FREE!!!

Hey, watch out town hall organizers, this guy is out:

Wilpon's May Be Forced To Sell Mets

The owners of the New York Mest, the Wilpon family, may be forced to sell the New York Mets after Fred Wilpon was suckered by Bernard Madoff:

It has been suggested the sale of the team is almost certain.

Madoff, himself a Mets fan, defrauded Fred Wilpon and thousands of others in his Ponzi scam.

It has been speculated that the New York Mets club is worth around $850 million.

Dems Begin Sanford Ads In South Carolina

1928 Ford pick up

I love old cars and trucks. I guess it's a nostalgia thing when life was a bit more simple and you could actually work on your own car. No computers, fuel injection, power steering or brakes. Everything just mechanical and it worked just fine, thanks. My brother owned a 1930 Ford two door Cabriolet when he was in high school and it was great fun. When he graduated he joined the Coast Guard and let his friend "take care of it until he came back". His friend was a dumb shit and totaled it while speeding down a hill. Man was I mad (so was my brother). So this is a little watercolor to remember the good old days.
Watercolor 8 1/2" X 11 1/2" matted to 11" X 14" if you would like to purchase this please contact me.

Saban Signs 3-Year Extension

Alabama football coach Nick Saban has signed a 3-year contract extension with the Crimson Tide, making him the head coach through 2017:

"Terry and I are pleased and happy that the University of Alabama has offered us an extension to our original contract," Saban said, referring to his wife. "Our acceptance of the extension expresses our commitment to the University of Alabama for the rest of our coaching career."

In two seasons, Saban has led the Crimson Tide to a 19-8 record, including a 12-2 record last season that earned a Southeastern Conference Western Division title, a trip to the Sugar Bowl and a final ranking of sixth.

***Note: doesn't Saban look like he's dancing like the bowler from The Big Lebowski in the photo above:

The Big Lebowski-Bob Dylan-the man in me- sélectionné dans Clips

Excerpts From Obama's Euology

Kennedy Memoir Set For Sept. 14

Senator Ted Kennedy's memoir, entitled True Compass, is set to be published Septemper 14:

[Kennedy] kept a personal journal for almost 50 years, beginning with his brother John F. Kennedy's 1960 campaign. In 2004, he started a five-year, comprehensive oral history at the University of Virginia. And for the past two years, he had been writing a confessional autobiography... He completed it this year.

For his own work, the Senator was certainly looking beyond a publishing success; his literary efforts were made for posterity. Now, sadly, they'll be posthumous as well.

Pre-order the book HERE.

Heart of Darkness

OK, maybe that title's a bit of an exagerration, but my first trip into the jungle, to take pictures of the vegetation, was still an eye opening experience. One day while I was still sick, Ben left me alone on the island for a few hours with very little food or water, and no insect repellent, probably hoping i would die. Although i needed a great deal of water due to being sick i wished more for insect repellent. I didn't have a problem with any ticks or large flying insects, but these sneaky little no-see-um type insects ate me up. Returning home i had dozens of bites on each of my appendages.


Although the rocky sunset picture is getting a lot of attention, this is my personal favorite from the trip. It looks great at a large size.

Inside the jungle it is ungodly humid, and I sweated more on that island than anywhere I’ve ever been. My equipment kept sliding out of my hands because I was sweating so much. There are insects crawling around on almost everything. You don’t really notice it until you stop and try to find somewhere to sit or kneel (as i often was doing) while you rummage around in a pack. Then you see huge frightening spiders wearing gloves, cute leaf cutter ants, and everything in between. I was reminded of Survivorman (the Costa Rica episode). It's pretty much exactly like that, except Costa Rica is a bit drier with the appearance of cacti as part of the flora. What i remembered about that particular episode, was how Les seemed close to freaking out once he saw how the the whole ground started crawling around at night. After that he moved to the beach.



