K2K for Carnival 2K12!

So it is official! I have jumped ship!
I am no longer in Bliss, my costume has been sold and I am now playing mas with K2K.

K2K launched at Saute Trinbago and from the time I laid my eyes on the gorgoues aubergine skirt of Saraswati I, I fell head over heels in love. I went along with my girlfriends to register and now I am over excited for Carnival 2012!

K2K Alliance & Partners Inc. was founded by twin sisters, Kathy and Karen Norman on January 1st, 2010. At its core, the Company acts as a medium to explore creative work, specifically Carnival “mas” design. K2K embraces artists, performers and craftspeople that share our dream that the mas-man is a storyteller and the masquerader is the actor who brings the story to life.

 You can read more about K2K here.

What Devon Matthews Do?

I want to know what it is Devon Matthews do to the Soca Bigwigs. Seriously.

For Carnival 2012, Devon Matthews has SEVEN soca songs that I know about. And of that seven, I like about six nd a half of them. But yet, Devon nowhere to be seen in the list of semi-finalists of the Groovy or Power Soca Monarch competition.

What happened?
He didn't enter?
He choose the wrong songs?
The Soca Monarch people have something against him?
He didn't pay his mafia dues?
What going on?

And what makes it even more perplexing to me, if the fact that I seeing names like...Lima Calbio? Gary Cornder? Prestan Andries? Who are they? What they singing? Now I'm not hating and saying they don't deserve to be there eh, well maybe I am, but if they there, Devon could more than be there. That's all I'm saying.

For those of you who do not know who Devon Matthews is or what he singing, take a listen to the songs posted below and tell me if you haven't heard them on the radio and/or found yourself singing along to them and/or if you won;t be jamming on the road to them when they get played.

Devon boy, send me an email and tell me what you do them nah. I promise I won't tell anybody.

Bottle

Push It

Take It Off

Gimme De Wine

Roll

All Night

Jam On De Pavement

P.S. Devon Matthews is not my family or friend, I have never even met the man. I just think he is an artist who has consistently produced good work and has been overlooked time and time again.

Yeah! - The 10 point (or less) review

Well since allyuh enjoyed the condensed 10point review that last time I figure I'll do a next one.

So at the 99th hour... I ended up with a Hyper Inclusive ticket to Island People's Yeah! at O2 Park. (Remember I said I wasn't going anywhere else for the rest of the season right?). Chanting my usual mantra of "But I have NOTHING to wear!" I headed to Yufe's Saturday morning, channelled my inner Anya and created a fab mini dress a mere two hours before the fete! And hear nah...de dress look pretty decent if I do say so myself and I do *pats self on back*

This was another fete that I decided not to walk with my camera. But this time though, it was because I couldn't find the cable for my camera to transfer my pics and the camera have no more room.

Okay, here's the 10 point review.

1. Layout
I can only speak for the layout in the Hyper Inclusive as I did not venture in the Inclusive side of the fete. The layout was good. My only observation was the main bar on the slope could be dangerous if navigating with heels and some drinks in yuh head. The elevated sponsor area gave a great view of the stage and the crowd.

2. Food
I had a plate (or two, maybe three, I wasn't counting) of the sushi and that was really good. Best dish of the night. I also tried Flair Restaurant's beef, with the pineapple salsa...yummy! I also did take a taste of the stewed oxtail from Mango's and that was tasty as well.

3. Drink
Now I am not a drinker by any means. My usual fete drink of choice is Coke on the rocks, I MAY have the occasional vodka and orange juice or Bailey's and das about it. However, the people at Fair Restaurant inveigled me into trying a drink of theirs called "Canal Water". I ended up having about 6 of those sample cups of canal water. Hear nah...dat was the best drink of the night oui!

4. Performances
Denise Belfon - a bit tedious.

JW and Blaze - I love me some JW and Blaze, and to me they brought the low key vibe up a few notches. (JW and Blaze ah waiting for the Power Soca song...allyuh stickin! )

Kes the Band -  Enjoyed his performance from start to finish! He has a great repertoire this year, he sang my favorite song from him this year "Stress Away", but all of his songs got a reaction from the crowd.

Swappi -  I love love love Swappi! He sang the tune that brings out my inner jammette, Bubble on a DJ, as well as 4D Gyal and Bucket. I love them ALL!

