I.  HOTEL DEPOSIT RUMORS
We're aware of the recent stories about hotel deposits not being forwarded to STT.  In fact, one STT travel industry individual even went so far as to claim that Sinbad pocketed the deposit money himself!  Sinbad's reply?  "And just what city in America would be safe for me to land in if that were true?!!"  Alken Tours, GoGo WorldWide Vacations, and Island Flight Sunburst Vacations have all operated successfully in the Caribbean ... and even in the US Virgin Islands ... for many years.  One news story even points out that GoGo has operated in the USVI for over 30 years.  Just how long would they be able to continue in business if their practices were not ethical?  In short Familee ... the stories you are hearing, and even seeing in some of the local STT papers ... are ... according to Sinbad ..."BUNK!"  Please don't ask for details right now ... because we're not going to answer.  Sinbad will provide a more detailed reply later this weekend that we will send to all the Familee ... and the press ... and the media... some of them are Familee too!  ;-)

PLEASE ... Don't misunderstand this section.  We're not saying don't e-mail us.  We're saying help us serve you better by helping us to increase our efficiency.  That's something we can all contribute to.  Side note here ... We appreciate the offers of assistance ... but all US Staffing positions are filled.

IV.  HOTEL AVAILABILITY
Starting on Monday ... if you still need a hotel room, many of the properties will have their blocked rooms open up to availability.  As promised ... this is a result of the tour companies releasing their space that has not sold through the tour packages.  Starting Monday ... you may call the hotels directly to book reservations.  Some hotels have lengthy waiting lists from those of you with the foresight to have called them last month or before ... so some of them may in fact already be sold out ... but we know there are rooms opening up ... just not where.  To clarify ... Sinbad's Soul Music Festival does not get involved in the reservations process.  We do not have current, up to the minute availability for the hotels ... or airlines for that matter.  Your travel agent can check both air and land availability for you ... or ... as we just said ... you may contact the hotels in STT. and St. John directly starting on Monday.  Again ... I believe there will be more info from Sinbad sent this weekend.  For now ... this is all the 411 we have available.

V.  AIR AVAILABILITY
Just like the hotels ... we believe additional air space will open up on Monday, but we do not have information about the possible fares.  Contact American Airlines or your local travel agent early Monday morning to check on availability and fares.  Whatever you need ... land only ... air only ... or complete SMF  Tour Package ... all options should be available on Monday!  Once more ... if Sinbad comes up with more details during the weekend ... we'll tell ya!  Otherwise ... you now know everything we do!  ;-)

VI.  BACKSTAGE PASSES IN STT
Unfortunately ... we weren't very specific in our message about these great opportunities to meet Sinbad backstage.  The first thing we didn't specify is  that Backstage Passes are available for Sinbad's US Comedy Tour -ONLY! This does not include Backstage Passes for St. Thomas.  It's not too crazy meeting 30 to 60 Familee members at a time backstage before a comedy performance.  But can you imagine 8000 or so Familee members all wanting to come backstage in St. Thomas?!  Sorry Familee ... that one's a physical impossibility!  BUT ... Don't fret!  You will have lots of opportunities to meet Sinbad and the entire production crew throughout the week at Beach Parties, Nightclubs and just chillin on da island!  Here's a tip though ... Sinbad tends to always be on the move.  If he seems rushed ... or a little short for a man who is well over 6' tall ... please understand ... he'll be playing host to 8000 Familee members, several hundred in the production crew, AND he's gotta keep all the artists happy too!  So ... Sinbad moves fast!  If ya see him and wanna talk ... IT's OK!  But if he says "Walk with me" he means it.  He's gotta be somewhere ... but will enjoy the conversation on the move if ya wanna!  Also ... have your cameras ready ... film loaded ...pencil in hand ... and whatever ya want him to sign ... HAVE IT CLOSE BY!!! 8-)

VIII.  ON THE DAY OF THE SHOW ... PICK UP AT WILL CALL
Check with the Will Call ticket office at each venue about one hour prior to the show.  Will Call is usually right next to or very near the regular ticket windows.  If you can't find it easily ... ask any ticket agent and they can point you to Will Call.  It is very unlikely that Will Call will know what you are talking about before one hour prior to the show. Remember ... those people work for the venue ... not for Sinbad.  They don't always know what he's got in mind ... Like we do!  HAha  The first time most of the Will Call people will hear about the Familee will be when Sinbad or his assistant walk in there upon arrival and say ... "HERE ...let these people backstage tonight!" If ... for whatever reason ... Will Call has the list but doesn't have your name on it ... Sinbad has set up a special code phrase.  Just tell `em, "WebDweeb sent me for my Backstage Passes!"  That plus $4.50 and you can get a latte!  HAHahaha  ;-)  Really though ... you will have a chance to meet Sinbad backstage before the show, then get to your seats before the show begins.

IX.  MAIN STAGE LOCATION
The location of the Main Stage Concerts in St. Thomas has been moved from Crown Bay to Lionel Roberts Stadium.  This is to provide better services to concert goers ... particularly ... shuttle service from and back to the hotels.  To cut down on traffic congestion ... there will be no parking at the stadium.  Plenty of shuttles are being made available.  Lionel Roberts Stadium can accommodate 10,000 people, so there is little chance of tickets not being available for you.  It will be open seating on the field ... like in Aruba last year.

X.  EVENT TICKETS
Event tickets are not available in advance, and will not be available in the US at all unless you purchase a complete tour package from one of the officially designated tour wholesalers who appear on the travel page in the Web site.  People who have made their own travel arrangements, or are local from the islands ... or are coming in from areas where tour packages are not available (Puerto Rico and Aruba for example) ... plenty of concert tickets will be made available in the islands ... but not before Sinbad and crew arrive in St. Thomas.  This is to prevent scalping.  If anyone offers you event tickets prior to that time,. and the tickets are not part of a complete "official" tour package ... show `em this e-mail message and tell`em NO THANKS!  USVI ticket locations will be announced after Sinbad has arrived on the island.

