CARIBANA™ Will Not Be Renamed – 2011 Festival in Serious Doubt

Put your plans on hold as CARIBANA™ 2011 is in serious doubt.  The CARIBANA™ ARTS GROUP (CAG), festival owners, founders and trademark holders of CARIBANA™ have not been able to reach an agreement with the Festival Management Committee (FMC), after numerous attempts, causing this year’s festival to be in doubt.

Sponsors are advised to withhold committing to contracts with the unauthorized manager of the festival as an injunction to stop the FMC in its tracks from attempting to rename the festival created and owned by the CCC (now CAG) is pending before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

Contrary to perception, the court did not order a name change for the Caribana Festival. At a hearing on May 12th, 2011, the court made it clear that the Caribana trademark cannot be used by the Festival Management Committee.  The ruling says, in part: R (Respondent) "will no longer use the trademark ‘Caribana’.”  It (FMC) “consents to an order preventing such use."  The CAG, creators and owners of the festival, did not seek to withdraw use of the Caribana name for the Festival. The idea to change the name was introduced by the FMC in a desperate attempt to circumvent CAG’s legal rights.

The judge’s decision was only part of an application by CAG to protect its trademark which includes the Caribana Festival. The proceedings to bar the FMC from attempting to re-name the festival are to continue in court as early as May 31^st 2011.  Changing the name of the festival is a desperate attempt by the FMC to avoid coming to mutually agreeable terms with the CAG.

Henry Gomez, Chair of the CARIBANA™ ARTS GROUP advises, “Sponsors and patrons who pay for costumes in the masquerade bands should be very cautious about putting their money into a festival that might not happen this year, and bandleaders should also be cautious about promised seed money.”  He also stated, "Neither should they be aiding in the attempted theft of the Caribana Festival from our community, to profit a few individuals."

In keeping with the judge’s ruling, the CAG will return to court at month’s end with the details necessary to have an injunction which will prevent the FMC from holding a festival with the characteristics of Caribana on the Simcoe Day weekend.

 About CARIBANA™ ARTS GROUP (CAG):

CARIBANA™ ARTS GROUP (CAG), formerly known as the Caribbean Cultural Committee (CCC) was incorporated in 1967 as the Caribbean Committee for Cultural Advancement for the purpose of celebrating Canada’s Centennial. The CAG is the legal owner of the CARIBANA™ Festival and Trade Mark and is chaired by Henry Gomez.  In 2006, the City of Toronto appointed the Festival Management Committee to manage the CARIBANA™ Festival for one year only.  FMC was intended to be the management arm of the CARIBANA organization, but wants to report directly to the City of Toronto, and not acknowledge CAG as the legal owners of the Festival.

♠ HOTTT New Reggae! ♠ Chuck Fenda ft. Cherine Anderson - Call On Me!

With the backing of a rocking riddim, Chuck Fenda and Cherine Anderson team to deliver the HOTTT New Reggae chune called "Call On Me!"

 

The magic to this song is the way both artists use the music to emphasize their minimal wording, thus causing a maximum effect.  For example, when Cherine sings the first words of

her verse, "Baby," she times it so the enunciation sits on the high-hat (cymbal), immediately getting our attention (the 0:48 marker).

 

As for Chuck, his vocals with the electric guitar at the beginning of the song are the equivalent to a tailor who has made a custom suit for a suitor.  It just fits perfectly!  Together, Chuck and Cherine make musical magic.  So magical is the union, you don't want the song to end.  With a run time of 3:22, you'll feel the song isn't long enough!  It's clear Chuck and Cherine have a musical chemistry, reminiscent of their 2006 chart topping song "Coming Over!"

 

Broadcasting at 320kbps, catch Chuck Fenda and Cherine Anderson with the chune "Call On Me" at the link below!

 

 

>>>Chuck Fenda ft. Cherine Anderson - Call On Me<<< 

 

 

 

  

 

People Who Have More Than You...

Taken from Mastin at The Daily Love.com

Will Smith said it best: "You can tell how far in life you'll go by the 5 people you spend the most amount of time with." I remember the first time I heard this quote it totally rearranged my whole brain. I took a look around me and - BOY - did I see that some changes had to be made!

