You should already have your ticket already in hand as they still going for $265.00 USD on average from the NE.  Get your place to rest and car to get you to the fetes because you done know there is no train to move your around! ;-)

TJJ TV - Miami Carnival 2008 "On D Road Memories"

Now, lewwe talk parties.  If you have not seen the listing take a peak first.

Tues/Wed? Yuh early!!
Options are South Beach (enjoy de water) or under populated soca parties at odd night clubs.  I know we usually say this Carnival is Thurs night to Sunday night at a minimum. But Wed night is building up nicely.  Besides, it never hurt to go and set up camp early and get some R&R before the action takes off.

Thur? For those who landing early-ish...
Socavivor - Event 2 - Naughty or Nice. Girl Power Miami 2009. TRIBE Ignite - Miami. Everything you expect from TRIBE. I hear you must hit up annual Miami Rise Meets Shine NY to keep the vibe rolling straight til like 12pm on Friday.

Friday? Some of the biggies include:
Scruples Free Drinks Block-O 2009 is a staple event, Black and White, Safari consistent and now joining the Friday night madness is Super F.R.I.E.N.D.S 'Miami Carnival 2009 Episode' ... and that is only half the big guns. Let's not forget the Socavivor series - Event 4 - Int'l Flag Night and Soca Gold Miami 2009. And it ent done yet... MIAMI VICE ft Bunji, Fay-Ann, Beenie Man and more in the mix too! What is your dance for Friday night?

Saturday? Is All Inclusive day...
Which is your party of choice?  There was a lot mixed reviews last year for this evening, so instead of One (1) UWI All Inclusive fetes ... now we have TWO (2)!!  For massive crowd and live performances, there's the Re-Birth of D Convention Center Fete ... "Socafest 2k9". Also DV8 Miami coming back to defend again and the list goes on. And if you didn't hear as yet, Vale Vibe is making it's debut with D'Original Diamond Vale Breakfast Party Miami.

Sunday? is Unity for the first time in years...
We will all be getting what we asked for Broward and Miami are now one.  These changes going to make Miami Carnival 2009 one to remember for all time.  If we had 25 thousand in Broward and 25 thousand in Miami.  I doh even want to imagine the craziness this year...

Disclaimer: Professional and experienced TJJ Fet-a-lot-athon® Party Gurus have rigorously tested these Carnival grounds and are providing said recommendations based on the fundamentals that the audience is a healthy rum drinking islander. If while performing any of these actions you begin to feel any dizziness, fatigue or pain please stop and consult your physician immediately.

Please note that these events are premium carnival events (i.e. the best of the best).  TJJ attended these events and rated them in our report.  If an event is not listed in this report it's because we did not attend.

Rank	Event Name	Score
	Cohobblopot 2009 (Lara Party Stand)	59
	Crack of Dawn Breakfast Party	63
	Frazzled Mug Fete	64
	Glow Barbados 2009	65
	Baje Jouvert 2009	67
	Bathsheba Experience All Inclusive	78
	Wadadah Morning Brek Out	84
	Bliss All Inclusive	87
	Booze Cruise 2009	95

The details behind this report card is posted in each gallery (click on event name).

Son of the Caribbean Soil
Original Lime Flavor

In the 90's we would look forward to playing music for the people and "ramming out the dances".  What we did not know is that together we were making a new part of history, a new culture of Trinidad and Tobago.  "Breaking new tracks" is what Shel Shok chuckled to us all.  "I broke the most new tracks in Coconuts," he would exclaim. And you know, he was right!  He always was pushing the boundaries. Kissdadee Caravan to the day he passed.

We as a culture have suffered the loss of another pioneer. Let us remember those many nights that we pushed each other and moved our culture forward in the attached podcast.

What was de Best Fete for Miami/Broward Carnival?

What was de Worst Fete for Miami/Broward Carnival?

What Chune Mash Up Miami/Broward Carnival?

What Parties had more man than woman, that resulted in "ah whole bag o man" as my Jamaican friends would say or "Snake Fight" ... (worst yet, while Soca playing)?

