The Rounds: TriniBashment Turns 4!!!

Good Evening Soca Lovers,

I'm Nurse Karen and these are Dr. Jay's Rounds. As the weather begins to dip up here in Toronto, all eyes are on Miami for carnival. The action takes place next Sunday in South Florida with Road parades in both Miami and Broward. And YES, I WILL be there.

Naturally there's an air of excitement as the Caribbean community prepares for the annual festival. However, last week this excitement was met with grief when Miami Carnival CEO, Selman Lewis passed away on Monday. Lewis, just 60 at the time of his death was born in Trinidad and migrated to the US in 1969.

He's responsible for North America's third largest Caribbean carnival, after Caribana and Labor Day, and was ALSO the president of the China Mas group, a carnival band having won Miami's band-of-the-year title for 7 consecutive years. A public memorial was held for the community leader on Saturday. We extend our heartfelt condolences to Mr. Lewis' wife, and family.

You've heard me mention it before, the west Indian community in Florida means business when it comes to getting organized. Now, with a Federal election right around the corner, it's time to Soca D Vote once again. Soca D' Vote is a non-partisan community collective working to educate the Caribbean American community about their rights as voters. Next weekend representatives will be attending both carnivals with voter registration applications to make sure...we lil island people could have a big impact on Washington.

Other news this week....Soca 919, otherwise known as TriniBashment Radio celebrated its 4th anniversary last week. The world's first 24/7 soca music radio station was launched in Point Fortin Trinidad in 2004 by none other than De Boss...Mr. Iwer George.

Limin' with De Boss in Toronto, May 2008

And lastly, Bomani rang in a birthday on Tuesday with friends in New York...but if you're in New York two weeks from now, maybe you can celebrate with him at his annual Birthday Bash in Brooklyn. He'll be hanging out in the US for a month working on some projects.

Bomani celebrating his birthday in Toronto last year!

We also send out b-day wishes to some key players behind the scenes in the extended soca family: Natasha Andrews Noel of Mastamind Productions and Mark Cyrus of Master ROOM Studios.

The birthday girl herself, Business Manager of Mastamind Productions, Natasha Andrews-Noel in Trinidad (2008)

I'm Nurse Karen and those were Dr. Jay's Rounds. Please send me your comments online at the Nurse Karen Etc Blog at mustardseeds.net, and get your weekly podcast of The Rounds at Soca Therapy dot com. Now back to de docta!