No Savannah Stage for 2007

Rumors were swirling around that construction of the new Carnival Entertainment Centre at the Queen's Park Savannah will not begin until after 2007 Carnival, giving masqueraders a lagniappe and renewing hopes that 2007 will indeed see us crossing the Savannah stage.

Taking the bull by the horns I asked one of the Directors involved in the project if there will be stage for us masqueraders at the Savannah seeing as construction has yet to begin. He replied convincingly that they were awaiting bids for new contractors and as soon as that was in place construction will begin and there will be no stage for Carnival 2007. I read today that it is true; the Newsday has reported that the Minister of Culture, Joan Yuille Williams has indicated that construction of the Carnival Entertainment Centre will begin before year's end:

Carnival Centre coming

Clint Chan Tack Friday, October 20 2006

CULTURE and Community Development Minister Joan Yuille-Williams yesterday announced that construction of the new $450 million National Carnival Entertainment Centre, at Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, will begin before year’s end.

Speaking in the Senate Budget debate, Yuille-Williams said Opposition Senator Wade Mark was incorrect to say the centre will cost $700 million.

To those claiming the design of the new centre was flawed and had no local input, Yuille-Williams said this was not the case and the design has been deemed by a panel of international judges as the best in the Caribbean.

She dismissed Opposition claims of no funding for two academies of the performing arts that are to be built at the Princes Building Grounds in Port-of-Spain and Naparima Bowl, San Fernando. Stating that the former costs US$60 million (TT$378 million) and the latter costs US$40 million (TT$252 million), Yuille-Williams said Government has already worked out a loan arrangement with China to build these academies.

“So don’t complain about funds,” Yuille-Williams chided Mark.

She said funding for Pan Trinbago’s unfinished headquarters at Trincity was included in the last budget and the current one as well. The Minister explained that because the matter is in court, no work could proceed on it. However, she said the relevant papers have been sent to Attorney General John Jeremie and once she receives the green light from him, work will resume on that building. Yuille-Williams also denied reports that she told members of the Chutney Foundation to speak to Prime Minister Patrick Manning about funding and said the ministry does its best to address the concerns of all groups that approach it. Commenting on the contributions of Opposition senators Ato Boldon and Raziah Ahmed during the debate on Wednesday, Yuille-Williams assured them that no group is being marginalised. She also explained that it takes a multitude of interventions to address the concerns of many vulnerable groups.

Yuille-Williams defended the construction of the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, saying that the country has been crying out for sporting facilities and now that Government has the resources at its disposal it would address this matter. She reminded Boldon that the stadium is only a small part of what will be a massive sport and education complex which could be used by locals as well as foreigners. Recalling the numerous visits he made to schools as part of a joint initiative of the Ministries of Education and Sport, Yuille-Williams urged Boldon to continue to be “part of the solution.”

Now I have seen the designs for this Carnival Centre, and while ambitious in it's concept I don't have much faith that the end product will be the same as what is on paper, just take look at the airport to see what I mean. For all the grand plans that were touted, the airport looks like a big warehouse. Apart from the futuristic design with retractable domed roof, ramped entry to the grand stage, enclosed seating for patrons and plans to house a Carnival library and archives I agree with the critics that there has been little thought of the practically of the Carnival Centre for it's intended use.

I doubt if anyone of those designers and architects have played mas religiously on the old, wooden Savannah stage to know that we masqueraders do not want the stadium atmosphere and artificial, sanitary feeling of being herded into an enclosed venue to experience our climatic release of energy and euphoria. I for one love the sun beating down on my body as I wait to cross the stage; I love the heat, the dust, seeing the spectators lining the route in the Savannah, being able to buy one more drink before crossing the stage because the drinks truck has disappeared. What will happen to the vendors, to the children that line the stage exit to beg for your costume? To me the Carnival Centre just makes everything very "proper" and "contained" which is the very thing Carnival is not.

