THE WHININ CHRONICLES: MY TNT CARNIVAL JOURNEY

This is basically a personal journal of what I experienced at TNT Carnival 2010. I got to the Hyatt and was pleased to see that it was a gorgeous hotel. When I crossed the threshold into the aesthetically pleasing lobby, I knew that I was in store for a luxurious and classy experience. Is it me or does every West Indian who works at a front desk of a hotel must speak with an English accent like they went to Cambridge University? All Speaky Spokey lol. The Hyatt staff was very friendly and comforting though, Once I checked in, I couldn’t wait to see my room. Once I stepped into my suite, I knew at that very moment that my first TNT Carnival experience would be of the uppermost quality. Close your eyes for me. Uh what are you waiting for I said close them. Thank You! Ok now imagine king size bed that contoured to the shape of your body. Pillows stuffed with the softest feathers none to man. Flat screen HD TV. Red Cherry wood cabinets. A sexy shower that allows one to see the head and feet of the bather but not the torso. And ahhhhhhh the view of the ocean from my window was just breath taking. Ok I digress. After chilling in my room for about an hour, I decided to get in contact with my Caribbean Fever Liaison, Siobhan I met up with her and Dahved in the Lobby where they gave me my costumes, Beyonce VVIP Passes, and Two tickets for the Blue Range Cooler Fete.

1.)BLUE RANGE COOLER FETE:

The Blue Range Cooler Fete's venue was designed to be comfortable without sacrificing class which is rare. There was a strong police presence and good security staff to make all the partygoers feel safe. You ever went to an event and was hoping that when you enter you would get the "Norm" Greeting like from the sitcom cheers lol. I got one of those greetings. Shockingly I found my friends from NY and DC in there and they were just glad that I made it safely. The party vibe reminded me of college which was a great thing. Basically bring your own drinks. Who needs a bartender when u have your own cooler. As long as your cooler has ice and more than enough drinks, your good. This fete definitely set the pace for my weekend. Once I picked up the Palance dance I was good to go.

2.) DAWN:

After getting a good night’s rest, I woke up completely refreshed and ready to embark on another adventure. After freshening up, my friends and I had to replenish the energy we used for whining on everything at Blue Range. We decided to go check out what the Hyatt had to offer for breakfast. BOXITE! Why so much for a croissant lol? This is when I learned about the breakfast shed. Authentic Trinidadian food at reasonable prices. I should get paid for that advertisement. Anyway eeeeeeee! Siobhan had gotten me two vip passes to Dawn. While walking through the vip entrance, I saw this sexy woman with locks. Man it was Faye-Ann Lyons. Im glad I realized before I made a fool of myself and tried to talk to her loll. Shoot I should have taken a picture. Anyway, the energy at this party was addictive. Seriously I really do think that there is some kind of herb in that confetti, because when it began to fall, my eyes lit up like my first trip to Disney World. You know what the highlight of that night for me was? It was when Shurwayne Winchester was performing while the sun was coming up. This dude passed out packs of bottled water into the crowd. Now when I saw him do this I was like thanks man I was kinda thirsty but for some reason something inside told me not to drink it. He played one of his popular songs from like 2 or 3 yrs ago Im not sure but all I remember was that once it started we had a water fight in VIP. OMG! People, I did something that I could never get away with in the States. Everytime I think about it, I get goose bumps. It was liberating. OK, Brace yourselves. I, Jason Taylor, poured bottled water on top of a black woman who just gotta perm. AHHHHHHH! Don’t kill me ladies. Im sorry but I had to do it. I had to free her from the confinement of the perm. Right then I realized what I had done and fear took me. I swore everything became quiet to the point of dead silence. I expected one rass lick but to my surprise she hugged me then turned around and gave me the whine of a lifetime. See people that’s what the spirit of Carnival is. No inhibition! I swear I palanced 80 ft to the left then 80ft to the right. Madness. DAWN WAS THE TRUTH PLAIN AND SIMPLE!