As the days went by, the weather was almost too good. Ben got obsessed with sunset pictures, for which you need at least a few clouds. Each day we stayed on the island until shortly after the sun was gone so we could be sure not to miss a good sunset image.



One of those evenings, about 15 minutes after sunset, Ben had been boating at a high speed through some rather rough seas for the size of his boat. I didn’t like it because the last time I had been in that exact type of situation I ended up with two broken teeth (during a violent thunderstorm in a canyon of Lake Powell). At some point Jerrod exclaimed that there was an awful lot of water in the back of the boat. I turned around to see every single item behind me floating as if in a bathtub. Ben immediately cut the power, which caused a big wave to wash all those floating objects forward to the front of the boat, knocking against everything. As the wave settled the boat suddenlylooked halfway underwater. We even had to turn the engine off because it was mostly submerged. Acting very quickly, Jarrod emptied out some small coolers and began furiously bailing. I looked around. It was getting dark at this point. The rolling waves were half black, their shoulders midnight blue with highlights of peach and vermilion flickering across their crests as they rolled by.



The boat had a swimming pool of sloshing water in it. Water was threatening to come over the back. Although Jerrod was bailing very quickly, it was still taking an impossibly long time for the water level to go down. I began eyeballing the uninhabited islands that were nearby, stars appearing over the trees. I was seriously frightened for a minute or two, but then it hit me that I was not on a sinking boat in Alaska, where I would surely die. No, I was “luckily” on a sinking boat next to the equator, and even if I was too weak to swim half a mile to the nearest island I could float around in a life jacket all night and not get hypothermia. Whew! I felt so much better after that revelation.


One of the nearby islands with a very nice beach.


As you move in from the beach the trees grow horizontally towards the sea and sun. Some of the branches were half buried in the sand.

From there the trees change to a more vertical orientation and you come across a variety of palms.

The engine no longer wanted to run, but by moving slowly, and with frequent breaks for bailing to keep the engine above the water, we eventually made it to the dock under the cover of darkness (there were no lights on the boat). After showering and some dinner we returned to the dock to try and figure out what the problem was. Ben claimed he just had a poor bilge pump, but every one's got a bad bilge pump and I’d never seen so much water accumulate so continuously in a boat.




Once deeper inside the palm type plants disappear and a high jungle canopy emerges with old growth prehistoric looking trees.

The hosts of the lodge came down to offer assistance and in a little time it seemed clear that the water was coming from inside the hull. The boat was indeed sinking and needed to be removed from the water. We all walked up the dock then down to the pebble beach, and dragged Ben’s boat out of the water. I couldn't help notice how, even as they waded out into the ocean with flashlights, the number of stars in the sky was astounding for a place so humid.

Since it was low tide Ben and Jerrod had to take turns waking up every hour to go down and pull the boat farther on shore. The next morning we took it to a nearby mechanic. Once out of the water it was easy to see that the hull was cracked. From that point on we had to rely entirely on Cesar for our transportation. Cesar is the son of one of the local lodge owners. He grew up in Bermuda, went to college in Florida and is now living a pretty alternative lifestyle as a young man in the back country of Panama. He had a nice boat and if just dropping us off for an hour at at time he spent his time offshore fishing. As you can see below it was pretty roomy.

In addition to sunset pictures, Ben wanted some pictures of the Howler Monkeys that live on Palenque. I wanted to see some too, and even though we could hear them we didn't have any luck actually finding any until the end of the very last day. We spent quite some time looking for them in the high forest but the ones we eventually found were far out on a peninsula ridge top above the beach.



Some of these monkeys may have had no human contact until a few months ago. They were very upset about our presence and began aggressive posturing and howling. Silly monkeys, we weren't scared at all, and that fact deeply disturbed them. Although we never acted the least bit aggressive or antagonistic, they were visibly worried and became shy, climbing higher into the trees.







