Last nite ah went tuh ah buss dance in Ibiza ..... ah Ozy Majiq back in times production ...... and it was DA BOMB!! ..... de man play real ting I eh hear in ages ...... down tuh King Austin an' all get ah sweat ...... I had a ball!! ....... apparently he gonna be havin it every third Saturday of the month .....

Anyway da'is not why ah logon tonight ...... ah logon tuh talk about Carnival ......

Cuz could you believe dat is band launch season ahready ..... wasn't Carnival jus de odda day???!!!

An' doh get tie-up eh ..... is not like I excited ...... cuz I am so not a Carnival person ...... but ...... that said ...... I still LOVE tuh maco all de bachannal!   ..... cuz carnival person or not ..... Iz ah TRINI!

So when fren text meh on July 6 ..... tuh find out if ah want tuh go tuh YUMA 'soft launch' on July 15 ..... I immediately replied ...... PENCIL ME IN!!! ..... cuz ah wuzen sure what condition ah woulda be in after meh lil 'procedure' on July 8!!

Turns out ..... July 15 ..... I was A-OK ..... and on my way!

The function was held at a CRIB (remember those Cribs parties?!) in Maraval .... or Moka ..... or some boogewattie area dong dat side ...... de invitation said Maraval ...... but fren had tell me is Moka we goin ..... and by de looks of de big-ass maco houses ...... I would say it was Moka! ..... anyway ..... it was supposed to start at 6:00 pm ...... and finish at 9:00 pm ..... so me an' fren organise tuh go fuh about 6:30 ...... so we wouldn't look too frontish nah (like if we openin de ting) ..... especially since it was a MEDIA launch ..... and we weren't exactly media!

An' is ah good ting we reach dat time ..... cuz even at 6:30 pm ..... parkin was already ah jumbie ...... and so were some of the residents ..... who wuzen puttin no water in dey mout tuh express their disgust ..... we encountered about three such peeved residents while walkin tuh de venue!



Upon entering ..... we were greeted by the 'dressed in black' YUMA reps ..... after which we promptly ordered drinks from one of the 'roaming' waitresses ..... cuz yeah ..... what else do you do at a media launch but drink and eat (if you're not Media!!!) ..... the venue was lovely ...... full of ambience ...... and embellished wit ah setta beautiful people and celebrities! ..... yeah ..... like Lara ..... and Latapy ..... and Shurwayne ...... and Anya ...... and Danielle (Jones) ..... and Kees ...... and Saucy Diva!

Anyway after about an hour (or more) of mingle, mingle, mingle ..... it was finally time for the presentation tuh start ..... and we were all ushered to the poolside ...... which ...... just like de parking ...... was ah kyna jumbie too ..... cuz de stage was at one end of de pool ..... and gapers like me .... end up on de next end of de pool ..... so pics wit ah point and shoot ...... was real horrors!!

Now just like most carnival bands ...... YUMA is ah breakaway ...... and as far as I understand ..... what happened is dis ...... one day ..... 4 Young-ish Upwardly Mobile Adults (4 man!) ...... no longer feelin de feelin as just plain ole Island People ..... among ah setta other plain ole island people ...... ketch ah vaps ..... and decide tuh come out wit dey own band ..... ah 'exclusive' all-inclusive band ..... a band fuh dem ..... and fuh other YUMAs ...... and ...... knowing fully well dat is really WOMAN does run tings when it comes tuh Carnival ...... dey cleverly put Miss Teri-Leigh Bovell tuh front de band ...... and whoa what ah front (and back) she have!!! ...... good decision No. 1!!!

Then ...... apparently  ......dey get dem two boys tuh design fuh dem too ..... de two wonder boys of carnival costume design ..... Richard and Anthony (I think - cyah remember dey names) ...... hmmmm ...... good decision No. 2!!! ..... cuz I an' all ...... was WOWED by dem costumes!!!

De lil speech (by Miss Bovell) ..... and de presentation of de costumes ..... finish in two-twos ..... literally ..... cuz was only two versions ...... of two costumes dat we see ..... a blue one called Aquarius ...... and a purple one called The Oracle ..... an' doh ask meh how de Oracle come eeeeeen ..... I doh know!

All I know ..... is dat ah likin what ah see so far ...... so come August 8 (at de band launch) ..... wit de purple section and de blue section done reveal ..... is only de red section ..... and de yellow section ...... and de silver section ..... and de green section ..... and de orange section ...... and de black section ..... and de magenta section ..... and de gold section ..... and de teal section ...... and de white section tuh go!

(those ARE the standard carnival costume colours right?)

CAPRICORN better be hottt!

Look de pics ah take (which I just saw starring on YUMA's bran new page on Facebook ) ....




The lovely Teri-Leigh Bovell ...... giving her lil speech ...... about the band ..... and the band's debut presentation fuh 2011 ...... which by now you would have guessed ..... is called Zodeak ..... well ...... actually ...... No ....... you would not have guessed that jokey spelling!




This is how far away I was from de stage ..... chups ..... dat damn pool!




..... and that's what my 'point and shoot' pics looked like (from dat distance) ...... clearly I need a real camera .....




De purple one is The Oracle ...... and de blue one is Aquarius .....




Gorgeous .....




Double Gorgeous .....




..... jus so yuh know what de purple bumsee will look like .....




.... and da'is how de blue bumsees will look ....... note carefully ...... one is a thong ..... and one is a regular ...... oh and dat ting wit all de peacock feathers ...... is actually the back of one of the purple costumes ..... can't remember if it falls from the headpiece ..... or the shoulders ..... in any event .... da'is too much clort fuh me! ..... when I used tuh play mas ...... de naked-er de better ..... less was definitely more!




Gorgeous ...... LOVE that silver fishnet, meshy, vest thingy ....




Double gorgeous .......




Hmmmmm ...... why is she holding the headpiece ...... ah hope da'is not how yuh go have tuh play yuh mas wit dat headpiece!




Purple beauty ..... frontline?




Purple beauty ..... backline?



PS:  ..... I met the famous Saucy Diva of  TRINIDAD CARNIVAL DIARY ..... yeah!! ..... well ..... actually ..... truth is ..... I stalked her ...... and pounced on her ...... LOL ..... was great to finally meet you Saucy!!