ORACLE 2007 KNOW THYSELF.

Gnothi Seauton (Know Thyself)

The newest Mas band to enter the arena is called “THE ORACLE”.

When I read that there was a new band called The Oracle and their first presentation was called KNOW THYSELF, I must confess I went home and watched the Matrix trilogy all over again in an attempt to understand where they were going to be coming from.

Yes, the Oracle was in the movie, and yes the sign was above the door.

Know thyself.

People went to the oracle in the days of antiquity for advice or prophecy or wisdom, in the matrix NEO goes to the ORACLE to find out if the prophecy was true, NEO wanted to know if he was “the one”.

He was.

Know thyself.

The theme of this band is one of self knowledge.
From the designs we have seen so far the band explores the human condition,


For the theme alone ORACLE gets a star.

It is about time we as a people a (carnival people,) take stock of our selves, as a nation of masqueraders and ask ourselves, is there not more to Carnival than total abandon?

As we celebrate this so called freedom we possess, are we of the oil boom generation (born in the 1970’s) not SLAVES to this creative and social conscious void, we call the fun band?

As the Earth heats up, and the youth loose their minds, killing anything that breaths and breeding any youthful sister that can, but cant read or write , is it all we can do, but to celebrate our freedom in fantasy?

Know thyself, Carnival people.

Historically we are a creative people, “FORGED FROM THE LOVE OF LIBERTY” every Carnival we, or they (the elders) played something new, we addressed the world, and world events in song, Calypso and Mas, we went from drums to tamboo bamboo , to steel pan, a drum of steel, STEEL.!

So how did we get caught in this world of fantasy, what happened to us?
How come the generation that benefited so much from the trials and tribulations, and sacrifices, of the elders, managed to get lost in the ground hog world of fun and fantasy, while every thing around them is shallow, empty, meaningless, and fake?

I mean men have muscles are painted on these days.

Know thyself.

Lead by the grandson of a Carnival legend, Scott Saldenah, and a new candidate to the High Priest of Carnival throne, Aaron Schneider, ORACLE is the first band with a youthful designer to tackle issues that affects the world and each and every one of us TODAY, instead of some fantasy or some, empty concept, based on a two piece and beads.

For that they get a star.

The designer in the fashion of the masters, the true MAS MEN, has dared to put the original art work, THE ORIGINAL DESIGNS on the web for us to see, when you see these designs you are looking at his imagination in action ORACLE not selling no fantasy here its all real, down to the notes that guide the concept.

Just for that they get a star.

On the road to understanding our purpose in this life we all have to look at our selves, understand our selves, know ourselves, do we do the things we do because it is who we are?

Or do we do them, because everyone else does it?

Do we say Minshall, MacFarlane, and Now Schneider, have great costumes, their concepts are deep and meaningful, but I will play that mas when I’m older?
Are we so chained up to the Fantasy of the beautiful that we believe, that it is impossible to really play ah mas and don’t have a good time?

OR is it just the thing to do because the pretty people are doing it?

Why can’t you make a stand for something when you’re young strong and beautiful?

Like the gun man who will lock your neck and shoot you is young, strong, and beautiful.

Know thyself, People.

“Gnothi Seauton is the story of the human cycle. Every person’s life is interrupted by the choices they make along the way. Our presentation will examine ten major aspects of life and how the decisions we make affect us and the people around us,” explains Schneider.
Via Saucy.

I don’t have to break this band down to you each section explains itself.

In my opinion, the designers have successfully executed their theme, in these designs those with eyes to see can see the influence of the masters such as Berkley and Minshall, the influences of India and Africa, there is also an originality in the Mas that is without a doubt contemporary Mas, this band flows like a Calypso, or better yet a Soca tune, low at the beginning and builds, to an action packed climax that seem to go skyward as it reaches it end.

How much stars so far, 3?
Well add two more, because this is 21ST CENTURY MAS.
A Mas Supreme, on paper at least.