Machel Montano - I think Machel could give his girls a rest and bring back the Powerpuff girls yes. His dancers did give their usual energetic performance though. Machel seems intent on pushing "Pump Yuh Flag" for Road March, for me though...it kinda meh. I am certainly not feeling it. Machel I think you should go with Revelling as your Road March pic.

Patrice to me was underwhelming, loved her catsuit, did not like her dancers though...I could do without them. And was it just me or did Patrice forget the words to "I Am Soca"?

Enjoyed Farmer Nappy's performance.

5. Crowd - The crowd was REAL low key for the most part. Especially when it came to the newer songs, it seems to me that they were unfamiliar as they were more responsive to songs from previous years. The vibes were me and my crew were liming was real hype though. We had a time.

6. Bathrooms - Up to now I eh find the Hyper Inclusive bathrooms eh IP. The cleaning staff  send meh ALL OVER de place. I ended up using the facilities in the Inclusive area and that was up to par.

Other than a small incident with one of the security guards, I enjoyed this fete, and overall I would give this fete 4 wine out of 5.

Soca in Moka 13 - The 10point review

Who: Soca in Moka
What: All-Inclusive
Where: Trinity College, Moka. Maraval
When: Sunday 8th January 2012
Cost: $600 (last year $550)


I told Saucy that I wasn't going to be doing any review this year yuh know. I went to Moka with my two hand swinging...no camera, no Blackberry, nothing, which I thought was a good idea given all the rain and thing. But wouldn't you know it...this would be the year Moka made some changes to their layout...Steups.

Anyhoo...I still don't really feel like doing a full review, so here is Soca in Moka in 10 points (or less) :

1. Layout - The most popular food has always been the Chinese food, this year that booth was elevated (dem stairs was lil rickety eh Moka fix dat nah) and was under two tents this year. That did not make the lines any shorter. Line. for. days!

Uncle Max booth was also elevated, not that he was in there for any length of time, cause he's a man like to be in the middle of the crowd with his security jostling paying patrons.

2. Roy Cape - Blaxx cut his ras and say he was going to talk less, but didn't, they now have Ricardo Dru on the frontline, he wasn't too bad and Rita Jones is an even bigger dragalicious mess than she was last year. (Matter of fact that's an insult to the drag queens I've seen yes. My apologies queens!) She needs an intervention ASAP! Somebody...anybody...PLEASE HELP HER! Yes Roy Cape, ah glad allyuh realise people wasn't feeling allyuh non-soca set and allyuh went back to the soca.

3. Kerwin Du Bois - Bachannalist. Big Tune. My choice for Groovy Soca Monarch HANDS DOWN! (Sorry Mr. Fete, but I'm a bachannalist to meh heart, just read de blog to see why)

4. Dil-E-Nadan - *yawn* unimpressed for a second or is it third (?) year running. The best part of DEN's performance was when Ronnie Mc Intosh came out and mash up de place.

5. Ronnie Mc Intosh - Yes, his performance was so good he get his own bullet point here! Ronnie performed  How It Go Look, Ent and On The Road in his trademark fedora and a white track suit and MASH UP DE PLACE! Like it was 1998 all over again oui! From front to back and all the side of the fete was jumping up with dey umbrellas in the air. Well done Ronnie!

6. Rain - This was the first year EVER in my 12 years of going to this fete that rain fell. When we got the fete around 5:45pm, the place was good empty eh. So I say well yes, people eh coming this year ah go have room to move. Eh heh? Well look how by 8:00pm place pack like is nobody business, people come with dey umbrellas to the fete (not me eh) and jamming, jumping and wininig with dey umbrella in hand. I party in  de rain and dat made the fete even sweeter for me. Mind you on Monday I reach to work feeling lil sniffly and real mash up eh.

So das it really, Soca in Moka in 10 points or less. My low point for the night was losing a gorgeous bling ring my mom bought me for Christmas :( I took it off in the Andy Loos to wash my hands and forgot it by the sink, time I realised and went back, some bandit done ninja the damn ring. Bastards.

Soca in Moka is the only fete I have planned/budgeted to go to. If anything else drop in my lap though *hint hint* I'll be ready and more than willing to go!

(Photo: Triniscene.com)

A much need update...

I know I owe my readers at least two updates, one being YUMA Aftermath as well as Explosion. Both of these are typed up and waiting to finished up. 

