Harts Planet Rock - Karen Hart Section

Every year in Harts Karen Hart does a "budget section" exclusively for Harts and this year is no exception, presenting the section CARNELIAN / BRONZITE:

Option A

Option B

FEMALE
Option (A) -$2600.00
Option (B)- $ 2700.0

DEPOSIT .$1000.00

MALE
 $2100.00
DEPOSIT...$800.00

This section is a private option and will not be featured at the mas camp or website, so if you are interested you can call or email Harts mas camp or Karen Hart for more details on how to register.

Ronnie and Caro Launches Survivors in Japan

Global editions of local band launches are now becoming a trend!

click for larger view

Pulse 8 Out Of The Woods The Review

The idea of a "free" band launch, in the form of a pub crawl was a novel one that Pulse 8 pulled off well on Friday night, complete with big truck and costumed models as they bar hopped along Ariapita Avenue. Prior to this the Media were shown the costumes at the band's new mas camp on the corner of Luis Street and Ariapita Avenue, in spite of cramped viewing area I was able to get an upclose look at all the costumes and I have to say that Pulse 8 knows their market well and these costumes cater to them. Nothing spectacularly "out of the box", for the most part cute wearable costumes with that Pulse 8 hallmark.

Rosella Risque - Or should I say Brazilian Macaw version 2.0. This costume was designed by Sandra Hordatt with Richard Dookhdeen and they have basically  repeated one of their best  collaborative designs with this one. Maybe if they had used another colour combination it would not scream Brazilian Macaw (TRIBE 2009) every time you look at it, however in spite of that it is one of the strongest costumes in the band.

Wild Ting - I have to admit I think this costume has a lot going on and can be seen as a bit busy, I personally would not have used the seed beaded fringe on the bra. However I love that the waist band looks like something teenager Pebbles would wear on the Flinstones and it is actually quite sexy without using the typical beads.

Bois Bande - The pants are the favourite part of this costume for me because I think it would appeal to the ladies who may want more coverage but still get the tease of a hint of leg so it is not that covered up. The bra is under decorated, but it is a nice shade of yellow.

 Naughty Nymph, Misty Morning and Bamboo Patch -  I put these three costumes together because I have the same opinion on them all, simple and cute costume just about sums it up. You know the costumes that look nice, but are nothing extra special. I do like the shape of the bra on Naughty Nymph as it looks like a short corset and the shade of blue for Misty Morning is quite nice, though I am not too sure if I like the metal circles falling from the belt. Of the three my favourite is Bamboo Patch because I like the lime green and bronze colour combination (the model sold this costume).

Poison Berry - There is just something about the  shape and design of the gold part of the headpiece that does not appeal to me, otherwise another safe, albeit generic, costume that adds a skirt which takes it up a notch to interesting.

Flambeaux - This costume alternates between my least favourite of all the costumes and then I look at it again and it is not so bad. I do not like the petals used to decorate the belt and bra, I think that is the one element that I dislike the most. I like the fabric tendrils and even the backpack as this is one of the few frontline costumes in the band.  And while the colour combination is nice and has worked in other sections before with all that is going on with the costume it borders on a tad but cosquel for me. As is the case with some of the other costumes however, I think just a bit more could have been done to the costume to make it look spectacular. As much as I like the fabric tendrils they look rather skimpy and scant, more could have been used on the backpack for instance and the backpack surely needs more feathers. Minor details that for me might have solidly made this one a "like" for me.

As for the men, on the night we were shown males in Bois Bande and Misty Morning and one male who was there expressed it very succinctly when he said it looks as if they design the female costumes then decide that they should stick a male in there; generic and boring as has been the case with most of the male costumes this far. Again I have to say the best male costume of the lot is Rosella Risque , followed by Wild Ting (shown in the brochure). Rosella Risque male costume and more photos can be seen at their fan page Rosella Risque as they appear to be a private section with separate marketing (we got independent flyers at the Media launch for that section).