XI.  BEACH PARTY LOCATIONS
The beach parties will be held at Megans Bay and Sapphire Beach.  Food, libations and facilities will be plentiful!  ;-)

XII.  CHAT WITH SINBAD
With Sinbad's current US Comedy Tour in full swing ... we have encountered a few scheduling conflicts the chat sessions.  Because Sinbad has been on a plane this past two Monday mornings ... he has decided to move the morning Chat sessions to Tuesday mornings ... same time ... 9 am Pacific Daylight Time ... 12 Noon Eastern.  Due to popular demand ... there will also be regular Wednesday night Chats at 7pm Pacific Daylight Time ... 10pm Eastern.  These chats are specifically for rumor control.  Whatever you hear ... you can ask Sinbad directly in these sessions.  We're not implying anything about any news reporting organization.  We're simply saying ... if you have a question or doubt of any kind ... YOU CAN ASK SINBAD DIRECTLY during these chat sessions.  Click the Chat button on any page in the Web site and proceed to the SMF Auditorium at the times listed above.

XIII.  CHAT ROOM IGNORE FEATURE
Sinbad really strives hard to impose minimum controls on this Web site to give you ... our Familee ... as open of an environment as possible.  For the first eighteen months ... we didn't even have posted rules on the ShoutOut Board.  The ideal scenario is when the Familee can police itself... another community trait we like to see developing.  Taking responsibility for keeping our shared environment healthy and fun for all ages. Unfortunately ... from time to time ... our chat rooms ... like any other ... are visited by mal contents with little more to do in life but come into chat rooms and bait people into arguments.  For the life of me... I do not understand those people ... but they exist.  Instead of letting them get their jollies by arguing with them ... there is a neat little feature our chat software offers ... IGNORE!  If there is someone saying things in the Chat Room that you just don't want to see any more ...click on their name as if you were going to send them a Private Message. You will notice a little check box that says "Ignore".  Guess what?  Check that box and click OK and ... Poof!  You won't even see their name in your Users Window after that.  Yippeeee!  In short ... PLEASE don't get into arguments with these people ... it's not worth the typing!  JUST IG `EM!

XIV.  NEWS BREAKS ON THE SHOUTOUT BOARD
Many times ... we may post little tid bits of information on the Shout OutBoard in between issues of Sinbad's Funky Stuff News.  The Board is definitely the place to check for any late breaking news ... and is a GREATFUNKY WAY to meet lots of your fellow Familee members before we hit the island. 

XV.  UNOFFICIAL PRE-SMF PARTIES
There have been lots of pre-parties all over the country ... as far back as the original "Chat Room Check-In" in Baltimore ... Halloween 1997.  These parties are a very big part of how our Familee is developing close ties and bonding together very well into a unique community of our own.  You'll see more about that in the future. At Sinbad's instructions, we've relaxed enforcement of some of the rules on the Shout Out Board to allow the Familee to discuss upcoming pre-parties in various cities.  We ask that you list city and date ... then request interested Familee members contact you via e-mail for details.  Please don't get real drawn out on the Board ... and as always ... no spamming for commercial events!  And remember ... these are not officially sponsored Soul Music Festival events.  Therefore ... Henry's Boys tell us we got ta tell you ... Sinbad, Soul Music Festival Productions, its sponsors, affiliates and production partners assume no liability whatsoever in relation to these events.  Enter at your own risk ... and have a FUNKY goodtime!  ;-)

XVI.  FAMILEE OFFLINE PARTY IN ST. THOMAS
OK Familee ... this one's a real one!  Official and everything!  We're waiting on new software to be put in place ... hopefully within the next two weeks ... that will allow us to post an RSVP form.  This party will be held Thursday night in St. Thomas at a secret location to be announced to those who RSVP online when the time comes.  For entry to the party ... you will need to be on the advance RSVP list and wearing your Familee T-shirt.

XVII.  FAMILEE T-SHIRTS
And speaking of T-shirts ... we're getting all kinds of crazy questions here!  Man ... some of our Familee ... gotta wonder sometimes!  But hey ...every Familee has a few ... right?  HAha  ;-)  The guidelines here are pretty simple ... CREATIVITY COUNTS!  The T-shirt ... and Yes ... Tank-Tops are acceptable ... needs to have your screen name and may include the phrase "SMF Familee".  Use of logos or graphics from the Web site is strictly prohibited ... except for those of us who created them!  Ahem ...anyway ... Whether you actually create your own shirt or have someone else do it for you doesn't matter ... as long as the design idea came from you!  Also ... make sure your Screen Name is large and bold against the background color so it will show up on camera.  Remember ... in the nightclubs ... we shoot in low light with no flash.  Bright shirts with dark lettering ... or the other way around ... high contrast ... will work best.  Some have asked how many shirts?  Well ... cameras will be around all week... so ... how well do ya wanna be known!  HAhaha  Several Familee members have said they have already created 4 to 6 shirts.  Plan to have fun! That's the most important rule of all!  Oh yeah ... Sinbad's gonna have a special surprise for the best T-shirts at the Familee Off-line Thursday night!  ;-)

XVIII.  WHEW!!!
OK ... that should do for this very longest issue to date of Sinbad's Funky Stuff News.  Whew!  See what all that e-mail can do to a WebDweeb?  Makes ya come up with a book or somethin like this!  Our sincerest hopes that this helps answer YOUR questions.  If not ... don't hesitate to send `em in ...and watch those Subject Lines!  ;-)