We were on a newly cut trail on a narrow high ridge, and the tree they were in was rooted on the side of the steep hill. Although this made it easier for us to see into the higher branches of the tree, it also meant i was limited to moving just forward or backward a few feet on the trail. Every time i got a view of them they would try to move behind something else so i couldn't see them directly.

We found them so late in the day that, like everything else, i had very little time, to try and get a shot before Jerrod made us head back to the boat to leave. It was very cool though, especially since we saw a baby monkey with it's mother. Also, although it doesn't show in the pictures, they were situated on a hill right over the beach. They had a great view of the ocean from where they were, and it was fun to imagine that they might sometimes venture down to the water.


The monkeys were on that distant ridge at the far left.

Palenque was a great adventure for me. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have been a tiny part of it. It's the closest to the equator i've ever been, the first time i've seen wild monkeys up close, the first time i've been in a country whose residents consider themselves closer to being Brazilian in culture than Latin American. In the coming years a world class resort will slowly take shape on the island and i look forward to going back sometime when it it completed.

The developer, Amble, has grand plans for the island. You can find far more details about the resort and the islands wildlife, history and the area in general at The Resort at Isla Palenque.


For me, this was the end of a wild adventure, but for Ben, Gerrod and Cesar it was just the end of a typical day of work.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Mike and Rebecca who recently became engaged. We had a photo shoot down at Lake Eerie a few weeks ago and while it was very sunny (and thus squinty) we produced some good engagement shots for them. Look for wedding photos next summer!

Obama Hysteria

La tetona de Limonada 'Markos' - Fotos de Patricia Neglia

place commercial here (parte 4): el purgante de rico sabor


Comercial de Limonada "Markos"
La verdad que luego de haber visto esta propaganda 10 veces seguidas me han dado unas ganas jodidas de ir corriendo a comprar la limonada "de rico sabor", y tomármela completita, "de preferencia heladita", como si fuera un refresquito o una gaseosita, pero no precisamente porque el comercial me haya atorado la tripa y la guata (aunque tal vez), ni tampoco por la curiosidad de experimentar a-qué-mierda-sabrá-esta-huevada, sino principalmente porque a un riquísimo par de tetas como ese jamás podría decirle que no, tanto que si la furcia del comercial me diera ahorita mismo un vaso con cicuta, pichi o racumín, me lo tomaría seco, volteado y sin preguntar. Así de traicionera es la arrechura (eso es algo que tú, estimado lector pajero, sabes de ley). Sí que se pasó de pendejo el tal Markos, hay que ser bien basura para atacar a la gente por su lado más débil y vulnerable: el morbo. No por nada su comercial es, hoy por hoy, el de más fácil recordación. La hizo linda el maricón. Tras verse en la necesidad de prescindir de los servicios de una agencia de publicidad y de un adecuado equipo de producción, se lanzó él mismo a la realización del que se ha convertido en el mejor comercial de la década, casi llegando a alcanzar el alto listón dejado en los 90's por el memorable Mounstro en Computación.

Comercial Limonada 'Markos'

Escenografía: - Sala de departamento (acondicionada como baño para fines del caso) Materiales: - Cámara digital Miray 8Mp con función de video + memoria 1GB - Organo Casio (2 octavas y media) - Frasco de limonada Markos - Vaso - Cuchara Recursos humanos (pasarle la voz a...): - Luchito, el huachimán de la cuadra (improvisado cameraman a cambio de un menú y su Kola Real) - El "estreñido": vecino amanerado con cara de huevón - La "furcia": telefonazo a amiga calientapingas que esté dispuesta a enseñar las gomas

Si todas las propagandas fueran así, muchos prenderían el televisor sólo para ver los comerciales y cambiarían de canal al iniciar la programación habitual. Resulta ridículo que a estas alturas las grandes marcas inviertan un enorme presupuesto en producir campañas publicitarias estúpidas y sin sentido (como la del imbécil "Chacota"), así como otras tantas que en su defecto son de difícil recordación, cuando ha quedado demostrado, una vez más, que con unos cuantos soles se pueden lograr propagandas efectivas que a la vez puedan ser consideradas por la crítica nacional y extranjera como auténticas obras de arte.