Pulse 8 Out Of The Woods Video

Review to come soon:

Pulse 8 Out Of The Woods Media Launch

Full Album Here

WILD TING

MISTY MORNING

NAUGHTY NYMPH

BOIS BANDE

POISON BERRY

BAMBOO PATCH

ROSELLA RISQUE

FLAMBEAUX

Bliss Update

Bliss' website is now showing only two sections Ice Warriors and Caprica remaining, all of the other five advertised sections are  SOLD OUT. 

Since Apache is not advertised on the website I am wondering if that section still has room, interesting! Last I checked all Bliss Individuals were sold out as well with the exception of the Individual for Caprica which will be revamped I understand, I mean in all honesty doesn't the Frontline have more impact than the Individual?

Caprica Frontline

Caprica Individual

I was also told that the tentative DJ line up for Bliss is Private Ryan, DJ Dane & Saatchi and Foreplay. Rumour is that registration figures for Bliss have reached 2000 masqueraders, I am thinking it might total at around 2500 which is cool with me! 

GEMS 2011..."Conquest of Alexander" The innocence of Issus

A preview of the section "The innocence of Issus" from Gem's debut presentation "The Conquest of Alexander".

Gems band launch takes place at Callaloo Mas Camp, Chaguaramas on Saturday October 9th from 7PM. For tickets and info contacts 770-1942. 365-5329 or 6254881.

Pulse 8 Pub Crawl !

Some more details on Pulse 8's Band Launch which takes the form of a pub crawl along Ariapita Avenue tomorrow evening have emerged. I am especially looking forward to seeing costumes from Pulse 8 as not only do they restart the Band Launches in earnest, after an unusually quiet lull in September, I also heard that there was a costume collaboration by Richard Dookhdeen and Sandra Hordatt (colourful bird) to look out for! 

Take time out on Friday 1st October 2010 to celebrate Pulse8’s fifth anniversary.

It’s also symbolic that our Carnival 2011 presentation is “Out of the Woods”.

Our launch starts at Pulse8 new band house, Corner Alfredo Street & Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook, where the media will preview our “live” mannequins in full carnival regalia.

Then it’s Pulse8 on de move along the Avenue!

Follow the truck with the costumed girls as we do de bar crawl to your favourite liming spots along the Avenue.

This is how we will roll………

Date:           Friday 01 October 2010

7:15 pm – 8:30 pm                Media Presentation  

Cor. Alfredo Street & Ariapita Avenue

8:30 pm- 10:00 pm                  Pub Crawl – Pulse8 on the Move on the Avenue -

Costumed Girls stop at the favourite liming spots on d’Avenue

10:00 pm                        Back to the Band House- 

Cor. Alfredo &  Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook

Carnival Virgins Island People Is Making It Easy Your First Time!

Is it your first time?   Have you been bitten by the carnival bug?   We know the feeling!   This year IP MAS is not only catering to its existing masqueraders, but to the newbies as well!   If you have never experienced carnival before, or you are a new member to the IP MAS FAMILY we have something special for you…   with the VIRGIN Plan your deposit will only be $500.00 TTD AND… IP MAS is giving you until the end of THIS year to pay the balance of your deposit!   How is that for your first time?!                      IP MAS is taking the party to the ROAD this year with  a secure, service-filled band with guaranteed Vibes for timeless memories.     Oh gosh!!!     “Carnival… I love this feeling!”

D Harvard Revellers Section Launch

Here is a preview of the section Brazilian Hyacinth Macaw  from the band D Harvard Revellers:

The section launch and after party  takes place at Club Ibiza on October 16th at 10PM, ticket is $80.00TT , check the flyers below for more details:

Click to enlarge

Las Vegas....Or Bust?

So, looks like Las Vegas Carnival, previously slated to take place on October 10th is now pushed back to MAY 2011....interesting! Hope you were not one of those who already bought and paid for airline ticket and accomodation, ouch!

