|
Susan
Mangatal - susan@ariousentertainment.us
Greetings
On-Line Family:
We hope you had a great 4th of July Weekend. We certainly
did! It's nothing better than eating, drinking, talking
and just chilling with great friends on these special
holidays. We started our weekend off on Thursday night
at one of the nicest "vibes" event in town. As
the night progressed a friend brought out a huge bottle of
"PatrÓn"
and began doing shots, of which I had several while we toasted
to anything that came to mind, and Heinekens were the chaser for
me that night. Since Todd was driving he chilled and just
stuck with Heinekens and took in the good music. What a
memorable night that was for us, which was filled with lots of
fun and "good vibes" (surprisingly I/we didn't
have hangovers the next day!)
On
Friday
- Independence day we hung out at home with our dog and did
the whole BBQ thing. Which was really
fantastic! Our dog loved it and all the good food (of
course.)
Saturday
though, we held/hosted a cookout with a friend (John) and his
wife (Gwen) and invited friends to join us to
celebrate America's birthday (splitting the expenses due to the
economy). This was a fabulous idea, and to be
quite honest it was one of the best cook-outs we have had in a
while.
None of our guests/friends wanted to leave, we just eat, drank, and sat
around talking, joking and listening to good music until the
early hours of Sunday morning. Thankfully, for this occasion
we
came to our senses at a reasonable time and closed everything down before
daylight. A superb weekend, it was indeed! We
certainly celebrated United States of America's 232nd birthday!
Talking
about having fun, let me back track for a minute and briefly
talk about Carnival in DC for 2008 (that took place some weeks
ago.)
Hummm...some will say
it was great, while others will disagree and insist it was
not. I personally cannot even comment, because we missed
the entire parade. Which was a "bomber" for
me. I was so looking forward to it, since 30
"Mas" bands were scheduled to march and display their
costumes in the
parade. It is a fact that I am very aware of the challenges the
Organizing Committee has had throughout the years with
the parade starting on time and ending at the time the city
allotted. However, getting to the route a little after 3:00 pm should
not have been too late to see any of the "Mas"
bands.
The
disappointment for me was overwhelming and for many
other folks as well (who complained they just missed it all.) I am still hearing and
receiving complaints about this huge disappointment. It's
really unbelievable for many, and I must agree with some folks'
statement "It seemed not to have been
the "People's Carnival" as it appeared in past
years"...and just think this year the city finally facilitated
by approving and awarding a substantial grant to the Organizers
for the Carnival!! There are several other issues that
occurred that is pointless getting into. We all will just
have to look forward to New York's Carnival and Miami's Carnival
later this year. As
for the live concert in the park on Saturday and Sunday, they
were nice. CLICK
HERE to get the results of the "Parade of the Bands"
Additionally,
regarding DC's Carnival, we will like to congratulate Patrice
Francis - Bandleader of "Panisha" (one of the youngest
bandleaders) on all her wins. Even though we didn't get to
see the band or the outstanding costumes (due to reports from
friends), everyone indicated/reported that the entire band was
lovely. Good Job Patrice!!! Congratulations to
Jackie & Associates on their wins also. For some
lovely pictures log on to www.tedmebane.com
and click on the "Featured" Button.
The
Carnival related events around DC and Maryland during Carnival
Weekend, we absolutely loved (the ones
we attended.) The places we went were packed to capacity
and the vibes were right. It surely is a long way
from Miami's Carnival when compared, but these events were
"off the hook". We stayed out every night
partying from Carnival Thursday until Sunday when everything rapped up.