All that was needed, in my humble opinion was a better, bigger stage , proper stands since the North stand was always in fear of falling to the ground come Panorama semi-finals and a modified access route to the Savannah so bands will not have to endure a lengthy wait to cross the stage. I guess now panorama semi-finals will never be what it was in that rickety North stand, with rhythm sections blazing and rum flowing like water.

So that brings me to the question of where will be crossing the stage for 2007? Will it be at the Stadium? Will we be constantly on the move with several judging points along the route? After the dust has settled on all the band launchings and costume choices this is the most important question of the day and I have read or heard nothing on the subject.

Come Monday be sure I will be calling up a few people who might be able to give me answers to this burning question. Investigative reporter Saucy will report the findings to all those who want the same question answered as well. Until then I can only speculate on what will become of the Carnival parade as I have known it all these years......

p.s. Thanks to Carnival Jumbie for the pic of the Carnival Centre.

Another Look at Saphyre

It was only last week that I wrote about the launch of Saphyre, and I was left wanting for some more information about the band itself. Well the fact is that Saphyre has been around offically since 2001, prior to that they were known as Showcase Associates which was founded in 1977 and has produced a band every year since then. To get some history behind the band Saphyre, have a read of the National Carnival Band Association band profile here.

Apart from that informationI also receieved the following email from the events co-ordinator for Saphyre:

"Our band is comprised of 9 youths (ranging between the ages of
17 to 25 years) and 8 senior members. We once were known as Showcase and
Associates some years ago however, times have changed and the senior
members decided it was time to pass on reigns to a younger more vibrant group of
individuals. We thus changed the name to Saphyre as Showcase is or was
a band of the past and we the youths are now in control with the senior
members guiding us.

Our camp is located at 118 Oxford Street Port of Spain (Between
Frederick and Pembroke Streets upper Port of Spain) and we are opened between the hours of 9am to 10pm Monday to Saturday.

Contact Carlene Greaves 678-7349,Colin Greaves 779-7075 or Aleema Ranjisingh at 732-7825 for more information."

Personally, I think it is refreshing to learn that the band has youths at the helm, with the elders passing the baton.Competing as medium band now, I wish them all the success for 2007. If you want to see more photos from their launch, there is a gallery of photos at Trinicrew.com.

More Legacy Photos

Triniscene.com , Trinicrew.com and Islandevents.com have galleries of Legacy launch photos and I have found some "lost" costumes which are missing from the website, like these:

Jean bites the dust

According to TRIBE's website the section Jean and Dinah is "SOLD OUT", however they also have this posted "The DINAH option of Jean & Dinah is STILL AVAILABLE". Like they cannot make up their minds if the section is sold out or not.

Anyways, I am going with Jean and the male costumes are gone, but you can still register for Dinah, which is no surprise since I never liked "Dinah":



It still amazes me that Bat Frontline and Pierrot are still not sold out!!!I guess the issue with Bat is that the backline is overpiced at $3185.00 while the frontline is only $210.00 more at $3395.00, the obvious choice would be the frontline over the backline since the backline has that inspid headpiece. And I so thought that at $2595.00, the cheapest section in TRIBE , Pierrot Grenade, would have been sold out as well. Maybe to some people the cheap price also reflects a cheap costume.

Oh, and both Dragon and Jab Jab frontlines are still available "surprise, surprise" though to it's credit when I saw Jab Jab frontline in person the costume looked really pretty. Honestly, to me the price for both costumes is not worth a revamped version of the backline with a bigger headpiece, they should have added a really elaborate back pack to justify the price and make the costumes worthy of being called a frontline.

Les Aristocrates

Many thanks to TrinidadJunction.com for the following photos and email from KOZKELLE, the leaders of the section "Les Aristocrates" in the band Trini Revellers for 2007. This costume is one of my favourites from the band The French Revolution, as I posted yesterday, so I was quite pleased to get some more details to pass along.