Buscando material extra para complementar el post, encontré en el genial blog de Los Tumis un documento histórico cuyo original anhelo algún día poder tener entre manos, palpar su fina textura, oler detenidamente su aroma y, por qué no, degustar su rancio sabor: ni más ni menos que el storyboard del comercial de Limonada 'Markos', el mismo que podrán descargar en su versión digital haciendo clic aquí.

***

Al grano. Los lectores pajeros han entrado a este post sólo para ver carne, y eso es lo que les voy a dar. Si bien la flaca está rica, la verdad no me convence tanto de carabina, como que la veo un poquito malcriada, un aire a hembrita jugadora y fumonaza; y hasta puede que algunos digan que sus pechos han sido pagados con el sudor de sus nalgas, y sí, quizás eso y más, pero de momento es lo que hay.
La tetona del comercial de Limonada 'Markos' se llama Patricia Neglia, tiene 27 años, vive en la cuadra 45 de la Av. La Marina y trabaja como anfitriona, degustadora y modelo de comerciales. No quiero ser canalla, pero de calientapingas esta flaca solo tiene la cara, ya que en el ambiente farandulero es conocida por haber tenido su sancochado con el veterano productor de televisión Luis Carrizales Stoll (ver foto), sin mencionar su kilometraje acumulado en los tonos de música electrónica de la discoteca 'Home' allá por el año 2003. Toda una joya.


Galería de fotos de Patricia Neglia


 
 

Resulta paradójico que Purgante Markos auspicie "A primera hora", el noticiario matutino conducido por Aldo Mariátegui, un tipo que se pasa la vida hablando mierda y escribiendo sus columnas en el baño. Si se quiere hacer el pendejo primero que se cambie ese peinado de huevón.

Bonus Track
En este comercial de Isaac Kola, Patricia Neglia nos muestra las bondades de la silicona, la leche Gloria y el aceite de avión.


Patricia Neglia - Comercial Isaac Kola

Y para cerrar con broche de oro, el clásico afiche ferretero.


Ahora sí, sin huevadas. Próximo post: Clelia Francesconi.


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Spirituality and Music: Matisyahu, "One Day."

I happened upon the music of Matisyahu by chance when he first hit the scene and immediately fell in love with his style. It's fresh, original, hip and very catchy. His style is an exceptional hybrid of reggae, rap, beat-box, hip-hop and rock. There is something there to his music, however, besides amazing talent and a unique sound, which I quickly figured out--He has a deep passion for the music, which stems in large part from a deep well of spiritual energy.

Matis is a Hasidic Jew who mixes positive, uplifting messages about Jewish and other spirituality into his songs. The spiritual messages he infuses into his music are very universal so that despite not being Jewish or even monotheistic I really connect with it on a profound level. One such song is from Matisyahu's new album, "Light" and it's titled, "One Day." Anyway, below the video box I've typed out some of the lyrics that I like most from this song about peace, love and non-violence. If the video is disabled click here for the link to the video:

sometimes in my tears I drown
but I never let it get me down
so when negativity surrounds
I know some day it'll all turn around
because
all my live I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
for the people to say
that we don't wanna fight no more
they'll be no more wars and our children will play
one day

it's not about
win or lose
because we all lose when they feed on the souls of the innocent blood drenched pavement
keep on moving though the waters stay raging
in this maze you can lose your way (your way)
it might drive you crazy but dont let it faze you no way (no way)

one day this all will change
treat people the same
stop with the violence
down with the hate
one day we'll all be free
and proud to be under the same sun
singing songs of freedom

James: Music can provide inspiration to see the world, the day or one's life in an entirely different way. Sounds are some of the most effective ways of conveying spirituality because they touch a place deep within our essence that isn't always accessible by words alone. A lot of times too the essence of words can be lost in translation from one language to another but the sounds themselves cross all boundaries, barriers and cultures. It can inspire us toward great heights of being, doing and seeing.