To accommodate for proper weather and an even bigger line up of “Billboard Superstars” we have moved our event to May 2011. More info coming soon. Visit our website www.vegascarnival.com for more information.

D Harvard Revellers Band Launch

D Harvard Revellers launch of "D Latin Flava" takes place on October 10th, take note.

For more information contact the committee: Tony or Debbie (868)678-2919,(868)637-7248,Gerry (868)680-4513,Stefan(868)354-6333,Peter(868)792-1762,(868)Nadia 756-6666 or Keino (868)686-7072. Email:dharvadrevellers@gmail.com

Sneak peek of the section "Salsa Picante":

Genesis Carnival 2011

 Genesis Carnival held a "Media Launch" for their Carnival 2011 presentation "The Nest" on Thursday September 23 at their new mas camp located at #7 Dengue Street, St James. I do not know which media houses were invited, none of the social media  Carnival aficionados got an invitation as far as I know, and I only discovered this morning that the information was posted to their Facebook Fan Page on Wednesday September 22 when I went looking for news about their band launch which was supposed to be held last night. 

The odd thing about Genesis is that in 2008 I  met Nina Mc Kenzie at TRIBE's Media Launch, both she and Ian get around to several band launches for the season. Nina actually came and spoke to me when she noticed I was on the laptop doing live updates. The question soon came up concerning me never attending any of their band launches. To tell the truth in the early days of this blog I bought my own tickets to go to these band launches, 2008 was actually the first year I got invited to TRIBE's media launch and Island People invited me to their's the year before that and both bands have since invited me every year subsequently.

 In fact I am still not invited to all  the band launches and if I really want to go to one I am not invited to I have to pay ( remember my refusal to pay $400.00 for Oasis Band lunch this year) like with Harts launch this year. I had already bought my tickets to Harts at the Mas Camp when one of the guys working at Harts recognized my husband and refunded us on the spot, Harts has also invited me to their launch in the past I might add. Special mention to Spice who have always invited me to their media and band launch , Brian Mc Farlane for the invitations to awesomeness that is usually his launch and to YUMA for their backstage pass this year.

Anyway, I digress, back to Nina Mc Kenzie's question. Quite frankly I cannot afford to pay to go to each and every band launch so the ones I am not invited to I have to choose based on what my readers are interested in seeing. On the roll call you will notice no one ever says they are playing in Genesis so it is not a top priority for me to pay to go to their launch over a band that others are playing in and eagerly awaiting costume photos and reviews. Like I said, this I am not Triniscene I do not get invited to the opening of every envelope.

So there we were at TRIBE's media launch for Birds of a feathers and  Nina stated that she did want me to come to their launch that year, she would send me an invitation to which I responded that I would attend and that the email address was on the Blog . After that nothing, no further communication with Genesis, digital or otherwise. I am continually surprised at the lack of social media savvy by these bands, and Genesis especially. I would love to know how they communicate with the media, their members and get new masqueraders every year.  How do you have a band launch that is not advertised even if I wanted to pay to attend? Where was it held? They must be doing something right however, because they are still around after all these years! 

As the ONLY band launch to take place in September I am looking forward to seeing Genesis costumes.

If anyone went to or was invited to either the Media and/or Band Launch please, let me know! 

TRIBE Ignite Miami 2010

Random thoughts on TRIBE Ignite....so you can view costumes at TRIBE Ignite this year, cool, I wonder if Triniscene will be streaming live again, why don't they make this fete drinks inclusive in Miami, $15.00US for a Johnny Walker Black and Coconut water is highly ridiculous and when they say ID required they mean it ! 

Click for Larger View

Tickets available from TRIBE Miami Committee and online at

www.carnivaltribe.com

or

PURCHASE TICKETS NOW!