Unfortunately there will be no website for this section, but for those interested here is some more information:

Hello folks,

Here’s a preview of KOZKELLE’S costume LES ARISTOCRATES, in Trini Revellers ‘07 presentation, The French Revolution.

As you can see we have several variations to the costume, designed to suit all moods.

We will be at our own mas camp at 177 Tragerete Rd, corner of Pole Carew St, just before Roxy, from November 3rd.

To our foreign supporters, please feel free to email me with any questions that you may have.

To our locals, you can email or call me at the #s below

As always , see you on on the road and thanks for supporting us.

DonMarie

868-667-5128

868-766-6336

donmarierev@hotmail.com

As usual you can click on these photographs to get a larger view of the costumes:

Trini Revellers Photos are up!

Carnivalscene.com has come through with launch photos from both TriniRevellers and Legacy, FINALLY!!

The costumes from Trini Revellers are surely representative of the French Revolution, complete with wigs, pantaloons and corsettes and so much so that the few costumes that are "bikini and beads" (to the critics) look out of place. At first look the costumes look very elaborate and overdone, but my girl friend and I took a good look at them and we both agreed that most of them are nice and will attract a strong following from people who want costumes that depict a theme and tell a story more than being sexy and glamourous. The male costumes are really fabulous in my opinion, I can see the older gents really rocking those berets!

These are some of my favourites from the band lauch photos:

What a read .............

Ironically I did a nice write up on Royal Court, a "clothed" section in Trini Revellers, today and that section is being produced by a brother and sister team who are under 30, which I consider to be young. So, when I read this article (from bagogyul's blog no less) it amused me somewhat since the author is berating the "young" mas makers for slaving to the bikini and beads phenomna and here we have Royal Court which is the opposite. Cordelle darling, take a look at Trini Revllers, they have the cure for your malise.

Here is the article taken from today's Trinidad Guardian:

Carnival costumes need a new look

BY CORDIELLE STREET

I have been patient with mas in T&T as few people have, but after waiting out approximately five band launches in a handful of weeks there is nothing left to do but sigh.

Having given up on masquerading quite some years ago, and I fully confess this mainly as a disclaimer for the ranting which will come, how impressionable and hopeful I remain still shocks this cynical heart.

I also find it necessary, unlike most women, to willingly put a figure to my age (but with a dash of reserve) only to emphasis the point that I am not a doddering masquerader unable to keep pace with the younguns.

With my twenty-something eyes and apparently aged spirit I perused the pre-offerings of Carnival 2007 and ask—Mas where have you gone?

For many beads and bikinis as most costumes are nowadays referred are the height of mockery for a festival that began itself as a mocking rebellion to our colonial rulers.

Yet, I have always given ear to the argument laid by staunch defenders of new bandleaders that they are giving the masses what they want.

Young women who fanatically diet and cram exercise bouts around district savannahs and exercise gyms into the two-month race to Carnival, do not plan on burying their sexy bodies under yards of cloth and pantaloons.

Fine, but what does that have to do with creativity?

And here comes the rant. What many young bandleaders today have not practised, and older bandleaders of yesteryear clearly have failed to pass on, is the absolute notion that Carnival is the pinnacle of creativity.

And all who have become legion to the festival must be worshippers at its altar.

Knock me if you like but it’s a criticism that I extend to all sectors that culminate at Carnival—so Pan Trinbago; Trinbago Unified Calypso Organisation (Tuco); National Soca Monarch competitors; National Carnival Bands Association (NCBA); National Carnival Development Fund (NCDF); and, National Carnival Commission (NCC), please take your share of the licks.

But, as I begin with mas I will stick with mas and forward the argument that the most devastating virtue we have imported from Brazil is not the skimpy bras, lowering brocade lines on bottom pieces or the staple thong costume that proves a constant problem for full-figured women.

We have taken to heart the redundancy of a festival meant to showcase Latin dancers and their dance schools and introduced it into a festival borne out of the blood, sweat and tears of freed slaves and the utter disdain of nonconformists.