In addition, music is a great way to relax and prepare for meditation but it is also a very good meditation by itself. I have sat down to listen to music with an angry or depressed mood only to have it lifted and calmed through meditating on the beautiful sounds of a song. So don't forget to use music to help you explore your states of mind and consciousness. It's important to take time in our busy lives to stop, listen and enjoy some good music to help us release less helpful energy and replace it with a rejuvenating feeling.

~Peace to all beings~

Chuck Norris: Vote For Roy Moore Or I Will Fight You

Star of the reality show 'Walker-Texas Ranger' Chuck Norris has endorsed Roy Moore for Governor of Alabama:

Norris has endorsed Judge Roy Moore in his run for governor of Alabama in 2010. Norris also endorsed two other gubernatorial candidates in Ohio and Iowa.

"Roy's resume reads like a 'Who's Who' of American life and justice: from private practice to District Attorney then circuit judge and chief justice," said Norris. "Roy Moore's awesome autobiographical manifesto "So Help Me God!" is a must read for any patriot."

If you vote for Roy Moore, Chuck Norris just might let you live.

"LIberal Lion", Kennedy Dead At The Age Of 77

An era has come to an end, as the last of Joeseph Kennedy's boys succumbed to a brain tumor and died at the age of 77:

Kennedy was first elected to the Senate in 1962, at the age of 30, and his tenure there would span four decades.

[Kennedy] ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 1979 against incumbent President Jimmy Carter.

Political analyst Mark Shields said Kennedy's "concerns were national concerns, but his forum for achieving his ends and changing policy, became the Senate. And he mastered it like nobody else I've ever seen."

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair called Kennedy "a true public servant committed to the values of fairness, justice and opportunity."

Britain gave Kennedy an honorary knighthood earlier this year.

A sad day.

Quick Reaction To The Alabama Gubernatorial Forum

1. - Artur Davis was by far the most seasoned candidate.
2. - Bradley Byrne was not as good as I expected, but better than his GOP brethren.
3. - Tim James is still a complete idiot.
4. - Roy Moore probably has a job as a Baptist preacher when this is over.
5. - Bob Bentley is a typical Senator running for any office, knowledgeable but boring.
6. - Bill Johnson really wants that far right vote.
7. - The online stream of this event sucked really bad!!!

They are supposedly going to have an "on-demand" stream available later, so if you missed it go HERE and wait.

Earth: The Pale Blue Dot.

Concerning what Buddhism thinks toward the universe the Buddha has said, “It is so large that it has no exterior, and so small that it has no interior.” “It means that at the Tathagata level, in terms of largeness, you can’t see the edge of the universe, and in terms of smallness, you can’t see the smallest microscopic particle of matter."

James: Whenever this perspective comes into focus it always humbles and reassures me that the bigger picture of reality is unfolding as it should. How could it not be unfolding at it should for we don't have much control over anything let alone our fate in the unfathomable totally of the Universe. We have learned a lot as a species but we still probably don't even know a tenth of what the Universe is about and we will most likely never know. Perhaps that's the way it is meant to be because how can something so immense and ever changing ever be pinned down and completely understand by a mind, which we know is flawed to begin with? Catching up to the consciousness of this vast experiment is in my view a glimpse into the state of parinirvana, which in totality is impossible to grasp until, (it seems to this humbled mind) until one no longer longs to grasp at all. Perhaps we'll "know" it when our desire to know is exhausted.

How lucky to have been born on this pale blue dot of dust hurtling through the vast expanse of a living Universe at all? How even luckier is it then to have been born as a human with the ability to understand that we're living on a pale, isolated blue dot of dust hurtling through the vast expanse of a living, breathing Universe!! And that on this pale blue dot once walked a man called Buddha who changed this dot forever. Whole civilizations of ants live and die generation after generation with no knowledge whatsoever that they live on such a miracle of a rock floating and spinning around a bright, giant, star of nuclear reactivity.

