wasn't boring and the people who I worked with were pretty cool.

I didn't get to macco or take pics during the show, because like I said we were kept pretty busy, but late last night I did get the opportunity to buy a lovely pearl ring and necklace and got a steal of a deal on a FAB! necklace from the Chinese contingent!

Overall I think it was a pretty cool experience and it definitely filled that boring gap.

This coming week I am dedicating to resume and application sending...if only my life was like Sims and I could just open the newspapers or log on to my computer and automatically get a job! LOL.

Got A Man...

No...not me...a book.

So this is the review on Amazon.com

Kim is a young mother and has been involved with Malik for several years when she discovers that she is pregnant. She asks Malik to get married. Just as they are beginning to plan for their future, Malik meets Shonda, a single mother who left Philadelphia to start a new life in Atlanta. After six disappointing months she returns home. On her first temporary assignment at a law firm, she meets Malik. He is a paralegal well liked by his peers and the attorneys at the firm. Immediately Malik begins showering Shonda with compliments on her appearance and work. Slowly, they separate themselves from the office group outings and began to go out alone and date after work. Soon their office romance is no longer a secret and Kim gives him an ultimatum. After Kim gives birth to their son alone, he begins to feel guilty and misses the family life they shared. Malik finally makes a choice, but is it the right one? Three very interesting characters whose fate ends with a twist. Lillian Lewis

Probably one of the WORST books I have ever read.
I thought the book was crap. And to be honest I couldn't tell you too much about the story line because after a while the typos just had me too distracted from the stroy line. I thought that it was not a well written book overall.

I thought books are supposed to have editors and the like? If this book was allowed to be published with the number of typos and grammatical erros I saw, here what, sign me up let me put my blog posts in book format yes.

It got good reviews on Amazon though, so maybe is just me *shrug*. This book is available at the National Library (thank heaven I did not buy this book I woulda want a refund!). Take a read and let me know what you think.

Unemployed...

I would have never in a million years think that word would apply to me, but yet it does. For the first time since I started working (right out of school) at age 17, I now find myself unemployed.

It's been just about a month now and after taking a breather one week, a mini vacation to Tobago the next, scratching while playing Sims 3 (it REAL BAD! btw), I am now volunteering at the Trade and Investment Convention at Center of Excellence Macoya. I've also been keeping busy doing a small graphic design course which I had signed up to do while I was still employed.

I've only sent out one job application (had an interview out of that one) and forwarded my resume to a friend, I've been taking a real laid back approach to looking for a new job. I don't think I can scratch for very much longer though and I definitely need to be looking for something (so I can pay my mortgage) soon.

(Unless someone can tell me ow to get paid while playing Sims!)

So after this week I think I'm definitely going to get a bit more aggressive in my job search. Wish me luck!...better yet, if you hear of any jobs you think I would be perfect for...you can drop me a line!

Fashion Week Trinidad & Tobago 2009 - The Aftermath...

Date: Sunday 31st May 2009

Place: Hyatt Regency - The Waterfront

(Click on the pic to visit the Fashion Week website)
Pic from Fashion Week FB group

Last year for Fashion Week I spent my entire evening standing up despite having a ticket in hand. At the time I was told by one of the organisers that "You paid to see the show and not for a seat".

Despite that I was eagerly looking forward to this year's Fashion Week since I heard that this year it was being held at the swanky Hyatt Regency.

I made sure to tell my crew who were going that:
1. We were to reach early to get seats and not have a repeat of last year and;
2. we were to be dressed to kill, after all...is Fashion Week Trinidad & Tobago!

With those two items covered we arrived at the Hyatt just about 6:15pm and made our way inside.
What a change from last year!

UTT students work on display

Instead of being under a hot tent and fighting up for a seat, we were in an air conditioned venue, offered cocktails on entry and there was even a "green carpet" area for you to be photographed by the photographers on duty (if they found you worthy of course!)

B-mobile's setup at Fashion Week 2009

After doing a bit of socialising, I made my way inside and was showed to my seat and waited for the show to start.

The schedule for the night was: Peter Elias, Pilar, Chiz*l Menswear, M Squared, Kimya Glasgow, Christian Boucaud Designs and Zadd and Eastman. You can read up on the designers here.

Unfortunately because of where I was seated (and because my camera is a basic lil ole camera) most of my pics came out like this:

First up was my boy Peter Elias.
We saw some lovely vibrant colours in his collection, and one of my favorite models Latoya Woods in this lovely orange number.


Up next was Pilar by Anya Ayoung-Chee.
Anya's designs consisted mainly of lots and lots of African print (Jimmy Aboud anyone?). If you've seen Anya out and about, you've seen this collection as it is very much her style, with shirts masquerading as dresses and cords masquerading as belts.


