Cricket World Cup Dry Run and Training Sessions.

Having been selected as a volunteer for the CWC 2007 World Cup, I was asked to be involved in a 'dry run' during the Trinidad vs Guyana match held last Wednesday. (we won btw).

We had to report to the Queen's Park Oval on Tuesday evening for a briefing. While waiting to be briefed, I decided to take some pics with my camera phone. (Hence the low resoution of the pics).

So these are the pics from Tuesday evening.

View of the field from the CARIB Stand (to be called the ELizabeth St. Stand)

View of the QPCC Members Pavillion from the CARIB Stand (The pavillion will host the VIP's)

(From the right) Trini Possee under construction, RBL/CLICO Stand (name to be changed as well) and Gerry Gomez Media Centre

BG/Scotiabank Stand (will be called the Lindsay Grant stand during the World Cup)

One the Wednesday of the game (WAIT! Did I mention that we had to get to the Oval for 6:00? Yes. 6 in the MORNING!! Anyhoo...I digress) I was assigned to VIP/Protocol area (the area I'm hoping to stay in for the CWC, either that or Admin.)

Now doh study how VIP/Protocol sounds all nice and important and rubbing shoulders with the "who's who" in society. (I assume this is the reason why nearly every Tom, Dick and Chin Lee put dey name down for this area.)

It wasn't.

I had umbrella duty. And it isn't as bad as it sounds, we simply had to escort those people who arrived on the buses in case it was raining at the time (and it wasn't, so piece of cake). Thing is though, when people heard umbreall duty nobody volunteered except moi. It ended up being me and a next guy.

One that day in particular, we were dealing with the people who the ICC invited and it was more in the capacity of Hopitality rather than VIP. For the CWC however, it'll be Head's of state, ICC people, the whole nine yards.

Pictures taken during the match on Wednesday (same camera phone)

Crowd in the CARIB Stand (2nd level)

Crowd in the CARIB Stand (1st level)

View of our boys fielding from one of the corporate boxes.

Same place, next shot

The view from the corporate box was SWEET !!

==============

Saturday 20th January 2007 & Sunday 21st January 2007: Training Days

9:00 am to 4:00pm

Saturday's training didn't start off too well.

We were supposed to report to the Elizabeth St. entrance and when we got there were told it wasn't there and we had to walk the length of the Oval and around the corner. Got there, checked to see if your name was on the list and signed in.

Went to the CLICO box to get an overview of what the training would entail. We were then split into groups and sent to trek to another part of the Oval, to one of the boxes for training. (My group had to go back to the main area because the rooms weren't ready/ac wasn't working/too small)

Point to note (and I told them this) no housekeeping was done. i.e no one told us where the exits were in case of an emergency, the restroom locations, what time lunch and breaks would be etc.

We finally settled in. (still no talk of breakfast or when lunch is eh, thank God ah had meh fruit to chomp on)

Things did start to improve though as we got some very nice binders with our training info.

The training covered everything from who is the ICC, WICB, the event sponsors (MOST important), mascot, format of the games and so on.

It also included information on Working as a Team, Risk and Safety, Service Excellence and basics on cricket.

They covered EVERYTHING.

And if you weren't excited before aobut being a volunteer I think it gave you that excitement.

And without revealing too much of what is planned, I can guaranteee that anyone attending the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 will have a SPECTACULAR, SPECTATOR EXPERIENCE!

Licensing Fete: The Aftermath

Who: Licensing fete
What: Buy yuh eats and drinks when yuh reach inside
Where: Licensing Compound Wrightson Road
When: Saturday 20th January 2007
How much: $100 General Admission $250 VIP
Last year’s price: $80 General $200 VIP

So after an entire day of training for ICC Cricket world Cup 2007 (for which I am a volunteer) I got home intending to take a rest, wake up and head out to Licensing fete.

I woke up the following morning, just in time to get ready to go to more CWC training.
I hear de fete was RAM.
This would have been my 5th year going to Licensing fete.

