December 19, 2009 – (Boston, MA) Triceptus Studios made a huge announcement last night on the “Diamond in the Rough” talk show with Charlie Alejandro (replay available at: www.blogtalkradio.com/ordinarywmn).  Triceptus Studios Co-Executive Producers Crosby “Catipus” Tatum and Jay “Lazurus” Holland announced that they will begin production on a new short film in early 2010 entitled – JACKAL.

Jackal, starring “Jay “Lazurus” Holland and Shelly “Nun-Chuck Girl” Finnegan, is a crime action drama centered around a homeless, deranged  man, who lost everything, including his past, that dons a mysterious identity to fight crime in the underworld, searching for the ruthless crime boss who made him loose everything he had.

Jackal is expected to be another classic hit produced by Triceptus Studios with festival aspirations beyond the local film scene.  “I feel that this will be a Sundance, Tribeca, & Cannes-worthy film we’re gonna make,” says Crosby.  “When we get the ball rolling with the film, shoot it, edit it, and market it with a premiere and get the buzz rolling on it, we’ll see if the festivals will grab it or not. 

Jackal is in the final stages of development, Casting and Shooting schedules will be released in early Janurary/February 2010.  For more information, visit Triceptus Studios online at: www.triceptus.com.

Winter is easier to take when it comes on us slowly – but that sure did not happen this year.  We coasted along with the nicest November weather we’ve had and then suddenly December arrived and the temperatures dropped.  It has been staying at about -25C for a few days now.  If you expect your car to start after being parked for several hours, hopefully you remembered to plug the block heater in.

The dogs and I are walking shorter distances these days.  Partly because I freeze up and partly because Dakota is pretty stiff in the cold.  I did get a fairly good shot of the sunrise on December 8th though.  If you are on facebook, you’ve already seen it, but if not I am posting it here.

December 8th Sunrise

You can see the mist rising off the open part of the river – the part in front is ice and snow covered.

If you have been reading regularly, you may remember my posts on the mystery block across the street from my house.    You can read more about the mystery block from my April 15th and on posts at April 15, 2009, but basically, everyone moved out of this block without me seeing anything and they started gutting the inside and re-insulating the outside. All work suddenly stopped a several weeks ago, when the job was obviously not finished. The scaffolding was left up, but the lovely orange tarp had been removed. In the late fall while I was out in the yard raking the leaves, I noticed that some of the students from the nearby school were climbing up on the scaffolding.

A couple of weeks ago, I stopped one of the city councilors who I knew, and asked him about the block.   He is not the councilor for my area, but he said he would look into it if I would send him an email. I sent the email to him and very shortly afterwords, I started to get replies from various city departments.

I now know that the building had been sold and that is why the makeover began. The building permit is currently on hold for the Electrical Plan Examination to complete its review process.   No estimate was given as to when that would happen.  Then this morning I received another email from the building inspector, letting me know that the scaffolding was now being removed.  I looked out the window and saw that it was.

I certainly know who to contact when I have a question again!

On my Africam addiction     it is sure great to see the green grass and trees back again, now that the rainy season has begun. I get to see daylight during my twitter shift now – even though I am not seeing many critters myself. The animals are coming to visit during the late morning and afternoon though, as the pictures taken by others show.

Click here to see today’s pictures, which includes zebras, impalas, wildebeests, and jackal visitors to the waterhole at Nkorho.

Since my Geocaching post brought my little blog the most views of any other post (a whopping eight) I thought I’d follow up a little bit. This article by The Washington Post is about a situation where the police were called on a Geocacher placing an ammo box in a downtown area over suspicion of it being a bomb. The article says that bomb-scare situations are the main way that Geocaching is making its way into the police lexicon.

There are a lot of whispers about the dangers of Geocaching in various online forums. People are wondering how long it is going to be until a little boy is out with his parents on a treasure hunt and he races ahead of them only to find a dead body. Even worse what happens when a killer decides to use Geocaching for a sick game placing booby traps around the area? This is all great fodder for the pitiful writers behind cop shows and Hollywood horror films but I think that’s about it. Undoubtedly something like this will occur eventually but only a moron would attempt it.

