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Date: Saturday 27th June 2009 Location: Georgia Ave. Washington, DC Promotions: DC Caribbean Carnival, Inc. (DCCC) Click on thumbnails to see the big picture/entire gallery Now, I am no advocate for alcohol but Da Ma$tamind & Patch knew what they were saying when they sang "Rum and Roti". It's a decent combination, although some would disagree with me. But yuh know what, I proving them wrong. My rum pouch filled and as I do every year, JoyJuice must make a stop by one of, if not, the best Roti Shop in DC before hitting the parade. That's right ... Teddy's Roti Shop, located at 7304 Georgia Ave, the heart of the Caribbean in DC, is just 4 miles from the beginning of the parade. So ah stop is ah must! So after Delia, Lambi, Dave and de crew handle we nice and we tear up ah lil' boneless chicken roti and ah red Solo with two doubles on de side (with ah best tamarind sauce), we were good and ready to catch the first band at the Annual DC Parade of the Bands 2009. At
the beginning of the parade, the vibration of the music from the massive trucks
could be heard for a few miles ... signs of things ready to roll. People getting
their costumes ready, making last minute preparations to just lose themselves
in de music. From children's bands, to sailor bands, to full costume bands ...
all were ready to start the jamming, especially Indulgence Mas, the band
from Blu Carnival. I must say dis band had some of the sexiest women in de whole
parade eh ... niceness!! Hear what, we took our time with Indulgence Mas
though ... we hadda make sure every sexy woman in de band get a TJJ wine!!
Once
again, the crew rolling deep ... is Daddy Juice and Dr. Ram Dass
for TJJ TV. L Boogie and myself (JoyJuice)
on photography and Mr. Benz, DC Man Al and Sweet Passion Juice
somewhere in ah band getting ready to jam somebody (so they can make sure everyone
was enjoying themselves nah ... right). We were armed and ready for action!! And
as the parade got on its way, we had to continually remind ourselves that we were
working. Ammmmmm ... well yuh seeeeee ... that's going to be a problem. It sort
of difficult to hold onto a camera when people swarming the streets, and women
jamming on de JoyJuice!! 1)
Make sure to have a bag on your back to hold accessories This way,
BOTH work and wining gets DONE. Outside of the paraders and the trucks, thousand of onlookers gathered on the sidewalks and packed Georgia Avenue to the brim such that you could not even see the shops. Two and three generations of families could be seen witnessing the celebrations, and some were even willing to jump into the bands once the music hit them. But security tight tight ... so if you were not in a band, yuh just had to cool it! By the way, DC Police were also present in full force, as always. As the bands moved towards Howard University, the intended culmination of the parade, we kept moving up towards every band that was coming down ... so we had a chance to visit everyone ... at least as many as we could. By now it was 1pm and as time went on, everyone was in anticipation of one particular band (as they are every year) ... THE MUD BAND! And as they hit the streets with this year's "Mud Antz" presentation (www.dcmudmas.com), is action for so. It was mud everywhere .... even the police officers past in the rush. Two women put ah jam on ah officer so bad that the only thing he could do was wine back. If allyuh see ting! Even Back to Basics, Vibes Man Redman, Giselle De Wassi One and DJ Stephen were all present and decked off in mud. Things were rolling smooth. Even though Fay-ann Lyons win Soca Monarch this year, every tune that played was like ah Road March ... every tune. And when dey mixed Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" with a soca beat ... lawd, I nearly lost meh head! The mud band was best for sure!! As
the parade came to a close around 4.30pm, and the officers on horses came out
(if yuh see the size of some these horses ... geezzzan!!), many patrons headed
to Banneker Recreation Park for the after carnival jam. As for the TJJ Crew, we
linked up with the Stray Dawg Krew for de parking lot lime with Uncle B and family
(as we've been doing for the past couple years). Uncle B had food and drinks and
drinks and food. Shandy Carib & Apple J in the mix too!! The funny thing is
that the pot holding the pelau never ... and I mean never seems to run out! No
lie!! So after a long day of partying on the road, there was no better way of
ending the evening than with some good home cooked food. We well jam, well wine,
well party and now well fed ... WE GOOD TO GO! Next in line ... Machel and Bunji shows later that evening. Allyuh, hold tight ... TJJ on de way!! As
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But hey ... they say, you can do all what you want to do, but if you don't do
what the boss want, that's the one thing you can get canned for! And
in this tough economical times, I not trying to take dat chance eh.
Instantly, a skill was developed ... and I could teach it to you...