Thus ends my review. LOL.
Sorry folks.



Newsday had this to say:

FOR anyone in doubt, the economic prosperity associated with TT’s oil boom
was apparent everywhere at the Licensing Fete, held at the Wrightson Road
compound parking lot Saturday night. The all inclusives had nothing on this
one.

For one thing, the TT$120 ticket price was not a deterrent. But the real
proof of prosperity was the fact there is, without a doubt, no shortage of snake
oil or gold north of the Caroni River. Some of the big names on the night were
Bunji Garlin, Crazy, Denise Belfon, Shurwayne Winchester, Machel Montano HD, KMC and Iwer George.

Parking was tricky and police were advising patrons not to park on the streets adjoining Wrightson Road, as “the wrecker was coming.” So, as
usual, patrons at a large public fete would be under pressure from both police
and thief.

Passing right outside the Licensing compound via the media entrance
must have been tempting for anyone in need of a Certified Copy, and
unwilling/unable to pay a bribe.

Once inside, the place seemed rather empty at about 10 pm, considering the event’s reputation, but it was still early. As the DJ music blared a large contingent of police stood in a defensive, intimidating circle ready for action in the middle of the growing number of winers and jammers.

If Job seemed a little patient, then they seemed a little tense. The fact that patrons entering through General Admissions were forced to remove their shoes for inspection would have been of little consolation to the circle of cops. When asked, an officer at the entrance confirmed the procedure had been put in place to “make sure yuh don’t get chook.”

The Shoe Exam, in addition to the number of people trying to get in, may have contributed somewhat to the gathering by the various posses outside the fete, many of whom were content to chip and prance around the area before entering. It created a festive atmosphere on Wrightson Road, accompanied, of course, by long lines of traffic.

The cops did their best to keep things moving. Not long after 10 pm, Bunji Garlin kicked things off with an energetic performance, during which he discussed his recent nuptials in song. In the middle of the performance, he was forced to stop and
exclaim, “Jesus Christ, look at crowd!” By this time, he was not exaggerating. In a brief interview with Newsday following his performance, Bunji said he was heading down the highway to South Trinidad for a gig at Sting club in La Romaine.

The lovable lunatic, aka Crazy, was next on stage, briefly, and he churned up the crowd with his “One Foot Cock,” and “Cold Sweat.”

Denise “Saucy Wow” Belfon soon followed, and she reminded the crowd with a demonstration that riding a bicycle is something one never forgets. She even gave tricycle lessons.

The crowd was well pumped up by the time Shurwayne Winchester “Opened the
Gates,” and he was ably assisted by Peter C Lewis on guitar. The crowd appeared
unperturbed by recent reports that Winchester was under pressure following some
internal wrangling at Traffik, and Winchester’s top class performance drew a
fanatical crowd response.

QRC: The Aftermath

DETAILS

Who: QRC
What: All-Inclusive
Where: QRC, St. Clair, Port–of-Spain
When: Saturday 13th January 2007
How much: $400
Last year’s price: $400

I decided to include two elements to my review.
The price of the fete the year before for comparison purposes.
The other element is Security.

So this was my first time going to QRC’s fete, largely motivated by the fact that Machel Montano HD was one of the performers billed.

NEAL & MASSY TRINIDAD ALL STARS
Talk about sweet.
They played all their hits, mixed in with this year’s soca and they ended with Woman on de Bass.
What more yuh want?
Well in my case I would not have minded if they played Curry Tabanca. LOL.
But all in all they were great.
4.5 out of 5

MACHEL MONTANO HD feat. Patrice and Zan and Machel’s new members.
For those who may not be aware, Machel recently lost a few members of his band (from what I understand it wasn’t nice). Dean, as I mentioned before is now with Atlantik. $hel$hok I hear is with Bunji. (that last one is unconfirmed).
So I was eager not only to see them perform, but to hear them perform as well.

Machel did not disappoint.

Starting with Higher than High and ending with Light it Up with Patrice, he gave his usual high energy performance.