If you want to go far in life, it's VITAL that you surround yourself with people who love you, people who are looking out for your best interests and people who want you to win. Also - and PLEASE HEAR ME - when taking advice, not everyone's advice is equal - please, PLEASE take advice from people who HAVE what YOU WANT.

You wouldn't ask a plumber how to treat your cold and likewise you shouldn't ask people who haven't accomplished - how to accomplish. There may be PLENTY of well-meaning people in your life who are giving you horrible advice.

It could be their own limiting beliefs playing out, it could be that they want you to live a safe life and that taking risks is equivalent to possible failure, who knows, but believe me when I say that you don't want to take advice from "guessers". Guessers are those people who haven't accomplished something that you are asking for advice about. Since they don't know, all they can really do is guess.

If you want to start a business, get advice from SUCCESSFUL business people in your field. If you want LOVE advice, get advice from someone who has an amazing relationship (not the closed down person with a chip on their shoulder).

Who you choose to surround yourself with and take advice from is a huge factor in how successful you will become.

So, who are you hanging out with these days?

Love,

Mastin

Let's Do It Again with JBoog!

One of the most talked about artists in Reggae is JBoog!  Born in Hawaii and living in California, this artist has the most loyal fans who have shown him steadfast support, and now, they can do so in person!

On May 28th, JBoog performs live for fans at the Red Lion Hotel located at 1401 Ardenway, Sacremento, California.  At the top of his performance list is "Let's Do It Again," "So Far Gone" and a few special treats!


Take a look at the flyer below for JBoog's performance and ticket info.  You can also click on the link to preview what you're going to hear from Mr. Boog live!

>>>JBoog - Let's Do It Again!<<<

Mess Becomes Message!

Before we get to the message from Mastin at The Daily Love.com, we have to share a quote that he shared with us:

"What anyone else has or does not have has nothing to do with you. The only thing that affects your experience is the way you utilize the Non-Physical Energy with your thought. Your abundance or lack of it in your experience has nothing to do with what anybody else is doing or having. It has only to do with your perspective. It has only to do with your offering of thought. If you want your fortunes to shift, you have to begin telling a different story."

- Esther Abraham-Hicks, best-selling author.

Turn Your Mess Into A Message!   My friend Don Nash said that to me... I think it's genius.

The most important part of life, and the only part of life that we can truly control is our perception. We may have influence over other parts of our life, but the only thing we have 100% control over is how we CHOOSE to perceive the events of our lives. 

One of the FUNdamental messages of TDL is that you are not a victim, but a co-Creator of your life with The Uni-verse.

It's easy to play the victim and a lot of people out there will try to convince you that it's easier to blame other people for the circumstances of your life. One of the reasons it's easy to be a victim is because you give away the response-ability of the outcome and circumstances of your life to some other person or entity.

As a victim, we tell ourselves that it's not our fault; it's the Government's fault, or our significant other's fault, or our friend's fault or our parents' fault. If you really get creative you can imagine a whole range of people to blame for your life.

But the truth is that you are the one making the choices in your life. YOU have the free will and ability to CHOOSE to connect to Love, or not.

If you're like me, you've probably made a mistake or two in your life (or dozens... lol). For a long time it was easy to blame people for the outcome. When things didn't go the way I WANTED them too I would just make it someone else's fault.

But, I started to learn differently. Thanks to teachers like Caroline Myss, Wayne Dyer, Tony Robbins, M.Scott Peck, Jan Shepherd, Sophie Chiche and most recently Jesus, I began to learn how to take my power back. I began to see that the way we thrive is by making out INNER WORLD stronger than the outer world.

Tony Robbins will tell you that the story you tell yourself about your life will dictate the outcome of it. Caroline Myss reminds us that CHOICE is the most important power in The Uni-verse. Dr. Dyer teaches that it is the power of your INTENTION that forms the outcome of your life. Mr. Peck will tell you that life is hard and that when you realize and accept that, that life is no longer hard. Jan would tell you to put the loving first and to keep your dreams and visions grounded and in real time. And Sophie would remind us to love ourselves big time and to keep our thoughts in alignment with what we want, rather than what we don't want. And of course, the big JC teaches unconditional Love and says we can experience this Love when we have right thought, take right action and keep our focus off of ourselves and keep it instead on Love.