What has mas become? Where are the portrayals? Where is the tongue in cheek mimicry of our hypocritical society? Where is the ingenuous play on fantasy worlds, fallen empires and such?

Where are the mas-queraders?

Now I’m not picking on the Tribes, the Island Peoples, the Pulse8s, Dream Teams, the Legacies and their ilk, fortunately for them I’ll not make a dent in their registrations as the masses continue to flock, fight and cry to get into their bands.

But, other long time mas men aren’t, doing much better by avoiding the beads and bikinis, just to fall into the trap of recycling past and often outdated ideas.

Neither am I being paid by traditionalists to tout the purity of ole time mas.

All I am crying for is a ceasing of the bastardisation of mas with portrayals of bikini-clad pierrot grenades, aimless but sexy wild Indians, token head pieces of feathers and shimmering cloth supposedly to represent Bedouin tribes in the Sahara and cocktail girls to serve who exactly?

Or we can continue with the “tiefing of meh costume from last year.”

Let’s start with a fresh idea in an ageless festival in the spirit of rebellion and I’m sure even beads and bikinis can be fashioned into an expression of creativity.

Is that just too much to ask? Somehow I believe it is.

Seen at Miami Carnival

Being a Trini I am quite biased in thinking that our Carnival is THE best in the world, though I have been to and enjoyed Crop Over immensely for a couple years and I also had a good time at St. Lucia's Carnival. Next year my girl friend wants to go to Miami Carnival, but I am thinking of going on a cruise then so it might be out of the question for me unless I combine the two and do the cruise in October. Anyway, I digress, Triniscene.com has been making an appearance at several international Carnivals, with galleries from Caribana, Labour Day and recently Miami Carnival.

Having never been to Miami Carnival I personally find that some of the costumes are lacking in materials, design and overall appearance, however the women have some beautiful bodies (yes I am not afraid to say it even though I am a woman) that do the costumes justice. The "Goddess" bra was quite popular in Miami I see.Here are some body beautiful photos as seen on triniscene.com:

Costumes for sale.....at a PROFIT.

So it has been two months since TRIBE launched and about a month since registration started and one costume has popped up on Carnivaljunction.com for sale, Jab Jab orange. But hear the greatest, the person wants $1200.00 when they boldface enough to say ONLY the downpament of $900.00 was made! They looking to make $300.00 profit and it is not even a good month since registration started!

Now I know Jab Jab is sold out, but when my friend sold her costume this year it did not occur to her to charge more than what the costume costs. Enlighten me, is it the norm for costumes to be resold for more than the original price? If so I am in the wrong job! Next year I could make back the money I spend on my costume by investing in the costume resale market! If you see people looking for costumes at Carnival Junction as well, someone wants 7 Island People costumes another person wants 4. All now I could have been $3000.00 richer by reselling costumes at a $300.00 profit to those TWO people that are desperatley seeking Jewel of the Nile and Sacred Sand.

Drop me a comment if you have sold or bought a costume for more than it's original price. I am quite curious as to how many people are willing to pay up to get into the section of their choice.

The Royal Court de Versailles

Today being Thursday I would have expected to see some photos from Trini Revellers launch on Sunday by now, however apart from one of two photos in the local newspaper I can find nothing online. Seeing as Trini Revellers is third in my Poll (after Island People and TRIBE) on which band people are playing with for 2007 I think more publicity could have been generated over the launch of the reigning Band of the Year!

Makes me wish I was able to go to the launch because I would have satisfied the curiosity of potential masqueraders and Trini revellers fans alike with photos hot off the press!The mas camp is not open for viewing as yet either, hopefully they will be up and running by early next week. There is a mini review of the launch from a fellow Trini blogger on her blog Everything Carnival.