BUT. Yes yes there is a but. You could see that he was frustrated by the quality of the sound coming from his band. And when Machel vex…yuh does know it. I think he gave up after a while and just gave QRC all he had. Which was an hour and a half!
4 out of 5

EXODUS
Exodus was okay. Synergy soca Star Fireball performed with them and it was cool. They didn’t impress me like All Stars did though.
I heard they didn't have neough time to do a sound check so maybe that's why.
3 out of 5


TRAFFIK feat. Sherwayne Winchester, Candy Hoyte and Sean Caruth
Traffik’s performance was good.
Ii was nice to Sean back with the band (esp after they dropped him last year).
It was too bad he did not get a chance to sing his song for this year which I really like.
Candy looking like she put on a little weight man. Fix dat Candy.
Sherwayne was Sherwayne. Sang only his songs or songs where he was featured like Peter Ram’s Woman by my Side.
From Look de Band Coming to Open de Gate straight to his abrupt end with Alequa.
Yes. Traffik ended their set very abruptly in the middle of them performing Alequa.
(Inside sources say the star of the band was upset because of Machel’s 1 ½ hour long performance and they, Traffik, only got to perform for ½ hour…doh say I say…)
3.5out of 5.


FOOD
One word for the food…LINES.
Line lines and more lines.
Which I understand is the norm.
But the problem is I doh like tuh line up…fuh nuttin.
The food that I did taste though was GREAT! Especially the fish broth. Talk about nice!
In addition to the main meals: Creole, Curry, Chinese (I only tasted the Chinese) there were cutters in the form of bake and shark, corn soup, geera pork, barbeque pigtail, pholourie and so much more.
More than enough room to sit and eat your food as well.
4 out of 5.


BAR
There were two bars.
A north bar run by Servis (Angostura) and another bar run by CARIB.
Service at the CARIB bar was slow. There were not enough people manning that bar.
Service at the Servis bar was tops. No waiting to be served, no waiting for your drink. Service down the line.
And straws and napkins too.
Even after the CARIB bar ran out of straws early in the fete I still got straws and napkins at the Servis bar.
For those of you who wondering what the big deal is about straws…I have one word for you: Lipstick. I eh want tuh have to be re-applying meh lipstick more than necessary.
CARIB bar: 3 out of 5
Servis bar: 5 out of 5


BATHROOMS
The main bathroom that was being used was kept nice and clean, despite the mud being traipsed in and out. Liquid soap, cream for your hands, the usual stuff. There were two mirrors for ladies: one normal mirror and one full length.
4 out of 5


EYE FOOD
Eye Food for the ladies: not so much to be honest. I wasn’t overly impressed with the gape. No real setta head turning.
Eye food for the men: Bess. That’s the only word to describe it. LOL.
4 out of 5 for the men
3 out of 5 for the ladies.


SECURITY
I did not notice any security for the many cars on the road. I thought this was important as people were parked all over, from Maraval Road to around the Savannah and all the other side streets.
Also, while there was quite a lot of lighting outside the fete, some parts of the fete were a little too dark for my liking. Not that I expect bright lights, but still.
Security could be improved upon.
3 out of 5



Next up: Licensing fete Saturday 20th January and ONE fete on Sunday 21st January.

Yuh know is Carnival when...

Dey start tuh put up de lil dollhouses around the Savannah.

Stores have dey display windows color co-ordinated depending on what the fete for the weekend is (GLOW, Fire etc.)

Women in Micles looking for stockings.

Women in Wonderful World looking for ting fuh dey bellybutton, around dey eye and jewelry tuh match dey costume.

Samaroo's inna mess with people buying extra beads, fabric, glitter and sundries fuh dey costume.

Around de Savannah inna mess wid woman of all shapes and sizes and every creed and race trying to lose some weight before Carnival Monday and Tuesday.

I see meh padnah E*** who I only see around Carnival time even doh she working across de road from me. LOL.

And back in de good ole days..yuh know it was Canrival when yuh see de familiar orange beams of de North Stand going up.