We can try to act like we are in control with our super smart, fast computers but in the totality of it all those are just blimps on a inconceivably massive time line. We're along for the ride so while pursuing science and looking beyond our current limitations is something we should always pursue we need to remember the less flashy parts of the puzzle. Black holes, red dwarfs, spiral galaxies and massive, multi-colored planets are enthralling and awe inspiring to be sure but so is the most delicate, humblest blade of grass that we often pass as we rush our way across this pale blue dot. Some of the most amazing moments in existence don't take place in a lab, aren't seen through the lens of a telescope or measured with the most high-tech satellite. As my master Thich Nhat Hanh says:

“I like to walk alone on country paths, rice plants and wild grasses on both sides, putting each foot down on the earth in mindfulness, knowing that I walk on the wondrous earth. In such moments, existence is a miraculous and mysterious reality. People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child--our own two eyes. All is a miracle...

James: I am content to just be apart of it all and to share a few spins around the sun with you all on this miracle rock called, Earth. That makes me smile.

~Peace to all beings~

Sunset in London

I found I was getting too tight with my painting and decided to get as loose as I could with this one. This was done with a palette knife, popcicle stick and index finger. A photo from our trip to London was the inspiration. 10" X 8" oil on canvas panel.
If you would like to own this painting email me at toonsville@comcast.net SOLD

Boga Julio Rodríguez hará sexo oral a fan de gorda Palacios

... propuesta indecente


Abogado Julio Rodríguez recibe saludos de televidente
"Buenas noches, quería decirle al abogado, y creo que todos los televidentes opinan igual que yo, que me puede MAMAR LOS HUEVOS Y CHUPAR LA PINGA... ¡así es!".
* próximamente disponible en ringtone

Qué rica es mi televisión nocturna, los 90s están de vuelta y ya hasta ni provoca salir de casa. Tenía preparado un buen post para esta fría noche de invierno, pero voy a tener que retenerlo al menos un par de días más debido a que hubiese sido un verdadero crimen si dejaba pasar la oportunidad de publicar hoy el delicioso manjar que han podido degustar líneas atrás.

Según las malas lenguas, que siempre tienen razón, este tinterillo Julito Rodríguez tiene fama de ser tremendo cabrazo, tanto que en los círculos del derecho penal se le conoce sólo porque le encanta comer a diario su pan con pescado. Por si fuera poco, el mismo Ariel Bracamonte lo ningunea cuando quiere, habiéndolo dejado en ridículo varias veces en el tete-a-tete, al punto que da la impresión que Ariel fuera el abogado y Julito un payaso improvisado. A esta pobre imitación de leguleyo le dicen de todo en su cara pelada y el puta ni se inmuta, tan solo se limita a bajar la mirada como si con él no fuera la cosa, para terminar repitiendo como huevón su veintiúnica estrategia de defensa: "estamos entrando nuevamente al plano de la suposición", eso sin mencionar sus frecuentes contradicciones y posteriores rectificaciones. Las lesbis han jugado recontra mal sus fichas contratando a este cagado, mejor hubieran llamado al cabecero de Nakasaki o al huevas tristes de Camacho Perla, igual perdían por goleada pero al menos les salía gratis la "coraza" (si es que en este caso puede existir algo así).
Hablando de las "defendidas", Eva Bracamonte Fefer podrá haber matado a su madre, podrá tener cara de mala, granitos en la frente y una voz raspona típica de quien se fuma sus ricos cigarrillos chinos todos los santos días del Señor (encima que no se le entiende un carajo cuando habla), pero igual está como para meterle un viaje y hacerle todas las mañoserías posibles que una mente depravada pueda imaginar. Eso sí, con la hombruna Liliana Castro Mannarelli no me metería ni con 3 rones encima. La verdad que me da miedo porque tiene una cara de cabrona bien brava, del tipo de esas que nacen con tetas, pinga y bigote, una ganapán achorada que hasta hace 3 años era conocida solo por los paqueteros de Torrepa, convertida hoy, por esas vueltas del destino, en Gerente General de Inmobiliaria Sideral (aunque así como van las cosas, supongo que no por mucho tiempo más).