How could you possibly let yourself be a victim knowing all these things?

If you really get that these lessons are REAL and TRUE and WORK, then, if you're like me, you will feel called to turn your mess into a message.

Add value to other people's lives and value will be added to your own. Being of service and taking the wounds of your life and turning them into lessons and sharing your experience with others will do more good to you and the planet than almost anything else.

To be human is to be messy, to screw up and to not get it right - that just comes with the territory. But it's not right thought or action to assume the role of the victim. It may seem safer and it may even seem true. But what's true is that you can take the wounds, messes and tragedies if your life and use them for good.

You can take your power back from people, groups and anything else that says you are powerless. You are POWERFUL, but you have to choose to be in your power and to step up.

Keep your thoughts on Love. Take and assume respons-ability for your life. Things may have happened in your past that you have no control over. But what you DO have control over is how you respond to those events. Do you want to let those events get the best of you, or do you want to rise to the occasion, pick yourself up by the bootstraps and say, "I got this?"

You may not have been able to control what happened in the past, but you have 100% control over what you CHOOSE to believe and as a result where you go from here.

Love,

Mastin

 

All of You!

Taken from Mastin at The Daily Love.com

For many years there were a lot of things about myself that I hated.

I just could not accept myself.

I could love other people just fine, but when it came to me I held the bar so high that ANY flaw, any mistake or any misstep was not only wrong, it made me a bad person in my own mind.

I had no connection to my Creator; I didn't even know what that meant or felt like. Love was some Valentine's Day gimmick and even though I seemed "confident" on the outside, it was false. It was cockiness used to cover up insecurity. That insecurity ran deep. I thought I had to have all this money, all these things to be worthy of a woman's love. I thought I had to be uber-successful to earn my parents respect. I thought I was nothing without achieving in the world.

All that has come crashing down. I have learned through much pain and trials that all those worldly things do not define me. Not because I'm in denial, but because I have learned that outer circumstances change ALL the time and that if I defined myself by what is happening on the outside, then when

Things change, who I am also changes.

That is a setup for craziness.

Also, as I have cultivated a deeper relationship with my Creator, I've come to accept myself for my flaws and insecurities. I was made the way I was. As Lady Gaga says, "There's nothing wrong with loving who you are, 'cuz He made you perfect babe".

I realized this past weekend that the things I dislike about myself have been created in me by The Uni-verse. It's almost as if how I programmed, with my flaws, insecurities and "bad habits", are all habits that eventually lead me back to Love.

The Uni-verse knows how to get my attention, too. Most of the major changes and discoveries in my Spiritual life have come from women. My mom has been a major spiritual influence on me. And most of my life, The Uni-verse has sent me my next spiritual steps through really cute girls who any guy would be crazy not to have a crush on. It's actually a recurring theme in my life.

I was reflecting on this the other day and beating myself up for it. I didn't like it. It made me think I was vain, or unloving, or that there was something wrong with me. But I had an insight and realized that's how I was created by The Uni-verse. That's how I can be spoken to. It kind of like going into France and speaking Japanese. The Uni-verse talks to us in the language that we understand.

The two places I can be spoken to best are through entrepreneur's I respect and women I admire. And as soon as I realized this is how I was programmed and that my Creator loved me anyway, everything became lighter.

Now I'm not saying that this is the only way I learn, or that the only people I learn from are entrepreneur's or women; I see everyone I meet as a teacher in some way. But when The Uni-verse really wants to drive home a point, that's how It does it.

I started to see after I realized this that there are a lot of other "flaws" that I have that The Uni-verse has used for good. Take my deeeeep unmet desire to love and be loved by a woman. That pain of unfulfilled love has been used to teach me how to love myself AND create TDL in the process.

Pretty amazing, huh?

That's how compassionate The Uni-verse is. It knows us perfectly. When we can learn to love ourselves as The Uni-verse loves us, flaws and all, the charge goes away. The self-judgment goes away. We step into self-acceptance and as a result can give and receive better.

From that place of self-acceptance we then have the inner conviction to create any kind of outer world we desire. We are undefined by the outer world, and rather defined by inner conviction and Love of our Creator.

