Photos By Andre A.

Well yes ... Melange 2, the now annual boat party by 5.1 Edition in association with GSS Ent. I first asked myself what is this Melange ting about and good ole Wikipedia told me that the term "mélange" in English language is a loan word from French, used to mean mixture of disparate components. Its derivation, and therefore to some extent its connotation, is similar to Mêlée. So with this, I couldn't wait to see if it was a true representation.

The boat was supposed to leave at 9pm and at 9:03pm, I was frantically calling to tell them to WAIT .... because I was just around the corner!! Got there in time though, well early .... definitely earlier than any other party I would normally go to. That is the problem with this boat thing, we cannot juss bounce in whenever we want!

So a few people were there, and waiting for it to leave...but with the rain, a lot of people were running late and I think some didn't make it in the end. This is the problem with a boat party in this country - you'd be lucky to get a good clear day when people want to leave their warm house to get onto a boat when it might be chilly. As soon as the boat started up, people decided it was time to eat, and I too was hungry so why not? Our friend Hassan and DeFour Caterers were on site and had a nice selection of food - all included of course. The choice was curry and roti vs jerk chicken with macaroni and salad etc. Hmmm, I decided to make my own 'melange' and went for the jerk chicken with roti and salad. Some may find it odd, but it was right on, and I was in keeping with the theme. Try it!!

The turnout was smaller than expected, but most who was there was making the most of it. You could see the groups who come out to have a good time, real dancing and wining and then there were those who were probably thinking.... the other thing about a boat party is that they couldn't just leave when they tired.

Real DJs on the night. Bigtunes of course was running the show, with All Mighty Sound, AKA Piper and Gladiators all throwing down the hot tunes that kept the party moving. Real reps and other promoters were there too - making a last push for the season here - in attendance were the Abir crew from Babash, UK TRIBE crew, the Chaconia United girls doing their filming, Dynasty Promotions with their costumes for Notting Hill and of course The Juice. The crowd mix was interesting also, with some English, American (big up to Air Force Base Massive!), Puerto Rican, Hawaiian .... Trini of course, and we even spotted one luscious Lucian! All I can say at this point is "Mélange" - very appropriate!

The night ended for me fairly uneventful. Well, except that I realised (not for the first time) the curse of the cameraman - every woman is attracted to the big lens and can get quite friendly ... even with their man about. Fellas, doh dig ah horrors ... they don't mean anyting by it, and anyway, I am happily married! Sorry ladies!! *lol*

We didn't make it to the free After Party, but I heard that most people did. Well the ones who weren't trying to get off the boat before it docked anyway, and they carried on the party!! Overall it was enjoyable, but fell a bit short of the mark. Blame it on the rain.

We continuing the Carnival countdown next week at Trini Luau 2. Then it's the big Notting Hille Carnival 2008 weekend, and we everywhere (too much to mention - fuh REAL!)