I was able to get in contact with one of the section leaders for Royal Court de Versailles ( the section which was featured in Sunday's Trinidad Guardian ) Kyle Matas and he provided me with some more information on the section. Even though this will be their first time producing a section for a large band, he seems quite excited and plans on surprising masqueraders with unparalleled service and novel extras. Not wanting to go into too much details, I will just say that if all plan are executed, masqueraders in the section Royal Court can look forward to being treated like Kings and Queens.

According to Kyle, the section aims on providing; "a beautiful costume along with a fabulous all-inclusive package of food and premium drinks for our two day sojourn through the streets of Port-of-Spain. An alternative casual ensemble is to be provided for Carnival Monday as well as a complimentary gift bag stocked with Carnival essentials."

The website will be launched by months end and I will post the link as soon as it becomes operational. Costumes from this section are to be displayed at Trini Revellers mas camp as well as their private mas camp which will be located downstairs the Synergy building on Tragarete Road. An expected opening date for the private mas camp is early November.

Kyle was able to supply me with a larger photo of the one used on the Guardian which features only two of the five costume options (there will be a version with shorter trains as well).
Click on the photograph for a larger view of the costumes.



The section leaders can be contacted via telephone:
Keisha (868) 731-8921 or Kyle (868)682 7157
or e-mail- ksquaredpro@yahoo.com

Legacy Costumes

Ok, so I had a better look at the costumes this morning, if you are on dial up it will take forever for the photos to load with the flash html that they used to view photos. I know flash html is used so that bandwith cannot be "stolen" when people link to the photos. However in some cases the flash works and others it just slows down your computer! Island People's flash works fine with dial up, however Legacy's photos have a hard time loading so have some paitence.

I am not seeing the orange costume with the large headpiece that I like on the website which leads me to believe it might be a special section, anyone with inside information please let me know. From the costumes that are on the site right now I really like Laughing Water. I think it fits the theme the best, the headpiece looks good as well as the rest of the costume has that Native American feel to it.



The other costume I like is Cherokee Trail, the headpiece is quite appealing though the gold and silver combination still has to grow on me.



I am also liking Comanche Warriors , it is third on my list behind the first two only because I do not like the "regular" headpiece, I think the War Bonnet for this costume is well done however,especially compared to other similar headpieces that seem to be lacking the fullnes of the feathers.



The weird thing, to me is the fact that some of the costumes, like Apache Fire and Indian Summer have really nice beads to the front of the belt with regular round beads to the back, why the use of two different beads, it ruins the look of the costume since it appears that they ran out of beads for the back.

Pawnee Star is just a bit too much for me, especially with the type of beads they used which looks like a lot of Las Vegas and nothing like Native American. Shaman Dream and Indian Summer look nothing like they have anything to do with the theme at all, they look like any costume in any band. The model for Gitchee Gu'mee is really selling that costume, she looks great in the colours and even makes the funny headpiece look alluring.

I cannot understand the concept of the headpiece for Praire Town and something went wrong with the "bustle" for Pow Wow, they used white feathers tipped with orange for the bustle when the costume is mainly orange and yellow. Soca Warriors and Soiux Ghost Dancers have failed to inspire a comment.

Rainbow Warriors has incited the same feelings in me that I had towards Island People's Rainbow costume this year, I do not like it at all, but I was momentarily stunned when the first photo that popped up was the MALE costume:



Generally I think the male costumes are pretty decent, though I am thinking most guys would prefer short pants. Laughing Waters male is my favourite and I also like the male Indian Summer costume.

Though I was expecting greater authenticity to the Indian theme, with more than just an Indian headpiece with the same bikini and beads combination, overall the costumes are not bad. At least it offers potential masqueraders still undecided about a band or costume more options and to give kudos to Legacy they seem to have their act together up till now which is more than I can say for some of the other bands out there.

The Keyboard is Mightier than the Sword

Sources have indicated that I, as well as a previous article I wrote on my blog, was the topic of discussion at a meeting held yesterday evening by a Carnival band making its debut in 2007.

