Penny for YOUR Thoughts?

Every year for Carnival one of the hot topics for discussion is "playing mas with your significant other". We took to the streets to gage public opinion .....

What to do??? Dilemma of a Carnival Jumbie

CARNIVAL ....Easter.....August holidays.....Christmas........CARNIVAL!!!!!!!

So for us Carnival Jumbies, that's how we view holidays.

Two more seasons to go and then it's back to the carnival bachannal.

Exactly what do we do out of the carnival season? Why prepare for the next carnival season....duh.

THIS IS NO JOKE.

Band leaders have already gotten inspiration and started projects

Masqueraders have already decided which band they are playing with

Party promoters more than likely have already scheduled fetes and all inclusive parties for next year

Friends and family abroad are already looking at flight arrangements

We have already started a carnival pool in the office so we can  pay to go to at least two all inclusive parties without feeling a strain drain on our pockets.

But while we wait in great anticipation, what do we do with the spare time? To name a few activities, we go to work, school, movies, church, engage in some extra curricular activity just to pass the time.

And during that year of waiting we reminisce about the previous seasons...what we did, what we not doing again, where we going, who we going with....the topics are endless.

So in true essence of how I am feeling now, take in the Bunji Garlin song, Carnival Tabanca. It shows that he is a carnival jumbie himself and created a song for all the jumbies.

So until next few months or so, I would be participating in the mundane and dreary acts of life till my season comes around again, Bless

Ash Wednesday Cool Down

We all know that our country has numerous holidays scattered across the year which we are proud of and happy to take the day off from work (for those of you who get the day off). While some rest and relaxation is needed do we go over board at times? As ‘trinis’ we tend to want a day to recuperate from the holiday but isn’t that the purpose of the holiday? Maybe we need to limit ourselves from doing too much on the holidays, cut down on the number of parties we attend and the number of hours we ‘lime’ that way we won’t wake up the next morning with a hangover or feeling too sleep deprived to go to work or school as the case may be.

For Carnival in particular we know it’s the number one hype of the year when there are fetes almost every day leading up to the Carnival Monday and Tuesday. These two days are not official holidays but the nation is still allowed to take the time off to play in the bands or spend time with family. However, Ash Wednesday is a normal workday yet the majority of the country, including the children, is having their cool down from a long weekend full of activities. Offices and schools are usually scanty on this day, some even wonder if it makes sense to declare Ash Wednesday a working day as some businesses and school officials are wasting their time and resources. So our question to you is ‘Should Ash Wednesday be an official holiday or should our citizens be more diligent and attend work/school as usual?’  

More or Less?

The greatest show on earth! Nothing compares to Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival celebrations!!

Honestly I think this is the only time we get so much tourism! I mean people come to see the leather back turtles and well there’s a Trini Christmas and now a bioluminescent river but that’s nothing like Carnival time right?

According to the express, this year’s Carnival celebrations costed the government  $190 million TT (I’m pretty sure it may have been more but who knows) yes 190 million TT was the total spent on Carnival this year but was it too much or was it too little?

Carnival time is considered to be a major source of Tourism, other than that we invest mostly in oil and gas as our primary means of resources. However, we won’t have oil and gas forever, so the question remains what will happen then?

Don’t get me wrong we really need to invest in Carnival as pertains to tourism but we need to explore different measures of tourism in our twin island republic.

Kudos to the government for developing Chaguaramas with family friendly activities but there’s much more we can invest time and money in. what about developing eco-tourism and other things which I can’t think about at this point in time…

Bottom line Carnival is awesome but as a nation we need to look into either expanding our investment in it, like maybe having it twice a year or financing and developing other tourist attractions.

What do you think? Invest more into Carnival or create alternative tourism invests?

Where is my #$%^& vehicle????

Hello folks!!!

Now that Carnival is over we can sit back, with feet up, non alcoholic drink in hand, and "get some kicks" about some of our carnival experiences.

However, this one may not be funny at all because the feeling you get when you leave your vehicle in one place, you go and have a "whale of a time," and come back to find your vehicle gone, cannot really be described. You have to experience it for yourself.

I chose to write about this topic because on Carnival Monday, whilst we were on our way to work, we  observed the 'car culprits' in full action in their numbers. There were about five wreckers, complete with the 'Popo' working simultaneously and busily wrecking peoples' vehicles. It seemed like they were in competition with each other to see who can wreck the most number of cars.

We were amazed at the time it took, the number of vehicles they took and the manner in which they did it.

Cars that were parked along Wrightson Road from the port to the waterfront to the front of the Hyatt, were gone in less than an hour. This I know because we saw them on our way to work. About  an hour later we passed back on the same Wrightson Road and there was not a single car there.

