Today:
5:50AM – Wake up, shower.
7:05AM – Go to Jazzband. Play music, get harmon mutes, walk around in circles, conversate with Rachelle, conversate with Tinzel, watch Cael make strange noises using his cornet and harmon. Ect.
8:40 AM- Go to Drama class. Conversate skit ideas. Get the group organized and back on track. Try and get together a plotline. Get the group organized and back on track. Start script plan. Sit around and chat. Watch Ben run around with scissors. Help Darien brainstorm line ideas. Color shoes. Laugh internally. Laugh externally at Kieth and Alec’s lame (but pro) jokes. Conversate. Observe. Bell rings.
9:51 AM: Go to Band class. Play music. Get a pimpin’ solo. Get daily ego inflation. Wonder where my wife is.
10:54AM:  Go to break. Sit around. Eat a granola bar. Conversate.
11:04AM: Go to English. Do grammar. Read sewing textbook. Be bored in general. Eat a cheese roll thinger. Play with cheese wax. Daydream.
12:10AM: Go to lunch. Eat gumbo. Tell courtney that YES, I AM going to get red fabric after school. (For her skirt, I have set a deadline for Christmas.) Go to locker. Come back. Get weirded out by Ben, who is trying to make me laugh. Go outside and listen to him play Scott’s brother’s guitar. He’s getting pretty good. Better than me now… damn. Josh talks about how he hates capos. Bell rings.
12:55AM: Go back to English. Write an essay outline. Read sewing textbook. Be bored in general. Daydream.
1:57 PM:   Go to Science. Cloutier is in a bad mood. Which automatically makes him Clucifer. Balance equasions. feel proud because I’m good at it. Learn we have a lab tomorrow. Damn.
3:05 Go to locker, get stuff, talk to Tim, talk to Darien, go to car. Go do some glass deliveries. Go to grocery store. sit in car for 20 minutes. Find Tim in town. Go and hang out in the dollar store for 15 minutes. Get back in the car with Dad. Go get parcel (Stained glass from Texas). Go to Fabricland. Look at mannequins. Buy red fabric.. Go hoome. Turn on heater. Waste time. Daydream. Write blog. Sleep.

And thus, a day in the life of Janine.  Fun Stuff.

I haven’t updated since July, but October was one of my best months yet. Despite being in the middle of finishing my masters degree (my albatross), I have found a window of opportunity to get a quick update in. Just to show this site has not left my mind, far from it, ideas are countless still. My next update should be during the winter break between fall and spring semester. So… in preparation for a more in depth article on Latin America I’m going to tell you about the Darien Gap.

What is the Darien Gap?

The Darien Gap - thanks to Canary in the Coal Mine

This question is more difficult to answer than I had originally planned. ‘What is the Darien Gap’ is like asking ‘What is physics?’ Sure – there’s the simple answer that it’s the study of matter and energy and how they interact with each other… but anybody who has ever studied it knows that physics is the greatest mindfuck there is. And like physics, the complexity surrounding the Darien Gap might be equally boggling. And also like physics, there is a simple answer: the Darien Gap is a small swath of jungle that sits on the border of Central and South America on the edges of Colombia and Panama. It’s a mere 31 miles wide from the Caribbean Coast to the Pacific Coast and various thicknesses depending on your source and what they consider to be the Darien Gap since it’s not an entirely defined region. But as I said, this simple answer to the question “What is the Darien Gap’ does it no justice. If I were to create my own answer to this question I might simply call it the most insidious place on Earth.

And there was no light matter in choosing the word ‘insidious’ either. The Darien Gap is insidious in every aspect of the definition. Merriam-Webster describes insidious as “awaiting a chance entrap: treacherous, harmful and enticing: seductive” and the Darien Gap is most definitely both seductive and treacherous. The following are real-life situations and issues directly involving the seduction and treachery of the Darien Gap. And these stories are so extreme that they could only be fact because fiction wouldn’t believe them. But the Darien Gap is virtually unheard of despite its global reach. The 31 miles of unbroken jungle seems paltry to the behemoth Amazon to the South, yet it is crucial to understand the power it holds. But for all these stories to truly have weight, we need to understand the setting: The Darien Jungle itself.

Thomas Griffioen's beautiful snapshot of the Darien Jungle

The Darien Jungle

The Darien Jungle consists of some of the most impassible and impossible terrain on the planet. In some areas rocky cliffs reign supreme while other areas are so swampy that you could hide a few passenger jets deep in the swamp with plenty of room to spare. Some rainforest areas have been described as if being in a giant Cathedral with nothing but dirt on the ground and nothing but canopied trees above, other areas are shrouded in a constant fog of clouds. The picture to the right is from one of the only places I could find quality pictures from the Darien Gap. Most pictures are small or grainy or poor quality in some way. Thomas Griffioen’s website has a lot of high quality beautiful pictures from the area, his set of pictures will really help you get a feel for the area. Through these pictures the seduction of the Darien Gap becomes obvious.  In fact, it seduced this entirely different man to be the first to cross the Darien Gap by motorcycle and he had this to say about describing one part of the jungle:

After two hours on the trail we arrived at the marker on the Panama Columbia border. The hills were getting steeper and longer, sometimes it took three of us to get a bike up a hill. At places the trail was on the side of a steep hill. One slip, bike and rider would plunge into a deep valley that would be almost impossible to get out of. To make problems worse, there were many fallen trees and the jungle seemed to be getting thicker. We could barley see the sky and the jungle seemed like perpetual twilight zone.