But in the midst of everything, including boots registration for Carnival 2012, the recent State of Emergency, or the SoE as it is fondly known, I had classes to sign up for at COSTAATT. Yes, my second year as a graphic design student has begun and with it some uncertainty brought on by the SOE. As a part time student I usually take classes which run from 5:00pm to 8:00pm or sometimes 6:00pm to 9:00pm. This of course had me a bit hesitant to sign up for classes, as POS is a "hotspot" and I also live in a "hotspot".

Thankfully the curfew hours were extended and COSTAATT brought the classes back to regular hours. This semester my courses are Vector Graphics, Image Manipulation and Typography. The first week is behind me, and now the real work begins. So far according to the course outline, I will have no group projects, WHOOHOO! While I work well in groups, (my last two group assignments, my groups got 90 and 97) I hate group projects.

Oh, last semester I did Communication in the Workplace which I felt I should have been exempt from, having spent the last fifteen years or so working and communicating in the workplace. This was proven after I got 100, 100, 100 and the group project mark of 97 in my assignments. 

So this semester I have three classes that I have little to no experience in, and I'm glad to have a challenge. Hopefully I remember to give you regularish updates on my COSTAATT life and experience.

I'm already thinking of what I want to do next (after my three years here are over), so far it's a toss up between Carnival Studies at UWI or Fashion Design at UTT. I also have the option of doing the bachelor's degree in graphic design, which would mean one additional year at COSTAATT. Lots for me to think about. 

Island People Heroes - The Aftermath

Date: Friday 12th August 2011

Location: Westopia (Bowen Marine)

I always look forward to an IP band launch and this one was no exception. I got to the venue a bit later than I thought and was a bit taken aback by the location. I found it was way too small for an IP band launch, which in the past have been huge events.

I met Saucy by the entrance (we miss yuh Jumbie!!) and we made our way inside. Either IP was waiting on Saucy and I, or we arrived just in time for the media launch! Members of the media were invited to come up on the stage where the models paraded and we were able to take some up close and personal shots.

After this I went backstage to set up with Triniscene while we waited for the launch to begin. And waited...and waited...and waited...and waited...and then we waitied some more. *yawn* Just as I was about to completely bepp off, the launch began.

IP ah know allyuh does like to do things different but yuh see the original music allyuh does want to be playing to brainwash people?? Oh gorm!

Especially for an hour long presentation? Oh gorm!!

It was like Heaven on Earth (Hell) all over again. De setta kick up antics ting funny the first time, but not for the WHOLE presentation! Plus yuh make people ketch dey royal to take good pics too, maybe dat was allyuh plan yes, tuh distract people.

Anyhoo...

By now many of you would have already seen the ahm...costumes, and IP has already begun re-working them, but I still gonna give my two cents.

Kaimana - Defender of the Caribbean Seas

I liked the body of this costume with the unusual material used. The headpiece seems totally out of place however ad there is little contrast with the on shade of blue used. But I love blue (most times) and I liked this costume.

Nocturnal - Eradicator of Dark Deeds

This is one costume that should heed it's own name, and eradicate itself from the IP lineup, cause this is indeed a dark deed. From the yellow and black eyes on the bra to the yellow beak covering the vagina, this is just awful.

The sideways kilkaytay headpiece on the model and the half assed cape...eh eh...it not happening IP. I think if you're doing a cape, make it a nice full cape with some type of flash or shimmer or something. But doh make it look like yuh take half yard of fabric, cut that in half and attach it to the person shoulder.

Dat must be another reason why Edna from Incredible say "No capes!"

Solar Flare - Clean Energy Crusader

I like the shade of orange used here very nice, but the frilly crotch is a definite no no. I honestly could not figure out what was/is frontline from backline, but the cut of the orange and pink monokini is a bit much.

The Wayne Berkeley spandex leg warmers...no. Not unless you are trying to portray a cheesy 80's superhero theme. Or unless yuh bling them tuh hell out.

Oya - Master of Weather

Loved this costume. A tastefully done monokini accented in the right places with the right amount of bling. The feathered mohawk headpiece is really well done. My only fault with this costume, is another half-assed cape. This is one of my top four picks.

Wildheart - Feline Crime Fighter

This hot pink leopard print costume isn't bad, but it isn't that good either. There's a bit too much leopard print and hot pink. The shades have to go, along with the thigh-high leg attachments. I did not get to see the yellow version close up, but the backpack on this version seems oddly shaped. I like the yellow just a bit more as the print isn't as outstanding to me.

