Ah Comin for Ca-nee-val

Im not doing a very good job this year of ignoring everything on these 2 days...the parade of the bands kicked off yesterday morning with J'ouvert - thank goodness i was asleep at the time so i had no idea what was going on...

Yesterday during the day however, i sneaked many peeks at the road - technology is a hellluva ting...there were so many live streams of so many different events this year - was listening to Red as they broadcast from the road, looked at pictures and just essentially tortured myself all thru the day.

Soca Monarch went off without a hitch.  I must say that i was half expecting the feed to go down and interrupt during the course of the show and i was pleasantly surprised to see that there were no problems whatsoever and the quality of the feed was quite good.  i know i will get alot of flack for this, but I'm sorry...but i really do not agree that Iwer "geh tief".  he might have mash up the place, but Machel's performance was much better.  The last song from Iwer that i remember really liking was Bum Bum Time (how much years ago was that!)...Machel is the only man i know who does release a album every year on a regular.  so while Iwer might be d BOSS, Machel is the KING of soca!

Kes is Groovy Soca Monarch...very much well deserved!

Today, there is live streaming of today;s mas which is always better because people come out in full costume...

www.carnivaltv.net

for anyone who might be interested...and as i writing this...Advantage is playin on the stage.  I read that it is already in the lead for Road March, with Come to Meh in 2nd place!

Trample it...Jump on it...Ramfle it...and Advantage it!!!!  is we privelege to take advantage of the stage...

That Time Again...

it's Carnival season...*sigh*

I've mentioned before that i will never go back home for carnival  - i tear up on Georgia Ave in DC every time i'm there; i teared up a little on the truck in Miami last year - what will i do if i go back home?  Bawl down the place like a baby - that's what (it won't be pretty).

Carnivals up here are NOTHING compared to the real thing.  I can handle going to the parties and being on the trucks here, but there is no way i can survive doing that at home - there is no way!  This year, i'm happy (secretly, selfishly) that only 1 of the crew is heading home.

Now, just because i know that i cannot and will not go home for Carnival doesn't mean that i don't get into the season.  I mentioned in an earlier post that the music is on point this year - just about everyone is batting for six.  The thing is that even if i didn't want to get into the season, i don't think i could help it.  I listen to Red all day long (when i'm not on calls) - i can't work in silence - so music has to be playing.  In fact, during this time, i'm glad i don't have to go to an office because i can listen to it as loud as i want to without having to think of anybody else.

Carnival is the 1 time that i really miss home every year - even if for a fleeting moment.

• The energy
• The happy times
• The lime

2nd to none...

Showing solidarity on the truck :-)

To my Trini Peeps

Okay...(almost) so every year (if u like me) i wonder what the hell they coming with again the following year - as far as soca is concerned.  I have to say tho that last year the only song that i liked from the very 1st time i heard it was "Palance"; everything else had to grow on me.  This year?  i like just about everything - there are few songs that i can do without and only "Advantage" had to grow on me (after 3 listens i was sold on the concept alone).

But SHIT!  Does some of the music have to be so bloody fast?????

Doh get me wrong, i have come to accept the fact that i eh go be wining down to the ground anymore.  The thought/picture of my doing so with a cane and 2 stiff leg is not a sight that even i would want to see, so i does jes be tapping my cane along, tapping meh foot to the music.  I swear that I can barely even do that to some of the music this year!  LOL!!!

i eh go lie...as i get older, i realize that there is absolutely nothing wrong with Groovy Soca and when i see the young 'uns carryin on (like i used to - of course) i jes want to tell them to "relax already - good Lord, settle down!"  Doh get me wrong, I am all for a good time and there is nothing like being on the road for Carnival Monday and Tuesday - in fact if i could i would be front and center, but sheesh!

Quite frankly, left up to me "Wotless" can easily win Road March hands down - no questions asked! :-)

'tis the Season to be Happy!

well...it's carnival time at home*sigh*...i eh go lie, it's the one time of year that i STILL feel homesick even after ALL these years!  I'm sitting here listening to Red FM (online radio station) and am absolutely gettin the fever.  I've mentioned in an earlier post that i can't/won't go home while I am still having problems walking - it'll be even more depressing than being here freezin my ass off and knowing the kinda bacchanal (fetin/good good times) and going on home in the HOT SUN!!!

One of the things i absolutely love about carnival is how it brings the entire country together.  Man, woman, child, black, white, indian, young, old - everybody limin and having a good time.  For the season, is jes happiness and then on the 2 days itself, NO-ONE has any worries cept gettin to the band on time to push off.

To everyone who went home, take a jook, wine and a drink for me...i know there will be much PALANCIN goin on - truth be told, i eh bong to hear bout it when u reach back :-)

these are just a few pics from last year...

Carnival *sigh!*

I cannot play mas again! WOWZER!!! it's just too heartbreaking to be in the middle of it and not be on the road; hence my breakdown in DC last year.  One of my favorite lines in "Unconditional Love" by Machel Montano is "we hypnotized by the music from d truck so we walking for miles"; it's such a true statement and really captures the essence of Carnival...well 5 mins into walking those miles, my ass would have to stop! 

We have come up with a way around it of course...we only play in bands that we have contacts/know the leaders, so that we can organise for me to be on a truck.  For the past 2 years in DC (it's the only mas that i actually play in up here), I've been a fixture on the drinks truck in one of the bands - and that's my parade.  It could be worse, it could have been that i didn't even have that option.

I don't think that i want to go back home for carnival ever again - at least not while suffering from Foot Drop/weakness.  While i am not a burden to my friends here, i know that Trini carnival is a whole nother beast and i cannot/will not slow them down besides, if i cried down the place in DC, what the hell would happen on Independence Square!