He also took some pictures. Ian Hibell, a bicyclist that made the goal to bike from the tip of South America to Alaska went through the Darien Gap and you can see him hiking through a torturous swamp. And that is actually the only video I have of the Darien Jungle deep in its own heart. To think so very few primary resources of any place teeming with life on the planet in the 21st century is shocking.

And hidden deep within the jungle along the coast not accessible by road lays nothing less than one of the most unique fishing locations on the planet. The Tropic Star Lodge’s website proudly acknowledges that they are rated the number one salt-water fishing resort in the world. Built in 1961 by a Texas oil rancher it has become an expensive fishing resort that lures the rich and famous across the planet including John Wayne and Saudi Shieks.

The Tropic Star Lodge poolside, the mystical Darien in the background

As in any unexplored jungle, it is needless to say that species of both plant and animal life still lay undiscovered inside. So naturally there are also numerous species that have been discovered that are endemic within the Darien Gap area. The Darien Gap is also a safe-haven for quite a few endangered species. Of these endangered species you might stumble across a Howler monkey, so surly in disposition it is the only untamed monkey by Native Americans. The Giant Anteater is another endangered species crawling through this tropical dimension. I’m going to take a minute to grind my axe here – I hate it when species like this are endangered, I’ve express this same feeling in my ocean entry about the endangered Leatherback turtles that eat jellyfish.  Speaking from one human to another, we do not want species like this to go extinct. I know the anteater looks like a joke with legs but truly this animal is really smart and useful. Like bats and Leatherbacks they get rid of the pesky primordial species that are always trying to overwhelm the planet to turn the Earth back in to the golden age of when simple-celled organisms and insects ruled the planet. Ants are ridiculously plentiful, nobody is complaining about the scarcity of ants, and nobody is all too keen on hanging around with ants – so why aren’t we worshiping these creatures that have adapted a nose to actually inhale them? AND it’s the BIGGEST of them ALL! These animals are worth not only saving but actually growing their population. But instead we blindly go around eradicating these useful complex species from our planet in favor of the mechanical insects and primordial jellyfish. Why are we so stupid as to pick stinging, burning, biting, insects over silly-looking ant-eaters, flying mammals, and cool turtles, I will never understand this…

But I digress… Another endangered species found in the Darien Gap is the Bush Dog – super cute little guy right there. The white lipped peccary is a hog-like species that are notoriously aggressive and travel in packs. So you might be going for a random stroll through the Darien Jungle when all of a sudden you hear a large herd of white lipped peccaries coming your way – you better climb up the nearest tree because these little guys are nasty and they aren’t afraid of people. The lesser capybara is another rare and endangered species, it also weighs in as the worlds largest rodent. But before you cringe in disgust it’s clear the picture that it looks less like a rat and more like a guinea pig. And giant guinea pigs should be cool in everybody’s book. In fact, looking at this animal makes me understand that even rabbits had to have come from rodent ancestry.  Another endangered species is the Oncilla, a super cute 5 – 10 lb wildcat, I suspect living in a jungle they could get pretty nasty though. Baird’s Tapir is the last endangered animal I’m going to showcase even though it is not the last endangered animal in the jungle; this strange mammal travels largely alone through the inexplicably unforgiving jungle trying to survive despite lower and lower numbers. These Tapirs take over a year to give birth after being impregnated and have to survive in a jungle in addition to being hunted by humans. I’m surprised any animal lives a year in that jungle with all the predators and deadly insects. Finally, some of the native residents of the Darien Jungle are the Embera tribe, traditional warriors of the region. Hunting with blowpipes and into some serious body painting, these native inhabitants have survived the Darien for centuries.

The Darien Scheme

The Isthmus of Darien

So how unforgiving can the Darien Gap be? Well, listen to the story of how the Darien Gap defeats the country of Scotland. Yes – Scotland! How does a 30-mile swath of jungle in Central America defeat a country half a world away? Well, Scotland had existed as an autonomous entity for roughly 1000 years without compromising their independence. Yet it is well documented that at the very minimum the Darien Gap accelerated dissolution of Scotland and the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

William Paterson was a Scottish fellow who got rich by creating the Bank of England. And for his second trick he decided to return to his native Scotland and create a trading empire out of the tiny kingdom to the North. The cartography of the world had been complete enough at the turn of the 18th century and Paterson recognized a trading monopolists dream. It was clear beyond a doubt that the narrow isthmus of Darien, a mere 30 miles across (have I stressed that point enough yet?), would be ideal to establish a trading monopoly. Paterson was certain that if the Scottish government and the people of Scotland backed this plan they could colonize this isthmus and establish a crucial trading route from the expansive Atlantic and mighty Pacific.

I can only imagine Paterson’s vision. Any completed map of the world back then would clearly show the unique geographic feature of an incredibly thin strip of land sitting conveniently between two massive continents. I can even feel his excitement – the Panama Canal would not be created for another 200 years – plenty of time to make Scotland the ultimate trading monopoly on the planet. For all these years the Kingdom of Scotland sat in the shadow of the likes of England, France, and Spain colonizing half the planet while Scotland held no successful colonies. And here was Scotland’s prodigal son – William Paterson – a successful businessman with capital to invest getting ready to give Scotland its just due in the light of exploitation. No longer will England, Spain, and France be the only countries patting each other on the back for the capitalization of whole regions of the planet – in fact they’ll now be at Scotland’s mercy because they will have control of the Darien isthmus – and thus have control of the simplest trading route between the two monster continents. It would be an unavoidable monopoly and it would be Scotland who would benefit.