Soca in Moka 2007: The Aftermath

DETAILS
Who: Soka in Moka
What: All-Inclusive
Where: Trinity College Grounds, Moka, Maraval
When:Sunday 7th January 2007
How much: $375

I have no idea why this year, Moka decided to do replace the 'c' in Moka with a 'k' but anyoo...

This is my review. (hey that rhymes).

So this was my...*thinking* 7th Soca in Moka fete...I missed the first one..and haven't missed any since then.

KES THE BAND
I got there just before 7 o'clock and caught the last 15 minutes or so of Kes the Band.
Now while Kees himself is not one of my favorite people (we won't get into why in this post) the band's performance, the little I heard, was good.
Actually compared to the other bands that night...it was downright GREAT!
And when I saw Kees in the crowd afterward I told him as much. (yes imagine, I spoke to Kees, wonders will never cease. LOL).
I love Nadia's voice...and meh girl looking REAL good too!
4 out of 5

But ah getting a little ahead of myself.

TRAFFIK feat. Shurwayne Winchester, Candy Hoyte and Olatunji (not sure of the spelling)
This was Traffik's 2nd or 3rd year performing at Moka. They replaced Roy Cape who used to be the staple band.

Talk about boring.
I mean...total snooze fest.
Is anyone else tired of Sherwayne or is it just me? Sherwayne...you are getting stale. Like day old hops bread.
Your band sounds tired. Like dey need some Viagra or something.
I know you just lost your manager (as you reminded us) but if yuh in mourning, stay home nah cause yuh band was sounding dead. Poor Ellis must be was rolling in he grave.
2.5 out of 5

ATLANTIK feat. Destra and her ego.
What to say about Atlantik boy?
I see Dean (formerly of Xtatik) is now with them and he cut off de dreds. Still looking sexy as hell though.
I expected Atlantik to come and put Traffik to shame.
Instead I think Destra put herself to shame.
Their set was disjointed and disorganised.
Like they only started practicing for Carnival the night before.
Destra De Star missed a couple of her cues and her voice sounding hoarse already. Ah mean we still have so many fetes to go.

There was an incident on stage during her performance of "I Dare You" where she dared her bass guitarist to wine on her.
The young man took her up on her dare and she apparently wasn't too pleased and she went on and on about how he could lift her up, and being the only female in a band is so hard. She even bawl rape on the stage.

If yuh was so vex I think it would have been better if that had been handled off stage.

Things continued to go downhill form there and a lot of people left during their performance. Ah mean the front of the stage was empty.

Even though I can, I won't go on about Destra, cause somebody go call meh ah hater. (Not that ah mind, I just eh have the time nor the inclination to answer all de hate email.)
2 out of 5

FOOD
The food was tops as usual. They had yuh chip chip cocktails, corn soup, bake and shark, main meal, Haagen Daz, microwave popcorn, wantons...Moka had it all. More on the eye food in a bit. LOL.
4 out of 5

BAR
From the regular bar, to the cocktail bar to the Chivas bar. Service was a tad bit slow...just a tad. The only thing I heard they ran out of was 1919, but coconut water was running whole night. (I does mainly drink chaser).
4 out 0f 5

BATHROOMS
The bathrooms (yes, the bathrooms) had everything a woman could need.
EXCEPT FOR...more mirrors. This one mirror thing eh cutting it.
Yuh know we women does hadda go to the bathroom 2-3 times ah night and check we face each time. LOL.
4 out of 5

EYE FOOD

Nuff eye food for the ladies and it was sectioned off too...de posers was actually on one side of the fete and the people who come to party on the next side.

Ah mean it wasn't deliberate but it was quite evident. LOL.

No setta pretty-gay-masquerading-as-metro-men either. Well dressed. Nice looking men.

The eye food gets a 5 out of 5 yes.

That was the highlight of the party for me. LOL.

My next fete: QRC on Saturday 13th January 2007. Still eh have nuttin tuh wear yet.