Actually, this was the first year we were able to get out the
house every night and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
The
Carnival season continues this weekend in Baltimore, Maryland;
because the Caribbean American Carnival is taking
place. There are so many events happening in and around
Baltimore. However, there is one event that you must check out
during this Baltimore Carnival weekend, which is the "Harbor View
Steel drum Festival" presented by
Baltimore Education and Cultural Institute, Inc. (BECI,
Inc.) Beginning Friday, July 11th to Sunday, July 13th
the BECI's events will be taking place. Friday kicks off with the
"Kaiso Kaiso
Showcase" that features Kaiso Monarch winners in a
non-competitive spirit, which takes place at the Pep Hall, 4201
Primrose Avenue, Baltimore, MD. On Saturday, July 12th
this Steel drum Festival continues with "Pan On The
Move" - A  ,
yes FREE event featuring 16 top Steel bands, this will take place at
ReedBird Park, Cherry Hill, South Baltimore (Potee Street, near
Harbor Hospital), and the final event is taking place on Sunday,
July 13th - "Pan In De Park", which is still
absolutely FREE......FREE,
with several steel bands and some special guests/famous Steel Pan
Players. For
more details/information call:
443-854-2920, 443-722-1439, and 443-271-0406. Click
the following link for more details and directions: http://www.beci-inc.org/harborviewfestival.htm
is a non-profit organization established in 1999, and
whose
main objective is empowering youth in their surrounding
communities. Their programs assist in building and
enhancing self esteem, improving the quality of life, and
provide guidance, alternatives and opportunities that are
ultimately aimed at decreasing street violence, teenage
pregnancy and high school drop-out rates, which, at times, can
be of epidemic proportion. Some of the programs BECI has
implemented throughout the years to shape young minds are as
follows: (1) Youth
Pan Program; (2) Harbor
Knights Steel Orchestra; (3)
Their festival taking place this weekend - Harbor
View Festival; (4) Doctors
United to Trinidad; and (5) School
Supplies to Trinidad. For
more details on BECI, Inc. log on to their site: www.beci-inc.org
Go
out this weekend and Support BECI, Inc.!!
Wow...This
week in History - July 10th-July 16th, I have to share some
important information regarding the history in America, that I
came across while reading. Needless to say, some of these
historic incidents were very interesting and truly "blew my
mind", it actually left me pretty upset and a bit
angry. You have to take the time to read about these
incidents, so click on to the titles listed below to learn
everything about these important issues.
The
New York City Draft Riots of 1863 - July 11-13,
1863. (Courtesy of Leslie
M. Harris - An excerpt from her book "In The Shadow
of Slavery"). A link to purchase Ms. Harris book is
below under "Business Spotlight". For additional details and testimony
from Victims log on here to enter "History Matters"
- (Courtesy of www.gmu.edu.)
Mary McLeod
Bethune Birthday - July 10, 1875. (Courtesy of
www.usca.edu). For additional reading and sites on Ms.
McLeod Bethune log on to "Women
In History"
The
Niagara Movement - July 11-13, 1905. (Courtesy of
University of Buffalo State University of New York - African
American History of Western New York State 1900 to 1935)
Gregg
& Longview Counties Texas Riots - "The Red
Summer" Riots - July 13, 1919. (Courtesy of
TSHA Online "The Handbook of Texas Online")
*
 The
General Elections are just a few months away, so to make sure
your voice is heard and to be a part of the nations most
exciting elections, you must register to vote NOW. Log
on HERE to see the voter registration date deadline for each
state, and proceed
with registering to
vote by logging on HERE, and filling out the registration
form at "Rock The Vote.com". (To
access the form, click the "Register To Vote" Button
from the menu at the top of the page)
*
With the major hardship and burden we have been enduring for
several months with the gas prices escalating on a daily basis;
this week - on July 8th, House Leader Nancy Pelosi called on
President George Bush to release a small portion of the 700
million barrels of oil in the nation's Strategic Petroleum
Reserve, and stated "it won't risk national security".
CLICK
HERE to read her reasoning regarding this request and for the
entire story, as well as comments and responses from various
high officials. Including insights and facts from a
former oil policy analyst of the Department of Energy. Please
share with me your thoughts on this important issue -
susan@ariousentertainment.us.
 Thanks
to the many who have sent me e-mails in
response to my past E-Newsletters and lots of important
information to use for our future E-Newsletters. Most importantly, I thank you for your
encouraging words! So until next week... please enjoy this
Weekend and the upcoming week!!
 
   
To all of you
our on-line family, thanks for reading, sharing your thoughts
and comments with us, and for always supporting
us. As you know without you there would be no us.
So thanks very much for your support and One Love!
For All Events
Go To
Our "Events"
Page
Check out our
"Featured Events" listed below.
Also, there are
several events taking place this weekend, next weekend and beyond, so to view all the Events please log on
to our "Events" Page above!
    
|
or Click
Here