So Paterson started pitching this “scheme” to the Scots, and the Scots bought it – hook, line, and sinker. The Scots invested £500,000 which totaled about 50% of the nations capital. There was hardly a Scot who didn’t throw whatever money he could at this global conquest. Originally, the Scots weren’t going to bare the entire load and Paterson had worked the English and Dutch into the deal who subsequently backed out. To this day scandalous rumors float around questioning if this was done intentionally with the foresight of what would happen in Darien. Volunteers for the first trip to Darien were easy to find and were packed on a boat, 1,200 in number, and sailed 4 months across an expansive ocean to settle in their distant tropical paradise, build a colony, and make money! Of course when you cram 1,200 people on a boat for 4 months across an ocean at the turn of the 18th century enthusiasm tends to diffuse rather quickly. The Scots arrived in Darien sick and filled with dead – including Paterson’s wife.

They unloaded their ship and began setting up their colony in the exact jungle in which I’ve already took the liberty to describe for you. And if things were bad on the boat they only got worse in the unforgiving heart of tropical Darien. Jungle diseases quickly began decimating the population and rations were becoming thin. Back at home Scotland sent a resupply ship which got shipwrecked. It then took even longer to send two ships which began their 4 month journey to Darien too late. The colony, decimated, took to the jungle in search of nearby plantations run by other nations. The resupply ships, only equipped for the basic necessities for a fully operating colony landed at Darien in shock and dismay to find nobody.  1,200 resupply colonists reached Darien but it is said that as few as 30 survived.  With a complete and utter disaster realized it’s believed that Scotland became so crippled it forced the 1707 Act of Union with England.

The Pan-American Highway

Nothing can stop the pan-American highway... except for the Darien Gap -click to enlarge-

So we just read some history of the Darien region, now let’s fast-forward to modern day. But again, let’s step away from Darien for a moment and head to the top of the world where the small town of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska sits on the edge of the Arctic Ocean. Like Darien, this is a place on the planet where most people avoid. In fact, Prudhoe Bay has only about 50 residents all toiling in a remote, lifeless region of the planet to pump oil back to civilization for us to consume. According to their website that looks like it was made in 1995, there are 0 families that live at this northernmost town in North America. A few years ago Prudhoe Bay got some notoriety when BP spilled over a million liters of oil.

Now let’s go the the very opposite now – the bottom of the world, Ushuaia, Argentina – often regarded as the southernmost city in the world. Not as extreme as Prudhoe Bay, Ushuaia enjoys milder weather despite its location. What do these two places have in common? They are both the starting and ending points of the Pan-American Highway – a highway created to span across the expanses of two continents. Unbroken lay the chain of highway from Prudhoe Bay to Ushuaia standing as a testament to the power of mankind over nature… well unbroken everywhere except for the Darien Gap.

Yes, you could take the Pan-American Highway and cross its distances from the icy Arctic, where no trees live through the towering rockies and conifer forests, down through the North American deserts, into unstable Central American countries shrouded in jungle, but in the small backwater of Yaviza, Panama the Pan-American Highway stops. A seemingly impenetrable wall of jungle faces you here – you are staring at the Darien Gap. Nothing but raw jungle stands between you and Turbo Colombia. From Colombia, you could follow along the Pacific through Ecuador, Peru, and Chile into the ribbed backside of the Andes Mountains.  The final leg of the intensely long journey would be through country of Argentina, showcasing its capital – Buenos Aires, before turning sharply South along the Atlantic to Ushuaia.

And it’s this fact that draws people to want to know more about the Darien Gap. We have a road that has conquered all aside from this stretch of jungle. Why hasn’t the jungle been breached? Why haven’t we connected this highway that would be an unrivaled global achievement? What power does this Darien Gap have that we cannot tame in this 21st Century? It turns out that these questions are presumptuous, because despite its inaccessibility, it was purposefully left unfinished.

Now, I know what you’re thinking – With all the endangered species I listed above it’s clear that a highway cutting through this very narrow and diverse jungle is something that humanity as a species would never dare ruin because the preciousness of diversity in life far outweighs the worlds longest road.  But the truth is a terrible livestock disease that exists in South America does not exist in North America. The disease is called Foot and Mouth Disease, from Outside Magazine:

FMD is the doomsday plague of the livestock industry, an illness whose outbreak can shake global stock markets. Most recently, an epidemic of FMD ravaged England in 2001, causing more than $7 billion in economic losses. No cases of the disease have been reported in Panama, and the last U.S. outbreak occurred in 1929. But in Colombia, FMD was endemic during the 1970s and remains present today.

“If FMD were to invade Central America, it could have very rapid access to the United States,” says Harold Hofmann, 61, associate regional director of the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), an agency within the Department of Agriculture that’s charged with protecting the U.S. food supply from pests and diseases. “Therefore, the government’s plan is to keep it as far away as we can.”

Not only did the Pan-American highway never get finished but the creation of the Darien National Park was a result of the fear of this disease. A national park ensured no livestock would be raised within its boundaries. The United States has been puppeteering this region because it is precisely the country standing to lose the most if this disease crosses over. The United States Health Inspection Service has a $4.5 million regional budget working towards eliminating both FMD and a critter known as a screwworm whose larvae eat the flesh of cows.

