What's Happening by Todd Mangatal

todd@ariousentertainment.com 

Greetings: 

The saga continues about the relationship with Michael Jackson and my sister, Shana Mangatal.  I was completely baffled by the many e-mails I received from many of Michael Jackson fans because of the first article I wrote on this topic.  The article even made it to one of his main fan website www.mjjforum.com, where they started a post on their message board called “Shana Mangatal Brother Speaks out”.  It was the main topic of discussion on Monday, and by nighttime it had received over 3000 views and over 200 replies, where they were questioning and debating if Shana really knew Michael.  This was truly amazing to me, because I thought Michael’s “hay day” was back in 83’, but boy was I wrong!  It seems he’s still growing strong with many new young fans around the world.  My questions are  (1) why do they love him so much? and (2) what has he done in the last 15 years that would attract their attention?  In the world I live in, I thought all the youths were listening to was Jay Z, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, and Brittney Spears, but now I see Michael Jackson is truly still the King of Pop.

Presently Shana is still speaking out in support of her good friend Michael Jackson.  We searched far and wide for a copy of the US Weekly Magazine, and was finally able to find a copy yesterday.  I must say my sister is truly “fine”…you know a brother never really notices a sister’s beauty…she’s normally just my sister, but the photo in the US Weekly magazine was beautiful.  Also, soon Adam Miller (writer for the New York Post) will publish his article on this subject, it should be in the NY Post real soon, either tomorrow or sometime next week, so look out for it.  Next week tune in to Inside Edition, they should be running a story on her and MJ.  I will definitely keep you posted on all the “haps”.  Due to Michael’s fan request and discussions about being tired of seeing the same picture of shana, we have placed a photo gallery of her on our site, featuring her with some of her celebrity friends.  Check them out at www.ariousentertainment.com, and on the “Home” page you will see “Shana’s Photo Gallery”, just click on the button and it will take you there.  We intend to add more photos soon.

  Over the past week we have been dealing with the weather here in DC/MD/VA, and over the past weekend we had our first snowstorm, which kept us in town (unfortunately…we are longing to get back to NY!).  Luckily the area we live in was spared the “brunt” of the storm, so we only received approx. 3 inches of show, but 20 miles away in Baltimore and Virginia they received over 8 inches.  Of course, that put a little damper on the weekend, but that didn’t stop us, because where there’s a party we will be there.  We are like the post office “rain, sleet or snow…we are there”.  So we started of on Thursday night, by rolling down to “Soca Therapy” and hung out with the IslandSession Crew.  I must “Big Up” IslandSession because I think they have been, and will be doing big things in 2004…their hearts are definitely in the right place.  As I mentioned last week they are hosting a fundraiser at the Ascot Nightclub tonight for the family of Michael Edwards, along with Pan Masters (Mr. Edwards was killed tragically in a hit and run accident).  Especially during the holiday season, it is important to reach out to members of the community who has lost love ones.  Again, Big Respect to IslandSession (Mike and Al), and keep in mind that “Soca Therapy” will be taking a break for the holidays and will be coming back strong on January 8^th, 2004.  Scroll down to view details on tonight’s fundraiser.

I would like to thank Jai Mallory (VIP and Platinum Club Promotions Manager) for thinking about us and inviting us to the open house of their brand new restaurant called H2O on the Southwest Waterfront here in DC.  This is located at the old favorite restaurant called Hogates (a popular landmark here in DC for many years.)  Hogates was famous for their rum buns, and it seems H2O has kept those as a focal point on their menu.  H2O is very beautiful and spacious, and it offers great views of the Southwest waterfront and Haines Point.  In the summer, I’m sure it will be a great place to hang out because they also have a very nice outside deck and patio.  The lounge and sports bar was really beautiful as well.  I must say the staff was very friendly and personal.  (I hope that continues.)  One in particular who impressed us was Jason; I believe he will be the Bartender in the VIP lounge (you know that’s where we’ll be).  Well, “Big Up” to Jason he really did a great job promoting the place.  The open house was real nice, we had the pleasure of hanging out with our friend IS, and was able to capture the “Festival of Lights” show that was put on by the boats on the waterfront.  There were also complimentary rum buns, hot chocolate, cider and lots of wine.  I can’t tell you much about the hot chocolate and the other stuff, but we thoroughly sampled the wines, and in the true spirit of Arious, we closed the place, I think they cut us off in a nice way, they told us last call.  You know I’m not a wine person, Heinekens are for me, but I got some class at H2O.  Well, IS…Susan and I had lots of fun hanging out with you at H2O’s open house, we must do this again real soon!

  We actually chilled at our usual spot for the rest of the weekend, having intellectual conversations, where we philosophized, prophesized, and planed/mapped out our next moves and goals for the coming year.  

 The strangest thing happened on Tuesday, we had an earthquake, I know all of you on the West coast are familiar with this, but for us it’s a rare thing.  It was felt west from Richmond and here in DC.

  Last night Wednesday (12/10/03) we checked out this new spot called “Montego Bay Wednesday” promoted by Eye on Entertainment at Juste Lounge.  This lounge is somewhere my wife and I always wanted to go, but never had the opportunity to do so, and it was well worth it.  The place was very cozy and nice…kinda like the Marlin Club I raved about in Miami (South Beach).  It felt exactly like you were chilling at home, because of the plush sofas and coffee tables all around the place, it was really very cozy and had a chilled lounge type atmosphere.  Being that it was a martini bar, they featured over 40 flavors of martinis, and since it was the middle of the week, and I wanted to get this e-mail out, I just stuck with the Heinekens.  However, my wife sampled a few flavors of their martinis and she really loved them.  The Image Band was in the house entertaining the folks, and they sound really good, their reggae set was “the bomb”.  The lead singer Timmy always does a good job, especially when he’s singing reggae, he truly has a lot of potential.  One thing I truly enjoyed was the fact that they had a live Saxophone player; it’s something you don’t see with local bands.  I also notice they had a new drummer who kept the beat nice.  The bass player was good too, I have had my eye on his talents for years, since I met him while he was playing for DKGB Band, and he has always impressed me with his skills.  I must say “Big Up” to Sarge (the key board player and one of the foundation of this band).  I think he has had the right combination for the last 25 years.  I can’t forget about their DJ Luke who totally livened things up.  My wife and I have known Luke for a number of years, we remember seeing him perform with his band (Black Sheep) many years ago when they opened for Third World at the Cater Baron, and was surprised to discover how talented he was.  Good Job Luke! 

  Well folks, check out H2O tonight (Thursday 12/11/03) for their Grand Opening, you can RSVP on their site www.H2ODC.com, and please also stop by the Ascot Nightclub tonight and support IslandSession’s Fundraiser for the Michael Edwards family www.islandsessions.com.  On Friday you must check out Zanzibar on the Waterfront’s “Original Happy Hour” www.zanzibar-otw.com , and on Saturday check on Crossroads “Energy”, as well as on Sunday for their Football party (Redskins vs. Cowboys) and “Dancehall Sundays” event www.crossroadsclub.com.   As for us we intend to spend the day in NY on Saturday and head back to DC in the evening to attend the Pan Masters Christmas Party (“an early warm thing”), and later hit the clubs.  Scroll down to view more details on these events!

Have a safe and happy Weekend, and until next week!