To their credit, the band leader did send me an email after I wrote my article, informing me of certain issues I had highlighted with an explanation to refute the points I had made. An invitation was extended for me to revisit the mas camp where I would see for myself what changes had been made since my initial visit. Though I did have it on my agenda to do, it is my personal belief that you only get one chance to make a first impression and unfortunately for this band, my first impression was already formed.

However, I want to emphatically state that in no way was I “directed” to write the article by anyone, if the persons involved with that band read my blog daily they would have come to the conclusion that no one escapes my ire. The fact is that I write about all the bands, whether it is something positive or negative or a criticism, each one is given the same treatment since at the end of the day I am not employed by any of them and hold no allegiances! Although it might be flattering to think I took a special interest in this particular band, sorry to say that is not the reality. Maybe a thorough read of my archives would be proof enough of the fact that, to date, I have made a visit to as many mas camps that are opened for viewing as I possibly could. The few that I am yet to visit have recently opened their doors or are not opened for public viewing as yet.

So, I was quite bemused to learn that I even merited a topic of conversation at their meeting. I am just one woman with an opinion and an outlet to express it, surely what I say cannot affect the thousands of potential masqueraders who do not even know that this forum exists. Since I was not there yesterday to answer the accusations as to my agenda, let this be my response to the powers that be at the aforementioned mas camp.

“This blog is merely MY personal opinion; whatever impressions or opinions I have formed and expressed about certain Carnival bands is solely mine and I am not a mouthpiece for any person or organization. My inspiration to write daily comes from my love of Carnival; I am not loyal to any of the players involved, only to the game. This is a non profitable forum of articulation, at the end of the day I do not get paid by anyone; my only satisfaction is sharing this “addiction” that I have for Carnival with others of the same affliction. Thanks for stroking my ego though, I feel quite special to have been given an honorable mention at this meeting.

Love
Saucy.”

Island People Earlybirds get a Discount!

Hey, seems like the people who registered online first with Island People are getting a discount! Someone at their camp is SO not a math wizard. They calculated the costume prices using the wrong exchange rate! Check out their "News" page to see it yourself.

I just asked someone I know how much they paid for their costume and was informed that it cost $524.00, well that costume is now $550.00!!!! That is a difference of $26.00 that she got off her costume. I have no clue what figure they used to calculate the intial USD prices, but the new rate is calculated using $6.00TT to $1.00US. The follwing is from the website:

"17/10/06

The initial costume USD prices that were posted on our website were incorrect as they were calculated using the wrong USD exchange rate. If you have made your payment before 16th October 2006 your registration will be completed using the initial USD prices posted.

Any payments made after 16th October 2006 must be in the amount of the currently posted USD prices. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."

I guess this is one time that payment in full actually benefits some people since those who registered up until yesterday got their costume cheaper than it is today, and Island People has no choice but to let it slide!

Legacy's website is up!

As promised , Legacy's website is up and running with professional photos of all the costumes. No prices or online registration is available as yet but you can take a good look at the costumes.

I will be back with my thoughts later.

Another section...gone

I am very surprised that Midnight Robber in TRIBE has sold out before Bat and Cow Mas or even Pierrot but it is gone now. That's nine sections sold out with TRIBE so far! I am making a predicition that by the end of October both TRIBE and Island People will be sold out.

Sources also told me that sections in Pulse 8 are also doing well. Sex on the Beach, Blue Lagoon and Sapphire Ice are sections that are supposedly almost sold out.

And finally, the section Atlantis (one of my favourites) in Harts is also sold out. That is a really nice costume when you see it in person, so no surprise there that it is gone so early.

Despite the band launches that are still taking place, seems like the early birds who launched first are still doing well when it comes to registration. Makes you wonder if launching so early does have it's benefits.

Guys, it is your turn!

The ladies have already gotten tips on Carnival grooming, but the guys so far have been left out of the loop. It may seem that all men have to do is don a costume come Carnival Monday and Tuesday wihout stressing over stockings, hair or makeup. But, the reality is that most guys on the road do need a little "advice" on some good grooming etiquette, especially when it comes to body hair.