I don’t know if this band is gonna be small medium or large due to the amount of competition they face, but I am going to give THE ORACLE Massassination’s first 5 star rating, because it is in my opinion,a Mas band supreme, and a contemporary classic, that I hope if all goes well for the band in what ever size category, is a SERIOUS contender for a band of the year title.

Happy belated birthday Massassination.

I only just realised that the 22nd of September MASSASSINATION A YEAR OLD.

WOW!

Happy birthday readers and thanks for the support.

thanks for reading, and i hope i have educated as well as entertained some of you as i have been both edutained by the other T&T carnival blogs and others out there.

later.

WILL CARNIVAL 2008 SIGNIFY A RENAISSANCE IN MAS?

ren·ais·sance (rĕn'ĭ-säns', -zäns', rĕn'ĭ-säns', -zäns', rĭ-nā'səns)

renaissance
noun
The act of reviving or condition of being revived: reactivation, rebirth, renascence, renewal, resurgence, resurrection, resuscitation, revitalization, revival, revivification. See awareness/unawareness.

source:http://www.answers.com/renaissance&r=67

Carnival 2008 is not yet upon us but it is evident that there are winds of change blowing across the surface of planet Carnival.
For the first time in decades Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is experiencing not just the presence but the growth of what I will call ‘Conscious mas’.

While most of us already know the history of carnival from Emancipation in 1838, and start of the Cannes brulees celebrations (known as Canboulay), and the development of the Steelband around 1945-50, not much of us can readily identify the development of mas from the 1830s to the present.

So here is a little summery.

Military masquerade.

The first kinds of Mas bands to hit the streets of Port of Spain
Post Emancipation, were military bands, these bands performed mock engagements on the streets and historical battles like the taking of Constantinople with great detail as reported in the Trinidad news of 1878. The earliest mention of such a band in the press is in 1882 with 150 people this was a large band at the time.

The heyday of this type of Mas was the late 1890s, “Artillery, Cavalry, Brigade, Scottish Highlanders, Admirals, Volunteers, and Lancers are among the bands organized …which participated in the carnivals of 1899,1900, 1901, and 1902….this was the period when the shantwell led his band in song on the carnival streets.”(Errol Hill)

When the United States Atlantic Fleet came to Trinidad in 1907, “Yankee Sailor” Mas established its place in Trinidad Carnival; this is followed by the development of variations of the mas such as Stokers, Fireman, and King Sailor.

Historical masquerade:
While Military mas did depict historical battles, Historical mas did not become a recognised competitive type of mas till 1927.

It is out of this period and type of mas that the Masman or designer gained recognition as an artist, and bandleader, names like Martin Hill, who produced bands like Roman Emperors, The Three Musketeers, The mummies of Tutankhamen’s Tomb, and Abyssinians, between 1928 and 1938. After the 1939 to 1945 war Hill presented Nelson and the battle of Trafalgar, Richard the Lion Heart and Saladin.
(ask any designer today who Richard the Lion Heart or Saladin was you will be lucky if they knew)

The 1930’s and 1940’s saw the development of Biblical and Oriental mas, masqueraders had to carry pictures to show what they represented, as biblical characters weren’t easily identifiable.

The 1950’s represented the birth of Carnival’s Golden Age, a period where innovation, imagination, research, and accuracy, produced the greatest bands, and the greatest names, in the history of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival. This period starts with the name Harold Saldena, (1925- 1985) and ends in the 1990’s with Peter Minshall (1941- ), and Wayne Berkley (1940- ).

While the Golden age approached a glorious end in the mid 1990’s with Minshall and Berkley the master dramatist and master showman, both dominating and redefining, Mas, a new type of Mas or anti mas took hold in Trinibago’s carnival.

The ‘fun bands’ started around the mid nineties when the band Harts decided that they were no longer competing for the band of the year title, this band focused now not on the depiction of the theme but on the body beautiful, and the term ‘fun’.