What parties had the most girls? You know, the generous one who put a smile on your face when she push back...

We want to know.....

RAM Dance 2008 line up for nomination so far by our TJJ team...

Ranking:
[01] Original Diamond Vale Breakfast Party (Trinidad)
[02] Beach House Carnival 2008 (Trinidad)
[03] Booze Cruise 2008 - Barbados (Crop Over)
[04] Girl Power 2008 (Trinidad)
[05] Shine NY (New York)
[06] Machel Montano HD @ Six Flags (New Jersey)
[07] TRIBE Mas 2K9 Band Launch (Trinidad)
[07] Taboo All Inclusive (Washington DC)
[09] Scruples Block-O (Miami)
[10] Trini Luau 2 All Inclusive (London)

What do you think? Which bessss fete we missed? Tell us what's your favourite party for 2008?

And that's what got me thinking.

There are quite a few dance teams in Philly, roughly twenty or so today, where there were only one or two a few years ago. All of these respective teams have fantastic dancers that can compete and have performed with the best on a national and international stage.
But when thinking about the perception that only good dancers out there are those that are on dance teams, I began to wonder if this was truth or merely just perception.

In classes and out in the clubs, more and more it seems lately that the goal of many dancers and students in the salsa scene today focuses on getting good enough to get on a team. While this competitive spirit definitely keeps the scene moving forward and keeps the innovation of dancing creative, it is almost corrupting the basic premise that drew most of us to salsa in the first place, to dance just for the sake of dancing.

Dance team-ers are good, no doubt, but they are not the only great dancers out on the floor. There are plenty of fantastic dancers who don't belong to any team for whatever reason. They just dance because they love it and don't care what others think.

Some great male and female dancers I've seen in Philly don't belong to a team. Have you ever seen Desiree dance? She's new to the Philly scene and is one of the most popular girls out there. Or how about Steve Tirpak Another example of someone who can really move to the music executing patterns without missing a beat…and is not on a dance team. Rick is another dancer who always has the ladies wanting more and I watch him everytime he steps on the floor... That rhymes. And the list goes on and on.

As we continue to push Philly into the forefront of salsa worldwide, it's not all about who dances for whom and what team are they on, because salsa was here before most of us were even born and salsa is going to be around long after we are all gone and who was on what dance team is not going to really matter. For anyone out there who feels like the only way to be recognized as a "good dancer" is to be part of some dance team, you're wrong. Just remember whatever it was that drew you to salsa in the first place. That is what salsa should be about for everyone.

Part of our team had landed on Thursday and part on Friday. Cool days were filled with workshops conducted by some of the world's best including... Eddie Torres, Jayson Molina, Liz Lira, Tropical Gem and Alex D'Silva just to name a few. Daytime performances were off the chain featuring Philly's own Most Wanted, Visual Impact, Art in Motion, Las Gringitas and Latin Nation. When you think you had learned and seen enough, the party had not yet started! You just had enough time to get something to eat and shuttle yourself to the hotel to shower and get ready to dance the night away. Luckily for us we had a car and was a little more mobile than the average Joe.

If you got back by 8 o'clock you can see performances going till 10pm while in another tent social dancing was on the go all at the same time. It was Salsa Heaven. Local Philly performers "Joe and Amie" were scheduled to dance in the 8pm performers which included dance teams from countries as far as Japan. Night performers were definitely among the best in the world. When the performances were over then an odd thousand spectators joined the other thousand in the social dance floor until the next set of performances, which began at 12am. Then to add to the melee even more dancers were coming in via the gates. I have ever seen so many great dancers all in one spot "Salsa Land". There were more performances at midnight... that's right! Those odd 23 performances starting at 12am will take you till 2am if you get to see them all. It takes stamina to watch so many dance performances. Now if you come out of those performances and feel cheated it is because you now realize that you only have another 2 hours to dance since the party finishes at 4am. One warning to all the LA partygoers…you'll definitely need to adjust your salsa body clock!