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia

FARC rebels

So Darien is purposefully closed off, and with essentially good reasons. But when we look closer, we see there is still yet more to the story. It’s essential to remember the Darien Gap is insidious. And while we look at the Darien Gap and see 3 feet tall kitties and cute rodents and endangered species that need to be saved, the people who live with the Darien see the jungle as a giant death trap. Not simply for the natural causes of death – which are many – but because the Darien Gap has been home to Americas oldest terrorist organization. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are a by-product of over a century of civil war in Colombia. In the 1960s, rallying behind Marxist ideas, FARC was organized and began financing through the drug-trade. Today FARC is a multi-billion dollar drug-dealing enterprise supplying the United States with at least 60% of its cocaine.  This is unfortunate because this is financing a group who recruits child-soldiers and kidnaps anyone of seemingly value  and holds them in remote jungle prisons for sometimes years. The FARC have found their way to the Colombia-Panama border and are living (among other places)  in the Darien Jungle kidnapping those they could use in any way and killing those who don’t help in any way. There will be no arrest for your murder when you are murdered in the jungle, because you will never be found. Due to FARCs power people such as Hugo Chavez, leader of Venezuela, use them to cause confusion among accountable established nations by committing a certain amount of support for them. The United States has paid particular attention to them due to their influence.

Other rebel/terrorist groups that exist in this region are the National Liberation Army and the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia. All groups kidnap for some money. National Geographic Adventure magazine reporter, Robert Young Pelton, and two others were kidnapped for 10 days by the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia attempting to trek the Darien.  When asked advice for travelers considering going to the region he responded:

The Darién Gap is an extremely dangerous place—it’s probably the most dangerous place in the Western Hemisphere, definitely in Colombia. It’s used as a conduit for drugs. There are no police there, there’s no military, the trails aren’t marked. Kuna Indians are freaked out now because of the violence being perpetrated against them. Unless you have a lot of experience in Colombia, I wouldn’t suggest it. [For the most part] the jungle there is not viewed as a place that is pristine and beautiful—it’s looked at as a place where you get killed. Because no one bothers gathering information, like I did. I mean, I know how you can hike the Darién now. But you have to have a group of armed men with you.

Abandoned mining train succumbing to the Darien Jungle

Destruction of the Darien Gap

Despite the Darien Gap existing (albeit dangerously) into the 21st century, it is guaranteed that it will not exist into the 22nd century. In fact it seems the Gap has less than a decade until the natural plug is breached and the Americas are irrevocably connected. Deforestation of the Gap is rampant. The rebel groups infest the interior making it incredibly dangerous for any sort of ecological protection. And the clock ticks until the final, slim, remaining barrier between North and South America is breached and the transference of Foot-and-Mouth disease to the North will be uncertain. The Native Embera tribe and jungle animals are losing their home tree by tree for basic subsistence and the result will be the elimination of an ecosystem of transcontinental importance.

I spent yesterday afternoon taking a long walk on the beach and eating cake with my Connecticut Bestie, C. We talked about a myriad of different things while indulging in a beautiful sunset and caffeine: Her new job; my new job; and hugs.

Hugs? Yes, hugs.

I recently learned that hugs can be interpreted several different ways. According to C. (and a recent re-run of “What I Like About You” [What can I say? I love Amanda Bynes!]),  hugs can indicate varying levels of interest and affection, depending on hand placement, closed- vs. open-fists, time spent hugging, and pressure.

I’ll be the first to admit that I over-analyze and nit-pick social situations to an almost-neurotic level (Just ask my friend P., who was forced to decipher text messages and phone calls leading up to a recent first date), but I had no idea that my (or his?) hugging style could provide so much information about our feelings.

According to C., having your fists closed while you hug indicates that you are closed off, while leaving your palms open shows that you are open to accepting the person you’re hugging. A slight rub or pat on the back while hugging indicates a heightened level of emotion. Hugging for increased periods of time or tighter squeezes indicates more closeness (duh). Then there’s the difference between hugging over or under the other person’s arms, the diagonal-arm hug, a side hug . . . The list goes on, and apparently each one sends a different signal.

I’m a first-date hugger. Sorry. I don’t care how old I am – I don’t care if I’m still dating when I’m 55 years old –I will never kiss a dude on the first date. Let’s be honest, at the end of a couple-to-few-hour long date, you still don’t know whether the guy is a serial killer.

I meet the guy at a previously specified location, do not let him know where I live, and if all goes well, I end with a hug. (Sure, in college, I would have let a guy walk me to my doorstep at the end of the date, but back then we all lived within two blocks of each other anyway, and I was usually friends with the guy before we went out, so there was an established level of trust there. That doesn’t necessarily exist in real-world dating, I’ve noticed, since you tend to meet people at random locations rather than in class or at your residence hall.)

I went on a first date the other night and ended with a hug. Upon recounting details about the night and the conversations leading up to it with C., I realized I could not detail the hug – I told you, I didn’t analyze it, because I didn’t know it could send so many signals.

Were my hands open or closed? I’m not sure. I think closed. How long did it last? I don’t know – standard hug time, I would say. Were my arms over, under, or in-line with his? WHAT? Who remembers that kind of stuff?

According to our recent recount and Monday-Morning-Quarterback analysis, I sent the “peace-out homie, I’m not interested” hug vibe the other night. C. asked whether that was my intention, and I couldn’t give her a straight answer. I mean, how can you tell whether you’re “interested” in someone while having dinner and/or drinks at some restaurant you’ve never been to before, with some dude you barely know? (Have I mentioned how much I hate first dates?) Was I interested? I don’t know. I guess I was interested in giving it another shot to see whether I would be interested upon further review. (I told you, over-analyst!)

So I learned a valuable lesson while walking along the beach on Sherwood Island yesterday. Apparently I’m supposed to pre-plan the type of post-date hug I enter into so I can be certain that I’m sending the right signals.

