Prescription from The Carnival Doctor

Today, I want to talk about something that is specific to the women and that is... making sure that you have a way to return with your headpiece that you have paid for. 

First, I want to say this -- you may take this post for granted if you are a virgin but trust me, you are going to want to bring your headpiece home. The headpiece is part of the experience of playing mas.

Most of the women who return from Trinidad after playing mas, return on the their flight with their head pieces from Tuesday.  The issue with this is that.... EVERY woman in the airport is carrying a head piece.  There's not enough space on the flight for all of the head pieces. So the airlines capitalize on this. The airline will try to charge you to fly back with the headpiece. Therefore, here's an option that you can utilize.

It's that time of year again for me.

The time when so much time has passed from Miami Carnival that I've lost my "high" and Trinidad Carnival is a little bit too far away so I've gotten myself into a little slump.

This is the point where I'm excited but not super motivated anymore to get my @ss up at 5:30am and workout like I'm supposed to do.

Here is where I usually falter and then have to do a 3 to 5 week "sprint" before Trinidad Carnival to get "road ready."

Dear Ms. Saucy,

First and foremost I would like to say thank you for all of the tireless work that you do in informing the masses about carnival and especially for what you do in terms of the economic growth of Trinidad and Tobago. Many people do not know that many of us writers and bloggers as yourself actually do a great financial service as well as an informative one. It is certainly clear that you love your job, what it is that you do and you are one of the best at doing it.

I am going to keep this short.

Carnival soon come and ah tell allyuh right now - DOH STICK.

Some of you are playing around with getting your fete tickets and you are going to have the long face when Carnival come.

Get your tickets. Doh Stick!

Some of you have NOT started working out or eating right as yet and are going to try to do the 2 week mad dash before Carnival to get in shape and carnival ready. 

Start working out and start eating right! DOH STICK!!

Look. Here are the facts.

You CANNOT outrun a bad diet no more than you can "walk off" the bad food that you have eaten.  I laugh when I watch people stuff themselves and then say,  "I'mma go walk some of this off."  You cannot eat 1700 calories in one sitting and then walk off 350 and call it even!!  LOL!!!!!

It doesn't work like that. 

Here's what I would suggest that you do before you act like a complete ass at the dinner table during thanksgiving.

Today is going to be very short. The Carnival Doctor has some medicine for you in the form of his 2015 Soca Mix.

First and foremost,  how you look during carnival is relevant but irrelevant for this particular piece of advice. 

I think that all bodies look great. And at carnival people are concerned with your soul, your vibe and your spirit -- not with how you look. If you want to have a six pack, great. If you don't, that's great too. 

This article is not at address one's aesthetics or physical display at carnival. That is actually secondary. Telling people that they need to diet and run and lift weights for carnival, is professionally irresponsible. I can tell you what I do and I can give some advice if you desire to look a certain way, but that is NOT an imperative for carnival. Not at all.

Getting through carnival is primary.

And no matter what you look like being fit means that you are "fit for" the thing that you are preparing for.  That means that your fitness and preparation program for carnival should primarily focus on the primary objective(s) per the needS assessment of the activity or activities.

If you are a virgin, let me explain this to you.  You will be informed when and where you can pick up your costume in Trinidad. At that time, you will have to get transportation and retrieve your costume, put it in your room and then continue on with your plans. 

This can take as little as 30 minutes or as much as a few hours. 

There are all types of problems that occur at costume pickup but for the most part, things run smoothly.

The Carnival Doctor had the opportunity to interview the man known in some circles as "Carnival Mike" but better known as "Jouvert Mike."

Jouvert Mike is an interesting Carnival Veteran with an even more intriguing take on carnival, life and most importantly, Jouvert. Listen to the ...

I wanted to share something with you that is critical and that is important, especially for Carnival Virgins.

More often than not, when you are new to carnival, a carnival veteran has to take you "under their wing" so to speak and show you the ropes. This is a very arduous process, but you will never know it until you take a virgin under your wing yourself. Some never do and some do pay it forward. Whatever the case, somebody has to show you the ropes and undoubtedly, introduce you to "the crew" or "their crew" of carnival veterans and experts.

This is a risky move for the carnival veteran and.....