A.M. Bush Invasion - The Aftermath

Date: Carnival Saturday 2014
Location: Chaguaramas
Cost: $550

BEST. AMBUSH. EVER.
The end.

*sigh*

It is hard for me to do a review for this party, as I feel I will not be able to adequately capture the level of epicness that is A.M. Bush. But here goes…

Armed with our wigs and alien antenna and custom Pan-Tees we got to A.M Bush just after 4am, a little later than we usual. There was some ‘traffic’ backed up on the road just before you got to the parking area at Samaan Park. We layered our seats with garbage bags before heading out to meet the shuttles that would take us to the site of the alien invasion. Unfortunately for whatever reason, we never got a shuttle and ended up walking in. This in no way soured the vibes as we entertained ourselves with talks of snakes, lagahoo and douens that were possibly hiding in the forest. The walk in wasn't as far as I thought it was and in no time it seemed we were in the middle of the invasion.

The party this year was the biggest one yet and this in no way lessened the vibes.

1. Paint

An important staple of any J’ouvert, we had bottles filled with paint in red, yellow and blue this year. After the paint ran out, the abeer came out. We had purple, turquoise, yellow and some other colours I don’t quite remember now. As usual my crew and I took pleasure in painting everyone who thought they could come to a J’ouvert party and stay clean…yes that was us. Just a word to my fellow A.M. Bushees…doh fling paint and abeer in people face nah…I almost went blind when I got some abeer in my eye.

2. Drinks & eats

I think there were three…*counting* drinks trucks this year?? Drinks flowed. My drink of choice didn't run out.

While we didn't get any breakfast (It was finished by the time we got there), I did have one of the best corn soups of my life when we got back to Samaan Park. I also had a doubles that was very tasty and I’m not a doubles lover (yes, blasphemy I know).

3. Music
I think there were also three music trucks…but however many there were played great soca. New, old and everything in between.

4. Live Entertainment

On the way back to Samaan Park, we were entertained by Lil Rick, then later on as the sun came up by Mr. Soul Train himself Bunji Garlin. Lil Rick was really good as we chipped out, and needless to say Bunji was fantastic singing hit after hit, both old and new.

5. Water

The water truck came out while Bunji was performing and that was all she wrote. At least that’s what we thought, until we got back to Samaan Park to find a water play park waiting for us. My friends and I were able to try the slides before the whole of A.M. Bush came out and swarmed the area.

6. Vibes

It is very difficult to explain exactly how much vibes this party has. The level of abandon is beyond even what is experienced on the road Monday and Tuesday. My Carnival tabanca is actually made worse when I watch back at pics from A.M. Bush, than pics from Monday and Tuesday.

Overall, A.M. Bush Invasion gets a too real 10 out of 10.

Photos: http://www.facebook.com/SLEEKjamaica 

Arial photo: http://instagram.com/peterparkershay

Carnival Tuesday with K2K - The Aftermath

So in my last post I left the band early on Monday as I had a couple things to finish up on Carnival Monday. Two of those things included blinging out my drinks cup and re-fashioning my jeweled tam that I wasn't wearing, into a bag to hold my stuff. Turned out pretty well I thought.

The band looked even more FAB on Tuesday. From the women to the men everyone looked great.

On Tuesday we met the band for 7:00am and moved off within the hour making our way to the first judging point at Adam Smith Square. As we approached Adam Smith, we slowed down and eventually came to a stop while our individuals we fitted with their wings, I must say our individuals looked GORGEOUS!! I felt the slightest twinge of envy as I wanted to do an individual with K2K this year, but circumstances were not in my favour. 

After the holdup, we continued to the judging point and this is where things became a bit confusing. It was just before the judging point that our bandleaders, Karen and Kathy, were telling us the way in which they wanted us to cross the stage (we did not cross section by section). I think this should have been communicated beforehand, maybe when we collected out costumes a nice lil diagram or explanation would have helped maqueraders. We crossed this way at 3 of the judging points and honestly I think this is what may have lost us points (which is why we didn't place first in the medium band category...either that or they just damn tief!), but who knows? Anyhoo...

After we hit Adam Smith we then steadily made our way to Victoria and Independence Square. Everywhere we walked we were constantly stopped and asked what band this was. If this was Mac Farlane (scoff), I was even asked if Minshall came back (double scoff).

After we crossed Independence Square I took the opportunity to have lunch in the maxi and the band went to the Piccadilly judging point. It was here when we started to slow down as we headed to the Savannah stage.