This is how we connect with the unchanging. No longer defined by outer circumstances, our deep love of ourselves right where we are is solid ground to from which to live life. In this day and age of massive consumerism and "magazine beauty" driven fashion, radical self-acceptance and self-love is a revolutionary stance.

Join the revolution! :o) What can you love about yourself today? Ask The Uni-verse how you can use your "flaws", "insecurities" and "bad habits" for your growth and success. There is an answer in there - I guarantee it. All you gotta do is ask!

"Dear Uni-verse, show me how to love and accept these crazy parts of myself! Show me how to use them the way You intended them to be used. Show me how to see the beautiful gifts in my flaws, my insecurities and my bad habits! Show me how to accept myself as You made me."

Ask, and it is given. Wanna ask?

Love,

Mastin

Surrender to Love...

Taken from Mastin at The Daily Love.com

It feels like a perfect moment to write about surrender.

There is so much confusion about this topic. On the surface, surrender seems like giving up, giving in and being lazy. It seems like a passive and weak approach to life. In war, to surrender it means to give up and let the enemy win.

But - from a Spiritual point of view surrender is one of the greatest tools in your tool box.

Let's define surrender before we take another step. To surrender means to "submit or to yield". So with that in mind, it's vital to understand WHAT we are surrendering to. If you surrender to fear, or to anger, or to low self-esteem, then you are letting that force run you. You are giving up and giving into energies that don't serve your Greatest Good. In war, to submit to an enemy that is threatening to kill your family is also not a good idea. These kinds of surrender I'm not talking about.

I'm talking about something much greater, grander and more meaningful than negative energy, and if we all cultivated the kind of surrender, there would be no "enemy" because we would realize we are all brothers and sisters floating through space on the same rock with limited resources.

The kind of surrender I'm talking about is surrender with a capital S. To Surrender is to Surrender to Love. Love is the Energy that created our Uni-verse. This Energy is kind, creative and knows us FAR better than we do. This Energy of Love gave you gifts, talents and a purpose. So when you Surrender (capital S), you do not surrender to human beings (who are fallible), nor do you submit to a negative thought pattern.

When you Surrender you give up the control of your life to an Energy that will guide you perfectly. When you Surrender to the Energy of Love, you let go and let yourself be lived by It. Faith in this process is the soil in which you will flourish. This is no different than a seed being firmly planted in the right soil and watered. You are the seed, Faith is the soil and Love is what grows you. The seed effortlessly grows into its fullest expression, not by force, but with ease.

If you're having a hard time believing that a kind, wise, loving and compassionate Energy created The Uni-verse, I'm going to ask you to do an experiment. Try. Try for 30 days to let go and let Love guide you. Not romantic love, not emotional love and not your love of cookies - I'm talking about Love with a capital L, that Creative Energy that made us all. Surrender (capital S), to Love, give IN to it... Let It guide you.

When you do this, all the illusions of your life that do not resonate with Love will burst. It may seem like your world is turning upside down - totally normal. It's kind of like waking up from The Matrix. You're gunna see things all kinds of differently. Just stick with it.

If you have problems, worries, or desires, just hand them over to Love. Lay them down at the feet of Love and stop trying to solve your problems with your mind. Give Love room to step in and help guide you. When you do this, you will be led to the strangest and most beautiful of places. Some people will leave your life; new ones will come. You may be fired, or feel called to quit your job. You may realize you are not in a Loving relationship. Whatever it may be, whatever you feel Love is guiding you to do, jump in.

Faith in yourself and in Love pays massive dividends. We are energetic beings and Love is the Highest Energy in The Uni-verse. Some people say that Love doesn't pay the bills, but I call B/S. When you do what you Love, you will go through a phase of trials, but at the end of that process, if you stick with it, you WILL be rewarded not only with a greater sense of purpose and accomplishment, but with financial reward. Love protects anyone who pursues Love and welcomes Love in his or her life.

People change, the economy changes and life can be confusing - but Love never changes.

Surrender to Love; give it a try for 30 days and let me know what happens. Heck, maybe even give it a year. If your way hasn't worked so far, perhaps this may be a better way.

In Love,

Mastin