So should you bring a glock next time you go Geocaching? Nah man, don’t let these nerds get you freaked out. Only a coward sits around thinking of this kind of stuff and isn’t there something of a frontiersman attitude behind Geocaching that we’re trying to pass on to our kids? It’s like what Dexter said in season 3 when he first recognized the child molester, the lion does not fear the jackal.  Get out there and explore.

Here are a couple links to websites dedicated to safe Geocaching:

www.geocreed.info

www.hobbies.suite101.com/article.cfm/geocaching_safety

Click on the map to get a larger map

Some of the animals and birds I saw in this park was Bear, Goose, Python, Monkey, zebra, deer, crocodile, Indian king cobra, Hippopotamus, Elephants, Aquarium, Jackal, Panther, Lizard, Rat snake, Wild boar, Viper, ….

Source

Note the very bushy tail and the white tip.

Now consider this account of a  supposed dog-fox hybrid that was killed in Warwickshire, England, in 1906.

I think a really good case can be made that this animal was a side-stripe jackal pup, like this one. The head shape in the depiction of the “dog-fox” hybrid suggests that this is a side-striped jackal. The animal in question is said to be smaller than a fox, which suggests a juvenile animal.

Menageries of the day probably kept this species of jackal, which may have bred. Perhaps one of the pups escaped his parents’ cage and went wild in the forest.  For that time period, I doubt that a young jackal could have been captured in Africa and taken to England while it was of that size. Because of the length of its transport to England at that time, if it had been caught wild in Africa, it would have already grown considerably by the time it arrived (and escaped).

I should also note here that red foxes cannot hybridize with dogs or any member of the genus Canis. They have often been reported, but they have never been able to withstand scrutiny. However, it might be possible that dogs could produce hybrids with South American canids, some of which are called foxes but really aren’t.

A New York Navel-Gazer Looks at Botswana, South Africa

and Mozambique by Way of London

By Kyle Thomas Smith

Part Four

August 26, 2009 – Tubu Tree, Botswana; Savuti, Botswana

Morning/Afternoon

Julius goes on morning safari.  I stay in, read, write.  All come back w/ news that, ~ 1 mile from camp, carcass of impala hung from tree.  Lioness hunted it, tore out jugular, dragged it to tree & hung it up for stripping.  Also, saw rhino, which we saw yesterday.

Graham discusses how mating season w/ lions goes.  Lion mounts lioness, she allows sperm deposit but then whips him to ground.  2 mins later, he’s on another lioness and, 2 mins after that, another.  Sounds like trip to Amsterdam to me.

Graham gives me copy of mystery he’s finished reading, Blood Moon by Garry Disher.  Says it’s set near Melbourne.  No contender for Booker Prize.  Just good holiday read.  Also mentions liking work of Australian crime fiction writer Peter Temple.  Never heard of either.  Want to read more crime fiction, again, to learn plots.  Want to learn how to write better fiction.  Julia mentions book group favorite, The Slap by Greek writer named Christos Tsiolkas.  Coming away from Tubu Tree w/ extensive reading list that includes Booker Prize winner whom Graham regrets telling she couldn’t write.

Lunch is on.  Buffet-style again: beef stew, rice, beans=basic.  Spend last few minutes @ camp observing Giles.  He talks about how Australia commemorates wintry aspect of Xmas with July 25 celebration, which coincides w/ subequitorial winter.  Hope he had happy Xmas last month and will have another in December.  Newlyweds from England (guy) & Australia (woman), both living in Singapore, sit on own side of table.  We don’t interfere w/ honeymoon – those always end too soon.

Julius & I say goodbye to Jacky, Justin, Giles, Graham & Julia.  Julius has Graham & Julia’s email.  Both want us to keep them apprized of when my book will be in print.  Well, gotta get a publisher first, but Tubu Tree was enough to take my mind off anxiety around that.  W/ 6” of sunscreen on skin, clap safari hat on head, climb in jeep, where bags already waiting, & drive off to Okavango Delta airstrip w/ Johnny.