Element - Upholder of Justice

Despite the multitude of random strings, I like this costume. The colour combo of purple, teal and gold used was very nicely done, and the bustier is very cute. I even like the purple glitter panty, which might be easier to get into than a jewelled one.

Velocity - High Speed Hero

This is a very basic costume in green and hot pink that just not making you go wow. And again with the spandex leg warmers. I dunno what to say bout this one...I'm at a loss. Very underwhelming overall. And the male is one of the worst males I've ever seen.

Fiyah - Wisdom of the Wilds

Someone asked if Capleton designed this costume (not me eh). I like the wet look of the bra, bikini and monokini, but they are very under decorated. The waist and body pieces also look really stiff. I like the frontline for the most part, but those shoulder boas are another misstep.

Kalypso - Protector of Mother Earth's Vibrations

Not a lover of this costume. The colour combo here doesn't work and the weird conelike headpieces with the feathers on top look like it's out of a Dr. Seuss book or something.

Siren - Avenger of the Downtrodden

This is another of my favorite costumes in IP. I like the colours used, it was well executed and the model portrayed it really well. My only complaint would be for a fuller backpack and I'm not a fan of the feathers over your eye, but the latter is easily remedied. And no dredful leg warmers.

The Scarlet I - Guardian of the Rivers

Hands down IP's best costume for 2012. I love the red and silver. Love the wings. Love the options with the varying bikini tops. This is a very well done costume.

The general review for most if not all of the male costumes, is that they are a hot mess.

What I really liked about the costumes, was the way they were presented comic book style, along with some local parlance like "Mash' and "Cuff'.

After the costumes were shown and the models were all on stage, the crowd seemed stunned into silence. You could see the shock in their faces. Nebula 868 came out and performed but even that didn't shake the crowd out of their stupor.

I must say though, IP has taken all the feedback to heart, and has been asking their fans to 'Save their Heroes" by voting for those you wish to keep. I elected to save Scarlet I, Oya, Element, Siren and Kaimana.

Keep checking their Facebook Page to see who was 'saved': https://www.facebook.com/ISLANDpeoplemas

For more pics, you can check out the photobucket album below.

TRIBE - Take Me To...

Departure date: Saturday 23^rd July 2011

Flight cost: $260.00 (free rum, beer and vodka)

It was 10:00pm and I was running late for my flight. The departure time was set for 11:00pm and I didn’t want to be late and miss the media launch of TRIBE’s 2012 presentation, “Take Me To”.

As I made my way to the gateway with my luggage (camera), I was told I had to board at another gate. Now 10:20pm, I had to hustle to the next gate, where they checked my ticket, id and gave me my boarding pass. The flight was PACKED! I thought it was a Dash 8, but it was more like an Airbus.

Anyhoo, I eh think ah could do a whole review using flight and plane analogies so let’s get down to it. After some drama with getting a special wristband which would allow me to get behind the scenes, I finally made it backstage to the media launch.

As you would have already noticed if you watched Triniscene’s live feed, this year things were a bit different. Saucy did live commentary, while I did the tweeting for TS and Saucy, PLUS Saucy had a photog stageside shooting the pics that would be on the blog. Yes, the team has grown! All we need now is a drinks runner, a back and foot massager, and some sexy ass men fanning us and we good to go!

So we setup stageside and patiently await the media launch of the costumes.

The launch finally starts (not on time) and we are introduced to the flight team, Monique, Lana, Kristy, Ruanna and the other ladies of TRIBE. We were then introduced to the captain of TRIBE himself, Mr. Dean Akin. Dean made some very interesting points, some of which you can read here. The costumes were shown, pics were taken and uploaded but held back until the actual launch.

There was a brief lull in between the media launch, during which we had to go under our tent backstage and set up for the main launch. It was during this lull, I was able to get some shots of my own and see some of the costumes close up.

South Beach

Gorgeous colour combo. If you didn’t play in Charmeuse in 2010, here’s your chance. I love the gold swirl elements on the string...err...belt and the cage bra's jeweled detail is very nice. I also really like the arm pieces.

Rio

One of the comments I heard was, "Since when Big Bird=Rio?" A pretty decent costume in yellow and gold, but I expected more for Rio. The detail on the bra and belt is very nice. The wrist accessories are familiar to me.

