POV (POINT OF VIEW) is in the 'eye of the beholder'...walking through the woods of Newfoundland on the Earth To Human Eco-tour (www.earthtohuman.com) this week it's becoming clear that seeing is different for each human being. 
TOM SAWYER'S ISLAND DISNEYLAND: brings up a raft of questions!
Talking to David Maggs,the co-creator of the Earth to Human Eco-experience, I'm on this week , I realize that my experience of walking into the woods in Newfoundland's Gros Morne National park and feeling transported to Tom Sawyer's Island at Disneyland is not as outrageous as I feared! Our frame of reference to the environment and our eco-attitude depends on many factors and is influenced by our past experiences and our expectations. 
GO AHEAD AND CHECK GOOGLE for "Tom Sawyer's Island" and you'll find many references to the Disney attraction as travel writer's describe their rafting trips as a cross between x and Disney's Tom Sawyer Island. According to some reports I read online "Tom's Island' is the only attraction at Disneyland that Walt Disney designed himself. Walt was originally from Missouri just like Mark Twain. And according to the web posts I saw, Walt saw the original drawings for the island and took them home and returned the next day with his own vision of what the island should look like. Blog trivia note--according to www.mickeynews.com, the premiere of the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN SEQUEL was on Tom Sawyer Island. It seems that the Disney promo people put up a giant screen on the Island and projected the movie on that because it's just across the way from the new "Pirates" ride at the park.
So that means that premiere VIP's headed to the island not to look for Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer or Becky or "Injun Joe" but rather DEAD MAN'S CHEST..and of course the stars of Pirates.
Talk about FAUX experiences --- Hollywood celebs head to Disneyland to see a movie about pirates projected from the screen erected on the island. Hmm I wonder how many of them even know who Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn is/was?
FOOD & SHELTER ...is a play written by Jane Anderson "Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio" that I saw years ago premiere at ACT (American Conservatory Theatre" San Francisco. The tale revolves around a homeless dad who wins $100 and takes his family to Disneyland where at the end of the day they hang out in a treehouse on Frontierland. (Blogger note, trivia sites for Disneyland hint that Disney security dudes check out areas like Tom Sawyer island with dogs that sniff out any potential stowaways at the end of each night at the park.)
Which brings me back to the reel versus real treatise that I keep exploring here. On this trip, several times I've stopped to explain what ARGs are to fellow travelers both in reference to their potential as promo for travel & tourism attractions and as the challenge to gain media and viewer attention for the REAL OUTDOORS...not the simulated location based entertainment venues.
Tomorrow I'll do some comparison photos from this trip between the reel and the real. Showing scenes that may astound even the most eco-savvy traveler.
On location in Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland, Joyce Schwarz, author and emerging media & entertainment columnist/analyst looking at the difference between place and space and of course real vs reel! Please email me with questions and comments or go ahead and post your comments at the end of this blog. Have you ever had that same feeling, that something that you're seeing for the first time in REAL life reminds you of a reel (video, TV, game) experience? Let me know if you agree that it's time to stamp out Videophilia?
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