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Date: Saturday 2nd May 2009 Location: Cayman Islands Promotions: Cayman Carnival Batabano Committee Click on thumbnails to see the big picture/entire gallery Rain or Shine, We Jamming! Woke
up to a rain storm!!! What?? Please lawd don't let it rain on my parade!! Its
Day 3 of my "Army of One" KY Carnival battle and it's raining on the
most important day of the weekend ... Carnival Day!! Well it's still early, so
I keeping my fingers, toes & legs crossed!! A couple of hours later, the storm seemed to clear, so my girls and I decided to take a long walk on 7 miles beach. Well BAD idea cos the storm catch us. We got back to de hotel in a mess and decided to stay indoors until we were sure the storm done. Well it continued all day until 2:30 PM, right around the time the parade was to start. Like a miracle, the clouds cleared and the sun came up .... yes, the Carnival Gods were shining on us!! And good thing dey put us up at the Comfort Suites & Resort, which was right on de Carnival route. So we got dressed quickly, walked out of our hotel... and brappppps, we land right in the parade! As
we looking for Swanky International Band (www.swanky.ky),
we passed a Steel Pan band and about six Mas Bands (including Lime band
& Caribbean Callaloo), all having a time parading their beautiful carnival
costumes. But when we reach Swanky Int'l, you could tell this band was
in a league of it's own. Not only was it de biggest band on de road, it had great
vibes too! We not even out on de road yet, truck still parked & the people
were jamming... energy was "Higher
Than High"! The costumes were beautifully crafted with beads, feathers
& all. Big up to Dexter of Toronto's Mas band Tribal Knights (www.tribalknights.com)
for de "swanky" costumes. And is it me or is everyone in dis band HOT??!!
How dat happen? Either Cayman Island is filled with beautiful people or Swanky
Int'l only attracts de hottest of de hot! Well, whateva de cause, I good!
And you know the music was on point cos dey flew in some of de top Soca DJs - Dr. Jay de Soca Prince (Toronto), Eternal Vibes (Miami), DJ Dorenzo (Miami) - and they also had KY's very own DJ Renegades. I was chipping & wining back and forth from truck to truck and every inch of space in between... hehe. Swanky's theme for this year was "007 Soca Agent - License to Whine". Well I tell yuh, dem Cayman Islander's can wine & get on rhel bad!! No for real. It's been a long time since I've seen that many knees on tar/concrete ... ouch! You know you are serious about Carnival when yuh can take a knee burn with a smile! Okay,
all dis wining is making me tusty ... off to de bar. Now the trips to the bar
were all part of de Carnival fun. Them bartenders where jamming and still could
mix a drink in record time ... NO JOKE! With drink in hand, I was still tusty
to wine, and since I had my very own 'Cayman Wining License', de winery continued
right thru!! But wait, it's not over! The Cayman Carnival Batabano committee had a street dance after the parade. Who say Las Lap?? They had live music, a massive crowd & lots of food tents. We stopped to get some food, then it was off to de stage area to enjoy the show. The Dragonnaires where on stage keeping the crowd hype. DJ YoYo (Vibe 98.9 fm) was also in de place, playing hit after hit! And then came Bajan Soca superstar Rupee. Well as always, he sang his heart out. Oh gosh, "Feet Don't Fail Me" now!! For real, my feet were aching from all dat action on de road. KY Carnival small compared to other Carnivals we been to, BUT IT RHEL HYPE! Can't wait to come back in 2010 & do it all over again. And hear what? Swanky International won Band of De Year!! And we ent surprised eh, dat band was sweet too bad!! Congratulations Craig & de rest of de Swanky Int'l team!! And much thanks to Swanky, The Cayman Carnival Batabano committee, and of course the beautiful people of Cayman Island for the wonderful hospitality and all de love shown to TJJ. See you all same time next year! But
why de hotel looking real far now??? ==================================== | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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At some
point, I looked up and who do I see on top of de truck?? None other than Vincy's
Mr. Skinny Fabulous on de mic!! My boy had everyone's 