From the mid nineties names like, Savage, Barbarossa, Poison, Legends, became super bands with members numbering into the thousands all sporting costume designs based on a formula of bikinis, beads, and plumes. Joining these names at the turn of the century were names like Island Events, Tribe, and Island People, all using the ‘formula’ to attract the younger adults of the time or the Oil boom generation.

Meanwhile the amazing creative carnival force, that reached its zenith in the 1980’s to mid 1990’s went into a rapid decline, the ‘fun generation’ arrogantly replaced the originality and dynamism of the deep thinking designers and Mas Men, for the mas marketing, socio-economic polarizing, strategies of the business bands.

The ascended fun bands in effect, eclipsed Mas bands, sending Trinidad Carnival into an artistic and creative period of Darkness.
During this period, Carnival observers could not tell one band from the other, because most fun bands, with over emphasis on the female form , and minimal use of thought, or originality, all looked the same, themes no longer had meaning because everything is portrayed with plumes and beads.

An art form that once could define the intellectual, creative achievements, and promise of a people, now reflects the repetitive style of an ignorant, lost generation.

While Mas bands like Trini revellers and Masquerade have held the fort for mas throughout these dark ages, since 2005 it seems that a Renaissance has been breaking on the horizon.

In 2005 designer Brian MacFarlane presented The Washing by Fire by Water, the band brought a much needed and welcomed change to the flesh fest that carnival had become.

Carnival 2006 saw the return of Minshall with the HIV aware themed Sacred Heart, MacFarlane brought ‘Treads of joy’, High Mas it seemed was on a come back. 2007 saw the environmentally aware Image nation presented Jungle.

J’ouvert 2007 also saw a return of high drama in mas the meaning and theatrics of J’ouvert that in general seemed lost in the traditional processions of mud, oil and paint, were revamped in Brian Wong Won’s MAS JUMBIES presentation of “Diable”.

With Carnival 2008 racing towards us, and presentations like MacFarlane’s, “Earth, cries of despair and songs of hope”, Mas Jumbies “JAB”, Image nation’s “Story of La Brea” and the new band Oracle led by Aaron Schneider with their conscious presentation “KNOW THYSELF Gnothi Seauton”, you have to ask yourself could Carnival 2008 establish a Renaissance of Mas in Trinbago?

I hope it is, for it is about time we elevate to new and higher plateau.

A LITTLE QUOTE.

I often talk about the formula in mas, the way designers and band leaders will go out and COPY the style or variation of another designers this virus has gone from T&T to the world U.S U.K everybody, is a copy cat, In the end the culture suffers .......
Any way I was reading this book called 'THE 33 STRATEGIES OF WAR' by Robert Green, and this is what he had to say.

"The world is full of people looking for a secret formula for success and power. They do not want to think on their own;they want a recipe to follow...........They want these steps spelled out for them by an expert or a guru. Believing in the power of imitation, they want to know exactly what some great person has done before."

Just a little food for thought Carnivalist.

MAS JUMBIES J-OUVERT 2008 : JAB

Brian Wong WON, and the MAS Jumbies, are back for Jouvert 2008 with JAB.


A journey into the traditional yet contemporary world of characters in the 'dutty' mas of Carnival Monday morning. J'Ouvert.

The six sectioned band promises some more of the drama MAS Jumbies unleashed on Port of Spain last year.


here is a peep of some of the sections.






the website and blog are both most informative and educational so if you don't know the history behind the mas now you will.

ISLAND PEOPLE MAS : Animal Instinct

PRETTY MAS OR PRETTY UGLY MAS?

Animal Instinct is the theme of the big band Island People for Carnival 2008.

Every creature on Gods green and blue Earth from the Alcedo atthis (King Fisher Bird) to the Zebra ( Equus zebra) is depicted in this band, and I must confess from looking at the various launch pictures on the net, contact lens or no this band has some of the MOST HIDEOUS costumes ever assembled for a Carnival.