Next we have Chiz*l Menswear.
Wow. The crowd went from silence (probably wondering WTF? Rubber slippers is style now?) to lusty applause at the end of his presentation.
Lots of half naked chiseled men in next to nothing.

Next on the list is well known designer Meiling.
*yawn*
If you've seen M Squared in Micles, just picture it in pastel colours. Meiling didn't even come out on the runway after her designs were shown.



Who's next? Let's see...Kimya Glasgow.

Kimya's line was nice and simple.
Mainly white with some green and purple accents, this line was simplicity at its best. One of her models (chick in the green top and white skirt) stumbled a bit on the runway and very admirably carried on.


Next designer was Christian Boucaud Designs (and don't get fooled by the name, this is a woman designer).
Made up mainly of swimsuits I think these designs may have been better received if different models were used.
Some of the models had less than perfect skin and the crowd remained quiet for the majority of her presentation as if in shock.
FUSE Agency needs to come better with their model next time man.



Zadd and Eastman ended the show in beautiful greens and blues.
Another designer that was well received.



The show ended just around 8:00pm and afterwards I got to meet and take some pics with America's Next Top Model-Season 11 , Mc Key Sullivan.

Mc Key laughs after showing how she learnt to wine

There was a bit of a bottle neck to leave the venue afterwards, but overall I enjoyed the show, and the ambience was definitely better than last year's event.

Definitely a must attend next year!

I Am Legend II - The Aftermath

Date: Saturday 30th May 2009

Place: Queen's Park Savannah
Cost: Unknown (I not too sure, scalpers were selling VIP tickets at $200)

It's been AGES since I have been to an outdoor concert. I mean real years, like since my late teen years. But when I heard that big black dutty Shabba was coming to our shores, I said this was a concert I HAD to be at! I have NEVER before seen Shabba in concert and I was certainly not going to miss this one, and then earlier in the week I was fortunate enough to get an All Access Pass to the concert :)

After being told earlier that the concert was scheduled to start at 9:00pm, we left home just after 10, and got to the venue (Savannah) around 10:30pm. After parking in the VIP/VVIP area we were told that we had to walk to the “General Admission” entrance which is where we would be ‘banded’ as we had the “All Access” passes.

While parking we heard performances by General Grant and Peter C Lewis, and I was thankful that my timing had allowed me to miss the latter.

Getting into the venue was easy enough, although there could have been some signage at earlier points to identify the parking areas. We produced our tickets at the gate, got banded and then went on our way.

The backstage area was a very big space and we walked through to meet our peeps in the VIP and VVIP area.

Shortly after making our way to the VIP area, Ziggy Rankin made his was onto the stage and sang some of his tunes for the crowd.

The show moved effortlessly from Ziggy to the overly talkative DJ’s.

I took the time to walk thorugh the General Admission area which was already filled with people and people were still at that time streaming into the venue.

Shortly before midnight Wayne Wonder (who by the way pronounces his name as Wayne and NOT Wayne-ee as I’ve been accustomed to all these years) took the stage. Dressed in jeans, striped shirt and matching jacket Wayne took the crowd on a Joyride through his many hits, and they were appreciative.

While waiting for Buju’s band to set up on stage we were err…”entertained” by DJ Dangerous Robin who was another overly talkative DJ. Thankfully, that didn’t go on for too long.

One of Buju’s hype men (whose name I missed) then performed for a brief spell before the man himself graced the stage.

Buju came on at about 1:20am amidst endless screams from the crowd. Dressed in a long sleeved striped shirt and khaki pants, Buju then proceeded to totally destroy the crowd Til Shiloh and back.


Giving a very energetic performance Buju went from hit after hit after hit, it was like listening to a CD “Best of Buju – Ever” and the crowd sang along tune after tune after tune.


Buju brought on Wayne Wonder and the two of them sang one of my favorite tunes (that takes me back to Bishop's Form 3 bazaar) Bonafide Love (“But I Love you in every waayyyyy”).

As Buju bid the crowd good night and before you could even take a breather (and go use the bathroom), amidst some Jamaican flag waving stage performers, big black dutty Shabba appeared on stage promptly at 2:30am.

And the crowd went insane.

Coming out in a gold brocade jacket, green fedora and white pants, The Dancehall Emperor took what was left of the crowd after Buju, put them back together just to mash dem up all over again.

The place was wet. Shabba’s antics had the crowd entertained from beginning to end. From Wicked Inna Bed to Ting a Ling to Mr. Loverman to Housecall and Telephone Love, we got Shabba's Greatest Hits 2009 version. Shabba showed the crowd that his waist was indeed still ready and he was very able.

Shabba performs "Mr. Loverman"

Towards the end of his performance Mr. Loverman brought on our very own Denise “Saucy Wow” Belfon on stage and together they brought the house down and closed the curtains on the I Am Legend Concert II at about 3:40am.

BAR/FOOD
There were several bars throughout the venue.