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Tallpree

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3.) VALE:

For the past couple years I have dreamt of partying at the infamous "D'Original Vale Breakfast Fete". Now as any Trini knows, its not always about how much money you have but about who you know and who knows you. Im not Trini so unfortunately I had to learn this the hard way. I could not find tickets or anyone willing to sell these tickets for the life of me. Ok this is where Siobhan from Caribbean Fever became my Trini version of Willie Wonka. She provided me with the golden ticket. I swear it started to glow when she placed it in my. I HAVE THE POWERRRRR! lol! Anyway we left Dawn and my boy was looking like he was about to fall out in the middle of the street(Amateur loll) so I made sure he made it back to the hotel. Then I went on my solo mission to Vale. For some reason I was not tired. VALE! VALE! VALE! Sorry I had to say it three times. That party was sick. The women surpassed my expectations. Gorgeous! No seriously, Im not even exaggerating. But it wasn't the fact that the women were beautiful that made Vale great. They were looking good and dancing. Yeah I know your like "Jason so what". But imagine this. Beautiful women. Dancing. With Men. THAT THEY DONT KNOW! Seriously that doesn't happen everyday in the west indies. So you know I enjoyed every minute of that lol. JW & Blaze of course showed up to do the Carnival Anthem "PALANCE". No matter where u go they played that song 100 times. Shoot you could be as fast as Usain Bolt and not escape the wrath of the Palance. The best way I can describe Vale is that its like having a HBCU Homecoming in the islands with soca playing. Shoot I saw all the Trinis that went to school with me at Morehouse. Yes I know Howard was deep out there too lol. Regardless I suggest that if you are a newcomer like I was, try and network with people from TNT and with a little bit of luck you may be able to enter the golden gates into Vale. Trust me its worth it.

Yo This is my Traffic Jam Anthem

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I wanted to go on that roof so bad.

4.) JOUVERT

I woke up around 3:30 AM to get ready to jump up with Yellow Devilz for Jouvert. After playing a great game of hide and go seek with the Yellow Devilz we finally found the band. Seriously, Im not even going to lie to you, I wasn't feeling it at first. Calm down, it had nothing to do with the the paint and mud and all that. I've done Jouvert before. I felt like the truck was driving like 100 miles per hour. Come on driver slow down nuh man. I mean I can walk and whine but whinin at full out sprint is damn near impossible. Then you had our band going in one direction and another one coming in the opposite direction. LMAO! Yo I didn't pay $65 to play chicken with band trucks. SMH. This is where I started to get scared that my first Trini Jouvert Experience was going to flop. Then right when I thought all hope was lost, the sun began to rise over the horizon. For some reason, everytime that happened whatever party I was at, it got exponentially better. When I say that Jouvert made an 180 degree turn when the sun came out I mean it. I was a whining machine from 6 to 10:30. I literally ran back to my hotel to get back to the Hyatt to get ready for Carnival Monday

Wish I had more pics but my peeps lost their camera. Thats just a damn shame

5.) CARNIVAL MONDAY/TUESDAY

MONDAY

Do I even need to describe carnival monday and tuesday. Seriously, Ill just let the pictures tell the story lol.

Thanks Ressy

Give a round of applause for Siobhan. She played a critical part in planning my first Carnival Experience. Thanks again

Told you its all about the confetti

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TUESDAY

She looks like she just blossomed wow.

Whoa!

What happens when when u add

Judy Jetson from THE JETSONS

AND

XI LING SHI

YOU GET THE MOST UNIQUE FUTURISTIC TRIBE MASQUERADER

The Asian Sensation

Body Art was not a game with her

This girl was gorgeous

Bangin. She was hurting em in that costume

Marry me damn it lol

Rasta Bacchanal

Dude look like he came from Davie Jones Locker

Ah Man

Only the Lion hearted can handle a bumpa like that

The sistas was looking good out there

Good Lord

Who said you cant dance with the Frontline haha yeah right.

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Sorry to all my Rasta Friends. I know Im dressed like a Roman. Capelton Forgive me LMAO!

6.) BEYONCE CONCERT

Caribbean Fever blessed me with two VVIP passes to the Beyonce Concert Extravaganza. The way BMobile and the other sponsors converted the Queens Savannah into a sheek concert venue was impressive. That HD background screen was incredible. But I personally had a couple issues or suggestions if they ever have another artist come to Trinidad to perform in the Savannah. I was unable to determine the difference between VIP and VVIP. From what I saw there was no difference between the two even though ppl paid more for the VVIP. That was just weird. The all inclusive bar anywhere in Trinidad is spectacular so u don't have to worry bout that. With that being said what was up with those food lines lol. I didn't think Quiche, Roast Beef Sandwiches, and Gyros were classic Trini cuisine. I understand its great to be versatile but that was just dumb in my opinion. Thank God for the Corn Soup Stand. They could have spent that money on chairs for the people who paid a lot of money for VIP andVVIP. Oh well I digress. Let me start off by saying that I am really glad to see Machel Montano perform and open up for B. It was just good ole high energy entertainment. But when he brought out Destra, I felt like my carnival experience was finally complete. I saw all the major players in the soca game so I was truly satisfied. Beyonce! WOW. She killed it. I knew she was good but she even shocked me. She even paid homage to palace by doing the dance. She can adapt to any environment and I like that.