21 Years & Over | ID Required

Copyright and Using Photographs From Trinidad Carnival Diary

Trinidad Carnival Diary has been around since 2006 and during that time I have taken thousands of photographs of band launches and costumes. The idea of watermarking my photographs was a concern in the beginning as I did not want my photographs to be stolen and not have proper credit as the source of said photographs.

However as the MAIN reason I take the photographs so that others who are unable to attend the band launch or mas camp can get a first and close up look of costumes I decided against ruining the photographs with a watermark emblazoned across it. I mean a tiny watermark at the bottom of the photograph could suffice as well but it can easily be cropped out if someone wanted to reuse the photograph for their own purpose.

Generally I have no problem with anyone reusing my photographs to share with friends and family, post on Facebook (though some people do ask my permission first) , on chat groups and forums. It would be nice to have a credit as the source  but once it is for NON Profit and it is not a professional organisation, in the spirit of the internet I have no problem sharing. I too sometimes post photographs on the Blog and I always try to at least include a photo source or I will email the owner of the photograph and ask for permission to use.

I do have a problem when my photographs are used for PROFIT that is to sell/advertise goods, service or a product, but I have made exceptions if the person/s were kind enough to first send me an email asking my permission to use the photographs .

So, imagine my surprise when I stumble upon my photographs on the website for the National Carnival Commission of Trinidad and Tobago being used to link TRIBE and I never gave my permission for the photographs to be used in this way:

click for large view

As a common courtesy I at least expected  being credited as the source of the photographs. ALL the photographs can be found on both my Facebook Fanpage and photobucket album, an email would have been nice, especially from a professional organisation as this since they have to their website Copyright © 2010, The National Carnival Commission of Trinidad and Tobago. All Rights Reserved. One would also expect that a professional organisation as this would be quite familiar with Intellectual Property; lets see if they respond to MY email! 

And in case the Copyright Notice was missed here it is again:

Copyright Notice:
All photos and original articles by the author of this site are copyright of www.trinidadcarnivaldiary.com
therefore all rights are reserved.


Original content found within this Web site are protected by international copyright laws. No content of any type from this site may be sold, republished, modified, uploaded, reformatted or copied without the express consent of www.trinidadcarnivaldiary.com


Should you require to use any of the material originally published on www.trinidadcarnivaldiary.com for personal or public use please e-mail trinidadcarnivaldiary@gmail.com

Carnival Babies 2011

It is all about the Kiddies Mas today, take note of Carnival Babies FREE Band Launch :

Click for Larger View

Gerard Kelly 2011

Parents take note, it is time for the kiddie's band launches!

click for larger view

Aquarius Is That You?

Brooklyn Carnival  2009( LAST YEAR)
 Check the lady on the extreme left!

Y.U.M.A. Aquarius

PHOTO SOURCE:

Portraits of Carnival

How Much Is TOO Much?

I have been accused of giving the floor member/regular/backline masqueraders a complex by pushing the Go Big or Go Home Frontliner mentality and now here I come with the decorated cups, the fancy bags and even the idea of not one but TWO pairs of boots! So the question of the day is , can there be a thing as "too much" for Carnival ? 

Who is to say that  that two costumes in two different bands is too much, or going all out for professional makeup on both days is too much, or deciding to do full body paint, lashes, hair extensions, contact lens, hiring a personal trainer to get in shape, and  even spending thousands of dollars on a costume is too much?

In 2008 Rio Samba Queen Angela Bismarchi had nylon wires implanted in her eyes to give them an "oriental slant" as Rio's Carnival was celebrating 100 years of Japanese immigration to Brazil. She famoulsy said in response to the numerous articles written about it “I always was vain. And for Carnival, you have to feel especially pretty.”

Angela Bismarchi

While I may not resort to plastic surgery just to pull off a costume and keep to the theme, I do think she has a point in that Carnival is possibly the one time of the year that we do things we would never do any other time or place. When have you ever walked for miles through the streets Port of Spain in a Bra and underwear?! No other time but Carnival!  Carnival is the time of year to be free to play up the inner Diva or just break loose and enjoy your mas without any restrictions or hoopla holding you back, don't you think?