Para finalizar, quisiera darle las gracias al tortugón de 'Prensa Libre' que filtró la llamada ganadora, básicamente por el buen rato que me ha hecho pasar. Rosa María Palacios me llega al pincho, entre otras cosas, porque se pica con facilidad y porque alza la voz cada vez que cree tener la razón, es decir, siempre. Hace rato que quería verla en esta situación, su cara de "uy-qué-chucha-acabo-de-escuchar" es impagable (ver foto que cierra el post). De seguro que al pobre operador lo deben haber botado a patadas del canal, pero no hay mal que por bien no venga, pues puede ir a pedirle chamba al Pelao Cabeza de Pinga que amenaza con volver pronto a las pantallas de RBC Televisión por su dosis diaria de sufrimiento y dolor. Allí no solo va a afinar la puntería sino que se va a divertir como mierda... porque en la vida, al fin y al cabo, eso es lo único que cuenta.


Momento preciso en que televidente reclama su respectiva mamila
- La cara de Rosa María Palacios lo dice todo -

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Haiku Heaven.

I recommend listening to each video for a few minutes to relax and center yourself before reading each corresponding haiku below it. Trust me, it's worth it. Also, try turning up the volume for a more realistic experience:

crashing thunder roars
rain drops softy rush downward
tan leaf floats rapids


clear shimmering stream
gurgles bamboo wind chime song
veiled destination


jungle leaves pulse green
natural orchestra plays
enjoy being lost

-Haiku by James R. Ure

~Peace to all beings~

CREDIT: Hiyeizan Temple, Kyoto, Japan by Okinawa Soba

Isla Palenque

Palenque is over 200 miles from Panama City. The island at over 400 acres has 5 miles of shoreline and 3 beaches. It has a variety of terrain, with a lot of nice equatorial jungle canopy, palm groves, brine swamps, a few large hills and some kind of open grassland from some small farms that happened years ago. People lived on it in Pre-Columbian times and possibly even earlier than that. Today, the island supports a rich array of wildlife in the surrounding ocean as well as on land, including monkeys and jungle cats.


In this image we are flying towards Palenque over the small island at the far right in the next photo. However, this image was taken earlier in the morning.

The Northwest area of the country is already a popular tourist destination for the Panamanians. The coastline explodes into an archipelago of small tropical islands with beautiful beaches. From those islands one can look back toward land and see high mountains obscured by clouds in the distance. Often times sweating in the boat, i would gaze up at those mountains and wish i was there instead. I found that surprising. There i was, in a tropical paradise, wishing i could go up into the cold mountains, where you could die from hypothermia. Ahh that would be great. I guess Alaska has definitely changed my tolerances over the years, especially considering that i grew up in a climate not too far removed from tropical.


You can see half of Panama from this altitude. Palenque is in the center. In the distance high volcanoes that make up the spine of the country are hidden in clouds.


And in this image we are looking back at that smaller island at the far right in the photo above. Additionally, this is the same beach pictured in the title photo. The rocks in the bottom of this photo are the ones that stretch out into the water in the center of the first picture. The water level is different in the two images. Confused yet?

One day we did visit the mountains, very briefly. We drove up to Boquete, a mountain town (only about 35 miles from Costa Rica) famous for it's coffee. During the drive up we went through a very gradual rise, across flat expansive fields of high grass with black stone walls.

Boquete is famous for it's nice climate, and it's coffee. This windy hilltop was the first time i'd felt comfortable in a week.

Homes on the road up into the mountains. Notice the variety of coloring in the foliage.