Once there, we wait for plane to Savuti Camp.  Plane is late.

Waiting around in shade but hot out.  Julius takes out iPhone, clicks on iPod, turns on Exile on Main Street, my favorite album, which he downloaded.  Asks Johnny if he likes this kind of music.  W/ most pleasant smile he can muster, Johnny says, “I like softer music.”

Julius puts on La Boheme. Johnny likes it.  I say La Boheme = one of stupidest plots in opera – Rodolfo confesses everlasting love for Mimi (chick he met 10 mins ago), she leaves him next day & comes back to his garret dying of tuberculosis many mos later & Rodolfo says he’ll never love again.  Julius insinuates that I’m a churl/cad for thinking this.

Charter Flight arrives.  Say goodbye to Johnny; show our appreciation for his stellar hospitality & savoir-faire around game parks.  Don’t know how any camp will measure up to Tubu Tree.  Board plane, bracing myself slightly but not so scared of flight after chat w/ Alan.  12 passengers going to/from various camps on board.  Pilot gives pre-flight instrucs.  Mentions “comfort bag” in front of each seat.  Euphemisms never cease, do they?

Doing pretty well on way to Linyanti Marsh.  Only close eyes through ~ ½ trip as plane sways aboveground.  But woman next to me reaches for “comfort bag,” sticks head in.  Fear chain reaction, praying plane lands soon.  Prayer answered & turns out woman never needed to puke in comfort bag.

S. African guide named Ant picks us up on way to Savuti Camp, located @ confluence of Savuti Channel & Linyanti River.  B/f leaving Linyanti Marsh airstrip, Ant mentions has surprise for us.  Says we’ll be meeting special guest.  Gets on CB, asks colleague, “Is she still there?”  Colleague says, yes.  Ant says, “Can you tell us who we’re going to see?”

Julius and others answer, “Madonna?”  Even Ant says = reasonable guess in this phase of pop singer’s life but, “No,” he says, “Better than Madonna.”

Jeep pulls out, travels ~ 1 mi. over to brush, where lioness sleeps w/ her cub.  Snapping pix all around her, she doesn’t flinch.  Amazing how animals not in least intimidated by jeeps.

No natives greet us w/ song upon arrival @ camp, except for non-singing woman named Carrie, native Botswanan who’s whiter than I am.  Don’t know her story, except she says Afrikaans parents settled in Botswana ~ time of her birth & she’s never lived anywhere else.  Camp appears to be 3 Xs size Tubu Tree w/ log ramps gliding for city block in network of deluxe cabins.

Staff takes us to common area, overlooking Savuti channel, where few dozen guests from America & Europe congregate, drinking Iced Tea, munching on lemon cookies & baklava.  We sign indemnity form like we did @ Tubu Tree, tho don’t fear mortal injury since having experienced no incidents when driving right up to wild animals.  Woman who was about to use comfort bag has just arrived, finds me, introduces herself as Jane from Seattle; says I looked ready to grab my comfort bag too.  I deny it.

Our cabin looks out on to Linyanti River, which reflects moss-green marshes & weeping willows.  2 Xs big as Tubu Tree cabin.  Canopied bed w/ mosquito netting, looks like accessory in sultry moment in old French-Indochina, tho danger of mosquitoes this time of year = minimal.  (Mosquitoes = annoying in America but often disease-ridden in Africa.)  Open shower on concrete floor.  Must keep valuables in safe, tho.  No danger of thieves, but squirrels get in through slats & gnaw thru bags.

Afternoon Safari

Before embarking on afternoon safari, I have a chat w/ guide-trainee from neighboring village named Tony.  Says being accepted to guide program = competitive.  Out of the 4 applicants, only 2 made it.  Tony obviously hasn’t experienced NYC-style competitive.  He must be ~ 19 yrs old.  Farthest outside Botswana he’s been = Zimbabwe.  Wants so much to go to America.

Says will lose most of $ to $-changers when comes to exchanging Botswanan pula for US dollars.