Good day Saucy,

I must say that I'm one of your religious followers. You are always on point keeping it all as your opinion. I'm a newbie to POS mas, C2k11 will be my 4th year playing in town. I surely believe in the statement Go Big or Go Home so just wanted you to address that more precisely. What really is go big or go home?

Is it a combination of the FL costume, wire bra, "blinged out heel boot, and as being offered by Afro chic the Diva Cup, Diva Bag even the collar etc. I personally love the thought of having it all but it leaves the mind to wonder if all might be too much. Perhaps you can provide your view of the must haves or necessities for the F.L.H.O or the masquerader that wants to Go Big or Stay Home.

Sincerely Yours,

Roxy.

Hello Roxy,

Go Big Or Go Home is really something that the individual has to decide on I think. What might be "big" to me may not be big to someone else. For instance just getting boots and makeup done might be big for someone who is usually a simple person that does not normally wear makeup and used to play  mas in sneakers. To me it is the ideology that when it comes to Carnival you go a little extra, than normal, to have everything together.

So, if you want the cup, the bag, the boots, extras on your back pack and the whole nine yards that is great! As for too much, it is Carnival! How can anything be too much ?As long as it is not "cosquel" I think you will be fine.

PHOTO SOURCE:
O Globo

Rumours and Secrets!

Why are people coming whispering to me that TWO new bands slated to debut for Carnival 2011 are already in trouble? One band, I am told,  may not even  make it on the road as there are some financial troubles and the much lauded innovative designer is on their way out, no say it ain't so, what skullduggery is this?! And, the other new band is rumoured to be joining forces with a "Signature" mas band on the road, a lifeline in the desert perhaps? Who knows if these whisperings are true, I guess we will see eventually!

I always joke about playing in the "secret section" every Carnival as I do like to keep my section of choice under wraps. But, what is this I am hearing about "secret" costume options that only a privileged few are privy to? After allegations of frontliners being handpicked to wear a certain warrior costume, I have now learned that there is another option that is in the neighbourhood of $7500.00 that was marketed as an "Individual" but we will be seeing more than one on the road. Hmmm, reminds me of Loulan Individual, but at least that was shown to the public! I am eagerly awaiting  seeing the amazon beauties in this "secret" costume come Carnival Tuesday!

Is so I get it and so I selling it, shhhh! 

Harts Sold Out Costume Update and Small Headpiece Options

Once again it seems like the women are on the ball and securing their Carnival costumes early. Harts now has 4 sections with Female costumes sold out, they are Azurite, Chryscolla, Howlite and Aquamarine. Heliodor Frontline is also sold out.

I have also noticed that photos of the "small" headpiece option are now on the website, some with prices.At first I thought that the prices for the "small" headpieces are expensive compared to some of the popular all inclusive bands and even some of the all Inclusive bands that are not so popular.

For instance Ronnie and Caro, Oasis, Dream Team and Showtime have all inclusive prices for the same prices or LESS than these Harts costumes with "small" headpiece option. But then I reasoned that when you add on the cost of a cart it takes you in the range or TRIBE and Island People however, two other  bands that are stalwarts on the Carnival frontier along with Harts, so I guess it works out for some people like that.

And to tell the truth I love these embellished metal headbands, someone should go into business making them as part of a Monday wear option! As a standalone costume headpiece it is not really for me as I like large headpieces or if it is a headband it has to be coupled with extras to compensate for the lack of feathers but they are ideal for the masqueraders who do not want all the fuss (and price) of large headpieces:

Rhodochrosite

Peridot

Heliodor - $3380.00

Citrine - $3215.00

Azurite

Moonstone - $3240.00

Hematite - $2950.00

Turquoise In Matrix - $2985.00

Sardonyx - $2890.00

Aquamarine