Hub jazzman lights up his native Panama with fest
PANAMA CITY - It didn’t take Danilo Perez long to start laying the foundation long-distance for his Panama Jazz Festival when he moved several thousand miles north to Boston two decades ago. The proof of how spectacularly the pianist has succeeded could be found everywhere you turned in Panama City during the past several days. More than a few of those successes had a little help from his friends at New England Conservatory, UMass-Dartmouth and Berklee College of Music, who were on the scene teaching and playing. In this country better known for its canal than its jazz, banners on lampposts promoted the three-day event, the mayor proclaimed its importance to the city and well-wishers and autograph seekers stopped native son Perez on the street to thank him for this gem of a festival.
NEW YORK – (PRESS RELEASE) -- Survivor fans light your torches! Sportsbook.com is ready for the game to begin and has posted odds on all 16 castaways. Survivor Panama - Exile Island premieres Thursday, February 2 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. The 12th installment of Survivor promises to entertain with a new cast of intriguing characters. Aras Baskauskas, a 24 year old Yoga instructor from Santa Monica is the front runner at 5-1, while Terry Deitz, a 46 year old airline pilot and former Navy fighter pilot, and 45 year old Karate instructor Bruce Kanegai are close behind with 6-1 odds.
(CBS) In just about three weeks, you'll get to visit the tropical islands off the coast of Panama as 16 new castaways battle each other and Mother Nature for the $1 million top prize in 12th edition of the reality show "Survivor." This one is titled, aptly, "Survivor: Panama." Among this season's new twists is Exile Island, a small, desolate outpost where at least one castaway will be banished each week to fend for his or herself for an undetermined period of time. Another "survivor" first: The contestants will begin the competition split up into four tribes of four members each, divided along age and gender lines.
MIAMI - Five Christian missionaries ventured into the dense jungles of Ecuador, looking to reach the reclusive Waodani tribe known for its violent treatment of outsiders. The Americans arrived on a Friday. They were dead by Sunday. The killings in January 1956 shocked many in the United States, especially after images of the dead men were displayed in a Life magazine spread. But the story didn't end there. In a turn that was perhaps as stunning as the killings, the wives and sisters of the slain men went to Ecuador to pick up the mission. The women were accepted by the tribe, living among them and becoming like family.
In a very under-hyped event, the cast of Survivor Panama Exile Island will be announced on the CBS Early Show on Monday, January 9, 2006. Unlike the last edition of Survivor where rumors about the participation of former NFL quarterback Gary Hogeboom turned the official Survivor cast announcement into a huge media event, there has been little mention in the press of the upcoming Survivor cast announcement. The news of the Survivor Panama cast announcement was briefly mentioned in a recent press release from CBS about The Early Show listings for the week of January 9 through 13. There is also a video on the official CBS Early Show website that says the cast of a new edition of Survivor will be announced on Monday.
The "Lights of Christmas" annual parade was held in Panama City yesterday, with more 26 floats and 28 musical bands performing. Thousands of Panamanians and visitors positioned themselves along the parade route to get the best view. The parade was organized by the Panama City Mayor's office and sponsored by private businesses. In addition to the floats and bands, there were clowns, fireworks, and of course Santa to delight the children. The parade route was more than 5 kilometers long, and generally ran through Panama City via Calle 50. More than 5,000 police, firemen and others were on hand to keep the peace.
Survivor will once again travel to Panama, as Jeff Probst officially announced during the Survivor Guatemala reunion show that Panama will be the setting for Survivor 12. Survivor 12 also promises to add several interesting new twists to the game of Survivor. An article on Reality TV Magazine once suggested that Survivor should add more mystery to the game and make it similar to ABC’s hit show Lost. Apparently, Survivor 12 will do just that. The biggest twist in Survivor 12 is going to be that a mysterious new island called Exile Island will factor into the game. Each week at least one castaway will be banished to Exile Island and separated from their tribe mates for days at a time. Jeff Probst describe Exile Island as “one of the most unforgiving environments yet.” Preview scenes show a creepy looking wooden skull structure on Exile Island. 
The Legend of Panamanian Jazz, Carlos Garnett and his Jazz Quartet, will perform in Boquete on Friday December 16th. Garnett is a well known jazz musician who played in the 60´s and 70´s in NYC with the best of the time. He took a decade off, and came back in the 90´s with his own band in Texas. Carlos now lives in Panama City and performs both locally and internationally. Don´t Miss this concert. For more information call us at 6-618-2929. Tickets will be available next week at Valle Escondido in Boquete and Ana´s Sweet. More information available via email; antonio.singh@gmail.com
PANAMA – As reported by the Panama Bulletin: "Veneto Hotel & Casino, Panama's newest tourist attraction received several hundred members of the local and foreign press corps to a pre-inaugural tour last week. "The luxury hotel/casino is scheduled to open on November 14, and it has the appearance of being one of Panama's most popular. "The press was introduced to those who have created the hotel/casino and those who will make it work. 
THE GODLEWSKI FAMILY: We'll start with the Godlewski sisters this week. I truly believe they could have come in first, but they made an incredible blunder, which sent them to last place. Fortunately, it was a non-elimination leg, and they're still in the race. Their one smart move this week? They piled most of their clothes on before getting to the Pit Stop, so they'll have things to wear, even if they won't have any money to start the next leg of the race. Christine, who was wailing like a kid in last week's episode, seems to have gotten a wallop of self confidence this week. Looking at the camera at the start of the episode, she said, "I have to convince my sisters to listen to me. I might be bossy, but my ideas are also the best." (So is a revolt in the making, and is Sharon being demoted as leader?)
From Reality Blurred: "About one week ago today, on either Nov. 1 or Oct. 31, Survivor 12 began production. And the show is being filmed in a very familiar location: Panama. Specifically, reality blurred has confirmed with several sources, the show will return to the exact same islands that were used for Survivor All-Stars." See: 
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 9 November, 2005 : - - We recently had a group cancel for this week in April 2005. Now the week is open for booking again. We had received a number of requests for this week, but we have been telling everyone that it was full. We don’t remember who everyone was, so if you are interested it is available. Steve Small grew up in the Panama Canal Zone in the late 60ies and early 70ies (former zonie) . He told me his favorite surf month of the year was April because it is in the dry season with lots of offshore winds. The south swells are starting to arrive at Central America, so conditions are ideal. 