I took the opportunity (as I usually do) to walk to the Savannah to meet my sons who were waiting to see me after we crossed the stage. After I met them and posed for more pics and answered people's questions "What band is this?" "Where is K2K?" I eventually said goodbye to my sons and headed into the Savannah to wait for the band to cross the stage.

Some 5 hours or so later...around 8 or 9pm I think, we FINALLY made it to the stage! Even though we had waited for hours upon hours, there is nothing to beat that crossing the stage feeling. NOTHING!

When I eventually made it home I was so tired I just unzipped my dress and flung it on the floor where it stayed til the next morning.

Overall I think the band improved by leaps and bounds this year.

BAR
I had no problem at all with getting drinks at the bar. From the time the bartender saw my bling cup he knew my drink of choice.

FOOD
The food we received was plentiful and tasty. On Tuesday we had the option of chinese or pizza. I think I would still have preferred a lunch stop, to the walking and eating, but I was fine with eating on the buses.

COOL DOWN MAXIS
I LOVED the cool down maxis. I think there should be more honestly, LOL. Taking a rest on the ac in the maxis were lovely. I had to adjust my costume at some point and was able to use the maxis to do that.


WEE WEE TRUCK
For the first time in my Carnival life, I used a wee wee truck on the road! The wee wee trucks were kept very clean. Tackling the bathrooms was a bit tricky because of the length of the dress and the unsnapping of the undergarments etc. but was able to use them and keep my costume intact. LOL.

ROAD MANAGEMENT
Other than the hiccup with the truck license on Monday, and the intolerable unavoidable wait at the Savannah, I think the road management this year was WAY better than last year, when there was little to no management at all. 

I would give K2K an 8 out of 10 for my overall experience, and I can't wait to see their presentation for 2014!

2012 - The Aftermath

So it's the last day of the year, and it has been quite a year for me. I know there's been little to no activity on my blog, but there has been quite a lot going on for me that I haven't posted about.

This year, my younger son did SEA and passed for his first choice of QRC...
This year, my older son also transferred into QRC...
This year, we found out that my younger son had cancer...

The cancer diagnosis is one that affected everyone in our family and one that I have been meaning to write about for quite a while now, but it never seemed to be the right time.

As my son starts his 8th and FINAL (Woot! Woot!) cycle of chemotherapy this week, and as the year comes to an end, the timing seems to be right.

In May of this year, after numerous doctor visits, a CT scan revealed a tumour on my son's lung. To say this was unexpected would be an understatement. The last thing we expected to hear were the words tumour/cancer.

My son underwent two biopsies to confirm the type of cancer he had as the results were inconclusive. His samples eventually made their way to Miami where he was diagnosed with B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

 

He was admitted to Mt. Hope Children's Hospital - JBF Unit, while we waited on his results and while the did additional tests such as echocardiograms, X-rays and another CT scan. He spent three weeks at Mt. Hope as his doctors were wary of the position of the tumour near his heart and lungs.

My son absolutely hated being in hospital being poked and prodded, as he missed his last days of school, the excitement of last day and not being around his family.
Passing for his first choice was one of the only things that cheered him up while he was in hospital. While he missed his school orientation, the school made special provision for him when he came out of hospital, and he got a tour of the school with the vice-principal, which he loved.

His treatment involved 8 cycles of what the doctors called "intense chemotherapy". His protocol requires him to get chemo for 5 days straight. So for 5 days straight, every 21 days, he is hooked up to a machine that administers his chemo drugs.

Thankfully, he has had little side effects. He has lost his hair, eyebrows and eyelashes, but has had none of the other side effects of chemo like nausea, vomiting, fever.

He had to put in a portacath which is the better/easier way to administer the chemo than an IV. He has had to go under anesthetic over 10 times, for his biopsies, portacath surgery, lumbar punctures and bone marrow tests.

When his 5 days of chemo is over, he also has to go to the hospital on a daily basis for blood tests to be run and to get his shot which boosts his white blood cell counts, that the chemo kills.

He is now on his LAST cycle, and we are all excited for the all day, all night hospital stays to be over. Once his cycle is over a PET scan is the next step to see the status of the tumour, if it is still there, and then his doctors will let us know where we go from there.

We have had a good experience with Mt. Hope where he did all of his treatment for free, there have been some hiccups here and there, but for the most part it has been a positive experience.