The wreckers move like real 'car tief '. They pull up to the back or front of your vehicle, just slip on some sort of cable and that's it, they make a clean getaway with your car in less than a minute.

And the Police? They just looking to see how fast they could drop off the present vehicle and return for more with the smug, "I am the law" look on their faces.

No model of vehicle was spared for carnival. They took all.

Can you imagine owners' reactions when they return and find their vehicles missing? One of two things....either it's stolen or wrecked. And you want to believe it is wrecked because the 'little $500.00' is peanuts to pay rather than having to buy a new car.

The inconvenience, the anger, the frustration, the embarrassment (if you in costume) .....all of this adds up when your car is wrecked, especially if you have no idea where they took it and worse yet if you were a tourist.

So the question was asked whether they put out an advisory for the no- parking zones for carnival. My research indicated they placed an ad in the express newspaper, which said nothing about Wrightson Road by the way.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Traffic-rules-for-PoS-and-environs-247931651.html?m=y&smobile=y

In any case, who the heck reads newspapers for carnival? There are so many other means to reach a wider audience.....Radio, Television, social networking, fliers.....

So to the wrecking crews that were out in full force for carnival, epic fail!!!!!!

Bake and Shark

                             

In an effort to bring to you, our valued viewers, a well-rounded recap of the season, The Carnival Postmortem decided to produce a video focused on Soca Monarch coverage. Topics discussed include standards, details and specifics of the event in addition to the public's opinion on competition results.

Take a peep at what we came up with...

For more updates from The Carnival Postmortem, check us out on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Carnival-Postmortem/616867118402124?ref=hl

Carnival Fitness:- The aftermath

Carnival Fitness:- The aftermath

We all know Trini’s love their belly and most of our events have food at the center but did you know that Trinidad and Tobago is actually Number 6 in the most obese countries in the world according to the United Nation? firstly let me point out that obesity doesn’t necessarily mean being “fat”. People are considered obese when their BMI (Body Mass Index) exceeds 30 kg/m2.

So anyone who’s BMI is over this number is medically considered to be obese.  Now I know what you may be thinking, this whole healthy lifestyle talk is easier said than done especially since we no longer have costumes that we need to fit into! Costumes or no Costumes, if you want to live a long full life and see carnival 2015,16, and 30…we need to be healthy! I’m talking to myself here as well..

So here are five tips that may or may not help us to maintain our health after the carnival season:

DOH JUMP  OFF D MAXI

You may want to let yourself go after you’ve dieted and exercised for months just to have a hot bod for the carnival season, but no eh!

You can maintain that same diet or even jump into something a little less rigorous that doesn’t involve too much of a transition, your body needs time to adjust.

CLEANSE

When I say cleanse I mean spend a week for the most drinking hot lemon water in the morning. No sugar, if you want you can add a little honey but believe me it works! And If you don’t have lemons try to get your hand on some good ole Braggs apple cider vinegar. Now you can add honey to that one, I highly recommend you do!

JUICE JUICE BABY!

Honestly, when I first tried juicing I hated it with a passion! But now I’ve seen the healthy light and am free from all hate against it! Instead of a heavy breakfast full of flour (doubles, I know you can’t resist) take ah lil visit to the fruit vendor out the road and use that juicer you got for Christmas! If you don’t have one there are tons of places particularly a fruit stall in Tacarigua on the main road that provides some really great juice combinations! And it’s not that expensive!

Beet,Kale,apple,cilantro, cayenne and ginger juice via pinterest 

by the way there are a ridiculous amount of juice recipes out there! there's a juice recipe of anything! it's like an entirely different culture!

TO TAKE OUT FLOUR OR TO NOT TAKE OUT FLOUR?

Ok so I’ve personally wrestled with this one myself! I love pastries, I grew up with a grandfather who could real bake! And to only discover recently that I’m allergic to gluten (i.e no more pastries) so what I’ve done is invest in rice flour, unfortunately It’s wayyy more expensive and of course healthier than the normal stuff.  Also you can look into cutting down the amount of flour you have on a weekly basis!

made with gluten free bread, avocados, tomato, lemon and chickpeas

EXERCISE

You know, I had to save the best for last! Regular exercise not only helps you lose weight but it has been proven to help brain concentrate as well as put you in a good mood! There are a number of options you have! Begin a sport, start walking or running or biking around your neighborhood or savannah, join a gym, learn to swim or join aqua aerobics. The possibilities are endless…

Digicel carnival burnout 

And there we have it!  What are some tips you follow to maintain your health?