I am in favour of the metrosexual male who practices good grooming, personally I cannot stand hairy armpits! Even if you don't shave it all off guys, a good trim can do wonders. Fortunately when it comes to my husband I don't have to worry about back hair, he is only hairy from the waist down! So that means a nice smooth back and chest. However, there are many guys who do suffer from an overabundence of back and chest hair. One such guy, a friend of mine has his back hair waxed for Carnival (or when he is going on vacation as well). The first time he had it done he did it in stages, over the course of a few days, and also did his chest and arms!

The results of waxing is a smooth, clean looking chest and back, and if you spend alot of time at the gym, the muscle defnition shows up much better. Besides, it gives us women something to to drool over since men can be objectified as well. I mean, these guys smooth looks should be inspiration alone:




Note the CLEAN armpits:


So for men plaugued by hairy backs, or other areas, consider waxing. I found this really great article on the subject of hair removal from Ask Men:

What is it? Waxing involves spreading hot wax onto the area where you want to eliminate hair, and then applying a strip of cloth or muslin onto the desired area, rubbing it, and ripping off the strip in one fell swoop -- wax, hair, root, and all. Sugaring is similar to waxing, only it uses sugar paste (which usually consists of a mixture of sugar, lemon, water, and even citric acid and gum arabic) instead of wax and is a method of hair removal that goes as far back as ancient Egypt.

According to a recent article in USA Today, men are not only waxing their backs, but also their bikini lines. The goal? Increased sex appeal and a "cleaner" feeling. Would you believe me if I told you some men are even waxing shapes into their pubic regions?

Since some men might be embarrassed about getting waxed at a salon, there are at-home estheticians who can do the job. There are even do-it-yourself waxing kits, but unless you're a glutton for punishment, it's pretty hard to put yourself through such torture and it can get very messy.

If you opt for waxing, I highly recommend going to a professional. If you choose to get your genital area waxed, keep in mind that most spas and estheticians simply wax the areas surrounding your crown jewels -- so only the regions around and above the base of the penis get the royal treatment.

Men are also booking appointments at salons or spas for eyebrow waxes, a trend that is surely riding the "metrosexual" wave. With famous men like David Beckham boasting nicely-shaped brows, it seems men aren't settling for less. According to the spa director at Esthetique, in Hamden, Connecticut, 86% of the male clientele get their eyebrows waxed. I don't suggest that guys aim for a perfectly-arched eyebrow, but waxing is a good way to get rid of eyebrows that are out of control and keep that unibrow out of sight.

Ideal parts to wax: Eyebrows (unibrow), back of neck, back, chest, genital area, legs, toes, knuckles

Pain factor: 8/10

Bottom line: With repeated use, hair gradually becomes thinner because the roots are weakened. But hair will grow back, albeit at longer intervals. So if you want to lessen the hair that grows on your legs or chest without permanently abolishing it, this would be the ideal way to go.

Island People update...sold out sections.

In additon to Oasis, Sacred Sand, Jewel of the Nile, Goddess & Defenders, Arabian Dancer A&B the following sections are also sold out at the mas camp:

Sahara Sunset - Female
Nubians - Male
Raiders of the Desert- Male
Mirage - Female
Harem Dancer - Orange

Indian Mas

I know everyone looks at Harts each year and say they bring the SAME Indian mas over and over, well truth be known is that do they bring an Indian Mas and an African Mas every year, it's part of their tradition.

Fact is though, the Indian Mas does not look "the same" every year, they do make changes. If you pay attention you can see it.

2002


2006


2007




And here is a look back in time when PleasuresCarnival did Tribe, the section in Poison's Retromania 2004.Notice how they did a bustle, not a bullseye.











2005 Mojave

Legacy Professional Shots

I am hoping I get more, but for now these are all I have to share:













The full website should be up TOMORROW from the notice posted, so not too long a wait to see the rest of these shots.