I have had tremendous support from my family and friends (who have kept me sane when people around me were acting crazy) and I would like to say thanks to them all. Not gonna get all mushy here, you all know yourselves ;)

So that has been my 2012 in a nutshell.
Happy New Year to all my readers, wishing you all the best an hopefully more blog posts from me in 2013 :)

LIME 2012 - The 10 point (or less) Review

Date: Wednesday 15th February 2011
Location: Hyatt Regency
Cost: Regular - US$200 VIP - US$300

After my first LIME experience in 2011, this was one of my most anticipated fetes for Carnival 2012. It took many months of agonising over what to wear, before I finally decided and made myself a simple dress and clutch the night before! Unlike last year, there would be no outfit changes (yes, my crew and I did outfit changes last year) so I wouldn't need to have a second outfit ready.


1. Food

The Far East tent was serving shrimp, salmon and noodles. The shrimp was FANTASTIC, the lines were not. I was also able to enjoy a yummy corn soup while waiting in the Far East line. There was food at all the tents from the time we got there to the time wee left. We even had a second serving of shrimp later in the night.

Shrimp and salmon from the Far East tent

2. Bars

No wait at all at any of the bars. LOVED the addition of the bar in the food area this year. I had less walking to do than last year fersure.

I had daiquiris from the Angostura Cocktail bar, a shot of Patron (yummy!) and some of the tequila soaked saltprunes as well. Oh, in addition to a Lime Time cocktail when I came in.

Yummy daiquiris

3. Entertainment

In the food area there was also entertainment by Explainer and Denyse Plummer, the latter of whom was well received. 

We missed Nadia and Sass, heard them when we were coming in. After we ate, we headed to stage side and caught some of Karma's performance. I'm not a big fan of Karma though and we took the opportunity to take in the rest of the venue. 

Even though I had seen Kes the Band in the two other fetes that I went to for the season, I still really enjoyed his set. 

Kees performing Stress Away

JW and Blaze entertained us with their Soca Monarch selection "We Time" which I like, thought they would have also performed their past Road March hit "Palance", but they didn't.

I was waiting for the entire night to hear my boy Iwer George perform, but my peeps were tired and we left. Just as we were heading out though, I heard the strains of Iwer as he took the stage :(

4. Crowd

The fete felt a lot more crowded than it was last year and it is definitely a more mature crowd, and everyone came out to have a good time. 

I found that this year more people adhered to the dresscode of white with a touch of lime, but there were still folks who I guess wanted to 'stand out' so they wore whatever they felt like. I also think that the entertainment should stick to the dresscode as well. Only Kes the Band, JW and Blaze did this. (Granted I did not see SASS perform)

5. Bathrooms

I used the bathroom facilities in the hotel which were really clean and well maintained (after all, it is the Hyatt)

6. Ambiance

Nothing, absolutely nothing beats the Hyatt for ambiance. This fete has the perfect location and setting and makes you feel special from the time you walk in. Best fete location in my opinion.

So there you have it, in less than 10 points, the LIME 2012 review. Good fete in a great location, let's hope it doesn't get too much bigger next year.

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.

Soka in Moka 12 - The Aftermath

Date: Sunday 23rd January 2011

Cost: $550 (last year ($500)

Guess who reach Moka before the sun set this year? ME!

We left home at around 5:30pm and got to the fete at 5:59pm! Mind you I spent about 20 minutes of that in traffic heading into Moka and parking. But more on that later.

So I reach inside the fete and pull out my camera that I had forgot last year, only to realise that even though the batteries were charged the lens thingy was giving trouble.

This happens off and on ever since it fell while I was at Fashion Week last year. Ah try all kinda ting, but my lil camera didn't feel to work that night at all. *sigh*

Seeing that I got there all nice and early for a change and there was some time before the bands got on stage I figured I might as well try to eat something before 7pm as I'm on a lil pre-Carnival 'diet' of sorts. I had 2 mini crab stuffed dumplings and 2 servings of shrimp and oysters. Then I went back for 2 more crab stuffed dumplings cause they real lash!

That's about it.

That ah remember.

Oh. Sometime during Dil E Nadan's performance I had a corn soup.

One of the minor, but helpful changes that Moka made to their fete was in introduction of a big screen to the left of the stage where you could see the performances. This really helped later on when the fete got super packed.

I was glad that I had arrived early as the first band for the night (suprisingly) was Roy Cape All Stars.