Yo, this is the river. It runs down from the mountains and destroys all the bridges so you have to go a different way. I mean, it REALLY destroys the bridges. The cliff on the right side was hexagonal basalt. I like this river. It's angry but not so big in the dry season.

At some point i put everything together and realized that the entire region was created through volcanics. The islands out in the ocean appeared be be volcanic rock, possibly remnants of old flows from the land (although i did find some old pillow lava, created underwater). The large fields were from a massive flow pouring from the higher summits, and the cliffs around Boquete were also basalt. It's no coincidence that above Boquete is the highest point in Panama, Volcan Baru. From the dormant volcano's summit it is possible to see both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. That's pretty cool.

Two of the many other islands. This one had cool wind blown trees on it with underlying rock that was volcanic in origin.

Ben is briefing the engineers on how the marina must be made of solid gold. I could tell they were good engineers when one of them mentioned that simply gold plating the shells of a bunch of tied together sea turtles would be cheaper, as sea turtles are a renewable resource.


The morning view from our breakfast table. You can see the long dock in the middle. We arrived and left at the long dock and had to walk up the steep hillside to get to the lodge. If you forgot something it sucked. But it's a nice view!

The view in the evening. This must have been while the engineers were visiting because after that we never got back until well after sunset.

I should mention that while i was in Panama i was terribly ill until the last day of the trip. I somehow manage to get sick every time i go to the tropics, but this time i managed to catch something on the flight from Seattle to Houston. By dinner of my first day in the city, i knew i was already screwed. I ended up with one of the worst colds i've ever had. The fact that it was actually making me nauseous and unable to eat, and causing cold sweats with goosebumps in the middle of the jungle, makes me think i either had a cold and then also came down with some other typical tropical illness, or i was the first person from the US to get swine flu. My first two days of going out to the island i was in the deepest part of this sickness. Fortunately we were spending most of our time on those days boating around with some engineers who were looking at the possible locations for a marina on the island.


A river delta that has formed in a sandbar, temporarily connecting Palenque to a larger island next to it. A large tropical storm could eradicate the area on the right.

I learned that Palenque was not entirely uninhabited. On one side of the island lives an old man and his wife. Menique has lived on the island since his youth, when he arrived to work as a servant for an old woman named Catalina. Menique was now something like 60 years old, but he's as badass as Charles Bronson.


Looks to me like a nice place to hang out. If there was a resort here, people would probably come.


Looking the other direction the beach continues on for a long distance after this rocky outcrop. We were at this beach nearly every day, as there was a work camp in the jungle here. Notice that some trees still lose their leaves in winter, even at the equator.

On the other side of the tree close to sunset. Cesar waits for us in the boat.

He lives in a kind of a shack house and I don't think that he can read or write, and is also uneducated about the outside world. If you showed him a computer he would have absolutely no idea what is, but he can survive on that island no problem. He fishes, grows a few crops and kills feral pigs which he then hangs up, skins, and eats. One day not so long ago he decided he needed a wife, so he got into his boat and went off to some town where he visited the bar. He returned soon after with a 30 year old wife. I'm telling you, he is badass.




Dozens of the islands in the archipelago are reachable by boat from Palenque.

A high tide island.

A big tree that hung off the cliffs on the beach. It hinted at what was in the jungle.

Although a resort is to be built on the island, part of the agreement on the use of the land was to allow Menique and his family to continue to live as they do. It is all they've ever known. Ben pays him to look over the crews of workers that were, at the time i was there, clearing out trails across the island. Apparently people listen to him. Maybe he threatens to cut their throats.

This was the smallest helicopter i've ever been in. I loved it. It was very maneuverable and light.

I almost forgot. The first photo on this page is an entry in the World in Focus photo contest. It's already in the top ten of the Peoples Choice contest, so if you feel like it head on over and vote. If i win that portion of the contest, i'll get a small.... Duffle Bag!!! You know how hard those are to come by????

Palenque has nice sunsets. The end of a days work.

Next time we head into the jungle....