St. Tropez

That individual costume looks SO very familiar to me, but I just can't put my finger on it. And I'm not just talking about its resemblance to Habotai. I think this costume is just way too much pink for my taste. But, still pretty.

Johannesburg

I love this section, and I doh care who says otherwise. The most I would do is add some pheasants to that collar and I would be done. I spoke with the designer and he said there is no backline, no frontline as he is just keeping it simple this year. I like the simplicity, although I would like to see a bikini option.

Vegas

Peach for Vegas is not what I had envisioned. Red to me, says Vegas. Colour aside, this costume is another pleasant one. Not in love with that torso waist belt thingy. The individual has no belt, just a decorated panty.

Fiji

Another beautiful colour combination in a very nekkid package. (I won’t be surprised if photobucket removes my pics for indecency) I like the way the arm pieces attached to the headpiece. Great feature. Very skimpy.

Dubai

Gorgeous colour combo. If you didn’t play in Charmeuse...oh no wait...this isn't South Beach. I cannot beleive TRIBE did two of the same colour combos in the band. It just seems lazy to me. That said, I do love the coque feather tail piece....very cute look, though it is a wine blocker.

Cyprus

Yes it is possible for a costume to be even more naked than Fiji. Doh let the backpack fool you! Take off that backpack and the three string is revealed in all its glory! The model's body for the what I assume is the frontline, was reedonculous! The model for the individual, I LOVED how she moved that costume. Very nice.

Santorini

*yawn* If Osage of 2010 and Amazon of 2011 had a baby, it would be called Santorini. I real not getting the choice of colour for this section which is supposed to represent a city in Greece. And the Mastana Bahar hand thingies, are way too stiff and awkward looking.

Cancun

I love a blue costume. I love this one too, and would have played in it, if I wanted to relive Amazon, Amazonia and Pele individuals from this year. The backline is pretty.

Manhattan

A simple safe costume. I like the collar. But it looks like some extra material from Ice Warriors was used here.

Ibiza

A visually stunning costume, but again very familiar elements from Titans and Archaen Odyssey. I like the shape of the headpiece, the wristpieces and the leg pieces, but it does give the costume a busy look.

Males

All the males were grouped together, and I will review them as such...they failed. Epically. With the exception of Dubai's individual, Ibiza, and Johannesburg, the male costumes are fine for masqueraders who "just want a board shorts and a wristband", which I guess most guys do.

I did not even notice that no backlines costumes were shown until someone mentioned it on twitter. I have never been to a band launch where that decision (deliberate or not) was made.

After the costumes Kes took the stage and performed a fantastic set. While we set the pics to upload we went stageside and had a time!

Overall TRIBE's costumes are pretty.

Pretty standard.

Pretty naked.

While I don't expect a 100% adherence to the theme, I did expect a lot more. There was no WOW factor this year, just quite a few recycled ideas, elements and materials. What I really loved was the flight attendant uniforms...those were uber cute!

Despite all the criticism begin thrown at them for too much feathers, not enough belts however, we all know that TRIBE will still sellout within minutes of them opening up their registration.

Check out my backstage pics on photobucket HERE.

Update!

Oh wow it’s been AGES since last I blogged.

Since my last post, I’ve passed my first semester at COSTAATT and I am currently doing my second semester exams. This year I had two great courses, Art History and Drawing and Painting. I haven’t painted since forever when I was doing art for CXC waayyyy back in 1995. As part of this course we had to submit 50 drawings, of anything, using any medium we wanted.

Of course I procrastinated. Well not procrastinated so much as I was busy at the start of the semester with Carnival, boots and all that. (BTW, is it too late for a Bliss Review?)

I ended up starting my 50 drawings at the start of April and they are due the start of the second week in May. Well is level scramble to find random (easy) things to draw.

I discovered charcoal for the first time since I started doing art, and this is my new best friend. It’s easy, quick to draw with and make it do what you want. LOVE IT! I’ve also done a couple of pieces in pencil, watercolour and pastel.

I took pics and posted some of my drawings to share with my Facebook friends and the feedback so far has been positive and very encouraging. So I am baring my artistic soul (ha!) and sharing some of the pics with my peeps who *gasp* not on Facebook (like wuzdescene).

Enjoy!