In jeep w/ 3 people from D.C. – Frank, Ann, Mike.  Frank = lawyer, Mike’s friend.  Mike = lawyer, Ann’s husband.  Ann = lawyer-cum-executive coach.  Ask re: her practice.  Says focuses heavily on Myers-Brigg.  I’m an INFJ.  She’s the opposite – an ESTP.  We spend rest of ride discussing theories of personality.

See leopard, rhinos, jackals, elephants, wildebeest (stay hunched all day long).  Most engaging of all, tho, our jeep & 2 other jeeps pull up to lions feasting on buffalo:

Pix snapping all around them & couldn’t care less.

Then there were the hippos.  They can dunk their heads under water for 8 to 10 minutes at a time:

And the Savuti sunset:

Dinner

Buffet-style dinner @ Savuti.  Hummus w/ pita, beef stew, chicken, pork dishes (latter I ignore).  Drinking hulking glass of Merlot.  Sit w/ Ann & husband Mike.

Discuss Bernie Madoff.  How could he get away w/ it for so long?  His sons turned him in.  Why?  Was it family arrangement?  Madoff taking whole sentence to clear rest of family?  Another Botswanan guide named Chet hasn’t heard news.  Wants to know who Madoff is & what he did.

Seems shocked that one can make so much $ in America like America.  Talks about how he wants to come to America, just like Tony.  Some former guests from LA invited Chet.  He’s saving up.

Meet Loku, a camp employee from just outside Sheffield, England (birth name: Nick).  Comes up in conversation he doesn’t understand American obsession w/ always having to get more degrees/letters after one’s name.  Turns out, tho, he graduated from Oxford.  After college, went to work in mktng dept of London Times.  Couldn’t’ve been more miserable, so logged on to Internet to look up jobs in Africa.  Found NGO that worked to preserve rhino population of Africa.  After lil back-&-forth, found himself on plane bound for Botswana & got job.  In course of working there, he met people @ various camps, who asked him to help out w/ some work here & there.  Work accumulated to the point where Savuti asked him to come on staff.  Been in Botswana 13 yrs, doesn’t know what’s next & doesn’t care too much.

So nice to meet successful rat-race refugee.  Julius & I drink champagne w/ him till about midnight, talking about favorite areas of London & naughty things that naughty Brits get up to.  Too stunned by Botswana’s beauty to discuss it right now.

August 27, 2009 – Savuti Camp, Botswana

Lunch

Let Julius go ahead w/o me on morning safari.  Wrote journals, read Elegance of Hedgehog instead.  Saw squirrel in cabin.  Don’t mind.  Just want make sure it has way out, don’t want going crazy & tearing things up w/ sharp lil claws.  @ lunch, jump in jeep w/ Loku.  Driving out to lunch site miles away.  Had to change lunch site @ last minute.; herd of elephants showed up & might upset balance b/t man & nature if we sat @ tables & ate w/ them.

Loku says China ~ dominant in world economy.  Chinese taking over Africa.  Telling local governments they’ll build hospitals, schools & highways in exchange for land.  Many questions if they’re making good on their part of the bargain.  America’s economy still in recession, tho.  Is America a crumbling empire?  We discuss, don’t know, maybe.  Whatever happens, our old way of doing business = untenable.  Both applaud ourselves for eschewing corporate culture.

As we speak, herd of elephants marches into a gigantic mud puddle to our left.  2 are young & injured.  Both have severed trunks & bandied legs.  Hyenas probably got them.  Loku has seen them out here before, didn’t think they’d last this long.  Older elephants form circle around them, feed them branches & leaves from trees, ensure safety in herd.

Several elephants roll around in mud, let it bake on to their hides in sun.

Loku & I drive to new picnic site.  Others pull up in jeeps, including Julius.  Lunch buffet much same as yesterday, except for addition of beef kebabs, chickpeas, & omelet option.  Again, I opt for St. Louis Lager.  Julius & I sit @ end of table.  As we eat & talk to many of the other 20 or so guests, the elephant herd from mud puddle crosses over hills & marches w/i only a dozen or so yards of us.

