The Daily Mail has put together a great photo essay on the weekend’s activities in London town. Check a few of their shots below…

Hundreds of thousands of revellers descended on the capital today for Europe’s biggest street festival - the Notting Hill Carnival.

Dancers wearing vibrant costumes paraded along the packed three-and-a-half-mile route in west London from 9am today to the sounds of traditional steel drums.

The lines of colourful floats were accompanied by more than 40 static sound systems and scores of Caribbean food stalls….

Check out the full set here: Notting Hill Carnival 2010: Thousands descend on capital for weekend of partying
| Mail Online.

….I also came across this great set on Flickr.

Check out a video of Kardinal Offishall throwing down during carnival after the jump…

(more…)

BBCCaribbean.com explores the candidates beyond those being covered most. Check an excerpt from their story below…

Under Haiti’s constitution, candidates must meet seven constitutional requirements….

…They must be a native of Haiti, be at least 35 years old, have never renounced their citizenship, have never been sentenced for a crime, own property and a “habitual residence” in Haiti, not currently be handling public funds and have resided in the country for at least five consecutive years before election day.

Mr Jean’s candidacy was believed to have been rejected on the grounds that he was not resident in Haiti in the past five years.

He said he would appeal the ruling.

Now that the hip hop star is out of the race, the main contenders are likely to be Mr Alexis, Mr Neptune and Mr Celestin….

Check out the full story here: BBCCaribbean.com: The race for Haiti’s presidency.

The above image is a peek into the new online portfolio of Jamaican photographer, writer and filmmaker Peter Dean Rickards.

Check out a few more sample images below…

For more, check out the full website by clicking here: Peter Dean Rickards | Photography, Cinematography, Direction.

Interesting article on the upcoming Haitian presidential election and the pair of superstar musicians, Michel Martelly, a.k.a. “Sweet Micky,” and Wyclef Jean, set to be pitted against each other. Check out an excerpt below…

Better known for the eyebrow-raising lyrics (and swearing) and his ability to rouse even the most conservative of Haitian elites to dance on top of tables, Martelly, 49, dressed in a suit on Thursday to submit his paperwork to run for President on the ticket of his party Repons Peyizan, or Countrymen’s Response. He acknowledges that comparisons will be made between himself and Jean (who according to the candidacy papers he filed this week is 40 years old, not 37 as his bios previously said). But Martelly says despite being opponents for the presidency, he and Jean are friends. Martelly appeared on Jean’s first solo album The Carnival in 1997. But Martelly jokes, “He’s global and I’m local.” And he says what sets him apart from the rest of the presidential field — his friend included — is the Haitian people’s true affinity for him.

Read the full article here: Haiti: Wyclef Jean to Face Michel Martelly in Election - TIME.

Here is an interesting story, Wyclef is considering to run for the presidency in Haiti. One thing is for sure there needs to be a new regime, some new blood and less corruption to pull the country up. Is he the man for the job? Considering the type of rulers/politicians and dictators Haiti has gone through, I am not against it. So is he, and would he be the best person for the job?

Wyclef Jean has confirmed he is considering running for president of Haiti, according to CNN.

It’s premature to say whether he will be on the ballot in the Nov. 28 presidential election, the Grammy Award-winning artist said, but he has filled out the paperwork necessary to enter the race.

For those in the NYC area looking to get a taste of live Caribbean music, two of the best are coming to the area this week.

The Mighty Sparrow heads to downtown Brooklyn this afternoon for a lunchtime show, while Jimmy Cliff will take the mainstage at Central Park for an afternoon concert. Check out the details at the links below:

Today’s Times features a story on the past, present and future of Puerto Rican baseball, and the politics behind their recent decline.

Check out a excerpt from the story below…

…In 2009, only 3.5 percent of position players in Major League Baseball came from Puerto Rico, a 24-year low. Meanwhile, the percentage of Cuban and Venezuelan position players has nearly doubled in the last decade.

An average of 27 Puerto Ricans a year were drafted and signed during the past decade, down from 35 a year during the 1990s. Ten times as many amateurs were signed from the Dominican Republic.

Major League Baseball has tried to boost the popularity of the sport through the World Baseball Classic and by playing regular-season games in Puerto Rico, including this week’s series between the Mets and the Florida Marlins.

Yet the games will do only so much….

Check out the full article here: Puerto Rico’s Baseball Pipeline Runs Low - NYTimes.com.

Just a quick note that after their premiere at BAM last week, Wah Do Dem will be screening in NY and LA, at Cinema Village and The Egyptian, respectively, through this Friday and in Boston, at the Somerville Theater, through next week.

For more info on upcoming screening, check out their official site.

The NY Times puts together an interesting feature on German/Jamaican tennis player, and Wimbledon hopeful, Dustin Brown. Check out a few line from the story below…

Dustin Brown, the most accomplished tennis player in the history of Jamaica, was born in Germany and trained by an American before polishing his game near the picturesque shores of Montego Bay.

He remains a man of worldly influences, fluent in German and English, with distinct dreadlocks and a serve-and-volley style. But Brown’s rise into the top 100, his first Wimbledon singles appearance and his late-blossoming career can all be traced back to an unlikely vehicle — a Volkswagen camper van….

The full feature can be found here: Wimbledon Journey Started With a Van for Jamaica’s Brown - NYTimes.com

Interesting story on the Olympic aspirations of dominoes players in Jamaica. Could dominoes ever overtake Track & Field as their national sport? Only time will tell.

Check out an excerpt from the article below…

Domino competitions see players setting up from daybreak and going through until the early hours playing Cut Throat and Partner, the names of the two most popular local styles played.

A “Q”, or quarter-litre bottle of white rum, is often a key element of the event, making the job of getting the game more professional even more of an uphill battle.

“I’d say seven of 10 of us play,” says Rey Smith, head of the National Association of Domino Bodies in Jamaica.

“We play it as a social game and we’re now playing it competitive level. It’s that level that we’re talking about with the Olympics.”

Read the full feature here: BBC News - Jamaica’s dream of Olympic dominoes.