My question to you, Readers: Is this something you knew about? Am I the only one who didn’t know that hugs could transmit valuable interest-level data? Or was our conversation just another nit-pick?

oshhhh. My trumpet solo today was pimpin’.. apparently I am better than Jonathan (Tim’s brother) at it. That is AMAZING, considering Jonathan is my trumpet idol. w00t. I got an insulated coffee mug thing (with the school’s logo on it) from my principal. Bad-ass. I’ll have to start drinking coffee. Or maybe just hot chocolate.
I need a Jesus band-aid. my thumb has a hangnail.
I just got back from a Dramarama night. only Darien wasn’t there. I wonder if our friends are jealous of our little parties… I’M SORRY IF YOU ARE. YOU COULD PROBABLY INVITE YOURSELF. AS LONG AS IT’s NOT MORE THAN LIKE 2 PPL.
So yeah. We watched Atlantis… It was cold in Amanda’s basement.. I hate Disney movies.. altough this one is bad-ass. Boys are warm. No comment.
PEDOBEAR!
oshh. I’m not coherent right now.
No song of the day today, I can’t think of one. sorry.

I know what you’re thinking. “Maggie’s fallen off the blogging wagon again, after only a few short weeks. We all knew it was going to happen.”

But I swear I have a totally valid excuse: my computer died. No, like for real. And it didn’t just die, it went out in style:

I was sitting at a Board of Selectmen meeting in Darien, taking notes for my weekly what-happened-at-the-BOS-meeting story when all of a sudden my screen went haywire and then >POOF< everything went gray.

The computer may or may not be alive still (I’m kind of hoping it is, since it has six of my novels saved to it, not to mention thousands of pictures from London, New Orleans, and everywhere in between, and my senior thesis . . . you name it). I brought it home to Knox this weekend, and my Dad is going to have a friend of his hook it up to one of those fancy-schmancy cords that will connect it to another monitor so we can see whether it’s possible to salvage my books.

In the mean time, Auntie M gave me her computer — a Powerbook G4 just like my good ole Gwenny. Sounds like a pretty good fix, right? Well, it was until I tried to get all tech-savvy.

My new (old) computer operates on Mac OSX 10.2, which is totally outdated, but I have the DVD for Mac OSX Leopard, so I figured I should just boot that up. That’s when I got the Gray Screen of Death on my new (old) computer. Long story short, I called Apple and they’re sending me a new disc to load, but it’s going to be about a week until I can get it here.

In the mean time, I’m posting this list of “excuses, excuses, excuses” here so you all don’t think I bailed already.

I haven’t. I promise.

And yes, for those of you who don’t know me all that well, I really do have an Auntie M. She’s my dad’s older sister and the main mother figure in my life. She does not now, nor has she ever, lived in Kansas.

This is the latest character/story that I want to start working on. Saphira Beccascant is the daughter of Darien and Lyra Beccascant, who adopted Garnet Ramses. If anyone read the piece on Garnet and David you might know a little bit about the place they live it. Except that Saphira lives at the Mage University Island, part of the Tigra Islands and freely admits that she has only been off the island twice in her life, both times to visit the Royal Family in Marclay.

So, the rest of this might ramble a bit, mostly because I don’t know where I’m going with this.

At twenty-three, Saphira is the oldest of three children. Her younger brothers are twins (I haven’t picked names yet, but both are very powerful mages and have left the University. One works for the Tigran government as the personal warder of the Queen and the other travels Marclay, finding ancient places of power). Saphira has not left the University Island and has been teaching for the last three years. Mainly, she teaches instruments and how to play the piano, flute and lute, rather than the magical portion of it. While she is as powerful as her brothers (all three have the title of Great Mage, like their parents) she doesn’t use her magic.

Part of what she competes with is the invisible ghost of Garnet. As she says, “My father never expected me to be him or anyone other than myself. However, everyone else expects me to be her.” Her being Garnet, Saphira’s adopted older sister, who Saphira never met. Garnet was dead for several years before Saphira was born.

So, I’m not sure what Saphira is going to do. First she has to come to terms with her magic and how to use it (Part of the reason she doesn’t use it is because Garnet’s minor magic was magical. And musical magic is not seen as ‘Great” magic, even though Saphira can bring down a building with the right instrument, intention and notes). Then she has to leave the island and her mother, Lyra (by the way, Darien is dead by now. He was nearly 20 years older than Lyra to begin with and nearly 60 when Saphira was born, I think. I have to check my notes).

Saphira has to become what she expects of herself, like her father did, rather than the dead woman that everyone else expects her to be. I really don’t want to bring Garnet into it much, only as a presence in the back of Saphira’s mind, much like I did with Opal (I don’t think I have anything on Opal on this blog though).

Hmm… I’m going to have to sit down and work through this one with extensive outlines and profiles. It might help if I name her brothers and flesh out more of her background, other than her parentage. Actually, it might help if I typed up Opal and worked out all the knots is that plot before moving onto another story in the Legion Jewels. And I know how I’m going to finish this: in Legion, where it started.

As a general rule, I am usually slightly wary of albums by producers that feature nearly as many different vocalists as it does songs. In a lot of cases the result is disjointed, confusing and difficult to listen to as a whole. Thankfully this is not the case with Soulpersona’s Soulacoaster.

In many ways this album reminds me of Eric Lau’s (masterpiece) New Territories. Rather than simply filling the album with beats and picking so-so vocalists to sing a hook on top, Soulpersona has chosen the vocalists carefully and has held back from over-producing the songs. The balance between production and letting the vocalist shine is just right.

I’ll admit I wasn’t familiar with many of the vocalists on this project. I have albums by Deborah Jordan and Darien, and i’ve heard a few tarcks by Replife but that is about it. However I will definitely be checking for each and every one of them from now on, especially Kia Bennett whose ‘So Natural’ is one of my favourite cuts on the album.

I’d have no hesitation in recommending this album to anyone who is a fan of soul, funk,  jazz or hip-hop. All elements are expertly combined and the result is an album you can put on repeat and happily listen to all day (I should know, I’ve done it!).