The first bar I encountered was the bar in the Backstage/Artiste area which was a pay bar (which seemed a bit odd to me).
With the All Access band however, you could walk between areas. In the VVIP area you could access free drink and food (bake and shark and corn flavoured water).


The bar in the VIP area was free food only (more bake and shark and corn flavoured water).
Decent service form the Angostura bar.

BATHROOMS


For a minute I thought there were Andy Loos in the VVIP area, but it was just SWMCOL. Hmmm...is this a sign of things to come for Carnival 2010? Unfortunately because of the long lines I was not able to properly macco...err...observe the bathrooms other than from the outside.


The worst part of the concert was afterwards in trying to leave the venue.
It was a free for all with people driving on the pavement of the Savannah to leave! Real ridiculous. It took us about 40 minutes to get out of the Savannah and I think if there was better traffic control/police presence this could have been much better.


Overall this concert was GREAT! The flow of this concert was smooth and clean. No long waits between performances and EXCELLENT performers.

"About John" - The Media Launch

Date: Thursday, May 21, 2009

Time: 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Location: The Coco Lounge – Private Lounge

Well I sure allyuh know by now that John Legend will be coming to Trinidad on Thursday 18th June 2009. (the night before the Labour Day holiday). And well, if yuh didn't know, now yuh do.

I attended the media launch for the John Legend concert, "about John" on Thursday of this week. The launch was good. The media release indicated a time of 6:00 to 9:00pm and shortly after half 6 the MC, Adrian Don Mora started the proceedings.

We were introduced to the sponsors B-mobile and Toyota. B-mobile has given the concert the "Green Light" (haha) and hinted that there will be ticket giveaways. (keeping fingers crossed that I win a ticket, or two)

We were then introduced to Mr. Ivan Berry, a native of St. Kitts who is also working with Mr. Ian Wiltshire (the "Glow" and "Mad Hatters " man).

Mr. Ivan Berry

Mr. Berry spoke about Caribbean artistes having an experience outside of the typical Calypso, Soca music. To this end Krystal Khane, a local artist will be opening for John Legend.

Another artist who will be performing on the night is Shazelle. Shazelle may not be known to many, but I remember seeing her on Synergy nights when she debuted "Elevator" and "Pick Me Up". Take the time and check her out on My Space and Facebook.

Mr. Robert Souza

Up next was Mr. Robert Souza, Endorsement Lawyer to John Legend who spoke about John Legend's charity work with the Show Me Campaign.

There was a ticket giveaway and one lucky person (not me) won two VIP Gold tickets to the concert.

Tickets for the show are available at the following locations:
General Admission tickets cost $180 and are available from:
Francis Fashion and Shoe Locker outlets nationwide
Just Cds, Port of Spain
Limited Edition, Arima
Bobby's Bar, Curepe

VIP Gold tickets cost $350 and are available from:
Bootlegger's, Trincity Mall
T.G.I. Fridays, nationwide
Select Francis Fashion and Shoe Locker outlets

Cloud 9 VVIP tickets will be available strictly from Committee Members. (Rumour has it that these are going for $800 or thereabouts)

Mr. Ivan Berry and Mr. Ian Wiltshire

This will be John's second visit to Trinidad, the first being sometime that I cannot remember now, but I do remember that he put Rhianna in the shade and that I didn't go then.

I am definitely NOT missing this one!

For more information you can check out the Facebook group for the concert.

Niala Maharaj - Like Heaven: The Review

In my downtime, I am a very avid reader.

I like books that are an easy nice read with plenty pictures (I keed).

Some of the authors who are in my very exclusive mini library are John Grisham, James Patterson, Eric Jerome Dickey (who I met in September 2007), Nora Roberts, Sophie Kinsella (I hated the movie version of Confessions of a Shopaholic), Dan Brown (his books got kinda predictable on me and I fell asleep on Da Vinci Code 3 times), J.K Rowling (of course), Marfie ;) and I could go on but I'll stop.

I am not a huge fan of West Indian literature, but when I came across this copy of "Like Heaven" by Niala Maharaj I read the inside cover and thought I'd give it a borrow.

This is the story of Ved Sant, an Indian from Port of Spain, Trinidad — a ramshackle carnival culture, which is suddenly becoming oil and gas rich. Sant has a gift for business, and is an enlightened boss. But, inevitably, the pressures of family and success have an impact on his personal life, and lead to tragedy.

This book was EXCELLENT! I laughed, sniffled and was at the edge of my seat (bed) at times. I read the book in its entirety in no time at all. I am usually a fast reader and this book was no exception. It did not drag at all.

I lent it to my mom who only recently finished it (and now I need to pay late fees) but she too enjoyed the book.

This book gets 5 stars out of 5 from me (and the readers on Amazon as well) and I would recommend this book to anyone.