Roy Cape All Stars feat. Blaxx, Rita Jones and Olatunji Yearwood feat. Andy Singh

Roy Cape warmed up the fete nicely with a decent repertoire until they introduced Andy Whatshisface who injected the fete with some chutney. Now I am not a hater of chutney music so don't get me wrong. I just dislike performers who don't realise that they need to move with the times. Andy was boring for me.

Rita was her usual aerobic tackily dressed in drag self, which has made me realise that sadly, neither she nor her stylist, read my blog. What's with the high kicks Rita? This ain't the gym.

I honestly do not remember Olatunji on stage, I dunno if someone spiked my fruit punch, but it seems he was there from the pictures I've seen.

Things became a bit confused when Blaxx started to introduce Denise Belfon and then stopped, soon after this Roy Cape wrapped up their set.

Roy Cape gets 3.5 wine to the side out of 5

Performing with Roy Cape was the groovy man himself Benjai who really made the crowd move especially when he belted out his two big hits this year "Trini" and "Wine to the Side".

Benjai gets 5 wine to the side out of 5

Dil-E-Nadan

If Trinity insists on having Dil-E-Nadan at this fete, they should at least have them perform first so I could take my time to get to the fete and miss them perform. They totally killed the vibe of the fete for me. It was during their performance I decide to go to the bathrooms and then took the time to sip some corn soup.

Note to Dil-E-Nadan: I gotta feeling that you all need to realise is Carnival 2011 and nobody wanna hear Black Eye Peas in no fete. Steups.

Dil-E-Nadan gets 1 wine to the side out of 5

Kes The Band

I was eagerly looking forward to seeing Kees perform and he didn't disappoint. Their set started off differently in that Kees came out and performed with his dancers (which he really does not need), then Nadia came out and performed her songs. They were also joined by Tallpree who was just 'aite' for me, he really just talks too much.

My main complaint with the band was not their performance so much, but their wardrobe. Kees, ah really not feeling the pyjama jeans/tights, 80s muscle top and funny jacket. Nadia, I loved the accessories but not all at the same time. Take off the belt or the necklace or something.

Kes The Band gets 4 wine to the side out of 5

Kes the Band was backup for guest artists TC, Shal Marshall and Screws and JW and Blaze.

Supa Jigga TC

The pants less tight this year, but I still doh understand why he always out of breath when he singing so. TC's performance was aite.

TC gets 3 wine to the side out of 5

Shal Marshall and Screws

I was kinda shocked that his performance was so decent to be honest. Maybe it's because I really like that motorbike song. Screws joined him to perform their tune "All Out".

Shal Marshall and Screws get 3.5 wine to the side out of 5

JW and Blaze

My favourite morning show hosts JW and Blaze sang their Road March/Soca Moarch hit "Palance" as well as their newly released "And Is Dat". They also sang their tune "Together". People still love the Palance a year later.

JW and Blaze get 3.5 wine to the side out of 5

FOOD

As I said before, I had two servings of crab stuffed dumplings, those were really fantastic and made hot on the spot. There was also the shrimp and oyster cocktails, accra, trini desserts of tambran balls, sugarcake, cornsoup. The lines for the Chinese food were always way too long though, so I never got the opportunity to sample the dimsum or wantons.

3.5 burps out of 5

BAR

This year the bar was done by Angostura and the service wasn't all that great. The bar staff seemed overwhelmed and the hubby said his drink (Johnny) ran out early.

2 ice cubes out of 5

BATHROOMS

Andy Loos and SWMCOL loos are now stabndard fare at Moka. Lovely as always.

4 out of 5 flushes.

EYE FOOD

This year the eye food for the women wasn't all that great, just okay. The hubby says the gape for the men was good.

3 cross eye out of 5

FASHION NOTE

I have to do a special note on the fashion for those of you ladies in foreign planning your fete wardrobe. Lots of mini dresses, lots of animal print and lots of gladiator sandals. The first two are fine, the latter, allyuh could leave that home, cause dat style has to be the worse thing since acid wash.

From early accounts we heard that this fete was sold out for the first time ever and the crowd at the fete reflected this. While this was excellent for the school, I really did not like standing up behind the Synergy mini stage to hear the performances. The place was packed tight, but this by no means stopped people from enjoying themselves.

Another problem I had was with the traffic to leave the venue which was even more than usual this year. They have a one way in-one way out situation that was not managed well. Moka need to work on that. People cannot be coming in when people trying to leave.

Despite that, this fete will remain on my fete calendar and is almost always my first fete for the season. See you on Saturday 8th January 2012!