Head on over to Digisoul to grab your copy now, if you don’t then your going to have to live with the fact you have missed out on one of the standout albums of 2009.

I just realized that it would be wrong, wrong, wrong of me to have videos posted for my first two ride alongs and not the third.

This week I got to tag along with the Darien Fire Department during their training exercises, which meant going into a burning building in full firefighter gear. It was pretty cool.

The gear weighed a total of about 75 pounds, and included an oxygen tank. You can acutally hear me breathing Darth-Vader style on the B-Roll.

I think this was my favorite “ride along” so far (It’s not that the other ones weren’t awesome. Believe me, they were. It’s just that I really enjoyed the opportunity to be more of an active participant instead of a passive observer in this week’s segment), but I don’t think I like the video as much as last week’s. There’s only so much good footage you can get inside a dark, bruning building. Either way, I tried.

As always, I would love some constructive crit.

Here’s the video and Here’s the story!

Foto di Rita Willaert

Darién Panama

Il Parco nazionale del Darién è il parco naturale più grande di Panamá (579.000 ettari); è un’immensa foresta tropicale umida e la regione più selvaggia del paese. Si trova a circa 325 chilometri dalla città di Panamá ed è raggiungibile dalla Carretera Panamericana.

Venne inserito tra i patrimoni dell’umanità dall’UNESCO nel 1981, e nel 1983 si aggiunse il titolo di riserva della biosfera.

Tra le varie specie di animali che si possono avvistare si trovano tapiri, giaguari, tartarughe di mare, iguane e raganelle dorate. Innumerevoli sono le specie di uccelli (are, pappagalli) tra cui anche l’aquila arpia, simbolo nazionale di Panama.

Il parco è famoso per l’incredibile varietà genetica presente. Solitamente i turisti che arrivano in aereo utilizzano l’aeroporto di El Real, la città più vicina al parco.

Info utili:  Scheda Unesco Darien

Video: Voces del Darien (Documentario) , Darien Bunde y Bullerengue , Destination Unknown , Panama

Darién Gap (passaggio tra Centro America e Sud America)

Tra la regione colombiana del Choco’ e quella panamense del Darien, i collegamenti terrestri sono impossibili. Giungla e paludi, guerriglieri e paramilitari, narcotrafficanti e banditi impediscono il passaggio della frontiera. La Carretera Panamericana, che dall’Alaska arriva fino in Patagonia, si interrompe nella zona di giungla denominata Darien Gap.

Foto di Rita Willaert

Dall’esperienza di alcuni viaggiatori, abbiamo raccolto alcune informazioni che probabilmente saranno utili a qualcuno nel futuro. Le opzioni per superare il Darien Gap, eliminato il troppo pericoloso passaggio via terra (nella regione colombiana del Chocó sono presenti gruppi di guerriglieri e di paramilitari) sono sostanzialmente tre:

• veliero o barca da Cartagena (Colombia) direttamente in territorio panamense, passando per le Islas de San Blas (costo: circa 250$)
• volo aereo tra Panama City e Bogotà, Medellin o Cartagena (costo: variabile in funzione della stagione, 150-300$)
• bus da Medellin o Cartagena a Turbo (23$), viaggiando di notte per giungere di mattina a Turbo e salire su una lancha/barca fino a Capurganà (20$, 2ore) dove ci sono alloggi economici ed il caribe e’ stupendo. Da Capurgana’ si può infine prendere un’altra lancha per Puerto Obaldia (10$, 40 min), che e’ già in territorio panamense e si possono sbrigare le formalità richieste dall’immigrazione. Da Puerto Obaldia ci sono due voli alla settimana per Panama City (57$). Continua a leggere…

My hands are getting steadier when I shoot video, but I’m still having trouble with the sound quality and editing. It’s not like writing a story for a newspaper.

When I put together an article for my paper, I start by conducting interviews. Then I go over my transcript and highlight the best quotes. I try my best to explain everything with quotes so I’m not very present in the piece. The people I’m quoting are the experts, after all.

So once I’ve interviewed three, or four or five people, I start pulling all the quotes together and organizing them, throwing in transitions where needed. After about an hour I’ve got a story.

But with videos, it’s not so easy. Yea, I go out and conduct the interviews, then line up all the clips and decide which quotes I want to use. But it’s not as easy to create smooth transitions when the video just chops off. How am I supposed to make it look like a finished film instead of a  patchwork project?

I’m trying to branch out here;  I really am. Otherwise I would have never volunteered to try filming. That’s all part of being a journalist in the 21st century, I guess. Being a writer just isn’t enough; I need to be good at other things too.  So really, friends, let me know what you think of my newest video, and how you think I can improve, because next week I’ll be back at it again.

Filming what?, you ask. Well, I don’t want to give too much away, but let’s just say it’s going to be scorching hot.

Watch my new video please and read the story that goes with it!

CHICAGO – Reputed suburban Chicago mobster Rudy Fratto pleaded guilty Tuesday to evading thousands of dollars in federal income taxes.  

I’m pretty picky about the movies that I see in theaters. That’s not to say I’m a film snob; I’ll be the first to admit that I have horrendous taste in movies. I recently had a conversation with a friend about why “She’s The Man” starring Amanda Bynes should be considered a classic.

The reason I’m picky is that so many of the movies in theaters are adapted from books, and the books are almost always better. And when I see a movie first, I spoil the chance of reading it with true surprise and relish, which is the best way to read. So more often than not I’ll skip out on the biggest blockbuster until after I’ve already returned the hardcover version to the library.