The matriarch sounds her trunk-horn.  Trees shake.  Sensing we’re just picnickers, not hunters, she gives signal to our guide Ant that we’ll get along fine as long as we stay on our side of the mud lake next to us.  10 or so elephants tumble into mud, roll around, frolic, stand in sun.  Avoiding incident, we clear away from table, give them space.  No incident.  Herd goes about its business, takes last stand in sun, & walk over to other hill, injured young in tow.

Series continues with Part Five: Johannesburg

There is a lot to learn from this lesson………..

There is a legend of a woman who had a faithful dog. This dog was so faithful that the woman could leave her baby with it and go out to attend other matters. She always returned to find the child soundly asleep with the dog faithfully watching over him.

One day something tragic happened.

The woman as usual, left the baby in the “hands” of this faithful dog and went out shopping. When she returned, she discovered rather a nasty scene. There was a total mess. The baby ‘ s cot was dismantled and his nappies and clothes torn to shreds with bloodstains all over the bedroom where she had left the child and the dog. Shocked, the woman wailed as she began looking for the baby.
Presently, she saw the faithful dog emerging from the under the bed. It was covered with blood and licking its mouth as if it had just finished a delicious meal.

The woman went berserk and assumed that the dog had devoured her baby. Without much thought she clubbed the dog to death.
But as she continued searching for the “remains” of her child, she beheld another scene. Close to the bed was the baby who, although lying on bare floor, was safe. And under the bed the carcass of a jackal torn to pieces, in what must have been a fierce battle between it and the dog, which was now dead.
Then the reality hit the woman who now began to understand what took place in her absence. The dog fought to protect the baby from the ravenous jackal.
It was too late for her now to make amends because in her impatience and anger, she had killed the faithful dog.

How often have we misjudged people and torn them to shreds with harsh words and even with physical assault before we have had time to evaluate the situation? A little patience can drastically reduce major life long errors.

Treasure those in your life, friends and family, for we never know what lies ahead and what “misjudgments” could cost you your happiness or the happiness of your loved ones!!

Rock water is the base remedy for any type of protection against ragging, violence etc, as you would not be harmed or hurt then. It gives total protection against physical harm. If it’s with us, then no body can hurt us.

For ragging give the following remedies:

• Rock water (against physical assault)
• Centaury as she can’t say no
• Rock Rose gives quick mental reflex and extraordinary presence of mind, and an ordinary man will become an extra ordinary person
• Mimulus – you won’t have fear

If you take the above Bach Flower Remedies, then nobody can rag you then.

In a number of offices, women are finding it difficult to work as there is pressure (amorous glances) from men folks. They are neither able to tell others. This combination will work for them too. As a social service write the remedies in a piece of paper and give it to them.

This will be useful to go alone to a shop during late evenings.

Safety during Travel

Protect yourself with Magam (pray to this star), the animal spirit guide Jackal, and Travel Pack (a combination of remedies). Jackal is a protector by all means – physical, mental and spiritual. It will protect you for sure.

I have started a new trilogy lately that is the Jackal Trilogy. It takes place in the world of the battletoads but there are a ton of new characters in this comic including Jackal, Gemarken, Stigma, The Triplets and others too! The 3 Comics will be called: Jackal’s Terror, Jackal’s Servants, & Jackal’s End. Here is Jackal’s Terror! Remember to click on the image if you can’t read it (which I imagine you won’t be able to)!

Just to let you know Master Ching was not killed that was just his illusion that was actually nightmare. BTW I am actually in Master Ching Wars just nearing the end of Season 5! Gubs!

Mahav National Park is one of the jewels in the state of Madhya Pradesh located in the Shivpuri district in Gwalior region. The National park comprises of 156 sq. km. The park was the hunting ground for ancient kings in olden days; today it is a protected area. The National Park is a storehouse for wide varieties of animal and plant life. The right time to visit Madhav National Park is from October to February. A four wheeler drive is unavoidable in the rough terrain of Madhav National Park. The jungle safari can give a bird’s eye view on the wildlife treasures in the National Park. There are wide varieties of animals and birds like, Indian gazelle, chinkara, wild boar, leopard, four-horned antelope, jackal, sambar, sloth bear, tiger, monkey, blackbuck etc.