These are hot sections

Now don’t get me wrong the whole band is not an eyesore, Kingfisher (frontline) and Portuguese Man-O-War, (frontline and section) in my opinion are hot bread, good to go. It’s the rest of the band that causes a migraine, Red tiger is one, while some what original, the whole design is a turn off, an exercise in minimalist design I mean the female design lacks……everything, on the road the red tigers will be lost in a jungle of hues since ther is obviously more flesh than mas on display, the male costume is better with a design that seems heavily influenced by south American native Indians but still cant save the red tiger from extinction.

good as DEAD!

Sticking with the big cats, is the cheetah section, I don’t know what these designers think some times the female design is so standard it hurts cat costumes of the ‘cat woman,’ variety come a dime a dozen, the head piece is standard, no, less than that they forgot the plumes, (the frontline includes these of coarse) the rest, representing an animal so elegant and exciting is boring, real boring.

Yaawwn boring....

The male costume however is better, the stylized collar is not too much or too little, I might have braded it with gold, but this costume is good, not great, but good for the road, I like this one.

Sometimes when designing a costume the mas man has to decide if he is going to depict the animal, or the essence of the animal, teeth, claws, tail, and colour, with surroundings or a mixture of both. The lion section is one of these sections that I like, but at the same time I don’t like On the female costumes the head piece on both section leaders and standard are the bomb, this has the lion, or lioness essence to it, and while the costume itself is still minimalist the headpiece blends with it wonderfully.

As for the male half of the section there is something lazy about this design, I hate the headpiece with the crossed eye lion and that endless mane everywhere there must be another way to depict the king of the jungle .

Black widow

The Black widow section, this section has about 5 versions to it, that range from a 5 to a 10 on the ugly meter, it's as if the designer/s just cant make their minds up on what this mas should look like. The web motif on the black is most effective but there is something of overkill about it, I might mix the big feathered headpiece with the webbed cape and replace the webbed 2 piece for the other black and silver that the feathered headpiece comes with, then burn the other options since they are all a waste of time and those spider legs…..jeeeez.
The male costume, is too camp.

ahhh! i cant bear these bears.

There are 2 bear sections that need to burn, these sections are just lack all kinds of creativity and originality, like I said before sometimes its better to depict the essence of the creature some of its surroundings for example there are lots of myths and legends that surround both brown and white(polar) bears that the designers could have sourced to make these sections hotter than they are.

I like the silver fox section. The male costume is cool, but the 2 piece costume while pretty needs more, the minimal design might look good close up and personal, but on the road all these small details amount too nothing.

The Zebra section is another unbalanced section the male is strong and original, I like it zebra print in carnival is often associated with African mas but these designers have depicted the essence of the animal yet successfully removed that traditional tribal theme associated with that zebra pattern. The female half of the section is a bore and ugly there is a lot of zebra influenced art out there and research can find concepts in mas that has been used before.

The crocodile section, this is another section that is both weak and strong, the crock is an ugly creature, a croc mas is a challenge I think, its this kind of mas as a designer I would like attempt. The male costume is cool the head piece could be better, but it can pass, the top is original and beautiful the croc texture can be seen , I think it captures the animals essence in a pretty mas way, just right.

Looking at the female costume I can’t say what it is made of, however this costume also captures the theme, it is indeed ugly yet pretty if you know what I mean, however there is something missing, once again I feel the minimalist approach to these I.P. designs seem to drop this and other costumes short of being something special.



When I first saw the Dragon lizard female costume I thought this is horrible the contact lens littered launch in my opinion did the mas no favours . this yellow black and green section is the flagship section of ugly pretty mas this year now the lizard they are depicting is an ugly yet fascinating creature, but this costume is a turn off for me, the male version is ok but needs something more I think.

All in all this is an ugly band, the minimalist approach while appealing to the naked mas lovers might fit the bill, however some of the costumes are in fact uglier than the actual creatures they depict, others like, Egret, the male lion, and the bears are just boring, I.P. seem to take on fantastic themes but some how fall short with depictions that just don’t equal the commercial hype behind them.

All said and done, i give this band 2 stars and 1 grenade launcher cause i want to open hunting season on some of these sections.