But sometimes I go ahead and see the movie. Writing is great — don’t get me wrong, I clearly love it — but sometimes it’s nice to visually see a story coming together. That’s one of the reasons my editor and I decided it would be a good idea for me to learn how to shoot and edit video for our Web site. I gave it a go this past weekend, and created a video for the Darien News. It’s not perfect, obviously, since it is my first time and I had to teach myself how to do it, but I figured I would post it.

I would love to hear what you think about it, and any suggestions for improvement. I’m went on another ride-along on Sunday. I’m going to work on putting another story and video together for this new one, so I would love some constructive crit on how to improve.

You can see the video here.

Check out the Darien Blue Wave Store with custom tees, hoodies, h2o bottles and more!

Click here for the store: http://www.cafepress.com/DarienBlueWave 

It’s about 8:30 at night and I’m just getting back from work. I have to say I’m thrilled it’s a semi-early night for me. I had to cover a quick evening event, but there’s hardly any room to complain when you’re treated to valet parking, chit chat with senators and someone complimenting my turnout (and yes, I mean the way I tend to stand in First Position, thanks to my childhood ballet teacher).

I didn’t get home until close to midnight last night after a three-and-a-half hour planning and zoning commission public hearing at Town Hall, and I was working until about 10 on Monday night, so I am ready to relax. My grass-fed beef just came off the grill and I’m enjoying a lovely single-lady version of a spinach salad (read: I dumped spinach from the organic container onto my plate and poured bleu cheese on it.) I fully plan on passing out in my bed in about a half an hour. Which is what reminded me that I should post!

I finally tracked down my camera cord, so I figured I would upload pictures of my apartment for my curious friends. Like I said earlier, it’s not much, but it’s all mine and I love it! One last thing before I post them: Thanks so much for coming to my little bloggette. I’ve already had more than 100 clicks

Some time back I was sitting in my office and noticed that the bottom buttons of my shirt kept popping. It had nothing to do with my shirts and everything to do with my weight. I’m now two months into my third diet and 18 lbs down and feeling great. I have been on diets before but I’m finally determined to make this one work for me and it’s working. The same thing can be said for my blogging. I have been on two other blog sites but I have never followed through. What made the buttons on my blog pop was what I observed at the City of Darien council meeting last night.

I attended the city council meeting last night at the request of a friend and was amazed at what I observed. I witnessed a tax increase that was buried in the middle of the councils consent agenda. Basically a consent agenda is way to efficiently vote on a number of items without having to vote for each individual item. The tax increases were discussed prior to the general meeting in it’s work session and ultimately removed from the consent agenda to new business where the items were voted on individually and ultimately passed. As I sat in the council chambers with a handful of people, I was wondering why there weren’t more people in attendance to voice a concern? One gentleman was watching the meeting from home on television and came to City Hall immediately to voice his concern. His concern was that the utility tax was going to be passed and the citizens of Darien would not know about it until thy received their utility bills late next year when the taxes go into effect. Former city treasurer Kevin Monahan questioned the budget and wasn’t happy with the answers he was receiving on the budget. He eventually walked out of the chambers and appeared frustrated.

I don’t know how we can have access to an enormous amounts of technology and communication yet very few people were aware of what was happening to their hard earned money. I’m not going to have the answer to every question that’s being asked in town or should be asked, but I’m planning on a steady diet of information

One of the biggest challenges of getting to know my new neighborhood is going to be figuring out the quickest way to get somewhere and becoming familiar with the roads, I think.

As of right now I can get myself to town hall, the high school, the library and the police department from memory. Other than that, it’s all up to my GPS. Fortunately for me, last night I got to ride along with a Darien police officer for eight hours, so I saw a lot of the town from the passenger-seat. It was a really neat experience, and I know I’ll post more about it once I’m done writing the story.

Then this morning, I drove myself to the library (which happens to be next to the Police Department) to make a video about last night. I was there until closing time — 5 p.m. on Saturdays — at which point they kicked me out. I’ll hopefully finish the video at some point tonight. I think it will go live on the Darien News Web site this Thursday, at which point I’ll try and smuggle a copy onto my new little blog!

Anyway, as of right now, all I can say is that the PD here is really nice and accommodating. I got to meet all the men and women on shift last night, tag along on a range of assignments and meet the police dog Zulu. The only bummer was that I had to wear a bullet-proof vest.

I admit, that wasn’t a bummer in itself; I was looking forward to it all week. But it wasn’t as big and impressive as I thought it would be. It didn’t even cover up my stomach. If I were a suspect I woulda just shot me in the tummy and called it a day.

Luckily it didn’t come to that.

I’m going to do a few more ride-along assignments in town over the next couple weeks. I’m hoping I can stretch the “day in a life” stuff out a little longer, too. It would be nice to get a chance to spend time with a gaggle of people around town and see what it’s like to be them.

I couldn’t ask for a better way to get acquainted with a town then to get right in the thick of it!

I’ve met several dozen people since I moved here a few weeks ago. That’s one of the highlights of being a reporter. Even in a small town like Darien, I get to spend my days talking to people on the phone or face-to-face. Then I get to write about what they say and think.

And if I do a good enough job, they might even want to talk to me again; imagine that!

Since I moved here I’ve gotten to write a few profiles, which is probably my favorite kind of story. I’ve been able to write about talented artists and school administrators as well as volunteers and people with unique visions for the town of Darien. And earlier this week I had the chance to meet with a local purse-maker (I haven’t finished the article yet), and ride-along with a police officer for an entire shift.

I’m starting to notice familiar faces now when I walk down the Post Road or sit down on the second floor of the library for a few hours.