The National Park is near to Gwalior, hence the easiest means of travel will be by air. Gwalior airport and Jhansi Railway stations are close by. There are several hotels and resorts near the destination.

No. Side-striped jackals.

Source.

They have white tail tips. In fact, as far as I know, all of them have this white-tail tip.

The narrator says they look like wolves. I think they lo0k like coyotes.

Communication > Language

JACKAL - Mabuasehube Game Reserve, Botswana

My interpretation:
While language has its place, communication transcends it.

Quotes to consider:
“Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.” – T.S.Eliot
“The most important things are the hardest to say, because words diminish them.” – Stephen King
“The fish trap exists because of the fish. Once you’ve gotten the fish you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit. Once you’ve gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words exist because of their meaning. Once you’ve got the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find someone who has forgotten words so I can talk with him or her?” – Chuang Tzu

What are your thoughts on this image and/or topic?

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(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

89.) Cynocephaly
-noun singular

a.) The condition of having the head of a dog or jackal.*

b.) (medical) Craniostenosis in which the skull slopes back from the orbits.

[Origin: From the Greek kyon, meaning "dog," and kephalos, meaning " head."]

*Quite a propos as we enter the “dog days” of summer, typically the hottest of the year, when Sirius, the dog-star has risen, and when most saints, Gods, or heroes associated with cynocephaly, have their feasts and holidays.

It was a cool, cloudy morning here and then the rain came.  The clouds would get really dark and the rain poured down for a few minutes.  Then the clouds cleared for a short time, only to come back and repeat the dark clouds and pouring rain.  This happened several times yesterday and it is continuing all day today by the looks of things.  It did get up to 18C this afternoon, but tomorrow and Saturday are looking very similar according to the forecast 

It wasn’t raining when the dogs and I took our morning walk – but we did not see anything of interest either.

Africam was pretty busy at Nkorho this morning. I opened the cam to find a Slender Mongoose hunting in the rocks that protect the water pipe from the elephants (sometimes).

Slender Mongoose

Slender Mongoose

He caught a couple of  somethings and had a nice feast while we were watching him.

The mongoose was barely out of sight when a Jackal entered our view.

Black Backed Jackal

He was followed by a herd of Impalas.

Impalas

and them some Zebras, including a sweet baby.

Zebra with Impala in background

thirsty Zebras

Zebra Mom with Baby

It is obvious there is a baby Zebra on the other side of mom, and then she moved out of the way to show us her baby.

Baby Zebra

Then I heard that Wild Earth had found Induna the Leopard, so I loaded up that cam too. Did I really expect to get my chores done today??

Induna

I did manage to get my grocery shopping done between rain showers.  Weeding the flower bed was scratched off the list due to the wet conditions.  The worst part of the dining room floor got washed and I’ll work on more of that later.  I took pictures of Jewel, because it is her 13th hatch date tomorrow. 

Jewel

Jewel's Tail

(From Multi Dimensional Healing June 27 Workshop)

Life Situational Remedies

Conflict Situations

You want to resolve a conflict; you want peace and harmony to prevail, but don’t have it – whenever we want something then it means we lack that.

When there is a conflict and misunderstanding then call upon Chimpanzee and affirm, “Please solve this misunderstanding for me”. It will heal the situation for you.

Call Blue Whale, for any type of conflict.

We always have problems and quarrels – either with somebody in the family or on the road. To have no problems inside your family call upon Blue Whale and Chimpanzee.

Wolf

Wolf is an all-rounder

Wolf equals help. You can call it anytime and for anything. Chitra went for eye treatment to Kerala. It’s a new place to her. She had no accommodation reserved in her name. So she prayed to Wolf, “Get me the accommodation”. Within few hours she got an excellent accommodation that se didn’t dream of.

If you call upon Wolf, even when you travel by plane you could take more luggage than allowed.