I clearly don’t know everything about the town yet; I never will. But the people here have really helped me feel welcome. I’ve been told where to get the best breakfast in town and where to find great coffee. Key players in local controversies have taken time from their busy lives to explain the background of hot-button issues to me so I can understand the importance behind what goes on at the meetings I attend. Even the reporters at the other papers and Web sites in town have helped me navigate through this new town.

I’ve been in a lot of places over the last couple years, but I’ve never felt at home the way I do here. I just can’t believe how nice people can be.

I’ll never forget the first time I lost a friend — not in the circle-of-life sense of the phrase, but in the her-parents-got-divorced-and-she-had-to-move-away sense. I cried for an entire day and thanked my parents for never moving.
I was born in the house I grew up in. Literally; my mother gave birth to me on the second floor of the tiny farmhouse. And though our family has gone through a million changes since my parents moved there in 1984, it’s still HOME. They never moved;

I never had to relocate, say goodbye to all my friends and make new ones.

There was a part of me that thought I would always live in Knox, New York. There’s something about that town that just pulls me in, and though sometimes I don’t belong there, it’s still HOME. It always will be.

I was thinking about this the other day, and how I had always wondered how kids who moved around were able to handle it. I’d never do that to my kids, I would tell myself. The life of a traveling gypsy child must be horrible. Then I realized I’ve been a traveling gypsy for about two-and-a-half years now.

In May of 2007, I packed up my purple Mercury Sable and moved down to Fairfax, Va. for an internship. Then it was back to packin’ the car up to go to Syracuse, NY in August.

July of 2008 saw me shoving boxes into my new (to me, at least) blue station wagon to move down to Birmingham, Al. Then it was off to Kutztown, Pa. in January of this year.

I had to go back to Knox for a few months to figure out my next destination before loading up my trusty station wagon and moving out here to Fairfield County, Conn. in September ‘09. For those of you who lost track, I’ve lived in five states in the last 27 months.

I have my own apartment here — well, I share it with the cat, who likes to think it’s more his than mine — and I have my own furniture for the first time since I moved off to college. Though I have boxes stored in my closet, none of them actually contain any of my personal items; I’m fully unpacked for the first time in a long time.

I have a home again.

It’s required me to start from scratch, but that’s something I’ve gotten used to over the past two-and-a-half years. I’d be lying if I said I have a ton of friends here, but I have one amazing friend who lives about a half-an-hour away, and she’s been helping me get familiar with my new surroundings.

Then there are the people I run into every day …

PANAMÁ GUIDA TURISTICA. Informazioni su cosa visitare, come arrivare, quando andare. Clima, Attrazioni Turistiche, Documenti, Assistenza Sanitaria, Consigli di viaggio, Guida online … Destinazione Panama … per non tornare più indietro.

Restare senza fiato, visitare luoghi tuttora autentici, non contaminati, dove incontrare chilometri e chilometri di foreste pluviali e di spiagge dalla sabbia bianca ed incontaminate.

Tutto questo esiste ancora? La risposta è sì e si trova in Centro America, nella “terra di mezzo”, nella terra sottile che unisce due continenti.

Gli appassionati di storia non resteranno delusi dalle antiche rovine delle fortezze, gli amanti della natura potranno innamorarsi nei numerosi sentieri che percorrono l’intero paese alla ricerca del quetzal, dell’aquila arpia o del bradipo.

Questo territorio riserva ancora numerose sorprese al visitatore, dalle sorprendenti tradizioni degli indio Emberà, ai coloratissimi vestiti delle donne Kuna, al fascino selvaggio di Isla Coiba, antico penitenziario avvolto nel mistero.

Foreste nebulari, giungla popolate da strani animali, una città moderna come capitale e coste orlati di spiagge e scogliere coralline, sono le ricchezze che il Panama è pronto a svelare.

San Blas, Panama

Spiagge

Mai lontano dal mare. Circondata da chilometri di sabbia bianca, sole e più di 2.000 isole, solo a Panama ci si può crogiolare al sole del Caribe e, lo stesso giorno, ammirare il tramonto nella costa del Pacifico.

Isla Coiba, costa del Pacifico, Panama

Il Meraviglioso Canale

La via d’acqua più famosa al mondo è un vero capolavoro d’ingegneria fiancheggiato da una giungla impenetrabile.

Coccodrillo al Summit Garden Panama

Meravigle della natura

Un autentico paradiso naturale dove esistono più di 10.000 varietà di piante e 1.000 specie di alberi, più di 970 specie di uccelli e 1.500 tipi di farfalle

Parque Nacional Coiba

Arcipelago di Bocas del Toro

La perla del turismo nazionale regala tutto il fascino e l’atmosfera dei Caraibi: sole, spiagge incantevoli orlate dalla giungla e onde perfette per il surf.

Arcipelago di San Blas

Il territorio dei kuna comprende centinaia di isolette disseminate nel Mar dei Caraibi e ricoperte di palme da cocco. Imperdibile.

Isla Coiba

Autentica meraviglia della natura, racchiude i più straordinari ecosistemi marini e terrestri del paese.

Avventure all’aria aperta

Surf, Kitesurfing, Rappeling, Rafting, Kayaking, Canopy, Immersioni, Snorkeling, Pesca sportiva, Golf, Bird Watching, Trekking, Gite a cavallo e in bicicletta.

Itinerari di Viaggio

Idee di viaggio, itinerari e tours alla scoperta dei misteri di questo paese. Itinerari di una e due settimane.

Info utili

Una guida online con tutte le informazioni utili per pianificare un viaggio a Panama.

Vivere a Panama

Consigli su come trasferirsi a Panama. Documenti, risorse, costi della vita, servizi.

Link

Risorse utili verificate dalla redazione.